When trying to decide whether you have the best hand at the moment or might draw to it by the river, you need to compare the amount of the bet to the pot and the amount of that same bet to your stack.

Sometimes the math forces you to fold. But sometimes you find an opportunity. With blinds at $50-$100 at the $25,000-buy-in World Poker Tour Championship at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, colorful pro Kenna James limped from early position with K-3 of clubs. A player in middle position also limped. The player on the button raised to $350. The big blind called, as did James and the player in middle position.

The flop came A-10-9, two clubs, giving James the second nut flush draw. Play online poker.

Everyone checked to the player on the button, who bet $1,000. The big blind folded. James called. The player in middle position folded.

"We're playing deep-stack poker (starting with $50,000 in chips for the $25,000 buy-in)," James said, "but it is a little dangerous to be drawing to something that isn't the nuts, because even when you make your hand, it's tough to bet for value because it's possible the guy had a pair of aces with the nut-flush ace. Play $500 match poker bonus.

"But he bet too strong to have that big of a hand ($1,000 into a pot worth about $1,400). That's why I called."

If the button had aces with the nut ace, he likely would have bet about half the pot in an attempt to keep James in the hand. Instead, the bet of more than two-thirds of the pot told James that his opponent was trying to protect a vulnerable hand. Women poker.

"I figured my flush, if I made it, would be good," James said.

The turn came the 3 of spades, giving James a pair of 3s with his flush draw. James checked. The button bet $5,000.

"I knew he had some kind of hand," said James, who has two second-place finishes in WPT events. "But now a king, a 3 or a club on the end would still make my hand, so that's why, when he bet big on the turn, I called. Play route 66 poker.

"I had $55,000 in my stack, so his bet was only (about) 10 percent of my stack. It's all relative to your stack. You'll see people who have $300,000 who might call $20,000 with J-8 because it's all relative to the stack. If I had $15,000 and it was a $5,000 bet, then yeah, I wouldn't call a third of my chips in that spot. Download poker wallpapers.

"I'm also hoping I'll win something on the river."

The river came the queen of clubs, making James' flush. James bet $10,000. His opponent folded.

"If I had bet smaller, it would look like a value bet and I wouldn't have got ten paid off," James said. "I threw the one $10,000 chip in there because sometimes people are careless with one chip and forget the value of $10,000 in one chip."

For more information about the poker tournaments, please visit

For more information about the poker tournaments, please visit Free Tournaments247

Poker News Source: Kansas

When trying to decide whether you have the best hand at the moment or might draw to it by the river, you need to compare the amount of the bet to the pot and the amount of that same bet to your stack. Women poker.

Sometimes the math forces you to fold. But sometimes you find an opportunity. With blinds at $50-$100 at the $25,000-buy-in World Poker Tour Championship at Las Vegas' Bellagio in 2006, colorful pro Kenna James limped from early position with K-3 of clubs. A player in middle position also limped. The player on the button raised to $350. The big blind called, as did James and the player in the middle. The flop came A-10-9, two clubs, giving James the second-nut flush draw. Everyone checked to the player on the button, who bet $1,000. The big blind folded. James called. The middle player folded.

"We're playing deep-stack poker tournament (starting with $50,000 in chips for the $25,000 buy-in)," James said, "but it is a little dangerous to be drawing to something that isn't the nuts, because even when you make your hand, it's tough to bet for value because it's possible the guy had a pair of aces with the nut-flush ace.

"But he bet too strong to have that big of a hand ($1,000 into a pot worth about $1,400). That's why I called."

If the button had aces with the nut ace, he likely would have bet about half the pot in an attempt to keep James in the hand. Instead, the bet of more than two-thirds of the pot told James that his opponent was trying to protect a vulnerable hand. Download poker wallpapers.

"I figured my flush, if I made it, would be good," James said.

The turn came the 3 of spades, giving James a pair of 3s with his flush draw. James checked. The button bet $5,000.

"I knew he had some kind of hand. But now a king, a 3 or a club on the end would still make my hand, so that's why, when he bet big on the turn, I called. Play $500 match poker bonus.

"I had $55,000 in my stack, so his bet was only (about) 10 percent of my stack. It's all relative to your stack. You'll see people who have $300,000 who might call $20,000 with J-8 because it's all relative to the stack. If I had $15,000 and it was a $5,000 bet, then yeah, I wouldn't call a third of my chips in that spot. I'm also hoping I'll win something on the river."

The river came the queen of clubs, making James' flush. He bet $10,000. His opponent folded. Play online poker.

"If I had bet smaller, it would look like a value bet and I wouldn't have gotten paid off," James said. "I threw the one $10,000 chip in there because sometimes people are careless with one chip and forget the value of $10,000 in one chip."

Poker News Source: The Arizona Republic

PokerLizard.com; the number one poker interview site on the internet, announced several blockbuster interviews with top pros. The interviews include: Michael DeMichele -- the third place finisher of the 2006 United States Poker Championship Chad Brown -- Bluff Magazine's 2006 Player of the Year Brian Townsend aka Sbrugby -- Arguably the best online poker No-Limit player in the world aka Sbrugby Taylor Caby aka Green Plastic -- One of the top online players in the world also founder of Cardrunners.com Bryan Devonshire -- up and coming pro with World Series of Poker final table experience

Pokerlizard.com, the number one internet site for poker interviews, has announced their latest block buster interviews. The interviewees include:

* Michael DeMichele, the third place finisher at the 2006 United States Poker Championships and well-known cash pro. Michael discusses what it takes to be a pro, and how not all the best young players & women poker players come from online poker.


* Chad Brown -- The Bluff Magazine 2006 Player of the year discussed his unique ability to play all poker games well, not just Texas Hold'em. What it's like being in a relationship with another poker pro and he discusses why his new book will change your thinking about poker. Download poker wallpapers.


* Brian Townsend -- also known as sbrugby and aba20 online; Arguably the best online No-Limit player in the world, Brian discusses how his disciplined bankroll management has lead to his great success. In addition, he talks about the life of an online poker pro and the need for balance in life to keep poker from consuming you.


* Taylor Caby -- One of the top online pros in the world; known predominantly online as Green Plastic and Tay; Taylor talks about the importance of having a life away from poker; the pride in starting a business from scratch (cardrunners.com) and what a young player can do to improve their game and take it to the next level. Play route 66 poker.


* Bryan Devonshire -- up and coming poker pro and well known poker blogger on pokerpages.com; Bryan discusses the real poker lifestyle; what it was like being a prop player -- "The greatest job ever for a poker player" per Bryan, and the importance of treating poker like a "real" job. Play $500 match poker bonus.


"We plan on releasing these interviews over the next few weeks on PokerLizard.com," stated Lance Baker, Vice President of Marketing. "In fact, you can already read the Michael DeMichele interview today!"

Poker News Source: PR Web