The Poker Diary

2015-05-15T22:45:00.000-07:00

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Playing Poker on Sportsbook.com: Notes

2011-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Post-Black Friday, US players are naturally looking for places where they can still play poker. Sportsbook.com, on the Merge network along with PlayersOnly, is a top rated sportsbook that has made significant improvements to their poker software after upgrading to PlayAces software.

They offer a wide variety of different cash games, MTTs and SnGs and while the player pool naturally can't touch the former levels of Full Tilt Poker before its shutdown, there have been many active games every time I've checked. Unfortunately, as I just learned after doing a little research, Sportsbook.com has pulled out of the US market earlier this year, so no new US players can sign up for a real money account. This was a decision by the company that owns these Merge network properties as well as Superbook on the Cake network.

So if you already had an account on Sportsbook.com before May 1 of this year, you can continue to play. If you didn't, however, you're unfortunately out of luck.

The site is enjoying an influx of new players as former FTPers bounce flock to sites that are still available. So if you have an old Sportsbook.com account sitting there collecting dust, you might want to resurrect it. It's not perfect, but it does offer some quality poker.

Effects of Black Friday on the 2011 WSOP

2011-06-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Ever since Chris Moneymaker's win in the 2003, the WSOP fields have been growing at incredible rates: the 2010 main event featured over 7,300 players and the total prize pool for the series was nearly $200,000,000.

Many of these entrants win their spots via online satellites, many of which are run by Full Tilt and Poker Stars. Of course, these mega-sites have been shut down by recent US Department Of Justice indictments, announced on a day which has come to be known as Black Friday.

How is the 2011 WSOP being affected? So far at least, it seems to still be going just about as strong as would have been expected without the big shutdowns. The 2011 WSOP began on May 31st, and there are 58 events scheduled, one more than last year. Many of the online players are cut off from their bankrolls as Full Tilt especially is struggling to find the funds to pay them. Live satellites at the WSOP will most likely become even more hotly contested than ever before.

Other interesting areas to watch will be the number of players in the lower-stakes and major events, the sponsored products worn by players as well as the way the media covers the event in such an uncertain climate.

Home Game Report

2011-05-06T15:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't had many opportunities to sit down for a home poker game recently, so when my roommate and a few friends were getting a game together yesterday, I gladly joined in. Little did I know, the game would end up teaching me an interesting lesson.

I’ve always thought about what it would be like to play ring games without thinking at all about the money. That is, if my only goal is to amass as many chips as I can, instead of focusing on winning twenty of fifty dollars, I figure I would make much better and rational decisions.

Turns out, this is exactly what happened to me in this game. When I joined in, the guy who brought the chips handed me my stack and said how much it was worth in total, but then told me the chips themselves would be worth 1, 2 and 5. Although this seemed rather odd to me, I guess those guys usually play this way and wait until the game is over to calculate who is up and who is down.

After a few rounds, I had no idea if I was up or down, and decided to just focus on playing good poker.

I’ve found that I sometimes get much more conservative when I have a small win going, and if I have a big stack, I tend to play looser and make more aggressive moves. Now of course, I don't do this consciously, but nevertheless, it happens.

Yesterday, however, I wasn't thinking about wins, losses or any dollar signs; just trying to get as many chips as I could. And I was able to make much better long-term decisions, instead of being affected by results-oriented thinking for the session.

When the game was over, I was happy to see that this philosophy worked out. I thought I was only up by a few dollars, but when I cashed out, I was happy to see I had almost doubled my buy-in.

Mixing in a lot of MTTs Lately

2010-11-21T12:53:00.000-08:00

I've been grinding a lot of .25/.50 limit these days, and doing pretty well aside from the occasional day when I get absolutely crushed. (Funny game, it is...)

To balance that out I like to play about as different of a Holdem game as I can find, and I really enjoy big No Limit MTTs. The thrill of the tournament format really gets me and I've had a few big final table cashes this year. I haven't won a large-field tourney yet though, so that's my next goal

Anyway, I'm doing the $200K Double Deuce at Full Tilt this afternoon, and it starts in about 30 minutes. There are about 5,500 players registered right now, and first place is 31K. How nice would that be?

Update: Hendon mob pro Dave Colclough and Scott Fischman are in the field so far. Hope I draw one of them at my table!

Upset by a Bad Beat? Write About It and Win Prizes!

2010-10-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

We all suffer bad beats. They can make us curse out our adversaries in the chat box or complain incessantly to our friends and significant others. But have you ever sat down and crafted an interesting story about a bad beat? If this sounds like an interesting concept to you, as it did with me, it could even win you some cool prizes.

Poker Buddy is an add-on, used mostly used mostly for Zynga poker, that uses algorithms to help evaluate your game and improve poker play. They have just launched a contest for players who can write the best bad beat story.

You can go right to the popular Poker Buddy Facebook page and post your story. Feel free to browse around and "like" your favorite. The Poker Buddy staff will eventually select the most creative and intriguing story and the writer will win a fancy poker case filled with 500 chips. Runners up receive a T-shirt or baseball cap.

To get those creative juices flowing, check out their guide to writing a bad beat story. This contest should be a lot of fun. I know I welcome any opportunity to turn a bad beat into something positive, and free prizes is a great way to do it!

Set up PT3 on New Laptop, Ready to Go

2010-10-17T15:45:00.000-07:00

I took a major step forward today by finally transferring PokerTracker over to my new laptop. I've had the computer for a few months now, but for whatever reason I thought it would be difficult to transfer everything over. It's really not. Your licensing code is good for two computers so I just re-installed PT3 and PostgreSQL and entered it. I thought I'd have to do something complicated for backing up the database, but I realized it would be super simple to just save all my HH files on a flash drive and manually import them on the new computer. Boom: 15 minutes and I'm set to go.

I'm glad I finally made the switch: the new computer is much better in every way and has a bigger screen. All of my friends in grad school love sleek, small laptops for note taking in class. My priorities are much different: I want to be able to fit 4 tables as comfortably as possible on the screen!

I've logged some decent play this week. I'm still amazed at how easy it is to get a free $25 from Full Tilt's Take 2 promotion. It takes me under 10 minutes each day to get the 5 bonus points needed to qualify.

For the second week running I went out on Friday night and stayed in on Saturday to get ahead of some work which inevitably turns to poker.

This time I ran about even playing baby micro NL. I'm still doing my challenge of building up a winning sample of 15k hand at every level before moving up. I've dabbled in 25NL and even 50NL back in the day, but I wasn't even close to being properly bankrolled and I didn't realize I was submitting myself to a crapshoot.

I keep wanting to post hands, but I suppose I'll spare the heartbreaking tales of 2NL beats and coolers. I'll wait until I move up a little, at least... I'm still doing really well for the month in .25/.50 limit.

Another Promotion Hooks Me In + New Poker Writing Job!

2010-10-10T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, after Full Tilt got me back to playing with a random $100 bonus, they just announced another Take 2 bonus, which I found to be incredibly easy money last time. All you have to do is amass a small amount of points by playing two ring game tables for ten days in a row, which I would probably do anyway. You also get double the full tilt points, although this doesn't matter for rakeback players.

Also, I'm officially back in the game because I just started a new poker writing job. It's for bankrollmanagement.org, a newer site giving tips on how to manage a bankroll playing a variety of poker and casino games. I'll write about 8 articles a month for them, and this, coupled with my renewed regular playing, will result in plenty of new posts on here.

I also just got in contact with a cool new site for poker ebooks, so I'll be reviewing some new ones here too in the coming weeks.

Finally, I stayed in on Saturday night and capitalized on two tables filled with extremely drunk players! .25/.50 Limit Full Ring, and there were at least three 80/0 guys and one or two that were about 55/25. I got into some HUGE pots and for the most part came out on top.

Biggest Break from Poker I've Ever Had. Not Recommended!

2010-10-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

I must apologize for letting this blog slip into oblivion for way too long.

I started grad school this fall, and in addition to classes I have also been working 20-30 hours a week. I've been extremely busy, and unfortunately there has been little time for poker...

What, then, has gotten me back on track?

