PDC Poker

The people at PDC has introduced 2 new games. The first game is all in or fold. I think it explains itself. Top 3 get paid like a normal SnG tourney. The 2nd game is is double up. I really like this game. Basically all you do is place in the top 5 and double your buy-in. $2 buy-in 1st-5th get paid $4. Both are 10 handed. Click the banner to the right and come play these new games at PDC.

Chris Moneymaker

Not much time to play poker this weekend because we had family in town. However I was showing them the sites I play on. One night we watched Daniel Negreanu on Pokerstars play some high stakes poker mixed games. How high stakes? $20,000 buy-in. Even tho it was online poker it was still fun to watch a little of it. Then the next day I logged on to Pokerstars again and was seeing what pros were on line. Chris Moneymaker, 2003 Main Event winner. He was playing in 2 tourneys. One was an $11 game which he took 2nd and won I think $390. The other was a $27 and he won. Winning $150. During the $27 game is when it got exciting. Apparently another guy watching the game lived near Chris. Chris then asked the guy if he knew where a particular house was. And he did. Chris then told the guy he lives across the street from there and invited the guy to come over for a poker game. I thought it was really awesome of Chris to do that. It's not everyday a pro poker player or famous person just invites a random person over. Chris I think it is awesome that you did that and I just wanted to let everyone know.

Just a heads up

Sometime soon I will be sitting down at the low-limit games. I will be playing for 8 hours like a normal work day. I know with playing low limits I will not make a lot like I would even bumping up a few pennies. But this is just a trial run to see what my outcome will be. The other thing during this 8 hour period is that every time I am up $.60 I will play a SnG tourney. I will be tracking every hour to make for a good blog report to see where I am at for the ring game and the SnGs. Be looking for the post soon.

Pokerstars Again

I had someone tell me to give pokerstars another try. So i put the software back on my computer and continued to play the freeroll tourneys with the same results. People sitting out. This guy told me to put in real money. I did not want to do that just because I already have one real money account. However, I received an e-mail from pokerstars saying they put $2 in my account. Not much but it will work for now. I only have 2 days to use this money and after i use it I can keep it all including what I win. I take my $2 and head straight for the $.01/$.02 NL Hold em table. After I went down just a tad i Bounced right back. One guy lost a huge pot with me when I had A Q and hit and ace on the flop. If it was higher stakes I might have thought he had a better hand. it left him with about $.22 Next hand he went all in and I folded, as did everyone else. Now im on the button and he is in big blind. I limp in with ace 2. SB calls BB checks. I hit trip ace so I bet him all in and for some reason he calls. That put me up over $3.50 in my new account. All he needed was a better kicker than a 2. But if you don't have the ace why even waste your money in a low limit game like that. In most low limit games players play mainly face cards and pairs. There is no need to try and bluff a pot in low limit. From my experience. If you have it bet. If you don't, check or fold. I think that should be the beginning guide for any new low limit player.

National Poker Week

It is now National poker week. There are a lot of things going on with the PPA in Washington DC. For all the online gamers lets hope things go smoothly. If you have not signed the PPA petition yet I would highly suggest you go and do that. Just go to the PPA website. It will take less then a minute.

Huge mistake

I was playing a $2 bounty 6 handed tourney. Everything was going well. Until this one hand. Flop came and gave me a pair of 8's bet about 1/3 the pot. guy calls, 8 on turn, bet about 1/2 the pot guy calls. 8 on River, bet about 1/3. Guy pushes all in. Im like cool i got quad 8's first bounty of the game. My wife then said something to me. I turned to answer her real quick turn and click. Guess where my mouse was? On the damn fold button. I lost a huge pot and a bounty. I was heated for a while just folding everything. i didn't care at this point. Needless to say chip leader became short stack and pushed with pocket 4's I called with 6 3 off suit. first bounty. Last guy I beat with an ace high flush. Bounty 2 and first place. Horrible play on my end but i was able to bounce back and win. Moral of this story: Don't get distracted.

Royal Flush

I just got my first ever royal flush. My pocket cards are King diamond and 9 spade. I call the BB at 30. Flop comes Queen Ace Ten of diamonds. The guy makes it 150 to go. I happily put in 150. Turn card Jack of diamonds. Royal flush. We both check to the river. I was happy to check and just turn over that king at the end. To bad PDC doesn't offer a Royal Flush bonus in tourney's only ring games. And to win the bonus you have to use both pocket cards. A royal flush is a royal flush. You don't get them every year. Ring game or tourney I want a bonus.

