Zoukmosbeh

Eli Elezra was born in Jerusalem, but now resides in America’s gambling capital Las Vegas. Before playing poker Eli lived in Jerusalem and was a lieutenant in the Golani Brigade. During his time as a lieutenant he was injured and suffered a leg injury which kept him inside. During this time Eli started playing poker and then moved to the United States.

After Eli moved to the USA he started playing in big cash games at the casino as well as many big live tournaments. His first major victory in live poker was in 2004 at the WPT NL Holdem Event. The prize for first place in that event was over $1 million and was one of the biggest live poker winnings in an event for Eli. Elezra’s first WSOP bracelet didn’t come until 2007 and it wasn’t in Holdem either. Eli won the Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo Event at the 2007 WSOP. The field was incredibly tough at this event and it wasn’t easy for Eli to win his first WSOP bracelet.

Over Eli’s career in poker he has won one WSOP bracelet and one WPT title. He has also placed in the money 15 times in WSOP events and another 2 times in WPT events. As you can see Eli has most of his success while playing in WSOP events compared to some of the other poker circuits around the world.

After years of playing on FullTilt Poker the company finally made him a pro and he know has his own table named after him. Eli has always been known as one of the biggest cash game players out there and wherever there is a cash game you’ll usually find Eli. He frequents the big cash game in Vegas since he lives there currently, but he also plays high stakes elsewhere.

Eli has appeared on television shows such as Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. He was also invited to the Aussie Millions Cash Game Invitational where he was one of the most active players even though he was down money. Eli always makes the poker table more exciting for everyone playing and you can be sure that you’ll have some tough decisions against his aggressive betting style.

Eli has won just under $2 million in live tournaments in his career, but most of his winnings come from cash games. He has won thousands some nights and lost thousands other nights, but the important thing is Eli always wins more then he loses. If you love watching exciting poker then there is no better game to watch then a game with Eli at the table.

Generally you only get to watch Holdem on the television and although Eli is a great Holdem player he is an even better poker player in Stud and H.O.R.S.E. Poker. He usually plays H.O.R.S.E. Poker when he plays online and when he plays live cash games he typically plays Holdem due to the action being much better. Eli has already proved to be one of the worlds best poker players in his career and it would only add to that if he could win another WSOP bracelet before he’s done playing poker.

Here’s a game that’s played mostly in Australian and Malaysian casinos, and many consider a member of the extended blackjack “family.” The game is called Pontoon.

British in origin, the game can be played with a minimum of two or maximum of eight players (around six is ideal). It uses the same base rules as online blackjack, so I’ll primarily go into the differences, step-by-step walking through a single hand.

First, each player receives one card, face down. The players can look at their card, but of course the dealer cannot see it.

Players then make an initial bet. Table minimum and maximum will have been set prior to the start of the hand.

After all initial bets are over, everyone gets a second card, face down.

Scoring/rules are identical to blackjack except in the following ways.

1) If you get “blackjack” (in this game it’s called Pontoon), you automatically win and will flip your hand up to declare. This pays 2:1. If the dealer has Pontoon, everyone automatically loses.

2) Remember when you were kids and someone declared “five card Charlie?” Well, it exists, and it’s the second-best hand in this game, losing only to a dealer’s Pontoon.

3) There are a couple ways to get more cards to improve your hand. The first is called a “twist,” which is a straight hit, but the card will be dealt face-up. You can do this until your hand totals five cards or you bust. The second way is through a purchase. In doing this, you increase your bet at the time by the same or double your initial bet. This gets you another card, face down. Again, you can continue this until your hand totals five cards or your bust.

4) The dealer has no hit/stand rule. He can use your up-cards to help make his decision and hit as many times as he likes until he has five cards in his hand or busts, as well.

5) There’s no double down, but you can split. In doing so, however, you must reveal your hand, and the rest of your hand is played face up. You match your initial bet in the process.

This is a little more involved, in my opinion, than blackjack, since you have the option to increase your wager multiple times throughout the hand. You get a little bit more (2:1 vs. 3:2) on a pontoon blackjack, but you give up some of your edge with reduced rules against the dealer. In regular blackjack, it doesn’t matter if the dealer sees your hand since he has to hit or stand according to the house rules. In Pontoon, he doesn’t, and will use the knowledge of the table’s cards to his advantage. Thus it costs more to receive more cards that remain face down (although if you have a great starting hand, putting more money in the middle is exactly what you’d want to do to maximize your winnings anyway.)

Best bullpen in the league? Trust me, it matters when making bets. These guys will more often than not be the hero or goat of the team throughout the season, costing you and them many games from the seventh inning on.

Therefore, it helps tremendously to have a reliable ranking to use as one of your gambling tools.

That said, if they’re all healthy, the Red Sox’ bullpen could be on incredible MLB Betting opportunity. Smoltz (if he’s regularly in there), Masterson, Okajima, Saito, Ramon, Ramirez, Lopez and Papelbon is just filthy to think about. Saito is as good as any other closer in the league. As if that weren’t enough, you’ve got Bard and Tazawa waiting in the wings.

Another AL team up there is the Blue Jays. They had the best ’pen last year, and it’s the same group only with B.J. Ryan in his second year back from Tommy John, meaning his velocity should go up to where it needs to be. Downs and Carlson aren’t household names, but they’re two of the best left-handed relievers in the league.

Last year the Blue Jays overall pitching was best in the majors. Second place I believe were the Braves with 41 more runs given up. The bullpen was a huge part of that.

