Adapting from online poker to playing live

I came across the following article on the PokerStars blog this morning. Its written by Greg Raymer and is a good read about converting from online play to live.

Click on the title below to read the full story.

How to adapt from online winner to live champion, by PokerStars' Greg Raymer - PokerStars Poker Blog

Many of our PokerStars players coming over to Las Vegas for the WSOP will be playing live tournaments for the first time. While the rules of the game are the same, playing online and live are two very different animals.

So who better to ask for some sound advice on how to adapt from online play to taking a shot at mega bucks at the Rio than Greg Raymer, who won the Main Event in 2004 and has got $6.8million in live winnings to his name....

by Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer

So, you've been playing on PokerStars.com, and doing well, and now you want to take a shot at the live games. What should you do? Well, the good news is you've already accomplished the hardest part, so the rest will probably come relatively easily. Here's some advice to make it even easier yet.

I've been playing poker seriously since 1992, so I started out as a live player, and only became an online player when it became available years later. Wherever you play poker, the hard part is learning how to play poker well. If you're winning online, then you've already done that. In 2004 when I won the Main Event, and prior to then, we used to make fun of the online players, and how bad they were. And for the most part, we were right. However, in today's poker world, it is the winning online players who have the most talent and knowledge, as compared to the live players. More importantly, the bad online players are nowhere near as bad as the bad live players.

World Series of Poker

With the 2009 World Series of Poker getting underway last week, I came across the article below that covers the history of the event. Its a good recap of some of the highlights for those that haven't done their homework.

I've been following the updates for the last few days on Poker News's Live reporting pages. The highlight so far was former main event champion, Greg Raymer's (pictured right) 3rd place finish in event # 2, the $40,000 no-limit tournament. It would have been great to see him take the title but it was not to be.

Click on the title below to read the full story.

40 years of the WSOP: The new millenium

By Shari Geller

With the World Series of Poker approaching its 40th anniversary in just days, PokerListings has been looking back in a series of articles at how the event has evolved. This fifth and final part looks at the new millenium.

Back in 1991, Jack Binion was asked to look into the future and see where the WSOP might go.

Jack had no way of knowing how the WSOP would explode in popularity, bringing thousands to his casino in search of fame and fortune and said he expected a slow, steady 10 to 15 percent growth rate.

The Top 10 Big Event Bad Beats

I dropped by PokerNews this morning to see what was happening and came across the following article that I thought was worth sharing. We've all had our fair share of bad beats, but here are the most historic. Click on the title below to read the full story.

The PokerNews Top 10: The Top 10 Big Event Bad Beats | PokerNews.com

Everyone has a bad beat story. Let's face it, everyone has a hundred. These bad beats, though, are the worst of the worst, the most bone-rattling, soul-crushing, and even history-changing beats ever dealt in the game of poker. Out of all the stories out there, these ten stand out in terms of severity, significance, and consequences. Take a look at our Top 10 Bad Beats.

10. Aaron Kanter vs. Greg Raymer, 2005 WSOP Main Event

With only 25 players remaining, Greg Raymer was trying to do the unthinkable—win back to back, massive-field WSOP Main Events — before being dealt a beat so crushing it might have made a lesser man leave the game forever. Dealt , Raymer made a standard opening raise and was called by Aaron Kanter, who held . The flop came down 6-5-3 rainbow and Raymer made a half-pot continuation bet. Kanter called. The on the turn put two hearts on the board and Raymer bet 330,000—again, about half the pot. Kanter raised to 900,000 and Raymer set him in for the 700,000 he had behind. Kanter called with only the flush draw but caught lightning in a bottle when the hit the river. Raymer's stack was decimated and Kanter doubled up. Had Raymer won that hand, he would have taken the chip lead. Instead, he was eliminated a short time later in 25th place.

9. John D'Agostino vs. Hoyt Corkins, 2004 U.S. Poker Championships

Both Hoyt Corkins and John D'Agostino were sitting on healthy stacks of 616,000 and 615,000, respectively, with six players remaining in the $10,000 Main Event of the U.S. Poker Championships. Though D'Agostino had arrived at the final table with an overwhelming chip lead, he had already suffered a few beats to more than halve his stack. With the action folded around to Corkins in the small blind, he made a bit of a wild move, moving in for his entire stack with . D'Agostino found two black tens in the big blind and called almost immediately, giving a little fist-pump when he saw Corkins' cards.

The flop, however, came down a disastrous (for D'Agostino) , making Corkins trips.

"I don't know how John D'Agostino didn't just kick the table over — that is stunning!" said ESPN's Norman Chad on the TV commentary.

To add even more insult to injury, the hit the turn, making Corkins quads and leaving D'Agostino drawing stone dead. It took a few tries to get the correct count on Corkins' and D'Agostino's stacks and when all was said and done, D'Agostino was left with a single, red 1,000-denomination chip. So utterly punch-drunk not only by that beat but the series of beats that had taken him from top of the pack to all but out, D'Agostino let out his frustration by shoving his chips toward Corkins, knocking most of the stacks down in the process. Hey, a man can only take so much.

Greg Raymer profile

While playing the Hubble freeroll last night I accidentally stumbled across their PokerStars Pro profiles. One of the ones I liked was this (below) one of Greg Raymer, "Fossilman". The video at the bottom is quite interesting as he talks about how he got started as well as how you move up the "levels" in the poker world. Click on the title below to read the full story and scroll down to the video interview.

PokerStars - Greg Raymer - 2004 World Series Champion

Originally from North Dakota, Greg Raymer worked as a patent lawyer before giving it up to play poker full time. In the early days of his career, he would add to his bankroll by buying fossil card protectors and selling them at the table. It was this that led to him being called ‘FossilMan’, a nickname that has stuck to this day. Greg would soon find that he didn’t have to worry about the size of his bankroll for much longer.

After finding success in tournaments across the country, Greg played at the World Series for the first time in 2001. He almost made the final table of the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event, finishing 12th for a small cash of $5,345. He returned to Las Vegas every year and in 2004 won a far bigger amount of cash. Ever since fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker had won the previous year, the World Series had seen huge growth, and the 2004 Main Event attracted a massive 2,576 players. Greg played a solid game and emerged as the winner, earning prize money of $5,000,000.