For my mom

This is for players just starting off in the game or for people who just do not know poker "by the book".
What beats what? Starting from best hand to worst.
10) Royal Flush- 10,J,Q,K,A all the same suit
9) Straight Flush- 2,3,4,5,6 any five not ending with an Ace and all the same suit
8) 4 Of a Kind- K,K,K,K
7) Full House- 2,2,2,5,5 a pair and 3 of a kind
6) Flush- Any cards all the same suit
5) Straight- 8,9,10,J,Q Different suits
4) 3 of a Kind- 4,4,4
3) 2 pair- 6,6,Q,Q
2) 1 pair- 8,8
1) High card- Ace

Which pockets cards should be played?
any time these cards can be played. A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, 10-10, 9-9, 8-8, 7-7
suited cards played any time. A-K, A-Q, A-J, A-10, K-Q, K-J, K-10, Q-J, Q-10, J-10,
J-9, 10-9
Un-suited cards played at anytime. A-K, A-Q, A-J, K-Q, K-J

Those pocket cards can be played in any position. This does not mean go all in or call an all in just because these cards are in your hand. Raise pre-flop. Bet the flop to test your hand strength. And for goodness sake if you are bluffing and your opponent re rasises you. fold. Now my game differs. Some of those hands I will not play. Depending on the game type. I did not go over playable hands in Middle and Late position. Just any hand, any time. This should help get your game started till you can get your own strategy into play. Remember if they see you playing tight then it might be easier to pull off a bluff.

No poker today

Today is going to be no playing poker day. stuff needs to be done around the house. But good luck to my Mom who started a poker account on PDC. She is playing in her first ever free roll with about 200 other people. She did play a $.60 tourney yesterday. She got 3rd. She was short stack the entire game because "she just had to see the flop". I started helping her via phone and got her into 3rd place. Not to bad. Again good luck mom.

Not my day

I have not been doing so hot the last 2 days. It's ok because I still have ample amount of money compared to what I started with. I am still sticking to the bankroll management plan that was laid out by Chris "Jesus" Fergusun. If you have not read it I highly suggest it. It may be difficult but you need to stick to the plan. If you don't you may find yourself with no money left to play with. The reason this post is coming up now is because of the losing streak I have been on. I wanted to go play a big SnG to try to get some of it back but it would have been out of my bankroll. If you don't like his plan make your own and stick to it. One thing I added on there is to never re buy and only add on if I am already in the top 10. That will help me keep my position. So use these guidelines and tweak them if need be, but have a plan.

I got called a donkey

Playing a low limit ring game i hit mid pair with Q kicker. A guy pushed all in with mid pair and open ended straight draw. I call his $.60 and won. He was pissed. So he calls me a donkey. I was big blind or else i wouldn't have even played that hand. Im not out there chasing straights like him. So who is the real donkey?
Username: Talleyrand19 On PDC poker.

Low limit Ring Game

I don't play many ring games. I like the tourney setting. Liking MTT a lot more then I did and Sng a lot less. Then I figured if I am good enough for final tables and beat out XXX amount of people lets see what I can do at a ring game. blinds are $.02/$.04. They say the recommended amount is $4 to come in. I say ok. I usually do the minimum and play tight. Bringing in $4 was a better idea. I played exactly 100 hands. I won 13 of them. I put on the mindset of a tourney. If it works there it should work here. by the time I was finished i left with $8 and some change. I was up to $10. I did something stupid that I never do. And now I know why. King Ace suited bunch of new players at the table and im money leader in the room. I raise to $.20. Flop came out with 2 cards of my suit. I check, next guy checks, next guy bets around $.30. I call other guy folds. Next card no help. Check, guy bets about $.60. Now i should have folded after the flop. We all know that. But hey why not make the call. So I did. Being a donkey. River not my suit. Now im left with my Ace King suited and the board paired 6. Maybe I should have made an attempt but i didn't see that guy getting off the pot. Check. Guy raised all in. Of course I folded. He didn't show his cards and that's fine. I told him that it was his money now and to double it up. I still left with a 100% profit. Maybe I'll up my ring games soon. My bank roll is now up over $100 then what I started with.

Another MTT with final table finish.

