I'm headed to Foxwoods for the long weekend. I'm going down there on Saturday morning and will probably come home Monday. As with my past trips I plan on staying about a mile or two down the road at a much cheaper hotel. Everything else is way overpriced for what you get.
When I go out to Vegas later this year I'll be staying in a suite with my girlfriend so she can be pampered but I don't plan on getting a mud bath or pedicure so the Hampton Inn will work for this weekend.
I think the Foxwoods Mega Stack is going on right now so I plan on sticking to the 2/5 cash games in the hopes that a lot of the tournament players hang around and donk off some money.
And the good thing about staying outside the hotel is that it allows you to hit Mohegan without feeling like a dumbass if the Foxwoods games are dry. So I like staying situated between both places for versatility.
As an aside, I think I am choosing the Cake Poker network as my cash game home. After playing a lot of hands on PStars (rock garden of regs), Full Tilt (only one notch better than PStars) and UB (decent action but not enough traffic) I am choosing PlayersOnly Poker where I will be receiving 33% rakeback and will also be participating in the pocketfives.com monthly rake race where you can earn extra bucks for being on their leaderboard for most rakeback earned in the month.
Cake seems to be a nice little network for games 3/6 NL and lower which is all I'm playing these days with 5/10 shots only taking place if the table I target has more than one bonafied fish sitting at it. That's not to say I don't think I can beat the game - I do. I think I can beat up to and including 10/20 but I have chosen a life that does not allow for lots of cash to be kept online for gambling purposes.
I have basically discovered what my yearly income should be for my poker schedule and it has become integrated into my budget.
I feel like down the road the state of poker will shift once again and more fish will come. And that is when I will adjust and play higher once more. But for now I think it's asinine for anyone to sit at 10/20 and 25/50 and swap pots with regs all day long. No one has any edge unless they are in the top 5% players in the world and I am not in that class.
When poker is finally regulated in the United States, and it will be someday, all the people who were reticent ($10 word) to deposit online when the money is held offshore will enter the poker world and the majority of them will not be good players.
Much like sports, war, and the economy there is an ebb and flow to the poker economy. The majority of success in your poker career will come down to luck and timing - cooler pots where you hope to be the one holding the nuts versus second nuts or running well deep in MTT's in the make or break spots. And so you must create your own fortune by always being aware of the state of the game, your emotions, and the emotions of your enemies.
I can't say I always do this but I do it a lot and that is why I will succeed in places where others will break even or lose.
2.09.2010
Irony/Addiction
Someone plan a Rush Poker intervention for me. I find myself not being able to stop due to how many FTP points I can earn to play the big satellite events.
The irony of me saying the games have dried up is that last night I played in a $1,000 pot and emerged the victor.
I had already logged about 2,900 hands at 1/2 and the villain and I had stacks of approximately $520 each.
From UTG he made it $10 and I bumped it to $35 on the button with red Aces. Here's the full action in all its cooler glory.
Hero (button): $517
Villain (utg): $532 (I think)
Villain raises to $10
Hero 3-bets to $35
Villain 4-bets to $110
Hero flats.
I think he's putting me on QQ and QQ only when I flat here but I could be wrong. I'm never flatting AK but I could flat KK in position to get it all in on a non-ace flop.
Flop: As Kd 7c
Villain checks. I'm putting him on AK, KK, or QQ at this point. Although with him being the one out of position I think it's weird he didn't decide to jam or fold AK and QQ so I've basically put him on KK. That being said there is never any reason to slowplay here in my opinion.
Villain checks
Hero bets $140
Villain jams
Hero snap calls, crowd goes wild.
AA vs. KK is always playing out this way on this flop obviously - but I really like my flat call on the button for partial deception because I think if I jam against a very good player he's going to release KK given the nature of Rush Poker and the depth of the stacks.
I know it's still a cooler and standard and lol obvaments but as you play deeper stack cash games it's important to time your actions and create a plan for the hand. I know if someone instantly jammed 260 bb's on me I'd lay down any hand but Aces in almost all situations so it's something to keep in mind.
The irony of me saying the games have dried up is that last night I played in a $1,000 pot and emerged the victor.
I had already logged about 2,900 hands at 1/2 and the villain and I had stacks of approximately $520 each.
From UTG he made it $10 and I bumped it to $35 on the button with red Aces. Here's the full action in all its cooler glory.
