NEED CHEERING UP? If you’ve been having a run of bad luck, you’ll be pleased to hear that Poker has its very own humourist. His name is Dave Cinch and he’s spent a lot of time developing his sense of fun whilst gambling on the famous Mississippi river. Dave’s world is peopled by amusing gaming characters like “Frankie Four Bets” and institutions like the “Church for Latter Day Suckers”. If you hit a bad beat, type his name into Google and if he can’t cheer you up it might be time to take up chess.
UNDERSTANDING “OUTS” The term and concept of “outs” can seem rather foreign to a new player. It is important that “outs” are understood because failure to grasp what they represent makes it impossible for you to calculate your odds when taking important decisions. Let’s see if we can put it in a simple context. Suppose your hole cards are both spades and there are two spades among the community cards. This means there are nine potential spades “out” there which could enhance your hand and give you a flush. Let’s assume your hole cards are the king and queen of spades and you have the feeling another king might also give you the winning hand if you fail to make your flush. This would mean your hand now has twelve potential “outs”: The nine remaining spades and the three remaining kings.
PONDEROUS POKER PAINS Those of us who were playing poker in live games before online poker invaded the gaming Universe will recall the aggravation (still often experienced in social bricks and mortar games) of the player who decides he needs to ponder whether or not to fold a pair of twos for twelve minutes while everyone else at the table wishes he would die, hopefully in agony, but quickly. The advent of “timing out” with online poker I rate as important as the invention of pace makers in terms of reducing stress related heart attacks. I’m now so hooked on fast paced decision making that I’ve been involving myself in the testing of “Speed Poker” where you only have 15 seconds to make each and every decision. Two dealers support just six players to produce non stop poker action and an amazing amount of hands per hour. It’s like making the transition from the Monte Carlo rally in a Morris Minor to the Indie 500 in an eight litre Chevvy running on vodka and nitro. The brainchild of Australian Keith “Bendigo” Sloan, “Speed Poker” has really taken hold on TV screens in Oz this year making its appearance at the famous Aussie Millions event. Next to lager and surfing on crocodiles, it’s becoming Down Under’s favourite pastime.
