The 10k Poker Challenge will follow the progress of the 10kHero as he attempts to make $10,000 profit starting with just a $40 bankroll, playing micro stakes cash games of No Limit Hold 'Em online. http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com So I've been watching a couple of HU training videos, reading up on HU play, and feeling ready for some action. I need to improve my game before going back to 200NL on PokerStars! I signed up to Carbon while they were still offering the 35% RB deal (this was going to be a separate exercise to my 10k Challenge). Oh, I need a new screen name. What to choose? The night before I over indulged on sausages. 8 to be exact, just couldn't stop eating them, my girlfriend cooked them with some garlic and chilli. Mmmm. CaptainSausages it is. Obviously I PTR any player before joining the table, and do my best to play the fish. Table selection is key with any form of poker. After a week or so of casual play, showing a slight loss, I notice that some of the regs are ALWAYS online. I decide to play one of them - chinatownqueen. The notes I made for this villain (in chronological order): High flop cbet % IP Gives up on turn IP when weak Plays very passive OOP (check/calling down to river with TPTK). Folds high % to PF 3bet Never adjusts! ROBOT Wow, I was pretty sure I had just discovered my very first poker bot. My main reasons for thinking this was due to the fact chinatownqueen didn't adjust his range when I was 3-betting 100% of hands PF. He would always fold the same range, call the same range, and 4-bet the same range. I lost a couple of buy-ins early on, just calling for information, working out exactly what his ranges where. I also had my HUD stats, and every session I played him, the stats were the same (no matter how I played). This guy was actually winning! He was a profitable player. I was shocked and my immediate thoughts were to report this scumbag to Carbon. But after thinking about it, I realised it wouldn't be long before I could learn his algorithm and play close to perfect against him. Taking loads of money off these bots is surely a bigger punishment then just getting them banned to go and play elsewhere. So sure enough I spent the next few days improving my understanding of his play and making all the right moves against him. For example he would always 4-bet PF with 5% of his range, this was basically TT+, AQ+. So if I had 99 or TT and he 4-bet me, I could fold with confidence. As JJ only has 46% equity vs his PF 4-bet range I could even fold that hand, avoiding the 'coolers'. A couple of days went by, I got more and more confident against chinatownqueen, but he disappeared for a while. I decided to play another villain, and another, and soon realised there were up to 15 HU poker bots operating on the Merge network! AndrzejLR blisterer chinatownqueen coldasice22 GHETTOBLASTER FOVAMEEE N1xDSD1 RPMPMSRP Slawomir CannicaGirl nalenef1134 WCToiletWC takeurmonyandrun RUSSIANFLOWER Sloty4UrGF Here's a selection of stats from two of the bots: They were all doing exactly the same plays as chinatownqueen. I told a couple of friends, and even started training up my girlfriend on how to exploit them (a thank you for all the nice sausages she cooked me?). I started work on a flow chart, but soon realised it was a pretty complicated task and decided my time would be better spent playing 14 hours a day. I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone would report these bots, and sure enough it happened on the 2+2 forum. I can't complain, I got good value out of them, I would have sure liked it to last a bit longer though: Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:05:06 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/hu-poker-bots-found-on-the-merge-network.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/hu-poker-bots-found-on-the-merge-network.html So I haven't updated the site for 5 months. Why? Basically I got bored of poker and sick of the downswings. It started with me running super bad / playing super bad at 200NL. In my last post back in March I was feeling very optimistic about making $10k very soon, but things didn't go according to plan. After being over half way through the challenge, I suffered some big losses and crashed down to about $2k. I was guilty of moving up too quickly (or not moving down fast enough when things were going bad). But you know how it is, when you've been playing at 200NL and you have to move down to grind away at 50NL, the motivation really isn't there. I basically had enough, I cashed in all my bonuses and withdrew the money. After a couple of months working on other projects, I finally decided to go back to poker, and start with some HU on the Merge network. I wanted to try a different site and a different style of poker. I believe HU poker is excellent for improving your all-round game. You see so many flops and are in so many marginal situations. You also learn opponents quicker and understand different playing styles faster. So I headed over to Carbon Poker and grinded some 6max and HU, and things soon got very interesting. It's quite a long story so I'll save it for another post, but for now lets just say I feel blessed by the poker gods and my faith in poker has returned! Mon, 22 Aug 2011 12:17:11 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/5-month-silence.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/5-month-silence.html It's been a rocky few weeks since moving up to 200NL but I'm finally... halfway through my challenge. I flew past the $5k mark today after a steady few days at the tables. I expect to further increase my profits during the rest of this month, and then perhaps reach $10k in April if everything goes smoothly. The past couple of weeks haven't been easy. It's been a steep learning curve and a big test of my emotional control. I was perhaps a little under-rolled when first moving up stakes, which led to lots of stress and tilt. But I'm learning more and more from each new day playing. Perhaps the most important thing I've learnt is when to stop playing. I'm getting good at identifying when my mood is compromising my decision-making ability. Today I actually started tilting despite being up over $600. I could feel myself getting angry after only 2.3k hands so decided to stop for the day. It was brought on by some bad decisions which led to me becoming frustrated with myself (that I should actually have won a lot more). All in all I'm feeling very positive about my game, I seem to be making +EV decisions most of the time as my chart shows. Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:27:45 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/halfway-home.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/halfway-home.html I've been grinding away at NL200 for about 3 weeks now, and have a loss of $300 to show for it. This new level, as expected, is tougher and more demanding than anything I've played before. So what's so different? Well the villains are obviously getting better, trickier and less tilty. Fish are harder to find, but do still exist. I feel like I can compete with most of the regular players and don't feel too lost most of the time. It's actually great to play with excellent players, I'm learning faster than ever before. Something else which I'm trying to get used to are the swings. Sure in the long run everything should even out, but it's sometimes hard to see the big picture when you first move up stakes and a big downswing wipes out a quarter of your bankroll. I think because of this added pressure, I am tilting more. I feel myself chasing the game and trying to force hands in order to make up my loss. This is not the way to play poker. Here's my profit chart for NL200 so far, expected value (EV) is plotted in yellow: You can see that my EV plot is looking ok, but my actual winnings are about 9 buy-ins below. So what, I've been a bit unlucky, I understand that's a part of poker. The problem is that I'm down, and as mentioned before I've been conscious of this fact and trying too hard to recover. Sometimes playing tighter and more consistent is a faster way to get unstuck. I also feel like I've been multi-tabling too many tables. Yesterday I was playing 16, and felt a bit pushed. I'm angry with myself for not stopping sooner when I was tilting, I ended up losing around $1000. But today has been better. I've managed to get some rhythm back and recover some of my losses. It's all a learning experience for me, and you can't learn without making mistakes. Tomorrow I'll take the day off, and start fresh on Monday feeling positive. I have to conquer NL200! Sat, 05 Mar 2011 17:30:03 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/struggling-at-nl200.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/struggling-at-nl200.html After almost reaching 10,000 hands playing at the new stake of 200NL, I was starting to feel comfortable and playing the best poker of my life. Today, however, I had some sick luck and my profits have been slashed. It all started when a maniac 51/18/7 player sat down on my right, a perfect opportunity to make big bucks, I thought. But it turned out to be the craziest session of my challenge so far. As the chart below shows, my EV was up almost $500, but actual winnings were more like $1000 in the red. I was riding the variance train for sure. The first hand was annoying: Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players MP2: $15.75 Hero (CO): $242.80 BTN: $113.55 SB: $309.25 BB: $202.45 UTG: $124.75 UTG+1: $200.00 MP1: $241.80 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is CO with A K 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $6, MP1 calls $6, 1 fold, Hero raises to $26, 3 folds, UTG+1 calls $20, MP1 calls $20 Flop: ($81.00) K 7 T (3 players) UTG+1 checks, MP1 checks, Hero bets $50, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to $100, Hero raises to $216.80 all in, MP1 calls $115.80 all in Turn: ($512.60) J (2 players - 2 are all in) River: ($512.60) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in) Final Pot: $512.60 Hero shows A K (a pair of Kings) MP1 shows Q 9 (a straight, Nine to King) MP1 wins $509.60 (Rake: $3.00) No problem I thought, I'll soon get it back. Wrong: Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players SB: $120.00 Hero (BB): $200.00 UTG: $200.00 UTG+1: $177.35 UTG+2: $336.65 MP1: $262.00 MP2: $133.05 CO: $200.00 BTN: $421.30 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BB with A K 4 folds, MP2 raises to $5, 1 fold, BTN calls $5, 1 fold, Hero raises to $22, 1 fold, BTN calls $17 Flop: ($50.00) 8 3 K (2 players) Hero bets $47.50, BTN calls $47.50 Turn: ($145.00) 6 (2 players) Hero bets $130.50 all in, BTN calls $130.50 River: ($406.00) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in) Final Pot: $406.00 Hero shows A K (a pair of Kings) BTN shows 9 8 (two pair, Nines and Eights) BTN wins $403.00 (Rake: $3.00) Now this was getting funny. Again with the same villain: Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players UTG: $119.00 Hero (UTG+1): $400.00 MP1: $203.00 MP2: $100.00 CO: $333.65 BTN: $192.85 SB: $406.00 BB: $227.30 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is UTG+1 with Q K 1 fold, Hero raises to $4, 3 folds, BTN calls $4, 1 fold, BB raises to $6, Hero calls $2, BTN calls $2 Flop: ($19.00) 8 Q T (3 players) BB bets $44, Hero calls $44, BTN folds Turn: ($107.00) 4 (2 players) BB bets $177.30 all in, Hero calls $177.30 River: ($461.60) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in) Final Pot: $461.60 Hero shows Q K (two pair, Queens and Eights) BB shows 8 A (three of a kind, Eights) BB wins $458.60 (Rake: $3.00) I laughed. But it happened again: Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players CO: $176.35 Hero (BTN): $200.00 SB: $201.00 BB: $200.00 UTG: $179.00 UTG+1: $200.00 MP1: $790.90 MP2: $101.80 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BTN with A Q 3 folds, MP2 calls $2, 1 fold, Hero raises to $10, 2 folds, MP2 raises to $20, Hero raises to $200 all in, MP2 calls $81.80 all in Flop: ($206.60) 6 2 2 (2 players - 2 are all in) Turn: ($206.60) T (2 players - 2 are all in) River: ($206.60) 5 (2 players - 2 are all in) Final Pot: $206.60 Hero shows A Q (a pair of Deuces) MP2 shows 6 Q (two pair, Sixes and Deuces) MP2 wins $203.60 (Rake: $3.00) This was crazy, the worst luck I have ever experienced in a session. Not only that, it was all from the same villain, and he (not surprisingly) lost his double stack to another player before I had chance to win it back. The one positive thing to take from losing 4 stacks in 30 minutes, is that I actually don't feel too bad about it. I'm happy with my play and feeling confident for tomorrow. That's poker folks, what a beautiful game. Sun, 13 Feb 2011 19:27:17 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/bad-beat-bonanza.