Currently at the height of their popularity, podcasts are just about everywhere you look on the internet and are now entering the homes of millions of satisfied users each day. The widespread success of the iPod and other mp3 players means that people are snatching up free educational material on a number of different subjects for their use at home, in the car, at work, and in their free time. For those of you who are unaware of the emergence of podcasts and how they work, you can read up about it on Wikipedia .
For those of you who prefer an abbreviated version, podcasting is basically the audio equivalent to blogging, which essentially means that people can upload their own radio programs from all over the world. It’s a bit like pirate radio, except entirely legal! Of course this makes for a fair amount of inferior quality submitted by amateurs but if you spend a bit of time searching for the relevant type of podcast you will certainly find some interesting stuff out there. There are literally thousands of programs which deal with poker and other forms of gambling, so we thought we’d take a closer look at the poker podcast alternatives out there and share with you what we learned.
The best thing about podcasts is that most of them are free. There is an abundance of new instructional material out there which is perfect for the novice player who wants to improve his/her game. Podcasts are short in length which means that you don’t have to invest huge amounts of time slogging through all the dense and complicated instructional literature out there.
A number of the major poker rooms have started offering instructional programs as well, many of them featuring some of the game’s best-known authorities and experts. World class poker gurus such Howard Lederer and Daniel Negreanu often appear in these round table discussions. Admittedly, most of these podcasts serve as advertisements for the major poker rooms, but the better ones are still very useful and geared for those players truly wishing to improve their game.
Most of the big poker rooms have dedicated at least some attention to the podcast. The section at Full Tilt Poker is clearly one of the best and deserves a look. Visit their multimedia page for more information. Another great podcast is noted poker authority Phil Gordon’s World Series of Poker Podcast. In it, Phil discusses the biggest events in the world of competitive high-stakes poker, and includes commentary and interviews of some of the biggest names in the industry.
And, the big boys at cardplayer.com have also joined the world of podcasting. Visit their site and check out the program “The Circuit”, which is recorded nearly every day from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. It is a great discussion of poker news and a complete breakdown of World Poker Tour events, featuring commentary by Scott Huff, Gavin Smith, and Joe Sebok. In one memorable episode, Gavin was completely inebriated which made for a hilarious discussion.
Finally, www.podcastdirectory.com is a great source for all types of podcasts. So, whatever your fancy may be, we encourage you to check out this “new” technology – there’s really something for everyone! And, who knows, a poker podcast might and the information therein might be all you need to take your game to the next level. Good luck!
