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Cheating in Poker

I would just like to share what I've read about this hot subject matter. All of us should watch out for people who would even try these. Let's keep the game the way it should be...

Cheating at Poker
(What to watch out for)

There are three or four major forms of poker cheating that you must remain on guard against; marked cards, imported chips, mechanics, and collusion. Imported chips are unauthorized poker chips brought into the tournament. Mechanics is the physical manipulation of playing cards to someone's advantage, for example, dealing from the bottom of the deck. Collusion is playing differently against one or more players at the table than you do against others.

Cheating at low stakes home poker games is not usually a problem. Tournament play discourages cheating due to the relatively low buyin dollar amount. Many home tourney players are attending for the enjoyment and camaraderie rather than the need to win the money. So don't worry too much about cheaters at your game.

Surprisingly, the biggest form of "cheating" is peeking at other players cards. Glimpsing your neighbor's cards is sometimes unavoidable due to the cramped quarters of a home poker room. Remind your guests to protect their cards at all times. Remember that is not improper for one player to complain about another player who constantly has the opportunity to view a third player's cards.

Marked Cards
Marked cards can be purchased on Ebay and at other locations. Brand new decks of marked KEM cards (in sealed plastic!) use a dye that is only visible to players wearing special glasses. This cheating method can be easily avoided by never using anyone else's cards at your home tourney.

Some players may also try to mark cards by tearing or nicking them with a fingernail. This is usually a little too obvious a tactic but of greater concern is a 'punched' card. A punched card has a little indentation punched into the card in a specific location. You can view a punched card here. A dealer can feel the punch as he deals the card and an observant player can view the punches on everyone's down-cards.

Imported Chips
You must be on guard against players who might try to bring their own poker chips into your tournament. This is particularly true if you use one of the more common types of chip that is readily available. If you use a customized chip with your name printed on it, you don't have to worry about a player having an identical chip, but if you are using the plastic Bike chips - what's to stop a player from bringing extra chips into your tourney?
If you must use common poker chips, try to modify them in some unique way. One easy method is to place little stickers (labels) of a certain color or shape on each chip. Just make sure they don't come off ... you don't want to make false accusations against an innocent player. You might also use an unusually colored felt marker to permanently mark your chips.
Always pay attention to the chips in play. If you've owned your set of chips for ten years but all of a sudden one or two shiny, new Purple (500) chips appears .. you've got a problem. Make sure you account for your entire chipset at the end of the night. Chips do occasionally get lost under carpets or down ventilation grates. Ensure that you know the exact number of chips you have in your set.

Mechanics
You should always pay particular attention to the dealer as this is where the majority of cheating can occur. Your worries will be greatly lessened if you have a dedicated dealer you can trust.
You can learn more about card mechanics at PokerCheat.com.

Collusion
Collusion is extremely difficult to prove and caution must be used when dealing with the issue. In a public cardroom, or someone else's house, it is best to simply walk away from the game when you suspect collusion. Unfortunately, walking away is not an option when you are in your own house hosting 20 guys for a night of poker!
Some common forms of collusion are:

• Dumping chips: Deliberately losing to a partner (perhaps someone you are backing financially or with whom you have traded a percentage stake).
• Hand-mucking: Switching or altering hands. Two people sitting next to each other might try to switch hands or alter them in some way.
• Hot-seat: A new player is invited to a game, only to play against a team of players all secretly working together.
• Signaling: Trading information between partners. Signals can take many forms, from the placement of the chips on the cards, to coughing, to Morse code tappings on the table. The key ingredient in all signaling systems is the ability to be repeated without being noticed. In a game where people (hopefully) are always watching each other, this can prove problematic. When a cheater is signaling the value of his hand to his partner(s), he is also signaling the value of his hand to everybody else at the table.
• Soft play: Failing to bet or raise in a situation that would normally merit it because of your opponent. In home poker games it is common to be playing against someone you know well but the best advice is to leave friendship outside the door, especially in tournament poker. Soft playing a friend is cheating all of the other players at the game who would prefer to see you bust out your friend, getting them closer to the prize money.
• Whipsawing: Partners raise and reraise each other to trap players in between.
  

