Poker Strategy archive

I liked this article. I would think it would only be a strategy to be tried when you have established a very tight table image, not something that you could get to work with any type of regularity, but could be used as a now and then approach to getting some aggressive players to drop from a hand. What are your thoughts?

The Squeeze Play
Lee Markholt
January 6th, 2010

In tournaments, you should always be looking for ways to pick up chips. You can’t just sit around waiting for Aces or Kings and hope to double up when you do. One of the best and most popular ways for adding chips to your stack is by implementing what’s known as the squeeze play.

A typical squeeze play works like this: an active and aggressive player raises in late position, and he’s called by another player on the button. You’re in the blinds and you have to decide what to do.

There’s no real indication yet that anyone has a particularly strong hand. The aggressive player could be raising with a wide range of hands, and the call from the button could mean a lot of things. He may have a medium strength hand, or he may be pretty weak and just looking to play post-flop with favorable position.

At this point, a big re-raise from the blinds effectively squeezes the original raiser who is between you and the player on the button. Your aggressive re-raise gives you a great chance of taking down the pot right there.

It used to be that good players used the squeeze play occasionally. It was just one of the many tools they used from time to time. But recently, the squeeze play has become extremely popular. Sometimes it seems that pretty much any time there’s a raise and a call, there’s a player in the blinds looking to squeeze.

I prefer to be a little more selective when initiating a squeeze. I like to have a hand that can hit a flop if I run into a decent hand and get called. In my experience, suited connectors are good hands to squeeze with.

I think the squeeze is most effective when you have a tight table image. When you’ve been playing actively and aggressively the other players at the table are less likely to give you credit for a big hand and will call you down.

You can try the squeeze in ring games, but it’s really most effective in tournaments. When players have to fear for their tournament lives, they’re far more likely to fold in marginal situations.

If you haven’t been using the squeeze play, you should try working it into your tournament game. Start out by squeezing selectively and wait for opportunities where the players, cards and your table image give you the best chance of winning the pot.

WARNINGThis is least effective early and most effective late. There is no way it works in the first 10 blind rounds, but as you approach the bubble it becomes very effective. If you hit you are going to get paid. I was recently the victim of a rather well executed squeeze by another player with suited connectors in the BB. It doesn't work to well early in my experience because less experienced/poor players tend to call anything. These players usually get weeded out after about 10 blind rounds and the more experienced players are more likely to lay down there hand when a good squeeze is played. If you have played tight it can be pulled off pretty easily. Remember, before you do this, it only works right if the opponents your up against have been on your table a while and have seen your tight play. If you just got moved to another table you can't try it.

WARNING Remember, before you do this, it only works right if the opponents your up against have been on your table a while and have seen your tight play. If you just got moved to another table you can't try it.

Dan Harrington
has a very "tight" image
and can pull it off at times

there are many vids out there
showing him pulling it off

I like to play single table sit n goes, but it seems that when I play tight, I end up being short stacked with 4 or 5 players to go. I end up having to push with a weaker hand than I would prefer, but don't want to die without a fight. So unless I get lucky early, I'm usually playing desperate at the end. So I started playing looser early in the tourney, especially in late pos. and when I can get in for cheap, and hope to hit something not so obvious, which usually leads to a big pot. I have had success both ways, but then get discouraged when I have a bad streak. I haven't been playing forever, so how long can a bad streak last, or how long before maybe its just bad play on my part. I've gone from winning 10 bucks in a fr, turning it into over a grand, and back to nothin, all in less than 2 months. During losing streak, I got very tight, always went deep into tourn but always short stacked near bubble, and usually got knocked out by a big stack with a lesser starting hand. Anyway, just wanted to see what more experienced players thought about this.

I like to play single table sit n goes, but it seems that when I play tight, I end up being short stacked with 4 or 5 players to go. I end up having to push

To quote Chris Ferguson "never, ever give up". I don't mind being the short stack. Short stack poker is one of my best games. If you have chips your in the fight. I never ever give up. I see so many times people push with bad hands and out they go. Sure I get blinded off some times but not too often. You have to fight it out to the last chips and its hard to be patient and pick your spots with a short stack and the blinds crushing you but that is exactly what you must do. The up side is you only need one hand to get you back in shape.