Full Tilt's clever promotions, in fact. I saw their offer for a fresh $100 bonus a few weeks ago, so that hooked me back on board and I ended up playing about 15,000 hands. I didn't unlock it all, but it was still a nice addition to my bankroll. I was fortunate enough to run pretty hot, as well.

Poker has definitely been on my mind even in my absence. I've been playing casually from time to time, posting on 2+2 now and then and reading a book or two. I'll certainly be playing, and posting, a lot more again.

I definitely don't recommend taking such an extended break. I almost forgot how to play! Well, I suppose it's like riding a bike...

Frustrating Night

2010-07-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

My "Move up through uNL" challenge is going well for the most part, as I haven't encountered any real adversity and am still cruising through 2 NL.

Last night, though, I had a terrible time at the .25/.50 limit tables, which is usually my best game. Everything was getting cracked, my c-bets were always getting raised and aggro players seemed to be stumbling onto the nuts with high frequency.

I didn't get too affected, though; it was only about 70BB or so in an evening. (I four-tabled a session first and lost about 25BB. Then I sat back down at four more tables after taking a break and treaded water for a while before getting absolutely crushed right at the end of my session.)

Oh well, just read a couple of 2+2 threads on variance, tell myself it could be much and move on, right? Not exactly.

I reviewed my sessions in my PT3 database and I was a bit surprised to see that I got involved in some pots that I never should have. Iso-raises pre on tables that were too loose, marginal aggressive play with medium pocket pairs against unknowns, way too eager to call down after being raised heads-up...etc.

I think that all the time spent playing 6-max No Limit games actually affected my play and made me play too wild of a style for full ring. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary when I played, but I was quite surprised when I looked back at my sessions.

When we get crushed in a particular day, it's very easy to blame variance and report on "cooler after cooler" that unjustly devastated us. But it's a lot harder to take an honest look at our own play and admit we didn't play great, or let a few early losses affect us for the rest of the day.

Back to the Basics - 2NL, Table Selection

2010-07-09T21:30:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to do this challenge, but before I can really get down to business I need to buckle down and beat 2NL.

My NL game as a whole certainly has some gaps and I've bounced around at different levels over my career. It'll be nice to say I moved up from the very bottom using proper BRM.

It's only been a couple days, but I'm off to a decent start.

At this point, it's obviously not too exciting. Betting for value, c-betting heads up, you all know the drill. One thing that I'm really trying to work harder on table selection and trying to get notes on as many players as I can.

I've many times fallen into the trap of thinking that table selection is done when you get a seat at your preferred number of tables. Instead, you need to be very aware and identify when things have tightened up or the fish busts out or calms down. Stand up if you think you can find a more profitable situation. I've stayed stubborn in the past but I think I'm getting a little more patient.

Time to play a bunch of SnGs now.

Announcing My Challenges for the Rest of the Summer

2010-07-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've been messing around with No Limit for some time now at a variety of stakes, but I've decided that if I want to get something out of it, I should set some concrete goals and work my way up. I also need to refocus a bit on my current SnG challenge.

Grinding 2NL is certainly far from glamorous, but I don't think I'm ever going to reach my potential until I consistently beat every step on the ladder.

Since I play .25/.50 Limit as my game of choice and I've been a decent winner, my bankroll is large enough to play 25 NL right now.

But my challenges aren't about building a bankroll; instead, I intend to come to grips with my own level of play and strive to learn and improve. I especially want to improve my NL hand reading ability beyond just VPIP/PFr stats.

With that in mind, here are my goals:

1.) NL Cash = Move up from 2 NL to 25 NL by the end of the year with at least a 5 BB/100 winrate at each level.

(For 2 NL, 10,000 hands is a big enough sample for my purposes. For 5 NL, I'll need 20,000. 10 NL = 30,000 hands. If I have the 5 BB/100 winrate after I reach those samples, then I'll make the move. If not, I'll stay put and try to turn my luck around.)

2.) NL SnGs = 15% ROI on my first 300 games

3.) Limit Cash = 10,000 hands/week

(At this point, I'm only trying to avoid getting rusty on my "go-to" game while I test my luck with these other challenges.)

I know that these challenges deal with pretty small sample sizes and will involve some amount of luck. I just wanted to set something concrete to keep me focused and hopefully contribute something interesting.

I'll be posting with updates, questionable hands and reflections. I'll continue to review some poker books as I read them, as well.

Hope you'll follow my challenge!

Frugal Poker Education Today at Borders

2010-07-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today I went out shopping to get a present for a friend's birthday. He's a bit of a bibliophile so I headed out to the local Borders to find something. After a little browsing, I felt a strong pull over to the "Games" section. I had never checked it out to see what type of poker books they might have.

All the best books were on the shelves. I felt like a kid in a candy store as I excitedly browsed 2+2 titles, the Dan Harrington series, Phil Gordon, Matthew Hilger and plenty of other good ones. I guess I am a bit of a nerd when it comes to poker books.

I ended up sitting in a chair reading the whole afternoon, and I think I learned plenty without spending a dime. Don't worry, I didn't forget to pick up the birthday present...

Minor Unexpected Challenges

2010-07-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of common problems players encounter when transitioning to No Limit from limit: pot control, implied odds, commitment threshold...etc.

I'm working on these main concepts but it's interesting when something else comes up you never would have expected.

I've always been a little too concerned the current state of my session and the cashier tab, even in limit. I want to see green in my PT3 session tab; a winning day is a successful day.

Even though I know about the long run and I try not to be results oriented, it isn't easy. It's human nature. So many aspects of poker go directly against the way our brains are wired.

Anyway, now that I'm playing NL, I'm finding myself with new ways to obsess and be results oriented. Auto rebuying is one thing I never would have thought would be a problem, but it takes a little getting used to.

Now every time my stack goes below the max buy-in at any particular table, I catch myself crunching the numbers to see how I stand overall. If I'm playing 4-5 tables, this is clearly taking up too much attention, and shouldn't even be a consideration. But a few times this has tempted me to decide against an isolation raise or continuation bet to protect a small win.

I'm at the micros, so it's not like the money matters (I'm in this to learn). But I really need to stay focused on my play, not the results, and forever banish the little part of me that seems to be convinced that you need to be a winner every day.

Plodding Along, Adjusting to NL

2010-06-28T16:14:00.000-07:00

I'm still running hot in my SnG challenge and relatively breakeven at the NL cash tables. I miss limit where getting 3!ed preflop is an obligatory call and re-evaluate on flop, not an agonizing, player dependent decision when stacking off enters the equation. I think I was leaking money by making some moves with AK type hands that were fueled by emotion instead of solid reads. So at least I'm getting a little better at that now.

I've also become convinced think the poker gods are trying to make me go back to limit by tempting me into results-orientedness. Today I reasoned my AQo should be mucked facing a nit 3-bet and a call, and, much to my dismay, the board came 2AAA. In my head, I sounded like one of those whining beginners on poker forums lamenting that would've flopped a full house with 75 or some trash. After figuring this out, I put myself on poker time-out briefly and read some 2+2 threads.

My NL transition hasn't been without a few struggles, but that's to be expected. At least I'm just doing it at the micros without any important money at stake. I'm almost to a 10k sample, so I'll be taking a closer look at my stats pretty shortly.

At the same time, I do miss playing limit, so I think I'm going to play some 3-4 table sessions for a couple hours in addition to my NL experiments.

Losing Day and Thoughts On My Summer, Other Blogs

2010-06-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

Had a losing day today at the micro NL cash tables. For the life of me I couldn't take advantage of a 60/5 on my right who kept getting the better of me with baffling postflop lines. You should usually treat min-bet donks like a check, but he was donking out with very weird small amounts that were a little more significant. I saw air a couple of times, others he was trying to get a cheap showdown and one was an "expert" slowplay. I didn't target him specifically but kept finding myself in a pot with him and it seemed to never go my way. A little frustrating.

My strategy was to simply value bet him to death and get out of the way if I don't have the goods, even if his donks looked suspicious. Standard micros protocol: EZ game.

But the next pot I got involved in I lost with KK to his set of nines, and then, of course, he abruptly left the table. Oh well... I should be avoiding personal vendettas at the tables, anyway. It's a surefire way to go on tilt.

