Japanese PM Tenders Resignation

VIa the BBC: Japanese prime minister resigns

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced he is resigning after less than a year in office.

[…]

Visibly distressed, he told a packed news conference that Japan needed a new leader to “fight against terrorism”.

While there were conflicts over Japanese support of the US in Afghanistan, it doesn’t appear to me that fighting terrorism is much of the issue here. Still, it is remarkable the degree to which the topic permeates global politics.

Check spelling in any application with tinySpell

These days everything from word processors to web browsers to instant messaging clients have on the fly spell checking features. As you mistype a word, a red line or other indicator pops up to let you know that your word isn't in a dictionary. Try writing about websites with names like Flickr and Meebo on a regular basis and you'll see those little red lines so often you'll start dreaming about them.

But some applications don't have spell checkers. For example, Windows Notepad and Wordpad. So what if you need to jot down a quick note and want to make sure it's properly spelled? Or what if your web browser or IM client doesn't have a spell checker?

TinySpell is a light weight application that will alert you with a beep if you misspell a word. Now matter what application you're using. The application rests in your toolbar and does pretty much nothing most of the time, but beeps like a maniacal beeping thing when you start typing made up words. Click on the icon to see a list of possible spellings.

Interestingly, "tinySpell" is not in it's dictionary. But fortunately it's quite simple to add words. If you'd rather not hear a beep every few seconds when you're writing the business plan for your new Web 2.0 business, you can also set tinySpell only to check words when you copy them to your clipboard.

TinySpell is freeware, but there's also a commercial version, tinySpell+ with additional features like the ability to check for capitalization errors and remember your last error. Prices for tinySpell+ start at $7.

Brooklyn Book Festival

If you’re in the New York realm and lookin’ for a little something to occupy your Sunday, stroll down to the Brooklyn Book Festival. If you’re anything like me and you can spend hours wandering aimlessly around The Strand or maybe Powell’s — I’m still annoyed that I missed that one while I was in Portland — then this is right up your alley. It will have the requisite thousands of books to peruse that you’d expect at any worthwhile literary event taking place in the big city, but the Brooklyn Book Festival takes it a couple of steps further.

In addition to the millions of words, the festival will feature a poetry slam, a define-a-thon, and a ton of exhibits. And, it gets better: the organizers have gathered some of the top authors we all know and love to show their faces and sign some copies of your favorite books. Dave Eggers anyone? Let’s put it this way, it’s a book festival and they’ve managed to put together enough stuff to fill seven stages. That alone makes it worth checking out, right?

Criticsrant.com - very entertaining

As always, surfing the web always brings new and interesting sites to blog about. This time I ran across a very entertaining site; Critics Rant. I found well-written and thoughtful reviews on current in-theater movies, DVD discussions and TV show reviews and opinions.

I was looking for reviews on “Transformers”, and boy,did I get them. The great thing though, is the fact that this is an interactive site. With rants and rant-backs for all the postings, everyone gets a chance to give their opinion on movie reviews, including DVDs and even TV shows.

Wow! some of the discussion gets downright heated! I didn’t know some people were so passionate about their TV shows. You can also sign up for the daily rant newsletter and get an encapsulated version of what’s going on at criticsrant.com, including movie discussions delivered straight to your inbox.

Controversial Bronze Horse Expected to Go For $7.7 Million at Auction

The highlight of the upcoming 4 day Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong, scheduled to start on Oct 6th, will be a controversial bronze Qing Dynasty Horse head. It's one of a 12 zodiac animal set and was looted from the imperial summer palace in China back in 1860. The Chinese believe it should be returned to the Chinese goverment because it's stolen property, but Sothebys has no intention of giving it to anybody but the auction winner -- and the law is on their side. It's expected to go for HK80 million ($7.7 million).

All's fair in love and war, but it's too bad it's been separated from the other 11 zodiac animals.

Video: Nokia N95 8 GB preview

Rafe is at it again, here is the Nokia N95 8GB from the Go Play event. If you want to know the 9 things that make the 8 GB version different from the plain old N95 then sit back and enjoy:

Backgammon Masters Launches Blackjack

Thanks to the popularity of the unique all-in-one game lobby, BackgammonMasters has become one of the top online gaming destinations for online backgammon players of all skill levels. Now, in a move that shows how BackgammonMasters is 100% committed to enhancing player’ experience on the site, they have decided to add poker to their gaming environment e.g. blackjack. This decision was made in direct response to customer demand, as many backgammon players also enjoy playing poker as well.

As with online backgammon, players can expect to get the same great 3D graphics and real-time chat capabilities when in the poker rooms. Beginners will appreciate being able to learn the game and build up their skills in the completely free ‘fun mode’, while more experienced players will likely want to jump right into the real money games. Also you can switch between those two models jut by click of a button.

To celebrate the real money launch, Backgammon is offering games with rake gaming for a limited time only. That means you won’t have to pay a single cent in house commission for the duration of the promotion, which can definitely have a significant impact on your bankroll.

With the features of all-in-one game lobby, emphasis on interactive fun, and now its no-rake gaming offer, there is no question in mind as to why BackgammonMasters.com has experienced such explosive growth in recent months.

So if you are real fun lover and want to be a part of the action, don’t wait any longer – come to join BackgammonMasters online gaming community.

Warrior Wear Army Clothing Has Built-in Tourniquet

A military clothing company has come up with Warrior Wear, a line of trousers and shirts with I.T.S. &mdash that's an integrated tourniquet system &mdash attached for those fighting on the front line. If you are hit, you just pull the corresponding tourniquet tight to stem the bleeding from the wound. There are four tourniquets on the trousers, and four on the shirt (the short-sleeved version has two), which can immediately be applied to the wound by either the wearer, his buddy or a medic. As well as helping to stop deaths in the field, it is thought that using the I.T.S. will dramatically speed up the time it takes to recover from extreme blood loss injuries.

The system was devised by Dr. Kenneth Rose, a former Army surgeon who spent several years in the military. "The majority of preventable deaths come from loss of blood resulting from arm and leg wounds that are not protected by body armor," he explained. "The fact that you can always find the tourniquet with the Integrated Tourniquet System and the speed with which you can immediately apply it will dramatically impact not only loss of life but also the amount of time that it takes to recover from extreme blood loss injuries."

Warrior Wear is currently in the last phase of testing, and should be available in the first quarter of next year. [Blackhawk! via Medgadget]

First Gullwing Stretch Limo Ferrari

This here is the world's first Ferrari 360 Modena converted to a gullwing stretch limo. It's 23 feet long, but with 400HP, goes zero to 60mph in about 6 seconds. These mods, and the extra 6 Recaro seats, cost £200k. Sounds like a deal to me. We've got one more photo of the gullwing in full splendor, but Gizmag, who broke the story, has a few more photos

Britney Spears was wearing Jessica Simpson’s hair at the VMAs

So yesterday was the rumor that Britney Spears hired Ken Paves to do her hair at the VMAs, but they got in to a fight and he walked out leaving her with her short hair. Well now Norm Clarke is reporting he might have left but Britney SPears still had a part of him on her head.

