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Overview of Tournaments on Pokerspace

Thursday, May 21, 2009, Michelle Licata

Tournaments are one of the most popular features of the Pokerspace community. There are several different types of tournaments held every day of the year on a broad range of poker rooms, which cater to the wide range of player styles and ...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Tournaments are one of the most popular features of the Pokerspace community. There are several different types of tournaments held every day of the year on a broad range of poker rooms, which cater to the wide range of player styles and time zones found within the Pokerspace community. <br /><br /> After reading this article you should be able to identify where you can find Pokerspace tournament information, where to find the actual tournaments on the poker rooms, who is accountable for each stage of tournament set-up and finalization, why it benefits you to play in Pokerspace tournaments, and what kind of measures Pokerspace uses to identify and solve issues of non-members in exclusive tournaments.<br /><br /> Pokerspace tournaments can be found on the Tournament page under the Promotions tab. On that page, there is a list of tournaments called "Weekly Freeroll" tournaments, which are tournaments that do not require you to deposit cash to play in them. However, freeroll tournaments may have a PS Points buy-in. There is also a list of "Buy-In" tournaments, which require a real cash buy-in to register and play. <br /><br /> These two categories are essential in understanding how they are treated at the poker rooms themselves. While PSOP events require a PS Point buy-in, the rooms do not have anything to do with this buy-in and consider them freerolls. The same logic is true for Crew Cup events, PS Point Buy-in tournaments, and Members Only Freerolls. In each of these cases, Pokerspace handles the payouts of all the PS Point and cash prizes. Note that late registration is NOT available for freeroll tournaments.<br /><br /> The cash buy-in tournaments, on the other hand, require you to use your cash on the room to buy into the tournament. Pokerspace does not usually handle any of the cash payouts for these tournaments, but does pay out any added PS Point prize to those who place in the event. <br /><br /> The tournament page lists a week's worth of tournaments, each specifying which rooms they are hosted on. You need to have the correct information (username and email address) for that specific room inputted in your profile in order to play in the tournament. Note: It does not matter if you downloaded the room from Pokerspace; the information required is used for tournament results only. They allow us to match up poker room screennames to Pokerspace accounts. <br /><br /> Once you login to the poker room, find the tournament section, and navigate to the scheduled, private tournament section. Each poker network features its own specific tournament display, so login to the room well before a tournament begins if you are unfamiliar with the room set-up.<br /><br /> Pokerspace is a large poker community, and thus we have a large number of tournament requests constantly being sent to many brands for set-up. Know that as a team, we are diligent in requesting tournaments at least two weeks in advance to the date the tournament actually takes place. While Pokerspace requests the tournaments, we are not responsible for setting them up on the actual poker room. Be aware that sometimes it isn't even the poker room that sets them up -the poker network may be responsible for this step. Therefore, if something goes wrong in this chain of set-up, it is not always the fault of Pokerspace or the poker room. Mistakes and cancellations are usually found out fairly quickly, and dealt with in the best possible manner. If you ever notice an issue with a tournament contact support@pokerspace.com immediately.<br /><br />While many communities offer tournaments, Pokerspace tournaments are quite unique. Many tournaments on Pokerspace offer a PS Point prize, which can increase your PS Point bankroll. Some of these tournaments require a PS Points buy-in to register and some don't. This requirement not only adds PS points to the prizepool, which can reach thousands of PS Points, it also adds protection against non-members overrunning our exclusive tournaments, since you must buy-in with PS points to access the tournament password and the prize is only valuable to Pokerspace members. <br /><br /> As well, our Member's Only Freerolls feature free money and a PS Point prize that are all manually paid out to our members only. These kinds of tournaments are held several times during the week, and protect the prizes so that they are only given out to Pokerspace members that paid the PS points buy-in.<br /><br />While password sharing is against the rules of Pokerspace, it inevitably happens. Pokerspace has specific safeguards, including those discussed above, to protect members against non-PS members participating in exclusive tournaments. <br /><br /> One method is releasing the password only one hour before the tournament begins for all freeroll tournaments. Where this has proven to diminish the mass sharing of passwords, it cannot ensure that people will not receive the password and participate in the tournament. While coupons may solve this issue, we have been denied the ability to create coupons for every brand because of our large membership and the amount of tournaments we hold on a weekly basis. <br /><br /> Another method is manually paying cash and PS Point prizes to winners of Members Only freeroll tournaments. While it may take up to 2 business days to receive your prize money, it will ensure that non-members and those members who do not pay their PS Points to get into the tournament will be eligible for any prizes. <br /><br /> We respect our membership and any suggestions made, outside of coupons and re-scheduling every tournament, will be seriously considered.<br /> </p>

Omaha High Low Strategy

Thursday, May 21, 2009, Bricktop (James Field)

Your ultimate goal in Omaha high/low is to win the whole pot (to scoop). This is entirely possible. You have four cards in your hand, and you can use any combination of two for the high hand and low hand. You may use two cards for high and...Read more...