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/bad-beat-bonanza.html A Donk Bet is defined as a bet out into the aggressor of a previous street. For example, if the big blind flat calls a steal attempt from the button, pre flop, then bets out into the button when first to act, on the flop. Donk Betting is considered a little unorthodox mainly because modern players love to continuation bet. If you hit a hand on the flop it's usually more profitable in the long run to check/raise the flop rather than just betting straight out. But there are instances when donk betting becomes a better option. If the initial aggressor has a low continuation-bet % and the flop is 'wet' (ie 5h6hTh) you might want to consider a donk bet if you have a hand like Ad-Td. Donk betting this spot removes the risk of giving a free card to the initial aggressor. Here is a hand I encountered today, the villain is playing at 44/18 Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players SB: $90.60 BB: $112.80 UTG: $208.00 UTG+1: $218.80 MP: $205.75 CO: $200.40 Hero (BTN): $202.50 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BTN with T Q UTG calls $2, 3 folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, UTG calls $6 I want to isolate the fish pre-flop so raise the button, he calls. Flop: ($19.00) A 4 7 (2 players) UTG bets $10, Hero raises to $22, UTG folds He makes a donk bet on the flop. As the flop is very dry, with few draw possibilities, his donk bet makes no sense to me, surely if he had an ace he would check/raise in this spot. I test the water with a 3bet and sure enough he folds. Final Pot: $39.00 Hero mucks T Q Hero wins $37.10 (Rake: $1.90) Here is another example which I didn't play so well. The key difference is the flop texture. The villain is a similar type of fish as before, playing at 28/3. Poker Stars $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players BB: $200.00 UTG: $322.80 UTG+1: $276.60 MP: $203.50 CO: $243.55 Hero (BTN): $238.50 SB: $320.30 Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BTN with 3 3 UTG calls $2, 3 folds, Hero raises to $8, 2 folds, UTG calls $6 Again, exactly the same pre-flop action as above. This villain loves to limp so I decide to raise from the button hoping to isolate. He calls. Flop: ($19.00) J A T (2 players) UTG bets $10, Hero raises to $22, UTG calls $12 The fish donk bets out at me, my thought process is the same as the previous hand. If he really had a strong hand surely he could check/raise here? But there is a difference, the flop is wetter than before, with a flush draw and straight draw possible, so actually his donk bet makes more sense. I think this but go ahead and 3bet the flop anyway. Turn: ($63.00) 7 (2 players) The fact he calls really should give me a clue that he has something, at least an ace in his hand. But as he's a weaker player, there is also a chance he taking some bizarre line and chasing a draw. I bet about half the pot (but looking back at this I think checking behind and giving up is a better option now. I have little fold equity against this type of player and know I'm beat). UTG checks, Hero bets $30, UTG calls $30 River: ($123.00) Q (2 players) UTG checks, Hero checks He insta-calls my turn bet and the river is probably the best card I could use to fire a 3rd barrell bluff. But I feel like I've made a right mess of this hand and don't think I can represent a flush or straight and get this calling station to fold on the river so I frustratingly hit check and he wins the pot. Final Pot: $123.00 UTG shows J A (two pair, Aces and Jacks) Hero mucks 3 3 UTG wins $120.00 (Rake: $3.00) So ignoring my terrible turn and river play for a moment, and going back to the donk bet on the flop. You can see why this time a donk bet made much more sense than the previous example. He hit a big two pair on the flop and didn't want to risk giving away any free cards by taking a check/raise line. This emphasises just how donk bets can be used effectively. Usually when a weak player donk bets a dry flop (ie a relatively 'safe' flop with few draw possibilities) they are doing it as a complete bluff and you can 3bet them. But be more cautious if the flop is wet and especially if they call your 3bet, chances are they are strong. Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:09:34 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/donk-betting.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/donk-betting.html I've been quite slack in writing updates of late, so I've decided to post the occasional hand up here to hopefully provide some insight into my thinking in certain situations. I thought this particular hand was interesting: Poker Stars $0.50/$1 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players CO: $107.90 BTN: $43.00 Hero (SB): $116.70 BB: $100.00 UTG: $100.00 UTG+1: $100.00 UTG+2: $103.20 MP1: $50.00 MP2: $109.45 Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero is SB with A Q 3 folds, MP1 raises to $2.50, MP2 calls $2.50, 2 folds, Hero raises to $10, 1 fold, MP1 calls $7.50, MP2 calls $7.50 Pretty standard pre-flop action. MP1 is playing at 17/13/2.4, MP2 a bit fishy at 28/17/5. MP1 has a 89% fold-to-3bet, so I go ahead and squeeze, perhaps I should have bet a little more as I'm out-of-position, but I pump it up to $10 and they both call. Flop: ($31.00) 4 K 7 (3 players) On this flop, with two callers, and playing out of position I decide to give up right there.. I'm about to check/fold. However, after MP1 checks behind I really put MP2 on a positional steal when he bets. I don't believe he's got a K due to his wide pre-flop calling range, and without MP1 to worry about (he just checked) I figure I can represent AK or KK by 3 betting the flop. Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $19, Hero raises to $45, MP1 calls $40 all in, MP2 folds Well, the good news is that I was right. MP2 was just trying to steal with a weak hand, using his position and detecting weakness from myself and MP1 (he has an aggression factor of 5). The bad news is that MP1 was actually sand-bagging with a monster? But we're all in now so it's time for the turn and river. Turn: ($130.00) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in) River: ($130.00) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in) Final Pot: $130.00 Hero shows A Q (a flush, Ace high) MP1 shows A A (a pair of Aces) Hero wins $127.00 (Rake: $3.00) So I got the read right on MP2, but got suckered in by MP1, then I get lucky and win the pot anyway! MP1 played this sneaky and got burnt, I would be 4betting preflop with AA all day long. Especially in this hand where just calling my $10 3bet lets MP2 in the pot too. Thu, 10 Feb 2011 18:11:03 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/what-a-lucky-fish.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/what-a-lucky-fish.html I just saw details of the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker on my Facebook feed. I've decided to enter so wish me luck! The event gathers bloggers from across the globe to take part in a unique set of tournaments, which have a total prize fund of $60,000. Here's the registration text: I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.Registration code: XXXXXX 764726 Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:31:08 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/registered-for-wbcoop.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/registered-for-wbcoop.html Tilting is a common problem for all poker players, it typically occurs when you experience a bad run of cards, or get unlucky many hands in a row. Players will often start gambling and become frustrated with the situation, this is when it's time to take a break. But there is another type of tilt which is often overlooked, win tilt. This happens when a player experiences a good run of cards. The player will become over confident and more aggressive, attempting to steamroll their opponents. They have a false sense of security due to their previous good fortune. So remember whether you're running hot or cold, experiencing good or bad luck, always keep focused in the moment and stick to your game. Fri, 03 Dec 2010 14:10:46 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/beware-of-win-tilt.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/beware-of-win-tilt.html Following my good run I'm now bankrolled for 25NL. I actually have around $800 with my initial $40 plus PokerStars VIP bonuses of $100. Lets hope I can continue playing well at the next stake and really get this challenge moving! Sat, 06 Nov 2010 09:06:10 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/level-up-to-25nl.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/level-up-to-25nl.html All serious online poker players use poker tracking software like Poker Tracker. This comes in real handy for identifying your opponents playing style. But imagine you've just arrived at a table, your HUD hasn't loaded yet or you've got no records for a particular opponent. He's just 3-bet your QQ pre-flop raise, now what? Don't worry! Believe it or not, there are other ways to detect a weak opponent online, even after just 5 hands or so. 1. Card Showing - Has he been showing off his bluffs? Or even showing off his monsters? This is a sign of a weak player. Good players generally don't do this at micro limits, they simply don't have time. 2. Bet Sizing - If you've managed to watch the player in a hand, or if you're currently involved in a hand with them, take note of their bet sizing. Have they called a pre-flop-raise, then donk-bet a quarter of the pot, for example? This looks fishy to me. 3. Chatter - Are they having a good old conversation with another player at the table in the chat box? Or perhaps they're shouting abuse at someone. Good players generally don't use the chat window. 4. Time of the Week - If you're playing at the weekend, there's a higher chance that your opponent is a fish. Playing on a Tuesday afternoon you get less drunk, tried and casual players. 5. Posting Blinds - If they've just arrived at the table, did they post their blind in a stupid spot? For example, posting under the gun. Good players wait for the big blind to enter a table. 