Spears' backstage drama at the MTV VMAs included her insistence
that she have brown hair. But she was overruled by her management team and she wore
extensions from Jessica
Simpson's Hair-u-Wear line, Vegas Confidential
has learned.

Backstage spies say Spears pitched a fit. She had arranged for her own hair
stylist to make the trip for $10,000.

"She wanted to go brown, but her people said, 'No way,' "
a backstage source said.

For $10,000 you do whatever the client wants because no hairdresser is worth that much. And I wonder her people stresser out about going brown?

Frankfurt Auto Show: Porsche GT2

Here in Frankfurt, Porsche downplayed the release of its new, batshit-mad 911 -- the GT2. Instead, boss Wendelin Wiedeking spent his keynote vehemently defending Porsche's environmental record in the face of Greenpeace allegations of extreme piggishness. He also asserted Ferdinand Porsche built a gas-electric hybrid in the early part of the century. Take that, Japanese! But for us the show was the rollout of the is the fastest and most powerful Porsche 911 ever homologated. The GT2 -- as we've mentioned before -- is the first 911 ever to hit 200+ mph from the factory, via a 3.6-liter flat six twin turbo producing 530 hp at 6,500 rpm, and maximum torque of 501 lb-ft from 2,200 - 4,500 rpm. Acceleration to 62 mph comes in just 3.7 seconds and the new top-dog 911 can hit 204. Bruce 1, Greens: DNF.

Mortgage meltdown metastasizes

Contrary to the words of our economic cheerleaders -- Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson -- the subprime mortgage meltdown refuses to stay contained. This economic cancer has now spread to the lumber and title insurance industries.

Reuters reports that one of the biggest lumber companies, Weyerhaeuser Company (NYSE: WY), will probably have to close plants and restrict operations because of weak market conditions. This should not come as a surprise since dropping home prices may crimp new home construction -- leading to less demand for lumber, roofing material, nails, concrete, and all the other materials and labor that go into building a house.

But the Wall Street Journal [subscription required] surprised me by reporting that the title insurance industry -- which issues policies that essentially guarantee a homebuyer is the rightful owner of a property -- also is taking a dive. The paper reports that claims against leading title insurers -- due, in part, to a rise in subcontractors who file a lien for unpaid work on a house -- have spiked 52%. Moreover, title insurance revenues are down which indicates a drop in new mortgages that require title searches to get approved.

The result is that the stock of leaders in the industry -- First American Corp Calif. (NYSE: FAF), LandAmerica Financial Group (NYSE: LFG), and Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF) -- have tumbled 28%, 57% and 40% respectively from their June highs.

The lessons? The housing market takes many different industries along for the ride on the way up and on the way down. And we are just beginning the down slope of this roller coaster ride.

Autor Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in the stocks mentioned.

HP Uses Inkjet Tech to Replace Hypodermic Needles

HP has figured out a way to make their inkjet technology a bit more versatile: by getting it to inject drugs into humans. Yep, HP is looking to replace hypodermic needles with their inkjet technology in a method reminiscent of nicotine patches. HP is licensing a patch with up to 90,000 microneedles per square inch which could then inject drugs into a patient either over time or when certain conditions (i.e. blood pressure) are met. It would allow injections to be much more precise, which is good. Also, you wouldn't need to get injected with a big scary needle anymore, which would also be good.

Madonna Spice Up Her Sex Life With Sex Toys?

Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie were seen leaving Claridges Hotel in London on yesterday while Madonna was seen carrying a "Purple Penetrator" strap-on sex toy in a clear plastic bag.

Is it a present? Is it for their use??

Maybe she is planning to use it in Israel during the World Conference of the International Kabbalah Center. The conference will take place between September 12-22 and Madonna is scheduled to be in Israel during that time. Beside Madonna Demi Moore and her husband Ashton Kutcher are scheduled to go too.

Firefox hits 400 million downloads

In less than three years, Mozilla's Firefox has amassed 400 million downloads. The whole shift towards using the Firefox web browser was sparked in November 2004 by a Spread Firefox campaign in which tens of thousands of users spawned 25 million downloads. The buttons and banners placed on websites took only a year to grab 100 million downloads, and a year later 200 million.

Now, three years, an award for most recognized brand and 400 million downloads later, Firefox is helping people surf the web better, faster and with a friendlier experience. If you want to be part of the next 400 million users to download the virus and spyware free browser, you too can add some Firefox love to your blog or website.

Apple Co-Founder Concerned Over IPhone Sales And Price Cut

Nearly everyone has been carping that the iPhone price cut announced last week means the device isn't selling well. There's been some debate about that, but when the most famous Apple fanboy, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, expresses doubt about the iPhone's sales, it might be time to start worrying. Wozniak told IBC Daily, "My opinion about why they did it is that they have a large inventory and they are set up to build more than they have sold by a bit and they have to keep things moving." More scary Apple doom-saying here...

$14 Million To Yuma

Following a slow weekend at the box office, we must ask: Have you abadoned Hollywood, or has Hollywood abandoned you? Ponder this question as you review the box office numbers:

1. 3:10 to Yuma - $14.1 million
During another one of those early September, post-summer weekends when most habitual moviegoers, thoroughly exhausted from the preceding three months' worth of soul-sucking blockbuster sequels, can't find the strength to make a trip to the multiplex, 3:10 to Yuma proved the grudging first choice of those motivated enough to separate themselves from their couches. Once settled into their stadium seats, we're sure ticket buyers were sufficiently entertained by two hours of a dirty-faced, peg-legged Christian Bale glowering at charming rogue Russell Crowe while waiting for Crowe's psychotic, gay lieutenant to rescue his boss from a date with a prison train, where he might conceivabl y meet a crazier, more handsome trigger-man.

2. Halloween - $10.034 million
With Halloween having dropped over 60 percent from its record-breaking debut, we're forced to conclude that everyone who was interested in learning more about the developmental issues that led Michael Myers to become the masked, suburbanite-disembowelling psychopath we all know and love showed up on opening weekend.

3. Superbad - $8 million
To celebrate Superbad's passing of the all-important $100 million box office milestone, proud producer Judd Apatow will present writer/star Seth Rogen with a solid-gold movie projector featuring a twelve-inch penis where one might normally expect to find its lens.

4. Balls of Fury - $5.693 million
We've recently been treated to comedies about competitive dodgeball and ping-pong, but has anyone put Kickball: The Movie into development? Walken would be up for it if the money was good enough.

6. Shoot 'Em Up - $5.450 millionAny studio brave enough to put up a promotional website in which a new mom fires a machine gun at a baby carriage deserves a better result than this. We are officially disappointed in America.

Free Calorie Counter

We’ve been talking so much about food that we haven't paid attention to how much we've eaten until now!

Yes, eating is very fascinating, but don’t forget to count the calories of your food or before you know it you will have gained 10 pounds more this month. Start from now, you may get a free calorie counter.

