Summer is a time of year when people have a bit more time to play tournaments online. Most sites try to put on a promotional tournament event this time of year. Bodog is having its Mini Series of Poker right now, with 25 events that mirror the events being played at the WSOP. The buy-ins are 1% of the cost of the real events, and the grand prize is three seats to the WSOP Main Event in Vegas.

PokerStars has its Million Dollar Turbo Takedown this summer. With a total prize pool of $1 million up for grabs, and at least one in every three players getting paid, this no-limit holdem event has a $1 million guarantee with a first-place prize of $100,000.

Carbon Poker is running its Summerchamps 2008 promotion. It also closely mimics the WSOP schedule. They will bring back successful players to play in the final.

Stealing under the gun is a simple concept of raising pre-flop from under the gun. That’s the position right after the blinds. Most poker theory dictates that one should only play premium cards in these positions, because one is at an instant disadvantage. So if most of the players are under the assumption that players will only play premium cards in this position, adjusting to this can be profitable.

By occasionally raising from under the gun, especially at a tight table, a player can steal the blinds from the early position. This trick can easily backfire if you raise into someone who has a good hand. You end up in a position where you have a poor hand in a poor position. It’s usually better to have something like connector or suited cards, to give you a better chance to hit something on the flop if you do get called.