TiggertheCat at Absolute Poker AP

Just googled for this account and it didn't pull up anywhere. It's my wife's account at Absolute Poker. She smacks some folks down heads up in 7 card stud.

I'm proud to have a poker playing wife, that not only enjoys the game but wins at it!

If she's taken your money, feel free to raise H E double toothpicks in our poker strategy forum.

Current bankroll from 7cs at Absolute = $900+

Rounders Buzz

I recently came across a new site that is interesting both for poker bloggers and interested readers, RoundersBuzz.com. It is a social voting website just for poker content. If you run a poker portal and are looking to drive traffic to your site, you can submit poker articles, stories or news at RoundersBuzz. If you are a poker player looking to improve your game, you can quickly sift through the best poker content voted up to the main page by the community at Rounders Buzz.

Besides the main page, there are five Category pages for specific stories. The most popular categories are the two strategy categories; Tournament Strategy and Ring Game Strategy. They also have categories on General Poker, Online Poker Tools and Poker News.

Happy reading!

Internet Isolation - Proven!

Lot of studies have been done on how the evil internet tubes isolate and insulate us from the 'real world' and after a conversation with one of our mods at Poker-Strategy.Org, I am a believah!

The conversation in mIRC chat was about my sending TrulyRand0m some shirts and hats from our PSORG gear stash. I asked him for his address, and his response?

<TR-ChuddsCheerleader> well i'm sending you an email in about 30 seconds once i find my address on facebook...

I alternated between chuckles and outright belly jiggling for the next 20 minutes. It was late...odd things are funny when it's late.

In TR's defense, he just moved recently. Heh...let me check my facebook for my real life address. Long ago, people would have to dig through their wallet or purse to give you their email address. How quickly things change!

Oh, and poker - my Absolute bankroll is at ~600. It was down to ~150 there for a bit, so I'm pretty happy to have not busted, playing 1/2 through 3/6 with just $150 bucks.

Ahh! SNG Nirvana = FTP

I switched over to Full Tilt to play some SNG's. It's a big difference compared to the rock garden at AP. I've only got a 2 SNG test here, so it's obviously not conclusive, but I've played two 9-seat SNG's at the $10 + $1 level, and they do remind me a lot of the juicy SNG's that I used to see at Party and Royal Vegas.

I've played two, and finished #2 out of 9 both times. (I need to work on my heads up play!). It's not my results that are really making me think FTP is a better place for SNG's but rather how many players are gone after the first few levels. At AP, it wasn't uncommon for there to still be 4 or 5 players left when the blinds got up to 'crap shoot' level. The last SNG I played at FTP, the blinds hadn't even hit 100/200 yet and it was heads up between me and the eventual winner.

NLHE SNG's aren't exactly my forte, but I do expect to see positive return on investment. So far I am, but it seems like it'd be much easier and more profitable at Full Tilt.

More players = more fish? I think that is generally true.

Being a USA citizen is costing me money!

Being a poker player, I don't usually pay much attention to casino games or casino bonuses. However, I couldn't help but notice the value of an article that one of our PSORG mods wrote for another of our sites.

The article details how to take an initial deposit of $100 and take it to $1500+ in your bankroll by playing perfect blackjack that reduces the house edge to near 0, while clearing generous deposit bonuses.

Here's a link to the article if you are interested: Casino Bonus Guide

Again, it will only work for non-USA citizens. This is a great guide for anyone. Poker players looking to build a bankroll or just take a month or so to pad your existing bankroll. Casino bonus whores will jump on this as well. ;]

Bankroll Update (April)

Looks like Dylan better get to crackin' on scholarship applications! Bankroll at ~400. No losses, just withdrawals. Every time I get it to $1k, there's always something to buy that we don't want to dip into our regular budget for.

Ah well. At least I've got 16 years before he graduations high school!

Absolute's 7cs population hasn't been wonderful lately. Generally just a 1/2 game going. Still easy enough to beat.

AP's NLHE sit n go's are pretty tight. Even the tiny $5 buyins seem to have some decent players. I miss Party Poker SNG's where 3 people were gone before the button made one lap around the table. :(

Poker Resolutions Update

Can't believe it's been almost 2 months since my last post. Busy as a bee and sick with the flu when I'm not busy.