6. Buy-in - How much have they bought in for? Short stacks are generally weaker players. All good players buy-in for the full amount. 7. Multi-tabling - How many tables are they playing on? Hit CTRL+F and search for them. If they're on just one table, they're part-timers. 8. Number of Records - Sometimes, if you play regular at a particular stake level, simply not having any Poker Tracker records on an opponent is a good indication that they are a new player. 9. Online Poker Databases - Hit the extra time button and open up Poker Table Ratings (for cash games) or Sharkscope (for tournaments) in your browser. This can tell you if a player is profitable or not. 10. Number of Players Online - When there are more players online, there's a higher chance that the new ones you meet will be weak. Fri, 05 Nov 2010 12:44:43 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/top-10-ways-to-spot-a-fish.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/top-10-ways-to-spot-a-fish.html After my big downswing I decided to take a look at my game. I took some time off and played around with my Poker Tracker stats, with the aim of identifying ways to improve. I also wanted to get away from my negative mind set and start fresh. Well it's early days yet, but things have definitely improved! Over the last 17k hands (8 days) I've been running at 9.1 BB/100 and made $306.83 profit. I understand that this could just be a good run I'm having, and don't for one minute expect to keep up this win rate over a larger sample. But, I honestly believe my adjustments have helped a lot. So, what did I change? 1. Set mining 2. HUD setup + Table selection 3. General tightening up 4. Mindset 1. First of all, I found I had a big leak when playing small to medium pairs, especially out of position. I was set mining far too often, and losing profits. The chances of flopping a set or better, with any pocket pair, is 11.8% (or around 1/8). You don't usually get the right pot-odds to call a pre-flop raise with a pocket pair, so you have to think about implied odds, and consider the following factors: You need to be sure the original raiser is very strong, like QQ+ in order to get paid if you do catch your set. You also need the original raiser to be aggressive enough to keep betting their strong hand. In addition, the raiser has to have a big stack in front of them. So, if you're facing anything other than a tight, aggressive, deep-stacked raiser, you need to consider another move, rather than just a (set-mining) call. I usually 3-bet a looser player with my small pocket pair, especially if they're in the cut-off or button positions and attempting to steal. But I've generally been folding these pairs much more often, and as a result I've been saving plenty. 2. I've also started being much more picky about where I sit. You've got to find the weak players and take their stacks. I generally start by sorting the tables by Players/Flop and go for the highest percentages with the lowest waiting list. I fire up 10 tables and wait until I've joined them all, then regularly re-assess the situation. If the table has tightened up too much I leave and find another. I've also adjusted my HUD to help me spot the weaker players better. I've put a filter on the VP$IP and PFR statistics, when they are greater than 30/30 they turn green. Lower than this they are red. The attempt to steal also turns green when over 40 � excellent for 3-betting in the blinds. If I find my table is turning red, I drop it and look for another. 3. I've also tightened up my game considerably. I was attempting to steal too much myself, and my pre-flop raising was too high. I'm now playing at 18/12 rather than 20/10. 4. Perhaps most importantly is my mindset. I've focused myself to try and live in the moment. Not think about the past and not beat myself up about a lousy call. Everyone is human and nobody is perfect so don't worry about making the odd mistake here and there. Sure, the aim is to minimise the mistakes as much as possible, but now when I make a mistake, I make sure I fold the next few hands rather than raise them. Okay - cue the downfall! :D Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:55:49 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/changes-made-and-running-hotter-than-ever.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/changes-made-and-running-hotter-than-ever.html More recorded sessions, no commentary, just me playing poker! I'd like to hear any feedback on the way I played certain hands. Sun, 31 Oct 2010 13:52:45 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/recorded-session.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/recorded-session.html Well I've finally got an Internet connection sorted! But kind of wishing I didn't. I've run bad lately. On the very first day on our new connection I recorded my biggest ever loss of -$80 in a single day since starting my challenge. I'm not quite sure if I've forgotten how to play, or just been unlucky. I think a mixture of both. I know I was definitely tilting towards the end of the session. I now have to knuckle down and try to recover. I'm getting my profits back up slowly and trying not to think about my downward direction so much. In an effort to up my game I recorded a 20 minute session the other day, just for fun really. There's no commentary, I just thought I might be able to concentrate and play better if I know I'm being watched! Nice to hit the straight flush! Maybe should have value bet the river more, but generally happy with how I played the hand. Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:18:16 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/straight-flush-caught-on-camera.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/straight-flush-caught-on-camera.html I'm feeling quite sick at the moment. After almost reaching $500 and getting ready to move up stakes again to 25NL, I've had the worst ever run of luck since starting the challenge and I'm now back down to around $300. I don't like to moan about bad beats or suck outs. They happen and are a part of poker. Every player knows you can't win every pot you're supposed to. But I think it's just the shock of so much sickness happening at once. I won't go into too much detail, but if anyone cares, I lost the following pots almost consecutively (within the space of about 3 minutes) when getting it in as a big favourite (in all but one case): AA vs KK - (preflop all-in) -$11.26 Ac7c vs JdQd - JcQc5c (flop all-in) -$11.03 AK vs 22 - 29AK (turn all-in) -$10.00 KK vs JJ - (preflop all-in) -$9.90 Now starting to tilt� AK vs K5 - 5K7 (flop all-in) -$7.39 I then decide it's time to stop. Stop for a week or so I think, I hate poker! Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:45:42 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/variance-strikes.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/variance-strikes.html Floating is a bluffing strategy used over two betting rounds. It should only be attempted when heads up against a good opponent. It involves calling the aggressors flop continuation bet when in position (floating the flop), with the intention of bluffing on the turn to take down the pot. It's not something which I use often at the micro limits, as opponents need to be of the solid, tight-aggressive type. Here's an example of a float which I performed today: Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter UTG: $10.39 UTG+1: $10.75 MP1: $15.05 Hero (MP2): $13.94 CO: $10.42 BTN: $10.08 SB: $10.87 BB: $18.53 Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP2 with A K 1 fold, UTG+1 raises to $0.40, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.40, 2 folds, SB calls $0.35, 1 fold Flop: ($1.30) T Q 8 (3 players) SB checks, UTG+1 bets $0.80, Hero calls $0.80, SB folds Turn: ($2.90) 3 (2 players) UTG+1 bets $1.50, Hero raises to $3.50, UTG+1 folds Final Pot: $5.90 Hero mucks A K Hero wins $5.62 (Rake: $0.28) The pre-flop raiser in the UTG+1 position was a strong player. I had played over 400 hands with him and built up a good read. He played 9% VP$IP and 9% PFR. He also continuation bet 90% of the time. I decide to flat call his pre-flop raise, in position with my A-K off suit. The small blind also comes aboard. I catch nothing on the flop, but there is a good chance UTG+1 didn't either. I'm a little worried about the SB, but decide to float the flop with the intention of stealing it on the turn if I see weakness. This is using my position and the texture of the board. There are two spades on the flop which creates opportunities for scare cards on the turn. I'm relieved when the SB folds and we go to the turn. A great turn card. I can use this card to bluff my opponent. I put him on a similar hand to mine, either A-K, A-J, or small/medium pair. His turn bet also looks a little weak, just half the pot. Surely if he had A-A, K-K, A-Q, he would be betting more in this spot with three spades out there. I decide he's probably weak and raise. It works. This is a great example of float play. I floated the flop with the intention of stealing the pot on the turn. I was hoping he'd check the turn, but instead he made a weak looking bet. The spade on the turn made it easier to steal. It worked out well. Remember, I seldom use this technique, and only use it when playing against a strong player who is likely to be continuation betting the flop after he misses. Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:56:44 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/whatever-floats-your-boat.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/whatever-floats-your-boat.html Many people think that cash game poker profit comes from winning pots. They focus all their effort on this and forget one very important factor, saving your stack. Your profit will significantly increase if you learn how to save money by making tight lay downs. How many times have you called a river bet and already know you've lost, even before your opponent shows his winning hand? You kick yourself and mutter something like 'I knew he had me'. Being disciplined and patient in these situations will pay dividends. Here's one example I encountered today: Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter UTG: $7.70 UTG+1: $7.01 UTG+2: $16.95 MP1: $11.18 Hero (MP2): $13.05 CO: $7.30 BTN: $9.85 SB: $10.42 BB: $14.46 Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is MP2 with A K 4 folds, Hero raises to $0.30, 3 folds, BB calls $0.20 Flop: ($0.65) K 8 9 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets $0.40, BB calls $0.40 Turn: ($1.45) 8 (2 players) BB checks, Hero bets $0.70, BB raises to $1.80, Hero calls $1.10 River: ($5.05) A (2 players) BB bets $4.20, Hero says "8 ?", Hero says "99", Hero says "I got AK", Hero folds Final Pot: $5.05 BB wins $4.81 (Rake: $0.24) I start out pre flop by making a standard raise with my A-K suited and pick up one caller in the big blind. I've played a lot of hands with this regular (almost 700) so know he's a solid guy. He plays 11% of pots, and has a 7% pre-flop raise. The flop looks good and I make a strong continuation bet with top pair and top kicker, he instantly calls. Even at this point alarm bells ring, I know he must have something, either a draw like J-T, 6-7, or he's slow playing a monster like 8-8, 9-9. He doesn't have KK as he would have 3bet pre-flop. I also put him on K-Q or K-J. When he check raises me on the turn I know he has a monster. This type of player doesn't mess about. I considered folding right there, but there was still a chance he had something like K-Q or K-J and wanted some information from me. I make the call. The ace falls on the river, but it doesn't really change anything. He makes about a pot sized bet so I know he's looking for value. After 30 seconds or so I fold. He later tells me he had 8-8. The reason for the large value bet was because he thought I might have A-A and pay him off, but if I had AA I would have probably raised a small value bet anyway, so he misplayed the river. I was very happy how I played the hand. If he bet a little lower on the river I would have called, but I knew this type of player will be value betting a monster most of the time in this situation. I lost the minimum I could have lost, and I saved myself $4.20. When you're playing against a tight regular who makes a large bet on the river, you can expect to be behind. Be disciplined and make the fold, remember money saved is money made! Sat, 11 Sep 2010 13:19:42 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/knowing-when-to-fold.