A little more advanced move in poker is called Floating. Floating is simply, calling a bet early in the hand with the intention of bluffing on a later street. It can be a very effective tool within tournament or ring game, but there are a few cautions you must consider.

First and foremost, a good read on your opponent is a must. To make an intelligent move on a player, your opponent must be intelligent as well. Setting up and executing a fancy play on another player that will call anyway is very expensive and terrible on your part.

Secondly, you need position. Floating will require you to call in position, and then gain information on his hand as the hand plays out. As you call and he checks on later streets, you may be able to steal the pot. Or if his betting texture does not make sense to the pot size, you can then react and take the pot on the turn or river as well.

Floating is an advanced technique that can be extremely profitable if used correctly and sparingly. Used too frequently, opponents will start to call you down with weaker holdings which will get expensive. However, against a thinking player, it can be a great tool to slow down a 3 betting opponent, and steal a nice pot.

Advice of the day: Do not try to bluff the weak minded, bluffing only works when the other player can see beyond their cards.

Probably one of my favorite places to play poker is Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. This room would get a complete gold star, except for one glaring flaw—the food service. Beyond that, Caesars is the place to be.

Ring Game Availability at Caesar’s Poker Room

The list to get on a game is always long at Caesars, and always goes through very quickly. From Limit game of 2/4 up to 4/8 with a kill, and No Limit games from 1/2 to 5/10, it is a small stakes player’s haven. They have an amazing amount of tables and always dealers ready to shuffle up and play. I’ve never had to wait more then 15 minutes for a table.

Caesar’s Poker Room Tournaments

If tournaments are your thing, Caesars can do well for you. They have the midnight tournament (which they cap at 50 and only 50 players) for $65, ranging up to $300+ throughout the weekend. There is a separate room just for tournaments. Caesars does tournaments right.

Caesar’s Poker Room Softness

There are fewer places that have softer games available then Caesars. I have never been at a table with more then two people who have a clue, and a few times where players weren’t even sure if a flush beat a straight. The players are typically very poor and just willing to give you their money. You will have to avoid the difficult bad beat, but that goes with any soft game.

High Hand Jackpot at Caesar’s Poker Room

They have additional money for any hand that is quads or better (typically $100) where both hole cards have to play (of course). There is not a bad beat jackpot, but the royal flush bonus was over $1000 every time I’ve been there.

Caesar’s Poker Room Drink Service

Drinks move through pretty readily. The wait staff does a good job at getting thirsty players their alcohol. Not stellar…but pretty good. The girls are typically pretty attractive and friendly as well. I cannot say they are the best, but they do a good job.

Caesar’s Poker Room Food Service

I don’t think there is a worse place on the planet when trying to get food, then the poker room at Caesars Palace. It is HORRIBLE. The drink girls do not take food order so it’s this mythical Chinese lady that apparently shows up when the moon is full or something. She then proceeds to take over an hour to get a salad delivered. One time I tried to order a Caesars salad…and I was told they were out. They were out of Caesars salad at Caesars! (I just found that very ironic).

Another time when I finally got my food I was informed that a chicken Caesars salad (they do have them on occasion apparently) was $19! I was too shocked to say no to the food, and WAY too hungry at that point. It was really good, but take my advice, do NOT go to Caesars poker room hungry. If you do, when you walk into the place try to order right then. Easily the most glaring flaw the room has, and they are really not trying to fix it. I’ve played there for two years on different trips, and every time the food service sucked.

Caesar’s Poker Room Location

The poker room’s location is ideal. It is in its own area with only poker players and tables. An entire, very large, room with four walls isolating itself off, to nothing but poker players and the wails of bad beats. Coming right off the website, “Caesars Palace’s remarkable 8,500-square-foot main Poker Room also features an adjacent 6,000-square-foot tournament area, making Caesars Palace one of the only casinos to offer a private tournament area.” It’s beautiful. It fully non-smoking as well. Plus, its overall location…let me address that in ‘Ambiance’.