We got cable (have I already mentioned that?)... so wonderful!

I've made good progress on my resolutions so far I think. The cash games resolutions I've still yet to really get started on. Harrington on Cash Games came out very recently, so I'll be getting it from Amazon here shortly and that should kick start things a bit.

I have had no problems with tilt so far this year, mainly because I've been in a good run when I've had time to play. Even with some withdrawals, the bankroll is well over $1000. Getting 2k for a "Dylan college fund" looks like it'll be easily reachable provided I have more time to play and I don't hit a big skid.

I'm playing at AP and Full Tilt. I've been having really good success at the 3/6 and 2/4 tables at Tilt. Massive loose there compared to AP. AP's games have been a bit slow this year with not a lot of 2/4 or 3/6 tables when I was on. The 1/2 tables are good, but I'd much prefer to stay in the 2/4 - 3/6 range. I just don't get in enough hours to really make a 1/2 table pay much.

Freakin' SOCOM online is cutting into my poker time too. I'm not really addicted to it, but when I do sit down for a session of run and gun, snipe and move on Devils Road, I find that 4 or 5 hours is gone in what feels like seconds. Poker is better on our marriage too, since it's a money earning hobby and no doubt Leslie already has devious plans for the 'college fund'...

We'll see!

Poker Resolutions - 2008

I don't really have many 'real life' resolutions for the new year, except the usual be a better husband, father, etc. We've got #2 on the way, as Leslie is 13 weeks pregnant. So here's a few poker resolutions.

1. Learn small stakes NLHE cash games. I feel confident in 7cs ring and 7cs tourneys, and even NLHE SNG's and MTT's though I haven't played either of the last two in a long time. Cash games are very popular now with shows like High Stakes Poker still getting great ratings, and it seems to be where the fish are heading, so I figure it wouldn't hurt to become adequate at it.

I've already picked up a book on it, and have read it. I'll start applying that to the tables soon. NLHE cash games shouldn't be difficult, since I'm already a tight wad, and without increasing blinds pressure, you really just have to bait your hook, toss your line in and wait for the bite.

My only concern is I really don't have much of a roll. I didn't play much in 2007, and we nearly drained my roll for a vacation in May, and then again in November/December for Christmas spending. I don't depend on poker for a living, but I don't like the idea busting or depositing. In fact, I guess you could say I'm still playing on the $10 no deposit bonus from Royal Vegas, from way back in 2003. NLHE cash variance can be big, especially those crazy low blind games.

2. Do a better job against the tilt monster. I don't tilt often, but when I do, I tend to go LAG and donk off a couple of hundred before I've fed him enough.

3. Start Dylan a college fund or some type of savings account with poker earnings. Since I'll be spending some to learn NLHE cash, I don't plan on a fat amount for this. Besides, I play probably 10 hours a week at best. I think a $2000 goal would be noble. Besides, he's not even 19 months old yet, so I'm getting a good head start. ;]

Someone call Goodlatte and tell him to legalize online poker. I'm playing it for the good of the children!

New Rakeback Deals!

The season of giving is upon us, and there are a few new rakeback deals that I'd like to mention. First, let me explain that rakeback is a poker "comp" of sorts, available to online poker players. With the nifty computer tracking that comes with online poker software, sites are able to get a real value of how much rake each player is contributing to the pots. Rake back then, is the player earning some of the casino's take, right back to their own wallets. There are some players who earn more in rakeback each month than they do in earnings from their winning play. Fact is, a break even player offline can make a profit online via rakeback, not having to toke the dealer and of a good poker bonus. I digress. Here's a list of recent rakeback additions and some coming soon as well.

The first and most important, IMO is our new Pacific Poker Rakeback program. It is set to launch officially on December 1, 2007. It will be 25% flat rakeback, no matter how much you generate in rake, so it's a good program even for small limit guys. Bonuses are deducted. If you like casino games, you'll be happy to know that any losses in casino play will be rebated 25% as well. This program is ran by Pacific once the player has signed on through our link. Pacific will pay the player once per month. As of now the only drawback is inability to track your rake totals. Hopefully they'll add that ability soon.