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/knowing-when-to-fold.html After one month away from the tables I'm back! This was mainly due to the fact I was moving house, plus I had some other commitments to attend. I wasn't sure how I would do after so long away from the game, my first session back I had a record loss of $32! Perhaps I'd forgotten how to play poker? But after another day off I was back at the tables and recorded my highest win in a session since starting the challenge. I was up by around $60. Over the coming few weeks I've got plenty of time to play, I'll almost be full time, so expect lots of updates! Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:42:26 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/i-am-back-and-i-smashed-300-dollars.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/i-am-back-and-i-smashed-300-dollars.html At micro stakes poker, playing like a nit isn't such a bad strategy. Players are generally not observant enough to realise you're only playing monsters, so you can get away with a super tight image and still take down some pots when you catch a hand. However, as you move up the ranks, this strategy becomes too obvious to the more perceptive opponents, and you'll get no action when you do make a hand. Here's a hand I played today to illustrate the point. The short stack CO player is playing at 6 VP$IP and 3 PFR: Poker Stars $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter UTG+1: $2.72 MP1: $10.40 MP2: $19.95 CO: $3.54 Hero (BTN): $10.00 SB: $10.67 BB: $10.30 UTG: $10.00 Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero is BTN with A Q UTG raises to $0.40, 3 folds, CO calls $0.40, Hero calls $0.40, 2 folds Flop: ($1.35) A 9 5 (3 players) UTG bets $0.85, CO raises to $1.70, Hero folds, UTG calls $0.85 Turn: ($4.75) 2 (2 players) UTG checks, CO checks River: ($4.75) T (2 players) UTG checks, CO bets $1.44 all in, UTG calls $1.44 Final Pot: $7.63 CO shows 9 9 (three of a kind, Nines) UTG shows Q A (a pair of Aces) CO wins $7.26 (Rake: $0.37) As soon as the CO raised the flop alarm bells rang, and I had no hesitation folding top pair. This player had only played 6% of hands over 260 recorded. He was extremely nitty and I knew he wasn't going to bet his short stack with nothing. He didn't even shove which makes the bet even more suspicious. Furthermore, these type of nitty players are also extremely easy to steamroll. They have no interest in defending their blinds, and make easy targets for stealing. These are the type of players you want on your left. So remember to mix up your game as you move up the stake levels. Playing like a nit won't get you anywhere against perceptive opposition. Mon, 09 Aug 2010 12:59:04 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-problem-with-being-a-nit.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-problem-with-being-a-nit.html I'm feeling unmotivated to play poker. In the last couple of days I've experienced a bad run, I'd say half my losses were down to coolers, and the rest was tilted away in frustration. Yesterday I had two horrible hands, almost back to back. I raise pre-flop with my pocket aces and get 1 caller. Flop comes Ad Td 6d. I hit trips so raise to protect my hand on that flop, my (loose) opponent shoves. I don't think I can get away from this. I call and lose a stack to Jd Qd. Then almost straight after, I hit trips again on the flop, this time tens, and my opponent flops a straight. Then I tilt away another $10 before calling it quits. Today my pocket kings ran into aces, so lost another stack. Pffff... I'm taking a few days off. Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:18:14 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/worst-run-yet.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/worst-run-yet.html After building my bankroll to over $250 by running hot at 5NL for the past couple of days, I decided it's time to give 10NL a shot. Although I've only played about 1.5k hands, I can immediately see a difference at the new stake level. Lots more aggression, bluffing and 3betting is going on. I have therefore adjusted my own game and tighten up my opening range a little. I'm also calling softer when faced with an aggressive bluffer and 3betting more myself when in position pre-flop. Here are my results so far after just 1.5k hands at 10NL: Still early days, but I'm managing to keep a positive red line for the first time. This is due to more opponents floating my continuation bets, and me having to fire twice to take it down. I'm also calling more river bets down which is transferring some of the losses into the blue line. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:58:39 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/moved-up-to-10nl-stake-level.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/moved-up-to-10nl-stake-level.html Apologies for not updating my progress sooner, but I've been busy grinding away at 5NL for the past month. Things got a little hairy for a while, but I've finally managed to break through the $200 mark today. My current BB/100 rate for 5NL is a modest 2.96 BB/100 (over about 40k hands), which is not as impressive as my 2NL rate of 11.77 BB/100 (albeit with a smaller sample of just 15k hands). But never-the-less I am making progress, and hope to move up stakes soon. I'm actually already bankrolled to play at 10NL ($0.05/$0.10 blinds) but want to increase my bank roll a little further at my current stake to prepare for the adjustment in stake levels. Here's how my stats are looking so far: As you can see, my VP$IP (Voluntarily Put Money in the Pot) and PFR (Pre-Flop Raise) statistics are almost identical at the different stake levels. If anything, they are tighter at the higher level. I'm aware that a VP$IP of 22 is still a little high and I will need to play more tight as I move up the stakes. I've been 3betting slightly more at 5NL, and stealing blinds less. However, with such small sample sizes the difference is almost insignificant. Depending on how things go over the next week, I will be moving up to 10NL soon. I will also adjust my multi-tabling, going from my current 9-tables to 4-tables at the new level. Fingers crossed I can move up soon and start winning some bigger pots! Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:50:40 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/broken-through-the-200-dollar-mark.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/broken-through-the-200-dollar-mark.html I've flopped quads quite a few times in the 55k hands I've played to date. However, this is probably the first time I've had any serious action with them. I was really not sure how I could extract the most money out of my opponents. But when they started raising me I was fist pumping for joy. I really should get out of that habit, by the way. If one day I start playing more live poker, I'm going to be giving off some serious tells to my opponents! The hand went something like this: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players The Official Hand History Converter UTG+2: $5.10 MP1: $5.52 MP2: $5.37 CO: $5.00 BTN: $3.64 SB: $2.65 BB: $12.55 UTG: $6.43 Hero (UTG+1): $12.83 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG+1 with 8 8 1 fold, Hero raises to $0.15, 1 fold, MP1 raises to $0.55, 2 folds, BTN calls $0.55, 2 folds, Hero calls $0.40 I'm UTG+1, and get dealt eights, so decide to raise the pot x3 big blinds. I get 3bet by a player (12/8) in a mid position, with an additional caller (42/9) in a late position. So I'm obviously worried about the solid player 3 betting me. His 3bet% is 4% so I figure in the very best situation I'm coin flipping with him and put him on (TT+, AK, AQ). The loose 42/9 player could have any two cards. I decide to call, hoping to flop a set, I figure with these stack sizes my implied odds are high, if I manage to catch an 8 I could take down some stacks. Flop: ($1.72) 8 4 8 (3 players) Hero checks, MP1 checks, BTN checks Wow. I shout YAHTZEE! and nearly fall off my chair. Hmm, what to do. I'm first to act so check the action over to the pre-flop raiser, hoping he's got TT+ and bets. Unfortunately it goes check, check, and we're on the turn. Turn: ($1.72) A (3 players) Hero checks, MP1 checks, BTN bets $0.50, Hero calls $0.50, MP1 raises to $1.50, BTN calls $1, Hero raises to $2.50, MP1 calls $1, BTN calls $1 Perfect! I'm starting to think if this hand could get any better. An ace is great as it surely gives the mid position pre-flop 3-bettor something. I decide to check again hoping to get them firing. As it goes check, bet, I smooth call hoping to not lose any customers. The bet size was weak, less than one third of the pot, it's confirmed that the loose 42/9 player is a very bad player, which is great for me (unless he's slow playing a pair of fours). Then, what's this, a raise by the mid position pre-flop 3-bettor! I put him on AK, or maybe AQ. There's surely nothing else he could possibly have as a player like this with TT+ would have fired a continuation bet on that flop. The 42/9 calls and the action is back on me. Now how can I get most value? I figure a shove would maybe lose the 12/8 player with AK, but I want to build the pot to hopefully get stacks on the river and keep both players in, so I make a min raise which gets called by both players. River: ($9.22) Q (3 players) Hero bets $2.55, MP1 calls $2.47 all in, BTN calls $0.59 all in OK, the loose weak player in the late position is down to just $0.59, and the mid position solid player has $2.47. With a pot size now at $9.22 I decide no more messing about, I effectively shove the river hoping to get paid in full, which I do. Final Pot: $14.75 MP1 mucks A K BTN mucks A T Hero shows 8 8 (four of a kind, Eights) Hero wins $3.57 Hero wins $10.47 (Rake: $0.71) Quads don't come very often, but when they do it's nice to get some action out of them. My min raise on the turn would have looked suspicious to a stronger opponent, but at this stake level I think I played it correctly. Sun, 18 Jul 2010 11:44:01 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/nice-time-to-flop-quads.