When I started playing online, several years ago, I played on partypoker for the most part. Back then it was much easier to deposit money, and very easy to withdraw. After a while though, the site for the most part became one big "lottery" draw. So did pokerstars. On eBay there were thousands of auctions for "systems" that claimed to expose how to beat partypoker's and pokerstars card generation. This information could also be found for free on several websites. This of course lead to what many of us see now on most of the sites, players that cannot wait to call a big raise and refuse to fold once connected.
I'd love to rant about the donkeys, and fish but will save that for another day. Bottom line, it is very difficult to play winning poker when you always have 5 or more players see every flop. I made my first $100 deposit back then and increased my bankroll to over $800. After that, I ran into a string of losses than pretty much made me believe that those "systems" were correct. Now I know a little better, but back then I did not have enough skill to protect my money.
I joined Poker.com to get away from the crowd and the "lottery" players. With the shut down to US players by sites like party, poker.com saw an influx of the "lottery" style players. Fortunately, for the most part, you can always find a table with only one or two of them. That is manageable, more like live poker. For MTT tournament play, poker.com may not offer the deepest fields or largest top money, but the quality of the play is as good as anywhere else. In addition, the cash and single table SNG's play are perfect for most players.
I must also let you know, no site can beat poker.com's freeroll structure. It start's $50 freerolls every 3 hours that any member can play, even if you never made a deposit. But it gets even better for real money players. Their point system is one of the easiest out there. Daily $1,000 freerolls, big $10,000 Sunday freerolls, and a monthly $50,000 freeroll are all easy to qualify for. Win some freeroll money, there is no play (point/rake) requirement to release your money. Just wait 7 days if you want to cash it out, otherwise you can use it right away. In addition, their bonus money is not hard to release. They actually are now called carbonpoker.com, but the original poker.com players still have their interface so did not have to change over.
I'd say that Poker.com has allowed me to properly work on my game. I still make my share of bad plays, but a lot less than I used to. The suck outs still ... well ... suck, but are within reason over time.
I have signed up for a few of those free money offers, most are for Absolute and Ultimate. I have accounts on many sites though most are empty and inactive. The one thing I noticed, with all that free money you can expect a lot of loose play. Maybe with my current skill level I could have made that free money work. I suggest that if you take advantage of any of those offers, play within your limits. Most of the sites make it hard to release bonus or freeroll money. You cannot just sit there trying to release funds, you will see too many flops and get stuck. Better to just work the money and worry about the other stuff if you can build up a decent bankroll.
As for the other sites,
FullTiltPoker.com seems to be pretty well balanced. Definitely has deep MTT's with good payouts. The cash tables have their share of "lottery" players, so do the SNG's. VIPpoker.com seems to have good action, and a good player can do well there. Problem is their software is not that great. They support browser play, and also have a download. The software is very resource intensive, so reacts slowly. If you multitable it may not be the right choice.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Read
I am learning a lot about what it means to read the flop as well as how to read players. A lot of this 'learning' has come from reading books and various advice and articles available online. Do you see the theme here?
Let's start with why reading the books and online sites helped my game. It amazes me at the number of people that "play by the book." As I read the advice given out by various experts and wanna-be experts, I picked up when opponents were trying to emulate said advice. For example, I read a few articles that promoted a 'short buy-in' style of play on cash NL tables. I have seen players on tables donate a lot of money using this advice. Or, should I say, bad advice?
There are also the players that read one or more of the popular books, Super System II for example. The problem is they take what they want from the book and strictly, or primarly, play that way. It is like someone that is very tight, yet too passive. If all one does is play when they have a TIER I hand, then any good player knows how to take them down. The key here is the passive play, which allows players to chase against them for value. Anyone that sticks to one style can be read, and thus eventually taken down. Think about this the next time you run into a bunch of bad beats.
The speed of online poker makes it very difficult to read the family cards. Just because you have pocket Ace's (Kings, AK) does not mean you cannot be beat. If you do not have time to think about your next move, you need to find a way to limit your loses with those hands. My largest wins have come from playing less obvious hands: Suited connectors, middle pairs, seeing the flop cheap from the blinds. Some of my biggest loses have come from pocket Aces (Kings, AK). They blind you to the real situation. It is easier to fold pocket 89 suited or pocket 8's, when there are over cards on the flop, than TIER I hands.
The conclusion: I know I have to keep reading!
Let's start with why reading the books and online sites helped my game. It amazes me at the number of people that "play by the book." As I read the advice given out by various experts and wanna-be experts, I picked up when opponents were trying to emulate said advice. For example, I read a few articles that promoted a 'short buy-in' style of play on cash NL tables. I have seen players on tables donate a lot of money using this advice. Or, should I say, bad advice?