The Basics of Rush Poker
Howard Lederer
February 2nd, 2010

Full Tilt Poker recently released a revolutionary new form of online poker: Rush Poker*. If you’re not familiar with the game, I encourage you to give it a try. Instead of the players sitting in a 6 or 9-handed game, they are seated in a game that has up to 2,000 players in it. All players are seated at a normal table, but as soon as you decide to fold, instead of waiting for the hand to finish and playing the next hand against the same players, you are immediately seated with a different group of players and play your next hand. This allows players to play around 300 hands per hour instead of the usual 80.

The excitement level isn’t the only thing that makes this game different than normal online poker. Playing against a different group of players each hand means you will need to make a few other adjustments to your normal ring-game strategy to succeed at Rush Poker*.

One big mistake that is tempting to make is to play too tight, waiting for only premium hands. It easy to find yourself folding any marginal hand, as you will have a chance to get a monster the next hand with no waiting. But, you must not forget that you’re still paying blinds. And if you tighten up your starting requirements too much, those blinds with eat away at your stack. In fact, I would suggest that opening a few speculative hands (like suited connectors in middle to late positions) is a good way to try to steal a few blinds. However, you should give any 3-bet a lot of respect. Players won’t be as likely to 3-bet light when a new hand is just seconds away.

One habit that is harder to break is playing off a table image. In Rush Poker*, you don’t have one. Just because you have stolen a few blinds lately, doesn’t mean you should be worried your opponents are aware of it. In fact, they have no way of knowing, as they weren’t seated with you when you were making those steals. If you just slow played a big pair, don’t be afraid to try it again next time. Instead of worrying about protecting your table image, you should be ruthlessly exploiting basic strategy and punishing what should be the more predictable hand ranges of your opponents.

Playing good poker is all about making the proper adjustments to your strategy, given different playing conditions. Rush Poker* presents very different conditions than a regular ring game, so making the proper adjustments will be a must. Make those adjustments, and you’ll find yourself having a lot of success while you have loads of fun playing the fastest game on the Internet.

Now I know that most of you have been here and heard this but as poker has exploded onto the pop culture scene more and more people are rolling up stake and heading to Vegas and, like investors believing in the Enron stock, they end up wasting money thinking because they know the difference between a straight and a flush they are all of a sudden Doyle Brunson or Phil Ivey. Very few can easily pick up the game of poker and become an almost instant success and even then they hit the wall once or twice. My suggestion to all new players and some players who have been playing for months and cant seem to go anywhere as far as skill level, grad Super System and read the NL Holdem section and then apply what you learn to the play money Sit and Go's on Pokerstars or whereever you play online and practice and when you beat the low level SnG's go up a level and then so on and so forth until you think its real money time.

The next lesson for the beginners will be a solid hand selection for NL Holdem and how to play them.

Ok lesson two is rather short due to the subject but its a two parter. New players will usually look at any hand with a face card or two or even two suited cards like K-2 and play them hoping to hit the flush. There are only 6 hands that new players should play in most situations in any cash game or tourney until they understand the complexities of position and pot odds and outs, both are later lessons. I advise that new players try to stick to these 6 hands to make some money in these events: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK suited, and AK offsuit. Im sure most players new and old will read this thinking why not 10's,9's,8's and the other pairs and suited connectors (two cards of the same suit and and consecutive order)? Well be it personal experiecnce is the best teacher, but new players go broke more often on pocket pairs either because they over value or under value them in most situations. Same with suited connectors and flush draws. Now dont think Im some yahoo or a wanna be genius Im just passing on what Ive been taught from other people and experience and if you have and comments or disagreements feel free to post them

Very good suggestion, But many beginners including my self some how feel the need to make that first deposit once you win a few times. Well all now how that goes. It goes fast don't blink. My first few months of playing was pretty lucky. Lost my whole first deposit in a weekend. But all the post here have helped me to realise my right size. Had I read this back then it coul have saved me some money.

Who can control the cards that randomly come out of the deck😟😟

Cash games are considered the most profitable form of poker available because of the fact that you can make a decent hourly rate here. Plus skilled players can push their edge over hours and hours of play to make consistent money. Of course, the key word here is ‘skilled’ players, which means that it takes talent to eventually become a good cash game player. That being said, here are a few cash game poker tips that will help you improve in cash game strategy.
Tip #1: Realize that all Stakes play Differently

