Milestones.
We've seen a lot in the history of poker - from the WSOP's humble beginnings in the early 1970's, to the Moneymaker effect of 2003 and the incredible boom of online poker that followed.
All in between there have been significant events of varying degree.
Two weeks ago there was a tremor in the force, one that will have long lasting repercussions on the digital felt and on live poker as well.
Full Tilt introduced "Rush" poker. And it is absolutely incredible.
The concept is this - sit down at a cash game table, if you like your hand and your position you play as normal. If you don't like your cards well enough to play, you fold - and INSTANTLY are transported to a completely different table with a different hand. And when I say instant, I mean under 2 seconds. It's crazy cool.
There is even a "Quick Fold" button, that you can click, before the action even gets to you. You are whisked away instantly, to another table and another position - chosen randomly by the computer. The players on the previous table don't know that you are already gone until the action reaches your avatar and you fold.
A "Rush" poker game, is a large pool of players - 3000 or so in the most popular rooms, all being automatically moved to a brand new hand at a brand new table when they fold.
I hope I've described it adequately - but for the full scoop click here.
It is the crack cocaine of online poker.
When I first went to check it out, I went to the lobby and noticed that the lowest stakes in real money were 10NL. That is not quite low enough for my online bankroll of less than $200. So I clicked over to play chips and tried it out there.
Very cool, but absolutely not poker in any way, shape or form. I quintupled my buy-in in about 20 minutes, which was moderately fun, but my inner player recognized very quickly that this wasn't helping my game - nor was it feeling at all like the real thing.
So I took a big breath, and fully aware that I was going in over my head (bankroll-wise), I took the plunge into real money play.
It was SO, MUCH, FUN.
Don't like the trash that you're catching? Just fold for about 5 minutes, and you'll catch some good ass cards.
It is literally 250 to 300 hands an hour.
Put it in perspective, at a normal online table, you're lucky if you get to 75 to 100 hands an hour.
I played 1000 hands in under 3 1/2 hours the other night.
Ah-mazing.
The bad news - I dropped 2 1/2 buy-ins the first night, playing for less than 2 hours.
The good news - I got most of it back a couple of nights later, my 1000 hand effort.
I went back for more (after a catastrophic hit to my bankroll) only because I intuitively felt that the game was beatable.
The fish are even nittier - and the sharks are pretty helpless because they cannot bum hunt, data mine or use their HUDs. (Heads Up Displays).
I found it was pretty easy to steal blinds in late position, and yet paradoxically I got paid off big time with Kings or Aces pre-flop when I shoved!
Of course, I also had my Aces cracked a couple of times by runner runner garbage catchers - but I knew for sure each time that my decisions leading to the heart ache were almost all correct.
Rush Poker is something else, and has rekindled my love for cash game play.
I have to be careful playing above my roll, but I really believe deep down that I can blast this baby, despite potentially huge swings of variance.
If I do bust, then that will be that for this year in real money online on Full Tilt - but I have every intention of enjoying the ride and playing the rush as much as I can!
So much for resolutions! (Though I am still banning myself during the week, despite my playing Rush on the Wednesday that it came out.)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Gearing up for 2010
Excited about the new year in Poker!
2009 was a blast, but in the interests of self improvement and in spending more time with my family I will be taking the following steps.
Resolutions:
I Will ban myself from poker on Full Tilt every week - Late Monday through Thursday night.
On Full Tilt I Will only play $1 rake-free tournaments (that is, only the Ferguson or the Daily Dollar freezeout.) No more sit-n-go's, satellites or rebuy tourneys. I cash in these about 15% of the time, which is probably profitable in the live arena with a substantial buy-in amount invested but not at micro-stakes online. I've slowly bled out my online winnings - down under $200 after being up almost $400. No need to panic, but micro-stakes are damn near unbeatable with a rake/entry fee that floats around 20%.
Flatline will be Monday nights and Worldline will be every other Wednesday through April - Absolutely NO Full Tilt on either of these nights. (The exception being Monday night IF I bust out from Flatline I can enter the Ferguson Razz, Oh joy.)
Tuesday and Thursday nights are reading nights! ONLY after 10pm. Tuesday is poker content optional, Thursday is poker study only.
Friday night is Video night; ONLY AFTER 9pm. I will either renew my ProPlayLive or try out Cardrunners. I am allowed to play the Ferguson on Friday night, but only after watching a full hour of video - I am not allowed to play the Daily dollar.
Saturday and Sunday I am allowed to play the Daily Dollar/Ferguson only on days without a live event or on days without family plans that involve leaving the house. (Example; a day of yard work and playing with Natalie at home would be okay - going to the Zoo, my sister in law's or brothers house would not.)
