Poker online for money

Tonight for the first time ever ... I played for money online. I had been reading a blog (thanks Assassinato) for the last few days of a young poker pro and I felt inspired to give it a go. I won $5 on PokerStars a few months ago for placing in the second round of a tournament so I thought why not.

I had a look at PokerStar's list of games and obviously considering the "bankroll" I had, I went for the most micro of micro tournaments. So the first tournament I registered for was a 360 player 10c buy-in ... just so I could see how things work, style of play, etc. While waiting for that I also registered for a 45 player, $1 + 20c tournament. In the 360 player game I finished 63rd and in the 45 player game I made it to final table and finished 6th!

The final table I made, I actually went in placed 2nd in chips. Not surprisingly the action was very aggressive and people were pushing hard. I started bleeding chips and made the mistake of not pushing with ace-king suited from behind the button. Everyone called, I didn't hit but chased and after that hand my stack was crippled. First real sit-n-go and I cashed, only $3 but pretty happy with that.

I didn't have much to do tonight so I played another 2 x 360 tournaments and finished 160th and 74th respectively. Two more 45 player sit-n-go's, 11th in the first and then another 6th placed finish in the second. I again was chipped up near final table, called a push with pocket 9's and another player called behind me. The board came out all low but I checked with the intention of checking it down to knock the all-in player out. The guy behind me tho pushed all-in ... I eventually layed it down ... thankfully the player behind me had pocket jacks so that was a very good fold. His jacks held and we moved to the final table. Unfortunately I tried to bluff a guy out of a pot (which I rarely do) early on, blind vs blind ... but he called twice with middle pair and no kicker and I was busted. My stack was then hurting and I limped through to 6th again and another $3 cash.

So first ever night of online poker for money, two final tables out of three sit-no-go's (I'm not really counting the 3 x 360 player games for 10c each) ... pretty happy with that!

Greg Raymer profile

While playing the Hubble freeroll last night I accidentally stumbled across their PokerStars Pro profiles. One of the ones I liked was this (below) one of Greg Raymer, "Fossilman". The video at the bottom is quite interesting as he talks about how he got started as well as how you move up the "levels" in the poker world. Click on the title below to read the full story and scroll down to the video interview.

PokerStars - Greg Raymer - 2004 World Series Champion

Originally from North Dakota, Greg Raymer worked as a patent lawyer before giving it up to play poker full time. In the early days of his career, he would add to his bankroll by buying fossil card protectors and selling them at the table. It was this that led to him being called ‘FossilMan’, a nickname that has stuck to this day. Greg would soon find that he didn’t have to worry about the size of his bankroll for much longer.

After finding success in tournaments across the country, Greg played at the World Series for the first time in 2001. He almost made the final table of the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event, finishing 12th for a small cash of $5,345. He returned to Las Vegas every year and in 2004 won a far bigger amount of cash. Ever since fellow Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker had won the previous year, the World Series had seen huge growth, and the 2004 Main Event attracted a massive 2,576 players. Greg played a solid game and emerged as the winner, earning prize money of $5,000,000.

Hubble freeroll

Poker players play for many different reasons and have different motivations (especially in online poker). Its even more diverse when its a freeroll. I've heard some people say that "its a freeroll, no one cares", me tho, I play as well as I can for practice and to qualify for the next round where there's cash involved.

I was in doing some work last night and thought that I'd play the hubble freeroll on PokerStars before I went home. I figured I'd play for the usual hour and a half or so, finish in in the top 500 and be home before midnight. That didn't quite happen ...

I tend to do quite well in the hubble's but am yet to crack the second round when the cash is up for grabs. My best finish so far is on the bubble, 100th with 99 qualifying for the next round ... to get that close but miss out, shattered to say the least.