The website Features area has Tips for Dieting, a Free Newsletter, and Free Diet Profile. There is also a free calorie counter for your use, an invaluable tool for dieters, which will make you wiser about choosing the healthy foods for a balanced diet.

By the way, diet without motivation and the right information will sooner or later meet a sad end.

For that reason,we also have a bmr calculator plus a bmi calculator to help you in your quest for an ideal plus.

You can also join their community on message boards to share and get information about healthy diet. Moreover, it also shares free newsletters about dieting tips, recipes, fitness advice and many more. Just enter your email address and you will get the free newsletter straight to your inbox.

Poker Room Review...Riviera Hotel & Casino

Riviera Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip

Take a trip back to a different Las Vegas. Return to a time of glamorous people in formal evening wear, croupiers in starched white shirts and black ties, restaurants with real silverware, Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack, a time when Las Vegas had the only legal casinos in the land. The Riviera has provided Vegas visitors with a truly authentic Las Vegas vacation for more than fifty years.


Riviera Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip tells it like it is

Payday loans at Cashadvance1500.com

Pay day loans are small and short term loans which do not require any credit checks of the consumer.

Think of a situation when you need to make an emergency payment to a hospital and you are short of money in your account. Or say it’s the last date to pay your school/college fees and you are bankrupted for the month because of few other urgent expenses. In such situations if you are asked to go through a long process of checking your credits, bank balance etc just to get a small amount of cash advance then there is nothing more irritating than that.

Yes, friends are always the first one’s to approach in such situations but even for them it’s not always possible to arrange things within a day!

In such situations pay day loans comes to our rescue.

Cashadvance1500.com is one of the companies that provide cash advance loans.

This company only requires that you are a employed major and you receive at least a monthly payment of $1000 per month. However when you are applying for the loan or when they are providing you with cash advance, no balance is required in your account.

As per the site, you will need to fill up a free online application and within few hours only a representative would call to confirm your details. And within a day you cash is credited into your account. Check the sites FAQ section for more details.

Cosmetic Surgeon

When the looks does matter in your life and your profession, and when you want to retain your orginal looks and body structure, then its time for you to think about and give a serious thought to the option of cosmetic surgery which is in fact a branch of plastic surgery world which specifically deals with the cosmetics of your body and your looks.

Now when you're looking for a los angeles breast augmentation option where you can get the perfect augmentation for yourself when you live in or around the beverly hills, then check out the rdps.com and you get extensive info on how to go about the liposuction cosmetic surgury specifically in the beverly hills region and how to get the best surgery done for yourself so as to regain the perfect looks and feel back as before.

If you're looking for cosmetic surgeon experts and clinics and options so as to get the best plastic surgery done for yourself even such as a tummy tuck, then do check out the lipoplus.com which is maintained by rdps.com as they're one of the leading cosmetic surgery experts in the region.

Get complete info on rhinoplasty options which are available in the marketplace in and around the California, Los angeles and the Beverly hills region specifically.

5 Rules For Playing Casino Poker

Poker in a casino doesn’t have to be an intimidating, awkward, or uncomfortable experience. Quite the opposite. With the right perspective and a few pointers about what to do and how to do it, playing in a casino can be more enjoyable, relaxing, and pleasant than playing in your own home. Hey, you don’t have to clean up when the game is over!

1. It’s OK to look like you don’t know what you’re doing.
This is, by far, the most important rule. Don’t worry how others view you. It doesn’t matter. In fact, if your goal is to win money and have fun then it would be great if you could fake the image of a new player even if you're an experienced pro. Experienced players tend to play more softly, less aggressively, and less competitively against a new player. It’s human nature for most of us to be nice to the new guy. And, if they think you’re awful, they’re not going to be paying much attention to what you’re doing -- figuring that they have the edge.

Sure, there are some jerks who love to point out everything that everyone else does wrong. But don’t worry about them. They’re jerks -- and they’re generally not respected or liked in the poker room. They’re also not really very good players. If they were, then why weren’t they in some high stakes game rather than behaving badly in the low limit game you entered? If they were really sharp, why would they be pointing out the mistakes other players are making? This can only make others better players or drive them away, no? So don’t give them a moment’s pause. Chances are that the majority of the players at the table are siding with you over them anyway. Their attacks make you more likeable -- so enjoy them or just ignore them.

2. Act in turn.
This is easy to do. Pay attention to where the action is and make sure to bet when it is your turn to do so. Other players can’t stand someone who takes forever because they’re distracted -- or someone who bets too soon. Take a couple of seconds before you act just to make sure that you are, in fact, acting in turn. Also, a pause before you act will get you in the habit of thinking about what you’re going to and why you’re doing it -- both good things in the long run.

3. Find out as much as you can about the poker room before you sit down.
There is no rule that says that you have to sit down in a live game as soon as you arrive in a poker room. Yet that’s exactly what new players routinely do. Sure, you’ll be eager to play after a long drive. But don’t follow your instincts on this one. Take a while to look around when you arrive. I can honestly tell you that I did not play one hand on my first visit to a poker room. I walked around, read the rule book, watched the dealers, learned where to buy chips, saw where the bathrooms were and watched other players lose their money before I ever bought one chip. I suggest the same to you.

Find out what games they spread, what limits are offered, where players buy chips, what the rake is, how you get your name on a list for a new game, how you change games, how seats are assigned, what tournaments they offer, what special promotions or players comps they offer to players -- and how they get dispensed. Don’t be embarrassed with having a lot of questions. The job of a poker room floor person or manager is to make new players feel welcome. You are their reason for being. So don’t be shy.

Make sure you’re taking advantage of all of the few perks that are available to poker players. Some places let you earn points while you play that can be redeemed for food, rooms, or other items for sale in the poker room. If you don’t have a player’s club card, however, you may miss out. If there is a rule book, get it and read it. If you have any unanswered questions, again, don’t be shy. In a poker room, information is about the only thing that’s free. Take advantage of it.

4. Pick a game with limits you know you can afford.
Yes, you might be able to beat the biggest game in the poker room. You may have the bankroll of Midas and his golden touch to match. But when you’re first visiting a room, you don’t have to prove anything. You’re much better off just getting acclimated in a game that won’t hurt you if you get a bad run of cards or have difficulty concentrating.

Think of it like driving a car for the first time. You want a nice big empty parking lot or a wide country road without a lot of traffic. You don’t want to learn to drive on a 70-mph superhighway or in downtown Manhattan.

5. Plan on a short session with many breaks.
Playing in a casino game is likely to be very different from a home game. The tempo of the play tends to be much faster. Players make their decisions more quickly and there’s a lot less conversation, eating, or general time-wasting than in most home games. This stems in part from the more serious style of play that most players have adopted in a casino poker game. And it’s surely a product of having a professional dealer who keeps things moving in order to maximize the house rake for the hour as well as his hourly rate of tips. This speed of play can be tiring at first until you get used to it. Even so, many new players stay way too long, hurting their ability to concentrate and destroying their discipline.

