Many thanks to Iggy for setting up the latest blogger tourney, a HORSE event at Full Tilt. I couldn’t make it due to bowling, but signed up anyway, with the slim hope that I might have chips left when I got home. It was only $5.50, and I wanted my leaderboard points. 🙂 I still outlasted 40 players, and finished a respectable 52nd, never playing a hand.
I will not be able to make the next WPBT event, either. We need to get some of these things on a Thursday night. Or screw the east coasters, and make it at 9pm pacific time. I will be heading to Vegas for the WPBT Aladdin Classic, though.
I first read about this over at StudioGlyphic, and then got the e-mail about it when I woke up today.
Hello Alan,
Unfortunatley, we have some bad news – iGlobalMedia, the software provider for all Party Skins, has mandated that PokerNOW immediatley stop all rakeback relationships with their affiliates.
This was not PokerNOW’s decision, it was iGlobalMedia’s, and PokerNOW has to go by what they say.
We, of course will pay all rakeback due through March 11th. This is an across the board decision, and all sites offering PokerNOW as a rakeback partner must take them down immediatley.
Our other rakeback provider Caribbean Sun, is completely on board with our rakeback program, many of our players enjoy huge rakebacks from them. We will also add another site as soon as possible.
We are truly sorry for this, but it was a complete shock to us and other affiliates. If you have any questions, please email us or post inthe rakeback forum, we have started a thread there as well.
This has caused a delay in processing all rakeback points from being credited, however all will be completed today.
Thanks,
Tom
Customer Service Manager
eCasinoDeals
I don’t particularly like the Crypto software, so I’m not too thrilled about having to play at Caribbean Sun to get rakeback. I just sent off an e-mail to Party cancelling my account. I’ll continue to play their tables at PokerNow (or get in on a Eurobet rakeback deal for however long that lasts), and then create a new account there through a rakeback affiliate in three or six months, when they let me. I don’t where I’m going to play in the immediate future, now. I have a bonus to finish off at Bet Holdem, and have a bunch of bonus money at Absolute, UB, and Stars. And FullTilt, but working off the bonus there is a real pain.
Any suggestions?
Fortytwo. My aces streak has been extended to 42 straight. Twice last night, I got them in the big blind, and the table just folded to me. Those hands still count. Maybe I should put up a counter somewhere here to keep track of the streak. As soon as I do that, it’ll get broken, though. I wonder how many times I’ve cracked aces in that span. I did it once last night, because the guy slowplayed himself into oblivion.
Party Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $0.50 penner4242 (6 max, 5 handed) converter
SB ($43.8)
penner4242 ($99.25)
UTG ($58.7)
MP ($99.9)
Button ($43.1)
Preflop: penner4242 is BB with Q♥, T♠. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, 1 fold, Button calls $0.50, SB (poster) completes, penner4242 checks.
Flop: ($2) A♥, 9♦, J♣ (4 players)
SB checks, penner4242 checks, UTG checks, Button checks.
Turn: ($2) 6♥ (4 players)
SB bets $1, penner4242 calls $1, UTG calls $1, Button folds.
River: ($5) 8♠ (3 players)
SB checks, penner4242 bets $4, UTG raises to $15, SB folds, penner4242 raises to $93.75 (All-In), UTG calls $42.20 (All-In).
penner4242 is returned 36.55 (uncalled).
Final Pot: $123.40
Results below:
penner4242 has Q♥ T♠ (straight, queen high).
UTG has A♠ A♦ (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: penner4242 wins $123.40.
No preflop raise, no bet with a set on the flop, and only called (didn’t raise) a small bet on the turn with some obvious flush and straight draw possibilities. Significant betting anywhere before the river could have easily gotten rid of me there. Not that I’m complaining.
I think I’ve found a big leak in my game that I have to figure out how to get away from, I just don’t know how to do it. The problem occurs when I’ve got trips (two on the board) and a decent kicker, with no straight or flush possibilities, and someone else has a lower kicker but has hit it and has a full house. I just can’t seem to get away from these hands. It happened twice last night, with AT vs A2 and an A2xAx board, and KQ vs K7 with a KK7xx board. I lost quite a bit of money on both of those hands (but still booked a nice win for the night). I’m just not sure how to get away from these. If there’s a possible straight or flush out, I have a much easier time doing it, but when there’s not, I pretty much turn into a calling (or raising) station. At least I’ve identified the problem.