Once a month on Full Tilt I am allowed to play in the BLT (The Big Little Tournament) which is a $5 MTT with a prize pool of $250,000.
Once a month I may choose to play a live tournament in an LA cardroom with a buy in of $150 or less- with the wife's full knowledge and consent of course.
My home game will have two games a month, a tournament on a Saturday night and a cash game on a Friday night.
That's about it! At a glance it seems like a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can stick to these guidelines a- and in doing so greatly increase my knowledge of the game and at the same time drastically reduce burn out and insure that my priorities are where they are supposed to be.
Also, very much looking forward to my annual Vegas poker odessy in February. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to cash - only to have as much fun as possible!
Last year, you may remember, I cashed twice in Vegas, including chopping for first place - effectively negating my entry fees and expenses for the trip. I also cashed quite a bit at HPC.
But having said that - I had my aces cracked TWICE at HPC, both times all the chips were in pre-flop, both times were the end of my tournament life. Once against a pair of nines which spiked trips on the river and the second time against AQ which made a set on the turn. The second instance was particularly nasty, as it was 80/20 pre-flop AND I had a big stack of chips that got tangled up with the only other stack in the entire tournament that had me covered. Yuck.
I also recently lost a heartbreaking 60/40 race with a pair of tens against a bad player's K7os. Very frustrating to get my money in good and have the river rip up the chance for another really good run at the money.
So my eyes are open to the fact that even great cards and correct decisions are not immune to the whim of the poker Gods.
I stand my best chance of having a blast - not by running over the table and somehow miraculously taking down a tourney, but by savoring the experience and finding lots of things to laugh about.
Can't wait!
2009 was a blast, but in the interests of self improvement and in spending more time with my family I will be taking the following steps.
Resolutions:
I Will ban myself from poker on Full Tilt every week - Late Monday through Thursday night.
On Full Tilt I Will only play $1 rake-free tournaments (that is, only the Ferguson or the Daily Dollar freezeout.) No more sit-n-go's, satellites or rebuy tourneys. I cash in these about 15% of the time, which is probably profitable in the live arena with a substantial buy-in amount invested but not at micro-stakes online. I've slowly bled out my online winnings - down under $200 after being up almost $400. No need to panic, but micro-stakes are damn near unbeatable with a rake/entry fee that floats around 20%.
Flatline will be Monday nights and Worldline will be every other Wednesday through April - Absolutely NO Full Tilt on either of these nights. (The exception being Monday night IF I bust out from Flatline I can enter the Ferguson Razz, Oh joy.)
Tuesday and Thursday nights are reading nights! ONLY after 10pm. Tuesday is poker content optional, Thursday is poker study only.
Friday night is Video night; ONLY AFTER 9pm. I will either renew my ProPlayLive or try out Cardrunners. I am allowed to play the Ferguson on Friday night, but only after watching a full hour of video - I am not allowed to play the Daily dollar.
Saturday and Sunday I am allowed to play the Daily Dollar/Ferguson only on days without a live event or on days without family plans that involve leaving the house. (Example; a day of yard work and playing with Natalie at home would be okay - going to the Zoo, my sister in law's or brothers house would not.)
Once a month on Full Tilt I am allowed to play in the BLT (The Big Little Tournament) which is a $5 MTT with a prize pool of $250,000.
Once a month I may choose to play a live tournament in an LA cardroom with a buy in of $150 or less- with the wife's full knowledge and consent of course.
My home game will have two games a month, a tournament on a Saturday night and a cash game on a Friday night.
That's about it! At a glance it seems like a lot, but I'm pretty sure I can stick to these guidelines a- and in doing so greatly increase my knowledge of the game and at the same time drastically reduce burn out and insure that my priorities are where they are supposed to be.
Also, very much looking forward to my annual Vegas poker odessy in February. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself to cash - only to have as much fun as possible!
Last year, you may remember, I cashed twice in Vegas, including chopping for first place - effectively negating my entry fees and expenses for the trip. I also cashed quite a bit at HPC.
But having said that - I had my aces cracked TWICE at HPC, both times all the chips were in pre-flop, both times were the end of my tournament life. Once against a pair of nines which spiked trips on the river and the second time against AQ which made a set on the turn. The second instance was particularly nasty, as it was 80/20 pre-flop AND I had a big stack of chips that got tangled up with the only other stack in the entire tournament that had me covered. Yuck.
I also recently lost a heartbreaking 60/40 race with a pair of tens against a bad player's K7os. Very frustrating to get my money in good and have the river rip up the chance for another really good run at the money.
So my eyes are open to the fact that even great cards and correct decisions are not immune to the whim of the poker Gods.
I stand my best chance of having a blast - not by running over the table and somehow miraculously taking down a tourney, but by savoring the experience and finding lots of things to laugh about.
Can't wait!
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