• Caro’s Book of Poker Tells. I’ve read a lot of books prior to this book, but I list this one first for the sheer amount of benefit this book brought me afterwards. This book has undergone a few version updates and I believe the one I read was a bit older than the most recent…but just the same, this book contains amazing concept and theory on how to identify various tells at the table. How does this apply to online tournaments? You would be surprised. To me, identifying a tell boils down to identification of patterns or repetition. Typical tells are relevant online as they are offline with the online world bringing an entirely new fold of tells to study. Read this book!
• Doyle Brunson’s Super System. Many view this book as almost the poker world’s bible. I didn’t take it quite so literally but found many of the chapters to be true gems. This book proves how poker strategy and theory can transcend time having been published in the late 70’s. I highly recommend this book as you will be well above the fold for just reading this.
• Ace on the River: An Advanced Poker Guide. Barry Greenstein did a great job. This book really sat well with me. Having been accustom to the typical poker book discussing long, drawn out strategies with very technical odds and statistics, I found this book refreshing. Barry delivers concepts beyond the table along with back story. This opened my mind to very different ways of thinking.
• Hold’em Poker for Advanced Players. I read this book many years ago and still find myself going back to some of the chapters for reference.
• Championship no-limit and pot-limit hold’em. A great book with many examples of what to or not to do in various situations.
• Harrington on Hold’em Expert Strategy for No Limit Tournaments
  

• Newgroups. More specifically, rec.gambling.poker. An invaluable resource of poker knowledge, strategy, and spam. Yeah, if you can tolerate the spam, there are some very fine people on the newgroup.
• Blogs. If you’re reading this, you obviously have the right idea. However, I encourage you to seek out poker related blogs. I have come across many great writers out there that bring various perspective to poker along with in depth analyses, discussion and often times, humor. It’s great to see the “human” side of poker through blogs.
• Forums. Most major poker sites on the web have some variation of a forum. Some are far more useful than others. But every once in a while you’ll find a gem. Bookmark that site and visit often. You’ll be glad that you did.
• IM’s. Obvious, but worth mentioning. Once you’ve created a network of fellow poker enthusiasts, add them to your IM client and stay in touch.
  

• Thanks to BSN over at bigslicknuts for stopping by.   Appreciate the link about Moneymaker vs. Farha.
• As always, many thanks to CC for droping by recently.  Check out today's follow up on the catalysts of poker discussion from yesterday.
• Great to see Rod back from his perfect wedding in Jamaica.

1. Chris Moneymaker (While often critiqued for his true skill, few can deny the impact this man has had on the game, the exposure, the appeal. If he can make millions, why can’t we? Chris single handedly along with PokerStars.com’s promotion sent hundreds of thousand of poker wannabe’s to the sites causing this surge.  Do I think this was "good" for the game?  That's a different post entirely)
2. Rounders (pivotal in creating an overall appeal to the game. Made it appear as though any average joe with determination and grit can make his stand)
3. Hold Card Cameras (without this concept, I do not believe we would have the interest we have. If we weren’t watching Moneymakers cards, I really don’t think anyone would have cared as much)
4. Launch of online poker (before online poker, you were geographically bound and restricted. This created a whole new world of poker enthusiast.)
5. ESPN Coverage (somewhat goes hand in hand with the Moneymaker affect. ESPN saw an opportunity for good television while covering the world's underdog, promoted the hell out of it, thus creating a windfall.)
6. WPT Coverage (I put this neck and neck with ESPN but think the WPT coverage was paramount to the success poker has had in recent years.  The WPT really brings forth many veteran and new poker celebs to mainstream America.)
7. Poker Books (with all the media’s attention, everyone wanted to learn how to play. Increased interest, increased book sales, increased new material, etc.)
8. Poker Celebs (without favorite’s in any sport, no one would have anyone to cheer for. Some are great ambassadors, others are down right bad for the game. In the end, the exposure to those in the biz has been very important.)

Winning Online Multi Table Tournaments
By: Adam LaBare

Part 2
Limit Your Distractions
“I’m addicted to multi-tasking, HELP!”
-Anonymous

Online poker is unique in that you have the freedom to be doing as many simultaneous things as you like. When playing a home game or in a casino, you’re obviously limited to the interaction you have while sitting at that one table. You’re not buying in to several tables/tournaments and running across the room trying not to miss a hand. Imagine an entire poker room at The Bellagio with people running from one table to the next…chaos. But somewhat funny to imagine.

When you’re playing online poker, you have the freedom to play several tables, several tournaments in several different poker clients. You could be running 3 tables on PokerStars.com while playing in two different tournaments on PartyPoker.com. While your doing this, you could be surfing the internet and reviewing sites like digg.com or better yet, poker blogs! Beyond that, you may also have the television going with a fairly interesting plot line on ABC’s Lost (one helluva show if I may say) all the while your 3 dogs are plotting where the next batch of throw up will hide itself in anticipation of your wife to stepping in it thus resulting in a bad case to Tourette Syndrome. Then there’s always the wildcard door bell and phone call on top of those few things.

The thinking here is that when you’re playing poker online, it is very easy to be doing too many things which results in decreased focus which leads to increased loss monetarily. The solution? Limit your distractions! Or in the words of my Father, “Keep it simple, Stupid”.

