WPT Poker profile: Victor Ramdin

Title: WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic 2006
Hometown: Bronx, NY
Hobbies: 9 Ball and Darts
Family: Wife and two kids

Born in Guyana, Georgetown, Victor Ramdin got his first taste of poker while watching friends play at a local bar. A few years later, in 2002, he decided it was time to take poker on as a pastime, and while his real estate paid the bills, his buddies taught him the game.

Now 5 years later Ramdin is not only considered a poker pro with his well-deserved WPT Foxwoods title, he’s also a poker millionaire. Ramdin won a whopping $1,331,889 with his winning Ah Js hand at the final table of WPT Foxwoods.


Apart from the World Poker Tour, Ramdin also played in other high stakes poker tournaments like the World Series of Poker (WSOP) where his best WSOP performance happened in 2004 when he ended in 16th position.

So what does a poker millionaire do with all the money? Ramdin likes to give back to the country where he grew up and for more than six years he helped children in South America receive much-needed surgeries. “We put together a team of doctors from the U.S. who dedicate their time for free. We go to our country and we serve the poor,” Ramdin said. A great family man, WPT champ and philanthropic poker player Victor Ramdin is a legend in his own right.

My Poker Resolutions for 2007

By Lady Luck

1. Play less Flops – I looked at my statistics for Ring Games at PokerTime for 2006 and noticed that I had played too many flops. So my New Year’s Resolution for 2007 is to fold more hands before the flop (especially if I’m on blinds).

2. I’ve decided to play more aggressively in 2007 when I’m in a good position and have a good hand. However I’ll fold more pocket Aces or Kings when the blinds are big and my hand doesn’t fit the flop.

3. Play more multi-table tournaments. It’s always fun to play at these tables - you just have to put some time aside to enjoy poker tournaments in all their glory.

4. Improve other games. I love Texas Hold’em but in 2007, I’m definitely going to play Omaha and Stud. I also enjoy blackjack and you can actually play blackjack in some poker softwares.

5. Play at the high stakes tables. I’m going to try out the $100+$200 poker tables because it doesn’t help if you just make money from fish and don’t improve your poker skill.

The Fine Line between Prison and Poker

Popular culture has always been fascinated by two things: Poker and Prison. They’ve both been the inspiration for countless movies, television programmes, songs, PlayStation games and even music videos. While many prisoners play poker to keep themselves busy while serving time, just take John Abruzzi from Prison Break, the two have one more important thing in common – fish.

In online poker we like to call poor poker players "fish". Fish are usually new to the game of poker and it’s relatively easy for Pro’s (known as sharks) to prey on them by dangling money in front of them and waiting patiently for the fish to bite.

Think of fish, as being like Dorie from "Finding Nemo," forgetting things as soon as they're taught but swimming full speed ahead anyway. In the same vein, an unskilled poker player will play loosely and passively - calling a lot of bets and risking money on a long-shot bet. It's a well-known (though not well-followed) rule among sharks to not upset the fish because they'll stop having fun and perhaps leave the poker room. Thus the phrase, "Don't tap on the aquarium."

In Prison, new prisoners are also called ‘fish’ and they are preyed upon by other prison inmates (known as predators) for their store goods, property, business deals and even for sexual favours.

One of the most famous Prison Movies, The Shawshank Redemption, coined the phrase ‘fish’ in the following conversation:
“Red: Well, rumor's that you're a cold fish. You think your shit smells sweeter than most.”
“Andy Dufresne: What do you think?”
“Red: Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't made up my mind.”

An important lesson that poker fish can learn from prison fish is that reputation plays an important role. If a prison fish ever gives into a predator by giving him what he wants, the predator will be back for more. That’s why it’s important in prison to find out “Who’s Who” in order to stay clear of the wrong people.

In poker the same rule applies – know your poker opponents and don’t let your own reputation overshadow your game. By studying your poker opponents a fish can gather who are tight players and who bluff all the time. It is also a well known fact that Predators and Sharks like to prey on the weak. That’s why poker fish should learn from the start when to fold’em and when to hold’em.

While it’s easy for prison inmates to know if they’re the fish, the golden rule applies for poker – If you can’t spot the fish at the table, you’re it!

Poker Trick O' Treat

By Lady Luck

If you are one of those online poker players who believe that you'll make a lot of money by cheating online then you’re in for a bit of a scare. It's called the Poker Trick O' Treat where scamsters promise that they'll treat online poker players with downloadable poker cheating software, but on the contrary, they trick you out of your hard earned cash.