One other thing: I think I just might be overplaying the hammer. Just a little bit. Check out the preflop raise percentage. (Note: most of the losses below from KQo are from the hand mentioned above, and KJs were from a guy who called way too big a bet with a flush draw, and then hit it. I didn’t pay him off.)
On the other hand, if I always folded it, I’d have lost a lot more than just 0.15 by just posting the blinds. So maybe I’m playing it alright. 🙂
The Rush
My ridiculous run of cards has continued at the poker tables. I deposited $852 (the most I could scrounge into Neteller from various quick site cashouts) into Party for the bonus, and after playing the 1142 required hands, withdrew $1632. I put $400 of that back into PokerNow. I ran that up to about $560, and then had a brief dryspell, dropping back down to $330. It was actually a bit of a relief to have a downswing in there, though I couldn’t really tell you why. Since then, I’ve built my PokerNow balance back up to $810, mostly just through straightforward play, insane cards, and bad players.
Since the beginning of February, my winnings at .25/.50 NL 6max: 22.96 BB/100 over 8500+ hands. I don’t think there’s any way that can hold for much longer.
I was going to save this for a few more days to hopefully get to title a post “Thirty seven?! In a row?”, but I just can’t wait anymore. According to Poker Tracker, since the beginning of February, I’ve been dealt AA 35 times. It’s always held up. Every. Single. Time. I’m not just pushing all in preflop and winning the blinds, either. I never made more than a pot sized raise preflop, and once (and only once) I actually slowplayed and just called a raise from the big blind. There were a few huge pots, and one fairly tough call, in there. I think some people will want some proof. This is the closest I can come:
Poker Tracker Guide
News of Hank and Iggy‘s Poker Tracker Guide has been all over the poker blogger world lately. I haven’t bought it, and don’t know if I will. I’m sure I’m losing money by not having it (though it is geared towards limit, which I haven’t been playing lately). I’m sure the content is very much worth reading and it would help me out a ton. The price is more than fair, and a tiny fraction of what it would probably help me win. There’s one simple reason I’m not buying it: DRM.
I’m certainly against piracy and copyright infringement (I write software for a living), and by no means think they should be just giving this information away. As I said, $20 is a perfectly reasonable price (and probably too low) for all the help this book will give. Iggy and Hank deserve to get paid for their hard work in putting it together. I just have serious issues with any sort of DRM, especially a system as restrictive as theirs seems to be. When (if) I buy an eBook, I want to be able to read it on my terms. I want to be able to read it on my Windows machine, my Linux machine, my Treo, and my laptop (if I ever get the damn thing fixed). I don’t want it to take over control of my computer while I’m reading it. I might even want to cut and paste a small section of it for a review, and not have to retype it. It appears I can’t do most of those things. I also don’t like invasions of my privacy (see the last sentence of the second paragraph below).
Note: The anti-piracy software we’re currently using does not allow users to access the file menu of other programs while the ebook is open. This means that while the e-book is open, other applications such as Poker Tracker will not operate properly until the e-book has been closed. We’re working on finding a better anti-piracy solution, and promise to send out new copies to everyone that’s purchased the book if we find better software.
To help prevent illegal access to the book, we only allow the e-book to be opened on one and only one computer. After you’ve completed your purchase, you will be directed to a web page that allows you to download a “zipped” (.zip extension) executable file (.exe extension). The first time you open this file, you’ll be asked to enter your personal access code that you received via email when you purchased the product. After entering this code, the file will function as a normal Adobe Acrobat file (.pdf extension), and you’ll never be asked to input your code again. Any attempts to open this file on another computer will result in a notification sent to our support team.
I don’t have a solution. I understand the need to protect it, but I also feel strongly enough about it that I’m not willing to buy it. I don’t like being treated as a criminal because other people are. When I buy a piece of media, it should be mine to do with as I please, short of mass distribution. Then, when it comes to fighting online crime accusations, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Working with experienced New Jersey internet crime attorneys means your defense strategy is backed by seasoned knowledge of state regulations and federal guidelines. They understand how to challenge evidence obtained from digital sources, ensuring that every aspect of your case is reviewed in detail.
