Online Poker
Poker is Fun Again!
For all of you microstakes online players out there who are looking to build your bankroll, I have a strong recommendation - learn how to play microstakes HORSE.
There are usually 2 or 3 .25/.50 games going on Full Tilt, and not only are they really fun, but they are ridiculously easy to beat. I am not a good HORSE player at all - I barely know the rules for some of the games and have easily read less than 1000 words of strategy on Razz, O8, Stud, and Stud8, but as long as you research starting hand requirements and are familiar with basic poker concepts, you should be a winner in this game.
Currently on Tilt: Who plays to get lucky on the river?
The last time I played live I experienced this hand…
1/2 NL HE cash game at the Commerce: I call a raise of $10 from MP with AJ off. There are 2 other players in the pot. The button (original raiser) and the BB. The flop brings Jd-Jc-Qd. The BB checks and I bet $12. Both players call. The turn brings a 3rd low diamond. The BB checks and I bet $20. The Button folds and the BB calls. The river is a 10d. The BB goes all in for $20. I call the $20 into $132 pot feeling like he doesn’t have a diamond… The moron shows pocket 10s. He rivered a full house on me. I asked him how he could call me down to the river knowing he’s beat the whole way.. he said he felt his 10 coming. Ugh!!!
Deal or No Deal
Last month I made Silver Star over on PokerStars. This month I haven’t done much at all with my newly-minted status, other than accumulate FPPs at a higher clip. Haven’t entered any of the tourneys or bought any items in the FPP store that are reserved for us Silvery types. Am actually closing in on maintaining my Silver Star status through May, though I have to admit it doesn’t strike me as something I need care about all that much.
E-pass is passe
Just 2 days ago I used e-passporte for transferring money between sites to get 600$ to Poker Stars to get that new bonus they had. I guess I was lucky. E-passporte will no longer accept and transfer money to and from poker sites. They pulled out. I find their motivation understandable, but their timing is weird. Is something to come in the world of online poker / UIGEA? Or is this just a random event in an online poker players career?
HORSE Sense
Let’s face it. When it comes to HORSE their really isn’t much sense to your opponents. For those of you that don’t know HORSE is a mixed game comprised of rotations involving different games. H is for Hold’em, O is for Omaha Hi/Lo, R is for Razz, S is for Stud Hi, and E is for Stud Hi/Lo. On Full Tilt the games are rotated every 10 hands.
April Foolishness
That didn’t last long. Busto already.
Of Course I was never really doing any of that anyway. My vein attempt at an April Fool’s post was apparently very convincing as I heard from many well wishers. I thought it was absurd to think that I’d never run bad for more than a month (ever) and that I could support my family playing $6.50 SNG’s. You all must think I’m a lot better player than I really am. I’m not even sure it would be possible for the best SNG player who ever lived to accomplish that feat. I even used the username slooflirpa which is april fools backwards as my Cake Poker moniker.
The week that was, and a SNG conundrum
I was able to get in a ton of poker during Spring Break. My cash game sessions were capped off when I played at possibly the nittiest 6-max table ever. We must have set a world record for walks. I probably should have ditched that table and found another juicier game (game selection has never been my specialty), but it was actually kind of fun to be at a table with a bunch of grinders. In fact, three of them were 9-tabling. I came out a small winner for the session when I flopped top-two and value bet all the way down. I ended up a big winner for the week. Too bad school starts back up again this week.
Going Pro
After 18 years of servitude to the Man I’ve reached a turning point in my life. With my 40th birthday approaching it has become high time that I follow my heart and do something that I love. Because of that I have quit my job and decided to “go pro”.
With the current economic situation in the US I’ve been able to refinance my home for a very low rate and with the money I’ll save in gas my poker income should be enough. I know that 6 months living expenses is preferred but considering my past results 3 months should be plenty. I’ve never had more than one losing month in a row ever so I should be able to play through any down swing.
Poker Week In A Picture
There wasn’t much I did right this week came it came to the SNG’s. My playing time has decreased but that makes it more important from a psychological standpoint that I put some wins together. With fewer days played the ups and downs can seem to last longer than they really are.
On Tuesday I played 8 games and finished fourth a total of five times. Then throw in two sevenths and a sixth for a disastrous evening.
The rest of the week didn’t go much better as I collected one first, one second, and one third out of the sixteen played. A glorious -48.1% ROI.
What hand have I had the entire time?
I have discovered what I believe to be a leak in my game. It’s a leak that most players probably have but they just don’t know it. As my game has progressed, I have done a better job of playing off of my image and being able to represent certain things at certain times. I suppose this is just another step in this progression.