I can’t give you the simple solution to limiting those distractions as I face them every day myself. I’m literally a multi tasking junky. I can’t sit still just doing one thing. I don’t think it’s adult ADD. But if my attention is not entirely utilized, it’s easy for me to get bored. Drives my wife insane. But I have been successful in limiting those distractions and here are a few things I do that contribute to my success.

• If you’re like me and play poker on your laptop out in the living room to ensure you’re spending time with your loved ones, stop. Well, not entirely, find a happy mix. Trust me, your significant other does not consider this quality time. Instead, spend time in a different room away from typical household surroundings. Venture in to your second bedroom, or office and just be alone with your poker. You would be surprised how this has helped with larger, more important tournaments in my past. If you choose this path though, you better make darn sure you emerge from your cave and spend that lost time with your loved ones. Trust me!
• Limit the background noise. Personally, I don’t really mind the T.V. going, but it HAS caused unnecessary distractions which very well may have contributed to an early tournament knock out here or there. This may sound odd, but I have had far and away more success when I’ve been listening to music vs. having the television on. While I can’t show you the science, it works for me. Perhaps you can compromise, turn your t.v. to your music channels. My cable company has a great line up of music choice. I also have Sirius Satellite radio streaming in to my home entertainment system. I LOVE this service. And, if I’m really in the mood to geek out, I have my ipod often plugged in to my Xbox 360. If music can soothe savage beasts, it may have a slight impact on us surly poker players.
• Play on a full stomach. Yes, simply eat a snack before you sit down to that 6 hour tournament. The hourly 5 minute breaks don’t last very long. You’ll find that the less you have to get up and do normal, human stuff, the more focused you can remain on the game.
• Use the bathroom before sitting down to those longer tournaments. Granted, if you have a lap top, you can work something out…and you lap top owners know what the hell I’m talking about. Don’t lie! But seriously, take care of business before hand-your several body parts will thank you for it.
• Drink in moderation, or don’t drink at all. And for that matter, if you partake in ANY mind altering substance…if you’re playing poker for profit, I caution you to seriously consider partaking during or right before a tournament. Now I’m not suggesting you stop your binge drinking, pot smoking Saturday’s, but I am saying that I very rarely win a dime while playing intoxicated. You’ll see many poker players comment on a few beers or drinks relax them allowing them to play a better game. Okay, perhaps this is true…but if your in a marathon session, 2 crown and cokes can easily turn in to 9 resulting in you waking up at 4 in the morning with your laptop on the ground next to you. Then you ask yourself, how the hell did I get on the ground, under the coffee table? And why is my face sticking to the floor? And why is PokerStars still running? You get the picture. I remember one night I “fell asleep” a few years ago to wake up the next day and realize I finished in the money yet I had absolutely no recollection of participating in the tournament. I think that was part of the “growth process” and learning ones limitations. Needless to say, I very seldomly drink alcohol while playing. Maybe a beer or two every now and again. But even then, when your up running to the bathroom between hands…it get’s tedious.
• Let the dogs out before you get started. Trust me.
• Keep your cable modem and routers nearby. My cable company updates my IP about once or twice a week which means that I have to hard reset my modem and router manually. This has happened several times during very important tournaments. I've gotten the reset process down to a science and can be back up and running in about 60 seconds.
  
• If you’re playing in a large tournament, play in an empty house. My wife has been very supportive of this without even having to ask. When she finds out that I’m playing in the stars 1 million tournament on Sunday’s, she’ll often get out of the house for the afternoon. She’s great when it comes to that. I just find that with larger, more at risk tournaments, the less distractions, the better. I’m just lucky my wife understands. Plus, it probably helps that she realizes a first place finish in this tournament could alter our lives quite a bit.
• Relieve Stress. Easier said than done I realize. But when I sit down to a tournament, I do significantly better when I have less taxing things on my mind. For example, if I know on a Friday that I’ll be playing in the big tournament Sunday, it helps if I preemptively prepare at work. Meaning I’ll take care of open items in the workplace that Friday so that I won’t have to deal with them Monday morning. If your anything like me, Sunday afternoon’s can suck just knowing Monday is a work day. The less you have to stress about, work related, the better you will do in that tournament. This category can cover so many things…but other items that can impact your play:
• Outstanding bills. Don’t go in to a tournament knowing that you HAVE to win to pay financial obligations. I keep my poker bankroll entirely separate from any outside financial obligations.
• Sex. If your horny, get it out of your system before the tournament. Better yet, if your significant other is horny, make them happy before the tournament. It can be quite the dilemma when you run in to the bathroom during a 5 minute break and she say’s to you, “come here” from the bedroom as you head back to the computer. I’ll leave it at that…but you can see the problem this might present. Plus, the whole “you’d rather play poker than be with me” argument is a very slippery slope. Barry Greenstein had a great section on this topic in his recent book. A very good read I might add.
• Double booking. Don’t plan to be somewhere at 8pm if your tournament starts at 6pm. Unless you want to fail which is just stupid and I which case, you deserve to fail. Playing with the added pressure of having to be somewhere really is setting yourself up for failure. Take care of your obligations before hand.