My SnG challenge is going a bit better at least, and so far today I've taken first in the only one I've played. Winning hand: my A9 cracks villain's AK. I've inched my way up to a 14% ROI and if I can keep up this rate I'll achieve my goal of 15% over 300 games. I'm running a bit hot, though, so we'll see how it goes.

At this point, I rank my skill in different Holdem games as follows:

1. Limit Cash
2. NL MTT
3. NL SnG
4. NL Cash

It's not even close at the top: I've played way more limit, read more books, posted more strategy.

But as I try to branch out this summer I've been playing my "worst" two games almost exclusively.

It's been a great advantage to be able to read other blogs and learn from others' experiences. Microstakes Bankroll Builder, Holdem Notebook and Just the Facts and other poker blogs have been very helpful for me, especially the hand discussions. I've always read 2+2 but it sometimes makes a big difference to know a little more about the hero... I'll be getting even a bit more involved, and I'll come up with some topics of discussion myself.

Finally, what a ending for the U.S today in the World Cup! I really thought we were done for when Donovan came through. Winning the group is huge as well. Next opponent: Ghana on Saturday. I have a lot of friends in South Africa right now and I can't decide if I'm excited for them or belligerently jealous.

Back to the Tables After a Short Rest, Refreshed

2010-06-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

Had my first day of real grinding for the month yesterday and I felt very refreshed. Although I hadn't purposely set out to take a break, it was still nice to honestly think about my play away from the table without being affected by short-term results. In my absence I read threads on 2+2, re-read The Poker Blueprint and browsed through my PT3 database. If poker play and results were married, we would all benefit from a divorce.

Now I'm absolutely itching to play, and it's a very good feeling to have. Sometimes the best thing we can do as learners is to take some away from the game. It helps us really absorb particular concepts and also reminds us why we enjoy playing in the first place.

Anyway, I played relatively well in 5 micro NL SnGs. I cashed in 3 and took second each time. There must have been some sort of higher power that really didn't want me to win a since coin flip heads up. I lost with a 5-1 chip lead in the last one... Oh well. In cash I essentially broke even although I didn't really table select well. I need to put in a little more effort with that.

I'm looking forward to playing later today and shortly I'll be reviewing some books that I've been reading. Also, I'm anxiously awaiting the U.S.-Algeria game tomorrow. Hopefully the refs won't ruin the situation again!

World Cup Fever + Writing Times + No Limit Focus

2010-06-21T06:42:00.001-07:00

I haven’t made a post in way too long and I’m afraid World Cup soccer is the reason. I’ve been intently watching every match and by the time I make it to the tables it’s just a SnG here or an hour of cash there. I can’t believe the blown call that denied the U.S. win vs. Slovenia. Still, it was an amazing match.

I was also really busy with a casino writing assignment for a new website. I wrote 8 “bankroll management” articles describing the popular casino games and their house edges. I’m finally working on memorizing the strategy chart for Jacks or Better video poker, which I always enjoy playing when I’m in a casino. Some people don’t know that many video poker variations actually carry a player advantage with perfect play.

Anyway, I’ve just sent in my last articles, so it’s back to the tables. I’ve made this summer my time to get more experience in No Limit. I’ve had a lot of success in Fixed Limit to this point and I want to become more well-rounded. Stay tuned for reports, hands and discussions.

Hand Result + Commentary

2010-06-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I didn't list the results for the hand for a while because I was curious if I would hear any more feedback and didn't want to bias the responses.

microstakes bankroll builder, thanks for your comment; I really enjoy the hand analysis over on your blog.

Anyway, let me preface my response by saying that the handling of AK is one of the biggest issues for developing NL players and can significantly affect their results. I am by no means perfect, but in cash games I normally play carefully and don't end up stacking off unimproved to regulars or anything like that. This particular situation in the SnG, though, did have me a bit confused. Also keep in mind that I'm a limit player first and foremost.

On to the hand. My preflop call was a tough decision, but I think there's a little more to it than just "always a monster." You'll notice I also said most of these unknowns are very unpredictable and I thought his range could include JJ and even AK or maybe AQ.

Now I may be wrong, but I was genuinely unsure as to what to assume as a default range here. Other commenters noted suspicious bet amounts and a likely wider range than AA and KK.

Either way, the pot is 650 and I need to call 325 so I'm getting 2:1 odds.

equity     win     tie           pots won     pots tied
Hand 0:     30.858%     30.48%     00.38%            6263357         77250.00   { AcKh }
Hand 1:     69.142%     68.77%     00.38%           14129791         77250.00   { QQ+ }

If he has just AA, KK or QQ, then yeah, I have 30% equity. Not in good shape.

At game speed, I thought that including AQ and JJ in his range would make it an almost even money proposition. My mental calculations were off, as it's only 42% equity now that I've run some Stoves.

But if we widen the range even more to include TT, then:

equity     win     tie           pots won     pots tied
Hand 0:     49.175%     38.86%     10.32%           29939770     7951130.50   { AcKh }
Hand 1:     50.825%     40.51%     10.32%           31211649     7951130.50   { TT+, AQs+, AQo+ }

Just about a flip. I'm not sure if this is reasonable to make it this wide, though. I guess it's just probably better to fold unless I have seen villain do something crazy. At this point, he pissed away a decent amount of chips and didn't show down, but I only have 4 hands with him.

The one clear thing about this hand is that the flop decision is negligible; however, I never meant that to be the focus of the analysis. I'll try to come up with hands with more post flop decisions in the future.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the discussion. Results are given as a comment.

Comment Response

2010-06-01T16:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the comments. I have played the vast majority of my career hands at fixed limit, so although I definitely have a good NL foundation, this background sometimes affects my judgment.

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?

I have to admit that at the time I didn't take notice of the hand he was involved in. After checking it in my database, he open limped in MP and check/called turn and river on a fairly dry board. He ended up losing to a set and mucked his hand. So not too much info, but the open limp suggests he isn't very good and calling down passively so early is another Nice catch, though, that's a really good point that I should be paying more attention to.

I also agree that his bet sizing is a little off. It could be a tip off that his range is wider, or he might just be a bad player who doesn't know any better.

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 is exactly right.

I was pretty torn on my initial call but I do have so many chips in the pot and once I flop top pair I have to call it. He is doing this with so much of his preflop range, which definitely includes hands I beat.

Thanks for helping me think things through. I think I got a little tilted by some of the other beats I was taking early on in SnGs and I was just trying to make sure it's not affecting me too much.

Micro SnGs - How to Read a Limp Reraise?

2010-05-30T12:54:00.000-07:00

In reviewing the hands from my first 20 micro SnGs, it's pretty clear to me that I'm not playing tight enough in the first few orbits. I've busted out 9th and 8th place a few times on situations that are too marginal to defend, even though I did have the best of it.

While a few of them are very clear mistakes, a few others have me thinking a bit. I'm still not exactly sure of the default play against bad opponents in some situations.

Here's a hand that occurred in the first orbit of a SnG. No reads on the villains:

Full Tilt Poker $1 + $0.20 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t15/t30 Blinds - 9 players
The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

UTG: t1485 M = 33
UTG+1: t1117 M = 24.82
UTG+2: t1305 M = 29
MP1: t1455 M = 32.33
MP2: t1695 M = 37.67
CO: t1665 M = 37
Hero (BTN): t1478 M = 32.84
SB: t1800 M = 40
BB: t1500 M = 33.33

Pre Flop: (t45) Hero is BTN with A K
2 folds, UTG+2 calls t30, 3 folds, Hero raises to t140, 2 folds, UTG+2 raises to t465, Hero calls t325

I get limp reraised after making a button raise. It's coming from early position, which usually means a monster. I put him on a range of JJ+, and maybe AK and AQ. It's difficult to say because the players at these stakes are terrible and unpredictable. I also think it's possible he's just raising for the hell of it or "not believing" my raise. I've seen a lot of crazy, baffling plays even in just my first 20 games.

But at the same time, it's only about the 4th hand of the tournament. I decide to take a flop. What should I make of the limp-reraise?