We've had lots of players over the years ask if there was a rakeback deal at Pacific Poker, and we're very happy to be able to make this announcement!

Next on the list is Cake Poker Rakeback. This one has been around for several months, but many players had serious problems with buggy software at Cake and a lack of player population. Both of those appear to be addressed. I've messed around with the software a decent amount, and it seems to function pretty well now. The biggest improvement has been player population though. During prime time hours, there will be several thousand players on. If they would add 7 card stud, I'd be on this room in a heartbeat. They've got some unique promotions with the "cake" theme, and it's worth checking out.

The rakeback program at Cake Poker is 33% back to the player, paid by Cake Poker directly to the players' accounts by the 5th of the consecutive month. November rake is paid by December 5th, for example. Players are eligible for bonuses and reloads too, and they are deducted from gross rake. Rakeback tracking is available right in your Cake Poker account.

Finally, we've launched a Carbon Poker Rakeback program in the past month or so. Carbon is the old Poker.Com site. It's got a solid population, is open to USA players, and the rakeback is 30%. Just like the other two I've mentioned so far, rakeback earned at Carbon Poker is paid directly to the player accounts. It's a good promo on a good network. The only "con" in my mind is that players can't get bonuses if they get rakeback.

A couple of "coming soon" rooms are PokerNordica and Action Poker. PokerNordica is on the same network as Carbon Poker, so if you already have a Poker.Com or Carbon Poker account, you can get rakeback through Poker Nordica. Action Poker is a small room, but the fact is, fish can be found in just about any room, no matter how small.

Stay tuned! We're always looking for rakeback deals, promotions, contests etc., that make online poker a profitable experience for PSORG members.

Online Poker Legality

It's been well over a year since Frist and company snuck the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) through Congress on the back of the Port Security Bill. Here are a few interesting articles that show recent gains and proven effectiveness of the Poker Player Alliance lobbying for our cause.

Congressional Hearing on November 14, 2007, featuring Annie Duke's testimony, among others. Our side really slammed the "do gooders" across the aisle. Here's a link to the PPA's page of resources on it, including lots of YouTube videos: Congressional Hearing Nov 14, 2007.

Here's an article picked up by google news noting that Congressional leaders are finally starting to get the picture as to what exactly happened last year, and the potential dangers we face from sanctions brought on by breaking WTO agreements.

Finally, when Harrahs and MGM head hanchos start making predictions about legal online poker in the USA, you know things are looking up. That article can be found here: Review Journal

Here's hoping legalized online poker in the USA results in poker boom part II.

Still playing at Absolute

As most everyone knows from chat and discussions on our forum, I'm on a forced hiatus until I get a decent Internet connection here in the sticks. I'm able to get on and answer emails, but since a phone call kicks me offline, I just really hate to sit at a real money poker table.

I wanted to weigh in real quick on the situation that developed at Absolute Poker over the past couple of months. Here are a few random thoughts...

First, why is everyone so surprised that an industrious individual was able to crack a poker site's security and cheat their way to tens of thousands of dollars? Where there are big stacks of cash, you'll have people trying to get their hands on it, plain and simple. We live in a society that chugs down coke and popcorn while cheering on the smart/sexy cast of Oceans 11 / 12 and soon to be 13. Then we're horrified when someone breaks into our home and takes the family silver.

This goes way on back to Robin Hood. We're always happy when the thieves are targeting "the man", until we happen to be "the man" or at least we're somewhat involved with "the man".

My point is this. Don't get your panties in a wad over a couple of industry insiders using their unique positions and knowledge to make a few grand. Our culture is in love with this stuff! Cheats, thieves, ne'er-do-wells will always be with us. It just really sucks when it's your stuff that is the target.

Second thought is this. Absolute Poker's sin was not getting abused by a shifty employee. That can happen to anyone. The "rogue employee uses his position to cheat" situation isn't new by any stretch. In my opinion, Absolute's transgression was the really really bad way it was handled in the public's eye. Poker players aren't stupid...well, winning poker players anyway, and you can bet a large portion of the 2+2 posters who sniffed this out are winning players. Continuing to deny, deny, deny when everyone knows you're lying, just makes the problem worse. 'Fess up, fix the problem, compensate those affected, move on. Let's hope not only AP learned this lesson, but every other online poker site that watched it unfold.