$5 buy in and just one add on at the first break. A guy at my table had 3 re buys and an add on. All I wanted to do was beat him. This guy actually made it to the final table. I did not bust him out but I did take a majority of his chips. I was glad to see him go. If you have to re buy and add on that much there is something wrong with your game. Examine it closely. All together he spent $25 bucks just to win $40. Do the math. We just finished the 3rd break and I lost a pretty big hand before hand. So i am trying to play catch up at this point. I finally get K Q suited and pushed all in. Another guy sitting about 20,000 chips more then me waited for a while and called. Ace 9 suited. Im like ok this can still be good. well the flop, turn and river did nothing for either of us. High card ace knocked me out. I don't regret that move cause being low stack and having high suited connectors is a good move to push with. If you dis agree then give me your feed back.

Yesterdays Tourney

Well It was a 160 person bounty tourney. I played really tight and made a friend in the process. I have to say it was the funniest tourney I have been in. Everyone was relaxed and was having a good time. To the people out there that think you have to play every hand that has an Ace or a King you have a long way to go. I played onl premium hands or better than 8 paired. I remember at one of the tables i was said "I have Played 37 hands, won 3 and collected 2 bounties." The guy across the table said "he has won 10 hands and no bounties." I think bounty tourney brings out the all inners in side of people. It's really disgusting how they play. Needless to say I came in 3rd with only 3 bounties. Not too shabby. I can only recall one hand so here is how it went down. I raise with pocket 10's. The guy to my right called all in. I was mad cause I finally caught a decent hand. I had about 12000 in chips left. I made the call and put him at risk. He flips over 9's to my 10's I was happy. Flop came and gave him a 9. I started my good byes. Then a 10 appeared on the river. That victory and people playing like idiots trying to win bounties landed me in 3rd place.

$2 bounty 160 People

Ended up 3rd. To late right now to write details. Update tomorrow.

300 Starting chips.

With only 300 starting chips you have to play quick and aggressive. In this case i should have slowed down and just folded. here is the action. It was a freeroll.

My friend Brandon

I have given my friend Brandon access to post on this blog. His game is completely different then mine. I think it will be great for the readers of this blog to see other players instead of just my point of view. Even tho neither one of us are pros I think we can still offer good insight of the game from the eyes of an amateur player. Let you know what we did in certain situations so you can compare, and pick a route that works for you. Maybe you even see a flaw in what we did. We are not here to gain information on your game. Just to share information. Again feel free to leave your insights on any of the subjects.

$2 Satellite MTT

Just got finished playing a $2 satellite MTT. 49 players entered in the tourney. My place 6th. Lost a big hand to put me at 4,000 chips, so I went all in next hand. Won that hand. Repeat process. I think that guy was done trying to get me out. Now im small blind with another good hand 10 jack. BB re raises my call. Of course I make the call. 9-8-6 came on the flop. I check he checks. King on the turn. Ok pair of kings is great right now in this tourney. I push all in. Mind you this guy is chip leader. He calls holding pair of 8's in his hand. river card is another king. i make trips he makes full house. Still received an $11 ticket to play another round. That guy ended up taking everything. After the 1st break we were aloud a add-on. I took that offer for only $2 more. Altogether I think I played well and still came out on top. How would you have played the last hand?

ME-SB 10 Jack off suit call blind and call min raise
CL-BB Raise min pre-flop

Flop 9-8-6... Both check
Turn King.... Push
River King.... Lost

PL Omaha Hi

I am starting to play other variants of poker and I have to say the one I like most is Omaha Hi. You get dealt 4 hole cards. Betting is normal like Texas Hold'em. A major difference is that you use only 2 of your hole cards and 3 from the community. even if there is a full house on the community cards. doesn't mean you have a full house. I am still working on a good strategy for this game because I have seen hole cards like Ace 7 4 10 win with quad 4's. Call it stupid betting and getting lucky or no one raising the Big Blind. I actually look at my hole cards and pair them separately. If im holding A A Q Q. i say, would I play AA would I play AQ would I play QQ. The answer is yes and with a raise. Not only do you have a trip option but now you have a chance for a straight. Even better if at least one of the A Q combos were suited for a flush. Now a hand I have folded before after it has been raised to the pot limit. 10 J 8 9. 10 and J suited and 8 9 off suit. I play a tight hold'em game so your answer might vary. would you play 10 Jack suited (yes) would you play 10 8 off (no) would you play jack 8 off (no) 10 9 off (no) and 8 9 off (no). Now if there wasn't a pot raise most of the no's would be yes. I think we can all agree on that. so that is 1 yes to 4 nos. I think you should fold. Again people play different ways. Also you are already holding 2 cards you need to make a straight. The best you can probably do on this hand is 2 pair. Yes the straight is still there but are you going to push to get that ace on the river. The same ace just gave one guy a full house. Don't ask how use your imagination. Omaha can be a tricky game if you are not careful. My favorite hands to play is anything paired with 2 high suited connectors that don't match my pair. If you get a high Pair with low suited connectors you still have a good chance. Like I said. Tricky game. Play around and see what you think.