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*Text		<p> <span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Your ultimate goal in Omaha high/low is to win the whole pot (to scoop). This is entirely possible. You have four cards in your hand, and you can use any combination of two for the high hand and low hand. You may use two cards for high and two different cards for low, or the same cards for high and for low. You can win the whole pot by having the best high and low hand; however, it is also possible to scoop if you have the best high hand and no low hand is possible.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">For instance, suppose you win just the low end of a three handed pot where each player bet a total of $10 each in the pot. The pot totals $30, and you get back $15, for a $5 profit. Had you won the whole pot, you would have won $30, yielding a profit of $20. As can be seen by this example, it is not twice as good to win the whole pot. It is four times better ($5 vs. $20)!</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p> <span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Starting Hands</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">The four cards in your starting hand should be well coordinated. You want cards that can form a straight, flush or full house. Some players think that any four cards can win and that they should see every flop. This is a sure sign of a losing player. Please see Omaha high for experts about the discussion regarding coordinated starting hands.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">The best hand to start with is AA23 double-suited.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">However, it is a rare event to get a hand like this.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Other playable hands that are well-coordinated include: AAxy, KKxy and QQxy. These hands may win the whole pot by hitting a set or a big full house. Other good big hands are AKQJ, KQJT and such. However, beware of hands such as T987, a very good hand in Omaha high. Why is this a bad hand in the hi-lo version of the game? The answer is that this hand does not aim to win the whole pot . Either you draw to straights that are not the nut straights (for example KQJT9) or you draw to straights that will not win the whole pot (if you make a straight like T9876, you have the nut-high, but there are also three baby-cards on the flop making a possible low).</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Any A2-combination is usually playable, but only under the right conditions. See below how to play it. Although A3xy looks almost the same as A2xy, it should usually be folded. An exeption is if you have the suited ace and are in late position. With A2xy, you draw to any three cards in the range of 3 to 8. With A3xy, you draw for any three cards between 4 and 8 plus a deuce. This is much more difficult to do than just drawing with an A2.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">If you have another wheel-card with your A2 like A23x, A25x, you have a good hand. Even better is to have a hand like A246, preferably suited with the ace (or even double-suited). With these hands, start rammin and jammin the pot preflop!</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">The Importance of the Ace</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">For you to play a high hand without an ace in your hand, you will need a very well-coordinated hand like QJT9. Never play a low hand without an ace in the hand. The reason for this is the dual nature of the ace - it is both the boss high card and the boss low card.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">A Hidden Secret - The 6</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Empire Poker is giving away a secret that one seldom can see in print: the best card to go with your A23x, A24x, or A25x is a six. This is because many times you will end up playing a wheel (A2345) for low with these hands, as will your opponent who has an A2xy as well. However, you will often win three quarters of the pot with the six, giving you a 6-high straight for high (whereas your opponent only has a 5-high straight). Against opponents who don't know this play, you will get plenty of action in the pot and will wind up with the lions share of the pot.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Playing Before the Flop:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">The preflop play in Omaha hi-lo is quite straight-forward: with the hands aiming for high, you raise and re-raise. All these hands play better with less players in the pot, so you raise to narrow the field. All the low-only hands tend to play better against a larger field. With these hands, you are only aiming for half the pot; therefore, you want the pot to be big and have many players in it. So just limp in with these hands. An exception to this is when many players have already called, and you are in late position or in the blinds with A2xy. In this case, feel free to raise. Since players have called a bet already, they will surely call one more bet, so you have the large field and pot you want.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">With the premium low-hands (hands that also have some value for high such as A236 double suited), you should play according to your table image. These hands can be played both passivly (calling) or aggressively (raising). If you are in late position with these hands, always raise.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Playing the Flop:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">For playing the flop and later streets only for the high hand, see limit Omaha high for experts.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">When the flop comes with two high cards, and all you have is A2xy, dump it. One often sees bad players, hoping to catch a low card on the turn, call on the flop so they have a draw on the river. This is called catching runner-runner for low and is a playing strategy that really reveals if you understand the game or not. Seldom are the pots big enough to justify such a play.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Being Counterfeited:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Suppose that you have A29J (which is a bad hand, by the way), and the flop is 864. You have the nut low, but do not start to play this hand aggressively! An ace or deuce on the turn or river will counterfeit your hand. This means that the ace or deuce on the board will kill your nut low. Say that the turn and river cards are K and 2, making the board 864-K-2. For high you play a pair of deuces, and for low, you play 8642A. Your nuts are no longer the nuts. For example any player who flopped a straight with 75 now will have a better low than you have (45678 for high and 76542 for low).</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">This example shows the importance of having another low card with your A2 combination. Even a bad kicker such as a 7 would in this example give you a low hand of 7642A, which is a better low than that of your opponent's 76542.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Getting Quartered:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Suppose all you have is a low-draw with your A2xy. It is not uncommon that there is another player with the same hand as you in the pot and a third player going for high. What is going to happen is that you will put in 33% of the money in the pot, but you will only get back 25%, since you will split half the pot with the other A2-combination. This is clearly an unprofitable play.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">When one reads books about advanced Omaha hi/lo, there are examples of how you can manipulate the betting with check-raises and re-raises to get the other low hand out of the pot. Forget about such fancy plays on the Internet. Empire Poker is the world's largest poker room and has many unskilled players. Unskilled players will draw to their hands no matter how bad their odds are due to your re-raises. Thus, my advice to you is to learn to identify these situations yourself and get out of the pot.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">If the pot is 4-handed (or more), being quartered is not that bad, since you are putting in 25% of the money and getting back 25%.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">So this boils down to very simple advice: if there are two or three other players left on the river, do not raise if all you have is the nut low. If there are four or more other players, please feel free to bet or raise.</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">Playing For Three Quarters:</span></p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;"></span></p><p> </p><p style="margin-bottom:.0001pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt; line-height: 1.2em;">If getting one quarter of the pot is bad, getting three quarters of the pot is great. The key to success in this play is to keep the pots fairly small until fourth street and then raise and re-raise like there is no tomorrow. By betting aggressively on the turn and the river (check-raise if you can), you hope to get all the high hands to fold. Usually this can only be done when there is already a possible low out there on the turn, so the high hands know that they are only playing for half of the pot. Any shaky holding, like two-pair will now hopefully fold. Your goal is to get heads-up against another low hand. You will be surprised how often the high hand in these combats is only a high pair or even just AK! These wins are nice boosts for your self-esteem and bankroll</span></p>

There’s three ways to play Jacks preflop - and all of them are wrong

Wednesday, May 20, 2009, John Darr

Aside from "don't fold the nuts on the river," very rarely is anything in poker a slam dunk piece of advice. But I think I've come the closest thing to it. Now, I can't take credit for coming up with this and perhaps you've heard it already...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Aside from "don't fold the nuts on the river," very rarely is anything in poker a slam dunk piece of advice. But I think I've come the closest thing to it. Now, I can't take credit for coming up with this and perhaps you've heard it already but here it is anyway: "There are 3 ways to play Jacks preflop and they're all wrong."</p><p>A friend of mine, known in the poker world as "Candyman," heard someone say it at a 2-5 no limit game and he rushed over to my game to tell me about it. "John, you have to write an article on THAT!" It's not too often I 'must' do anything but I will cater to my rabid fans one time only ; ) Let's see if this piece of advice is an alley-oop or a dribbler off our foot and out of bounds.</p><p>First things first. What are the three ways to play Jacks preflop in no limit Texas Hold'em? Um, there's more than 3 ways given all the possibilities of game types, opponents, opponents' betting, etc.</p><p>But if I was asked that question "what are the 3 ways to play Jacks preflop" I'd immediately shoot back 'in what position?' But let's cover the basics. You obviously can call, raise or fold. For the sake of keeping this article out of overtime, AKA under 10,000 words, let's isolate this situation to playing Jacks under the gun against a full table (8 or more opponents) THAT you have NO info on. And we're only concerned with your initial decision. Calling with the intent of reraising or raising with the intent of calling the reraise or better yet folding with the intent of calling but being too chicken and you'll do it next time? Another article. </p><p>Well, this seems to be a most extreme starting condition for Jacks. So let's light up the scoreboard and see what plays out.</p><p>Why Calling (limping) with Jacks UG is wrong</p><ul><li>You're allowing worse hands to come in for a very cheap price (1 point)</li> <li>If someone behind you raises you are in a very awkward spot (1 point)</li> <li>You're playing the whole hand out of position, possibly against a large field of random hands (2 points)</li> <li>An over card will hit the flop more than 50% of the time (2 points)</li> <li>When you have an overpair and get any action you're probably facing some draws or two pair, so there's no good turn card for you (3 points)</li> </ul><p>Total score 7 points</p><p>Why Calling with Jacks UG is right</p><ul><li>You get in for the minimum and see what everyone else does before committing a lot of money (1 point)</li> <li>When you flop a set chances are someone has top pair and you can make some money (2 points)</li> <li>If you go to showdown, your limp with Jacks may allow you to limp UG with weaker hands later in the game (1 point)</li> <li>Umm, you just can't fold can you? (.5 points)</li> </ul><p>Total score 4.5 points</p><p>7 to 4.5. It appears calling with Jacks is wrong.</p><p>Why Raising with Jacks is Wrong</p><ul><li>You are giving up the strength of your hand (.5 points)</li> <li>Your raise is attacking one big and one small blind and that' not a lot (1 point)</li> <li>Your raise will still probably price people in to draw at your stack (1 point)</li> <li>You're likely crushed by a hand that reraises you but you can't be sure (1 point)</li> <li>You'll be out of position the WHOLE hand against better than average starting hands (2 points)</li> <li>An Ace, King or Queen will flop more than 50% of the time (1 point)</li> <li>When the board is under your Jacks, you're probably getting action from a draw or a real big draw like two overs and a flush (1 point)</li> </ul><p>Total score 7.5 points</p><p>Why Raising with Jacks is Right</p><ul><li>You charge lesser hands a premium to see a flop (1 point)</li> <li>You MIGHT get small pocket pairs and hands with an over to fold instead of out-flopping you (like AT, KT, KQ) (1 point)</li> <li>You'll probably get bigger hands like AA, KK, QQ to reveal their strength early in the hand (2 points)</li> <li>Your hand plays best against a small field and your raise increases the chances of that (1 point)</li> <li>You can't fold Jacks can you? (.5 points)</li> </ul><p>Total score 5.5 points</p><p>Hmm, a trend. 7.5 to 5.5. It also appears raising with Jacks is wrong. Folding Jacks? Let's see.</p><p>Why Folding Jacks is Wrong</p><ul><li>Most of the time you're going to have the best hand preflop (5 points)</li> <li>When you flop a set, you're probably going to make some money against an opponent who over plays top pair A, K or Q (1 point)</li> <li>Even though one over card is likely to hit the flop, that doesn't mean it hit your opponent(s) (.5 points)</li> <li>You can't fold Jacks preflop, can you? (.5 points)</li> </ul><p>Total score 7 points</p><p>Why Folding Jacks Preflop is Right</p><ul><li>You'll play the whole hand out of position (2 points)</li> <li>Unless you've flopped a set, you really can't feel good about your hand if you get any action (2 points)</li> <li>You will establish a super-tight image and that can be good for you when you play your button (1 point)</li> <li>Umm, you can't fold Jacks and I know it (-3 points)</li> </ul><p>Total score 2 points</p><p>So, that's 3 of 3 ways to play Jacks preflop all wrong. Strangely enough, Jacks are one of those in-betweeners that are all wrong to players who don't play at a high enough level on all streets. Good players love to play Jacks because it gives them a chance to showcase their skill.</p><p>So how can you play Jacks preflop right? There's no one right answer and I think the truth lies in your image and comfort level playing out of position.</p><p>I know you don't want to fold. Although it wasn't discussed in this article, I prefer limping with the intent of reraising. In that spot if I get re-re-raised I can fold thinking I'm beat or barely ahead. And sometimes I get QQ to fold thinking they're up against Aces or Kings. But I'd rather lose that initial investment rather than see a flop and overplay an overpair when I'm crushed.</p><p>Slam dunk?</p><p>I think so. So when you look down and see Jacks under the gun remember that no matter what you do, your first decision is probably pretty marginal at best.</p>

