I am still cruising. Betty and I have had a wonderful time on this poker cruise. This one was pretty small by poker cruise standards. Two hundred players with an 11 table cardroom open when ever the ship is not in port from 9 AM to 3 AM.

I use Card Player Cruises most of the time, but if you choose to use someone else, I still recommend a poker cruise. This one was a 10 day cruise to the Panama Canal with stops in Half Moon Cay (a private island owned by Holland America Cruise Lines in the Bahamas), Curacao, Aruba, Panama, and Jamaica (was supposed to be Costa Rica but rerouted due to a tropical depression). Today in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, 24 of us from the poker group went to Dunns Falls and climbed the waterfall. Tiring, and a little difficult for me, but we all made it! We return to Ft. Lauderdale (and fly back to Las Vegas) on 11/1.

The game I played onboard most of the time was 20-40 Mixed (mostly HOE). I love split games, as a lot of players make the mistake of playing for half a pot, and worse, drawing for a half a pot. The idea behind split pot games, as I mentioned in my Card Player article “Mixed Games Anyone?” is to play for scoops (winning the whole pot) and settling for half sometimes if you miss your scoop cards. This is especially true if the game is somewhat tight, as the shipboard one is this week, as you will not get the multi-way action needed to cover you if you are drawing for half. You get nothing if you miss and almost no profit if you hit your half. I don’t have time this week to tell you how to play for scoops, but I shall try to mention this in a future thought in a few weeks when I get back from the 2005 World Poker Player Conference in Foxwoods 11/12. Please try to be there…it promises to be a great day and the discount admission price goes away 11/4).

Here I am on the high seas. I love poker cruises. Fun, travel, poker, sightseeing, all rolled up into one. Nice.

I was thinking about folding recently. The best chapter written about the subject, IMNSHO, is the (first?) chapter in Zen and the Art of Poker by Larry Phillips. It really helps you understand why people find it so hard to “play” correctly. I get no revenue from this book, but that is a great chapter.

My thoughts on the subject: Bad players play too many hands because they don’t know better. Good players play too many hands because they think they are so good they can get away with it. So in essence, good players play too many hands because they do know better.

Hmmmm…

On November 12, the 2005 Woorld Poker Players Conference will be held at Foxwoods Resort and Casino. This will be the first time this conference has been held on the east coast. I will be a featured speaker at this event, with an all new seminar tentatively titled “How to Make One Big Bet per Hour.” Other speakers ascheduled include T J Coutier, Linda Johnson, Robert Willianson, Mike Caro,Lee Jones, Mark Gregorich, Clonie Gowan, Jan Fisher and Mark Tenner.

The early purchase price is $169, available only until Nov. 4. After that, the price rises to $199. You can get more information, or take advantage of the early-bird registation here.

Also, if you have not yet viewed the 2004 WPPC two-DVD set, where I did a different one-hour seminar as did a number of other notable speakers, you can get more information or buy one here.

I will be at sea on a Card Player cuise next week, having fun and celebrating my wfe’s birthday. I will try to post a brief thought, but please forgive me if I’m late.