The Poker Diary

I really love to Playing poker on Sportsbook.com because its so very entertaining!

Another black friday post :) Free Poker Money

2011-08-24T23:49:44.611-07:00

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Ok let's see how things go at 888 :) Nice blog...

2011-08-14T08:44:20.573-07:00

Ok let's see how things go at 888 :)
Nice blog btw..

Free Poker Bankrolls

Thanks for the post, mate. I've been a little ...

2011-06-12T16:21:38.273-07:00

Thanks for the post, mate. I've been a little busy myself, and dropped off for a little while there. I added you to my list of blogs.

Hope your blessed by the poker gods with good hits.

Deuces!
-Farce

Hey there, Good Read mate. I hope I can get to a ...

2011-04-20T20:19:45.384-07:00

Hey there, Good Read mate.

I hope I can get to a point were I'm in a 200K anything O_o, wow, and you might meet some real pros, kudos I say.

Me, personally, I'm at the bottom side: Freerolls and VIP 6 hands over at Playersonly. Just trying to get a bankroll started =/

Well, great read once again. Feel free to check out my own blog and give any advice you can spare. Thanks and Good Luck!

Deuces!
-Farce

2011-03-17T17:32:51.228-07:00

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Poker Tracker 3 is awesome but never tried holdem ...

2011-02-27T15:59:20.126-08:00

Poker Tracker 3 is awesome but never tried holdem manager is it easy to install?

I'm on Full Tilt but have never heard of the take 2 promotion how to I get that?

Yeah, I do realize that HEM is much better in a lo...

2010-11-21T13:01:41.794-08:00

Yeah, I do realize that HEM is much better in a lot of ways. Oh well, I'm getting pretty used to PT3 and they just released a new update so hopefully it will have some new features.

And I do currently only have the Microstakes version, so it wouldn't be a huge investment to make the switch sometime down the road. (I'd want to wait until I move up a few levels at least to make it worthwhile...)

I was a big fan of the Poker Tracker products unti...

2010-10-31T10:17:27.648-07:00

I was a big fan of the Poker Tracker products until I discovered Holdem Manager, which is a far better product in all areas IMO!

I completely agree. It is easy to overlook mistak...

2010-07-17T05:26:01.955-07:00

I completely agree. It is easy to overlook mistakes sometimes as they are happening. Sometimes it does take that honest look back to see all the leaks.

When I posted that earlier, I think the main probl...

2010-07-01T17:22:19.850-07:00

When I posted that earlier, I think the main problem I was having was being too short term results oriented instead of focusing on making the correct play at every opportunity.

But the real trouble comes when that's taking up a lot of my attention, so I'll definitely give the mini cashier a try. I think that'll help. Thanks for the tip.

If I can offer you a bit of advice: If you play a...

2010-07-01T13:12:43.822-07:00

If I can offer you a bit of advice:

If you play at Full Tilt (which I think you do), you can set up a widget on the right portion of your screen, called "mini cashier." You can track your overall session results. (Really, does a single table matter?) If you actually care about individual tables, you are micro managing your tables... you should be concerned about overall session results, though. The cashier window is an easy view minute-by-minute into your session.

Thanks for the linkage!

2010-06-24T06:50:38.002-07:00

Thanks for the linkage!

I have to say that a PF limp / 3bet is a HUGE spot...

2010-06-08T13:55:39.779-07:00

I have to say that a PF limp / 3bet is a HUGE spot for AA (and less so KK). AK is a snap fold in your situation - if you're determined to call on the flop. I believe that AK is a fold PF in that spot... without any reads, and at that level, a player generally is not thinking about what you have, nor what you think of his cards. If he were, he'd be very scared of the King high flop because a flat of the limp / raise usually means the original raiser has JJ, QQ, KK - those premium pairs that are not able to push all in to the limp / raise, but are so unsure whether they're being pushed around by an wild AK or an AA.

Sorry I didn't comment earlier; I forgot about it because I was in Turkey at the time, but AK in that spot is a PF fold. Nitty, yes, but you survive those early rounds. And if he's playing around in that spot, he's going to get caught.

Yeah, obviously >33% equity means a profitable ...

2010-06-08T13:20:08.268-07:00

Yeah, obviously >33% equity means a profitable call. I meant to say that in this situation he will probably be shoving most of the time on the flop, so it's not just this preflop call but for all my chips.

I'd have to let it go if I don't improve the flop, which is what probably prompted others to say it's a 5-bet shove or fold.

the rule I follow is that I need an extraordinary ...