Flop: (t975) K 9 8 (2 players)
UTG+2 bets t840 all in

I flop top pair and he open shoves. I've pulled ahead of JJ and QQ, and I think he's probably salty enough to push even with the overcard on board. I'm rather afraid of AA, and the one remaining combo of KK. The backdoor heart draw gives me a little added value. Do I get involved so early in the SnG?

First SnG Challenge Report - Not Exactly Crushing Yet

2010-05-29T10:29:00.000-07:00

I'm off and running on my NL SnG challenge, and this first report would be a lot more sour in nature had I not hit a big of a hot streak in my last few games.

Through my first 20 $1.20 SnGs, I'm down $4.20 net for a ROI of -17.5%.

But if you check the graph below, I only cashed 3 times in my first 15 games, but 4 out of my last 5. Hopefully I'll stay hot!

I know this sample size is tiny, but my challenge is just for 300 games and I'm shooting for a ROI of 15%. There will be luck involved but I think I can do it.

I'm going to review my hand histories in more detail later today, and I'll have a better idea of how many mistakes I'm making. I know plenty about SnG strategy, but since almost all my actual experience is in ring games, changing gears and applying shoving ranges are still things I'm not used to doing on a daily basis. I'm definitely not perfect so far.

I have taken a few coolers, as I've busted out with AA three times and run into several big pairs in bubble situations. But I'm also sure I'm getting involved in too many marginal situations in the early stages. After playing a few, it became clear to me how bad the average table is at these lowest micros; passive players who NEVER loosen up and min-bettors and raisers are all over the place.

Extremely tight play in the first couple rounds and then positionally-aware aggression when I'm closer to the bubble is the way to go. I'm planning to get a bigger sample and then get the 30 day trial of SnG Wizard.

Anyway, I'll be playing more games today and also reviewing yesterday's hands. I'll be posting anything I find interesting.

Developing Reads Without my HUD

2010-05-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

I got through the poker articles I was writing and last weekend was graduation weekend at my college, so it's officially summertime! And that means a lot of poker.

I'll be continuing a SnG challenge where I hope to shoot for a 15% ROI over 300 games. And I'm hoping to move up in NL, give new games a try and take a shot at some bigger MTTs.

One thing I have been thinking about a lot recently is developing reads on my opponents without over-relying on my HUD statistics.

I feel like recently my reads have suffered a bit and I'm thinking I can find everything I need to know just by looking at the stats.

It's not like I don't know what I have to do; this really just boils down to being lazy.

I need to continue to put players on ranges, even when I'm not involved in the hand. (I never play more than 4 tables so this is pretty doable.)

This is a vital skill that improves with every hand you play. I know I shouldn't have other windows open when I'm playing, but recently I seem to be checking email or reading a sports article more often than I used to.

I also need to continue to pay enough attention to develop detailed notes on my opponents. Do they seem to be positionally aware? Do they ever limp-reraise? If so, with what? Do they slowplay their monsters? What do they donk with? Do they seem to tilt if they take a couple of bad beats? I'm having too many sessions where I stop and realize I haven't written a single note.

At the micros, just about every hand with a showdown should produce a note of some quality. Now that school's out for summer, I should have no excuse not to put in the extra effort that will both improve my hand reading ability and increase my potential profits.

Playing On Hold Due to Poker Writing Commitment

2010-05-18T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have embarked on my sit n go challenge; however, I've only played in a few games so far this week because I took on an assignment writing the content for a poker bankroll management website.

I'm doing an article for all the major game variations, and researching and writing about games like Omaha and stud hi/lo has gotten me interested in branching out even further. Look for me to challenge myself with some different games in the coming weeks.

I'll be done with these articles in the next couple days, and then it's off to the tables to grind Sngs.

Anyone else excited for summer? I'm going to put in so many hands at the tables...

Starting a SnG Challenge

2010-05-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

So far, I've tried to dabble in a variety of games. I started playing just limit cash games before starting to work in a lot of No Limit. I've always enjoyed large multi-table tournaments and have plenty of experience with them.

The one game I haven't gotten involved with too much is SnGs, so I'm planning to start to play them at high volume. Thinking about things like blind/stack ratios, changing gears and shorthanded play should really help me develop into a more well-rounded player, especially since I have a strong fixed limit background.

I'm starting with the little guys, $1.10 buy-in, and I'll see how I fare after a decent sample. I'm going for a 15% ROI after my first 300 games. I know the confidence interval for this sample is very low, so there will be a lot of random luck, but I just wanted to give myself a number to shoot for. Wish me luck!

In other news. I'm starting to sell poker articles I have written to different websites. I have been supporting myself with freelance writing for the past year, and poker and casino content is something I'd like to seriously pursue this summer and beyond.

I've also been reading several poker books, so look out for a few book reviews on here in the coming days.

Thinking About the UIGEA on June 1st

2010-05-11T23:05:00.000-07:00

As a US player, I'm naturally curious about the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, passed in 2006, and what will happen on June 1st of this year. I feel that these issues are misunderstood by a lot of poker players.

The UIGEA doesn't make playing online poker illegal, as some players think, but rather makes it illegal for banks to accept transactions that they think are related to "unlawful internet gambling." The act doesn't clarify what this means, and leaves it up to the banks to make their own judgment. It also mostly concerns deposits, not withdrawls.

June 1 is the final date for compliance with the UIGEA, meaning that banks can be punished for failing to act in accordance. Many have already started to tighten up, so it's not certain whether or not June 1 will see any significant change. I feel like it won't be much of a difference, but many fear that the U.S. market might start to gradually dry up.

On the other hand, if a major bank comes out with a definite stance on the issue, that might be all we need to get the wheels in motion for some actual change and hopefully official unambiguously legal poker in the future.

I'm a little apprehensive as to what will happen, and I hope that the poker climate stays positive.

What do you all think? Any concern?

Looking Forward to a New Month - Poker Stars Bonus Anyone?

2010-05-01T14:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've put in a high volume of play, but May will mark a new chapter in my poker career.
I've just been messing around with micro NL cash games on Full Tilt while I get ready to move sites and unlock a new bonus.

I've been wanting to give Poker Stars a try for some time now, so I'll be opening an account at the beginning of next week.

I've read through their VIP program and I understand how it can be considered comparable to rakeback. I know there is no rakeback but are there any incentives at all available by signing up through a bonus code? Anyone have one?

MTT Report: Guess I'm Waiting Until Next Week, No WSOP So Far

2010-04-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Today I freed up my schedule expecting to play several MTTs.

I settled in at around 1pm for the $1 Main Event Satellite on Full Tilt Poker, which I had qualified for in a FTP points satellite earlier in the week. They give away 5 Main Event packages and there are usually about 30,000 to 40,000 players.

Probably not my best equity opportunity because it's so extremely top-heavy, but I still find myself excited by having any chance to make it to the big one.

The strategy for this type of tournament is pretty simple. First, try to build a stack in the first few rounds but try to keep the pot small unless you're lucky enough to hold near the nuts. It's not worth going crazy with top pair, especially out of position.

The blinds shoot up very fast, so you're usually down to push or fold after about an hour. Today, I built my stack up to about 7,000 from 1,500, but the blinds were 400/800 with a 100 ante after about an hour. The field had also been whittled down to just 5,000! I definitely thought this would take a lot longer.

I blinded away a little bit and then realized I had to start pushing with anything halfway decent in late position. I ended up getting my money in with A3s and got called by JT. He turned a Q hi straight and I knew I'd have to wait until next Sunday to book my ticket to Vegas. 4,368th place.

Had I doubled up a few times, I could have gotten back to playing real poker. The guys that end up on top in these tourneys have to win a LOT of coin flips and get extremely lucky. But someone has to win!

Then it was time for the $22 200K Double Deuce tournament, which I had also qualified for. Or so I thought. Turned out I had somehow mistakenly unregistered when I had the tournament lobby open and they gave me back my FTP points. Guess I'll have to wait until next Sunday for that, too.

How do you all handle tournaments against enormous fields? Do you even play them?

And is anyone else playing satellites for a shot at the WSOP? Have any of you found a good one on any other site?

Upset After Internet Disconnect at Crucial Moment in MTT

2010-04-15T15:55:00.000-07:00

I recently posted about a freak storm knocking out my power and almost ruining my Take 2 bonus. Thankfully, I was still able to get it. Now it's my internet connection that's on the fritz, and the failure couldn't have come at a worse time.