There are also the players that read one or more of the popular books, Super System II for example. The problem is they take what they want from the book and strictly, or primarly, play that way. It is like someone that is very tight, yet too passive. If all one does is play when they have a TIER I hand, then any good player knows how to take them down. The key here is the passive play, which allows players to chase against them for value. Anyone that sticks to one style can be read, and thus eventually taken down. Think about this the next time you run into a bunch of bad beats.
The speed of online poker makes it very difficult to read the family cards. Just because you have pocket Ace's (Kings, AK) does not mean you cannot be beat. If you do not have time to think about your next move, you need to find a way to limit your loses with those hands. My largest wins have come from playing less obvious hands: Suited connectors, middle pairs, seeing the flop cheap from the blinds. Some of my biggest loses have come from pocket Aces (Kings, AK). They blind you to the real situation. It is easier to fold pocket 89 suited or pocket 8's, when there are over cards on the flop, than TIER I hands.
The conclusion: I know I have to keep reading!
Monday, March 12, 2007
Pocketfives.com
If you are reading this blog, you probably either play poker or have some interest in it. When it comes down to great resources, I believe that pocketfives.com should be near the top of everyone’s list. Though their forum is fantastic, their archives are where the real wealth of information can be found.
On pocketfives.com I have found many articles, in their archives, that helped improve my developing style of play. I believe a key to being better, is also being different.
The worse thing anyone can do is play using a known pattern. For example, not too long ago a pocketfives article was posted which gave advice on going all in on the river when you have the best hand in cash games. This opposes what I consider more productive, which would be making a bet you are sure will be called. The idea is any donkey player will call. Well, what if there are no donkeys? Worse, what if you did not really have the absolute nuts?
Oh, my point here. I saw a huge change on my site, poker.com, with players going all in when they felt they had the nutz. Not just on the river, could have been the turn. This is different than going all in to stop a chase or as a bluff in position. This worked for a short period of time, but the better players just adjusted to this new pattern. Sometimes it is hard to fold to this type of bet, especially with the limited amount of time you have to make a decision when playing online. But overall, this play is just a money loser over time. The few calls one gets will not replace the amount of money that could have been extracted with well-placed value bets. Add in the few split pots and the few bad reads on top of this.
So, as a regular on pocketfives.com I immediately picked up on what was going on. I also learned a lot from the forum and archives to turn from a constant loser (long term) to a decent winner (long term). From reading books and other online articles I recognize a number of styles and am able to adjust properly. I also try to make sure to adjust my game, from hand to hand, hour to hour, day to day.
On pocketfives.com I have found many articles, in their archives, that helped improve my developing style of play. I believe a key to being better, is also being different.
The worse thing anyone can do is play using a known pattern. For example, not too long ago a pocketfives article was posted which gave advice on going all in on the river when you have the best hand in cash games. This opposes what I consider more productive, which would be making a bet you are sure will be called. The idea is any donkey player will call. Well, what if there are no donkeys? Worse, what if you did not really have the absolute nuts?
Oh, my point here. I saw a huge change on my site, poker.com, with players going all in when they felt they had the nutz. Not just on the river, could have been the turn. This is different than going all in to stop a chase or as a bluff in position. This worked for a short period of time, but the better players just adjusted to this new pattern. Sometimes it is hard to fold to this type of bet, especially with the limited amount of time you have to make a decision when playing online. But overall, this play is just a money loser over time. The few calls one gets will not replace the amount of money that could have been extracted with well-placed value bets. Add in the few split pots and the few bad reads on top of this.
So, as a regular on pocketfives.com I immediately picked up on what was going on. I also learned a lot from the forum and archives to turn from a constant loser (long term) to a decent winner (long term). From reading books and other online articles I recognize a number of styles and am able to adjust properly. I also try to make sure to adjust my game, from hand to hand, hour to hour, day to day.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Let me introduce myself
I have been playing online poker for well over 2 years now. My first year was not so great, but last year I was pretty much on the winning side each month. I am far from considering this supplimental income, but working on it. If you want to read about my progress, check out my BC's Poker Blog on MySpace.
My s/n on poker.com, and most other sites I play, is icecoldkillr. The name has to do with the following question:
Can you guess by my blog title whom my favorite poker author is?
My favorite site is poker.com. If you have a poker blog please check them out using the Poker Blogger Tour link on my page here. They have a free tournament schedule just for poker bloggers, with good prizes. Just read the simple instructions to see if you qualify.
My s/n on poker.com, and most other sites I play, is icecoldkillr. The name has to do with the following question:
Can you guess by my blog title whom my favorite poker author is?
My favorite site is poker.com. If you have a poker blog please check them out using the Poker Blogger Tour link on my page here. They have a free tournament schedule just for poker bloggers, with good prizes. Just read the simple instructions to see if you qualify.
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