Pokerspace Online Championships

Monday, March 2, 2009, Steve

The Pokerspace Online Championships (or the PSOC, as it is more popularly known) is an exclusive Pokerspace competition where members can test their skills in a variety of poker games for huge PS Point prizes, and to be crowned PSOC Champio...Read more...

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*Text		<p>The Pokerspace Online Championships (or the PSOC, as it is more popularly known) is an exclusive Pokerspace competition where members can test their skills in a variety of poker games for huge PS Point prizes, and to be crowned PSOC Champions!<br /><br /> The PSOC now consists of 2 major parts: Monthly Circuit Events and the PSOC series of Championship Events.<br /><br /><strong>PSOC Monthly Circuit Events:</strong><br /> During the last full weekend of November and December Pokerspace will be hosting a circuit event on Saturday and Sunday at 14:00 EST. While the Sunday event will always be No Limit Holdem, the Saturday event will vary from month to month. Each event will be a cash buy-in ranging from $22 to $55. PS members can participate by buying in directly with cash, qualifying through PS Point and small cash buy-ins, or buying in directly with PS points. Check the calendar on a weekly basis for specific times of these satallites. <br /><strong><br /> PSOC Championship Events:</strong><br /> The main PSOC series of Championship events will run in July and August. Starting on July 3rd/4th, we will host 1 championship event each weekend at 14:00 EST. In total there will be 8 events of varying poker games, including the final main event on August 22nd. The buy-ins for each of these events will range from $22 to $44. PS members can participate by buying in directly with cash, qualifying through PS Point and small cash buy-ins, or buying in directly with PS points. Check the calendar on a weekly basis for specific times of these satallites. Each Championship Event winner will receive an exclusive accolade.<br /><br /><strong>How to get into a Circuit or Championship Event - Buying In Directly</strong>:</p><p><em>Buying in with cash</em> - The easiest way to get in, all you need is $ in your poker room account and you'll be able to buy directly in any time leading up to the start time.</p><p><em>Buying in with PS points</em> - Members will also be able to join PSOC events by buying in directly with PS points. Each $1 of the buy-in will cost 100 PS points. For example, a $22 buy-in will cost 2200 PS Points. You may buy into the event directly from the Pokerspace event page. Registration refunds are available up to a week before the start of the tournament. Once the registration closes at this time refunds are no longer available.</p><p><strong>How to get into a Circuit or Championsh</strong><strong>ip Event - Qualifiers</strong><br /><em><br /> Cash buy-in qualifiers</em> - Each championship event will have a corresponding weekly cash buy-in tournament that will give away a seat for every $22 (or $44 for the main event) in the prizepool. Any member that wins more than 1 qualifier will receive the cash equivalent in their poker room account by the 5th of the following month (requests are sent on the 1st of each month).</p><p><em>PS Point Buy-in Qualifiers</em> - Every PSOC champsionship event will have a corresponding qualifier that will run every week or every other week. Every 100 PS points in buy-ins will add $1 to the prizepool. For example, if a championship event buy-in is $22 and 50 players buy into a 180+20 PS point satallite, the total prizepool would be 9000 PS points. In this case PS will give $22 seats to the top 4 players and the remaining 200 PS Points will go to 5th place. When a member wins an entry and the tournament is finalized on Pokerspace by admin he/she will automatically be joined to the championship event on Pokerspace. If he/she has already one a seat to this event he/she will receive PS points instead.</p><p>Main event qualifiers will also be running once every week or two and have the same basic terms. The main event will also have a weekly mini-qualifier (90+10 PS points) that will feed players into a super-qualifier at the end of the month. Multiple qualifiers in the mini-qualifier and the super-qualifier will receive PS points if they have already one a seat. Winners will be automatically joined to the main event tournament registration list on Pokerspace as soon as the tournament results have been submitted/finalized. If a member is already registered in the main event on Pokerspace (using PS points) he/she will receive the PS points buy-in equivalent.</p><p>Check the <a href="http://www.pokerspace.com/calendar/">tournament calendar</a> for specific qualifier and championship event start times.</p><p>If a member wins a cash buy-in coupon into a championship event or the main event AND a PS points qualifier he/she MUST contact tournaments@pokerspace.com at least 7 full days before the start of that event to receive PS points for their PS points qualifier win.</p><p>Note that to play in any qualifier or championship event you MUST have a correctly submitted account at the poker rooms where the event is being hosted. If you submit your username incorrectly you will NOT be registered OR refunded. Also note that you do not need to have your account linked/tracked to Pokerspace to participate.</p><p><br /><strong>Payouts for the PSOC Circuit and Championship Events:</strong><br /> Each tournament will payout according to the standard payout structure of the poker room host.</p><p><strong>PSOC Accolades</strong>:<br /> Here are the PSOC accolades that will be given away for the PSOC Circuit and Championship Series/Events:</p><table style="text-align:center;"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="PSOP Top 10 Player" src="/images/accolade/psop_top_10_player.jpg" /></td> <td style="font-weight:bold;">PSOC Top 10 Player</td> <td style="text-align:left;">Top 10 in PSOC Circuit or Championship player of the year standings</td> </tr><tr><td><img alt="PSOP Player of the year" src="/images/accolade/psop_poy.jpg" /></td> <td style="font-weight:bold;"> <table style="text-align:center;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;">PSOC Player of the year</td> </tr></tbody></table></td> <td style="text-align:left;"> <table style="text-align:center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:left;">PSOC Circuit or Championship Player of the Year</td> </tr></tbody></table></td> </tr><tr><td><img alt="PSOP Ironman" src="/images/accolade/psop_ironman.jpg" /></td> <td style="font-weight:bold;">PSOC Ironman</td> <td style="text-align:left;">Played in all PSOC Circuit or Championship events.</td> </tr><tr><td><img alt="PSOP Champ" src="/images/accolade/psop_champ.jpg" /></td> <td style="font-weight:bold;">PSOC Champ</td> <td style="text-align:left;">Won a PSOC Championship or Circuit event</td> </tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>PSOC Circuit and Championship Player of the Year:</strong><br /> For all of the PSOC Circuit Events run in the series there will be a POY rankings system where players will earn points based on their finishes in each of the PSOC events. After all events we will be crowning the PSOC Circuit Event Player of the Year to the PS'er that finishes at the top of those PSOC POY standings. There will also be a POY rankings for the Championship Events hosted in July and August, where after the main event in August a PSOC Championship Event Player of the year will be crowned.</p><p>The scoring is the same as the indy league scoring system. For each championship or circuit event last place gets 1 point, second last gets 2, and first gets points equal to the # of players. For example, if there are 100 players in a event and top 20 get paid. First gets 100, 2nd gets 99, 20th gets 80, all the way down to last gettin 1. <br /><br /> Prizes will be given out to the Top 10 players in the PSOC POY standings. The prizes will be announced prior to the start of each series.<br /><br /> If you ever have any questions post them in the appropriate section of the Pokerspace Forum.<br /><br /> Good luck everyone!</p>

Poker 101: Making your first deposit at an online poker room

Thursday, November 6, 2008, Robert Lindley

In our Poker 101 article series, we tackle issues that are relevant to beginning players. In this installment, Robert covers the logistics for making your first deposit online, as well as some tips and tricks to help you get the most bang f...Read more...

