Full Tilt Bonus

Just in case you're hiding in a big rock somewhere and are not aware, Full Tilt is currently offering a bonus simply for playing the game. No deposits required.

This is to entice players to try out their new software. I've already tried it and nothing really major. Just some new snazzy interface in the lobby and new filters on what tables to show. The actual playing table remains the same as far as I can tell. The one significant thing is the ability to cut a deal at the final table in tournaments which was not there before.

The bonus is quite significant, at least $100 to be cleared in 30 days in $10 increments. Not too shabby especially if you already have rakeback in the site.

For an SNG, the bonus is equivalent to about 42% rakeback. Combine this with your normal rakeback of 27% and you'll be essentially getting almost 70% rakeback. It would be criminal to play at other sites at these rates.

So expect to see me mostly playing in Full Tilt the next 30 days trying to clear this bonus. See you around.

Dabbling in Omaha

Lately, I've been incorporating a lot more PL Omaha into my usual games. Usually I'd open 1 table of a Double or Nothing Omaha SNG and mix it with my normal Holdem sets.

It's a refreshing break for a holdem addled mind and gives one different angles of thinking. Some common mistakes that would happen to me are as follows:

1. Mistakenly thinking that I already have the straight on a coordinated board. I always have to remind myself that I can only use 2 cards out of the 4 that I am dealt. A rookie mistake I know, but it takes some time to get the right frame of mind especially if you played holdem exclusively before.

2. When the board pairs up, you have to be very careful even if you have the nut straight or flush. A full house is entirely possible and probable. I have learned this lesson the hard way in a couple of big hands.

3. Bluffing is harder to do especially after the flop. Usually opponents would hit some kind of draw and would call you down.

4. AAxx and KKxx are still good hands much like holdem. You just have to remember to bet them aggressively preflop and after the flop. If there are still multiple callers, then be wary of possible straights or flushes.

5. The equivalent of suited connectors in Omaha are coordinated hands which are double suited. Hands like JT98 where let's say JT is hearts and 98 is spades. These hands are excellent beggining hands and should be played.

6. In an Omaha SNG, the concept of pushing all in when your M is low, first in vigorish, having fold equity appears to be much more effective. Players are very hesitant in calling with semi-decent hands. I think this is because it is harder to compute the odds of certain hands being ahead.

I've only read one section on PL Omaha strategy so far but its working out okay. I seem to be winning more than losing. But at this stage, I'm not too concerned about my bottom line. I just want to learn to play it better.

Going where the Sharks are

I recently made a blog entry advising beginners to choose their poker sites wisely and avoid the sites where the good poker players hang out to increase their profits.

I would now like to make an exception to this rule. If you are already a somewhat experienced player. Sometimes, you would actually prefer to play with experienced players. For 2 main reasons: (1) you can pick up new tricks/betting patterns from better players. (2) you can anticipate the moves of better players and react accordingly.

No. 2 is quite important especially near the bubble of an STT. The correct push at crucial times will mean the difference between ITM and a big fat egg. Let's say you're in the dealer position with A-x or a small pocket pair and the action is folded to you. You have about 6 big blinds left in your stack. Automatic push for you. But you don't necessarily want the call from the blinds, a fold is just fine because there is no risk involved and the blinds are already significant during the bubble.

With good players in the SB and BB who hold mid level stacks. Holding hands like K-10, Q-10, J-10 or K-J, folding would be an easy thing to do. They'd usually look for better spots to make a stand especially if they can still afford to. They'd correctly assume you hold some kind of A-x hand and they'd gladly get out of the way with their K-10 as they know they're behind and they can afford to fold.

But if you happen to encounter a fish/beginner in the SB or BB, K10 is an insta-call. Not even seriously thinking about it, just seeing the guy with the moustache and sword makes their teeny-weenie penises go hard and folding is not even an option that they would consider.

You might say, so what? You are still ahead with your A7, but its only around 57-43. Holding a small pocket pair like 5-5. The odds would be 52-48. Almost close to a dead heat. This means that almost 1 out 2 times, you'd get beat. I would rather just steal the blinds.

Do you understand what I mean ? I won't put complicated math into the scenarios regarding the equities of calling and the equities of folding. I'm just simply pointing out that playing against experienced players, you can usually anticipate how they think and make the correct move or response especially with some kind of tracker data in your hand.

Playing against fishes, you're in limbo. You're constantly guessing. There is sometimes no logic in their calls. Obviously, you'd be happy if they called with Q2 suited. But consoling yourself with the thought that you were way ahead with your AJ doesn't really mean squat once they luckbox the 2 in the river.

Berating them via chat doesn't do any good. They're happy just to be lucky because they don't realize how stupid the move was.

If its not too obvious, I'm actually ranting about some bad beats and disguising it as a poker lesson. Heheh. Thanks for listening.

Hiatus

Not really playing that much poker. For two main reasons.

1. Got sick for about a week. Developed some persistent low grade fever which was eventually traced to a wisdom tooth infection. Decided to just have it extracted. Dentist found some other problems with other teeth. So recommended oral surgery under general anesthesia. Went under. Had all the problems fixed in one go. Did not realize how hard it was going to be. Couldn't eat for a week. Only soft foods and liquids. Lost 10 freaking pounds !!

