First off: Thank you for all the nice suggestions what we could do on PokerStrategy at Christmas. Your input is greatly appreciated and I think many of you will find their ideas will influence what you will see on PokerStrategy in December :)

Tourneys, politics, developments, the market… there are a lot of things going on in the poker world or touching it. With all it’s aspects, poker is a topic you could write the whole day about. But what should news on PokerStrategy be like?

But now to tonight’s topic: Poker news in general.

Even though many of our users are very focused on the educational aspects about PokerStrategy, not everyone is.  To be successful at poker, you not only have to work through it like a science: first of all you have to enjoy it!

Where do we get this joy from? On the one hand, of course, there is success. But success may come slowly in the beginning, and even if you already are successful, there are downswings. So let us look for other things bringing joy and motivation to poker - and how news could help there.

1. Social Interaction. Next to learning poker in theory, we learn poker like we do all other things: from and with other people. Their successes motivate us, show us a way. Their thoughts may uncover unseen leaks or mistakes we do. Their mistakes may help us evade some. So interaction is good. News can encourage interaction & discussion. But this doesn’t really show which kind of news there should be. It’s just an argument that comments and links to the boards are important.

2. Information about promotions, bonuses, and market developments. Next to your skill, the environment we play in is important for our success and thus our joy. So if there is movement in the world of poker, may it be some legal shifts or platforms’ new offers & conditions, we should inform about it.

3. Entertainment. The most difficult topic. Entertainment may seem “unprofessional” - but I personally think it’s important. After all, poker is a game - and a game should be enjoyed. Success and fun do go well together, and not harm each other. Gossip from tournaments or big name players can be a nice pas-time between the games or reading articles. Fun stories or interviews can be a start into your poker day.

So basically, everything going on in the poker world can make sense as a news. But where are the limits? What is interesting? What is fun? What is important enough? What is a big name player worth writing about? How big must a tourney be to be noticed? When do you want interviews, when silence?

A lot of questions, and I could even think of more. Of course we are working on answering these questions for ourselves and make our news better and better – but I am sure your opinion about it is very interesting and can improve our news section greatly. I’d be really glad to read about your thoughts on this matter!

Dear readers,

for I am not santa claus, but convinced many of you are very creative, I want to ask you a question. Maybe you’ve got ideas that will not only help yourself, but be fun to PokerStrategy and all of its members:

What would you find nice as a christmas present from PokerStrategy?

Of course we won’t be able to gilden your fingernails or magically improve your fingernails, but there might be a lot of things you might enjoy that are quite doable.

I could imagine small promotions, special content, the return of missed coaches, lotteries, entertainment, interviews… – and I’m really excited what comes to your mind!

Please leave your suggestions in the comments, or, if your suggestion seems to be a little too complicated for it, mail me: lutz -at- pokerstrategy.com.

Thank you a lot and enjoy the day – I for my part am a little worried, as it’s my brothers birthday and I have no cake for him when he comes to the office in a few minutes… :/

PS: Sorry to everyone who is already annoyed enough by christmas decoration in malls or the option to buy a santa clause of choclate in late september!

You have a Mansion Poker account with our bonus code “PSVIP” and you are waiting for the StrategyPoints? We will credit the points with our status rank update tomorrow. You will get 4 StrategyPoints for every Dollar rake played on Mansion Poker. If you are aiming for our top 100 promotion Mansion could be the way to climb up the ladder. You will get of course StrategyPoints retrospective for the last week.

And I can confirm that we are working with 888 as a new partner in the future.

I announced already that we are working on a beginner SnG section. The first step was made this week with our free ICM Trainer. The ICM Trainer allows you to practice a mathematically perfect SnG-game. That means that you practice to make the right decision in particular situations.

The tool is already available in German and English and our Community-Manager are translating it into every language. Did I mention that it´s absolutely free? You don´t have to buy a SnG Wizard or something else if you want to start playing SnG´s. Our Education and Software department will of course work on improving the ICM Trainer in the near future.

Even though Stefan in his optimist nature already announced the launch of our Korean website, we had some problems in our quality assurance that lead to a short delay.

Now, there is a challenge between Mandarin Chinese and Korean for a photo finish. Will our Chinese community manager Lei end up before Mo, who introduced me to the delicious korean cuisine? Bets are accepted!

A side pot question: Shall I add 1 or 2 garlic toes to my curd cheese that will be my good night dish? Bah, probably I wont get answers early enough. So I stay with what works best with garlic: “The more the better!”