The largest events scheduled include a $5,100 heads-up championship on 22 February. 22, a $5,100 eight-game mix championship on 17 February and a $25,100 high roller event on February 27. The Main Event, with its $10,000 and World Poker Tour (WPT) label will start on 25 February; a field of 600 participants is expected, this would generate a prize pool of over $6 million. The end of the Main Event will bring the series of 54 events to a close on 3 March. The 745 players who entered the same event in 2010 were bested by Andras Koroknai whose heads-up win over Raymond Dolan won him $1.7 million first-place prize.

The first event of the six-week poker extravaganza is the five-day $335 buy-in NLHe event that has a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million. With four starting days, last year’s equivalent event attracted 5,847 players who created a prize pool of $1.6 million.

The tournament is going to join the ranks of its competitors who are including events directed at senior citizens. This year will see the inaugural L.A. Poker Classic No Limit Hold’em Senior Championship on Wednesday, 23 February. The event will only be open to people of 50 years or older and will have a buy-on of $545. Tournament Director Matt Savage commented of the new event: “By giving our more mature players an opportunity to compete against others more in keeping with their own mindset, playing style, speed and experience, we create an environment that is exclusive and yet more relaxing,” said Tournament Director Matt Savage.

Many online poker rooms are offering very attractive packages for seats in the L.A. Poker Classic, this is definitely the best way (for most ordinary-earning people) to gain entry for events of such luch buy-ins.

Vanessa Rousso

Poker is a real man’s game, the pressure the action the thrills – it ain’t no game for genteel ladies…is it?

Starting off with a fact, there are fewer women pro poker players than men, not that there is some equal opportunities tribunal you can see about that. Also it’s not as if poker has a glass ceiling, if you want to play, you can play and if you want to progress, ain’t nobody stopping you but yourself.

Poker may be a male dominated sport but there are also plenty of talented women in poker who are up there breaking straights, wining pots and stealing hearts as the go.

Some guys say “girls just can’t play poker” these guys should get back in their time machine and return to the 1950’s.

In actual fact female sharks are the toughest and scariest poker players online, anyone who thinks lacking testicles is the same as lacking balls, doesn’t know much about the fairer sex.

While men tend to be the more aggressive players than women that doesn’t mean every woman you play with is a fold waiting to happen, that can be bullied out of every hand a casual toss of chips.

Today more female players then ever before, are learning to play the game, turning professional and going head-to-head (and hand to hand) with the world’s best male players.

When you think of “typical” female attributes, patience cool common sense, female intuition not to mention a vicious streak that would make a snake blush, does that not sound the bones of a great poker player?

Though poker is male dominated there are also a number of real talented women in pro poker who have been taking first place at big tournaments women like  Annie Duke, Vanessa Rousso, Jennifer Tilly, Clonie Gowen, Tina Wallman and many many  more…

A female player also has two big advantages over any guy at the table, please feel free to insert your own “Good Pair” joke here…

Despite the fact that there are few things more desirable to the average poker Joe as a beautiful woman, with a stack of chip who looks like she’s holding the nuts, don’t make the cardinal sin o thinking that a good looking girl at the table is just there for eye Candy.

If you do you’ll be outside in the cold with empty pockets before you’ve decided what cup size she is.

If you still think women have o place at the table, take a look at Liv Boeree’s website www.livboeree.com and count up her winnings!

The first way to do this is by taking the lead in a hand. If you raise a pot, stick with the betting and show them that you are not afraid to fire chips into the pot. If you are playing tight, this should be enough to get them to back off of the hands that you are in. Make the continuation bet, but also fire on the turn as though you have a hand. Even the most aggressive of players will step back when a tight player continues to fire on the turn of a hand that they have raised on.

Another move that you can make against an aggressive opponent is by calling down the pre flop raise and the flop bet and then fire away on the turn. The board is really of no consequence when playing against an aggressive player as they will play just about any two cards. This is more of a feel move that you have to make based on when you think they are truly weak. If nothing more than a value bet was placed on the flop, it could be a green light to make your move.