In your overall approach to cash games, you need to realize that players at different stakes play differently as a whole. For instance, a 4X the big blind preflop raise might make most $1/$2 No-Limit Hold’em players fold, but it won’t make the average $0.01/$0.02 NLHE player fold. This being the case, every time you enter new stakes, you’re going to be re-learning the finer points of how to beat these limits. Sure basic strategy concepts such as pot odds and implied odds still apply, but profiling players and other details will be different.
Tip #2: Isolate Players with Premium Hands

When you have great preflop hands, you need to isolate other players to take advantage of these opportunities. After all, it’s hard to earn a lot of money with pocket kings if you’re seeing the flop with two or three other players. So you need to isolate players before the flop by making a bet just big enough to force others to fold, yet small enough to where one player will call. This is of course easier when you understand Tip #1 better, but an example of isolating an opponent preflop would include making a 4X the big blind bet when you had pocket aces.
Tip #3: The Right Play is Always Right

In poker tournaments you only have one chip stack, which means that sometimes making the correct play isn’t always correct. For example, if you are on the bubble with just 700 chips and you’ve got good pot odds to chase a flush draw, it still isn’t in your best interests to do so because it’s too risky. However, in cash games you can just rebuy with more chips if you bust out while chasing a favorable draw. In short, the idea in cash games is to make the right play over and over again (positive expected value) to earn long-term profits.
Tip #4: Give Players Bad Odds to Call

While you want to have favorable pot odds and implied odds when calling yourself, you should give opponents bad odds to call when you’ve got the advantage. To illustrate how this works, let’s assume that you hold As-Th on a board of Ac-7h-Jc, and your opponent is chasing a flush draw. If the pot is 150 chips, you should make a raise of at least 150 chips because your opponent will have 3:1 pot odds. Seeing as how they have 4:1 odds of hitting a flush on the turn, it’s a bad decision for them to call, and you would profit long-term if they make this call.

Online poker has come a long way since its mainstream introduction over a decade ago. Once an industry where a player might have to wait for an hour for real money action, now there are a multitude of online poker sites where you can compete immediately on a nearly limitless number of tables.

In today's online poker world, a player who is willing to put in the time and study different types of poker software and services can gain many advantages. Basically, if a person does not take advantage of these services, he or she could be placed at a disadvantage. One of these services available is the ability to purchase hand histories and incorporate them into your own database. This article will focus on using data mining to improve your win rate at the online poker tables.

Note: Purchasing hand histories may violate the terms and conditions of your favorite online poker site, so do your due diligence first.

If you're in the market to buy hand histories, PokerSoftware recommends visiting PokerTableRatings.com, where you can purchase them in bulk. Buying hand histories immediately provides a player with knowledge of his or her opponents that otherwise would not be available.

For example, if you gain access to 10 million hand histories on PokerStars, it's as if you actually saw those 10 million hands played; you’ll have detailed statistics on every single opponent who was involved in them. You can use the hand histories to determine stats like pre-flop raise, continuation bet, fold to three-bet, aggression factor, and much more. There are a few important things to keep in mind when purchasing online poker hand histories. First, you want to find a service that will not sell you repeated or incomplete hand histories. Another thing you want to be sure of is that the hand histories you purchase are fully compatible with poker tracking programs. With the click of the mouse, you can import your newly acquired hand histories into those databases and immediately begin increasing your profits.

It's like having a professional read on all of the regulars and you'll see many instances where you have information on a thousand (or more) recent hands that specific opponents have played, which will guide your decisions at the tables and increase your earnings.

There aren't many drawbacks to using online poker hand histories nowadays. There are online poker players who do not believe this service should be available for ethical reasons, but the fact that hand histories are publicly available means that those who are purchasing them could have an enormous advantage over players who aren't. There are simply too many statistics and too much information on your opponents that you could be missing.

Our poker strategy section features various tutorials, reference pages, and specific situational tips to help improve any area of your game. While you may already be a winning player, chances are that continuing you poker education will help plug any potential leaks that are keeping you from making as much money as you could. The following strategy articles contain lessons learned from our personal experiences at the table - both online and offline. Mostly, we like to give frustrated online players the tools necessary to extract the most profit from the loose-aggressive games that have become staples of the poker explosion.

