Empire Poker - September 27

I have always heard about rakeback but never really understood it. Well, I investigated further and found that it is a very very good move. I just signed up yesterday. I had to open a new account at Empire Poker, but Empire is a party skin so you are playing on the exact same tables against the same players with virtually the same software as if you were on party.

I played one table of .50/1.00 for 50 minutes just to test it out and I won $0.75!!!. Great right, almost an entire dollar!! But I checked my rakeback and I will get an additional $0.41 at the end of the month! The great thing about rakeback for party skins is that the rake is included for SNG and Multis too.

For an easy example, if I play a $20 SNG, I pay $2 in rake. My deal with my affiliate is that I get 25% of my total rake back. So I will get $0.50 back at the end of the month for every $20 SNG I play. It doesn't sound like a whole lot of money, but it is absolutely free and no different than what I have been doing before. The only difference is I'll get an extra check in the mail. If anyone is interested let me know. Granted, I'm new to rakeback, but was very happy with the signup process and have been told through some poker posting websites that I'm with a reputable affiliate. If I refer someone I'll get $50. I would be happy to split that 50/50. However, if you are planning on signing up don't do it for the free $25. Sign up if you plan on playing more than once a year so you can take advantage of the cheaper rake.

Also, if anyone wants any more details just let me know.

Pacific Poker - September 19, 2005

I had a pretty successful weekend. Won a couple tourneys and moved up to the $30 SNGs. I took advantage of a sign up bonus for Pacific Poker on Saturday. I know an affiliate to the site who will give you $75 for signing up and playing one raked hand. So I decided to test my SSH Lee Jones experience on the .50/1.00 limit tables. Result = I lost 10-15 bucks when a guy hit his three outer on the river (AK vs A2). I felt pretty good about the way I played though, so I might have to play some more limit in the future. After that I played a couple $30 SNGs there so I could wager enough at the site to clear an additional deposit bonus. Wow. I was amazed at how bad the players were. Granted, I have limited experience at the site, but I thought the players were even worse than at Party Poker. However, I don't think the players are bad enough to make up for the awful software.

I wasn't that impressed. You can only play one table at a time. You can't see hand histories automatically. The site won't connect with PokerTracker. When you bet, it doesn't show you the $ amount that you wagered, just the chips, so it is difficult to see how much another person bet. Finally, when you reach a show down, it doesn't flip up the other players cards and it doesn't slowly show the turn or river card. In a flip second it just shows the cards and pushes the chips one way.

Overall, I'm glad I signed up though. I deposited $100 and played one raked hand which gave me $75 from the affiliate. Plus I got a 25% deposit bonus on the $100 from the site, so I will get an additional $25. I just need to wager $500 (20 x the bonus amount) to clear the $25. That seems like a lot, but if I play 5-6 $30 tourneys there a week, I can have it cleared in 3 weeks.

Multi Fun - September 12, 2005

I've been playing SNGs and studying limit ring game play, but yesterday I decided to play a $33 Multi for a change of pace. 1100 people entered the tourney and I made it past the first breaks. In the third break I started to daydream about the first prize of $6,500 or a top six finish with prizes all in the $1000s when this hand came up...

I'm sitting on 20,000 (average around 17,000) and we are down to 120 people, blinds at 500/1000. The bubble has burst so I feel the need to make my move, but I don't want to be a maniac either. I pick up As Js in the bb and the table leader (I had 3 of top 4 at my table) raises 3x to 3000 from MP. He has been fairly loose and aggressive, playing the bully pretty well. Small stack (no read) raises AI behind him to 8000. Button (fairly loose, calling station) calls and it is my decision.Easy fold right? I figured I have to be dominated, I can't force anyone out on a reraise and I don't want to call 1/3 of my stack with AJ even if it is suited.