Implicit Collusion
Let's say there are three players left in the pot and one of those players goes all-in. There is now a good chance that the remaining two players will "check it down", meaning that they will both check, rather than bet or raise, until the showdown. This is known as "implicit collusion" because the two players are now, in effect, teaming up against the all-in player. There are several legitimate reasons why implicit collusion is somewhat tolerated:

• The chance of a successful bluff is much lower since there is a guaranteed card showdown with the all-in player.
• Eliminating players is an important objective in a tournament and both players have a vested interest in seeing the all-in player eliminated. Two hands have a better chance of beating the all-in player than one.
• Players not in the pot also have a vested interest in seeing the all-in player eliminated.
  

For these reasons, don't be surprised to see many checked-down hands in these situations. It is not considered to be cheating unless done by verbal agreement.

Angle Shooting
There is another form of improper play referred to as angle shooting. Angle shooters try to use the rules or procedures of poker to their own advantage. Angle shooters will also try to take advantage of another players lack of proper procedure. A classic example of an angle shooter is a player who is suppose to act behind you but verbally declares at showdown that he has a flush. You muck your hand and he then reveals his hand which is not a flush. You would have won the pot had you not mucked your cards.

Pussies

Here are some of the latest pictures of our pussies. I think there’s more to come aside from these two. We still refer to them as kittens. But I don’t really know if a 9-month-old cat can still be called a kitten.

Bourbon looks like their mom (QT), only lighter in color. Her asset as well is having streaks of orange in her fur. She’s naughty for her countless attempts to knockdown everything in our altar. She is very sweet, but in her own terms. And she’s usually very sweet when she knows she did something wrong. Ashley on the other hand looks like a black cat. Her fur used to be light gray, and then it got darker in time. Right now, it looks like dark gray with white spots under her neck and below her tummy. She’s a very sweet and cutesy kind of cat. She’ll try to get things her way by melting your heart. She’s the only cat we have that I can actually carry like a baby sleeping in my arms. I don’t know what’s with it, but she loves to sit on my chair and occupy my side of the bed. She would even sleep in Che’s arm, which I call “my spot.” And weird as it seems, she loves water and taking a bath. She’ll come running every time someone would to the bathroom.
There you have it. That's our kittens for you guys!

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Happy 25th Monthsary Baby!

tic tic tic

Gimme a word/phrase that would describe the minutes of waiting for your log off time at work so you can head off to the felt and play some mean poker? TOO LONG!

Hahaha! I don’t mean to take my work for granted or to be a bad influence to my friends. I’m just feeling so weird today. I can’t wait to unwind and play a very relaxing game of poker. Hahahaha!

Freeze Out or Shoot Out

Alright I’m not a poker guru and so far from even being a really good poker player. But somehow, I know how the game is played. I’ve been through several transitions in my game play. So far, I know there are two types of NLHE namely; ring games (or cash games, as some may call it) and the tournament style.

Whenever I play tournaments, it is usually the Tournament Director software that directs which person will move to which chair. Until recently, we encountered a game where they said it’s a “shoot out”.

Huh?

Sorry for my ignorance, but during that time I really don’t have a clue what that is. So, I discovered that the game I’m used to is called a freeze out type of NLHE. You know… those types that players will be transferred to another seat to balance the players in each table. So when a certain number of players are eliminated, the designated Tournament Director will call on players to move to a certain table and seat number. For some games, the computer software will do the math for you. But ideally, there are international standards set for moving players--- that, you can research on the web or ask Nick G.

I am still not that familiar with a shoot out game. All I know is that, each table is like a sub-tournament. There’s no moving of players until there’s a winner for your table. It’s usually the 1st place per table. But some would take the 1st and 2nd place for each table, say there are 5 tables. So the 1st and 2nd place of each table will make up the final table, which is a total of 10 players. As I’ve gathered, it really varies. Rules depend on what the organizers declared or at least, adhere.