If it was a printed paper book, I’d probably buy it.
GameTime +
Quick review: Get it. You need it. Here.
Sometime yesterday, I decided that I was just throwing money away not getting in on the latest Party deposit bonus. I only had until midnight eastern to make a deposit to qualify, so I cashed out at as many places as I could to get the maximum bonus. Not enough cashouts made it to my Neteller account in time, so I only managed a big enough deposit to get $170 bonus, instead of the full $200. Most of that money came out of PokerNOW, so I’m going to be playing at the same tables now, just working off a bonus worth more than the rakeback. As soon as I’m done, the money goes back to PokerNOW (unless there’s a good bonus somewhere else).
Party recently changed the structure of their NL games. Due to the way they list them ($25NL, $50NL, etc.), it looked like what they did was lower the blinds. I didn’t really like that too much. I was happy playing no limit with .25/.50 blinds, and wanted to keep doing that. When the $25NL game went to .10/.25 blinds, I was a little annoyed. After thinking about it for a little longer, I realized that I could view it the same way as just allowing for a bigger buyin. The $50NL game now has .25/.50 blinds, so it’s the same game but with a higher maximum. If the games were listed by the blinds instead of the buyin, I might not have even noticed the change. My only worry with the change was that the games wouldn’t be as fishy, because people wouldn’t notice the change, or not want to get into a game with $50 (though you can still buy in short for $25 if you really want). Of course, I know at these levels the games will have plenty of fish, but there really need to be a lot if I wanted to maintain my 20.95 BB/100 that I had playing the game in February. 🙂
So far, so good. Looks like I had nothing to worry about. If anything, the players seem to have gotten even worse with the change. I was in the $50NL 6max game last night, and there was this one guy who was really awful. In about ten or fifteen minutes, he had dropped three buyins, for the most part playing crap hands. (One of the buyins was lost on a bad beat when he had KK vs AT all-on on a ten high flop.) Anyway, he had been showing down and losing lots of awful stuff. So when he pushed all in a few hands after another rebuy and I had QQ, I pretty much had to call him. Against anyone else at the table, I might have folded for so much money preflop (had already folded queens once preflop that night). Of course, that hand he had to have AA, and I doubled him up. Just my luck. He went on to double up again soon after and win a few more pots.
A little while later I almost tripled up when I made nut flush with KTs vs a jack high flush (only three diamonds on the board) and an AQ who had top pair. I never actually did any betting with this hand. I called a raise from the small blind, check-called with my draw on the flop, check-called with my flush on the turn. On the river, I was thinking about putting a bet out there, but I was pretty sure someone else would, so I checked. The big blind (who I had covered) went all-in, and the button (who had less than the big blind) called. All I could do was call with the nuts, and take down the pot. That put me in great shape at the table again. Then, the monster. The SB is the guy I doubled up earlier.
Party Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $0.50 BB (6 max, 5 handed) converter
Button ($58.55)
SB ($170.45)
BB ($48.15)
UTG ($46.55)
penner42 ($114.5)
Preflop: penner42 is MP with A♥, A♣. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, penner42 raises to $2.25, Button calls $2.25, SB (poster) calls $2, 1 fold, UTG folds.
Flop: ($7.75) J♦, J♥, A♦ (3 players)
SB checks, penner42 bets $2, Button calls $2, SB calls $2.
Turn: ($13.75) 8♥ (3 players)
SB checks, penner42 bets $4, Button calls $4, SB raises to $8, penner42 calls $4, Button calls $4.
River: ($37.75) 8♣ (3 players)
SB checks, penner42 bets $15, Button calls $15, SB raises to $158.20 (All-In), penner42 calls $87.25 (All-In), Button folds.
SB is returned $55.95 (uncalled).
Final Pot: $257.25
Results below:
SB has K♣ J♣ (full house, jacks full of eights).
penner42 has A♥ A♣ (full house, aces full of jacks).
