Heather, Author at PokerPilgrims

The Business Side of Poker: Poker Resources

August 4, 2020August 3, 2020 Heather Leave a comment

Not too many players talk about it, but there is a business side of poker. The poker world is not just about calculating odds, bluffing, and reading your opponents. If you are going to be serious about poker, even as a recreational player, you’ll eventually need to address the personal economics of the game. Whether you are a home game player, a poker enthusiast, or a pro, poker is all about money. And where there’s money, there’s a business side.

The Business Side of Poker: Tracking and Bookkeeping

The most important thing that poker players need to do is track their poker bankroll. Whether you use an app such as Poker Income Tracker, create a spreadsheet, or write down wins and losses in a notebook, you will want to track the money that flows out of your bank account and into your poker game.

The Frustrated Traveler

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020 Heather Leave a comment

My two favorite activities are traveling and playing poker. However, today I find myself unable to do (or even reliably plan for) either one. I feel fortunate that all of this craziness started pretty much the day that Paul and I were returning from our most recent poker trip to Tampa. I remember sitting in the Tampa airport on March 1st waiting for our flight when Paul turned to me and said “My mom says there are two cases in Tampa”. And that was the last time we have been farther than 30 minutes from our house. Our visit to Derby Lane the day before was the last time that either of us played live poker. Almost five months later it is pretty safe to say that I am an extremely frustrated traveler.

Live Free and Play: Reopening Poker in New Hampshire

June 24, 2020August 30, 2020 Heather Leave a comment

Recently New Hampshire joined Florida and Las Vegas in reopening their poker rooms. Our friend Robbie Strazynski at Cardplayer Lifestyle asked us to write a post about the status of poker in our neighboring state. We very happily took this as an excuse to visit all of our local New Hampshire rooms and gather information about their new rules, safety practices, and traffic flow. For the full article, head on over to Cardplayer Lifestyle Poker Blog and read about The Great Reopening: New Hampshire.

A Chat About Omaha Poker Training

June 8, 2020June 8, 2020 Heather Leave a comment

As we have mentioned previously, Paul and I do some writing and other work for Advanced Poker Training, an excellent poker training website created by Steve Blay. After two years of development, this spring Steve launched a new poker training site to help players learn how to play PLO well. Omaha Poker Training has some of the same great features as APT, including a choice of 9-max or 6-max PLO cash games and multi-table tournaments.

The wide range of OPT game options allows you to customize training to target your home game, local card room, or even a $10,000 championship event at the World Series of Poker. Opponents can be selected from easy, moderate, or expert play in order to model training at a level that is right for the individual’s typical circumstances. You can even set starting hand ranges that are particularly troublesome so as to focus and improve on the exact situations currently causing you difficulty at the tables.

Recently, I sat down with Steve and talked to him about his love of chess, programming, and poker. I also asked him about Omaha Poker Training (OPT) and its development.

Interview with Steve Blay on Omaha Poker Training

Heather: When did you start playing poker and what drew you to the game?

Steve: I remember playing a lot of poker with my brother Allen in college, and never realizing how much skill there was to it. It wasn’t until I saw a special about Phil Hellmuth on TV, and I was stunned. You mean this is a skill game? Here’s this somewhat nerdy looking kid, who dropped out of college and went to Las Vegas and beat all those guys from Texas with cigars in their mouths. I want to be that guy! I bought David Sklansky’s “The Theory of Poker” the next day.

Coping with the Challenges of Remote Work

April 14, 2020April 14, 2020 Heather Leave a comment

Paul and I have been working remotely for close to 15 years now. We love working from home and can’t wait until we can take our remote work on the road when we start our poker pilgrimage in just a couple of years. A couple of years ago we wrote about all of the things that we love about working from home, as well as some of the challenges that we encounter. Now that so many of us have abruptly transitioned to working from home, we thought that it would be helpful to revisit some of the challenges of remote work and share how we cope with them.

COVID-19 has also thrown in the extra double-twist for many of us of working from home while your kids (and your significant other) are all sharing the same space 24-7. I thank goodness that Paul and I are currently residing with a 16-year-old and a 20-year-old, who are generally self-sufficient. I feel for those of you trying to work alongside 6-year-olds and 10-year-olds. You deserve a medal.

Author: Heather