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*Text		<p><em>In our Poker 101 article series, we tackle issues that are relevant to beginning players. In this installment, Robert covers the logistics for making your first deposit online, as well as some tips and tricks to help you get the most bang for your buck.<br /></em></p> <p>So, you've been playing free money games for a while and you think you're ready to take the plunge into real money games online. That's great, but the first couple of things you have to decide is where you want to play and how much you want to deposit. I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time discussing different ways to deposit. That can be found by searching around and looking in the client of each of the poker sites.</p> <p>Let's tackle the first question of how much should you deposit. The short answer is it depends on what you can afford to deposit. I'm not going to try and convince you to deposit your entire paycheck on to a site. But, there are some other things to consider when trying to decide how much to deposit. What level games do you want to play? If you're wanting to play $1 sit-n-goes you don't really need to deposit $500. If you are planning on playing $27 sit-n-goes, then you might want to deposit more than $500. The reason I ask what level games you want to play is that it will help determine what dollar amount you want to deposit. The opposite of that is of course also true. If you can only deposit $50, the you probably don't want to play $27 sit-n-goes right? So, let's say you plan on playing primarily $11 sit-n-goes. Then I would recommend depositing at least 50 buyins at that level, or $550 minimum. If you plan on playing $1.10 sit-n-goes, then I would recommend depositing at leat $55.</p> <p>Now another thing to consider is what bonuses different sites offer for first time deposits. If a sight is going to give you a 100% deposit bonus up to some dollar amount, you might want to consider depositing enough to take complete advantage of the deposit bonus. This first time deposit bonus can only be used once. So, if you only deposit $50 and you get a $50 bonus great, but if you could deposit $500 and get a $500 bonus wouldn't that be better.</p> <p>But wait, there's a catch. Please read the details of a deposit bonus before depositing. Every deposit bonus that I know of requires a certain number of games to be played to "earn" the bonus, and there's an end date on the bonus too. So, if you have a $500 bonus let's say and you have 6 months to play however many games are required, you must get them done in time. If you don't you might have to forfeit the bonus all together. So, do some math. Most sites work the bonus on some multiplier. They might say 10 frequent player points for each dollar of the bonus. So, if you have a $500 bonus, and the multiplier is 20x each bonus dollar, that would mean you have to earn 5000 frequent player points to "earn" the bonus. That could either take a considerable number of games, or you could have to play a higher buyin than you're comfortable with to earn the bonus.</p> <p>Most people fail to consider what is required to "earn" a bonus. They get excited about getting $500 free, but they fail to read what is required to "earn" that $500. So, let's do some simple math. Let's say to earn you $500 bonus, you do in fact have to earn 5000 frequent player points. Well, generally about $1 in "rake" must be paid to get 5 frequent player points. The math can change from site to site, but let's go with the math I'm proposing. If 5 frequent player points are earned for every $1 paid in rake, you would need to spend $1000 in "rake" to earn your $500 bonus. $1000 in rake would require you to play 1000 $11 sit-n-goes. The important thing to consider is can you play 1000 $11 sit-n-goes in the period of time alloted without going broke. If you can, then you'll earn the bonus. If you can't, worst case scenario is that you go broke and have to redeposit to keep trying to earn the bonus. If you have to deposit another $500 to earn the $500 bonus, then you basically only break even at the end of it all.</p> <p>All of these things should be considered before making your first deposit. You don't want to deposit too much, but you don't want to deposit too little either. You want to maiximize your bonus, but you want to ensure that you can "earn" your bonus in the time alloted. It's always important to read all of the fine print on deposit bonuses and make sure you follow all of the instructions to the tee.</p> <p>The second thing to consider is where to deposit. It's important to shop around for deposit bonuses. The smaller the site, generally, the better the deposit bonuses. Let me try to explain this notion. If a site is huge, and they have millions of players, they don't really need to entice players to play there. But, if a site is smaller, then they are trying to encourage players to "try" their site out, and those sites will offer huge deposit bonuses. Other things you need to consider about sites is how easy it is to withdraw winnings. Also, do you like the way the site design and the client used to play. If you think you might want to try one of the smaller sites, check around on the internet to see what others say about it. Or ask in the forums here on Part Time Poker as well. You never know. You could learn some great things from other members of the site before you take a chance on that first deposit.</p> <p>But, be careful as well. Generally, if something is too good to be true, then it probably is. If you find a tiny site that is offering a 1000% deposit bonus with no requirements, you might want to ask around to see if anyone has heard of or played on that site before. I guess what I'm trying to say is to be careful. There are probably 6 to 8 poker sites that offer a deposit bonus that is worth checking out. If it's a much smaller sight or a brand new site, you should consider the risks of depositing with them at all.</p> <p>The most important thing to remember is to have fun. Don't go broke trying to earn a deposit bonus. Read all of the rules and requirements of the deposit bonus to make sure you can meet all the requirements. And last but not least, even if you have already made a deposit, you might be able to earn a "first time" deposit bonus if you ask nicely. I had been playing for almost a year on a particular poker site, and I didn't take advantage of my first time deposit bonus the first time I deposited. Well, I wrote their customer service department a letter, and they let me deposit again and use the "first time" deposit bonus code even though I had deposited once before almost a year before.</p>

The Catholic Casino - Lessons in Game Selection

Tuesday, November 4, 2008, Aaron K

Last Saturday, I volunteered to help out my father and work his booth at the St. Joseph Orphans picnic. For those of you not familliar with the Catholic picnic circuit in Louisville, St. Joe's picnic is the picnic to end all picnics in the ...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Last Saturday, I volunteered to help out my father and work his booth at the St. Joseph Orphans picnic. For those of you not familliar with the Catholic picnic circuit in Louisville, St. Joe's picnic is the picnic to end all picnics in the city of Louisville, and every year around the 2nd week of August, Catholics come from all over the city to eat fish, drink beer, and attempt to win cakes, fruit, stuffed animals, and other inexpensive commodities.</p><p>My assignment that day: the front line at the Ker Plunk booth. Ker Pllunk is basically a smaller version of the Price is Right game of Plachinko, but instead of $10,000 being on the line, the best prize a customer at the booth could win was an inflatible Sponge Bob, which I am quite sure was out of style 3 years ago. Regardless of that fact, it was amazing the amount of traffic I saw at this booth after working only a short 3 hours. Parents, children, bum unlcles, etc. all stepped up to try their luck and attempt to win the inflatible and stuffed assortment of prizes that the booth offered.</p><p>There was a little blonde girl who kept coming up to the booth and playing Ker Plunk for a $0.25 per attempt. She won a few prizes for the $15 that she spent, but I don't think she really cared about them. I saw the addictive look in her I that I sometimes get while meandering through casino floors, wanting to place bets where no edge existed for myself. The girl just cared about beating the KerPlunk game, regardless of how worthless the merchandise was. I could respect the competitive and never-say-die attitude of this girl, but I think she could have found a better game to play. Maybe the girl was not thinking Risk/Reward at all as she was dropping disc after disc into the KerPulnk board, and I did not bother to ask her, but that's the read I had on her after she spent 30 minutes at the booth.</p><p>So what is my point, you may ask? The point is, when walking through casinos or surfing the internet, find a game where you have an edge and can beat the game. Walk by the blackjack, craps, and Let it Ride tables and get into a poker game you can beat. Read up on the poker knowledge you learn from PartTimePoker and other poker sources, and then put your knowledge into practice out in the real world. Let's play another hand......</p>