This is something that you are going to have to be committed to from the very start and regardless of what the turn brings, you fire away like you just made a set. If the board was on a flush or straight draw and you are isolated, it actually works in your favor as tight players will usually only bet when they have it and firing right away gives the impression that you have made your hand and could care less what they are holding.

An aggressive player can be a nightmare unless you can tame them. You are going to be out of position against them half the time and if you show them that you can be walked over, they will do it every chance that they get. In order to keep your stack, you are going to have to fight fire with fire and get them to back off when you are in hands or you are doing nothing more than making a donation to their kid’s college fund.

When you are on full table with a lot of big stacks around you, you must avoid pushing with a small pocket pair. First off, there is a very good chance that someone else will have your 66 covered with a higher pocket pair in later position. The other thing you are probably going to be looking at is multiple callers. The more people call, the more odds the next person is getting to throw in their chips. Everyone likes to be in on a big pot, so you are just asking for trouble here.

The only time you should really consider shoving with a baby pocket pair is when you are in the cutoff or button position. You only have to get through 2 or three players at that point and it is worth the risk. If you have to try and beat anymore than that, you are giving yourself a very slim chance of survival.

The other reason that you do not want to push with this type of hand is because the possibilities of losing is endless. You are going in with baby cards and you are in danger as just about anyone calling you is not only going to have two live cards, but you are also in risk when the board pairs as you can get counterfeited. If we had a buck every time a small stack got booted out of a tournament because of this we would be rich.

Another hand that is deadly to go in with is A-rag. Again, you are in fear of the big stacks here and anyone with chips and an A is going to make this call. You are also going to get called with just about any pocket pair as well. If you go into the flop with only one live card, the rail is more than likely your next destination. No, you are much better off shoving with a hand like QJ than you are A2. You probably have two live cards there and are also opening yourself up to a straight draw.

The one thing that you have to remember when you are short stacked and shoving for your life is that even if you are behind going in, you want to have live drawing cards that can get you back ahead in the hand. A rag and small pocket pairs are just not worth the trouble. Take a second to think about what you can hit before you shove those chips in there.

One of the biggest mistakes a lot of beginner players make is flat calling an early raise with AJ. The only time you really should do this in this spot is if you are suited. If you don’t hit your flush or are on a flush draw, you are in pretty bad shape even if the A hits. Now you are in a position where you may raise or call the hand down and still end up with a loser.

You are really going to have to know your table mates and be very careful if you are in after a raise. You have to look at the position because it dictates what kind of hands people are going to raise with. You have to know the player to decide if they are capable of playing any two cards or they are playing ABC poker. If they are a steady player and fire at the flop and turn, you are looking at a loser.

You are in an even worse scenario when the high card on the board is a J. You are pretty much obligated to play out the hand and once again, you could be starting down the barrel of a shotgun. Again, you are facing an early raise and other than the AK that may have made the raise, but you very well may be looking at AA, KK or QQ.

When you are in this spot and either raise or bet after a check, the move from the other player is going to be come back over the top of you. Now you are faced with a decision for your chips and you have to decide if you are going to put your faith in nothing more than JJ.

One thing a lot of players fail to register at this very moment is that they were coming in against a raise and then you were check raised. Before making a knee jerk bet, consider what just happened. You made a bet that basically told the other player that you had hit our jack. They have to figure you for AJ or KJs in your hand from the position that you made the original call from. They know what you have, it is a matter of you realizing what they have.

If they make a strong move over top of you, you can be all but assured that their original raise was with an over pair and they are playing against your emotions that you will automatically push back on their bet. It is the perfect trap and the only way that you can avoid it is by NOT playing AJ in the first place.

To get started, let’s assume that you are starting out with $100 in your account. If I asked a group of beginning players what level they would all play with this amount of money, most of them would probably say the $.50/$1.00 No Limit or the $1/$2 Limit tables. This is where the problem lies. Realistically, you should never be buying into a table with more than 5% of your total bankroll and to be playing at those levels, you are committing at least 50% of your bankroll to one table.