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/nice-time-to-flop-quads.html Something I've noticed when playing is that if the table has lots of enthusiastic chat going on, it's usually a soft game. Casual and part time players love to talk, about their job, where they are from, or their girlfriend. They also like to abuse and insult their opponents if they get unlucky. They are sure to let everyone know if they think someone played a particular hand wrong. Regular, good players however, usually keep quiet. For one thing they are probably multi-tabling which makes it hard to concentrate on chatting. But also they know that by chatting they are giving their opponents information about themselves. This might have little affect at the very low limits, but plays a part never-the-less. One thing you should do is encourage weak opponents, not slander them. If you have a particularly bad player at your table and he's chatting away, by all means be friendly and talk to him. Chances are he'll stay at the table longer if involved in a conversation. Resist the temptation to insult them if they draw out on you, or catch a lucky river. Say something like "Oh, you got there didn't you?" rather than "Stupid fish!". Remember that the longer they stay at the table, the more chance you have of taking their stack. Although I understand this is easier said than done, I've had my fair share of outbursts during moments of tilt! Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:37:23 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poker-table-talk-equals-more-profit.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poker-table-talk-equals-more-profit.html Things didn't go so well today. I was up around 200 big blinds when I lost a monster pot which made me go on tilt. I caught a set on the flop and bet big on every street until a 3rd diamond fell on the river where I check/called. My opponent had made his flush. It made me mad for two reasons, that the idiot called my big bets on each street with a king-high flush draw, but also because I paid him off on the river. Well anyway, after this hand I proceeded to play a little more aggressively that I normally would, and ended up in full blown tilt mode. This was the first hand where I should have thought twice about semi-bluffing the flop: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BB: $3.82 UTG: $3.34 UTG+1: $5.35 MP1: $4.72 MP2: $2.02 CO: $2.00 Hero (BTN): $18.86 SB: $2.10 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with T A UTG raises to $0.15, 2 folds, MP2 calls $0.15, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.15, 2 folds Flop: ($0.52) 7 K 8 (3 players) UTG bets $0.50, MP2 folds, Hero raises to $18.71 all in, UTG calls $2.69 all in Turn: ($6.90) 9 (2 players - 2 are all in) River: ($6.90) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in) Final Pot: $6.90 UTG shows 7 7 (a full house, Sevens full of Eights) Hero shows T A (a pair of Eights) UTG wins $6.56 (Rake: $0.34) At first glance this might not seem like such a bad semi bluff. I have an over card, flush draw, plus a possible back door straight. But when you consider that the opponent is a calling station, with around a 50 VPIP and 20 PFR, it makes this play a bad option. It turned out he had caught a set, so probably wasn't folding anyway, but I should have taken into account the type of player I was trying to semi-bluff. As when you think you have little chance of making them fold, the bet turns into just a pure bluff. My tilt continued and here's spot where I semi-bluff another spade draw: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:11:23 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/when-not-to-semi-bluff.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/when-not-to-semi-bluff.html Today I played with almost perfect table conditions. I had a weak player on my right, and better, tighter players on my left. The player on my right was playing 68 VPIP and 19 PFR, so I was cold calling him pretty light pre flop and playing a type of calling station role. I eventually got his whole stack of more than 100BB, with some passive setup play and of course luck. The first hand I get dealt AcJc in an early position. The loose player on my right limps in so I decide to raise x4 big blinds. The action is folded back around to the limper and he calls. Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand Converter. SB: $1.91 BB: $9.59 UTG: $6.08 Hero (UTG+1): $13.02 MP1: $2.37 MP2: $4.86 CO: $1.93 BTN: $3.79 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG+1 with J A UTG calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.20, 6 folds, UTG calls $0.15 Flop: ($0.47) 8 4 Q (2 players) UTG bets $0.10, Hero calls $0.10 Turn: ($0.67) 7 (2 players) UTG bets $0.20, Hero calls $0.20 River: ($1.07) 3 (2 players) UTG bets $0.30, Hero raises to $2, UTG folds Final Pot: $1.67 Hero mucks J A Hero wins $1.59 (Rake: $0.08) On the flop I'm in good shape as I've managed to isolate the weak player heads up and have position on him. However, I catch nothing on the flop but decide to call his weak donk bet. This was about the 4th hand we had played together and he had never stopped betting. The turn improves my hand to a flush draw + over card. He fires a weak bet again which I smooth call. OK I'm lucky to catch my flush on the river, but I'm pretty sure I was ahead anyway, and value bet $2 on the river. He folds. The next hand I play with him is as follows: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players MP1: $2.00 MP2: $10.68 CO: $6.09 Hero (BTN): $13.61 SB: $2.35 BB: $4.79 UTG: $3.95 UTG+1: $6.67 UTG+2: $5.73 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BTN with J Q 5 folds, CO calls $0.05, Hero raises to $0.20, 2 folds, CO calls $0.15 Flop: ($0.47) J K 5 (2 players) CO bets $0.30, Hero calls $0.30 Turn: ($1.07) Q (2 players) CO bets $0.65, Hero calls $0.65 River: ($2.37) J (2 players) CO bets $1.15, Hero raises to $12.46 all in, CO folds Final Pot: $4.67 Hero mucks J Q Hero wins $4.45 (Rake: $0.22) This time I'm on the button, the action is folded around to the 68/19 player on my right who limps in. I am dealt JQ so decide to raise on the button to x4 big blinds. Again the action folds back around to the limper who calls. He again donk bets out, but this time the bet looks stronger at 75% the pot, but I manage to catch 2nd pair on the flop so I'm calling in position. The turn gives me two pair, and at this point I decide to trap rather than raise, give the aggressive player some rope to hang himself. I fill up on the river, but again I'm sure he has a weak hand, so I think he's folding to a normal sized value bet. I try something different and shove to see if I can confuse him into calling but he eventually folds. Now on the final hand I think he's started to not believe me anymore as I've been raising him in quite a few pots and then betting big on the river. The history we had together is perfect for the next hand where I stack him: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players UTG+1: $2.00 UTG+2: $10.68 MP1: $4.47 Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:57:25 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/setting-up-your-opponents.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/setting-up-your-opponents.html Ok, I know, I know, I promised myself no poker today. But I just couldn't resist catching up on The Big Game. This is a series of poker shows hosted by PokerStars.tv whereby a 'loose cannon' member of the public plays 6 handed hold 'em against professional players. The line up includes Tony G, Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Laak, Doyle Brunson, and the loose cannon Ernest Wiggins, who is staked $100k. The rules state that he can keep any profit made above his initial $100k. The professionals play with their own money. Episode 3 was one of the most entertaining episodes of poker I've ever seen. Ernest Wiggins played so passive and was constantly getting bullied by Daniel Negreanu. It was fun to see the professionals steam roll him. But the highlight for me came when Ernest picks up pocket kings and smooth calls Hellmuth's A9 raise preflop. What a hand! and I thought my suck outs where bad. This had a 0.18% chance of happening. You've got to feel sympathy for Phil Hellmuth. He continues to steam throughout the rest of the show, which demonstrates even the best professionals are human. It must have been an even worse experience with Tony G sat next to you, constantly needling. Not to mention all the TV cameras and lights. You can watch the full episode over at the PokerStars.tv website. Sun, 20 Jun 2010 23:36:35 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/pokerstars-the-big-game-week-1-episode-3.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/pokerstars-the-big-game-week-1-episode-3.html I've decided to take a step back and look at my game. Over the past three days I've lost $42.13 which can't all be blamed on variance. Sick things have been happening which has caused me to lose, but then I've gone into gamble mode and tilted off even more. I've had my pocket kings run into aces on a couple of occasions, plus I've had the dreaded overset situation in a large 200BB pot. But other than that, I've just played bad. I need to get back on track fast so I've decided to take the following steps: 1. Have a break. Tomorrow is Sunday, so a perfect excuse to kick back and do something other than play poker. 2. Go from 9-tabling to 6-tabling. This should allow me to focus on my game more, and avoid any mistakes. 3. Forget the last three days, back to basics. Play according to the table conditions and how my opponents are playing. Check back Monday to see if I can improve. Sat, 19 Jun 2010 22:42:28 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/bad-play-over-the-last-three-days.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/bad-play-over-the-last-three-days.html In order to progress in the game of poker, you need to learn by your mistakes. Practice makes perfect, but it can also prove costly. If you're serious about playing online poker you should definitely consider some online training at some stage, it can give you a great head start in the ever improving online game. Yesterday I read a review of the Poker Training Network by my friend Jim Hageman, which got me thinking. The network offers a range of different tutoring options including hundreds of Texas Hold 'em lessons, Poker skill-based diagnostics and testing systems, a poker resource centre, and much more. You can even get your very own poker coach! For more details check out the Poker Training Network Review on Jim's blog. Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:34:28 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poker-training-network.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poker-training-network.html Yesterday I arrived back from my holidays and couldn't wait to hit the tables again. I thought my game might be a bit rusty having had one week off, but concluded poker is like riding a bike. After a cautious start I was soon back into the swing of things. So much so, that I actually appeared in the PokerTableRatings.com top winners list for the $0.02/0.05 stake level. Poker Table Ratings captures all kinds of statistics on online poker players, and is a useful tool for reading your opponents. If you don't already use it, I recommend you start doing so. Here's a screen shot from the Poker Table Ratings website: My session actually started badly. I lost with pocket kings vs pocket jacks, all in pre-flop. Then later I caught a flush with my small suited connectors, only to be beaten by a higher flush. But things soon improved. I won 120BB when my pocket aces where up against pocket kings, then later I flopped a set: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 8 players - View hand 752093 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN: $12.54 SB: $12.73 Hero (BB): $12.50 UTG: $12.03 UTG+1: $6.87 MP1: $3.65 MP2: $16.48 CO: $6.85 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is BB with 3 3 Sun, 13 Jun 2010 15:58:20 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/appearance-in-the-top-winners-list.