Call it familiarity, but I’d stick with the freeze out. I think it’s fucked up. But maybe, it’s just beyond my comfort zone. I dunno. Like what if 120 people showed up, is the final table gonna be made up of 12 people? Maybe some of you can enlighten me about this matter. It’ll be greatly appreciated.

How's everything?

It’s been long again since I last wrote an entry here. I don’t want to apologize this time. I just might end up apologizing in every entry. I guess that’s why I can’t pursue a career in journalism. During the start of my career life, I actually started as a writer. Or shall I say I was blessed with a column in one of the major dailies. I’m just not sure if I deserve the title “writer”. I gained a bit of a following for some interesting articles. It also took me places and made me meet honorable personalities. It was promising, as my mom would say. But do I love it? I love the perks, the traveling and the prestige. But honestly, I would have to drag myself to face my computer in an empty screen for hours just trying to write something. It even frustrates me that my English is not really good and my vocabulary is very limited. I’m not putting my self down, I’m just being honest. I could say that I can write, but it’s not my passion. It breaks my Dad’s heart since he is a great journalist. I also wish I can be just like him. But I’d rather be true to myself.


What’s my passion then? I don’t know. Maybe soon I’ll find out. Or maybe it’s already here somewhere, I just don’t know it. Maybe it’s poker… I wish! Hahaha!

How you like 'em girls

http://www.wimp.com/gloss/

The Jazminator is back!

Enough of the silence and no updates for me, my excuse is now unacceptable.

We already moved to our own place. We bought some new stuff, including an aircon which is actually from poker. Our friend, Ryan, won the aircon for placing 2nd in a charity tournament. He sold it to us for a good price since he wouldn’t need another aircon and we will really buy one for our house. And the latest addition to our house is this spanking new computer. It’s not branded, but man, it’s hot! We splurged on the processor although it’s not a Pentium 4 but it’s an AMD 64 Athlon 3000+ and ofcourse, a video card for my gaming needs plus the speakers to irritate my neighbors. So needless to say, I already have a computer, no reason not to update my blog.

A lot of things happened in the last two months when this page was quiet. All I can say is that poker in the Philippines is now growing very fast. You can find tournaments and ring games everywhere. And a lot more people are now playing poker. Well, I’m glad I knew the game at an earlier stage in this country before the bulk of people whom my friends call fishes/newbies. I’m not really sure if I’m not one of them. But one thing for sure, I’ve seen more hands than them. But ofcourse I’m still a fish if I’m in a table with the likes of Barbs and Nick. Also the guys of Camp Hold ‘Em, man, they are good poker players and good looking too! (Naks! Libreeee!!!)

As much as I’d like to dig my mind for more stuffs to put in this entry but I’ve got to run. I need to hear some chips crackling and feel the felt somewhere…

Update

I would have to apologize to my friends who have been visiting this site and left disappointed that I have not been updating for a long time now. A lot of things happened during these past few weeks. I have been busy with an erratic schedule; there have been many emotional highs and lows in my personal life, drastic changes in the Manila poker scene and our kittens are already halfway past their kittenhood. Now, we need more funds to fully transfer in own place. The TV we’re supposed to use there is gone and so is the laptop which is supposed to be our computer. No, it wasn’t stolen. Some evil forces took it from us, long story. Now, how can I live without a TV and computer even when there’s everything else?

Due to my financial situation as of the moment, I really need to take a lot of jobs… being a poker dealer specifically. But for some unavoidable circumstances, my regular dealing job got blurred. Thankfully, some home games contacts me to deal for them. It’s indeed a great help. I know I’m so far from being the best dealer in town, since I am a newbie in that career. I am glad when they call me and ask me to deal. Despite the hard work and other obstacles of being a dealer, I’d still say that it’s a job I love. I get meet a lot of people, still be a part of the game that I’m crazy about and get paid. Who wouldn’t love that?