Online poker guide with tips, strategy and information

A bad beat is when you lose a hand that, statistically, you really should have won. For example if you’re holding quad tens and someone else happens to hit quad jacks or anything better, that’s a bad beat. If you’ve ever played poker online or at a casino, you’ve probably been dealt a bad beat or have witnessed one firsthand.
Qualifying Bad Beat Jackpot Hands

The bad beat jackpot is awarded when quad 8′s or better gets beaten
Both Cards in the players hand must play in order to be eligible for the jackpot

Payout Structure

30% goes to the loser of the hand
20% to the winner of the hand
10% is divided amongst the other players at the table
30% goes to the reseed of the next jackpot
10% of the gross jackpot goes to the house

In order to qualify for a percentage of the table payout split the players sitting at the table must have played one hand where a contribution to the BBJP was made.
Tables and Percentage Breakdown

Stakes % of Jackpot Awarded Fee

$0.10 $0.20 20% $.10
$0.25 $0.50 50% $.25
$0.50 $200 and $400 100% $.50



(General rules and conditions apply.) :dirol

The pro-pokie lobby headed by Clubs NSW has unsurprisingly come out swinging against last week's announcement by the Australian Greens that they support the introduction of a $1 maximum bet for poker machines, together with maximum prizes capped at $500 and the introduction of a $20 'load-up'.

Source: Why $1 pokies are a good idea - The Drum Opinion (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

I'd like to share with you a recent e-mail I received from a regular visitor who is fairly new to No Limit Hold’em and was wondering about how to choose the most profitable games. Here’s a snippet:

“Are ring games more profitable than SnG's? Or are tourneys the way to go? What I'm specifically asking for is what do you do personally do to make a consistent profit?”

This is a simple, fair, and essential question. Where is the most money at in online poker? As an amateur poker philosopher and semi-cryptic writer, I’m afraid that I must avert a simple answer and respond by saying “Well, it depends,” and launch into a full-blown article on the subject…

Before the recent boom in poker’s popularity, the choices of poker games were relatively limited in spectrum. If you were lucky, your local casino might have a poker room spreading small fixed-limit games of Hold’em, Stud, and Omaha. Tournaments were unpopular, few, and far between. You played limit cash games if you wanted to play regularly and that was about it.

These days, with the explosion of online poker we have the choice of sitting down at a cash game, multi-table tournament, or Sit ‘n Go at a whim. Of course, we all wonder where we can make the most money. You definitely should experiment with all 3 main forms of online poker, but I think that certain personalities and styles of play lend themselves to profit in different forms. Someone might be excellent at No Limit cash games but struggle in multi-table tournaments yet someone else might consistently make money at high-stakes Sit ‘n Gos only. One can never make a broad statement that any game is more profitable than another, but they certainly will be for each individual player. Let’s take a look at each game:

Cash Games: This is the basic form of poker. You sit down at the table with cash, exchange them for chips, and play for real money. You can leave the table any time you like. In terms of Hold’em, it is played most commonly as Fixed Limit or No Limit. In my opinion, selectively aggressive players can make the most money over the long run in No Limit cash games, especially when we’re talking about online poker. Online players make so many mistakes that you can make a consistent profit just by playing a solid, no-nonsense game, waiting for strong starting cards, and punishing the live ones at the table.

The most successful professional players in terms of profit (think Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese, Phil Ivey, etc.) mostly play cash games. While the top professionals might be playing for stakes that make our noses bleed the same principles apply to our games. There is a greater long-term skill factor in cash games than tournaments. Anyone can have a lucky tournament, but no one can survive for long in cash games without a skill advantage. There is no pressure to battle the blinds in cash games or situations where you have to gamble on a coin-flip just to stay alive. You can always reach into your pocket for more money if you get broke or you can simply wait for a good starting hand to come along before you risk your money.

Since you asked me personally, my preferred moneymaker is the No Limit Hold’em cash game. This is certainly how I make most of my profit, but that may be different for you or any other player. I like No Limit cash games because I can be patient, play my own game, and often win a lot of money off of reckless players in a short amount of time. In a typical evening, I’ll feel satisfied if I leave a game with a profit of 50-100+ Big Blinds. Sometimes that happens in 45 minutes, sometimes in 6 hours, or sometimes not at all. It’s my game of choice because I can buy in as much as I like, leave anytime I like, buy in again if I run into a bad beat, and wait for the right situation as long as I need to. You can’t really do that in tournaments.

Sit ‘n Gos: These are one-table tournaments with typically 9 or 10 players. Usually, the top 3 pay out with the winner receiving half of the prize pool. Again, selectively aggressive players can do well in Sit ‘n Gos by changing gears and avoiding trap hands early in the event. While Sit ‘n Go strategy is the topic for another article, again once you really understand the structure of these events and adapt your play accordingly, you should be able to finish in the money at least 6 or 7 times out of 10. That is definitely a consistent profit and there are plenty of folks earning a living on middle-stakes Sit ‘n Gos. Super-aggressive players may not fare well in these events over the long run as most online opponents are either unbluffable or not intimidated by reckless play.