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/appearance-in-the-top-winners-list.html Today I learnt a valuable lesson. If you're going to watch three back-to-back episodes of high stakes poker, featuring the likes of Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Gus Hansen, don't go and play online straight after. I played so aggressively! Firing double and even triple barrels, 3-betting like a maniac and floating more than usual. I think I was encouraged even more as I ran well for a period and it was actually working well, until players started reading me like a book. Here's an example of a big pot I lost, as I failed to slow down: Poker Stars $0.02/$0.05 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - View hand 734592 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter BTN: $5.00 SB: $11.76 BB: $2.00 Hero (UTG): $12.62 UTG+1: $12.90 MP: $5.19 CO: $10.58 Pre Flop: ($0.07) Hero is UTG with 8 8 Hero raises to $0.15, 4 folds, SB raises to $0.47, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.32 Flop: ($0.99) 5 A 3 (2 players) SB checks, Hero bets $0.50, SB calls $0.50 Turn: ($1.99) 3 (2 players) SB checks, Hero bets $1.05, SB calls $1.05 River: ($4.09) 4 (2 players) SB checks, Hero bets $2, SB calls $2 Final Pot: $8.09 SB shows A Q (two pair, Aces and Threes) Hero shows 8 8 (two pair, Eights and Threes) SB wins $7.74 (Rake: $0.35) I decided to have one final shot on the river when the third diamond hit, but I should probably have bet more if I wanted to make the villain fold his hand. Even more so as I had a very loose aggressive image at the table, so I guess the villain took advantage of my aggression and gave me some rope to hang myself with! The moral of the story, don't watch lots of high stakes poker action before playing online. This type of play doesn't work at the micro stakes games, at least not in the long run. Thu, 03 Jun 2010 00:31:04 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/playing-like-tom-dwan.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/playing-like-tom-dwan.html Things have been running well since I last updated my progress about two weeks ago. The end of May also brought an end to the variance I was experiencing, and I was able to reach $100 profit faster than planned. I've also now moved up to the $0.02/$0.05 stake level and hope to move up again before the end of June. I do have a holiday planned for the coming few weeks, so will have to hold the poker for a short time. It's also the World Cup, so I imagine this will cause some further distraction to my progress! Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:57:35 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/moved-up-to-5nl.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/moved-up-to-5nl.html There are different opinions on micro stakes bluffing strategy. Many people feel bluffing is just not an option against small stake poker players and are content by playing A-B-C poker, slowly turning a profit by not taking any risks and waiting for a hand. While other players bluff constantly. With high continuation bet percentages and frequent attempts to steal the blinds. In reality, neither strategy is correct. As with most aspects of poker, it really depends on the situation. The key to micro stakes bluffing is learning to identify situations where bluffs will work and situations where they will not. These situations will typically be harder to find at micro stakes, than at medium and high stakes poker, but they are out there, I promise. Here are some factors to consider when thinking about bluffing, listed in order of importance. Remember that no single factor by itself should be a good enough reason to bluff, you have to think of them as a sort of check list, and you need to satisfy most points before firing that bluff. Opponents Playing Style Generally, if your opponent is playing tight, with stats such as a 5% PFR (pre-flop raise) and a 10% VP$IP (voluntarily put money in the pot), over a significant amount of hands, say at least 20, then you are more likely to successfully bluff this type of player. You want these types of players on your left, and you want to be stealing their blinds at every opportunity. You should also continuation bet the flop more often than not, but remember to respect them if they fight back! If your opponent is playing loose, with stats such as 15% PFR and a 30% VP$IP (or higher) then bluff them less, or not at all. Remember why we are bluffing. We are bluffing to try and make our opponent fold the best hand, therefore if there is little chance the villain will fold their hand, no matter what we throw at them, it's better in the long run to fold, fold and fold until you find a real hand. Boring I know, but trust me, this is generally how you play these opponents. Opponents Ability This is closely related to the opponents playing style as generally profitable players are tighter and pick their moments more carefully than weaker opponents, which want to see lots of flops and draw to their flushes and straights. However, you can also have very bad opponents playing tight, or very good opponents playing loose (rare at the micro stakes level). The simple rule here is that against good players, you should bluff more. Against weak players, you should bluff less. Good players are capable of hand reading, so are more likely to put you on the hand that you're representing, and fold. Whereas bad players generally look at their own hand and ignore what you might have. For example they will think their QQ is good, even on an ace-high flop. Also remember that your image at the table will be understood better by good players, than it will by weaker players. Opponents Mood If a player, of any ability or playing style, has just lost a huge pot, or is stuck pretty deep, you should bluff them less, as they are more likely to call you down when tilting. Alternatively, if a player is running well and in profit, you may be able to bluff them a little more than usual. Here's an example taken from a series of high stakes poker. It illustrates a failed bluff due to the current mood of the opponent. Daniel Negreanu and David Benyamine clash in a hand which starts at around 5:00. Afterwards at 14:30 they talk about the hand, and at 15:15 Barry Greenstein gives Daniel a vital piece of information which if he had known, may not have attempted the bluff. Betting Pattern If you sense weakness in your opponents, in any betting round, then you should attempt to take down the pot with a bluff. Signs of weakness include: limping pre-flop when in mid or late positions, checking multiple streets (especially instant checks), betting less than half the pot, or in some situations donk-betting can be a sign of weakness (more to come on this topic). You should also be aware that opponents may be trying to trap you, so if a usually loose-aggressive player checks the action to you, it may mean the exact opposite of weakness. In addition, your betting pattern can help you bluff. The most basic type of bluff is the continuation bet, whereby the pre-flop raiser bets again on the flop. This is a powerful type of bluff, but should only be attempted when the other conditions are met (opponent type, flop texture, etc). An example of an inappropriate time to bluff, would be if the pot has already been 3-bet before the action is on you. Board Texture This obviously doesn't apply pre-flop, and is a very large topic in itself which I may go into more detail in the future. However, in general, when the board is dry, for example K-3-9 rainbow, you should bluff and continuation bet more, as it is less likely that your opponents have caught anything. Also if the flop is paired, it is usually a good idea to fire a continuation bet. If the board becomes three-flushed, or even four-flushed on any street, and your opponent shows weakness, this is also a good opportunity to bluff at the pot. How Many More Cards to Come Depending of your opponent, it can often be better to bluff the river, than to bluff pre-flop. Number of Opponents It is better to bluff when you are only facing one or two other opponents in the hand, if there are nine other players in the pot, you have almost no chance of bluffing the pot as the likelihood that someone has a strong hand is high. Pot Size The smaller the pot, the more likely your bluffs will work, for example blind stealing is one of the easiest forms of bluffing. As the pot becomes large, there is more chance that your opponent has a strong hand that they don't want to throw away, so it becomes more difficult to take the pot. Position Position is important for bluffing, as if you act last in a hand, you gain more information on your opponents. One of my favourite types of bluff is to call a tight pre-flop raiser in position (with stats like 7/7 for example), and float the continuation bet if small cards fall on the flop. There is a high chance these tight players have AK, AQ, AJ, so when no aces of paint cards fall, they will usually give up on the turn and check the action to you, when you can fire a half-pot sized bluff and take it down. Alternatively you can just raise the flop, however you know less about their hand, and they could be holding an over-pair. Your Playing Style Not so important at micro stakes level as generally the villains pay less attention, but against better opponents you should think about how you have been playing. If you've been raising and 3-betting a high percentage of the time, you will begin to lose respect (which can be used to your advantage). If however, you have been playing a tight game, you are potentially more likely to succeed in bluffing, because of your table image. Notice that the top four most important factors are all to do with your opponent. It's true that poker is about playing the player as opposed to playing your cards. Think about who you are playing against and try to meet as many of these requirements as possible before attempting a bluff. A small note on semi-bluffs, it's obviously better to use semi bluffs as opposed to pure bluffs. A semi bluff is betting with what you think might be the weakest hand and the moment, but a hand which has a significant chance of improving in later streets. Hands such as flush draws and open-ended straight draws are good to bluff with, as even if your opponent calls, you still have a good chance of out drawing them. To conclude, if you're playing a single, tight, good, happy opponent, who has instantly checked every street, and the pot is still small. Bluff away my friend! Alternatively, if you're playing six, loose, bad, angry opponents, who have fired aggressively on every street, and the pot is huge. Please fold your trash hand! For all the other situations in between, well that's up to you to judge. Tue, 25 May 2010 12:50:56 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/10-points-to-consider-before-bluffing-at-microstakes.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/10-points-to-consider-before-bluffing-at-microstakes.html Another horrible suck out this week which cost me around 300 big blinds: Very similar to last week, I'm a big favourite on the flop but the villain catches a backdoor flush to suck out. I worked out he has about a 5.75% chance of doing this, very frustrating when such a big pot, but it all evens out, right? I didn't have chance to play much this week, only two days. So I haven't made much progress, and was only just in profit after a couple of other instances like this. I plan on playing a little more over the next week, and hopefully finally moving out of the $0.01/$0.02 stake level. Sun, 23 May 2010 14:48:08 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-backdoor-flush-draw.