The Art of Bluffing

One element of poker is deception. Bluffing is the quintessential trick in poker. Of course, the reasoning for a bluff is to deceive the other players into thinking you have a better hand when you actually do not. For a bluff to work, you need the other players to think you actually have that better hand. Many beginning poker players love this idea of bluffing and often misuse it. The value of the bluff increases under certain general circumstances that often have a lot to do with information you assume about the other players. This vagueness makes it difficult to give definitive reasons or places to bluff. Some less generalized times to bluff and some advice are given below. The bottom of the page gives some more ideas and perspectives on deception in poker.

Some typical reasons to bluff...
A. When there aren't many other players in a pot.
Simply put, it's easier to trick a couple people than a crowd. With fewer hands out there, chances are better that no one has made a reasonable hand. This is fairly common though, so many players won't believe you. Some will stay in the hand just to "keep you honest", so sometimes this needs to be a persistent bluff over a period of two or three betting rounds. That can be costly if they don't fall for it. You need to know the players before you use this type of bluff.

B. When you're up against fairly tight players.
Those that tend to fold easily are the biggest targets of a bluff. Bets will be put out just as a form of information gathering on this player's hand. If you bluff early (pre-flop, flop) against a very tight player and they don't buckle, you should think twice about trying it again on a future round. They have something. Your job is to determine whether they have a made or drawing hand. Once again, you need to know the players.

C. On the river.
Especially if apparent drawing hands missed. That's when players react to rule #1 "the moment you know you can't win, throw in your cards". It is often a good idea to bluff with a weak hand, like ace-high or lowest pair with these kinds of bluffs, because some players will stay in just because of pot odds. If you do that, it is actually semi-bluffing (see the bottom of the page).

D. You're in late position and everyone else checked.
This one you'll have to gauge for yourself. It will most likely force some players out, but not all. This is a pretty common bluff once again, and many players will stay in just because of bet odds, and/or to once again "keep you honest". This is another example of a bluff that needs to be more persistent over a couple betting rounds.

E. You bet pre-flop and missed.
That's because they don't know you missed! This can be dangerous, and you really have to evaluate to board before you get into this one. Sometimes it's good to bluff when AK misses, sometimes when 99 misses. You have to really feel this one out.

F. You have given other players "the fear".
It's about how other players perceive you. If you just won a hand through good play, the players who say "nice hand" are the ones who now respect you. They will more likely fold to your bluff if you play it right. The trick is to play the hand exactly the same way you played the other winning hand. Give it the "here we go again" act.

G. When the flop isn't so great.
Some players will fold automatically if all they have is an overcard. With a rainbow flop of 2, 6, 9, not many players will have much. This is another example of a bluff that can go horribly awry. I wouldn't be too persistent in this case, unless only more low cards pop up. Once again, know your players.

H. Pre-flop on the button, and everyone else has folded.
This is usually best used with tight players to your left. Its good because it can change from a bluff to a deceptively good hand with luck and the right flop.

I. When there is a pair on the board.
This is especially useful when the pair is 88 or lower. Chances are that these cards might have been folded or are still in the deck. This is one situation where you want to evaluate the hand very carefully if they do call though. This is a great situation to read the tells of the players who are NOT involved in the game. It's much easier to give away the fact that you HAD a card than if you HAVE it.

Keep in mind that these are pretty common reasons to bluff. Many players know these reasons. Most of the time it just won't work. The main thing is always to know your players and to not do it so often that it never works.

You Are So Beautiful

There is that envious glance across the room at the family gathering. The stolen stares, and the comments shield by hands to lips. But finally it’s all too much.
“You look 10 years younger! What have you done?” gasps you sister-in-law. “When I saw you at Easter you weren’t looking so good but now you could be on the TV you look so fantastic!”

As you bask in the compliments, she asks; “ Where did you get it done… it must have been in Hollywood!”

This is not fantasy but what happens after you let the team at beverly hills tummy tuck clinic on Rodeo Drive work their magic.

Whether you want a complete make over to restore your pre-child birth figure or just the touch up of a few laugh lines, you will find satisfaction at of Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery.

Dropping 100 pounds often leaves you with a flabby skin fold. "We're doing a lot more tummy tucks these days, especially in women who have recently given birth," says Lloyd Krieger, MD, the renowned los angeles cosmetic surgery at Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery (www.RodeoDrivePlasticSurgery.com). "They want the tight, contoured body they had before pregnancy." Krieger notes that using new techniques like beverly hills liposuction in reconstructing the navel allow tummy tucks to produce more natural-looking results than in the past.

"My idea was to make plastic surgery a more convenient and simple process for people," he says. "I wanted to model it after the retail industry. For example, when someone goes into a boutique, they are greeted by knowledgeable and friendly staff that anticipate your needs."

As we become more informed about the benefits to our health and self esteem, we want more of consumer friendly type of experience rather than a “ghastly sick people hospital” stay. With the change in experience pioneered by Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery it has become common for patients to plane a series of procedures to remake their body and their life experience.

"The process is really about understanding the patients and what their desires are," says Krieger. "For example, some patients come in and say, ‘I’ve had two children, and I just don’t look and feel like I used to.’ For that, we’ll do what we call a mommy makeover, which consists of a tummy tuck, breast lift or augmentation and liposuction to get to the underlying concern."

Table Position in Poker

Position is simply where you are sitting in relation to the dealer's button. In holdem and many other poker games, your position at the table is a big factor. The strength of your position comes from the fact that the betting goes in a clockwise fashion. In a favorable position you get to see how many other players react to their hands and whether they fold, bet, or call before you do. The poker phrase, "Position is power" comes from this simple idea.

There are many names associated with position to identify where players are sitting in relation to the dealer's button. Each particular position has its own strengths or weaknesses.

• The small blind has the worst position after the flop and must invest half a bet.



• The big blind invests an entire bet and similarly has a poor position.



• The player under the gun has the worst position preflop and a junk position afterwards.



• The button has the best position during any betting round.

The importance of your position depends on many factors. For example, in no limit holdem, position is much more important than in limit holdem. It is always better to be in an late position though, so it is important to identify what hands are generally playable in all positions.

For example, lets say you're under the gun. You have Queen-Ten, unsuited and decide to limp into the pot. The player to bet after you raises, and everyone but you folds.. Now you're in a jam. Chances are good that this player has a better hand than you. If they have any ace, king, or pocket pair, they are statistically better than you. You'd suspect that someone who raised has at least a hand like that. Now you can either call again and go into the flop as an underdog or you can fold and just give up a bet. What's worse is that if you call, you will be acting before this player for the rest of the hand.

On the other hand, let's say you're on the button. You have Queen-Ten, unsuited and everybody folds to you. One option would be to fold and let the blinds fight it out. Another would be the just call and see what happens on the flop. Many players here would raise because you could steal the blinds and even if you didn't, you'd act after them for the remainder of the hand. Raising is only a viable option because of your favorable position.

