Ruff Poker Blog
Learn Train Dominate Poker

Poker tournaments have two very distinct stages: Fast and Slow. These stages are the periods of time where players are either desperate to stay alive with little to no margin for error; or have a deep-stack that has the capability of playing a few pots. Since these two stages are basically polar opposites, knowing how to adjust your play is crucial to tournament survival. Read More

In poker there is a phrase to describe a situation where you are unlikely to part your opponent from any of their precious chips; these scenarios are known in poker parlance as “Action Killers”. I can think of three separate scenarios where players need to be aware that hitting a certain card or taking a particular action will in effect kill the action most of the time. Read More

While many news outlets have jumped the gun and announced that The International Poker Federation has been approved by the International Mind Sports Association, the president of the IPF, Anthony Holden, is letting everyone know that nothing is finalized -in fact the application process is in its initial stage-and Holden has called these findings “premature”.

Holden went on to clarify the current confusion by explaining, The International Poker Federation is planning to apply to the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA) in an effort to officially recognize poker as a game of skill.  The IMSA currently includes 4 International Federations: World Bridge Federation, World Chess Federation, World Draughts Federation, and the International Go Federation; the inclusion of the International Federation of Poker would be a major victory for the proponents of legalizing poker. Read More

Unlike a stop-loss limit, which has a number of reasons that could justify its use, a stop-win limit in poker is just asking for trouble. Before I give the three main reasons why setting a stop-win limit is such a bad idea, I will give one specific example where setting a stop-win limit could be beneficial (but even in this extreme case it’s not crystal clear).

The only time someone could justify setting a stop-win limit is if the player has a certain personality quirk where they play quite wildly when they are winning. While not an unheard of problem -quite a few people seem to think they are invincible once they start winning some money-these situations, with this type of player, are quite uncommon. Read More

One of the mantras of a winning poker player has always been, “It’s not how many pots you win; it’s how much money you win” and a recent study performed by Cornell University has the data to back up what many winning poker players have known all along: Players who win a lot of pots, are also losing a lot of pots, and a lot of money!

For casual poker players the idea that winning a lot of pots leads to losses seems strange to say the least. The reason this is the case, is because in order to win a lot of pots you have to be competing for a lot of pots, and going a lot further along in hands than a winning player does. In poker parlance; you’re loose and sticky! Read More

It’s hard to believe that this will be the 6^th Heads-Up Poker Championship, and the once novel idea has turned into one of the most prestigious titles in all of poker. The invite-only format blends together a great mix of Poker Pros, up-and-comers, celebrities, and a few online qualifiers gives fans to root on their favorite players/celebrities or even the option of rooting for an underdog.

The tournament features a $1.5 million prize-pool -with $500,000 going to the winner– and will take place from March 5^th-7^th; the tournament is scheduled to air on Sundays, in 6 parts, in April and May. Read More

Players are discouraged from setting a stop-loss limit in poker, because if you have an edge in the game and are losing this is due to variance. Basically if you feel the game you’re playing in is profitable for you, you should keep playing; regardless of how much you’re currently down. Since poker is a long-term game you shouldn’t care about individual wins and losses, just long-term results. Read More

When people hear the term “Poker Face” one of two things immediately come to mind: They either conjure up an image of a stone-faced poker player who hasn’t cracked a smile in 20 years, or they think of the pop hit by Lady Gaga -which keeps arriving in my e-mail courtesy of my subscription to Google Alerts under the term “Poker”!!!

But a poker face is not just an expressionless mask; a poker face refers to acting the same way all the time, whether it’s the stoic persona we all equate the term, or being totally erratic with your movements and expressions. Read More

After winning in the neighborhood of $6 million at the Full Tilt Poker tables in November only lose all of it plus a few million of his own money in December, the mysterious Swedish poker player known only as Isildur1 has found his way back to the nosebleed tables on Full Tilt: And is up to his old tricks, generating huge pots, major buzz, and winning $1.6 million in two days!

The comeback started against a couple of new opponents, Justin “zeejustin” Bonomo and Isaac, “ILoveTheWNBA” Haxton. Haxton held his own against Isildur1 playing 8-tables of capped PLO and ended the session up about $90k; Bonomo didn’t fair quite as well, and dropped over $550k to Isildur1 on the No Limit Holdem tables. Isildur1 was able to fleece a few other players out of a couple hundred thousand dollars to end a long 5,800 hand session up $730k. Read More

Daniel Negreanu recently wrote an entry for his blog where he explains the differences between winning poker players of today and of years past. It’s a very interesting read, and Negreanu definitely has lived in both worlds which gives him the chops to comment on the subject, and while I agree with almost everything he states there are a few points I slightly disagree with, or feel need a bit more clarification. Read More