Shorty Advice
John Vorhaus has a great little primer on how to play the shorhanded tables. I don’t completely agree with everything he recommends, but I’ve already been doing the majority of it and it really does work.
ATMs at Every Corner
One of the greatest things about playing online poker is that there are plenty of ATMs to go around. Every once in awhile they’ll take your money, but if you keep swiping your cards they’ll give you money.
I played a few hours on UB again today and added another 50 BB to the bankroll. I’m loving the $2/4 6-max tables! The aggresive strategy that I’ve been reading about and studying is paying off big time. If I get any type of hand pre-flop, I’m raising and continuing that aggression through the hand. I’ve never took down so many pots on the flop and turn. Once I showdown some big hands, I’m getting respect (for the most part) at the tables. If I’m heads up in a hand and flop middle pair, I come out firing. The same if I pick up a good draw. With only one other person in the pot, every hand has a lot more value. Shorthanded play is exciting if you know how to play it.
I’m still making mistakes more than I’d like to, but it’s amazing how far my game has come in the last few days. At the beginning of the week I was making horrible calls and bluffs at record speed, but now I’m picking my spots and scoring big wins to go along with the steals. One of the things I still need to work on is my re-raise bluffing. I’m doing it more than I should be. I’m not doing it often, but when I do, it’s not working.
Note to self: Stop re-raise bluffing. If you’ve shown aggression pre-flop/flop and a decent player comes over the top, there is a very good chance I’m beat.
What irks me about these past couple of days is I now realize how many bets I had been giving away for two months. Why didn’t I do something sooner? There’s a lesson for you. If you’re losing for a long period of time, take a step back. Variance can be a bitch for long streaks, but there might be a good chance that your play has taken a dive off the deep end. If only I had plugged the holes in my game a month or so ago, I’d be well on the way to my original goal. At least I’m well on my way to reaching the new goal I had set two weeks ago. Who knows though…if I can keep it going like the past 3 days, I might even reach the original. Unlikely, but not impossible.
I’m Back
Help me give a big warm welcome back to my poker game. I had lost it for almost two months and yesterday I finally found it. I’m back in the ring!
I’ve written before that it’s been a struggle over the past two months. If it wasn’t for deposit bonuses, I would have been done quite a bit. When I last posted about my game, I was in the process of taking some time off. It was well worth it. I didn’t play online at all for a period of 10 days and was able to some reading and think about my game. TOP and ITH are both great books if you haven’t read them.
Party Poker was again offering a great redeposit bonus and it came just in time for my return to the ring. I was disappointed though to actually lose money while working off the required 1400 raked hands for my maximum bonus. Not only did I lose money, but I even ended up behind after figuring in the bonus! So much for taking time off to refine my game and get back to winning!
I was making the same mistakes that had been costing me dearly for the previous two months. I knew what I was doing wrong and just couldn’t stop. As soon as I’d click the button to bet or call, I knew I had made the wrong choice. Always calling check-raisers on the turn is not a profitable situation to be in at the low limits that I play (usually $2/4). You can pick off a bluff once in awhile, but not too many people have the balls to pull a check-raise bluff at these levels. I was calling and then calling another bet on the river. That’s 2 BB each and every time in a losing situation. Not good for the bankroll!
Another mistake I had been making was bluffing way too much. I’d say that of my bluffs and semi-bluffs, I was doing it about 90-95% too much! You can’t win money making this many mistakes and I surely wan’t winning. Bluffs simply are not very profitable at the low limits. There are too many fish that will call you down with bottom or middle pair that it doesn’t pay to bluff them. Simply let them pay you off when you do have a hand. It’s really not that difficult.
While clearing the bonus I think I was down about $350 (or only $150 if you incorporate the bonus I received). Something had to change. I thought about completely moving back down to $1/2 until I could fix my game. I thought about withdrawing $1000 from my bankroll to make sure I wouldn’t blow it. I thought about starting fresh from the lowest limit that Party Poker offered.
Review: Internet Texas Hold’em
A little over a month ago, Ammon from ITH offered me a free copy of Matthew Hilger’s book Internet Texas Hold’em: Winning Strategies from an Internet Pro in exchange for writing a review on my site. Since I always review the books I read and had wanted the book, I quickly took him up on his offer.
At the time, I had just started reading Theory of Poker (my review), so I didn’t start on ITH until last week when I was taking a break from the poker tables. I finished ITH earlier this week. It was really a quick read, even though its length is comparable to most poker books. I was able to read it so fast because I’m already familiar with most of the concepts discussed from reading TOP and Small Stakes Hold’em. That’s not to say that the book is all repeat information though.
