Promoter suggests poker should qualify as an Olympic event
GOLD MEDAL FOR DOYLE BRUNSON! Drama! Money! Confrontation! Pressure! Characters! Poker has it all! It’s even managed to revive lounge culture. Premium spirit cocktails, well tailored suits and a game of poker all co-ordinate extremely well now on the party circuits everywhere. Plus, thanks to the stratospheric growth of the online game, over fifty per cent of all players are now openly able to admit they also frequently play poker just in their slippers. I for one am happy to participate in both activities. Barry Hearn, the famous boxing promoter and more recently one of the biggest names in poker actually intends to bring our favourite card game to the London 2012 Olympics! “This is one of the most popular sports on the planet and it deserves its place in history! It’s a damn sight more entertaining than synchronised swimming, that’s for sure!” Steady on, Barry. You’ll give yourself a Hearn-ia. But the man’s right. The Olympics would be the final accolade for the poker phenomenum we’ve seen building over these last few years. You can almost hear Baddiel and Skinner leading a rousing rendition of “Three Aces on Yer Shirt!” from the back of the stadium. Just in case you think it’s all hype and Bazzer’s just beating his own drum, here’s a statistic that’ll change your mind: The most popular searches on the internet are as follows: Paris Hilton, Pamela Anderson, Britney Spears and P-O-K-E-R! (Source: Lycos)
ADVANCED POKER TIP If you’re in a short-handed game with players who don’t know you, a favourite scam is the delayed bluff. A delayed bluff is the act of calling a bet when your hidden agenda is to bluff on a later card. For example. You delay your bluff by checking on a spooky flop with the intention of stealing the pot at the turn. The calculated risk you are taking is that the free card generated may assist your opponent to improve his or her hand. The tactic works better in no-limit Hold’em and is profitable on a majority of occasions. The reason is most opponents will hesitate to call a large bet on the turn unless they have a truly premium hand because they will naturally be concerned it’s exactly what you’re holding and that by digging in against you they risk being put all-in on the river.