Result? I fold and MP calls. Flop is all spades. MP bets a small amount, Button reraises AI (total of about 15,000 more) with a OESD and MP calls with his top pair (he had QTo) and it holds up against the OESD and the short stacks 77. I made the right decision but you can't help but wonder, what if?. It would have been very, very nice to get into the top ten in chip count.

I finished 42/1100 when I move all in from the button for 6x BB with my A4s and ran into pocket 9s. Didn't want to move in with Ax but only two players to fold and I needed to make a move. By far the most fun I've had playing in a while.

Work Home Game and SSH - September 9, 2005

I Played my second monthly work poker tourney last night. Finished 2/10. Three big hands from last night's action.

1) Down to 8 guys. Playing against a total LAP. I raised from late position with KK to isolate him. He called and flop was 984. I bet pot he called. Q on turn. I could sense it helped him and I had him on two big cards from the preflop so I put him on a pair of Q. He bet about a 1/5 of the pot and I reraise him all in (basically doubling his bet). He had JT. Which put me back to about my starting chip count or so.

2) I have Q3 and big stack after I doubled through against LAP. We are down to 4 players. and blinds at 100/200. I raise UTG to 500 with Q3o, looking to pick up blinds. Very tight button has a hand but doesn't want to call because we are on bubble (top 3 paid) and LAP is down to about 650. Button reluctantly calls. SB/LAP moves all in and we both call. (I couldn't raise to isolate since it wasn't a full bet raise). Flop comes 838. I blind check before the cards are dealt, trying to induce a check through. He checks. Turn is 2. At this point, since button checked, I put him on two overs. This is a sizable pot and I think there is a decent chance I have the best hand and am facing 6 outs against SB if I can get button to fold. However, good chance I'm up against 12 outs if I let him play, plus I will have to fold if he throws a bet out and I don't catch anything. I push him all in and he goes into the tank. He finally decides that if I win the hand and he loses he will still get 3rd place money since he started out the hand with more chips than the SB/LAP. He calls and turns over JJ, SB/LAP turns over TT...BUT the river spikes a 3 and the house erupts! Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.

3) I am heads up now with about 6500-7000 chips to my opponents 1500-2000. We both fold a couple hands and I keep waiting for a K or A to push him in so I can buy his blinds (300/600 at this point) and give me pot odds to call on subsequent hands for the tourney. I pick up Q8 and move in. What? How reckless. Bad move by me. I am a better player than this guy and I should be playing more pots post flop rather than making all moves preflop. He calls with K7 and his hand holds up. So I am at 4500 and he has 4000. He buys some blinds on me and he has a slight chip lead on the button when this hand comes.

He raises the minimum to 1200. Actually he tried to raise to 900 which should have been a clear indication that he has a big hand since he really wanted me to play. I look down at AQ and need to move all in. Right? You can't lay this down heads up can you? I thought there was a decent chance that he had Ax and I was dominating him. He calls and flips over KK. No ace for me and I finish 2nd. I still don't think a lay down is correct, but can should I possibly call and then lay it down if I don't hit my AQ? My reasoning for moving all in is that I knew that this guy thought he had a great hand. But what is a good hand to him? My guess, any pair any ace, Kx suited and any two high cards. I decided I couldn't allow him to pick up a free draw.

In other poker related news, I finished reading SSH (Small Stakes Hold Em by Ed Miller). This is a great book and a must read for limit hold em players. I think this book suits players who understand the game but still are not winning or are just making a little bit of money but not crushing the low stakes games. Perhaps you have played for 2 years or even 10 years and you understand the good starting hands. You know Ax is bad, etc. This is a great book to take you to the next level. I still need to do the quizzes in the last chapter and to read the book a couple more times, but I'm anxious to play limit cash games and to build my bank roll. I have a lot of confidence now. I'm a bit worried about the swings and staying patient even though I'm playing .50/1.00 games on Party or something, but I can see myself getting into the 5/10 game in the next year or two and reading this book over and over again during the process.

Until next time...