Multi-table tournaments: This has been the fuel to the poker fire as of late. Whether you watch the WPT, WSOP, or every other poker television show besides GSN’s High-Stakes Poker it’s a multi-table tournament. Anyone can enter, receive their starting chips, and play until just one collects them all. The most money might be in the largest side games, but the glory is in tournament play. Personally, I find it most difficult to win consistently in these events. There is a much higher luck factor involved in multi-table tourneys than the other two main forms of games.



Tight players don’t usually fare much better than near the bubble and, unfortunately for them, the real money in tournaments is in the top 3. Aggressive players are generally better suited for tournaments. Hyper-aggressive players who go out in last place 9 out of 10 times but finishing 1st once in every 10 tries are usually doing quite well for themselves. Tournaments are fun and you can certainly become great at them, but be prepared to lose a lot more times than you win. Hopefully, you occasionally make that huge score.


So, what is the most profitable way to play poker? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer for that question. It’s going to depend on what type of game you’re most suited for and everyone may have a different answer. T

If you’re like me, your typical online poker session will look something like this: tables on one or two monitors, internet browser on another monitor, music playing, and the television on. That’s one of the things that makes online poker so grand. You can play and do whatever else you want at the same time, provided you can stay connected to the internet.

With all of that, though, comes a problem. Many of us opt to pay attention to everything else in the room when we aren’t in a hand rather than maintaining our focus on the game. Our poker session might be more enjoyable, but the quality of our play might suffer. Knowing this, I make a conscious effort to observe my opponents at all times. Here are some of the things I observe.

Speed of Action

This is something that can be observed while actively participating in a hand, but is easier to focus on it after you fold. Since I can’t actually see my opponents thinking about their actions, I like to determine if there is any consistency to how long it takes for them to act, especially pre-flop. Players on the extreme ends of the spectrum – those who act instantly and those who tend to use every bit of the clock – are usually good targets for blind stealing.

Someone who acts within a millisecond, usually via the auto-fold button, very often has something else going on at the same time. Thus, he’s not making complicated pre-flop decisions. You’ll often be able to raise him off his blinds, but if he calls or raises, you will know he usually has a legit hand since he didn’t check the “Fold to Any Bet” button. Similarly, someone who takes forever to act pre-flop on virtually every hand is probably multi-tabling. He is distracted by his other tables and will not bother analyzing your move enough to sniff out a blind steal. This player may also simply have a bad internet connection, which is another reason not to give him a chance to check while his connection recovers.

Not Afraid of Commitment

Looking at pre-flop action timing is simple enough and doesn’t really take that much concentration. But when it comes to how certain people play specific hands, we need to be more observant, and for longer. The first people I try to pick out are those who over-commit to strong hands early on. I look for those players who have something like A-K or A-Q flop top pair and decide that’s the nuts. Or someone who thinks there’s no way he can lose when he has an overpair to the board. As you may figure, people who over-commit to solid hands early are great candidates for a slowplay if you hit the flop hard. You can just let them hang themselves.

Of course, you will want to try to keep track of your opponents to see who slowplays sets, chases draws, and so on, but for me, the ones who start spewing with top pair or an overpair are the easiest to spot. They also tend to be more consistent in their style of play, making reads on them more reliable.

Table Personality

If studying individual opponents could be considered the micro view of the table, then studying the table as a single entity could be considered the macro view. Understanding how certain opponents play helps me steal blinds and make more informed decisions when I am engaged in hands with them, but understanding their collective tendencies can help me practice intelligent hand selection, setting me up for further gains as I see flops, turns, and rivers.

At some tables, I might see that my fellow players love action. They are there to gamble. In these cases, it is best for me to be more selective with my starting hands and look to destroy the flop. If people are going to toss their chips around willy-nilly, I only want to be involved when I have them beat. Chasing draws is not a good idea at a table like this, as the price of hope is too high.

On the other side of the coin, a passive table can be run over. If it is tight pre-flop, blinds can be stolen. If it is loose pre-flop with lots of limpers, I can widen my starting hand requirements and have greater success betting people out of the pot after the flop.