Finally, I have never seen so many righteous .01/.02 players having conniption fits. If they all take their rake totals elsewhere, it might put a real pinch on AP's board of directors, as they consider whether or not to order extra cheese on their pizza at the next meeting. Actually the reverse might be true since most of the nickel dimers cost Absolute money, with all of the generous reload bonuses and rakeback.

I'm not trying to disrespect the low limit guys. I'm a low limit guy! It's just that I was so amazed by the players who raised the most cane. You had the guys ticked off who were affected and had a legitimate beef (high limit players and high dollar tourney players). Then you had this midget army of penny ante guys and gals grabbing ropes, pitch forks and torches. What the hey? I wonder if it was just their frustrations at the "cash out curse" and "rigged flops" finally finding a voice?

I got an email towards the end of October from a guy who was mass emailing poker portals requesting that we join together in bringing down Absolute Poker since we now have evidence that they rig games. Are you serious?

Humans are stupid.

FTOPS with no 7 card stud event?

Unless they've added it since my alert email from Full Tilt Poker, I did not see a 7 card stud event. There was a 7cs hi/lo event, but not standard 7 card stud. So lame. I'd have driven to a local Internet hot spot and played it, most likely.

Just makes no sense. I know they're not the most popular in the world, but the 7cs event at Poker Stars WCOOP ended up with double the guaranteed prize pool, and I know Full Tilt has a very solid player base in the 7cs rooms.

Just doesn't make sense to me. Loss of money for FTP. If you spread the ring game, include it in FTOPS!

Movers = Gold

Another life update. We've been in the new house for a little over a week now. We paid a moving crew to get us over here. All we had to do was box up the belongings. They loaded and unloaded everything, and even set our beds back up. Great service! The new house has an upstairs and we had some heavy arse furniture going up and I really wasn't enjoying the idea of hauling that up there with the aid of family members, especially since family members don't agree to pay for a wall if they take it out with a bed rail.

We're on day 9 out of 90 or so without cable internet and no T.V. I miss not being able to watch some football or poker shows. I hear the WSOP HORSE event is pretty darn interesting this year. Seems they barely even covered it last year.

I suppose I could always load up Madden on my playstation and run a demo game or two to get my football fix. Ya just never know how nice modern conveniences are until you are without them.

New Updates on PSORG

We've been busy as bees on the poker forum lately. Here's a partial list of some of the recent updates.

We've added some skill games, including a Spades Rules and Tips section, and a Rummy Strategy section. If anyone reading knows good rummy or spades strategy, I'd be happy to pay you to write an article or three for us. We're also considering adding a Mahjong section. Any game that is skill, like poker, we'd love to add it.

We also added a texas holdem poker download section with the most commonly downloaded online poker software listed.

We kicked off a contest drawing, and anyone who is interested can win a free copy of Poker Tracker. Just look over the contest page by hitting that poker tracker link, and email me to signup.

Finally, we've added a couple of new rakeback programs. The first one is Cake Poker Rakeback. Cake is growing fast, and has some of the juiciest NLHE games around right now, not to mention some pretty nifty promotions. We also launched our Carbon Poker Rakeback program. Carbon is on the old Poker.Com network, and is the very first chance for players to earn Merge Gaming Rakeback. Even if you already have a Carbon account, we can still get you rakeback on this network. Just email me, poker [dot] strategy [at] gmail [dot] com.

Oh, and a finally to the finally. I wrote a long article on 7 card stud HU heads up strategy. I earn a solid win rate using this strategy in games through $5/$10.

That's about it. Comments and ideas are always welcome!

Life Update

We're officially home owners. Woohoo. :)

This week has been a ton of work, cleaning and then painting every square foot of the place. It looks great though, and I'm lucky enough to have family and friends that are willing to lend a helping hand.