Another notable factor is that position goes hand in hand with knowing the players directly around you. For example, an aggressive, blind-stealing player to the immediate right of a tight player usually results in the tight player's blinds getting stolen.

Being in late position with a good hand has major strengths over being early with a good hand. Early position raisers are assumed to have a good hand and it tends to scare players away. Early preflop raises can force the other players to call two bets at once (or more in the case of pot limit or no limit holdem) when there is nearly nothing in the pot worth fighting for. In late position, there may be players who have already called one bet. Those players only have to call one bet (in limit) with a little something already in the pot. So players in late position with a good hand have the ability to manipulate the pot size, which will make future bets easier to call in the upcoming betting rounds.

Having a Poker Face

article by Ashley Adams

Ask the average Joe what the most important thing is to being a good poker player and he'll often answer, "Uh, I don't know. Maybe having a good poker face." At least that's been my experience. The public at large seems to put a lot of stock in this. But what does it really mean?

Traditionally, having a poker face has meant having a face that doesn't betray the strength or weakness of one's poker hand. "Poker face" is often synonymous with inscrutable. This is the face we are all encouraged to maintain, to keep from giving off those unconscious clues to our hand known as tells. If we look happy when we have a good hand others will know that we are strong and avoid us by folding when we bet. And, similarly, if we look upset when we have a bad hand there's no way we'll be able to properly execute a bluff.

But at the risk of offending the poker purists out there I'd like to update the definition of a "poker face" Before I do so, however, I'd like to go to the root of what we as poker players should be using our faces, chiefly, to do. We who take poker seriously believe that our primary mission in a poker game is to make money. True, having fun and socializing may be part of playing poker for us, but fundamentally, poker is about winning. And winning in poker means winning money. How do we best do this? From my experience, there are chiefly two ingredients.
The first, of course, is to develop our skill – to learn the relative value of starting hands, to understand in 7-Card Stud how exposed cards change these values – and to understand how our hand's winning probability of winning changes as the hand progresses from Third Street to the River. Similarly, we need to understand how best to exploit our hand's weakness or strength with appropriate betting, raising and folding. And, as we increase our skill, we must also learn how to exploit the weaknesses and strengths of our opponents – to make the most of the hands we have while minimizing our losses when we are weak.

But our skill is just one ingredient necessary for consistent winning. The other ingredient, and often the easier ingredient to acquire, is to take our skill and to pit it against less skillful players. Simply put, it's not enough to be good. We must find bad opponents who will play against us. Though there are thousands of articles and hundreds of books on the former – and that's just for Stud, there are painfully few articles or books on the latter. But finding bad opponents is often every bit as important as improving one's poker skills. And, I suggest, it often comes back to having a poker face – as I define it. You see, for me, the best poker face isn't that expressionless, stern or serious mask, worn to prevent opponents from gaining any insight into my hand.

The bad players I want to play against don't understand their own cards – they surely can't figure me out. No, for me, the ideal face for playing poker is the face that invites the poor player to sit down next to me – that encourages the newbie, the neophyte, the unaware, the eager and the otherwise awful player to join me for a game. . Say what you want about looking intimidating, serious and inscrutable. I want to look friendly, sweet, innocent and inviting. My poker face is a smile.

Choice

The one thing over which you have absolute control is your own thoughts. It is this that puts you in a position to control your own destiny. - Paul G. Thomas

Nature is at at work. Character and destiny are her handiwork. She gives us love and have, jealousy and reverence. All that is ours is the power to choose which impulse we shall follow. - David Seabury

Averages

Every failure is a step to success... - William Whewell

Not doing more than the average is what keeps the average down. - William M. Winans

Attitude

An obvious fact about negative fellings is often overlooked. They are caused by us, not by exterior happenings. An outside event presents the challenge, but we react to it. So we must attend to the way we take things, not to the things themselves.
VERNON HOWARD

Learning to Fold in Holdem

If all things were equal at the poker table, you'd win, roughly, your share of hands: that is, around one-tenth of hands played if it's a regular 10-seat table. Assuming, for the moment, that nobody folds before showdown.

But nothing is ever equal at the poker table. You and the other players have different strengths; you sit in positions which drastically change your advantages; and you can choose to fold anytime it's your turn, changing the number of competitors. Your greatest point of control is whether to take part or not in that particular hand.

All players cut themselves out of the running by folding some of the time, because it's perfectly obvious that just showing up to play isn't a winning strategy. Too many of us, however, don't fold often enough -- as if relying on others to fold and get out of our way. I don't think it's simply an urge to do something rather than nothing; some excellent poker players believe there's an ingrained impulse to act once we've been dealt a hand. But I think it's a superstition. A feeling, a belief that we would win if others just cooperate a little. We regard folding as giving in, as failure. Deep down, we don't really, really believe that we should ever fold.

It's a superstition you have to reject. Even if we were sitting at the imaginary equal-chance table above, never folding is still not good strategy, is it? You are still losing far more often than you win.

You need to fold more often than other people, generally. Those selected hands you play you choose because you have a strong starting hand. This is in direct opposition to what you may feel at the poker table, though.

You may find your justification for staying in with those cards was thin, or just plain false. Setting rules for yourself is often useful in combating the impulse to call to stay in, and hence the popularity of starting hand charts. You'll adjust that group of hands you decide to stay in with according to your position, the level you're playing, and your impressions of the other players.

You can see, from the percentage of the times they win, which are always fairly good Holdem hands before the flop although they are not pairs: AK, AQ, AJ; KQ, KJ.

But just because your starting hand is a lot better than the other ones you've been getting all session -- like getting dealt QT after stuff like 89 offsuit and 72 off for hours -- that doesn't make this hand a strong hand. This is especially true if it hasn't been a particularly loose table. Evaluating your hand does NOT mean comparing it to your previous hands.

What to Buy for Home Poker

How much you want to spend on your game is up to you. You can buy a deck of cards and plastic chips for under $10 at your local Target or Wal-Mart. But if you are going to host a regular game, it’s worth investing in some nice chips, cards, and even a table.

A number of local retailers sell nice chips that are thick, and feel like the chips you use at the casino. The best way to buy chips in my opinion is online. I've checked prices at a number of local retailers, and even the one who claimed to have the lowest prices in town could not beat the deals that are available online. The best can be found on Ebay. Just type in “poker chips” and you can easily find a set to your liking. You should be able to get a great set for around $100 or even less, depending on chip style and quantity.

In terms of cards, the best in my opinion are KEM. I paid $20 for a set of two decks three years ago at a local mall. I still have the set, and while it has been used countless times, the cards seem like new. $20 may sound a bit steep for cards, but the quality is what you pay for. A nice set of cards are more enjoyable to play with as well -- they are the same kind that are used at many casino card rooms, and have a nicer feel than the $.99 deck than you could buy at the gas station. Another very durable set are A-Plus playing cards, which are similarly priced.