Again, like I noted earlier, all of these observations can be made at any time while you are playing. It is during your down time after you have folded that you will have the best opportunity to spot trends and patterns.

Known to be one of the most enticing, alluring and interesting games that are commonly offered or available at legalized gaming establishments such as casinos, poker is a challenging game that people can play not just to enhance their money but also to enjoy their spare or leisure time. Aside from playing the game in casinos, players can also play the game in informal settings because all players need to have are poker chips, poker card and a poker table. As soon as they have them all, they can start playing the game right away.

For people who have long-term plans of establishing a career in poker, it is advisable that they participate or engage in actual poker games because they open new doors for players to display their skills and at the same time have the chance to enhance their bankroll. However, before engaging in actual games, it is best that they explore and study the most effective poker strategies to at least be confident when they encounter professionals and advance players.

According to professionals, there are some aspects of the game that they should consider to successfully employ poker strategies. Poker odds, implied odds and poker probabilities are some of the elements of poker that players should know because most professionals based the strategies that they use in the game on these concepts. Deception and position are also important the success of poker players.

The appropriate timing for raising, folding and calling is significant to gain advantages over other players and increase their chance of getting the pot or improve the payouts that they will receive at the end of the game. Having knowledge about the different playing styles used by players in poker are also essential to have an edge. In addition, hand reading, poker tells, table impressions and profiling opponents will surely help players succeed or win their games.

There are other poker strategies that are available to players. All players should do is to learn and follow them because these strategies will surely help them improve their profits from playing poker. Players should also consider the variation of the game that they will play because some of the general strategies of poker are not applicable with other poker variations.

Above all, players can refer to poker books and instructional videos because they serve as tools to enhance their chances in the game. With the use of books and videos that discuss and demonstrate the most reliable poker strategies, players will be more competent when they get the chance to play in real games.

Traditionally, on a 10th anniversary, you give tin or aluminum. In modern society, it's diamonds. We're not sure what sort of tin gift online poker giant PokerStars could use, and we definitely don't have the cash for diamonds. A simple congratulations is going to have to do. With PokerStars' 10th anniversary coming up, we decided to take a look back at the past 10 years in the company's history and bring you our top 10 moments.
10. The Mysterious "Isildur1" Signs with PokerStars; High-Stakes Cash Games Increase

In 2010, all eyes were on PokerStars for the unveiling of the enigmatic Isildur1, the high-stakes cash game wizard. The site announced Isildur1's signing as a Team Pro in December, but didn't reveal his identity, instead creating hype around the SuperStar Showdown promotion.

One month later, at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, it was revealed that Isildur1 was in fact, Viktor Blom (not really a huge mystery to most). With the signing of Blom, high-stakes cash game action blossomed on PokerStars and continues to reign even now.
9. PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Launches in 2004

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is a staple on the European Poker Tour, but in 2004, when the event was first held, it was a stop on the World Poker Tour. Each year, the PCA field has grown in size and the event in 2011 smashed all previous PCA records. The 2012 PCA boasts 41 events including a super high roller. We imagine that records will be broken in January.
8. PokerStars Sets World Record of Largest Online Poker Tournament of All Time

In July 2009, PokerStars set the record for largest online poker tournament: 65,000 players showing up for the $1 buy-in event. Five months later, the record was broken — by PokerStars. A staggering 149,196 players entered the event.

Why not up the ante again?

PokerStars is attempting to break its own record yet again. On Dec. 4, 2011, PokerStars will hold another $1 tournament with a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000 in an attempt to attract a field of over 150,000. Will it happen? We'd bet on it.
7. The Big Game Premiers on Network Television

Everyone was already familiar with the World Series of Poker on ESPN when the PokerStars Big Game premiered. The Big Game, however, was on network television giving millions the opportunity to catch poker action and see how their favorite pros fared. On top of that, PokerStars added the element of the Loose Cannon, giving an amateur poker player the chance to play with the pros and win some serious money. The concept was well-received by viewers and by pros on the show.
6. PokerStars Kicks Off Season 1 of the European Poker Tour in Barcelona

Season 1 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour kicked off in Barcelona in September 2004. The first EPT schedule included seven stops, many of which are still on the (much larger) circuit today. Not only did the EPT grow into a mammoth tour, but it opened the doors for tours like the Latin American Poker Tour, the Asia Pacific Poker Tour, and all of the subtours we're familiar with today, giving players around the world access to superior tournaments and loads of money.
5. Sunday Million Launches in 2006