It may be a little painful to hear, but you really should be playing at the $.05/$.10 level with this kind of a bankroll. At this level, you are not only protecting your bankroll from being lost in one bad session, you are also able to multi-table and give yourself a realistic shot of making a profit in online poker.

With so many tables going and so many different players, the chances of you being able to pick one table out of all the ones that are available and win at it are slim to none. However, if you are playing on at least 4 tables at the same time, you can counter the variance and actually make a profit. If you don’t believe it, give it a try at the very lowest levels until you can get used to playing on multiple tables at the same time. Start with two tables, then keep adding one until you can do anywhere from 4-6 tables at the same time.

In addition to offsetting the variance, you are also more likely to play steady poker instead of trying to get cute. You learn to play the numbers and stop trying to make the moves that you see on television that just never seem to work for you. You may not make a huge profit at each session, but you will at least be making a profit instead of flushing your roll down the drain by playing at a limit you should not be at and putting it all on the line on one table.

Give it a try and see if it works. You are going to be pleasantly surprised at the results and can gradually work your way up in limits as both your bankroll and ability to play multiple tables improves. Remember, ABC poker goes a long way when you have 6 tables rocking at the same time.

One situation where you may want to start to discuss a chop with the table is when you know you are overmatched. Let’s face it, some people just don’t have what it takes when it gets down to this amount of  poker players to make the moves that are necessary to take down the tournament. When you look around the table, even if you have the chip lead, and see that each of these players have been outplaying you all night long it is time to start talking.

As the chip leader, you are actually in the strongest position to discuss a chop. For those that are short stacked, the added income will usually be welcome and you are locking up a second place finish for the most part. In most cases, you will want to recommend a weighted chop that will allow you to get more money from the prize pool since you have the most chips. Make it reasonable and you will often find that the rest of the table will be receptive regardless of how good they are.

Another situation to consider chopping is when the blinds have started to dominate the stacks. You never want to be in a position where you are forced to be all in or close to it when the blinds start coming around. If the stacks are even, everyone else is probably thinking the same thing. Take the prize pool and divide it up evenly by the remaining player and let everyone walk with second place money. The swing is too great from first to third to take the chance that you will look down at 72 when the blinds hit your stack.

Some people will consider the thought of even thinking about chopping to be a sign of weakness. However, they have probably never walked away from a tournament after having a chip lead with a bad beat that sent them out in third place. If you have that happen once, your opinion of a chop changes.

Something else to consider if the table seems a little reluctant, but the chip counts are fairly even is to divide up the chips and leave a little extra for the winner. For instance, there are four people left and the prize pool has $11,000 in it. Everyone is even, but people still want that big payday. You can suggest to chop the pot to a four way split of $2,500 with an additional $1,000 going to the overall winner. Everyone agrees, play will loosen up because that fear of getting knocked out with the bottom pay is now gone. The winner still walks away with more money than everyone else and everyone is a winner. Sometimes chopping is not such a bad idea.

Shorthanded play is something that not many people are very good at. The reason for this is that when you are playing in a live casino, you are generally at a full table the entire time. Online poker offers you another option that cannot find in a brick and mortar casino and that is the shorthanded table.

When you are playing shorthanded, you have to be able to open up your play if you are going to be successful. AA, KK and AK are no longer needed to fire in a raise under the gun. With only 5 other players in the game and 2 of them on blinds, you now only have 3 other players to get buy before you can steal those blinds. In shorthanded play, AJs, A10s and middle pocket pairs become much more powerful in early position. These are hands that you are supposed to fold on a full table, now you are going to raise with them.

Having less people on a table also means that fewer people stand a chance to hit the flop. You will often see people make some incredible calls on short tables. The infamous, “how can you call with that kicker?” is a pretty popular rant from someone who is banging away at the pot with his KK and then he sees a A2 get flipped over and loses it.