Winning at heads-up, no-limit poker: Basic strategies Part 1 of 3

Sunday, October 26, 2008, Brent Steven White

Competition is a complex enterprise. And those complexities are magnified significantly when we are playing on a team, competing together to beat an opponent. Baseball, football, hockey and other games require us to formulate strategies wit...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Competition is a complex enterprise. And those complexities are magnified significantly when we are playing on a team, competing together to beat an opponent. Baseball, football, hockey and other games require us to formulate strategies with our teammates in order to win. We win as a team, and we lose as a team. In these games, it's rare we get to face off against an opponent one on one, mono y mono.</p> <p>There are, though, exceptions—situations (such as penalty shots) when it's just us against one other person; a brief, intense face-off that often determines the outcome of the game. It's instances like these where we either push ourselves to excel, or falter, intimidated lacking confidence. But if we push ourselves to both play our best and manipulate our opponent, forcing them to play the way want them to, any opponent—even if they are "better" than us—can be beaten.</p> <p> </p> <p>Heads-up, no-limit poker follows the same principle. Any opponent can be beaten, as long as you employ standard strategies, develop an understanding of your opponent's game and know when to switch gears so that you can exploit both his or her weaknesses and strengths. In this three-part article, I'm going to give you some basic heads-up, no-limit poker strategies, advanced strategies and show you how any style of player, when manipulated, can be beaten.</p> <p><strong>Aggression and playing with position</strong></p> <p>In short-handed and max no-limit games, position often determines how we play our starting hands, and how we react to situations on the flop and post-flop. Therefore, a small pocket pair is usually a bad raising hand under the gun in ring games. Heads-up is different. Aggression in heads-up, no-limit poker is one the most important components in winning. In other words, leave your tight image at the door when playing heads-up.</p> <p>Early in the game, when you have the button and the small blind, and when you're getting a feel for your opponent's style, you should be raising with almost any two cards. (I usually fold 9/3, 8/3, 10/2/, J/2, and the like unless, however, they are suited.) Against tight players, any two cards should designate a raise. Never limp in on the button. You want to punish your opponent's tight image, and force them to play marginal hands. If they miss the flop, chances are they'll check. If you too have missed the flop entirely, chances are he or she will fold to a pot-sized bet. And if they actually have a hand, chances are they'll re-raise you pre-flop. Let's take a look at an example of this situation.</p> <p>Say the blinds are $1/2. You have the button and you raise to $6 with 4/5 of hearts. Your opponent, who has played the last 15 hands tight, re-raises to $18. He or she probably has A/K, A/Q or a pocket pair bigger than fives. A call would be the best move here. You have position and if the right flop comes, you're going to win a lot of money.</p> <p>Say the flop is A 10 7, with two hearts. If your opponent leads out, he or she probably has an ace with a good kicker, or maybe KK or QQ, in which case a lead-out bet would be a tester bet, them trying to get an idea to where you are at. If you call and they do have a pocket pair below the Ace, he or she will likely check the turn, fearing you have an ace. Either way, you're drawing. If your heart comes on the turn, you should have the best hand. If he or she bets again, here is where you raise big and take either take it down or take their money. Aggression will pay off when you play mediocre starting hands and call large pre-flop raises.</p> <p>Let's look at another example against an opponent who has an aggressive image like yours. Say the blinds are $1/2. You have the button and, this time, you have AA, a monster starting hand. You've been raising your opponent nearly every hand and you can tell he or she is growing frustrated. You raise to $6, like you have been the last 15 hands while you've had position and, this time, they re-raise to $18. A re-raise would be the incorrect move here, as you would essentially be telling your opponent that, this time, you have a monster. You smooth call. The flop comes J 7 2 rainbow, a perfect flop for you. Your tired and frustrated opponent, probably holding a worse pocket pair (maybe KK, QQ, or 10s) is going to lose a lot of money. Why? Because you've been aggressive, and he or she has grown frustrated. This is the perfect opportunity to sit back and watch them self-implode by letting them do all the betting.</p> <p>Now, this type of aggression will aggravate your opponent, especially if he or she keeps missing flops. Therefore, a check-raise to your flop bet should usually raise a red flag that you're probably behind in the hand. However, if you have a big hand, say, an over pair to his or her top pair, you're probably going to get all their chips with a re-raise or a smooth call followed by an all-in. This is where previous aggression pays off.</p> <p>When you're aggressive, you control the action; you determine the direction of the hands; you decide if you're ahead or behind; and you, with a little luck, decide who wins.</p> <p>Daniel Negreanu once observed that the key to Stu Ungar's success (Ungar was the winner of the Main Event in 1980, '81 and '97) was that he controlled the pots he was in. In other words, the action was determined by Ungar. To become a winning heads-up, no limit poker player, you want the same edge.</p> <p><strong>Playing out of position<br /></strong><br />Playing out of position in heads-up, no limit is tricky. Tight players will limp-in on nearly every hand. The benefit of this is that when they raise, it's obvious they have a hand. Thus, a Q/4 suited is probably not a good hand to call with. However, if your tight-playing opponent limps, a raise with that Q/4 suited might be a good move.</p> <p>Now, the key to gaining an edge over aggressive players when you have the big blind is to re-raise often. Make them believe that you're catching good cards and, more importantly, send a message that you refuse to be bullied. Re-raise even if you have marginal hands, such as Q/J, K/10 or A/x. If you hit a pair on the board, even if it's bottom pair, lead out with a large bet. Your opponent will think you have a big hand.</p> <p>This strategy will also force your opponent to rethink his or her strategy against you. It will get them folding a lot more, limping in with poor hands and calling bad re-raises. Whenever your opponent isn't playing the game he or she is used to, it's inevitable they'll make mistakes. And these mistakes will likely lead to profit for you.</p> <p>Let's look at an example of playing out of position against an aggressive player. Say you're dealt Q/J suited and your opponent raises three times the big blind, like he or she has the past eight times. You re-raise and he calls. The flop comes A 10 2. You pick up an inside straight draw, but you've missed. A lead-out bet here would be the appropriate move. You represent you have the ace. If he calls, he doesn't believe you (maybe he has a pocket pair like KK or 9s. If he raises, you have a tough decision to make. But if he folds, then you've shown him you refuse to be bullied. (I might even show my bluff here. This would prove that you're capable of bluffing him. And this bluff would pay dividends in the future when you do the exact same thing but with a big hand, such as top pair/top kicker.)</p> <p>Now, let's look at an example against a tight player. Say your opponent limps in. You have 2/4 suited, and you raise to 3 times the big blind. Your tight-playing opponent calls. The flop comes A 2 4. You have two pair. You check. He bets the pot. It's obvious he has an ace here. A check raise will net you a lot of chips.</p> <p>Aggression is essential in heads-up, no-limit poker. As I stated earlier, this allows you to create the action and determine where it goes. All bets lead to you. However, there are always times in a match when it's necessary to switch gears. Becoming a defensive player, and utilizing other advanced strategies, will be the subject of my next article on winning at heads-up, no-limit poker.</p>