If you want to go all out, you can invest in a poker table. These are available online too. Ebay has a wide array to choose from, or simply do a search for “poker tables,” and you’ll find many retailers who carry them. You might also find poker tables at specialty stores in your area. Prices range from about $150 on up to several thousand.

Another option: Buy a felt that you can use to cover the table. This is a great way to create a poor man’s poker table, and substantially cheaper. Either a felt or poker table makes a great investment. You’ll see there is a huge difference between playing on a regular table than playing on a felted table. A felted surface makes it much easier to shuffle cards and chips, and makes for a more enjoyable game.

Additional Etiquette. Finally, a few words on etiquette if you are invited to a game, to increase the likelihood that you will be invited back.

Always offer to bring something. Not doing so is, simply, rude. If someone is hosting a game, offer to bring some beverages or snacks. You don’t have to spend a bundle, it’s just a matter of being courteous to the host.

Don’t take it upon yourself to light up a heater unless you know it’s okay to do so. In theory, poker, beer, and stogies all go together. If it’s your home, that’s one thing, but if you’re going to another’s house (especially if they have a family) it’s not very polite to assume you can light up.

Also, know when to leave. This may sound obvious, but many people just don’t get the hint. The “last hand” becomes “one more go-around” and then “one more hour.” Don’t imagine you can hang around for another hour after the game drinking the last two beers in the cooler, especially if the host has a family or has work in the morning.

Finally, offer to host, if you can. If the host of the game wants to host every week, fine. But it is nice to offer to host a game if you’ve been going to the same game for several weeks.

Avoiding a Bad Beat

Avoiding bad beats is one of the most important skills to learn in poker. Poker players at any level just hate it when they get a bad beat, they are are the most annoying and frustrating hands in the game! So what are they, and more importantly, how can you go about avoiding bad beats?

Well a bad beat is when you are overwhelming favorite to win a hand - but still lose. It really is a sickener as often you can lose all your chips and go out of the game on a bad beat, just because you were convinced you had the hand won.

There are two types of bad beat in the game of Texas Holdem poker - the type that you can't really do anything about and the type that can be avoided.

Here's a scenario for the first type:
You've got a pair of aces, the best possible starting hand while your only opponent left in the betting is holding a pair of fours. The flop comes A Q 4 and your opponent goes all-in. You call, you've got the best possible hand at that point. The turn is a 4 and you don't catch your ace on the river, you've just lost to four of a kind.

In this case you could not have done anything about it. There is no way you could fold your triple aces, you had the best possible hand. If you fold that you might as well take up knitting!

Here's how the second (avoidable) type of bad beat plays out:
You've got A Q and again only you and MrX are involved in the betting. This time he's low on chips and is going all in with J 9 out of desperation. You decide to call as you've got a good chance of boosting your chips and you feel he doesn't have a hand. Flop is 10 7 2 and he hits his 8 on the turn for a straight.

So how can you go about avoiding bad beats like these? Firstly you need to realize that in online poker tournaments the instances of bad beats are much higher than in real life poker in a casino or home poker game.

There are several reasons for this, but the botom line is that it comes down to the online poker player being a different breed. The average online player is far more likely to play a hand and is far more likely to be distracted by other games he's playing at the same time, or the TV, or the kids or whatever.

You need to counter this by playing a very tight poker game. Only play VERY big hands and don't get involved in any hand with more than three callers. Even pocket aces have only a slightly better than 50% chance of winning against three opponents.

So stay tight, and when you do hit a hand, bet big. You want to limit your opponents as much as possible so make a big raise and get them to fold. Avoiding bad beats is a skill that it definitely pays to learn.

Poker Etiquette

The main reason we play poker is to have fun. Some players argue that money is the actual motivation. I disagree because most people don't actually make money playing poker. Most people lose money. There are also other ways to make money, so why did we choose a risky game like poker to earn it? The answer is because poker is an enjoyable game.
Most of the time.

Every once in a while someone does something ignorant in a game that makes you want to pull your hair out. For instance, one of my pet peeves is when players don't put their highest-denomination chips in the front of their pile. Even worse though is when the guy to my right whispers, "You know what I had that last hand and actually folded?" Surprisingly, I still don't care after all the times it's been said. I used to think that was useful insight into a players pre-flop hand selection, but now I just cringe whenever a flop has a pair of twos and that guy shoots me that quick look of anticipation to let me know that he wants to tell me something after the hand is over. You had a two, huh? And folded it? Wow.

Here's TH-P's "Poker Etiquette" checklist. Please, everyone memorize it.

TOP FIVE NO-NO's

1. Do not reveal your cards while a hand is going on. While it's not against the rules (some places may give a penalty), it is at least a horrible breach of etiquette. If you were not folding, you're hand will be ruled dead. The problem is that it can give one player an advantage over another and potentially ruin a pot for someone. Even if it is an accident, you should be apologizing your ass off.

2. If you folded and your cards would have made a great hand on the flop, don't reel back in your chair or bang your hand off of the table or let your stupid jaw hang open, letting everyone know that you would have hit that flop. In fact, don't react to the cards on the board at all. Again, it can potentially ruin a pot by giving some players an advantage.

3. Don't be mean by criticizing an opponent's play, being verbally abusive to another player, or by being cocky about how good you are (or think you are). On the flip side, if someone has met those qualifications by talking directly to you, the best thing to do is just smile and agree. "Ya, I got lucky there", "I can see how I might've played that wrong", and "Oh ya, I've heard of you before, I was told to look out" are all acceptable comments that will hopefully end the discussion. Don't let the sarcasm show though.

4. Don't blame the dealer. Also, don't wing your cards at the dealer or not tip him as a result of previous bad beat. They really, actually, and truly have no control over what cards are dealt. They are just there to do their job and they deserve respect.

5. Do not talk about a hand when you aren't in it. Giving advice to a live player is actually against the rules in most places. Simply talking about the hand is also in very bad taste though. The players who are still in the hand don't want to have to listen to your noise pollution when they're trying to focus on the other live opponents. So shut yer mouth.

There are situations where a player who isn't in the hand can talk about the hand and it's universally okay.

One is in no limit when players go all-in and they are having problems counting chips and so is the dealer. Often players are flustered, having just made the biggest bet they could make and something goes wrong in the counting section of the brain. A player who doesn't have all their money at stake can often count much faster, so it is acceptable to speak up and declare their all-in.

Another instance is when a player does something like toss in an oversized chip and say "raise" but the nobody hears it and a few players call the previous bet before the bettor realizes that something went wrong. Before people start yelling, the dealer gets pissed, and the floor is called over, YOU should be the one to say that the bettor declared a raise. People are already angry at the bettor for not saying it loud enough, so they don't want to believe he actually said it. You as an unbiased third party seem a much more valid candidate to determine if the word "raise" was said than the person who said it.

Pre-Flop Strategy

Before you start betting like a madman when you get two eights in the pocket, you need to carefully consider all factors involved in solid pre-flop strategy.