2. When I eventually recovered, our phone line now goes busto and obviously the DSL that goes with it. So I haven't played any kind of serious poker for about 3 weeks now. Which is kind of a record for me. It's refreshing in a weird sort of way. I don't really feel like an addict who had to go cold turkey. It's more like a persistent itch that I couldn't scratch.

Anyway, am on my way to full recovery and I'm so glad that I can eat semi solid stuff again. I am now salivating at the thought of ordering a big juicy steak at my favorite resto which I plan to do the moment the dentist gives the go signal.

Amazingly, I am looking forward to the steak eating more than the poker playing. Heheh.

A Rare Quadruple Win

Just for posterity's sake, I decided to post this result in the blog. I would usually play STTs in sets of four and it is quite rare for me to finish ITM in all 4. I guess the moons where in alignment last night or my fever was making me light-headed and playing at my best. Heheh.

Going where the fishes are ...

One of the aims of an online poker player is to find ways on how he can improve his game. He will usually read books about poker strategies. He will study hand histories and use various software to analyze his game. He will discuss hands with fellow poker players for advise and validation.

All these things he does just so he can play better and earn more money.

But there is usually one overlooked aspect that a player can do to improve his online earnings significantly. And this is simply to go where the fishes are.

I am not talking about choosing the correct tables, although this is also proven effective. But more on choosing the correct site.

Simply put, there are sites where the game is easier. Much, much Easier. Now the reason behind this is quite obvious. The pros or the pro wannabees would usually choose sites where they can multi-table so they can maximize their profits per hour. They would by logic, gravitate to the more popular sites like Pokerstars, FTP, Party and the like where anytime of the day, a table of their choosing can be found.

The smaller sites are not too interesting because it takes forever to fill up a table, much less talk about multi-tabling. But for the beginner poker player who only plays one table anyway, it doesn't really matter. You are doing yourself a great disservice if you insist on playing on the more popular sites. You're like a guppy who is suddenly thrown into a raging river filled with piranhas, you may evade them for a while, but you will eventually get shred into pieces.

Wouldn't you like to be thrown into a nice, quiet, placid lake with fellow guppies where you can swim calmly to your heart's content.

I know the metaphor's not too good. But I'm sure you get my point. You may say that you only play in the low limits anyway and the players there are not too good. That may be true. But in the fishy sites, even the players in the higher limits are not good.

And I am not talking about finding a random fly-by-night site where your online bankroll is at risk. But more on choosing the less popular, but steady sites like Carbon or Cake where there is a regular stream of players.

The advantage is not only in the lower skill level but also the quantity of people in the guaranteed tournaments. Which would you rather play ? A tournament with a guaranteed $1M but you have to compete against 8,000 other players. Or something with a 50K guaranteed but there's only 200 of you playing. The rakeback is pretty much the same and sometimes even higher because the less popular sites need to attract more players.

I am not claiming this from my personal experience alone. It is a fact that given the same number of games played, you will earn more money in the fishy sites. It is just logical dictated by the harsh truth that you are playing against less experienced players.

You might say that your skill set will not improve if you constantly play against fishes. But let us not kid ourselves. Your primary objective in playing poker is to earn money. Fuck personal improvement. =)

So the next time you lose your bankroll for the upteenth time in Full Tilt or Pokerstars. And you are thinking of quitting poker once and for all. Do yourself a favor and try out one of the smaller sites. You just might surprise yourself and discover that earning steady money playing poker is not so hard after all.

Turning Points into Dollars

The other night, I happened to check my FTP points and I saw that I had around 5,000+ pts accumulated. Every game you play earns you a couple of FTP points and some might think that these points are no use since FTP doesn't really ship any of their items to the Philippines.

But there are actually ways to roll the dice with these points and get some dollars in return.

For an SNG player, the best way in my opinion to try and turn these points around is to play the 1,800 FTP points 9 man turbo SNG where top three get a $24+2 token. You can then use this token to enter an STT or MTT depending on your preference.

This was what I tried to do. I had about 5,200+ pts, so I was still missing around 200 pts to make it 5,400 which would allow me to play 3 sets. So first I played a 50 pts turbo SNG to the Daily Dollar tournament. The guys who usually play these are totally crappy since they're basically scraping the bottom of their bankrolls. Top 2 get the dollar or 200 pts. I had no intention of playing the dollar donkament. I just wanted the quick 200 pts. As I said, easy win, just wait around for the premium hands and suck somebody in.

So now I had 5,400+ pts and it was time to play the 1,800 FTP points SNG. To make a long story short. I managed to get 2 tokens for the 3 games that I played.

So now, the 5,400 pts has been converted to two $24+2 tokens or $52 imaginary dollars. But its still just tokens at this point. You now need to convert it to real dollars.

I now used one of the tokens and entered a 45 man SNG where top 6 was paid. You could also enter just a 9 man SNG or even a guaranteed MTT. There are many tourneys being offered round the clock where the token can be used. But it was already getting late and I wanted one that finished in around 2 hours.

Well as luck would have it. I finished 3rd in the 45 man for a cool $170.

Heheh... so 5,400 pts turns into $52 which now turned into $170. And I still had the spare token left.

The purpose of this post was not really to brag about the win. Well OK, maybe just a little. I mostly wanted to get the point across to beginner players and maybe even experienced players to not underestimate the value of the pts that you accumulate.

One lucky streak and you do get a good return for these seemingly useless points. =)