We move officially on Oct. 15th, and still have some packing to do. Updates here will probably be sporadic, as I haven't even had time to play poker, much less talk about it.

The only thing I don't like about this new house is that we'll have to wait 30-90 days for cable internet and TV. Comcast noted that the end of the wire was 500+ feet away, so they're going to have to go through the process of renting the poles on which to run the cable line.

I'm able to connect through my phone, and actually get a pretty darn good connection through it, relatively speaking, at about 200 KbPS. A bit pricey, but I've never had a phone that was more versatile than the Pocket PC 8525.

Anywhoooo. 200 Kb per second is plenty fast enough to play poker. Good thing I don't watch much T.V. though. Leslie will be going through Oprah withdrawals I bet...

To all the Absolute Poker 7cs players, good luck at the tables. The 4th street percentage should jump a bit with me not there. :)

Spectacular 565th out of 696.

Yay. I had one of those creepy "not gonna be a good day" feelings when our final walkthrough for our house that we close on tomorrow ran over by 30 minutes and put me late for the start of WCOOP #15. Unlike Phil Hellmuth, I like to see every single hand if possible.

Upon sitting in about 30 hands into the tournament, I see that I have Gemany's top female pro, Katja Thater to my left. Hot dang.

Started decently well, hitting a flush and trips to build from ~2900 where the stack was when I arrived up to around $3300 at the early low limits. From there it went all down hill. I can't blame starting hands for sure. I got dealt AA, KK, QQ a great deal, but to save you the annoying bad beat stories, I'll just say that completing with KK, and getting raised by A5Q rainbow maniac, you expect to win some chips over time. Time just ran out too quick.

It was a wonderful table though. Two donks (TIJO and HlwdMike) were donating chips to everyone else but me. Just one of those days where the table tards bleed you dry with hands like the aforementioned A5Q rainbow vs. KK, and then donate those chips to players like Katja.

I'm looking forward to the next WCOOP. Satelliting in was pretty easy, and honestly, the table I was playing was easier than most 1/2 tables at AP. It's one of those where you expect to double or triple your money if you stay all day. Just can't do that in a tournament.... those pesky starting chip stack and limit increases, etc.

Time for a nap.

Should you ever fold AA preflop?

I'm not off my rocker. I'm just considering the idea of folding in a +EV situation, when the edge isn't huge in a tournament. In a recent article written for us by Learn Texas Holdem, they give an example of a time when folding might be a tactically solid play.

In the example, you have 4 left in a large tournament field where #3 pays significantly better than the #4 finisher. Your are short stack with 10k. The two ahead of you have 11k and 12k respectively and the chip leader has 20k. They all 3 go all in ahead of you, and you look down at AA.

In a cash game, this is an obvious push. But AA against 3 hands that show decent strength is probably only about a 55% favorite to win the hand. If you fold, there are several good results you can look forward to. The big stack wins, knocking both the two smaller stacks out, putting you to #2 and a huge jump in payout. The 12k stack winning bumps you to #3 at worst, and the 20k stack is now short stack with 8k. Finally, the worst result is the 11k player winning, but even then, the 12k stack is down to 2k and the large stack is at 9k. Here again, you've moved to #2 in chip position with a very very short stacked player in 4th.

So do you fold the AA? If you call and win, you'll have a massive chip lead of 40k, with two tiny stacks (1k and 2k), and the previous tall stack will be cut in half (10k). If you call and lose your virtual coin flip you're out with 4th place money.

What to do, what to do. My opinion is, you'd need to check out the difference between 2nd and 1st place money. If it was a huge skew towards the person who wins it all, then calling with AA is obviously the best decision. On the other hand, if #1, #2 and #3 all have pretty even payouts, with 4th getting little, then folding might be the best choice.

Really a tough question, and I suppose depends more on personality.

Check out the full Tactics vs. EV in Tournament Endgames.

Lagging my way to WCOOP #15

I earned a $320 seat in the WCOOP #15 at Poker Stars. It's the 7 card stud event with $100,000 guaranteed. By way of explanation, WCOOP = World Championship of Online Poker. It's put on by Poker Stars and is considered to be "the" online world series of poker, basically. The only other major online tournament event is Full Tilt's FTOPS.

