Poker Education, Free Online Coaching, Brought to You By - Web Surfing

Yesterday and Today was an Internet surfing forage. Started in the Full Tilt Forums. They are having deposit, withdrawal issues, and someone noted the Regulation Authority (which gets a little confusing on the bottom of the page). So, I went to googling of the actual owners of FTP (whom are supposed to be in the US, hence the crackdown of the Feds more on FTP than the rest of the Poker sites).

This led to - indeed, Filco is located in the US. And, they seem to have switched main regulation over to the UK from Kahnawake. Which led to a forum and topic later in this post. Which led to revisiting the FTP forums, which led to finding some REALLY great Videos on YouTube (from more googling).

Now, there are many aspects to furthering your study of Poker. As one popular site said, Phil Ivey does more studying of the game (or at least he Used to), offline, than actually playing. As such, us low limit players can use ALL the edge we can get. Analyzing your own game is very good (one blogger is playing during the day, and analyzing at night). You can read this blog and other blogs (they are really helpful, and the blogs I study are listed at the bottom of the blog, under the Copyright notice), and frequent forums - such as 2+2. There is also the Full Tilt Academy, which is free to those with A full Tilt Account, and as you earn Points, more Videos and Challenges are open to you.

Others advocate books, DVDs, Online Videos, and personal Coaching (though the latter should really be reserved for those new to the scene). As to coaching and Online Videos such as those offered by Cardrunners, Stox, and Sharkscope - they are good, but self proclaimed pros are popping up all over the place (such as moi). I say, why pay for it when you can get it for free? I've also discovered, that surfing through the different sites I get my info from, I've come close to getting the same information as reading the Harrington Books (though those are still probably on my list).

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Our first catch, is a channel on YouTube from Tight Poker. I haven't visited the Web Site Yet, but its STRONGLY suggested you watch all the videos. There's a segment on Huds, but his use of Holdem Manger to review stats via the Hand Replayer is very informative. All those using Holdem Manager should watch all the Videos. Those looking for basic low limit (microstackes from 2NL to 100NL) should watch all the Hand Review Videos (or just watch them all). Now, as stated before, I don't really use the Huds, but this may get me started as I climb the limits. I am, however, with "microstakes bankroll builder" on not relying so much on Huds, as direct observation of your opponent (you will notice the difference when you watch the videos, as to what the Huds can tell you, and what you can see in 50 hands of play against your opponent - his blog is good for education too, but remember, as in my blog, its still an opinion - we differ on buy in strategies and bankroll managment).

Check out tightpokerdotcom's Channel, and start from the bottom of the list (PS, the Pokerstars video has to download fully before playing).

My next find, I haven't watched many videos yet. After each video with Tight Poker, you get some related videos, and I clicked on this one to check out the channel. Looks to be good, and worth a study (I will file a later report if this is not the case).

sitngogenius's Channel (ps, also contains videos on lotto, roulette, etc). I'll collect and post more channels as I continue the Web Search.

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Two forum posts Submitted for your Approval, long reads, but interesting:

Banned from FT without evidence - full disclosure. While I haven't read the entire thing, I did skip to the end for a cliff notes version (which prompted me to re read the thread). Apparently, he proved to be cheating (for those wondering about programs such as PT3 and HEM, don't be scared, they are allowed on Full Tilt, PokerStars and UB. Cake Poker-and all sites on the network- disallow the use of Huds, and they won't work).

Another Long Read (but the beginning of withdrawal issues), Full Tilt Poker Seized 25K from my account. This guy also proved to be doing some cheating with a friend, though haven't read the full scoop. For more on banned software, and how to avoid these problems, read my posts under the label Banned Software.

I have plenty of resources listed along the sidebar of this blog, and at the bottom. The serious Poker Player will do in depth research, as opposed to a newbie who complained about losing over 1k, and when asked what he did to help study/better his game, said he bought a HUD. Please judge accordingly, and read more of my blog on the matter.

Now, off to watch some videos (PS, you can also get a lot of info from watching Poker After Dark, they don't water down the play when folks keep folding or go in the tank, shows the full play for both Cash Games and Single Table SNG play).