I was spending my Full Tilt Points, and I entered a 6 max NL tournament where the top 6 get paid $75 tournament tokens. Pretty good deal. I played really well; hit a few hands early on and then opened up a bunch when the blinds got larger and kept adding to my stack.

I lost a few hands, though, and was a pretty small stack with 10 players left. When there were 8 remaining on two tables, the software started to lag, and I got a little worried. I checked Firefox, and the page didn't load! Then the fateful "trying to connect" message popped up and I knew I was in trouble. I went straight to my modem and restarted it, rebooted my laptop, yelled a few obscenities. You know, the usual ideas.

It finally started working after about 20 minutes, and I saw that I had finished 7th, one spot out of a $75 token. The other players must have been ecstatic to see a short stack on auto fold one out of the money.

On the bright side, earlier in the day I qualified for the $1 Main Event Qualifier and won a $22 seat 200K Double Deuce tournament. Sunday's going to be a big MTT day for me.

Finishing Bonus, Looking Forward, Staying Focused!

2010-04-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

Two more days to go before I get my $25 "Take 2" bonus.

Yesterday I went on a quick 35BB downswing in just about 70 hands of limit poker. Simply put, I got crushed. Whiffing with big cards, pairs getting cracked, you know the drill. And it took me a little while to dispel my tilty, results oriented initial reaction.

I'd been a marginal loser over the last couple days, so I'd lost about $20. I almost told myself I would have to win in my next couple of sessions or else the bonus would be a waste.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long for me to come to my senses. I'm a decent winner over about 20k hands in the last few months, and I plan to play a lot more in the future. A $25 bonus on top of my regular play is excellent, and it's doesn't matter one bit whether I'm winning or losing in the few days that happen to coincide with that bonus.

My first thoughts were exactly how the poker sites expect players to think about all their bonuses. They get focused on the $ amounts and start foolishly chasing after them. Then, for a variety of reasons, they start to play out of their comfort zone, either to try to unlock more of a bonus or get back even. At the end, they desperately push action and lose it all.

As thinking players, we work hard to scout out profitable bonuses, sites and tables, but when we're at the table, our focus must be on making +EV decisions and letting the money take care of itself.

Now it's almost time to head over to Poker Stars.

Freak Storm, Power Outage Threaten My Take 2 Bonus!

2010-04-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

I'm currently working in a small town in the middle of Iowa, and freak weather is pretty commonplace. We get blizzards and ice storms and dark clouds seem to roll in in an instant to unleash on you.

Anyway, I was sitting around in my apartment yesterday afternoon when I heard a pounding on my windows. I looked out to see a furious downpour with large hail crashing down along with thunder and lightning. Suddenly, all the power shut off. It was a very eerie feeling as darkness set in on the normally friendly downtown area.

After I checked in with my friends (a tree had fallen on a house, but didn't cause any serious damage), my thoughts naturally returned to poker. I was in the middle of Full Tilt's Take 2 promotion, and I needed to play every day in order to get the $25 bonus.

Power lines were down, lights were off, and it looked like I might be out of luck. I sat down with a couple of flashlights and read a book; there wasn't a whole lot else I could do. Time kept ticking, but at about 10pm the lights came back on. I thought I might still have a chance to play and get my 5 Bonus Points, but the internet still couldn't connect.

After a few more nervous minutes, it started working and I got onto the tables just in time to lose set over set and have my aces cracked by a turned set of 8's. Oh well. After this nerve-wracking experience, I'll feel really stupid if I forget to play some day later this week and ruin my bonus.

Full Tilt's "Take 2" Promotion = Very Easy Cash

2010-04-03T14:33:00.000-07:00

My bonus just expired on Full Tilt Poker, so this 9-day promotion is the last hurrah for me before heading off to clear another bonus.

I wasn't exactly sure what to expect, because I almost felt like there had to be a catch. All you have to do is earn 5 bonus points by playing 2 regular tables or one Rush table. 9 days in a row = $25 bonus.

I played .25/.50 limit and after about three orbits I had enough points. Check mark next to day one.

Any micro players who might have an old Full Tilt Account being neglected should certainly fire it back up to get this easy $25.

Literally Dreaming About Poker Anyone?

2010-04-02T15:34:00.000-07:00

Have you guys ever had a really vivid dream about poker?

I never had until last night, and I have to admit that it actually shook me for a minute. Thinking back on it now, though, it seems ludicrous. I was playing in a live game, but instead of holecards your hand consisted of real dollar bills.

I looked down and saw pocket "20's:" a pair of twenty dollar bills. Now somehow in my mind these rules were perfectly standard, and I distinctly remember thinking this was the best possible hand. A player in front of me "raised," and I decided he would certainly fold if I moved all in, so I did.

My "stack," although I don't remember perfectly, was a ton of money, and I remember understanding that I had added my entire paycheck for the last two weeks. Villain turned over "pocket 100 dollar bills," a hand that shocked me, and he "held up."

The feeling I had after losing was incredibly real; I felt just awful. I remember panicking and telling myself that there had to be a way to get my money back, but there wasn't.

Now I thought I had gotten over being money oriented, but if this dream is any indication, maybe I need to spend some more time with a good poker psychology book.... At least I'm not feeling like this when I'm actually awake!

This kind of thing happen to anyone else?

Crazy Run While Clearing Last of Bonus, First Royal Flush!

2010-04-01T23:28:00.000-07:00

My Full Tilt Poker bonus is set to expire tomorrow afternoon, and I had about $4 left to clear so I settled down this evening for a few hundred hands of .25/.50 limit. (shameless brag coming...)

I went on a heater and it seemed I could do no wrong. Even though it was only a few hundred hands, I'll be heading off to my next site with a little confidence and the knowledge that I've put in a lot of hard work. The bad beats were starting to get to me a little, which prompted my recent posts about trying to become less results/money oriented.

At least I don't have to worry about becoming overconfident, because the win was clearly the result of being dealt amazing cards. In the span of just a few hands on two different tables I had quads facing an overpair, and then hit my first ever royal flush.

I'll show my stats and hands to prove this isn't some bad belated April Fools Day joke... This month is certainly off to a good start, and I'm hoping to actually put in some high volume play for once.

(Filtered for .25/.50 Limit)

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 Limit Hold'em - 9 players

Hero shows T T (four of a kind, Tens)
CO mucks Q Q
Hero wins 13.1 BB

Meanwhile at another table...

Pre Flop: (1.4 SB) Hero is BTN with T K
3 folds, MP2 raises, 1 fold, Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls

Flop: (8 SB) A Q K (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, MP2 bets, Hero calls, SB raises, BB folds, MP2 calls, Hero calls

Turn: (7 BB) J (3 players)
SB checks, MP2 checks, Hero bets, SB calls, MP2 folds

Bingo! But it seems to have killed the action a bit. I'm not complaining though!

River: (9 BB) 8 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets, SB calls

Am I glad I decided to cold-call on the BTN! It wasn't a great play but I figured the loose blinds would come along and the raiser had a pretty wide range. Suited K broadway makes up the lower end of my small cc-ing range, with AJs+, AQo+, 77+ I'm going to 3! it.

Final Pot: 11 BB
Hero shows T K (a Royal Flush)
SB mucks K Q
Hero wins 10.5 BB

Pretty good day...

More About Yesterday's Thoughts + Ed Miller's Opinion

2010-03-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

It's as if they're reading my mind. After reflecting yesterday about some of my beginner misconceptions, especially concerning profits and mindset, I find in my inbox a great post by Ed Miller addressing the same things.

Miller posted his thoughts about poker success and describes how being focused on winrates can be dangerous. Just because some random forum poster is boasting an X winrate at your stakes, it doesn't mean anything, even in the unlikely case that he's telling the truth. While we would all claim this kind of thing doesn't bother us, I think their effect is subtle and makes us more results oriented and driven by emotion. Downswings become almost an unbearable affair, as we consider them to be personal failures.

Taking the focus off of the $$$ helps us continue to be "learners" without losing our focus or becoming emotionally motivated. We'll become better players and the money will be there in the long run. I'm really going to stop looking at that stat in my Poker Tracker stat as much and give the "cashier" button a rest for once...