Caesar’s Poker Room Ambiance

The first time I played at Caesars I had to go to the bathroom soon after I got there. So I asked the dealer where the john was, and he said out the door and to the right. What? A huge great room like this and I have to walk way the hell out there to take a leak? Wow…strike 2 Caesars (I was already hungry). Well, boy was I in for a shock. You see it was Saturday night at about 11:00PM and the entrance to the nightclub Pure is located right beside the poker room. I walked out of the poker room and was immediately struck with at least 50 gorgeous women just standing there waiting to go into Pure. I stopped dead in my tracks and rubbed my eyes. I was amazed. I certainly planned to go hit the head a few more times!

So I get back to my seat and lean to the guy next to me to say, ‘Buddy, go take a piss…I’m telling you it’s worth it!’ but I never got it out. You see there is also the Pussycat Doll Dealers right outside the poker room, dancing and dealing table games. So every so often a small group of thinly dressed dancers come strolling through the poker room. That is what caught my eye as I leaned in to tell the guy next to me to go see the lineup to Pure. Instead he just says, “Dude, I know…” Solid ‘A’ for Caesars ambiance.

Overall Caesars in Las Vegas is a great place. Mainly because the players are just so bad, the money is pretty easy. The room is excellent, the ambience is great with the Pussycat Dolls strolling through, and the Pure lineup is amazing. The food service is terrible (but the food is quite good) but the positives just outweigh that. I’ll play at Caesars anytime, it’s awesome.

Caesar’s Poker Room Address

3570 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(702) 731-7110

The poker room at Bally’s Casino in Las Vegas has some very positive features, but not all is proper in my opinion. If you are looking for a comfortable place to play cards, Bally’s may be for you—if you can forgive a few problems.

Ring Game Availability at Bally’s Poker Room

I played at Bally’s on a Saturday morning at 10:00AM. I had to wait for about 15 minutes for them to start another table (they had one 1/2 NL, and one 3/6 Limit running) when another 9 guys showed up. There was certainly money available to be taken, but at the time I played, there were about 4 people who knew what they were doing—a high amount in my opinion by Vegas standards. It was one hour before their 11:00AM tourney started so that may have been the reason.

While I was there they opened yet another table so I give props to Bally’s for having the staff available to keep the flow of players on the tables. They also opened another limit table so before the tourney there was five full tables running. Impressive.

Bally’s Poker Room 11:00AM Tournament

I played in the $65 freeze-out at 11:00AM. They had 5 full tables of players and took alternates through the first two rounds. Rounds lasted 30 minutes and the starting stack while not incredibly deep, was certainly enough to move a few chips and still have enough to fold and survive an ill timed bluff. There were a few savvy players, but plenty of fish and gamblers as well. But it wasn’t the play that will not have me back to Bally’s for tournaments, it was the rake structure.

On our $65 entry fee, Bally’s scraped off a WHOPPING $20 as rake. Of which only $5 went to the dealers. Nearly 31% rake is not rake, its ‘rape’. I was sorely disgusted when I found this out. But I was there, so of course I paid my money and sat down. Also, they took alternates the first hour. There were a few guys pissed about this because when an alt sat down, his stack was the full buy-in. They did not take off any blinds from the alt’s stack. So, it was a bit of an advantage walking into the tournament 45 minutes in with a full stack, but honestly it didn’t bother me much. I understand the problem, but personally I really didn’t care.

The tourney lasted about 4+ hours and paid to 6. It was well run, and moved along nicely. Antes were never introduced, but blinds doubled each round for the most part. I was impressed with the tournament, other then the ridiculous rake.

Bally’s Poker Room Service:

Service is a key component for me because I am playing cards first and foremost to make money, but a close second is to have fun as well. Bally’s gets a solid A- for their service. The poker room is located right beside the bar, so you get drinks fast. They do not have Red Bull so they get marked down (Casinos fault really), and their servers are, well, umm, old. The lady serving drinks to me HAD to be a grandmother. Seriously. She did a fantastic job at keeping us all liquored up, but it feels a little strange to peek at Granny’s cleavage. Of course I did that…but it still felt a little wrong.