Outcome: penner42 wins $257.25.
Obviously, this was a great hand for me. Preflop, I made the standard (pot) raise. After the flop, my only goal (of course) was to extract as much as possible out of the hand. Most people with aces would probably check the flop, so I didn’t. I made a weak bet at it compared to the size of the pot. I wanted to try to represent an AK, and appear afraid of the jack. On the turn, I did the same thing again. My small bet ($4 into a $13.75 pot) was designed to get a caller if someone only had an ace, and make it appear my hand wasn’t that strong. When I got checkraised another $4, I immediately knew the SB had a jack, and I would likely get all his money unless I made quads on the river to scare him (or he made quads on the river to beat me). The 8 on the river was a beautiful card. Only two hands could beat me (JJ, 88), but more importantly it meant only three hands could beat anyone who had a jack (without an ace kicker, AA, AJ, 88). He had to figure he had the best hand given my weak bets (but not checks to slowplay a monster) earlier. My bet on the river was chosen to get the button to call. I knew I was getting checkraised for a lot of chips. I figured the button probably had the case ace. As expected, the button called, and the SB went all-in. I took a little time before calling, in hopes that the button might as well, but the pot was plenty big for me.
I stuck around for another hour or so, and ended up leaving the table with over $300. So far, I’m making 28.75BB/100 in March at the .25/.50 NL 6max game (incidently, PokerTracker treats the two games as the same, because it sorts them by blinds, not buyin). I don’t expect this number to stay anywhere near this high, but I’m gonna ride the good run as long as I can. Oh, and I’m 440 out of 1192 hands done with clearing my bonus.
Party Poker No-Limit Hold’em, $ penner4242 (6 max, 5 handed) converter
UTG ($24.5)
MP ($18.75)
Button ($23.65)
SB ($26.35)
penner4242 ($55.86)
Preflop: penner4242 is BB with A♥, 2♥. SB posts a blind of $0.25.
UTG calls $0.50, MP calls $0.50, 1 fold, SB (poster) completes, penner4242 checks.
Flop: ($2) 4♥, 5♥, 3♥ (4 players)
SB checks, penner4242 checks, UTG checks, MP checks.
Turn: ($2) 5♦ (4 players)
SB checks, penner4242 checks, UTG bets $0.75, MP raises to $3, SB folds, penner4242 calls $3, UTG folds.
River: ($8.75) 8♠ (2 players)
penner4242 bets $5, MP raises to $10, penner4242 raises to $15.25, MP calls $5.25 (All-In).
Final Pot: $39.25
Results below:
MP has 5♣ A♣ (three of a kind, fives).
penner4242 has A♥ 2♥ (straight flush, five high).
Outcome: penner4242 wins $39.25.
I’ve been on quite a run at the bowling alley, lately. I busted out of the big poker tournament just in time to make it over to Ocean Lanes in Lompoc for the doubles tournament there. I had a partner who showed up just in case I was able to make it. I threw what I believe is my best ever four game series, an 895. My first three games totaled 677, so just short of a 700 series. I’ve been bowling long enough now that you’d think I’d have done that already, but I still don’t. The closest I’ve come is a 695 in a tournament at Zodos last year. If you take my first, second, and fourth games from the Lompoc tournament, I shot 712, but unfortunately it doesn’t count that way.
The next day was the first week of the new Sunday night league. They didn’t oil the lanes at all, because most of the people there don’t care. It’s called the “Sunday Fun League” for a reason. I managed to shoot a 619 there. Since then, I have thrown an 845 (four games), 691 (so close!), and a 660. All told, I’ve averaged 219 over my last 18 games, which is pretty insane for me. Hopefully, I’ll keep up this streak long enough to get a 700 in there before I fall apart again. I’d also like a 279 game (and a 300, of course.) My current high is 268, and I’ve done that twice.
Maybe next week.
Saturday was the Central Coast Poker Championship. The final field ended up being 760 players, with the top 80 getting paid. First place was $50,000. This was only my second big live tournament. Since the first one, I have played in a lot more online zimpler go pikakasinot tournaments, and have a much better idea what I’m doing.