Ed's post really helps us remember that we play because we also enjoy the game. I'd recommend everyone give it a read.

Recognizing a Few of My "Beginner" Misconceptions When I Started Out

2010-03-29T14:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really enjoying poker right now, and look to the future with anticipation. When I started out my career/bonus chasing experience, I envisioned playing more sites, fewer games and less risk in order to build up a bankroll. Essentially "grinding" instead of reading more, analyzing hands and striving to become the best I can be. Well, you've got to be a hell of a player to mindlessly grind and expect to win, and I definitely don't have enough poker experience to do that. I've changed into a much more active, inquisitive player; a "learner." Long-term it's the only way to go.

I wanted to play only limit because I was too concerned with the money and didn't think I could handle large swings that would come with NL. Now that I look back over my Poker Tracker results, this mindset is evident even in my limit game. My gap between VPIP and PFR was too high, as I occasionally fell into the trap of "waiting to see if I flop a pair before continuing" instead of raising hands with an obvious equity edge even if I wasn't 50% to win the hand. A lot of beginning limit poker players consider lost pots to be a failure and can't recognize how they are missing out on valuable long-term profits in multiway situations.

Now that I have about 20,000 hands under my belt, I've learned a lot. My limit game is a lot more positionally aware and I continue to be fascinated by things like pot equity, RIO and fold equity as they relate to limit. I'm also finally in the black for micro stakes NL. I went on a 4 BI downswing to kick off my most recent foray into 2 NL, but I've just now hit a profit after about 1,500 hands. Even though I read a lot of NL strategy, my plan is still to grind up from the lowest depths of the micro stakes. It should help me get used to NL swings before I'm really risking much of my bankroll, and also get used to putting to use the concepts I have studied.

This post was supposed to be a personal reflection on the end of my Full Tilt Poker bonus experience, as it expires in a couple of days, but I just saw they are offering a "Take 2" promotion that looks like an easy $25 bucks. All you have to do is play two ring game tables or one Rush table and accumulate 5 FTPs every day for about a week or so. That doesn't seem like any work at all, so I'll stick around to clear that. I'll have to check to see if there is a catch or anything. Anyone else on Full Tilt going to try this?

The Poker Blueprint: A Review

2010-03-24T17:45:00.000-07:00

The Poker Blueprint is exactly what its title promises, a detailed plan of action for players looking to crush poker games. We’re talking specifically about lower stakes NL, and with the wealth of valuable strategy provided by Aaron Davis and Tri Nguyen of Daily Variance Publishing, players from 2 to 200 NL can greatly benefit.

Read more about The Poker Blueprint

It opens with an excellent introduction, “Play to Learn,” that doesn’t explain differences between winning and losing players, but rather between “learners” and “grinders,” two types of winners. Although it’s only one page long, it’s a very refreshing way to think about poker and something valuable to keep in mind. I always considered myself as a “learner”—thinking about ranges, applying concepts, improving. But I still get a little too irritated from bad beats and I study both my graphs and the cashier tab a little more than a “learner” should. I never had it explained so clearly to me that this can stunt one’s growth as a player, but it makes perfect sense.

After this, a short chapter on table selection gives many of the basics, including stack sizes, player types and even screen name trends. A little more about the different player types such as maniacs, calling stations, nits and loose passives would have been nice. The authors give a "bad" player's VPIP/PFR but even beginners need a more complete understanding than this. They could also have included a little about the value of note taking in table selection. Overall though, it's what you'd expect for table selection.

Next comes a very interesting view of bankroll management. Davis and Nguyen advocate being aggressive and moving up quickly, but the overall message is that there’s nothing wrong with taking shots as long as you’re prepared to move back down if you encounter bad results. They also make a great comparison to a real-world business and explain that “learners” still have a lot of growth potential. Therefore, they should be using their resources to move up as high as they can, not cash out or grind a ton of tables so they won’t encounter risk. Most of us are in it for the money, but it’s important to remember that cashing out every week chains you to your current stakes and could mean you’ll be grinding at the same level for the rest of your poker career.

Before we get to the meat of the book, there’s a comprehensive guide to all the math involved in NL poker, from hand combos to probability to implied odds. There are some great charts and the clear writing really helps players calculate on the fly.

The preflop and postflop sections are both spectacular. We first are introduced to Davis and Nguyen’s solid, extremely positionally-aware gameplan, which discusses concepts like iso-raising, overlimping, squeezing and blindstealing. Clear specific hand examples and Stove ranges really hammer home the points.

The title of the postflop section is “Time to play poker” and it’s an apt description—postflop can’t be analyzed with charts or generalized strategy, so it’s all about our hand, villain’s range, previous action, position, the board, and a corresponding line. This is what poker is all about.

Just about any player will absolutely love this section. The hand examples are well selected and serve as a sort of mini-quiz for readers before the authors analyze the situation. Some of the most interesting concepts discussed include c-betting and double barreling, polarizing your range, pot commitment in 3-bet pots and avoiding making a bluff out of a hand with showdown value.

Check out The Poker Blueprint on Amazon.com for more information.

In this section, the writing stays right on point with the hand being discussed but still acknowledges that poker is situation-dependant. This isn’t an easy balance to achieve but they’ve got it just right.

I only caution beginning players not to misapply the advanced strategies before they have the game down. I can see a player that’s relatively new to Holdem reading The Poker Blueprint and thinking: “Ok, I figured out what table selection means. Aha, now I know how to calculate odds. It looks like my next step is to start squeezing light at 2, 5 or 10 NL and bluffing the river with a busted draw because that chart told me to.” They might not even realize that the book is talking about 6max play.

Now this won't be an issue for the majority of readers, but I think it deserves a mention. I’d say a brief refresher of tight, aggressive, ABC poker against bad micro opponents would have been appropriate as a transition to the more advanced concepts. Maybe take the “Why We Bet” section from the postflop chapter, put it earlier and explain a value bet in more detail. Articulate that in bad loose games at the lowest levels your strategy should at first be basic and in search of fat value.

This way, the book's flow would seem a bit more logical and it could more effectively appeal to a wide audience. As is, the first couple of chapters are too basic for intermediate players and the later chapters might be troublesome for beginners. While this book doesn’t claim to be a starting point for relatively new players, I think that with a little reshuffling and a couple short additions, it easily could be.

And granted, there are “Important Notes” sections that do warn against reckless use of the more advanced strategies, but readers often just dismiss this type of footnote.

So as long as a beginner doesn’t go crazy with the “expert” stuff, the book is excellent for any low stakes NL player. It’s about as comprehensive a postflop resource as exists in print, and overall a worthy addition to the higher class of poker literature.

Check out The Poker Blueprint on Amazon.com for more information!

The author of the Poker Diary also enjoys playing live poker in Vegas. For information on how to vacation in Vegas for cheap, check out this website to which he is a contributor.

WSOP Step Satellites: To Play or Not to Play? My Experience

2010-03-22T22:11:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been reading a lot of other poker blogs, and some of them, like Island Hopper, have gotten me eager to play more MTTs.

I've had very good success playing a $2 1K Guaranteed tournament, and I play SnGs on Full Tilt Poker when I want a change of pace. I definitely don't have a real sample, but it might be something I want to pursue more in the coming months.

Yesterday I saw that I had a little more money on Sportsbook Poker than I thought, so I looked around at the tournaments. No MTTs stood out particularly, but I saw a promotion where you could win a prize package by winning a series of 6-player SNGs starting with a $1 buy-in.

I played three in a row and busted pretty fast. I tried one more and got down to heads-up play. My opponent was terrible; he limped every hand and folded to a raise about 60% of the time. If we saw a flop, he'd min bet every street or c/f. With such a predictable, weak villain, I figured I had a big edge, but it would be a pretty tedious process to bust him.

I raised QhJc pre and saw three hearts flop. He min bet, and I raised, thinking he probably hit a weak pair. He flat called. The turn was a J. I can't remember if he donked or checked, but I put in a big bet with top pair and a decent redraw. He fought back, and I got it all in because I'd been so aggressive earlier and figured he was taking a stand with worse. If I was wrong, I still had my flush draw. Instead, he had KhK which had me crushed. The heart did end up coming on the river...