Bally’s Poker Room Location:

Again, typically not much of a problem for me, but I do know others that go crazy with casino noise that filter into a poker room. If you are one of those guys, you may want to think twice about Bally’s. It’s basically right in the middle of a bunch of slot machines and near the table card games. Like I said I could care less, but there was certainly a fair amount of noise.

There was no smoking at the tables, but again its right in the middle of everything. I never really smelled smoke, and was certainly never bothered by it, but it was around. The place is somewhat bound by the backs of machines so there wasn’t a lot of traffic, but again, ding, ding, ding, was certainly around.

Bally’s Poker Room Ambiance:

There were a lot of nice plasma TV’s around and just about every seat at any table had a view of a TV. Again there wasn’t much general traffic around, but then there was never any eye candy as well. Catching a glimpse of a nice skirt, or well dressed lady never really happened. And since grandma serving drinks didn’t quite cut the need, you basically just had to concentrate on poker.

Bally’s Poker Room Dealers:

The dealers were great. Never had a misdeal, and all of them were quick. Each table had an auto mixer and play moved along nicely. Professional dealers and never had a problem.

Overall I’d say Bally’s in an OK place to play. Quick service, and easy to find fairly soft games make up for a few of their faults. However, I don’t think I will ever play in one of their tournaments again. Unless they change that rate structure, the expected value is just not there. For ring game, sure. Tournaments…granny is going to need a better boob job to make up for the loss in rake.

Bally’s Address and Contact Information

3645 Las Vegas Blvd South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
Ph: (877) 603-4390

The dates for the 2009 World Series of Poker are yet to be released. Typically they become available in early January. Please check back frequently and we will post the dates as soon as they become available.

Here is what we know so far about the 2009 WSOP

1. It will be held in Las Vegas
2. Location is unknown at this point. The WSOP is considering a venue change
3. Dates are unknown at this point. The WSOP will release the dates for the 2009 WSOP in early January.

Stayed Tuned for more details on the 2009 WSOP as the become available.

I have already discussed Super System, the base foundation of any poker book to hit the bookshelves, but now I’d like to take a moment to discuss Super System II, it’s long awaited sequel. When Super System first came out the impact upon the poker world was shocking. Truly the first time a poker professional had discussed some of the inside theories of the game. So obviously, Super System 2 was highly anticipated. However, when Super System Two hit the shelves, there were many other books available for the average player. Therefore, I think the force it had on the game was much less significant. While I it is an incredible book on poker, the average Texas Hold’em player may feel this book is average compared to everything else on the market. This may be true to some degree, but the book’s true value lays in games other than Texas Hold’em.

Super System 2 by Doyle Brunson breaks down several forms of poker into specific sections that are dedicated to that style of game. So no more searching through an entire book to just find the type of game you may be interested in or need help with. Additionally, System 2 has been written by to the most respected teachers for each particular game. Even though this is “Brunson’s book”, we get the best of the best in each particular poker style.

More specifically, Super System Two does something a little different then many current Texas Hold’em books. It gives specific sections on limit and no limit styles of play. No more taking general poker theory and cross applying it, we have excellent information all in one text. Yet, broken down to the specific desire of poker you want to learn.

Lastly, Super System 2 gives us a little insight on some lesser played games, namely Razz and Triple Draw. These newer forms of poker can be increasingly profitable because so few people understand the games. With Super System 2 you will be a step ahead of the competition because there is so little written about these new games and the players are just that poor.

So while Super System 2 did not have the same impact on the poker world its predecessor had, there is still a lot of great and easily obtained information within its pages. Not to mention the authors are all regarded as experts within that particular game, with Doyle Brunson editing it. I do feel there is certainly denser and in depth Hold’em books on the market, Super System 2 stands up to them with ease of use, array of different game discussion, and accessible information. It is the perfect book to become a true all round poker player.

written by Ed Miller, David Sklansky and Mason Malmuth

If there is one book you were to ever read as a poker player to make your game progress to the next level, I would recommend Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big With Expert Play. Now I know there are other players out there that would shout, The Theory of Poker, by David Sklansky, but I honestly struggled with that book. Theory of Poker covers so much of the basic principles of poker and gambling that I think when I read it, the simplicity of parts made me bored and then when the intellectual information came along I was not ready for it because I was not paying enough attention. This is NOT to say it is a poor book. Many still refer it as the first poker book any player should read. I certainly cannot deny that thinking.