The factors to consider are the number of players, how aggressive/passive the players at the table are, your bankroll, your position, and how much risk you are willing to entail.

Number of players: With 10 people in the game, it's much more likely that someone else has a strong hand in the pocket than in a short-handed game. Also, you'll need to be more cautious in larger games, as the chances of someone's pre-flop hand fitting the flop will be much better. More competition means stiffer competition.

How aggressive the players are: Assuming you've been playing with a few people for several hands, and you noticed some jackass is raising every hand pre-flop, you'll want to play tighter. Let the guy win the blinds (big deal) and nail him to the wall when you have a solid hand in the pocket pre-flop.

Your bankroll: If you have $2 left, you'll want to play extremely carefully and select one hand to bet on, hoping to get as many players involved as possible for a larger pot. You'll want to be all-in before the flop is dealt. On the flip-side, if you have $1000 at a $1/$2 table, you can take the high-risk, high-payout bets.

Your position: People in late position have the ability to influence the size of the pot much more than those in early position. This is especially true pre-flop. (see our page on position for more info)

Your tolerance for risk: Depending on your playing style, you may want to play more or less aggressively pre-flop. Players who shoot for larger pots, but don't mind a greater chance for losing a few hands will want to raise pre-flop, especially if they are in late position. Some players prefer to be as selective as possible pre-flop, grinding out a winning hand here or there. It really depends on your own style of play, and how you perceive the players around you.

You might also want to consider what cards you have in your hand. Naturally, AA is the best to start with. It helps if your hand is suited or if the cards are sequential in rank like a Seven and an Eight ("connected"). It's important to understand how your two cards hold up against other combinations of cards though.

Identifying a Cheater in Household Games

article by Texas Holdem Poker

First off, if you are playing against a true "mechanic", you're doomed. True card handlers' illegal movements are invisible to any but the trained eye, and you need to have been a part of this craft before you can identify it. Many kitchen table gamblers sometimes choose to falsify a deck of cards because of the glorified image of a "mechanic". They can deceive anyone who isn't looking and that makes them feel like a master trickster. Mastering the art of card handling is like a full-time job that has a training period of decades, though. That devotion is not something that appeals to everyone. Most cheaters depend upon some very, very basic moves that are easy to spot. Below are some basic things to look out for...

Holding-Out
This involves keep a card in your sleeve, on your lap, or anywhere that it isn't visible to other players. The card is acquired from a previous game by throwing one card directly into the muck and keeping the other one. This gives the cheating player an extra card to swap with either of his existing pocket cards. The best defense is to watch a player who keeps his pocket cards under the table, and count the deck in between games.

False Shuffles
If one knows the top or bottom card of the deck, it's not too difficult to shuffle a deck so that either or both of those cards stays at the top or bottom, while mixing up the cards in between. The easiest two types of shuffles that can be used to set the top/bottom card are the riffle shuffle (or dovetail shuffle) and the overhand shuffle. Cheaters will use these shuffles in combination, along with some false dealing to give any player certain cards. A simple way to prevent it is to make sure that another party cuts the deck before the deal. This will still give the dealer only the slight advantage of approximately knowing where the card(s) are in the deck, but this usually isn't a large enough advantage to amount to anything. After the set deck is cut, the dealer also has the advantage of knowing that the former top card of the deck is directly beneath the former bottom card after the cut. That's why we have burn cards.

Riffle Shuffle
A riffle shuffle is when one cuts a deck in twain and flutters the two sections together by applying pressure to the back of the cards while pulling up on the front with your thumb. The thumbs simultaneously release the pressure to make the cards flutter together. Then the two sections are pushed together. The way to cheat, to put it simply (because it is), is to note which half of the deck was the bottom half and which was the top half after you cut it. A handler will make sure the bottom half releases first, putting the bottom card on the bottom. One can also make the bottom half stop fluttering before the top half to make sure the top card stays on top.

Overhand Shuffle
This is the most common type of shuffling. It is when the shuffler holds the entire deck in one hand and throws or pulls part of the top of the deck into the other hand. This is done several times till the deck is completely in the opposite hand. The way to cheat involves a "transfer". In this case, the cheater will be putting the top card on the bottom of the deck, or vice versa, or both. With the first motion, they will pull away only the top card, and make sure that the rest of the cards fall on top of that card, putting the top card on the bottom. With the last few pulls, they will make sure to minimize the cards in a manner so that only the bottom card of the deck remains in the original hand. Then they'll simply throw that card (previously the bottom card) on top of the deck (now the top card).

False Deals
This is a deal where a card besides the top card is dealt. It takes a lot of practice to make it look clean and convincing, though. By practicing these deals yourself for a while, you'll become familiar with the difficulties of doing them. This will make a false deal stand out when you watch a potential cheater deal cards. We'll discuss two types, the bottom deal and the second deal.

Bottom Deal
This is the most prized trick of a gambler. It is simply dealing the bottom card of a deck instead of the top one. The term "Mechanic's Grip" refers to the particular way a deck is held when performing the bottom deal. That's when the left hand holds the left side of the deck between the heel of the hand and the tip of the second finger. The left thumb pushes out the top card in an attempt to disguise the trick deal, while the right hand makes the motions to toss out the bottom card. There are two good indicators that a card handler might be dealing from the bottom. One is that some bottom dealers use a swaying vertical motion to try and cover up the fake deal. The other is that the act of releasing the bottom card can give off a particular snapping sound. If you see or hear one of those indicators, start watching the dealer very closely.

Second Deal
This is usually used when the dealer wants to give himself the top card, so he deals the second card in the deck out to everyone else so as to not lose it. Since this requires the dealer to pull off several second deals in a row, it is not as desirable as the bottom deal. There are several ways to do it, but all of them use a telltale rocking motion with both hands to help disguise the act. Watch for it.

All of the above things are pretty basic. In fact, the false shuffles described above are so easy that even an untrained card handler could pull them off if nobody was really watching (check out this false shuffling video for a video of a non-professional doing exactly that). Always keep in mind the following rules of defense against cheating...

1. Watch the dealer habitually, just as you should be ritualistically watching players when they look at their hole cards. Make sure to watch the hands more than the cards.
2. Anyone who can do card tricks has the potential to do them in a game while dealing. If a card handler shows off some fancy tricks with the deck at any point (which they usually can't resist), then look out!
3. If a player consistently gets great hands when they deal, alarm bells should be going off in your head. Don't label a player with good luck as a cheater immediately though. Watch them. I can't say that enough

Playing Short Handed Texas Hold'em

poker article by Jonny Vincent

We've all seen it a hundred times. That annoying player who, whenever the game gets short-handed, turns into what appears to be a maniac. He's betting, he's raising, he's re-raising - and completely dominating the game. To the beginner, or to those inexperienced in short-handed play, he appears to have no idea of how to play. You wonder, 'What's he doing raising with K7 offsuit - he must have no idea!' But yet he wins - and wins well. What's his secret then?