Of course, it is worth noting that bullpen won’t necessary win games for you. Case in point the Blue Jays’ 4th place finish in the AL East last year.

However, having Halladay’s durability will help take some of the pressure off the pen and keep them fresh.

And finally, yes I’m going to stay with the AL throughout and say the White Sox’ pen has a chance to be in the top five in the league, as well. And they’re still underrated. But Jenks, Linebrink, Dotel and Thorton can all be lights out. We’ll see how they handle the pressure later in the year when the starters start blowing leads.

OK, quick roundup of both league’s bullpen strength, in short. I’m giving the Phillies the benefit of the doubt here with the best MLB Odds, and making this pick more based on how the team looks on paper rather than my personal opinion that they’re a fluke champion.

AL bullpen rank with 1-7 relief pitchers, not just closer and setup
Blue Jays
Red Sox

White Sox
Yankees
Rays
Angels/Athletics/Indians

NL bullpen rank
Phillies
Dodgers
Cubs
Reds
Mets/Braves/Astros

Overall MLB bullpen rank
Blue Jays
Red Sox
Phillies

Heads up poker is becoming increasingly popular amongst poker players on Full Tilt and there have even been some live heads up poker tournaments appearing lately. Heads up poker is a lot different then playing a full nine or ten player table and you need to change your strategy quite a bit to succeed. If you want to win any money while playing heads up poker then read the tips below and make sure you implement them into your game right away. Normal poker strategy for full table games won’t help you once you’re heads up and you need a different game plan.

Be Aggressive

In a full table game you usually sit and wait until you get good hands to play, but when you’re playing heads up any two cards are good. You need to be aggressive and don’t let your opponent push your around in heads up poker. If you allow your opponent to push you around then you won’t see very good results and you could be in trouble.

Learn To Fold

Playing aggressively is one thing but when you know you have lost a hand then make sure you fold to your opponent and don’t pay them off. You need to be able to win the big pots on www.FullTiltPoker.net and lose the small pots to be consistent in heads up poker and the only way to do this is to fold when you’re beat. There will be some hands that you lose big on, but if you keep those hands to a minimum then you’ll have a good shot at winning some money in the heads up arena.

Learn To Bluff

When you have the opportunity to make a bluff that will win you the pot then make sure you take advantage of doing so. You will get caught on some bluffs at Full Tilt Poker.com, but if you don’t bluff then you’re not going to win many heads up matches. You can’t sit and wait for the premium hands in heads up poker because that could take forever, you need to be willing to bluff at some pots.

Play Within Your Limits

When you play heads up poker you shouldn’t really risk more then 2-10% of your bankroll per match depending on the size of your bankroll. Make sure that if you lose a match you don’t increase the limits you’re playing because it will only dig you into a bigger hole in the long run. Expect to lose some matches, because it will happen and you can’t go on tilt when it does. Allow yourself to concentrate each match on that match and don’t let a previous match have an effect on your new match.

Heads up pocker can be very profitable and actually if you’re consistent you’ll make much more money playing heads up poker then playing full table sit and go tournaments. The reason is because a heads up match generally takes a lot less time to finish then a full sit and go tournament so you’ll be able to play a lot more games, allowing you to win a lot more money.

H.O.R.S.E. Poker has seen an increase in the amount of players who play the game and it’s becoming a more mainstream poker game which can be found in both online at PokerStars.net and live poker rooms. H.O.R.S.E. Poker is a poker game that includes five separate variations of poker all in one game. The games rotate through and players get a chance at playing five different poker games at once. If you don’t know which poker games are played in H.O.R.S.E. Poker you can read them below.

H – Holdem Limit
O – Omaha Hi/Lo
R – Razz
S – Seven Card Stud
E – Seven Card Stud Eights or Better

Players knew to the download poker scene don’t commonly play HORSE Poker because it involves being able to play five separate poker variations at the same time. Pro poker players are starting to play the game a lot more often though because it really tests there skills out and it’s more exciting then playing just one poker game. If you want to give H.O.R.S.E. Poker a chance then continue reading for some tips you can use to help assist you in winning at the tables.

Don’t get too involved in the pots with the games you aren’t familiar with because it might not be worth losing money on the games you’re not sure of. If you’re not good at playing Razz then try avoiding playing Razz and focus on winning chips in the other four games played. The game switches every time around the table so you don’t need to play a certain variation if you’re not comfortable with the game.

The competition is going to be tougher in HORSE Poker then any other internet poker game you’ve played because beginner players don’t really play this game. It’s generally played by poker players with lots of experience, so make sure you don’t assume everyone is a fish because you’ll lose quickly.

Analyze your opponents in H.O.R.S.E. Poker and take notes because it will come back to help you out later on. With five different poker games being played you might notice your opponents are weak in certain games so you should take note of this and make sure you take advantage of it.

When you first start playing HORSE Poker at www.pkr.com you should play small tournaments until you get the hang of how the game is played and you feel comfortable with everything. Then you can try heading over to a low limit ring game and see how it goes although never risk to much of your bankroll because this game is tough.

Don’t become predictable at the table either and create a table image that is hard to follow because your opponents will be watching you. Your opponents in H.O.R.S.E. are tough opponents so make sure you do your best to stay unpredictable at the table so you don’t get trapped.

There are lots of more tips you can find for HORSE Poker including some great strategy, but this is the basis you need. Implement these tips into your game when you first begin playing HORSE Poker and see how it goes. If you end up doing good at the tables then you can read more advanced strategy which will help you move up the limits and win more money.