In 2006, PokerStars introduced us to the Sunday Million. That event attracted 5,893 players, creating a prize pool of $1,178,600. Five years later, the Sunday Million attracted its largest field — 59,128, generating a prize pool of $11,825,600. It's a "can't miss" tournament, attracting pros worldwide. The Sunday Million even has its own weekly PokerStars.tv show, hosted by Nick Wealthall and David Tuckman.
4. World Championship of Online Poker Launches in 2002

The World Championship of Online Poker had its debut in 2002, and has grown into the biggest online tournament series around. Each year, entries increase and the prize pools get bigger and bigger. In 2002, there were nine events on the WCOOP schedule and $730,000 was guaranteed throughout the series. In 2011, PokerStars held 62 WCOOP events and boasted $47 million in total guarantees. 'Nuff said.
3. Daniel Negreanu Signs with PokerStars

He wasn't the first Team PokerStars Pro, even though he is the most recognizable. Daniel Negreanu signed with Team PokerStars Pro in June 2007. He joined the already established Pro roster of Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Joe Hachem and Vanessa Rousso, just to name a few. Negreanu has gone on to become one of the most recognized names in poker and is pretty much the face of PokerStars.
2. PokerStars Quickly Handles Repayment of Funds to U.S. Players After Black Friday; Continues to Be Largest Online Poker Site in the World

The world of every online poker player in the U.S. came crashing down on April 15, 2011. The U.S. Department of Justice had seized the domain names of the top three online poker sites in the U.S. Poker players everywhere were scrambling to find out the latest information and make sure their bankrolls were secure.

Even though the online poker sites were under duress, PokerStars worked quickly to ensure that U.S. players' bankrolls were paid out, and prove why it was one of the top-ranked sites, and continues to be so today.
1. Chris Moneymaker Parlays $39 PokerStars Satellite Win into $2.5 Million WSOP Main Event Win

Chris Moneymaker. Would we all be where we are today if the amateur poker player from Tennessee hadn't parlayed his $39 satellite win into poker immortality? We don't know, but it's probably safe to say things would be at least a little bit different.

The funny thing about aggression in poker is that sometimes it can have beneficial consequences you didn't even anticipate. You should always know whether a bet you're making is for the purpose of gaining value or bluffing, but sometimes one accidentally becomes the other.

In the 2011 World Poker Tour Championship, I found myself against friend and successful stock trader Randy Dorfman, who's had excellent results in high-stakes tournaments recently, including a final table at the Aussie Millions and a win in the $5,000 event at the L.A. Poker Classic. It's so comforting to see the rich get richer.

It was Day Two of play and I began the hand with $60,000 in chips against his stack of over twice as much. The blinds were $500-$1,000 with a $100 ante, and when it folded to me two off the button I raised to $2,500 with Ks Qs. Randy called right behind me, and after everyone else folded, we saw a flop of 2d 4d Qh. I led for $2,800 with my top pair, and Randy called.

The turn brought the 10h, adding the second flush draw on the board. I still believed there were many hands in Randy's range that would call both a flop and turn bet, including QJ, JJ, 99, 88 and draws with a high amount of outs. To get value from these holdings, I bet $7,200 on the turn. Randy seemed uncertain but elected to call.

The river was a 2h, which completed the backdoor flush draw but missed the one that had been there since the flop, and also made a flopped set less likely. Against players who love to call with draws and then bluff when they miss, this river is clearly a check because you want to give your opponent a chance to bluff with hands that have missed, like a diamond flush draw.

However, I thought it was more likely that Randy had a hand with showdown value that would consider calling a third bet from me, because it was also possible that I could be the one with the diamonds or KJ and was now bluffing. Despite my reputation as a total nit, I have, in fact, bluffed before. I think. Anyway, I bet $15,600 in hopes of getting called by a worse hand.

What happened next was a shock. Randy went into the tank and thought for several minutes while talking to me in the hope that I'd give something away. I remained silent and grew increasingly confident I had the best hand until Randy began saying what a big hand he had, and how he was thinking of making a huge fold. After talking himself into believing he'd added it up right, Randy said he was folding and tabled the AK hearts for a backdoor ace high flush. "It was no good, huh? I know how tight he is," he announced to the table. Eyes widened across the table. He had folded the best hand, all because I had applied aggression for an entirely different reason.

It goes to show that even though you won't always make the right reads, by staying aggressive you keep your opponents off balance and prevent them from making the right reads.