I won my way in through a $48 satellite. About 10 minutes in, I lost my cable connection and had to play the rest of the way on a dial up connection. Laggy as everything and I'm sure the other players were none too happy! My nick is coachkf at Poker Stars, and is currently preregistered in WCOOP #15. Woohoo!

It was easier to qualify than I thought. I've never attempted to qualify for any of these events. Heck, I've only played a handful of 7 card stud tourneys for that matter. I stick to cash games generally.

I played two $27.50 turbo satellites and just missed a seat on each, but landing high enough to get my buyin back on both. I struck out in a $9 turbo stage one satellite to the $48 satellite. I decided to go ahead and cough up the $48, and definitely glad that I did. Only 40 players entered, and 5 seats were awarded. When #6 busted out, I was #3 in chips, I think.

So total spent to earn the seat came to $57. Not bad for a $320 seat. This WCOOP #15 is shaping up to be a lengthy affair. The starting stacks will be doubled to 3000, and antes/limits increase every 30 minutes. In the satellite we started with 1500 and increased every 15 minutes. The turbos were a sick 1500 starting stack and increases every 5 minutes!

Finally, the hand that really put me into this event was really a bit lucky. I was dealt TTT, and it was folded to me with 2 players behind me so I just called. Player to my left completed with a king doorcard, and again, I just smooth called. Heads up going to 4th street. He catches another king to show a pair, and possible KKK. I groaned, but this guy was super aggressive and I had fully expected the completed bet, even if he had deuce, seven, king rainbow to start. At any rate, I raised him on 4th to see his reaction and he just calls. Not really much info there. Could be slow playing trips or might have just KK and garbage.

5th street I catch another ten for quads. We cap 5th, 6th and 7th. His trip kings are pretty obvious now. Long and short is, I got all my chips in, and when the hand was over he had ~20 left and was out the next hand. I had ~3000 and the chip lead. I stayed in the top 5 from that point forward with more good cards and good breaks.

Here's hoping WCOOP #15 event will be as kind!

Quote of the Week

Maybe the month, and possibly the year. Just depends on how long it takes me to see another paragraph that just nails a great thought.

We had a new member on our poker forum start a thread about tilting, and he made this observation after discussing a session that he lost $325 in just a couple of hours, tilting it away. In his own words:

The more poker I play, the more I begin to understand that what makes a poker player able to succeed and win in the long run is not understanding odds (though it helps,) having great luck (because it always ends,) or even being able to read hands (I wish I was better at that,) but having self control and discipline.

I guess the only thing he left out that players "over focus" on is bluffing. You ask a newbie what makes a successful poker player and they'll say something like "math geek" or "iron balls. He can shove it all in with 72o and take down the pot without flinching" or "uncanny reading ability. It's easy to play when you can see through the other guys cards"....

Hogwash. Those things do tend to separate the superstars from the rest of us, but what makes an every day, grind it out, winning player is self control and discipline. If a player can't master those two qualities, he'll never win over the long haul.

All of the poker strategy and bankroll management theory in the world won't help you if you don't have the discipline to apply it at the table, and the self control to stay on even keel when things don't go your way, (or at least enough sense to know when you've lost your self control and pack it up for the night).

I guess we're lucky that most players don't really listen to "discipline" and "self control" advice. They just keep donating to Dylan's Diaper Fund. :)

Learn Texas Holdem

We recently had some articles written for us on our poker strategy and mastering holdem domains. These articles were written by Learn Texas Holdem. Good quality stuff.

The first article is titled False Tells. Many players confuse the "acting" tell as a false tell, and this article not only straightens out the misconception, but throws in some good examples of what a false tell actually is.

They wrote another article for us labeled Handling Large Sit n Go's. The multi table SNG's have become more and more popular, especially at sites like Poker Stars. This article just provides a few tips and thoughts to keep in mind next time you sit down to one. :)

We'll be having LTH write another article or two for us in the future, and review them here.

When it comes to growing as a poker player, I believe we're only limited by ourselves. Keep studying, reading and playing and just about anyone of decent intelligence can make a nice income from online poker.