Ed Miller is the epitome of every die hard poker player’s dream. He had a 9-5 job where he was doing well. He got bit by the ‘poker bug’ and started playing…horribly. He lost. Yet, he drove himself to understand the game better. He joined a few forums, namely www.twoplustwo.com where he could post hands he has played and comment on other hands. In the beginning he was many times ‘wrong’ in his answers, but quickly began to play better, understand more, and then became one of the experts on the site. He quit his job, moved to Las Vegas and now plays professionally.

First off— Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big With Expert Play is NOT a beginners book. You must have a grasp of the game and understand some basic principles, otherwise the information will truly go over your head. The next step is to read and understand the information being presented. I can almost guarantee that you cannot read this book straight through cover to cover and retain 50% of its contents. You will read and re-read many parts. Then once you start to apply the principles you will start to grasp the power this book can provide.

Secondly, Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big With Expert Play, is not a solve all problems band-aid. Again, your second and third (or more) time through the book is where it will start to progress your game. If you expect to read it though quickly and begin to win, you will be very frustrated. I suppose there are some individuals that can pull this feat off, but I was not one of them. It helped my game immediately, but I did not start to understand and have the ability to incorporate the theories into my normal play until much later—2nd and 3rd readings. Only then did my results truly begin to show.

Lastly, this book can help you find the leaks in your game and then give you the tools to stopper them. However, only hard work and staying sharp on your game will attain the levels the book attempts to bring you towards. Ed Miller will show you the path, but you are the last step in the process that has to implement (and then build upon) the information he gives you. The last chapter contains a sort of ‘test’ you can take to help you understand the levels of your knowledge. Many feel it is this last section that glues their game together as he explains specific hands in question.

So where Small Stakes Hold ‘em: Winning Big With Expert Play, by Ed Miller, is not a beginners book, it is my most important book on the shelf. My copy is tattered and beat up from repeated readings, and I feel there are still many gems within that I have yet to uncover. It was by far the most influential poker book I have ever read.

Considered by many as the original bible for poker players, Super System by Doyle Brunson is a necessary read for any poker player. At the time of it’s first publication, Super System revealed the ‘secrets’ of one of the most highly acclaimed poker players of all time. Brunson discussed theories that many professional poker players believed taboo for discussion, because the information contained within the book was too good. They thought that by teaching poorer poker players this valuable information, their livelihoods could be in jeopardy.

For today’s poker player—typically Texas Hold-em players, Super System may appear to be dated and half useless considering all the discussion on different poker games. However, that is where the average poker player and poor poker ‘learner’ is wrong. The discussion on the other games besides Hold-em is what was so intriguing to me. I am mainly a Hold-em player myself, however, I feel that to become the most complete player that I can, there is theories I need to learn from all forms of poker. Since I do not have the opportunity (and I will admit, the desire) to play the different games, the least I can do is learn about the background of each game to understand it a little better. I will never be proficient at 5 Card Draw or 7-2 Lowball, but I do understand the theory behind each game because of Super System.

The other aspect of the book that was very enjoyable to me was Brunson spends a fair amount of time on the history of the game, and specifically his life on getting to the level that he is at today. Great card stories abound as Texas Dolly takes you through the illegal days of poker to his spiritual and emotional decisions about becoming a professional gambler. Most poker players love a great card story, and there are fewer out there that have seen all that Brunson has. From the illegal days in Texas with Amirillo Slim, to the thieves he had to evade, to watching the game he loves growing to unforeseen levels. Super System tells the game of poker, but also gives the history of the ‘Grandfather’ to the game.

So my suggestion to all of those trying to learn the game, Super System had better be a well worn volume on your bookshelf. There may be better books about the specific game of Hold-em, but there are few books that has it all. As for all the pro’s that were upset with Brunson… Well, as we have now found out from the enormous amount of literature out there on the game—just because there are some fundamental and powerful tools written down and available to everyone, it takes more then the ability to read for someone to actually use the information. There are fish out there—even well read ones.