If you are on a full table, calling down a raiser with middle pair is probably not an option. When you are playing short, you may actually want to make a move on the pot at this time unless the flop shows an A or a K. If you are sitting on 78s to flop of 10-7-3, you may very well be good if you are heads up. Can you even think of making this play on a full table?

Shorthanded play takes a lot of practice, but when you become proficient at it, you can add tons of cash to your bankroll. It will help you play better during those late night hours at the casino when people start heading out and it will also help you do better in tournaments when the field gets narrowed down and tables are constantly playing short. Loosen up your game and don’t be afraid to mix it up and watch the cash start to pile up.

To do this, you are going to have to change up your game. If you have read anything about poker, you know that you cannot play the same way all the time. In this case, you are going to have to start to force action to get this table going again.

Early on, you will probably find that you are able to pick up a lot of blinds. This will be especially true if you have a tight image yourself. The other players are going to think that you have just caught a run of cards stay out of your way. The only way you are going to get action is if someone actually gets a big hand.

After you have stolen a few pots, it is time to stir up the table a little bit. You need to look at that money as a stake and now you are going to use it to get the action rolling. While you are stealing all of these hands, you can now show one. This is going to get under the skin of some of the players and they will start to wonder how often you have been doing this.

While that one time may not get the table rolling, it will at least put the though in their heads. You of course will do the same thing the very next time that you steal another hand. Play rags and show them. Now you are going to have the bait set and it is time to spring the trap. This is where that small donation comes in.

You are pretty much assured that the next raise that you make is going to put at least one person over the edge. Make it small enough to not risk too much of the profits that you have made. You don’t want all that hard work to go to waste.

The effect of this is going to have more people jumping into hand with cards that they would not normally play. Now while everyone else has suddenly loosened up their game, you go back to playing tight and wait on the hook.

When that big hand comes around, you are going to get paid off. The last impression that everyone has of you is that you are bluffing like a madman. Now you have a hand and you play it the same way that you played those bluffs. You fire and hope someone comes right back over the top of you to get you off of your hand and then you drop the hammer. Do that a couple of times and you can go right back to stealing blinds and limpers as everyone tightens up again.

In order to pull off a legitimate bluff, you should be playing against the same group of people or at the same table for a long enough period of time that you can be all but assured of how they are going to react to your play. For instance, you have a player that is not afraid to play, but has shown over time that unless he has the absolute nuts, he is not willing to play against an aggressive raise that comes over the top of his bet.

What players need to focus on early is getting into pots when they have large hands and when they are in a showdown, time and time again you are showing the best two cards. Once you get into this groove, you are able to bluff early and start stealing some blinds, especially in hands that have a bunch of limpers coming into the pot. You will most likely find that an aggressive continuation bet will lead to a lot of your opponents folding because you have been beating the table.

Now there of course comes the time when you want to show the bluff that you have pulled it off and you are going to want to save this for a big hand. By showing this bluff, you are going to set people on tilt as they now start to wonder how many hands that you have managed to get away with this and how much money they have lost to you with the winning hand.

How you play from that point is going to be a read on the table. Normally, after a huge bluff, the player will tighten back up and start playing ABC poker again as he knows that everyone on the table will probably call him down to make sure he isn’t bluffing again. However, if you can manage to catch a big hand that goes to showdown soon after your big bluff, you are in a dream situation as you are going to have the entire table on tilt trying to figure out what you are doing.

This is when you can really start to make money. Take down one or two hands and then it is time to throw another bluff out there and show it again. More than likely, you are going to have to tighten up at that point, but when you have a hand, you are going to get paid off huge. You can let the table settle a little bit and then start the whole cycle all over again. This mixes up your play and allows you to run the table. Everyone is scrambling to figure out your play. Just stay one step ahead of them and continue to get paid off. Remember to show that bluff after a long string of dominant hands and you will continue to have them shaking their heads and donating money to your stack.