Winning would have given me entry into a $6 Satellite, and I would have had to win that and four others to win a $2500 prize package.

The blind structure was such that it took away almost all strategy. After about 10 minutes, it was push or fold. I figured I would need an incredible amount of luck to even make it through two of the things, so I decided it wasn't the best use of my money. Granted this wasn't even a Satellite to the Main Event, but it had me thinking about whether these things are worth it. I would absolutely love winning a trip to Vegas from online play.

Do any of you play in Satellites to the WSOP or other big events? I think Poker Stars is likely the best. I'd like to do a little more research on the best options, and maybe someday it will all pay off...

Effect of Time of Day on Online Poker Play

2010-03-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been seeing a lot of threads on poker forums where people complain that they "can't win during the day," "get crushed on the weekend" or something similar.

Most of the time, it is an issue of an insufficient sample size than an actual inability to win at certain times of the day. Many of these players have played maybe 10k-30k hands and a bunch of losing sessions at the "problem" time.

They are most likely just experiencing normal variance and incorrectly identifying what they think is a pattern in their results. I'd advise anyone to thoroughly review their sessions and log a much larger sample before thinking their problems could be due to the time they play.

This also got me thinking about the effect time of day CAN have on the selection of games at the major poker rooms.

I like to play around 5-6pm U.S. Central time. My thinking is that the U.S. recreational players are getting off work and having some fun while European casual players are relaxing with some poker before heading to bed (or even better, returning home from the pubs!)

But it becomes much more complicated than this. What about players in Asia? What about the thousands of tight grinders that are doing the exact same thing? Do they offset the fish that are likely to be playing at these times? Would I be better playing at non-peak times because there probably won't be many regulars at the micros?

My conclusion is that time of day is never a substitute for good table selection. While I might check the lobby more often during certain times of the day, the average pot sizes, % seen flop and my color coded note system still reign supreme.

Do you have a preferred time to play online poker? Why is it your favorite? Have you ever blamed your losses on the time you play? (Or attributed your success to it?)

Going to Review "The Poker Blueprint," play more NL

2010-03-19T15:12:00.000-07:00

I'm hoping to start grinding more NL poker in the next couple of months, most likely on PokerStars when I move there in a week or two.

In the meantime, I'm trying to read a bunch of strategy so I'm more confident when I start to put in high volume. Especially coming from limit, I think I need to learn more about when to c-bet, value betting in tough situations and when to exercise pot control.

I've always loved reading, and ever since I've started playing poker seriously I've really enjoyed hunting down new books that might make me a better player.

I'm going to be reviewing a book called "The Poker Blueprint," which looks like a good resource for micro NL players. Read about it at Daily Variance Publishing.

Online Poker March Madness?

2010-03-18T15:57:00.000-07:00

March Madness is my favorite time of the sporting year, especially the first two days. Nine hours of basketball jam packed with amazing plays, thrilling finishes and big upsets. Hopefully my bracket isn't completely busted at the end of it.

I was excited to see that Sportsbook Poker was doing a March Madness promotion. Earning FPPs on special March Madness tables would get you a spot in $5000, $10000 and $15000 March Madness Freerolls. I haven't played yet because I usually just do tournaments there, but I still might.

Then they sent me an email about a March Madness Pool with a $13 million prize for a perfect bracket and plenty of other opportunities to win cash. But I looked a little closer and I had to bet at least $20 on each round to be eligible. That's a little too much for my liking, so I'll just stick with Facebook and Yahoo's challenges. I already have a few incorrect picks after today's action, so I guess I wouldn't have won the $13 million anyway...

Have you seen any other poker sites offering specials for March Madness? It looks like Carbon Poker has something.

Anyone else feeling the urge to put some of their poker winnings on the tournament? The online sites that also offer sports betting make it very tempting. I'll have to be careful so I don't blow my bankroll betting on my favorite teams! (Don't worry, I won't) Anyone's bracket perfect so far?

Almost Time to Head to a New Poker Room

2010-03-15T14:44:00.000-07:00

After a good experience on Full Tilt Poker, my sign-up bonus is about to expire. Overall, I will have unlocked $120 of my $150 deposit, and as you can see below, my Full Tilt Poker ring game profits are $109. I still have a lot to learn but it's nice to be up overall!

Since I didn't sign up with rakeback, I'll be moving to a new room to unlock a new bonus, while possibly requesting rakeback for my existing Full Tilt Poker account through rakebackpros.

My next logical move is Poker Stars, because of the huge volume of players, great tournaments and VIP promotions. I've heard that the micro limit games are looser on Poker Stars, and I'm eager to keep giving NL some shots as well as playing MTTs.

I know there is no possibility of rakeback on Poker Stars, but is there any reason to sign up through any affiliate or other program? Anything else that I should know?

Dabbling in NL - Downswing with a Twist - Then Back to Limit

2010-03-09T23:35:00.000-08:00

Today I hit a bad string of beats and coolers at the Full Tilt NL tables. My KK matched up against AA, my AA was cracked by an A7 and another KK was vanquished in a three-way all-in vs. 99 and AJ (the AJ rivered a boat vs. my broadway).

The twist? It was 2 NL. Variance is much easier to take when you're playing for pennies!

But seriously, I'm just getting my feet wet while I read more NL strategy. I played a lot a few years ago and actually profited but I never took it as seriously as is necessary to be a consistent winner. And all my limit play recently has definitely left me feeling uneasy at the NL cash tables. I'm also doing some NL MTTs, which are different in nature but also very good to get back into the swing of things.

After this I headed back and three-tabled .25/.50 Limit. Thankfully I more than made back the $5 I had dropped earlier...:) I'm still pretty hot; 4.81 BB/100 so far in March. My overall winrate is almost back up to 2 BB/100, although I don't have a big enough sample size to really care. It's the last month of my Full Tilt bonus so I'll be working on clearing that. I'll probably head to PokerStars next

Anyway, I know NL is where the most excitement is, but I really enjoy the theory behind limit games: pot equity, implied odds, hidden outs...etc.

I'm sure we've all read NL vs. Limit debates to death, but in my book learning any game other than your primary one makes you a more a complete player and can only help you down the road in any poker endeavor.

Often people are too concerned with "where can I make the most money?" and "what game has a lower variance?" and miss out on the real points.

Pondering the "Good" Side of Variance in No Limit Tournaments

2010-03-08T17:17:00.000-08:00

Just about any poker player enjoys the thrill and excitement of No Limit tournaments and the chance to win a huge prize; I'm no exception.

Recently I've been playing a $2 buy-in tournament on Sportsbook Poker. It's 1K guaranteed and usually has about 500 players. Occasionally there's an overlay but the majority of the time there isn't. The top 100 or so get paid, and first place is about $250, with the final table getting a pretty good payday.

So far I've done very well, as I made it very deep the first 3 times I played. I took 3rd out of 522 and won $101.27. (about as much as I've won in Limit Holdem over 15k hands!) I've also gotten 12th and 6th and missed out on the money once.

Everyone talks about variance when they're experiencing the bad times; they easily remember all the two-outers, sets over sets, pocket aces getting cracked...etc.

But it's not so common to be thinking about variance when you're running good. And that's exactly where I am right now in these tournaments.

After that second final table finish, I was thinking to myself "Wow, these tournaments are easy. I should do this every day and I'll clean up!" But after thinking about it a little more, I remembered a couple hands where I got really lucky, a great run of cards that built my stack up during the middle stages, and a LOT of wins in coin flips after I got in the money.

If I were to go back and play this tournament every day for the next 10 days, it would be perfectly reasonable for me to think I wouldn't cash a single time. On every poker forum you'll see a million people asking questions like "Are these losses just variance?" and "Is this downswing normal?" But you never see things like "I'm crushing 10NL; could this be variance?"

We all need to remember to look at our results objectively no matter how we're doing, and always be honest with ourselves.