The secret lies in one word: aggression. The short-handed player must - absolutely must - be able to play a solid aggressive game. Whilst you can do well playing passively in a full ring game, where others do the betting for you, when the game gets short-handed (five or less runners), you must be able to change your playing style and be able to bet aggressively hands you wouldn't even have considered playing in a full game. Unfortunately, if you don't, the aggressive players will run roughshod over you, controlling the betting to their advantage, and you will find your stack diminishing rapidly.

This is often bad news to poker players, as it takes them out of their comfort zone. However, it is also exciting, fun, full of action and - if one develops and hones the unique skills of short-handed play - can be extremely rewarding. Short-handed games have more variance, which means they have more risk - but with increased risks, come increased rewards.

Playing aggressively encompasses more than simply betting or raising more than you would in a full ring game. It's about knowing when you have the best hand (remember, in short-handed play, you must lower both your starting hand requirements and the hands you would take to a showdown) - and about taking advantage of those who play too conservatively. You want - through your aggressive betting - to make these people fold at incorrect times and, in doing so, incorrectly give up their equity in the pot. Roughly two out of three times, the flop won't even give you a pair. The skilled aggressive player realises this, and takes advantage of players who don't. Skilled aggressive players also know how to determine whether they are in front of their opponents, and thus when to speed up and slow down in their betting.

Russ Georgiev, one of the most skilled short-handed players I have ever had the opportunity to converse with, once gave me this piece of advice:

"Realize that anyone that waits for a hand in a short-handed situation will lose many blinds while waiting. Also, when they get involved in betting, the opposition will know they have something and will be waiting to check-raise them and trap them, or let them win the minimum. Short-handed players that win bet their own hands, they don't bet yours. You have to learn to do this yourself. The object of the game is to get the money called when you have the best of it and have free cards given to you with the worse of it. Short-handed is not a game for callers."

"Not having the opposition able to read your style is the difference between winning and losing. The key is being able to have so many different styles that the opposition doesn't know how to combat it. All shorthanded players are aggressive. But in a horse race, the speed of the speed is the one to fear. However, do you always want to be the speed, if the pace of the game is fast enough? The answer is no. The name of the game is knowing how to bet to get the most information about a players hand. Sometimes it is best to lay off the pace and punish him in the last quarter of a mile, meaning the river."

The kinds of skills Russ is talking about here can only come with practice. I can't tell you to raise with K9o from late position without knowing the texture of the game, and the styles of your opponents. Knowing when to raise, which hands to start with and which hands to stay with is something only you can learn with time. The trick to starting out is to not underestimate your hands. Simply start betting, raising and check-raising more, even occasionally when you have nothing. Don't take it too far, especially when you're just starting out, but take yourself out of your comfort zone - you might be surprised at how much fun you have whilst you are learning. And you also might be surprised at how quickly you do, indeed, learn.

If you have had any experience in short-handed play, you will already be starting to comprehend the point's I am trying make here, if not yet understanding them fully. If you don't, that's ok. As I stated before, it takes time and plenty of practice to hone your skills. I like to think I know what I'm doing in a short-handed game, but the more I play, the more I realise how many talented players there are out there and how much better I can, and must, become - it just takes dedication, hard work and confidence in yourself. Just between you and me, really excellent short-handed players absolutely carve me up. I can't compete with them!

Games of Poker: HORSE Tournaments

article by Nicole Gordon

Within the last year, H.O.R.S.E. tournaments have exploded in popularity, both live and online. The World Series of Poker added $2,500 and $5,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. events to their 2007 schedule in addition to the return of the $50K H.O.R.S.E. World Championship that debuted last summer to much success. $1,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tourneys were spread at nearly every stop on the WSOP Circuit tour this year, and top online rooms Full Tilt and Poker Stars offer over a dozen daily H.O.R.S.E. tournaments and multi-table satellites between them. Standing for Hold'em, Omaha 8 or better, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8 or better, H.O.R.S.E. is a true test of poker skill as it requires players to excel at multiple poker games in order to be successful.

Basic Strategy

The first step in becoming a successful H.O.R.S.E. player is to evaluate your own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the five different games. In today's poker climate, players will tend to have the most experience with hold'em and the least experience with the three stud games. In the early stages of play it's important to identify which games the players at your table are uncomfortable with and adjust accordingly. Are they folding their way through Omaha 8? Limp-calling too many pots in razz with weak hands? Can I steal relatively easily against their bring-in from late position in stud? These are the tools you'll need to survive the later rounds of the tournament when the blinds and antes are higher. Conversely, remember that the stronger players at your table will be taking the same kind of notes on you. Also, pay close attention to when the stud games change.

H: Hold em:
Many players will come out fast and immediately start raising pots in the first hold'em round. Typically these are the ones that are looking to get some chips in their best game so they can fold their way through their weaker ones. Pots in that first hold'em level will often be large and multi-way relative to the blinds. Of course if you flop a big hand or a big draw early, by all means, take advantage of the situation, but don't go to war against three guys with one pair just because it's limit and it's early. Save those chips... you're going to need them.

O: Omaha 8:
Omaha 8 or better is a game of playing starting hands that have a lot of potential to develop into the nuts. Look to hit a flop hard or aggressively play a big combination draw with outs to scoop both halves of the pot. There's no reason to get fancy this early. Watch for weaker opponents without much O8 experience hitchhiking along for the ride on hands with only one-way draws– they're the ones who are going to pay you off in a big way later on.

R: Razz:
Though the very mention of razz induces nausea in many a poker player, it is perhaps the most straight-forward game in the H.O.R.S.E. lineup and should be played in the same manner. Start with three cards below an eight, keep track of which low cards have been folded, and let your up-cards do the talking. If you have the best hand or the best draw, bet. If you brick and your opponent catches good, fold. Again, don't get fancy in these early rounds–just focus on accumulating chips. The first round of razz is also a good spot in the tournament to start some serious stealing. Don't forget the power of position and a low up-card even if the two you have in the hole leave something to be desired.

S: Stud:
Again, this is a round where players need to recognize their steal opportunities. The low card brings in the action in stud high, so if it's folded to you and you're sitting on a king up with a ten behind you and a 4 stuck with the bring-in, raise away. Play a good, solid game on this round and the next (stud 8). Accumulate, accumulate, accumulate. Because after that, things are going to get a little funky.

E: Stud 8:
Due to its position in the lineup, this game always comes around well into the tournament and some players will be approaching short-stack status by the time the first stud 8 round hits. Hitting the stud 8 round is also a signal that the game is about to change from the low-volatility of a split-pot game with an ante back to the high cost per round and quick pace of limit hold'em. If a player hasn't yet added significantly to his stack, this is pretty much the last level he can wait to hit a big hand.

Practice your weaker games at low limits, then think about giving a tournament a whirl. I can personally recommend the $24+2 $4,000 Guarantees that run each night on Full Tilt and the $11 H.O.R.S.E. MTTs on Poker Stars as great places to start.