Parlaying Online Experience into Live Results

Saturday, September 6, 2008, James "Krazy Kanuck" Worth

Recently at the WPT North American Championships in Niagara Falls, Ontario, I had the chance to apply what I've learned in 6&43; years of playing online poker. I have long preached about the valuable lessons learned from online poker; but i...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Recently at the WPT North American Championships in Niagara Falls, Ontario, I had the chance to apply what I've learned in 6&43; years of playing online poker. I have long preached about the valuable lessons learned from online poker; but it is rare to go deep into a massive tournament like this one by using everything that was learned. In Niagara Falls, it was my chance to parlay my thousands of hours of online big field tournament experience into a great result. At the end of four days of marathon play resulting in my first WPT final table appearance, I finished in fourth place for a score of just over $289,000.</p> <p>Day 1 was all about surviving the landmines and trying to pick a good spot to gain some chips. I struggled throughout the day, picking my spots, staying out of big pot coin tosses and slowly and steadily picking up chips. I didn't over-commit to pots against players who I knew would be willing to gamble for large pots; instead I tried to win the pots either pre-flop or on the flop, with strategic betting and plays. It was working amazing well for the better part of the day, considering I wasn't getting very many big hands to play with. I was hitting my suited connectors and low pairs for decent-sized pots, but not doubling up. We started with 20,000 in chips and within about four hours, I was up to about 28,000, through good play. I took a hit about an hour before the dinner break when I lost set over set in a 25,000 pot. That knocked me down, but I wasn't out.</p> <p>Just before the dinner break on Day 1, I limped in fairly early position with an A-7 of hearts, if I remember correctly, and was raised approximately three times the big blind. I decided to take a flyer and call the raise to see the flop. The flop came down with two hearts on it and I had the ace as an overcard. The big blind checked, as did I, and the original raiser followed through with a bet on the flop. I don't remember the exact amounts of the bets so I can only give an overview of the action. The bet he made wasn't a substantial bet and the big blind called, giving me slightly better odds to try and chase the flush, so I called as well.</p> <p>The turn brought a heart and I had the second nut flush based on the straight flush possibility that was out there. I discounted either player having a straight flush, so I was not too scared of the hand. The big blind came out betting pretty heavily, and after what looked like a hard decision for me, I flat called, trying to induce a call or raise from the original raiser left to act behind me. He folded, so I was heads up with the big blind, holding what I thought was the nuts. I was just praying that the board didn't pair on the river. The river card brought a brick. The big blind came out swinging pretty big. I thought about it for quite a while, posturing before I announced all in. The big blind almost fell off his chair. He turned white and went into the tank for what seemed like ten minutes. He finally called, flipping over the king-high flush, and was sick when I rolled over the ace-high flush, busting him. That hand propelled me up to 49,000 in chips just before the dinner break. I left for dinner feeling energized, positive, and in great spirits.</p> <p>After the dinner break, things slowly disintegrated. I don't remember if we played three or four more rounds after dinner, but those hours were the worst card-dead experience I've had in ages. When I did finally get bigger pairs like Q-Q or JJ, after I'd raise, I'd get one to three callers; the flop would have one or two overcards and I'd be facing large bets. My stack dwindled down to 13,000 before the final two hands of the day. I had no intention of paying the blinds again just before the end of the day.</p> <p>I was stalling on the final three hands before the big blind was going to hit me. On the second hand I got dealt 8-8; I raised and the blind called me. The flop came with all unders, he checked, and I moved all in. He folded, giving me a few chips. On the very next hand, with about three minutes left to play, I stalled for as long as I could before a player actually called a clock on me. When the time was starting to run out on my clock, I looked down at pocket aces.</p> <p>It was the first time I had been dealt pocket aces in six live event tournaments. With five seconds to go before they called my hand dead, I raised the minimum amount and was called by a middle-position aggressive young player. The flop came down with nothing scary and I bet weakly into the flop, trying to induce a raise from this player. He did as I thought he would and put in a good-sized raise. I waited quite a while before saying something like, well, I'd rather double for tomorrow, or bust and not have to drive here; then I moved all in. He folded fast... maybe I shouldn't have said anything. I ended day one at a disappointing 26,600 chip stack</p> <p>I drove the hour back to my house and arrived home at about 3am. I was exhausted, frustrated, and depressed. I didn't sleep well that night,and on my drive back to Niagara Falls in the morning, I made the decision that I wasn't going to pull any punches: I was going to have a great day of cards, or go down swinging.</p> <p>I started off day two with a KILL, KILL, KILL attitude. I wasn't going to be bullied and I was determined to scare the snot out of the players at my table if they dared raise me or enter a pot with me. The strategy worked and I was the only player getting walked in my big blind. I started to take some risks and played some hands aggressively, slowly starting to build my stack. After busting two players, I was into the zone and on a roll. I raised pre-flop with J-J, another player moved all in on a 9- high flop; I called and the player rolled over A-Q; he didn't improve and I gained some much needed chips.</p> <p>The other player I busted was amazed I made the call on him, but something just didn't seem right to me and that induced me to make the call. The cutoff had raised about 3 times the big blind, I was on the button with 6-6, and I called. The small blind instantly moved all in for a fair-sized bet, and the original raiser folded. I thought about my hand for a very long time. I studied the player and, quite frankly, he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. I made the call and was delighted to see him roll over 4-4. He didn't improve and the hand propelled me to over 70,000 in chips.</p> <p>After taking a 4-1 favorite all-in beat a little while later, I was sitting at about 53,000 in chips when Freddie Deeb was moved to my table. I have all the respect in the world for Freddie's game, but I know that he is capable of making moves in position with a wide variety of hands. One hand that was very interesting came up and to this day I don't know whether I made the right decision or not in terms of chips, the pot, etc. I just had a very bad feeling and ended up folding. Freddie was sitting one seat to my right and raised the pot on the cutoff. I looked down on the button at Q-Q and reraised his 4,500 bet to 12,000 to go. The small blind beat me into the pot for an additional 23,000 over and above my bet. Freddie folded and I was left with a big decision. Calling him would leave me with only 18,000 in chips after I had been playing so hard and well to finally start moving in the right direction; and I could only put the guy on one of three hands. He was a tight player and wasn't making many moves at all. I could reasonably only put him on A-A, K-K, or A-K. Two of the hands completely dominated me, and I was racing against A-K. The pot had approximately 53,000 in dead money for a 23,000 call.</p> <p>I just couldn't get past my bad gut feeling, and I ended up folding. I was a little sick when he rolled over A-K, but I still could have lost the hand. The problem was that the decision I made rattled me. My instant gut feeling when he moved all in was to call if Freddie folded. But, after counting down the chips and outthinking myself, I changed my mind and folded. Regardless, because of my finish in the tournament, I was happy I made the decision I did; as I could have lost the hand crippling myself - but I still don't know if it was the right decision or not.</p> <p>For the next three hours I played terribly and got my chip count into trouble. Things finally started to swing my way after I was moved to John D'Agostino's table, and I started chatting with him that I was going to double on him. We had some friendly competitive banter back and forth for quite a while, as I was sitting there short-stacked at this point, under 19,000 again, and no threat to anyone at the table. I went on an aggressive little heater, raising and betting the flops and built my stack back up to about 41,000.