We've all heard these lines before: Hold 'Em, Fold 'Em, Cheat 'Em’ or 'If you can't beat them join them'. These are just some of the popular lines that fraudsters use to turn your poker game into a nightmare, even scarier than the one on Elm Street.

In another era, if a player realised what was going on he might have thrown the poker table, pulled a gun, and cleared the saloon, but in modern days, the best you can do is be aware of these scams and try to avoid them. So for those players who want to relax this Halloween in the poker room and not let their money spook-tacularly disappear, here's the lowdown:

Software cheats - "Cheat On Poker v.1.2" promised special tracking software that helps you to track the hand of every opponent at your online-poker table and some even promise that you can see your opponent's cards. The catch – it costs you money for downloading and you cannot use it on real money games. Sounds like more of a trick than a treat to me.

Bots – Computer programs that play online poker for you. Not very effective in online poker rooms as security monitors often pick up their scent, especially when they spot a player going a whole 24 hours without a bathroom break. Advanced poker rooms also have mouse tracking that helps them determine if it is a real player or not.

Collusion - several players at the same table (or one player using multiple computers), share information. It often happens that a weak-handed player helps out a strong-handed co-conspirator by staying in the game and raising to convince others to bet more.

But there's a catch. Good colluders have to be able to play their combined hands well, and they have to win enough for it to be worthwhile after dividing their money throughout the group. Poker rooms also track Internet Protocol (IP) addresses to make sure if one person is using multiple aliases.

Friday the 13th at the Poker tables

Luck has nothing to do with it or does it?
By Lady Luck October 13, 2006

Paraskevidekatriaphobia: the worst hand you could possible get in 13 Card Stud, a Poker Variation played by pirates sailing towards the Bermuda Triangle. Well if you are one of those people who believe walking under a ladder, killing a ladybug or seeing a black cat will bring you bad luck, then you might as well believe this.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia is actually the fear of Friday the 13th considered by many as one of the most superstitious days of the year. This fear is so bad that many people won’t drive in their own cars, eat at a restaurant or touch a deck of cards.

But what does Friday the 13^th have to do with poker? Poker is after all a skill based game and if you ask any professional poker player they’ll tell you that poker has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with your own ability to play. Poker is, however, loaded with superstitions about death hands, stats, seat numbers and who’s playing at the same table as you. You’ll also find while Friday is an unlucky day for playing cards, playing on the 13th, is bad, regardless of the day of the week. So you’re bound to see some strange behavior at the Poker room tables today.

Here are some interesting Poker Superstitions:

* Never sit with your legs crossed at the poker tables.
* Always move clockwise when changing seats.
* Sit on a handkerchief to break your bad luck at the tables.
* The unluckiest poker card is the four of clubs.
* Online poker players will reset their hand statistics to zero if they had a bad run of cards.
* Some online poker players will also shut down the poker room and restart if it they’ve been losing badly.
* Table position is a big deal and having players seated before you are considered bad luck.
* You can change the run of cards by walking around your chair three times.
* Players will flop a Death Hand (a certain hand that players constantly lose with), even if this hand is suited and the player is in the big blind.
* Trust your Poker sense and walk away from a table if you get a bad feeling.

Now that I’ve told you about some Poker Superstitions and possibly have you sitting on a handkerchief while folding the four of clubs, I want to end of with my own personal advice for Friday the 13^th at the Poker Tables:

You are not unlucky, regardless of today being Friday the 13^th. I do not believe that bad luck exists in online poker and over a long period of time, no one player gets more than his or her share of good luck at a poker table. Your own perception of being "lucky" or "unlucky" comes from how strongly you identify with the emotions of winning or losing when they happen. People who'd classify themselves as "very lucky" or "very unlucky" should avoid poker and stick with the scratch tickets - or maybe consider sailing to the Bermuda Triangle.

Scam Alert

I nearly got duped into believing the email below until I remembered a post I read online about the recent phishing ordeal at NETELLER. Seems this buffoons haven’t escaped other banking institutions completely because I’ve received various mails lately offering me free money at some or other banking place.

FYI- A ‘phisher’ is a person who uses e-mail to fraudulently obtain valid data from a user.

Apparently NETELLER customers have reported numerous accounts of identity theft online. Someone’s on the rampage and has been using United States and London addresses to register “a fake NETELLER domain and has been busy at work, attempting to obtain account information” that would enable this thief to raid your cash.

I got this email in my inbox this morning and have also received a similar MoneyBookers.com one too:

Be careful out there and just be on the look out for dodgy content in your mailbox, and remember “When in doubt, just Delete!”

Aden