2010-06-08T13:01:35.522-07:00

the rule I follow is that I need an extraordinary reason to NOT call if I'm getting 2:1 odds. Holding AK and getting 2:1 is nearly automatic.

You say if he has only QQ+, then you're "not in good shape", but in truth, you're 30% is nearly enough to justify the call getting 2:1. If you add JJ, you're at 36%, and therefore correct to call with AK.

He had AA...Of course...Busted out of the tourname...

2010-06-08T12:42:49.855-07:00

He had AA...Of course...Busted out of the tournament.

Now that I look over my original post, I may have given that away to any careful readers by saying

"I've busted out 9th and 8th place a few times on situations that are too marginal to defend" right before introducing the hand. Oh well.

hi, i am a little late with my comments but for wh...

2010-06-06T04:05:24.754-07:00

hi, i am a little late with my comments but for what its worth:
you mention that the limp reraise is "almost always a monster". you said it yourself. SO WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU CALL IT? Depending on stack sizes versus blinds, its a 5bet shove with AK, or a fold. And as far as i would be concerned, especially at that early stage of the tournie, i know exactly what i would do, and you should work this out away from the tables yourself too, by doing the maths. unless he has AK specifically, you are either crushed by KK-AA, or flipping with JJ-QQ.
You knew this (ie your "almost always" comment), and yet you called his 4bet anyway preflop. Why would you do this?
Success at any form of NLHE is knowing when to shove AK and when to let it go, and especially at the micros some players will never get it, and thus never improve. Dont be one of them.
good luck

Did you make the call? What was the result of the...

2010-06-01T22:02:37.157-07:00

Did you make the call? What was the result of the hand?

Snap call, imo. Sure, an open limp RR is almost always AA UTG, but even a donk's range from UTG+2 with this line should be wider (since there's less players left to 3bet, obv). And you've got blockers so he's way likely to have QQ here.

Besides, you've gotten a third of your stack in the middle and flopped top top. Doubling up early does so much for your tournament equity that's it's worth the risk.

If you can't stack off here, don't call pre. You aren't going to flop AKx often enough to turn a profit!!

This was the first orbit and assuming a $1500 star...

2010-05-30T18:36:53.150-07:00

This was the first orbit and assuming a $1500 starting chip stack I notice going into this hand villain had lost $195 of those chips. How? Why? Under what circumstances did he find himself down nearly $200 so quickly?

Assuming on the first orbit you have no reads on the players while it is true that a limp/RR is often an indication of a large pocket pair, something feels wrong with the whole betting pattern I am seeing. The reraise amount is a bit off and the open shove to me, is screaming hard handed tactics. I think you have him beat soundly here. You have flopped top pair/top kicker and many times in these micro SNGs you get someone trying to build a quick stack. I think this is a must call and whatever his holdings an immediate note must be taken on precisely what he made this move with in his hand.

Of course poker sites use payment processors and y...

2010-05-12T14:12:44.596-07:00

Of course poker sites use payment processors and your transactions aren't going to scream "internet gambling" on them.

But it's a reality that many are predicting "overblocking" of suspicious looking checks and transactions. Banks are going to be going out of their way to be sure they are in compliance with the act so they don't face penalties.

Now, cashing paper checks will be hard for banks to stop, but deposits, e-checks and wire transfers are in significant danger, and finances getting more complicated in any way is detrimental to the game.

No one knows exactly how much of an effect it will have, but serious players should absolutely be aware that it's a legitimate concern and shouldn't be dismissed.

This thread on 2+2 is required reading:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/152/fight-poker-rights-ppa/uigea-federal-licensing-bills-faq-651375/

Players should also join the Poker Players Alliance to continue to fight for our rights.

https://theppa.org/join/

The UIGEA is a useless gesture. Poker Stars for i...

2010-05-12T09:03:57.574-07:00

The UIGEA is a useless gesture. Poker Stars for instance has a dozen different processors they use and any deposit or withdraw from them does not show the name of a poker site anywhere on it, so hence the banks have no clue that the payment you are recieving or making to the processor is related or in cooperation with an online poker site.

Exactly. I was saying that with maximizing their...

2010-04-13T14:26:37.744-07:00

Exactly.

I was saying that with maximizing their potential bonus, many players play higher stakes to unlock it faster, and end up way out of their comfort zone. Many go completely busto because of this. Focusing too much on the dollar amounts causes players to get desperate, chasing their losses if (losses + bonus) > deposit and making bad decisions. Players would act a LOT differently if bonuses were advertised as "temporary rakeback of x% for three months")