Hero (button): $517
Villain (utg): $532 (I think)
Villain raises to $10
Hero 3-bets to $35
Villain 4-bets to $110
Hero flats.
I think he's putting me on QQ and QQ only when I flat here but I could be wrong. I'm never flatting AK but I could flat KK in position to get it all in on a non-ace flop.
Flop: As Kd 7c
Villain checks. I'm putting him on AK, KK, or QQ at this point. Although with him being the one out of position I think it's weird he didn't decide to jam or fold AK and QQ so I've basically put him on KK. That being said there is never any reason to slowplay here in my opinion.
Villain checks
Hero bets $140
Villain jams
Hero snap calls, crowd goes wild.
AA vs. KK is always playing out this way on this flop obviously - but I really like my flat call on the button for partial deception because I think if I jam against a very good player he's going to release KK given the nature of Rush Poker and the depth of the stacks.
I know it's still a cooler and standard and lol obvaments but as you play deeper stack cash games it's important to time your actions and create a plan for the hand. I know if someone instantly jammed 260 bb's on me I'd lay down any hand but Aces in almost all situations so it's something to keep in mind.
2.08.2010
How Quickly Things Change
I think I'm done with Rush Poker now.
The things I had written were true at the time - fish were playing ATC, laggy late position play worked well, etc.
But I just played lengthy sessions over the weekend and the games have completely dried up. My guess is the fish who were initially drawn to it have gone busto and decided not to keep re-depositing. And now it's just a bunch of us 14/12 regs playing nothing but big hand vs. big hand pots which don't occur frequently enough to make this game worth playing. If you want to amass a lot of FTP points it's still a decent game to play but aside from that I recommend going back to the regular tables.
The things I had written were true at the time - fish were playing ATC, laggy late position play worked well, etc.
But I just played lengthy sessions over the weekend and the games have completely dried up. My guess is the fish who were initially drawn to it have gone busto and decided not to keep re-depositing. And now it's just a bunch of us 14/12 regs playing nothing but big hand vs. big hand pots which don't occur frequently enough to make this game worth playing. If you want to amass a lot of FTP points it's still a decent game to play but aside from that I recommend going back to the regular tables.
2.01.2010
Highlights I'm Not Proud Of
Over the weekend I played in one of those Knights Of Columbus charity poker tournaments where they had out Visa gift cards as prizes. Top 9 paid and first place was $700.
Normally I stay away from these because the players are often KoC members with no idea how to play the game and I almost feel guilty showing up. Almost.
But a friend of mine recently got his wisdom teeth removed and is unable to drink yet, so he talked me into going there with him.
He took third and I took first.
My suspicions were correct. The players ranged from bad to embarrassing. There was one other kid there who I could tell had a good grasp on the game but he busted with Queens versus Ace King around the middle stages.
At the Final Table I raised every hand and c-bet every flop. My friend was two seats to my right and would mutter before folding because as he correctly said afterwards ...
- I either fold my way to heads up or let you 3 bet me out of every pot I open.
That about sums it up. He busted with 7's versus KJ suited when his opponent flopped a flushdraw with a gutshot and hit his gutterball on the turn. Bink.
Heads up we were even in chips and it was over in 3 hands. He open shoved with 8's and I woke up with 10's. Better to be lucky, right?
At any rate, here are things I'm not proud of doing that night in no particular order.
Normally I stay away from these because the players are often KoC members with no idea how to play the game and I almost feel guilty showing up. Almost.
But a friend of mine recently got his wisdom teeth removed and is unable to drink yet, so he talked me into going there with him.
He took third and I took first.
My suspicions were correct. The players ranged from bad to embarrassing. There was one other kid there who I could tell had a good grasp on the game but he busted with Queens versus Ace King around the middle stages.
At the Final Table I raised every hand and c-bet every flop. My friend was two seats to my right and would mutter before folding because as he correctly said afterwards ...
- I either fold my way to heads up or let you 3 bet me out of every pot I open.
That about sums it up. He busted with 7's versus KJ suited when his opponent flopped a flushdraw with a gutshot and hit his gutterball on the turn. Bink.
Heads up we were even in chips and it was over in 3 hands. He open shoved with 8's and I woke up with 10's. Better to be lucky, right?
At any rate, here are things I'm not proud of doing that night in no particular order.