My seat assignment was table B-3, seat 5. This meant I was going to be sitting there for a long time, as they broke tables from the higher rows first. When we started, the table was extremely tight, but not aggressive. For the first two orbits, there were no preflop raises, but also no showdowns. A bet on the flop or turn usually took the pot. The first preflop raise at the table came (of course) on my big blind, and I don’t remember what my hand was, but I had to throw it away.
My first real “decision” to make came when I was dealt AQo on the button, with the blinds 50/100, and it wasn’t really a hard one. UTG raised to 300, and the next guy reraised to 600. The reraiser had a big stack (he had doubled up with QQ vs KK earlier). I threw my hand away, and UTG called. The flop was Axx, all clubs, UTG checked, and the reraiser made a big bet at it. The other guy folded, and the winner flipped over his aces. I don’t remember if I had the Q♣, but even so, I probably couldn’t have called his bet on the flop. Good preflop laydown. 🙂 A little while later, I get 88 in early position, and raised to 300. I got one caller. The flop was 889, and it went check, check. I bet 300 on the turn, and got called, and 500 on the river and he folded. I wish he had had something, anything, to call me with. Anyway, it was nice getting quads, I just wish it could have happened later in the tournament when the blinds were bigger. Right before the first break, I got dealt KK in early position. I raised to 3x the BB, and everyone was already getting up to take their break, so no one wanted to play with me. That would be the only pocket pair above eights that I’d see all day.
I made a few blind steals here and there when I could, but never really got much in the way of cards. There were only a few critical hands for me in the tournament. With the blinds 100/200, it folded to me and I raised to 600 with K♣Q♣ from the cutoff. The big blind reraised me 1000 more, and I had to throw it away. I was dealt Q♦4♦ in the small blind, and there were four limpers ahead of me. The big blind rarely raised, so I called. I was a bit shortstacked at the time, and I pushed all in on the 8♦x♦x flop. I got called by the nuts (88), and hit the A♦ on the turn. He didn’t pair up on the river, and I doubled up. That hand actually crippled him, and he went out a little while later. With the blinds 400/800, I called a minimum raise from the small blind with 88. The raiser was all in, and several other people called as well. I flopped a set, with two diamonds on the board, and immediately pushed all in to drive out the flush draws. Everyone else folded, and I took the pot. I just barely managed to hang around to the point where the blinds were 1000/2000, with 6000 in chips. I looked down at KJo UTG, and pushed in. I got called in two places, by the button and the big blind. The flop was pretty good for me, a 79T rainbow, giving me a double gutshot straight draw. The other two players checked it down, and I hit my beautiful queen on the river. The button had AK, and I never saw the big blind’s cards, but I tripled up. That would be the most chips I’d have during the tournament. A little while later, a player busted in 81st place, and I made the money. Two players actually busted on the same hand at that point, and they paid them both.
I pushed in for the rest of my chips (2x BB) UTG with ATo. The button went all in, and the small blind called (for all his chips, the button had us both covered). They turned over KK and KJ. The final board ended up being T9xQx, the small blind took down the pot, and I was out in 71st place. Given the complete lack of good hands I was dealt, I was very happy with that result. I got paid $275 on the $220 entry fee, and played idn poker for 7.5 hours. It was a good experience, and convinced me that if I’m ever in a tournament like that and actually manage to get dealt a few good hands, I can probably do pretty well. Overall, lots of fun. I also got a hat.:)
You can also check out some fun and exciting games at dewi222 here.
I haven’t been playing much live poker lately, for a variety of reasons. For one, I went on a really bad losing streak (bad beats, mostly; four or five two outers hit against me after the money was in over a couple of week span). Another factor was the massive rain we had here last month closed the road to get to Chumash. There’s another way, but it takes 15 minutes longer or so to get there, and I really am that lazy. Plus, I’ve had a lot of comps to finish at ECD and PSO. Those are done, now.
Saturday, I went to the singles bowling tournament in Lompoc, with the intention of going to Chumash afterwards. I didn’t do too well at the bowling, but the poker more than made up for that. The real reason I wanted to go to the casino was to sign up for the Central Coast Poker Championship. I figured I’d sit down and play a little poker, too, but not stay all night like I had in the past. I got seated at 10:30 and set myself a 3 hour time limit: I was going to leave at 1:30am.