Low Limit Ring Games

Since my bankroll is so tiny right now when I buy into a ring game it is usually a low limit game. Recommended amount to bring to the table is $4. $.02/$.04 blinds. You can actually lose a lot of money playing in these low limit games if your mindset is wrong. Not to say that the other people at the table are going to think they same way. Now you're BB and SB raises because it's only $.04 for him and just a measly $.02 for you to call. Lets stop right there. This is where my low limit games differ than other people I have played with. It's only $.02 why not make the call? Sure you can make it if you have a good hand. However if you have 7 4, suited or not, would you make that call. Every low limit game I don't look at just $.02, it looks like $20 to me. So ask yourself if you would make that call for $20. Yes there could be some other elements in there that can factor into a call, depending on your opponent. That's a different topic on it's on. The point is make your $.02 look like $20. Then proceed from there. Cause calling over and over again just to see the flop is not a way to win.

Heads Up

Just got finished playing a heads up match with my good friend Brandon. I took the lead early in the game getting his stack down below 1,000 chips. A lot of raising and re raising bluffing all the way to the river getting him to fold a lot of hands he might have won. This one hand got me good. Q-Q-Q came on the flop he bets I call. I think there is no way he can have that other Queen. Jack came on the turn and gave me a full house. I bet big he re raised. So I pushed him all in. Sure enough he flips over that Queen. Now we are about even in chips. The game goes on with me finally getting the lead back. Last hand I held 5 7 off suit. Flop comes 7-4-7. Again with the raising and re-raising until he is all in. I flip over trip 7 with him having a pair of jacks. He only has two outs at this point. another 4 came on the turn to give me a full house and the river was a dead card. That gave me $50. But we both agreed to split the winnings because it was a free roll. I'm a nice guy.

Good Luck at the Tables

Don't stress a loss.

I just played in 2 different tourneys. The first was a $10 buy-in. Down to the bubble. Everyone keeps raising my blinds and im stuck with nothing in the hole. I finally catch some cards for a 4 handed table 10 jack off. I raise and small blind re-raises to 1,000. I have about 2,000 chips left. I push all in. He sits for a second or 2 and calls. Ace 9. Flop didn't help either of us. Niether did the turn or river. High card ace knocks me out the bubble. Needless to say I was not a happy player. I shut down the site and said I was done. What kind of poker player would I be if I didn't keep playing? Bought into a $5 bounty game, 10 handed. For the most part of the tourney the guy to my right had the chip lead. Always raising and watching everyone fold to him. Back down to the final 4 at this table. I have not busted anyone for thier bounty. One thing that helped me get back in the game was an all in with the guy on my right. Jack Queen vs his Jack Ace. I pushed after the flop when I hit a pair of Jacks. Turn card gave me a Queen. That's how it went down. Then the short stacked pushed with Ace Jack I call with Pocket Aces. Bounty #1. I am not sure which cards got the player to my right out but... Bounty #2. Me and the last guy heads up. My chip stack is about 12,000 with his around1,800. I raised and re raised just about every hand. He was doing a lot of mucking. Final hand I have King 8. flop comes. Q-something-Q. I lay down a big bet and he calls. turn card is another Q. Time to push so he thinks I have the other Queen. Instant call. He flips over 2 Jacks, full house for him. I needed a King on the river to knock him out. Sure enough a King came to save the day. Bounty #3. I also got my bounty back. That's $10 in bounties. Enough to cover my bad play in the first one. First place paid $12.50. Total $22.50. Not a bad way to end the night. So don't let a loss get you down. There is always another tourney.

Good Luck at the Tables

A-K vs 99

got called all in with A-K. guy turns over pocket 9's. I hit pair of kings on the flop. Then a damn 9 came on the turn. Oh well glad it was only a $.06 tourney.

Pokerstars

Tonight I down loaded pokerstars. I am sure it is a good site for paying customers. However I like to try and play freerolls and win money without having to gamble any of my own. I played in 2 freerolls on this site. the first was pot limit omaha and the other was no-limit hold'em. In both these tourneys I got the pleasure of playing against, at the most 4 people, at a 10 player table. everyone just sits out. Pokerstars has had some WSOP main event champions over the past couple of years so they must be doing something right. This site however was not for me.

Good Luck at the Tables