On the other hand, I’ve been experiencing some dilemma. Since I haven’t been playing for a long time now, my game is becoming so rusty. In fact, I notice that people no longer acknowledge me as a poker player. I can not say that I’m a really good one, but I know that I am better than a lot of newbies these days. I see people that I used to give advice on how to make their game better now makes it to big games and people recognize their poker skills. Now, I think I would have to consult them. Ahh… These are just some of the sacrifices that I would have to make just to stick to our priorities.

So last night, it was the Christmas party of an organization we know as a state of mind. Wow! Imagine this: sumptuous food made by favorite poker player and as a person in general, good poker talks with our mentor, Uncle Nick, beer, SNG with the some of the best players in town and strip poker.

As poker addicts we all are, we played a one table SNG with 500 buy-in. Pays 3 places with the percentage of 50-30-20. First hand, I’ve got the button. Miguel calls the big blinds, Luis raises and Ace re-raises. Looking at the table, I said to myself “Dang, wild table! I wanna fold!” But then, I haven’t looked at my cards yet since I have the dealer button. So after Ace, Oyi folded. Now my turn, I peeked at my cards…AA!!! I almost can’t believe it. Hmmm… what to do, what to do… ALL IN!!!
Luis called with Jack, 7 of clubs and Ace calls with pocket Kings. Board almost gave me a bad beat with those clubs. But eventually, my pocket aces held up. Oh yeah!!! Woohooo!

I’ve been big stack for a long time, and then slowly chips were falling out of my hands. Then we are now at 4 players left; Oyi, Luis (playing for his friend who left), Miguel and your truly. I am terribly low stack and we are on the bubble. Dang, it really ain’t easy playing with these guys. I kept folding during that stage. Some people peeking at my cards kept asking me why fold when it’s a short handed game. Thing is, I can’t scare anyone if I’d go all in. Except when I get group one cards, I fold. Then later on, one of them took Oyi out. We are now all in the money. Luis made his move by going all-in-blinds for several hands. Miguel and I took turns in trying to take him out. Eventually, we did after a long battle. So, there I am with a huge stack playing heads up with Miguel. Yeah eventually I got my chips back and more. So before we started our heads up, we agreed to have a restroom break. When we went back, Miguel offered to chop the pot. Why not?! Although I have a huge stack in my hands right, Miguel is a good player. I respect that. So I agreed to chop the pot where we both got 2k each but we will continue to play it for the glory. So, going back to the game, our first hand Miguel is on the button heads-up and first to act. He goes all in. I’m thinking WTF, even if we already chopped the pot; I still want to play a decent game. I’ve got him covered, but I don’t want to double him up since having more chips is my only advantage against this guy. So I peeked at my cards, once again AA!!! I call and flipped over my pocket rockets against Miguel’s pocket queens.
Then flop comes: A, Q, Q
Turn: A
Should I feel sorry we made an arrangement for a split pot when I’m supposed to have quad Aces?? NO! It was a prank our so-called dealers made while we were in the restroom. That’s why they asked first if we agreed to chop the pot so they can shuffle it and take away the prank if we didn’t. Hahaha!

Great game guys! I really needed that win. I’m back in the game, baby!


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By the way, I would like to thank everyone who graced the JGPT Christmas Party. Jards really pulls an awesome party. Place is packed with people drowning in booze. Excuse your naughty dealer for spilling caramel shakers and tequila rose in her mouth. *hick*

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

My Prayer

I can't seem to find the words to express my deep sadness today. All I can do is count my blessings and pray for good things to happen specially for my friends. It seems that it's the best I can do right now. I may not be a solid devotee to church but I believe in His power and goodness above all. It may seem weird that I am talking like this. But when things go wrong or things seem to go my way, I talk to Him. I don't really know if He hears me or if I'm praying for the right things. But I'd do it anyway.

I don't want to weird out anyone. I just don't know how to express what I am feeling right now. I've been restless and in tears, shocked and in panic... But I know it could have been worse.

A friend of mine texted me and I empathize when she said that it feels so depressing when you want to help but there's really nothing much you can do about it. I only hope that a prayer would be powerful enough...