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-backdoor-flush-draw.html For all you bad beat fans out there, I thought every Sunday I'd post the sickest suck out I encounter. This one was pretty disgusting. The fish limps in a late position with J4 off-suit and I'm sitting in the big blind with pocket rockets, there's nobody else in the pot. I pump it up to x5 the big blind and he calls. I hit trips on the flop and bet about half the pot. For some reason he decides to shove all in. I pump my fist and call. Around 5% chance of him sucking out from that spot. Pretty rough, but that's poker! Stay tuned for more suck out's coming soon! Sun, 16 May 2010 20:44:31 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/beware-of-the-j4-monster.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/beware-of-the-j4-monster.html After a strong start, the week ended with my first loss. Today I just didn't catch any cards and became a little frustrated towards the end. I decided it's time to stop and start fresh tomorrow. I did consider moving up to the next stake level, however thought I'd continue to build my bankroll at the current stake as things were going so well. Here's the summary for the week's play: I am still reasonably happy with my play today, and extremely happy with the week overall. I planned for a 4BB/100 win rate, and currently running at 12.47BB/100 so have easily exceeded expectations. I think part of the problem today was not adjusting to table conditions. I've been running so well and playing a slightly looser game than optimal. My average stats for the week are: Voluntarily put money in the pot: 23% Raised pre-flop: 14% Attempted to steal: 51% I should have probably played much tighter today and been more patient, as I faced generally looser opponents. It is the weekend after all, and there's no use trying to bluff calling stations. Sun, 16 May 2010 20:25:18 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poor-end-to-the-week.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/poor-end-to-the-week.html It has come as somewhat of a surprise, but I'm crushing the $0.01/$0.02 stake level. At the current rate I should reach my target bankroll of $100 very soon, and move up to $0.02/$0.05. I'm not sure whether I just forgot how soft the most micro of all micro limits are, or I'm on a hot streak. A little bit of both no doubt. I do feel like I've been playing well, and making the most from the situations I've been in, with only a few mistakes to note. Yesterday's session started well. I picked up a nice $2 pot with my pocket AA vs QQ, I probably could have made more from the hand by value betting the river, but was fearful of my opponents deep stack. I then experienced a rarity. An AA vs AQ split pot! The chances of this happening are around 1 in 160. You can watch the hand here. I played the hand wrong, I should have raised the flop, and raised the turn. Again, as we were both deep stacked, I was scared of my opponent having KK (considering he called a pre-flop 4-bet out of position) and wanted to get a cheap show down. It turns out he was being crazy, he later said that he didn't believe me as I'd been playing loose at the table. I should be more aware of my table image in the future. After some more solid play, I ended the day with a profit of $9.19. Overall I was extremely pleased with how things went, so you can imagine my delight when I ended today's session also in the green, by $29.63! This is a staggering 50ptBB/100 hands. The fun got started with the following hand: Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter Hero (CO): $9.20 BTN: $12.84 SB: $2.00 BB: $1.16 UTG: $5.50 UTG+1: $4.75 MP: $5.00 MP posts a big blind ($0.02) Pre Flop: ($0.05) Hero is CO with J K 2 folds, MP checks, Hero raises to $0.08, 2 folds, BB calls $0.06, MP calls $0.06 Flop: ($0.25) 6 K J (3 players) BB bets $0.16, MP calls $0.16, Hero raises to $0.40, BB raises to $1.08 all in, MP calls $0.92, Hero calls $0.68 Turn: ($3.49) J (3 players - 1 is all in) MP bets $1.50, Hero raises to $8.04 all in, MP calls $2.34 all in River: ($11.17) J (3 players - 3 are all in) Final Pot: $11.17 Hero shows J K (four of a kind, Jacks) BB shows 2 K (a full house, Jacks full of Kings) MP shows 7 A (a flush, Ace high) Hero wins $7.28 Hero wins $3.34 (Rake: $0.55) There was no raiser pre-flop, and just one limper. I have KJ suited in a late position so try to take down the pot right there, with a x4 big blind raise. I'm not too concerned when the player in the BB position, and the original limper call. I've got the best position and my cards are good in multi-way pots. Plus the BB is a very loose player, running at 78% VP and 34% PFR. When I hit two pair on the flop, I'm almost certain I've got the best hand at the moment. As the flop is suited, I feel I must raise in case there is one heart out there waiting to see a cheap turn to catch their flush. When the crazy BB guy shoves all-in, I'm delighted. I'm not so happy with the call from the other player. But I feel worst case, even if he already has the flush, I have a 17% chance of filling up. Plus my implied pot odds are good, so I make the call with all the money out there. He actually made a mistake. He should have shoved over the top with his flush, forcing me out in this position. When the turn comes, I've pretty much got the nuts so hope he has a flush. It worked out perfectly and I even made quads on the river. I took down a huge pot to get the day started. Things carried on getting better and better. I really couldn't have asked for more, no bad beats and even managed to keep calm throughout. How long can this last? If experience is anything to go by, not long! this is a very small sample size so variance will come into play before long. But it's nice to enjoy the good streaks when they happen. Wed, 12 May 2010 17:58:09 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/crushing-2nl-stake.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/crushing-2nl-stake.html No red carpet or glamorous celebrities, but nevertheless, we are underway! I grinded out around a thousand hands this morning and had a roller coaster of a session. I'm not so familiar with the $0.01/$0.02 stake level so I had to make a few early adjustments but found my rhythm towards the end. I didn't get out of the blocks very well, after about 225 hands I ran into every poker player's nightmare when my set of sevens smacked right into an overset on the flop, I lost around 70 ptBB ($2.87) in a single pot. I managed to grind back into profit, but then another sick thing happened, my A A got cracked by A K, here's how I played the hand: Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players - View hand 686300 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter MP1: $3.60 MP2: $2.10 CO: $3.72 BTN: $1.05 SB: $1.34 Hero (BB): $6.00 UTG: $1.01 UTG+1: $4.53 UTG+2: $2.24 Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is BB with A A UTG calls $0.02, UTG+1 raises to $0.08, 5 folds, SB calls $0.07, Hero raises to $0.28, 1 fold, UTG+1 calls $0.20, SB calls $0.20 Flop: ($0.86) 5 9 K (3 players) SB checks, Hero bets $0.44, UTG+1 raises to $1.34, SB folds, Hero raises to $5.72 all in, UTG+1 calls $2.91 all in Turn: ($9.36) Q (2 players - 2 are all in) River: ($9.36) 8 (2 players - 2 are all in) Final Pot: $9.36 Hero shows A A (a pair of Aces) UTG+1 shows A K (a flush, Ace high) UTG+1 wins $8.91 (Rake: $0.45) The villain was relatively unknown to me, I had played just 9 hands with him and his stats were reading 33 (VP$IP) / 11 (PFR) I'm not altogether happy with how I played this hand post-flop. I should have lead-out with more than $0.44. I was pretty sure I was in the lead on the flop, and put the villain on AK or any weak flush draw. I wasn't too scared of KK as he didn't 4-bet pre-flop. I thought there was a big chance he had a flush draw, which I was a 57% favourite against, so decided to shove right there. Obviously, I could have also won the pot if he folds. In the end, he calls, and it's a slight suck out, but that's poker. I steadily built my profits back up, with a nice run of cards and solid play. Then, won a huge pot after about 1000 hands when I decided to limp in with 7 6: Poker Stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - View hand 686393 The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter UTG: $3.49 UTG+1: $2.37 MP: $2.73 CO: $1.00 BTN: $2.76 Hero (SB): $5.15 BB: $4.29 Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is SB with 7 6 UTG calls $0.02, 4 folds, Hero calls $0.01, BB raises to $0.04, UTG calls $0.02, Hero calls $0.02 Flop: ($0.12) J 8 5 (3 players) Hero checks, BB bets $0.06, UTG folds, Hero calls $0.06 Turn: ($0.24) 4 (2 players) Hero checks, BB bets $0.24, Hero raises to $0.60, BB raises to $4.19 all in, Hero calls $3.59 River: ($8.62) T (2 players - 1 is all in) Final Pot: $8.62 Hero shows 7 6 (a straight, Four to Eight) BB shows A A (a pair of Aces) Hero wins $8.22 (Rake: $0.40) First of all, the guy to my left was a real bad player. He'd only been at the table for 4 hands, but just by looking at his bet sizing it was clear he didn't have much experience at the poker table. So I'm in the small blind and there's just one limper so I decide to flat call and see what I can hit on the flop. The player on my left min raises, which is called by the UTG, I'm now priced in to call too. The flop is ok for me, I hit an open-ended straight draw but decide to just check it hoping to see a free turn. I'm also conscious that weak players tend to slow play their monster hands. After the BB raises half the pot and the other player folds, I decide to call. Why? I feel like I have great implied odds, my straight is well hidden, and I'm playing heads up against a weak opponent. If I catch my straight I feel like I can get paid off a lot of the time. The four comes on the turn and I make my straight. It's not too hard to get maximum value as the weak player just shoves over my raise and we're off to value town. All in all, a decent session at the tables. I think I should probably play a little tighter at these levels in the future, but apart from that, we've made a start. You can view the chart in more detail by clicking the below thumbnail: Mon, 10 May 2010 15:17:41 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/first-session-complete.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/first-session-complete.html Emotions have no place at the poker table. The ironic thing is that even though almost all poker players know the definition of tilting, going on tilt, or steaming, they still do it themselves. This isn't poker, it's human nature. Tilting is bad for obvious reasons, if opponents identify that you've loosened up your game, they will take advantage of this. In no time at all you'll go from one tilt-inducing bad beat to gambling away your whole stack. If you feel yourself becoming angry or emotional at the table, you should always just quit right there and then. If you're playing a tournament game, try to distract yourself, go make a drink and stay out of the action for a few hands. Do you go on tilt easily? Could you survive these situations for at least one hour? 1. Wake up early on Sunday morning with a half eaten kebab around your face. It should take you at least twenty seconds to recall what happened the night before, when crazy Dave made you down all those vodka shots, and strip for that ugly barmaid. Fall out of bed and fire up a poker game. Enter a cash game at your favourite stake, with a full stack. Lead-out with the table talk, if anyone replies, let them know what you think of their mother. 