A Few Thoughts on Moving From Limit to No Limit Poker

2010-03-07T23:11:00.000-08:00

I'm primarily a Limit player, but I want to eventually grind NL. My thinking is that I'm trying to build up a bankroll logging lots of hands, clearing some bonuses and multitabling. I do know NL pretty well but I'm not confident enough that I'd be able to deal with the swings until I get more experience. And my play would suffer greatly with multitabling. At this stage the mechanical nature of Limit is what I'm looking for.

Well, I decided I wanted to start a little earlier than I'd thought, and I played a little $.01/.02 NL on Full Tilt Poker today. I only played about 75 hands, but I promptly blew through one buy-in and some of another. While in the past I played a lot of casual NL online, my high-volume Limit experience has left me uncomfortable with just about every decision when I'm sitting at a NL table now. It was a strange feeling.

There are several specific adjustments that a player needs to make when making the Limit --> NL transition, as I've read in articles and on poker forums. In my own game, I think I'm spewing chips on flop continuation bets with high card type hands like AK and AQ. After I get called, I have no idea how to proceed. Do I really want to fire a second barrel and build a big pot? Do I just give up? I shouldn't get myself into this many situations, especially at fishy stakes like 2NL. Play patiently and just value bet = profit.

Second, I think that I don't fully incorporate the concept of implied odds when I'm thinking about my hands. Implied odds are much bigger in NL, and I need to start thinking that I can potentially win my opponent's whole stack. The pot size is important, but the stack sizes are paramount. I also need to shift my mentality on pocket pairs for set value.

I need to do some more reading before really feeling confident with my NL play. But since I'm not too happy staring at a -80 BB/100 on my Poker Tracker database for 2NL, so I might be getting back on the tables sooner rather than later... I'll keep you all posted.

Dull Losing Session Heats Up In Hand During Final Orbit

2010-03-07T19:34:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I was playing two tables of $0.25/$0.50 Limit poker and it seemed like nothing could go my way. I hadn’t gotten involved in many big hands in the whole session, just raising and value betting down. I’d either lost at showdown or had my c-bets raised and had to give it up on the turn. But they added up, and I’m down about 25BB.

Right during my last orbit, I opened a pot in middle position with 77 and figured I’d either win the blinds or maybe get called by the BB. The table had gotten pretty weak-tight, and I was all ready to just call it a day and do something else.

Preflop: Hero is MP3 with 7, 7

4 folds, Hero raises,

Didn't expect this.

CO 3-bets, 1 fold, SB caps, BB calls, Hero…

I get 3-bet behind me, the SB caps and the BB takes two more to the face. I thought about it for a second: I’m getting 7:1 immediate odds to play against 3 players and my odds of hitting a set are about 7.5:1. I have good implied odds with so much action, and I don’t think the other players play very well postflop. SB’s cap worried me, however; he had a PR% of 0 over a small sample.

Here comes the next surprise:

Hero calls, 1 fold

CO, the original 3-bettor, disconnects and folds when he was getting 15:1 in a capped pot. I bet he had a few choice words for his Internet Service Provider.

Now there are only two opponents, and I’m really liking it. I might be up against an AK and the BB seems bad so he could be holding a very wide range.

Flop: (15 SB) 7, 8, 9 (3 players)

SB bets, BB calls, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls

Bingo. Hit the set. But it’s a very wet board. SB’s bet could mean a big pair or an unimproved AK, both of which I’m crushing. I’m really hoping BB didn’t call with JTs. I clearly raise and they both flat.

Turn: (10.5 BB) Q (3 players)

SB bets, BB calls, Hero raises, SB calls, BB calls

Good turn, but now I really don’t know what they have. Why did SB donk again? Is BB on a flush draw?

River: (16.5 BB) K (3 players)

SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets, SB calls, 1 fold

The flush card hits, but I’m not too worried about that, especially after they check to me. I bet again for value, thinking I can get called by AQ, AK or a whole lot of other wtf hands. The pot is very big.

Total pot: (18.5 BB)

Results:

SB had Q, A (one pair, Queens).

Hero had 7, 7 (three of a kind, sevens).

Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

He had an AQs, which hit top pair on the turn.

BB stuck around the whole way only to give it up on the river, and wasn’t even chasing the flush. Maybe an ATs? JJ?

With this pot, I got back up and I took down another small pot at my other table to finish about even. I’ve been running really well and I’m up 4.22 BB/100 over 2,000 hands this month.

But let’s not be results-oriented over the results of a couple of sessions…

Be Careful Chasing Bonuses

2010-03-07T19:29:00.003-08:00

My original goal in this blog was to play 5-10 poker sites, deposit close to the maximum and earn that amount in first-deposit bonus money. But now I feel that this is very dangerous for most beginning players. Here’s why:

The bankroll guideline for Limit poker is 300 Big Bets. That means that for a $.05/$.10 game, you’d need $30. For a $0.10/$0.20 game, you’d need $60. No Limit poker has different requirements. Low stakes games are a $2 or $5 buy in. You should have no less than $40 in your bankroll to play 2NL. This gives you enough money to absorb some losses and still not risk going broke.

You only get a bonus of whatever amount you deposit, so beginners wishing to play these stakes would only earn $30-$60 of bonus money. Most bonus-hunting new players are greedy to make much more than that. Players could deposit more than they need for the levels, but that would leave them frantically trying to play as much as possible, and their game would suffer.

A bonus is awarded to you based on the amount of rake taken in the games in which you are dealt cards. Each site has a slightly different formula, but in general it takes a lot longer than you might assume. Like to clear a $200 bonus in a .25/.50 game, you’d need about 30,000 hands, which is a huge amount and requires a TON of playing.

Beginners should really be playing at the small stakes where there are lots of loose players (like .05/.10 or 2NL). This helps them nail down the fundamentals of Limit Holdem that are essential for any successful player and get some good experience.

But the structure of the bonuses often entices them to play at higher stakes games where they unlock the bonus faster (like .50/1 or 1/2). This puts them in way over their heads and risking their entire deposit.

I was fortunate enough to realize this and deposit a smaller amount on Full Tilt to get me rolled for .25/.50 Limit ($150). I dropped down to .05/.10 and logged a lot of hands, posted on poker forums and read books like Small Stakes Holdem by Miller, Slanksky, Malmuth. Then I played a bunch of .25/.50 and I’ve unlocked about half of my bonus so far with a month left before it expires.

While I might not get the entire $150 because it unlocks pretty slowly, it’s a much better scenario than playing out of my comfort zone, and I’ve learned a lot more in the process and gotten better.

My Experience To This Point

2010-03-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

I've been playing online seriously for a few months now. Over 14,883 hands, I've made $88.25 split between .25/.50 and .10/.20 Limit (average winrate of about 2BB/100 hands). Add $85 in bonus money and the $ that I've won on multitable tournaments*, and my profits are $360! I'm really pleased with the results so far, but I feel I'm running pretty well so I won't be able to keep up at this pace.

*My multitable tournament winnings are extremely fluky. I've entered a $2 1K guaranteed tournament a few times, and I've placed 3rd out of 522 for $101.27 and 6th out of 499 for $39. With the big variance in these things, I got very lucky to win this much in only a few tournaments.

I recently purchased the Micro stakes version of PokerTracker3, which is an essential piece of software for any serious player. At first, I thought I might not want to invest the money, but now I couldn't imagine playing without it. Reviewing my sessions helps immensely and I love having a HUD. Poker Tracker website. You can even get a free trial version before you buy.

Welcome to the Online Poker Diary

2010-03-07T18:26:00.001-08:00

Hey everyone; I'm an aspiring online poker player. I've had some success in the past playing in my spare time but recently I've decided to play more seriously. My game of choice at the moment is Limit Holdem but I play No Limit and tournaments from time to time.
I'm planning to play all of the big poker rooms one at a time and earn the first deposit bonuses that they offer. I think that by playing 5-10 sites over the course of the next year, I can build a decent bankroll. I'll be signing up for rakeback at these sites as well, but I didn't know about it when I signed up at Full Tilt :(. After I've gone through all of the good sites, I'll pick a couple to keep playing and earn back some of the money I pay in rake.
But more than just chasing bonuses, I'll be using this blog to share my thoughts about poker in general and my experience of trying to become a winning online player.
I'll be posting valuable information about the different cardrooms, reviews of books and software, replays of big hands, and links to strategy articles.