I am THE James

I am a tight player. For most people in holdem, I am the type of player they love to see because they think they can always steal my blinds, play back at me when they think I am weak, and even chase with bad hands to try and outdraw me. One move that I like to do that REALLY messes with peoples heads is playing a hand blind, or at least acting like I am.

I normally don’t look at my cards until it is my turn to act in Texas Holdem. It gives away less information, and it allows me to look at the other players. After a while, people learn your tendencies and many players will just assume you always do the same thing. Well, one thing people should learn is there is never an always in poker. The first example of how I play a hand blind usually occurs when I am getting short on chips. I take a very quick peak as each card is dealt to me. I try to make sure that people are not looking at me when this is happening. If I use this tactic, there is only one move, “Blind All In.” (more…)

I love 7 Card Stud High Low Split. So many people THINK they know how to play when they really don’t have a clue. I have to share an experience I had this past summer while I was in Las Vegas. I was playing an event at the Binions Poker Classic at Binions downtown. The event was 7 Card Stud High Low Split. This tournament had a nice turnout. There were almost 200 players for a stud event that wasn’t part of the World Series of Poker. The field was also stacked with great players. Barbara Enright was among the great stud players that were in the field. I knew this was going to be a tough field to overcome, but this is my best game so I was ready to play. (more…)

The “Main Event” when broken down to its basic elements, is still a NO LIMIT HOLDEM event. That’s 1 game. The winner is considered a World champion and a great poker player. However, if you take these same players and put them in another event, what have they done? (Chris Moneymaker and Robert Varkonyi are both great examples. After winning the main event Varkonyi only has 1 other WSOP cash.) Winning the main event is great, but what does it prove. It proves you can win a No Limit Holdem event. Great. What about a Stud event? How about a PL Omaha event? I personally cannot see how they claim that the main event is the World Champion of poker when all they did was excel at ONE GAME. (more…)

After over a year blogging on Myspace, I have decided to go ahead and setup my own personal blogging website. This site will be about any and everything, however poker will probably dominate a good portion of my writings. Over the last couple of years I have been playing professional poker tournaments at various levels with some success. I haven’t won millions but I have had a lot of great memories and have met a lot of good people.

I am NOT a professional poker player, and most likely I will never be one. One main difference between myself and other players that have recently started is that I prefer non-holdem games. Non-Holdem games will likely be the focus of a lot of my poker writing. Dont get me wrong, I play Holdem and actually by largest paydays in tournaments have been in Limit Holdem events, but I dont enjoy the game as much, and I play more for the love of the game than I do for the money.

If you have anything you would like to hear about, especially poker related, let me know. I will be glad to share. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride. Hopefully it will be a long one.

THE James