You don’t need a PHD in Mathematics to calculate your chances of winning your poker game. There are many easy and useful tricks to calculate your odds. Basically anyone who passed primary school should be able to determine the probability of receiving the card that you need to improve your hand.

Suppose you know that a particular player will only raise with AA, KK and QQ from early position. This player makes a raise from early position and the action is back to you. You look at your cards and see KK. Your chances in this situation are 50-50. If your opponent has the other KK then the game will end in tie, leaving only QQ and AA. You won’t win against AA, but you will beat QQ, meaning equal chances. Assume that your opponent will raise any cards from that position. In that situation the chance of winning with your KK is much closer to the 99 percent. This is obviously a simplified example of calculating your odds, but it should be your starting point even in more complex situations.

There have been some pretty dramatic poker happening during 2010, so, as we get to the end of the year and 2011 is peeping over the horizon, perhaps it is time for reflection. We saw shock as young Peter Eastgate retired at aged only 24; just two short years after his $9 million win in the 2008 WSOP Main Event. This made him the youngest winner since Phil Helmuth, a record which took 17 years to break. More shock was in store for poker fans as Eastgate gave his gold and diamond WSOP bracelet away for a children’s charity to auction online. This caused waves of mixed feelings across the poker playing community, but his rational was – “he won the title that can’t be changed, he will never wear the bracelet; so what? Let it do some good.” Good it did do, despite Tony G wanting to buy it for $17 500, and make a collar for his dog, the bracelet ultimately sold for $147000!

Harry Reid and his online poker bill for Nevada has featured big in the online poker news. But it all seemed to be “much ado about nothing” as he tried to get the bill pushed through the Lame Duck session of congress, tagged onto tax legislation and miserably failed. Some have heaved a sigh of relief, but we are all expecting the Reid bill to grow legs and run again in 2011.

Jonathan Duhamel has been making big news, and so has women’s poker, but one of the biggest surprises of all this year was when Isildur1 came out of the online poker closet and revealed his true identity. This online poker player lost a devastating $4 million at the end of 2009, and his showing in 2010 has led to a signing with Poker Stars. By-the-way, his name is Viktor Blom. We are awaiting a major PR job on Isildur1 by the Stars and this may come about as part of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Phil Ivey has earned a new bracelet – no surprises here, and Durr has not been what we expected and has hardly put up a challenge. Dwan has been something else, and according to poker insiders this nosebleed player has made bracelet bets of between $12-$20 million, with both Macau and Vegas getting in on a piece of this mighty money action. Expert are expecting the same of this, if not more from Dwan, come 2011.

2010 has been a year of transition for poker, this is without a doubt; its meteoric rise in popularity seems to have continued with the big names while the smaller players in the industry seem to continually fall by the wayside in what has become a war of attrition. From the glory and glamour of poker during 2009, 2010 has had its moments; if not quite the same. 2011 promises to be, perhaps more historically or politically driven.

Daniel Cates, Tom Marchese, Vanessa Selbst, Sorel Mizzi, Dwyte Pilgrim, Viktor Blom and Jonathon Duhamel have seen their stars grow this poker year and established players have furthered their legacies. All in all it has been a memorable year and we are looking forward to another in 2011. Happy New Year to you all, and may you be prosperous when you play poker.