2. Enter a large MTT (multi-table tournament). Throughout the game, instruct your friend to randomly turn off your Internet modem. For those wanting even more of a challenge, swap the friend with someone you really don't like. 3. Experience flopping a set, verses your opponents over-set, three times in one session. The third time this happens, your opponent points, and laughs in your face. 4. See no ace or no pocket pair for fifty hands in a 6-handed ring game. 5. Discover a recent online video featuring your partner enjoying the company of three rather friendly gentlemen. Decide to take your mind off it by cracking open a bottle of Jack Daniels and multi-tabling twelve heads-up games. 6. Set aside three hours on a Sunday afternoon to play some online poker. Have the house to yourself and be in good spirits. On your very first hand you get your stack in pre-flop with pocket aces, verses your opponents pocket kings, only to be sucked out on when your opponent catches their set on the river. Rebuy. Second hand in, get dealt pocket kings and run into your opponents pocket aces. Lose another stack. 7. Have a screaming argument with your partner, whilst multi-tabling four full ring high stake cash games. Get dealt pocket aces in a late position. The pot is raised under the gun (UTG), then 3-bet in a mid-position (MP), before the action is on you. Your partner, still screaming at you for not making more effort in the relationship, throws a plate at you, which misses, but hits the keyboard and somehow manages to fold your hand. How did you score? If you can survive any of these without tilting, you're doing better than me! Sun, 09 May 2010 15:05:12 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-tilt-test.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-tilt-test.html As mentioned in my previous post, there are now around 600 online poker sites to choose from. With all this choice how do you decide where to play? Well, in my opinion there is only one answer. PokerStars. Despite what your girlfriend tells you, size DOES matter. PokerStars is the worlds largest online poker site, with more than double the players of the second largest site. A large player pool is important for a number of reasons. 1. More players equal more bad players. The fish are where most of your money will come from, so it makes sense to play where there are the most fish. 2. Wide selection of cash games. More players mean more tables and more choice. Having plenty of tables to choose from makes table selection easier, giving you more chance to find the perfect table conditions. 3. Wide selection of tournament games. From Sit 'n' Go's to large multi-table tournaments, there is plenty to choose from at all stake levels. 4. Wide range of game types. Including Hold 'em, Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, Seven Card Stud, Five Card Stud, Seven Card, Stud Hi/Lo, HORSE, Five Card Draw, Razz, HOSE, HA and 8-Game. 5. Exclusive satellite tournaments. PokerStars qualifies thousands of players to the biggest live poker events on the circuit every year, including NAPT, EPT, APPT, LAPT, UKIPT, WCP and PCA. They also send more players to the World Series of Poker Main Event than all the other poker sites put together. 6. Play at any time of the day. With so many players from a range of different time zones, there are no quiet periods on PokerStars. You will always have plenty of opponents for your preferred game. The PokerStars software is the nuts. 7. Reliability. Constant development from their technical team ensures almost 100% reliability. 8. Compatibility. It runs on all modern PC operating systems. There is also a MAC version. 9. Easy to use. The game selection menus feature filter options, you can easily sort tables, and navigate around the different game types. The in-game view is clear and uncluttered, buttons are big and accessible. 10. Customisable. You can customise the table background to your own preference. 11. Integrity. All communications between the client software and the PokerStars server are encrypted. 12. True random shuffle. Random number seeds are generated from two sources. User input, including summary of mouse movements and events timing, collected from client software, together with a true hardware random number generator developed by Swiss-based company ID Quantique, which uses quantum randomness as an entropy source. The random number generator (RNG) has been certified by Cigital, an independent body. 13. Download tournament results and hand histories. This feature is excellent when using tracking software. You can instantly download full results of tournaments to import into your database. 14. Save and manage table layout. Great for multi-tabling, save the position of your windows for your next session. 15. Player image uploads. You can create your online profile by adding a unique image to your player ID. 16. Multi-table up to 24 tables at once. No requirement to request this option, as soon as you register you're good to go. 17. Preferred seating. Configure the software to position your player in the same place at the table, each game. 18. Quick display of folded cards. Hover over your player ID for a reminder of mucked hands. 19. Four Colour Cards. Make the hands more visible with alternative card display options. The PokerStars VIP club offers excellent rewards to its regular players. 20. Get exclusive entry to VIP club freeroll events. 21. VIP club store. Get free books, electronics and poker accessories. 22. Cash rewards. If you play enough games PokerStars give you cash bonuses. Play, watch and chat with Team PokerStars. 23. You can play with professional players such as Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and Peter Eastgate. Customer Support. 24. PokerStars customer service is consistently voted the best in the business. They have a well informed team which are ready to answer your queries 24/7. Deposit and Withdrawal Options. 25. Several methods supported, including Bank Transfers, Check by Mail, Visa, Mastercard, Moneybookers, NETELLER, CLICK2PAY, ClickandBuy, Diners Club, Debit Card and WebMoney. Fri, 07 May 2010 17:23:47 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/25-reasons-to-play-at-pokerstars.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/25-reasons-to-play-at-pokerstars.html I read an incredible statistic the other day, that there are now almost 600 real money online poker sites in operation. Wow! This is amazing when you consider it has only been 12 years since the very first real money poker game was dealt online. What do you think? In another 12 years will there be even more? 6000? 60,000? I very much doubt it, and would go one step further to suggest the number may even decrease. Don't get me wrong, there is no doubt that online poker is growing fast, but growing primarily on a small select number of independent sites, namely PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and PartyPoker. Because poker players prefer playing where there are the most other poker players, I expect this trend to continue, with an elite few sites monopolising the entire online poker industry. Think about it, which situation is more likely? 6000 online poker sites, each with 1000 regular players, or 60 sites, each with 100,000 regular players? I believe there are two ways that new poker sites can compete with the existing giants, either by networking together, or by doing something unique and providing what I like to call a novelty site. The iPoker and Cereus Networks have the right idea. They merge many smaller sites together to provide a larger player pool, which each individual site benefits from (it's a bit like Europe joining together to compete with the US in terms of economic output). This may well be the future of online poker. It certainly makes sense to have a single player pool, but I doubt the giants would ever join a network. Sites such as PokerStars and Full Tilt have so much to give, and so little to gain, from doing so. Until, of course, the day comes where the networks grow larger than the independent giants, which is a long way off in my opinion. Groundbreaking sites or sites which offer some kind of unique alternative may be able to compete with the current industry leaders, but only in the short term. Sites such as PKR target a slightly different market, the more casual player who is more interested in having fun, than making serious money. I personally feel PKR's days are numbered. As soon as the casual player improves and becomes a profitable player, they will switch to an alternative site which allows them to multi-table more than just 4 tables, together with playing at a much faster hands-per-hour rate and using a HUD. But whatever the future of online poker may be, I look forward to watching it develop and feel lucky to be part of a fast changing period of poker history! Thu, 06 May 2010 16:20:44 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-online-poker-industry-is-shrinking.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/the-online-poker-industry-is-shrinking.html I play online No Limit Hold 'em almost every day, grinding away at the micro stakes cash games. I wouldn't rate myself as an expert, far from it. I've only been playing for about two years and still have much to learn. Recently, as I've made the transition from a complete fish, to a winning player, knowing what to do in any particular situation is no longer such a big problem. But actually doing it, and controlling my emotions, is. This, ladies and gentlemen, is called tilt. It can rear its ugly head for a number of reasons. A run of consecutive bad beats, becoming card dead for long periods of play, or even after a winning streak (playing hands over confidently). All of which are exaggerated when playing tired, drunk or emotional. Personally, for me, I think I tend to tilt mainly as a consequence of playing such low stakes. The motivation isn't there to play the perfect game, and I begin to gamble. So what if I lose ten cents, I want to see a flop! After all, in essence, micro stakes cash poker is probably one of the most boring forms. It's all about A-B-C poker. No funny business, no 4 betting the aggro-donk with a marginal hand. There isn't much room for creativity here. Anyways, I understand setting yourself goals is good for motivation, so I thought I'd set one, the 10k Poker Challenge. A simple experiment to see if I can go from $40 to over $10,000 in a single year, playing micro stakes cash No Limit Hold 'em online. This challenge should give me that extra incentive to play to the best of my ability, at all times. I hope it will help me to control my tilt, improve my overall poker ability, and at the same time, show first hand how to be a profitable poker player at the micro stakes. I will regularly update my progress here, report everything I learn, and discuss specific hands with other poker players. Together as a community we can crack the micro stake cash games once and for all. Sat, 01 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/playing-the-perfect-game.html http://www.10kpokerchallenge.com/blog/playing-the-perfect-game.html