- Check raising all-in on the turn against a guy in an oxygen mask and then showing 2-7 offsuit to the table
- Flatting Aces on the Button against an older woman and letting her think her flopped queen was good by calling her on every street saying stuff like, "I think this call is a bad idea."
- Slowrolling a kid because he yelled "one time!" at a KoC poker tournament.
- Slowrolling an old guy because he told me I take too long to act pre-flop.
I'd like to add that beers at these places only cost two quid and so much of my decision making was influenced by these beers. Still, I'm not proud. But I am $700 richer.
1.25.2010
Full Tilt Rush Poker
I have to commend Full Tilt on this one.
Horrid customer service aside their site is quickly becoming my favorite due to Rush Poker and tournament structure.
In case you still aren't familiar with Rush Poker you should head to the Full Tilt website to watch their short presentation.
Essentially it's hyper speed poker. You're dealt a hand and as soon as you fold you're warped to a new table just as a new hand is being dealt. You can single table hundreds of hands per hour this way.
Right now my strategy is to play a very LAGgy game compared to my usual TAG style of play just because of how many people are hitting the "quick fold" button. I also tend to defend my BB every time I am there just to counteract people trying to play this LAG style against me.
I'm hoping they continue to add bigger stakes the more I continue to play here as you can amass points quickly not too mention all the rakeback once can earn.
Horrid customer service aside their site is quickly becoming my favorite due to Rush Poker and tournament structure.
In case you still aren't familiar with Rush Poker you should head to the Full Tilt website to watch their short presentation.
Essentially it's hyper speed poker. You're dealt a hand and as soon as you fold you're warped to a new table just as a new hand is being dealt. You can single table hundreds of hands per hour this way.
Right now my strategy is to play a very LAGgy game compared to my usual TAG style of play just because of how many people are hitting the "quick fold" button. I also tend to defend my BB every time I am there just to counteract people trying to play this LAG style against me.
I'm hoping they continue to add bigger stakes the more I continue to play here as you can amass points quickly not too mention all the rakeback once can earn.
1.11.2010
$55 MTT Hand Results
Here is the way the rest of the hand played out.
Flop: T 5 4 rainbow
I bet 400 into 515 and get flatted
My initial thought process: His range of hands here is very narrow. There are several people to act behind on a somewhat coordinated board and he is not too worried about raising anyone out of the pot. 44, 55, and TT are the most likely candidates based on his MTT stats. He could have also flatted pre with AA but I would think he'd want to protect his hand against all the players behind him.
Turn: 4
I bet 800 into 1315 and he jams.
My thought process: My KK is beaten. Against a very solid player in the beginning stages I can't think of a single hand he plays this way that I beat unless he played QQ very strangely. And this I'm just hoping for.
I fold and he doesn't show but it was a +EV fold. I went on to cash in this event so all was not lost.
Flop: T 5 4 rainbow
I bet 400 into 515 and get flatted
My initial thought process: His range of hands here is very narrow. There are several people to act behind on a somewhat coordinated board and he is not too worried about raising anyone out of the pot. 44, 55, and TT are the most likely candidates based on his MTT stats. He could have also flatted pre with AA but I would think he'd want to protect his hand against all the players behind him.
Turn: 4
I bet 800 into 1315 and he jams.
My thought process: My KK is beaten. Against a very solid player in the beginning stages I can't think of a single hand he plays this way that I beat unless he played QQ very strangely. And this I'm just hoping for.
I fold and he doesn't show but it was a +EV fold. I went on to cash in this event so all was not lost.
1.07.2010
What's Your Play? $55 $40k Guaranteed MTT
Blinds 15/30
Our stack: 4100
Villain's stack: 2900
Villain has about $100,000 in MTT winnings and I've never played with him before. OPR confirms he does very well at mid-stakes buy-ins.
UTG with KK we raise to 100
Villain flats in MP
CO flats
Button flats
SB folds
BB calls
Flop: T 5 4 rainbow
BB Checks. We bet 400 into 515.
MP villains flats and everyone else folds.
Turn: 4
What's your action here and why?
Our stack: 4100
Villain's stack: 2900
Villain has about $100,000 in MTT winnings and I've never played with him before. OPR confirms he does very well at mid-stakes buy-ins.
UTG with KK we raise to 100
Villain flats in MP
CO flats
Button flats
SB folds
BB calls
Flop: T 5 4 rainbow
BB Checks. We bet 400 into 515.
MP villains flats and everyone else folds.
Turn: 4
What's your action here and why?
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