ITH is a great book and one that I would recommend to anyone who wants to start playing poker online. Yes, I’d even recommend it before SSH in this case. What sets ITH apart is that the book concentrates on the differences between online and live play. Hilger gives you solid advice on how to beat the online game.
The book is broken down into chapters and the order was great. The jump from one topic to the next flows smoothly and would allow a beginner to easily follow along. Perhaps the best part of the book is the examples and how they are used to supplement the text. At the end of each chapter there are 15-20 real examples taken from online hand histories. The situation is laid out in plain English and then a question is proposed. Should you call? Is raising a better play? Right after each question, Hilger lays out what he believes is the correct play for each situation. Another thing that sets the examples apart from the other books I’ve read is that the author doesn’t use large card images to show you the hand and situation. He simple explains it in text form. This helps to cut down on a lot of space and flipping back and forth between pages.
ITH is not only a great book for the beginning poker player, but it can be a great resource for anyone’s online game. I’ve been struggling with my game over the past two months and the book helped to reinforce some of the concepts and strategies that I had forgot. There are other books I like better, but since the book does so well at what it’s meant for I have to give it an A.
Stacked for Xbox
Daniel Negreanu brings a real poker game to the Xbox in STACKED.
Change of Plans
I might not get any poker in until Sunday or Monday night now. Heading to Detroit for the Pistons game tonight and then to the Detroit Auto show on Sunday. In addition, I still have about 1/3 of ITH left to read.
No Play
Just a quick post to say that I haven’t played online in a week now as I had planned. I’ve really got the itch, but I’m going to stick to my plan. I’m about 1/3 of the way through reading Internet Texas Hold’em and I think I should be able to finish if I spend some time tonight before basketball and then tomorrow afternoon. While reading TOP and ITH, I’ve had the chance to really reflect on my game and I know quite a few places where I had been making mistakes over the last two months. I can’t wait to step back into the ring…hopefully tomorrow night to start working off the new Party Poker bonus. Dave and I have started to play heads-up limit during our lunches a few times a week. Just a way to practice and stop thinking about work. Nothing for money, but we do take it serious. I’ve won both sessions and I’m up 7.5 BB on him.
Party Poker Cracked
I just read an interesting thread over at Full Contact Poker. It’s about Party Poker Cracked.
…I will not call a raise, or place a bet more than $5 preflop with AA, KK, or QQ! If I bet $2 and it goes to $10 I am usually going to lay that hand down (fold). I almost always check these hands. After the flop, if I don’t get a set I usually fold if there is a bet over $1.
I need to find out where this guy plays. Who in their right mind wouldn’t go all-in pre-flop with pocket rockets? I don’t care how many opponents are already in the pot or how many call after you, but you’re getting more than the correct odds on any call in this situation in a ring game. The author of this book probably walks around his home wearing a tin foil hat. I’m suprised he even uses the Internet. Doesn’t he know that the FBI is tracking our every move. HA HA!
I’m amazed at how many people still believe that online poker is rigged. Why on earth would these companies risk going under when all they have to do is run a legitimate business and make hundreds of millions a year?
Party Poker Bonuses
Party Poker is once again offering a 20% deposit bonus up to a maximum of $200 on your next deposit between 00:00 EST, January 21st and 23:59 EST, January 26th 2005. If you’re new to online poker, there couldn’t be a better time to put in some cash. Here’s how you can get three different bonuses…
- Sign up through the banner on the right and get a $25 bonus when you make your first deposit or use bonus code “twohole” when you make your first deposit and get a 20% bonus up to $100. Take the bonus that suits your situation best.
- Then make another deposit between the times noted above (using bonus code “BONUSJAN”) and get up to $200 more with Party’s 20% bonus.
- As an added extra special bonus, I’ll give you an extra $25 if you sign-up and deposit at least $50 before the end of January, provided that at least 1 other person also signs up. This is not an additional deposit. If you follow point #1 and at leas one other person does the same, I’ll give you this bonus. Pretty simple hey? You don’t even need to play a required number of hands or anything.
You could get up to $325 in bonuses!!
If you sign up through my link or with my bonus code, just let me know which day you made your first deposit. After I verify that Party gave me credit for your sign-up (and at least one other person has also signed up), I’ll transfer you the $25.
Sign up for Party Poker now!
Is Poker Addicting
Can you be addicted to poker? Great post by G-Rob of the Up For Poker crew. Make sure to read through the comments too.
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