Robbie Strazynski

When things aren’t going well for you at the poker table, there are things you can try to do to get yourself out of the rut. Here’s the 2nd part of a 2-part series in which we give you some helpful tips to reverse a poker downswing.

Here are some tips I think would help anyone experiencing a lengthy downswing at the poker tables: Take a Break, Have A(nother) Hobby, Study, Study, Study!, Chalk it up to Variance, Have and Use a “Support Network” of Poker Friends.

With the possible exception of his 1st WSOP bracelet, the famous 1989 Main Event victory of Johnny Chan, a bracelet win today at the $50,000 Player’ s Championship surely would’ve counted for Phil Hellmuth’s sweetest win ever. Made of white and yellow gold, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires, even the bracelet itself clearly stands out as unique. Unfortunately, Brian Rast has other plans for the Poker Brat.

The dynamics of no limit Texas Holdem ring games means that buying in for the absolute maximum may not always be your best option. Forget what the so called experts tell you about always buying in for the maximum; this only applies if several factors are in place. Firstly you need to have an advantage and a significant advantage over some of your opponents for your big stack to do you any good. If you haven’t and you are –EV against the entire table then what is the point in buying in for the maximum?

In a shocking development, Full Tilt Poker has had its eGambling license suspended indefinitely by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC). Ordering them to cease operations immediately, all activity on Full Tilt Poker did just that; it just stopped! Whether they were in the middle of a big hand or on the verge of winning a tournament, Full Tilt Poker players worldwide witnessed the end of the site in real time.

Making his 2nd deep run in as many weeks at yet another $10,000 Championship event at the World Series of Poker, Phil Hellmuth must have felt that it was his destiny to finally break through for another bracelet 4 years after his last win. This time Hellmuth was facing Eric Rodawig in 7-Card-Stud Hi-Lo, but after outlasting a host of other former bracelet winners, Rodawig ultimately proved too much of a roadblock for Hellmuth to overcome.

Hellmuth came within 1 player of rewriting history, but ultimately fell in 2nd place to John Juanda at the just-concluded $10,000 buy-in 2-7 Lowball World Championship.

No – this isn’t another April Fools’ Day poker blog. Seriously. $1 million to enter a No-Limit Texas Hold’em poker tournament.

As the biggest event on the poker calendar kicked off yesterday, you’d think it would be impossible for any other poker story to overshadow the World Series of Poker. Lo and behold, Phil Ivey, arguably the biggest name and best player in the game, accomplished just that with a simple press release. Poker’s biggest star has announced that he will be boycotting the WSOP this year!

First PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker/UB; and now DoylesRoom. Like a set of dominoes, online poker’s biggest rooms continue to falter in the face of the US Department of Justice. DoylesRoom.com was among 10 additional domain names seized recently by the DOJ, which seems hell-bent on preventing Americans from playing poker or any other online casino games, even from the privacy of their own homes.

Earlier this week the world, along with your favorite poker blogger, was shocked to learn of the death of Randy “Macho Man” Savage. Anyhow, how does the Macho Man’s death specifically relate to poker? Yeah, that one had me stumped too until I stumbled upon a guy on eBay selling Macho Man card protectors.

In planning out your Atlantic City poker trip, a player should realize that there are a lot of promotions run by the rooms that can significantly decrease overhead costs. The fact is, of all the poker rooms in Atlantic City, the 4 Caesars properties have the best promotions in the city, by far! I’ve done the research for you – below you’ll find the most up-to-date list of direct numbers to all the poker rooms in Atlantic City, courtesy of Cardplayer Lifestyle’s poker blog. I know I’ll be carrying a copy of these numbers with me next time I visit.