WSOP Final Table

Currently watching the super delayed telecast of world series of poker on ESPN. I can feel the tension happening at Rio Las Vegas, Nevada even though I’m not there. 😀
The stakes are high since it is the final table of the main event for 2011. It’s now heads up for the championship bracelet between Martin Staszko from Czech Republic and Pius Heinz from Germany.
I was rooting for Anton Makiievskyi in 8th and Eoghan O’ Dea in 6th but they didn’t make it to the top 3.
Watching how Heinz was struggling with his chips, you’ll wonder how he managed to take home the $8.7M and the bracelet.
It is really a moment of frustration for everyone watching as the commentator mentioned.
Did Heinz just winked at Staszko and Staszko smiled back? or maybe it was just a smile of a “what a tough game you’re playing”. 😀
Moment of truth 1: Heinz all in
Heinz doubled up with AQ heart suited winning by a high card against Q9 club suited, which left Staszko to be short stacked by 44M.
Moment of truth 2: Staszko all in
With 10 7 club suited, Staszko raised all in and Heinz called with AK club suited. The flop: 5c 2d 9s the turn: Jh and the river: 4d giving Pius Heinz the WSOP champion bracelet, making him the first 22-year-old champion from Germany.

By the way, I like Heinz’ jacket. ahahaha

Congrats and great game Pius and Martin!!

Wow, the replay of the november nine table will be aired on Sunday at 8:00 pm PST (Philippine Time) courtesy of ESPN. Need to set my alarm for that. 😀

A game of Poker

Poker for me is a game of wits, chance and luck which I first learned last year. It was introduced to me by my officemates because they are talking about it and I also got curious. Poker is a card game where 2 or more people can play. The rules are simple, just beat the hand of your opponent and the pot money is yours, but beating your opponent (not literally) needs a lot of skills.

It is important that you know the basics of the game, if not please do some research, but knowing how the game is played is not enough. There are other skills that you must have or else you need to develop them.

1. Be emotionless

You need to stay firm. Your actions or your face can give a lot of clue to your opponents, sometimes hand gestures also give signs if you’re bluffing or you have a strong hand.

2. Be aggressive

Bet high if you have the guts to do it even though you have a weak hand. Intimidate your opponents, because if you got intimidated first, you can’t tell if your opponent is only bluffing.

3. Study or if possible, read the mind of your opponent

Look for signs from your opponents. Sometimes they show habits that they do whenever their hand is weak, this can be seen how they bet the chips during live games, or the cheeks shake if they get excited, which can mean their hand is strong.

4. Know when to hold ’em or fold ’em

After carefully judging your opponents actions and also reflecting on how you bet, you should be able to tell whether to fold or to hold.

5. A lot of luck

Of course, you also need a lot of luck for times where you can’t determine those mentioned above.

These are just my opinions. 😀 It is still up to you how you will play a hand, whether to FOLD or to HOLD.