Poker

As of 7pm Beijing time today, Finland has just two medals at the Olympics. Thirty-seven year old mother of two, Satu Makela-Nummela, won the gold in the women’s trap shooting on Monday (and her country’s 100th gold medal in the history of the games) whilst Henri Hakkinen owns a bronze after the men’s 10m air rifle battle.

However, looking at the recent no-limit shootout in Estonia, should poker ever be made an Olympic event, we can expect Finland to reach their second century of medals in less than hundred years.

In a vision of things to come, Finnish players filled the top three places of Friday’s main event of the Olympic Summer Festival in Tallinn.

So imposing was their presence at the Olympic …

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As the new series of ‘Dragons’ Den’ has just started in the UK, we thought Poker Unclogged would bring news of the continued success story of Steve Bellis, founder of the Nuts Poker League.

For those who are unfamiliar with the show, think of it as ‘The Nerd Factor’: it features contestants who have ideas for business who have to make their pitch to five ‘Dragons’. The Dragons are highly successful entrepreneurs who decide if the idea is worthy of their investment.

A standard pitch might be ‘if you give me 50 grand, I’ll give you 25% of my company’.Sometimes the idea is completely unmarketable, gimmicky and proves that having a few sarcastic friends can sometimes be a good thing: …

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Sam ‘Tricky’ Trickett has not been on the professional poker circuit for long, but in a short time he has managed to rack up ten cashes and three first place finishes, including last weekend’s Leg 6 of the GUKPT at Luton.

At 22, he is the youngest winner of a GUKPT event and his prize money of £106,000 is the second highest of this season’s tour.

376 players had coughed up the £1,000 buy in and the nine player final table was graced with the impressive presence of dart’s pro Wayne Mardle.

A six hour grind was required before Tricky went eye to eye with long-time tournament leader David La Ronde.

They must have felt like the unwanted guests had just …

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Stop right there.

Before you read any further, we want you to get up and find a mirror, preferably one that is not too flattering.

Don’t move from that mirror for two minutes.

During that time, breathe deeply and try to mentally focus on the different parts of your body whilst continuing to stare at your face in the mirror.

If you do all that correctly, you should be in a higher state of consciousness and feel totally alive.

If so, come back and read the rest of the article.

If not, keep trying.

If, after a few unsuccessful attempts your mind is still thinking about a problem at work / the behaviour of the dog next door/how to bend …

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If you’re a UK poker player keen to catch some top tournament action in a swish location then speed over to Luton and try to take part in Leg 6 of the GUKPT.

The main event started today at 2pm but players with advanced ability in the dark arts of palm greasing may be able to wangle themselves a seat at tomorrow’s Day1b.

The tournament follows the familiar structure and has a £1,000+60 buy in. Record numbers are expected to generate a teetering prize pool and, as standard on the GUKPT, the winner will also receive a goody bag consisting of:

A seat at the tour’s Champion of Champions event. A free entry to the £3,000 final. And an iPod nano.

The …

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There are plenty of signs that poker continues to broaden its appeal and bring new players to the table.

Take the climax of the National Deaf Poker Tour (NDPT) on Friday.

Its 2007-2008 season featured four events, that last of which took place in the Venetian Casino, Las Vegas.

The NDPT was created by six hearing impaired players. One of those founders, James Rydstrom, said

‘We wanted to be able to have a deaf-only tournament to provide us the privilege of playing in a tourney where we can talk to anyone around us. If was playing in a world Series of Poker event among non-deaf players, I would not be able to pick up on what’s being said around the table. This …

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Regular readers, or just the ones that are yet to succumb to the urge to smoke A-bombs, may recall that last week’s Poker Unclogged contained some advice for the reluctant traveller. Unfortunately, it is still that time of year when you can find yourself away from the comforting confines of the casino.

However, it is possible to combine some time away from the stresses of domestic life with the pleasures of touching felt, as there is a fast-growing market for Poker Holidays.

These could be the ideal counterpoint to the annoying suggestion from energised spouses that it is time to hike up a hill and contemplate the beauty of nature.

Next time you are exposed to shit like that, you can …

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The poker community’s collective esteem is taking a bit of a kicking right now. The eyes of the sporting world are turning to Beijing and the Adonises of the felt are feeling a bit left out. Unbelievably, poker is still deemed to be unworthy of the Olympics.

That is the first cause for depression.

Secondly, the players have had the final of the ultimate test delayed for four months so a TV company can sell more advertising space to breweries.

It is little wonder that the top chip-rifflers of the circuit are contemplating a call to the trauma team.

Normally, they would console themselves with some top dollar action and then, after the lady has left the buffalo suite with …

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This week, we open the satchel of poker tips and pull out the exercise book that deals with M-ratio.

It a term invented by professional backgammon player Paul Magriel who, when he’s not tumbling dice, also finds time to sit down at the occasional poker game and pen a few books.

Although the term and theory are his babies, as is often the case with these definitions, the basic principles were already applied by advanced players such as Doyle Brunson.

The M-ratio is a simple measurement of chip stack when factored against the price of playing each round.

M is equal to the number of laps a player can survive, making only compulsory bets, before his chip run out.

It is deduced by the following …

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August is a lazy month. The kids are off school, a lot of Europe’s governments are in recess and it is silly season for the newspapers. Some may argue it is the perfect time to play poker - it can be relaxing, it can take your mind off work and it can be a way of funding trips to the slide park.

However, irritating members of the non-poker playing community tend to become a little prickly at the suggestion that Hold ‘em is a valid form of vacation. They see holidays as a time to expand horizons, explore the great outdoors and generally fill your time with activities that people from TV/adjacent tents/Hell have told them are meaningful.

Therefore, throughout …

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