Archive for January, 2010
Poker Tournament Rules Clearly Defined by the TDA
January 31st, 2010 | 
Author: When I first started playing in poker tournaments in 1996, there were no uniform rules… none! It seemed that every casino had its own idea of how to run a poker tournament, which made it not only confusing, but also often unfair.
In 2001, four gaming professionals got together and decided to put an end to the chaos when they founded the Poker Tournament Directors Association, the TDA. It is the official association of poker tournament personnel. It is my honor to call those four pioneers my friends: Matt Savage, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and David Lamb. During the month of February, I will be telling you more about those four poker icons.
TDA membership includes management staff from the world’s largest casino poker rooms, tour circuits, poker leagues, online tournament platforms, and independent tournament contractors. The Association is dedicated to the advancement of the industry and adoption of uniform poker tournament rules. Every two years the Association holds a TDA Summit to review proposed new rules and amendments. To date, the Association has adopted 44 rules. The Official TDA Rules are available here.
The TDA is an unpaid, volunteer organization. If you are active in poker tournament administration, and you would like to see increasing uniformity in tournament rules, consider joining the TDA. Members can actively participate in new rules legislation, attend the Summits, and post in the online discussion forums. Membership is free, and it's the best way for you to have a voice. Since inception, the Poker Tournament Directors Association has grown to over 1300 members in 39 countries.
Information about joining the Poker Tournament Directors Association is here.
Poker Coaching – Pure and Simple
Yesterday, while I was working on the announcement page for our upcoming poker coaching program, Poker, Pure and Simpletm, I came across a snippet in Readers Digest about what the first drafts of some famous movie quotes might have looked like. One particularly cracked me up:
The Godfather: "I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Well, he can refuse it, of course. I just know that if someone were to make me an offer like this, I'd jump on it. But who am I to impose my feelings on someone else?"
Then, I started thinking about how to make this poker coaching program stand out in other people's minds, and how to convey its unique features and benefits. I know it is a first-of-its-kind, and that there has never before been a program just like it.
My intention for the training is to empower poker players and help them find their game, not someone elses.
For now, I've posted a brief page about Poker, Pure and Simpletm and will be back tomorrow to tell you more after I sleep on it. The page is a little hokie, but it'll give you a brief overview for now.
In both poker and life, remember my motto:
When you can't raise, don't call.
New to Poker?
At 6'5" tall, people often called me The Poker Amazon, but I just can't quite see myself at the poker table as the classical Greek figure clad in a short leather toga with a bow and arrow.
However, I do relish what Dr William Mouton Marston intended when he created the comic book superheroine, Wonder Woman, in 1941. As a member of an all-female tribe of Amazons, Wonder Woman was a "distinctly feminist role model whose mission was to bring the Amazon ideals of love, peace, and sexual equality to 'a world torn by the hatred of men'."
As a young child growing up in the 50's & 60's in the coal mining camps of Virginia, I recall the fear that hung over my head because of the 'cold war'. We had absurd drills at school where we would jump under our wooden desks to protect ourselves against an impending atomic bomb.
To help insulate myself from this fear, I imagined myself having Wonder Woman's powers of super strength, super speed, stamina, and flight. I saw myself in her red, white and blue outfit with shiny red boots and indestructible bracelets. I could easily vision myself skilled at hand-to-hand combat and in the art of tactical warfare. Of course, I was a natural when it came to animal-like cunning and always had an instant rapport with animals.
Looking back I wonder how strongly the powers of this comic book character imprinted on that girl and later affected my poker game as well as my approach as a poker coach. I do know that for me, poker has been all about embracing my inner courage and facing my fears head on.
Remember my motto…
If you can't raise, don't call.
Donna Blevins
Poker Strategy Coach
New to Poker? Do you want to learn to play poker and find YOUR courage? Get instant access to my FREE Poker Teleseminar.
- What: Poker for Beginners
- Where: http://PokerForTheBeginner.com
Plan Your Poker Strategy for 2010
What do you do when you misplay a poker hand? Do you berate yourself for screwing up, or do you go about fixing where you goofed?
Well, folks, I mishandled this post. It was originally posted on New Year's Eve and went to cyber heaven when the host server was hacked. I failed to send myself an email of the new post while on the road, thinking I would do it right away after I got home. A few hours passed, then a day or two, and before I knew it, the post was gone forever.
That is kind of like a new year. Maybe, you made some resolutions. Some you may stick with, but most of them you will likely disregard as the year gains energy and the events of your daily life crowd out your good intentions. Before you know it, the year is over and gone.
Fourteen days have already passed. Rather than look back at the end of December and wonder where the year went and why your poker game has not improved over the year, make a plan for a different outcome. You can control the results, but you must first have a plan.
Three parts to any plan:
- Where am I now?
- Where do I want to go?
- What is the best route to get there?
Once you make the plan, there is another vital step:
- Act on the plan.
That is the single biggest reason people fail. They fail to act, generally feeling that they are not ready, or that everything is not yet perfect.
I've taken that to heart over the last 18 months. I wanted to bring my poker coaching to the virtual world, but I was trying to make my programs perfect before I came online.
Life is not about perfection. It is about striving for excellence.
A new year brings celebration. There is something uplifting about being able to start over. Maybe it's that rebirth of hopefulness. Just like sitting down at the beginning of a poker tournament.
I am certainly hopeful that you will plan your poker strategy for 2010. Then, take action and work that plan. If you find you could use some guidance and direction, I'm here to coach you through that plan.
Remember my motto is:
If you can't raise, don't call.
Donna Blevins
Poker Strategy Coach
PS: If you are new to poker and looking for a beginner's program, or have a friend who would like to learn to play poker, I'm giving a FREE live teleseminar on Thursday January 21, Poker for Beginners. Click through to this link and reserve a seat. Space is limited, and I'm giving away a free special report just for registering: http://PokerForTheBeginner.com/
Poker Lesson – A Hack in Time
Poker lessons everywhere! Who would ever think that having your host server hacked could result in a right-on poker lesson?
One of the ways I coach my poker playing students is helping them hear that ever-so-tiny voice inside. Doyle Brunson even talks about it. Slightly paraphrased, he says it is likely our brains are acting like a computer and feeding us back information we did not realize we actually had.
Do you ever know that you know something, but still resist listening? Well, I certainly have! For the last couple of months of 2009, I keep sensing that I should move my site, then the server was hacked around New Years, and nearly 20 days of content went to the virtual world.
It is interesting that even though I had been telling my husband that I wanted to move the site, I was still putting it off. After the host was hacked, even thought he did not say, I told you so, he lovingly reminded me to listen to that voice and get it done. This site is now safely moved to its new host, and I am grateful for the reminder lesson.
- What have you been putting off that your tiny voice has been nudging you to do?
Rather than resist, listen to the message. Just go and do it.
Speaking of a tiny voice, remember my motto…
If you can't raise, don't call.
By the way, on Thursday, January 21, 2010, come to my FREE premier teleseminar called Poker for the Beginner. Space is limited, so please go there now and reserve your seat. You will get a surprise gift just for reserving your seat NOW: http://PokerForTheBeginner.com
While you are at it, please forward the link to a friend who would like to learn to play poker. Many thanks! Donna
