Dennis Waterman has been playing tournament poker professionally for over two decades. This is Waterman's column about his thoughts and observations from the tournament poker circuit.
It's that time of year again… the World Poker Tour Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. Step right up, folks -- anyone with a buy-in of $25,500 can have a seat! In fact, I wish someone else had taken mine. There were 538... more
Bluffing. What does it mean? How important is it? Can one be successful without bluffing? Unnnh… well, no. According to Dennis, you have no chance to be a winner in no-limit hold'em without bluffing. When people talk about... more
Continuing our review of various works that I can recommend and think are useful for the professional player brings us to 'Sit'n Go Strategy' by Colin Moshman (Two Plus Two Publishing, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2007). Of course, one does not... more
Psychology. It's a subject none of us give enough importance. Furthermore we don't want to do the work to look at ourselves and see where we fit into poker's panoply of players. For this niche, though, there is one book that... more
I have hundreds of poker books in my library and most of them are not very good, in my opinion. I am trying to recommend a few good books to put on your shelves, though, and that has made me re-examine some titles that had gone into... more
I was reading through the columns I had missed of "Sexton's Corner" here on Pokernews and came across, from one of Tom's earlier columns, his list of suggested majors. I should also note up front that if the reader has an interest in... more
We return this week with Part 2 of my review of the 'Full Tilt Strategy Guide, Tournament Edition', edited by Michael Craig. Part 1 of my review can be found here, and in this column we'll look at the part of the book on non-NLHE... more
I just got back from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas. Every time that I go to this event I start out with a prejudice — I really like the Bahamas and all tournaments that might be held there, and it is behind only... more
I have to fire myself as a 'sweater', as I was witness to the following hands: Late in the third Day One (500-1000 blinds, with a 100 ante) I was standing behind a table which included Hiroshi Shimamura of Japan and Gary Lenz... more
When should hand-for-hand play be enforced? The question came up at Sydney's Star City Casino, recently, at a preliminary event, one in which I played. We did not go hand-for-hand in Event #1 although 30th paid AU $975. As it unfolded... more
Another book that I believe is a must-read for the serious all-around poker player is the Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide, edited by Michael Craig and published by Warner Books of New York, 2007. In reviewing this, I had to go... more
Howard Lederer never seems to tire of saying that poker is a game of imperfect information - and I have to agree with him. We live in an information age, so why can't players just throw their hands away and go on to the next... more
The internet has brought us many things, among them the emergence of a new generation of female poker players. The most successful of those is, of course, Annette Obrestad. Others exist, though, and we will hear about them from time to time... more
As readers likely know, I have given out bad marks for many poker book efforts in the past. Let me spend a few columns talking about books that I do like. Let's start with a new book that I predict will be an instant classic-- Kill Everyone... more
Let me address an issue that seems to confuse people no matter how many times it is spoken about (this is a response to an email query). Every limit and every form of hold'em is entirely different.... more
The heads-up no-limit hold'em tournament played in Barcelona was started seven years ago in Austria by John Shoreman and is directed ably enough by Thomas Kremser. The field is restricted to 128 players... more
They say that you only see one sixth of an iceberg above the waterline. When you are playing poker that is what you get—a hint. Small clues abound, but how much do you really see? The mathematician... more
At the Bellagio tournament in April ($3,120 buy in - start with 6000 in chips) about two hours in I had 10,000 in chips and was moved to a table with Alan Goehring to my immediate right with almost 30,000 in chips... more
Well, for anyone that has played for a one million dollar first prize, and finished second for $16,000 there is little for me to say because you have already felt it. I am the person that came second after getting heads-up more
What an idea! Tight aggressive is what you see recommended over and over in literature on how to play poker, but that is truly meaningless and hard to pin down when you examine real examples. What exactly does 'tight-aggressive' mean?... more