The NL game there has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there, about two months ago. First off, they changed the blinds from 2/3 to 2/5, but the $100 max buyin stayed the same. The game went much smoother with these blinds, simpler raises, and less making change, but $100 doesn’t give you much to work with at a $5 big blind. They did change the rebuy rules, too, so if you get below $50 you can rebuy $100 more instead of just up to $100. That helps with that problem a bit, I guess. I never had to deal with it. After folding for a while, and not getting much of anything, I get AJo in MP. It folds to me, and I raise to $15. The small blind reraises to $30, and I call. The flop is AQT, and he checks. I bet $25, and he calls, leaving himself with only around $20. At that point, it didn’t matter to me what the next card was, I had $20 more that was going into the pot. The turn’s a nice looking K, so I have the nuts, and the small blind goes all in for the rest of his money. Obviously, I call. He flips over KK, the river’s a harmless 2, and I take down the pot.
It was pretty much a steady climb from there. I pretty much have only three other hands worth talking about. A new player had just sat down, and I hadn’t really had a chance to see him play much. In EP, he raises the minimum to $10. I call with KQo on the button. The flop is Kxx. It checks to me, and I bet $20. He raises another $20. I really didn’t know anything about him, and almost gave it up right there, because I didn’t want to have to call down the rest of his stack if he had AK. Finally, I called. The turn was a blank, and we both checked. The river was another blank, and he bet $15. If I had thought about it a little longer, I would have raised on the end because of his check on the turn, but I just called, and he turned over KJ. Another hand I get A♠J♠ in the big blind. A decent player (but one who plays a lot of hands) raises to $15 from MP. The small blind calls, and I call. The flop is A♦T♠3♣. SB checks, and I bet $20. The raiser folds, and the small blind raises another $40. I think for a long time, and push in the rest of my chips. He calls. The turn is the Q♠, giving me nut flush draw, and the river is the Q♦. I never saw his cards, but my two pair, J kicker was good. I think he had AT and I outdrew him. One more hand, against the same player. I limp in EP with Q♦8♦. A bunch of other limpers, and he raises to $15. I call, as do a few others. The flop is 5♥6♥8♥. He checks, and I bet $20. It folds to him, and again he raises me another $40. I think for a long time, and finally call with the intention of going all in on the turn if it’s not an ace, king, or heart. It’s a wonderful Q♣, he checks, and I push in. He folds what I assume was a high flush draw, and I take down the pot.
Those were pretty much the only sizeable pots I had, but I took down a few small ones as well. I finished +$343, and did actually leave at 1:30 (well, as soon as the blind got back to me after 1:30). Alas, I never got to play a hand with the maniac we had sit down at the table who lost $500 in about an hour. He made some pretty crazy plays, and just in general didn’t know what was going on. He called all-in on an 6 high flop with KJo. I really thought he was good and was dropping $200 quickly to start and then would start playing well afterwards, but he just kept playing badly, and left about a half hour before I did. The highest pocket pair I got all night was 88, and I had to fold it preflop (didn’t put any money in with it). I got AKo once, in the big blind, and raised enough to buy the limps. I didn’t really get good starting hands, and didn’t even hit any good draws. With QT, there was a flop of 99J, but I had to fold my open ended straight draw to a big bet on that one. I don’t think I ever flopped a flush draw. Somehow, I managed to post a nice win anyway. More importantly, live poker was fun again. 🙂
As far as online play goes, I’ve mostly been playing NL at PokerNow (Party skin, where I get rakeback through ECD). It’s pretty soft, and I’m doing well there after losing a ton at the 1/2 limit game there. I played a bunch of .50/1 stud at Fast Poker, mainly because it clears the hand requirement for the ECD comp quickly since you ante every hand. I ended up making like $20 doing that, and learning a bit more about how to play stud. I also finished off the Poker Metro (Prima skin) comp at ECD and Golden Palace comp at PSO. I have pending bonus money at a bunch of places, but don’t really want to play anywhere other than PokerNow at the moment. The games are just that good.
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