</p> <p>I was finally dealt A-A when J-Dags limped into the pot in front of me. I did about a four times big blind raise and J-Dags called me. The flop came something like 9-8-2, with 2 clubs. J Dags checked and I bet about three-quarters of the pot. J-Dags called me fast. The turn brought the 4s; he checked and I then moved all in, grossly overbetting the pot. I was worried that he was trapping with a set, but I thought that he had a piece of the flop and maybe a flush draw. He thought about it forever, trying to talk to me, doing his best to gain some information. I tried to look as nervous as I could and didn't talk back to him at all, instead, trying to look away to induce his call. Once he hesitated I knew I was ahead. He finally made the call, rolling over the 7h 8h. The river was a blank, and it doubled me up and rolled me over 100,000 for the first time in the tournament.</p> <p>After that hand, I really got into the groove and started playing my Agame again. I got into a hand a while later with Steve Paul-Ambrose who was playing very aggressively to my left at the new table I was moved to. I started chatting at him to see if I could get under his skin a bit, as he was by far the most aggressive player at the table. I think it worked because a hand came up that I raised with Q-10 off in middle position when it was folded to me. Steve called on the button and the board came down 3-K-J. I was first to act, and after a little pause I checked, with Steve checking behind me. The turn card was a nothing card for me - an off suit six - but I took a swing at the pot anyway. My heart sank when he flat called my bet. I had already decided that I wasn't going to invest another dime into the pot if I missed the river. The river was my dream card, an off-suit ace, giving me the nut straight. I hesitated a bit and checked again, figuring that Steve would take a good swing at the pot, as he was playing aggressively and he obviously had a piece of that board. He did what I wanted him to do, and after a delay I moved all in on him with a massive overbet. He had me easily covered at this point and I was praying he was going to put me on a steal and call me. After about five minutes, without moving any chips into the pot, he quietly said, "Call."</p> <p>No one really heard him; I know I heard something, but had no clue what he said. I asked him out loud, "Did you say 'Call'?" He confirmed his call and I was tickled to roll over my Q-10 for the nut straight. That pot propelled me to over 180,000 in chips, and gave me a real boost in confidence. I was extremely happy with the way I played the hand and had maximized my return with my check-raise on the river.</p> <p>After that pot I yo-yoed a bit on my stack and took a few hits. I got into a pot again holding Q-Q, and it played out similarly to how the hand that Freddie had raised earlier in the day played out. But this time I made the call and busted the player, getting back up to about 150,000 in chips. We ended the day at 45 players and I had built my stack up to a respectable 202,000 to finish the night. I was exhausted again and really didn't feel like driving home. The floor managers arranged a room for me at the hotel and I decided to stay in Niagara for the night and try to get some extra sleep. It worked well - I slept in until my alarm went off at 11am, giving me a great night's sleep.</p> <p>The first hour of Day 3 three started off fairly slowly for me. I didn't get any hands at all. Didn't even get good position for steals, so I just had to ride it out and wait. I got moved off my starting table to another table and was put into the big blind at that table. My big blind was noneventful; someone raised and I folded junk. On my small blind, however, a player under the gun moved all in for 85,000 in chips. It was folded to me and I looked down at K-K and moved all in over the top of him, isolating him by inducing the big blind to fold. The player turned over Q-Q and was busted when he didn't get any help. I was on my way. I won a few more pots through aggressive play and found myself sitting at about 350,000 in chips a couple of hours into day 3.</p> <p>A little while later, Allen Cunningham moved all in on my big blind from early position; again I looked down at K-K and made the call. I believe he had 8-8 and ended up busting out. I was over 500,000 in chips now and really playing well. I continued to build my stack over the course of the day, making some great reads, folds, and calls. Sometimes it seems like you're making all the right decisions and day three was one of those days for me. I wasn't really getting lucky; I just wasn't getting unlucky on my biggest hands.</p> <p>At the dinner break on Day 3, I was at about 860,000 in chips and sitting pretty with only 16 players remaining. It was getting exciting! I went card dead for a few hours after dinner, so I just played tight and maintained my stack. I actually even increased it a bit through steals with position. They made a single table when we got down to ten players. I was still card dead but had a healthy stack. When we got down to the final seven players, needing to bust one player for the final table of six, I was still card dead and hovering around 800,000 in chips. John Juanda and Adam Dunkle were both the shorties, with about 450,000 in chips. Right after a break, I had the small blind, with a very aggressive Marc Karem to my left in the big blind and he had about 1,290,000 in chips. It was folded to Adam Dunkle on the button and he moved all in for 400,000. I looked down in the small blind at 9-9 and was sick because I didn't know what to do and, honestly, I didn't know if I had the guts to call him for more than half my stack.</p> <p>On top of that I was scared that Marc would wake up to a big hand and clobber my 9-9. I thought about it for nearly ten minutes, agonizing over what to do. I decided to make the call, but not reraise all in, just in case Marc woke up to a hand. If he reraised me, I was prepared to fold and make the final table and fight it out tomorrow, even though I would be short. I called, Marc ended up folding, and Adam rolled over 5-5. The board came J-8-4, then a 10. And after a drama delay by the dealer, he rolled over a 3, busting Adam in seventh place and soaring me to the final table with 1.3 million in chips. I jumped about 20 feet in the air and probably have never been so excited about any hand I've played in my entire career as I was about that one. My girlfriend Monica jumped into my arms and the room went wild. It was a pretty exciting moment. My first WPT final table and it was me making the call to bust the seventh place player. It was truly the scariest call I've ever made since I started playing tournament poker.</p> <p>Day 4 was filled with interviews and prepping for the final table. Monica and I relaxed and watched movies in the room for the rest of the day and just tried to remain calm and focused. The final table started with a bang. On the very first hand of the day, it was folded to me on the button, where I made a standard three times big blind raise. I was raising into Marc Karem's small blind and Jason Sagle's big blind. I had already decided what I was going to do if either player reraised me. I knew that Marc was playing aggressively and decided that if he reraised me pre-flop I was going to push all in on him. If Jason reraised me, I was going to flat call and see the flop. Jason seemed to be playing tighter and better starting hands. I'm not taking anything away from Marc's game, as he had played three days of dominating cards. It's just that his game was more open than Jason's seemed to be. Anyways, Marc reraised my 90,000 bet to 290,000 and I stood up and said something like, well, this could be my fastest final table ever, and announced that I was all in.</p> <p>I think my family and friends in the audience all suffered strokes when I said that because I looked back at the 14 people who were my guests and they were all as white as ghosts. Marc thought about it for a while and mucked his hand. You'll have to wait for the program to see what we had. I reraised Jason when he raised my big blind and he mucked. I reraised all in a few more times and wasn't called pre-flop.</p> <p>We had gotten down to four-handed when Jason Sagle raised my big blind and I looked down at Ah Qh. I had 1.1 million in chips with monster blinds. He had raised it to 250,000ish on 40,000/80,000 blinds and I didn't think it was wise to flat call and have to lay down that hand. I took a swing at the pot all in and Jason, after thinking for a while, made the call.</p> <p>To my horror, he had A-K of clubs and I didn't get any help. I busted in forth place for a payday of just over $289,000. It was a great result, but as a competitive poker player, it is hard not to get the win I so badly wanted.</p> <p>The final table day and play were a lot of fun. It was my third TV table and I was very relaxed and enjoying the moment. The players at the table were fun to compete with and enjoyable to have there. It was a memorable day that I will look back on with both fondness and regret. I regret two decisions I made at that table, but because there was no flop, who knows whether they would have worked out had I acted differently on those hands. I was happy with my final table play for the most part, but still agonize over the two decisions that might have been mistakes. Mistakes happen in this game; you just have to try to minimize them and reduce the damage done by them.</p> <p>All of my experience playing thousands of online tournaments did more to help me be successful in this tournament than I ever could have imagined. My instincts were honed and right on, and my situational awareness was sharp. Don't discount what you can learn from playing the maniacs online; you just may be pleasantly surprised one day in a live event when things seem to come together for you, with you making all the right reads and plays because of your online experience.</p>

The Pitfalls of Poker as a Profession

Saturday, September 6, 2008, Aaron K

Well, I've been an official poker "pro" (and I use that term loosely) for the last 5 months now, and it has not been working out as well as I had hoped. When I started out playing full time this March, I had about $10,000 to work with in my...Read more...

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*Text		<p>Well, I've been an official poker "pro" (and I use that term loosely) for the last 5 months now, and it has not been working out as well as I had hoped. When I started out playing full time this March, I had about $10,000 to work with in my bankroll, and I told myself if it dipped below $4000, then I needed to get back into the corporate world again. So here I am today with a bankroll less than $4000 looking for a job. So what went wrong over the last 5 months? I'll try and break it down for you and describe the things I did poorly as a poker professional, and I attribute it to four things that I did poorly:</p><p>1. Poor Bankroll management<br /> 2. Avoiding Table Games<br /> 3. Handling the Road<br /> 4. Make it supplemental income</p><p>1. Poor Bankroll Management</p><p>I would always talk to my poker friends about my bankroll and the games in which I was partaking, and they would tell me I was playing in too big of games for the amount of cash I had. I, being a young and cocky and confident young man, told them that I was fine and that I could beat this game. I knew I had the "game" to beat these games, but the reality was, I needed to grind in lower games to get my bankroll going on a slow but steady upswing.</p><p>Instead of playing in $2-5 NL games, I should have played the smaller $1-2 NL games and the 10-20 limit game that I know I can beat on a consistent basis, At least until I had my BR to higher that $20k. I did not adjust to the fact that I was now playing poker professionally and had no other source of income on which to rely. I know these games can sometimes be as boring as paint dry, but they usually have weaker players who a good player can beat on a consistent basis. Take advantage of this and put your pride aside.</p><p>2. Avoiding Table Games</p><p>As smart as I am (or at least I think I am), I am pretty dumb when it comes to falling into the casino's trap of table games. I know they are games that cannot be beat on a consistent basis, but I would not hesitate to put $200-$500 of my bankroll at risk at any given time to play some table games. I'd hit up Blackjack every once in awhile, Caribbean Stud (I still need to hit the progressive on this before I die, regardless if the odds are true or not—it's just on my list of lifelong things to cross off), Let It Ride, or any other Carnival game the casino had to offer when I felt like being "in action" while not playing in a poker game.</p><p>Bottom Line is this: if you are truly trying to make a living at poker, table games should be avoided at all costs, regardless if you are running good in the poker room and think you are on a hot streak. The only problem is that every poker player, myself included, has a sick, addictive gambler in them that likes to makes bets, regardless if they have the best of it or not. This bizarre character that exists in every poker player needs to be controlled at all cost, because if he or she gets out, you can lose money that is needed to live like and keep your poker bankroll healthy.</p><p>3. Handling the Road</p><p>I took two big poker road trips this summer, one to the true armpit of America, Tunica, MS and another to Las Vegas during the WSOP. Neither one of these trips were profitable trips for me. In Tunica, there was not much I could do. I played in all the games I thought I could beat, but it was just not meant to be. I played well despite the everyday threat of receiving the West Nile virus from one of the 1 billion larger- than-life mosquitoes that were hanging around the outside and sometimes inside the casino. Vegas was a different story.</p><p>In Vegas this year, I lost focus of the true reason I went out there as a poker pro and that was to make some money playing poker. The 4 previous times that I went to Vegas, I was out there as a tourist with a job to fall back on if the gambling did not go well. This time, I was entering the city as a poker pro, but I never adjusted well internally to my new situation. I treated the damn trip like I still had a job with a steady income when that was not the case.</p><p>I was playing a little poker, playing some blackjack, flirting, dining at fine restaurants with people I had just met out there, and hanging by the pool. I guess my point of all this is, I was in Vegas this time to make money as a card player, and that is NOT what I put all of my efforts into while I was there. The town just overpowers individuals like me that have "addictive" personalities and who cannot stay disciplined to play the games they have an edge in (poker) for the entire time that they are there.</p><p>That being said, I did have a blast while I was in Vegas for my 6-day stint, but I of course lost money on the trip because I was not focused on my true goal for the trip: making some money at poker.</p><p>4. Make poker a supplemental income</p><p>Poker was a lot of fun when the statistics were holding up for me and the cards were running good, but you sure cannot beat the feeling of a steady income. I know I took it to an extreme and let my solid engineering job get way from me in order to tackle poker full time. Yeah, corporate America sucks at times but its all part of the business, and hell, poker was a lot more relaxing when I knew the money I was playing with was my gambling money that I could afford to lose. It's a lot of pressure for even a single guy like me to take on a mortgage and various other bills with only a low level poker player income, so my advice to everyone else would be to play the game as a way to supplement your income, not as your main source.</p><p>Hope this article opened some eyes for you up and coming poker players out there, and you can learn from the mistakes I made over the last 5 months. I gotta go back to the classifieds to find my next engineering job, but I'll be back in the action soon.</p><p>——————————————————————————————————-<br /> This article is dedicated to an old high school English teacher of mine, Brother James Kelly.</p><p>Brother Kelly was a great teacher on the subject of writing critical essays, and I hope that teaching is reflected in my writing. Brother James is also battling cancer right now, a disease that is formidable but beatable. Hell, if Lance Armstrong beat it, then I know a stubborn Grammar School teacher with Irish/English roots can beat it too.</p>

Handling the inevitable online swings

Sunday, August 31, 2008, James "Krazy Kanuck" Worth

One of the most frustrating aspects of playing online poker is the swings. Regardless of how good a player you are, swings are inevitable. They can be mind boggling, they can be harsh, and they can wreak havoc on your sanity. After playing ...Read more...

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*Text		<p>One of the most frustrating aspects of playing online poker is the swings. Regardless of how good a player you are, swings are inevitable. They can be mind boggling, they can be harsh, and they can wreak havoc on your sanity. After playing online for nearly seven years, I've seen it all, but to this day I have trouble handling the swings, both emotionally and financially. The secret to success in the long run is to understand the reasons behind these swings and minimize their contributing factors.</p> <p>There is luck in poker; if there were no luck involved, very few players would continue playing the game. Bad players (i.e., poker's bottom line) would lose every pot and quit. The reality is that it's the luck factor that keeps many players liquid in this game and allows them to play on. But that luck factor, or variance, can kill your bankroll when you take a bad swing in results. You could conceivably play 100 tournaments online, play them all very well and not cash much overall because you keep taking devastating all-in beats at critical moments. It seems like the sites have it in for you, the poker gods hate you, and your karma is all messed up. My laptop has been in jeopardy many times after being launched across the room following a string of really bad beats in major online tournaments. Some days, no matter what you do, everything goes wrong. On other days, even the wrong plays turn out right. The difference between the good player and the amateur is how he capitalizes on the good runs and minimizes the losses on the bad runs. The truly great player recognizes the mistakes he's making that compound his bad run and he takes steps to correct them.</p> <p>Compounding factors can be anything from tilting to external factors that can affect a player's judgment. It is very hard not to get angry and emotional over a bad run or a bad string of beats. But as hard as it is, you cannot let that bad run bother you. It should be water off a duck's back. Keeping a positive attitude throughout a bad run is critical to helping you overcome and correct it. I keep hearing players cursing their luck, complaining about how many bad beats they are taking even though they're playing great, and how they just can't get out of their rut. I've watched them play and I see them chasing bad draws, making bad calls, going all in when they don't need to —basically pushing the envelope and not getting lucky, making mistakes because they're trying so desperately to get out of their tailspin.</p> <p>So stay upbeat, and try not to get mad. Your positive attitude will help you keep a clear head and help you make better decisions during play.</p> <p> </p> <p>Stepping down rather than up</p> <p>Many players make the mistake of climbing up in limits, rather than stepping down, when they are in a bad run. They try to get their money back faster at higher limits, when most of the time that backfires and they dig themselves into a deeper hole. If you want to learn how to stop your tailspin, you have to force yourself not to make this mistake. Stepping down in limits will have a couple of positive effects. First of all, it will build your confidence. Secondly, you can build up your bankroll, albeit slower at lower levels, but with much less risk. By moving up, you may blow your entire bankroll if you aren't playing sharp and on top of your game, nullifying your ability to recover. Get rid of your ego while in a bad run.</p> <p>You can take an extreme step by lowering the limits dramatically and practicing the aspects of your game that may not be as sharp. You can do this in low limits with virtually no risk to your bankroll, but the upside to your game could be dramatic.</p> <p>When you're in the midst of a bad run or swing, relax, breathe, and do everything in your power to stop the bad run. But take the right steps and don't panic. Baby steps will help you much more than chasing that one big lucky score. Your bankroll and your sanity will thank you!</p> <p>Knock 'em dead Jim "KrazyKanuck" Worth</p>

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