Last night I had another very good shot of making it through. I chipped up massively early and at one point was in the top 20 chip counts, so was cruising. I had people walking in to (my) massive hands, guys pushing all-in with their two pair when I'd already hit the flush, guys thinking their ace was good when it came on the board when I had trips ... things were definitely going my way. When I got to about 70K in chips tho I stupidly took my foot off the pedal and tightened up. I folded to small raises that deserved little respect and the flop came out what would've been a dream for me. I folded king-7 (not a good poker hand, but fine when you're chipped up) to a relatively small raise when I was small blind and the flop comes 3, 7, 7 ... OUCH. Later in the tournament I was small blind getting ridiculously good odds and I folded king-5 pre-flop ... the flop comes 5, 7, 5 ... ugggh.

My stack started to dwindle as the blinds went up as did the opposing chip stacks. I was pushed around by the bigger stacks raising with nothing just to put pressure on the small stacks. I took a stand with ace-king suited and doubled-up through a call with ace-queen off. I pushed with pocket-8's and it held up against ace-queen off. But my luck eventually ran out with ace-9 suited against pocket jacks. I raised, hoping to steal the blinds ... got called by the jacks. The flop had two hearts in it with the high card being a queen so I pushed all-in, got called by the jacks, I caught a 9 on the turn but no ace and no more hearts. So I ended up finishing 161st out of 12,000 starters.

Its a good performance but I learnt that getting to 70K isn't enough for you to cruise through to the top 99 so you can't stop pushing and building your stack. And I played for 2.5 hours getting home just after 1 (I think) ... tired today.

The big cash game

Sunday was the day of the big cash poker game. I had a combined bucks & hens day on Saturday and stupidly had a bit too much to drink. Thankfully it was an early night so I wasn't hurting too badly come Sunday morning.

There was 24 people playing, $100 buy-in, $1400 first prize and cash went down to 5th place. Having done well in the APL State Finals the week before in a field of 500, I was hoping to take that kind of form in to this game. The structure suited me well, 10K starting stack and 1 hour blinds (very slow). This meant I could be extremely patient if I was on an aggressive table or play a wider range of cards if there weren't many raises.

Unfortunately a few of my friends were out very early on. For much of the day I went up and down a little but basically stayed around the 10K starting mark. I threw out a few semi-bluffs and because most of the people know me well, they folded and I didn't have to show my hands. The main hand of the day for me was a battle between myself and a friend who I had taken a few pots from. I raised 3 times the blind under-the-gun with ace-jack off. She re-raises from small blind another 3 times which really isn't that much more for me at that point in the game so I call. I'm trying to think what she would re-raise me with and figure it has to be queens, kings, aces, ace-king or maybe ace-queen. The flop comes king, ace, king and she's first to act ... she bets almost the pot. That looks like a semi-scary board for me considering what I put her on pre-flop but I call and will see what happens on the turn. The next card is a blank 7 ... shouldn't help or hurt but she comes out hard again betting the pot which is now about 1/2 of my stack. I start to work the hand out in my head and it looks like she wants me out of the pot because her under pockets (jacks or queens) are no longer good. I can't be sure but I'm pretty sure I'm ahead ... but I fold and figure I'll take my stand later when I'm more confident. She is relieved that I folded and eventually does me the honour of showing me pocket queens. Obviously I was wrong to fold but I was pleased that I actually put her on that hand and figured out the play correctly. Despite that hand I still go to the next break even steven around 10K.

I play quite well without getting involved in to me stand-offs and make my way down to the final two tables. The blinds are now actually making an impact on chip stacks so moves are made far more often. I wait till I get pocket kings and flat call under-the-gun. A looser player next to me raises it up 3.5 times, everyone else folds and I push all-in over the top. She thinks, calls and turns over jacks and my kings hold up and I more than double up.

We get down to the final 8 players and the blinds are now up to 2000/4000 and I've only got about 15K. One player on the other side of the table is a chip-monster and has been playing loose and getting lucky. We're involved early in a 4-way pot with one player all-in so I figure I'll get to see all 5 cards. Unfortunately he (the chip monster) pushes hard on the turn. I need one more card for the nut flush but it will cost me all my chips to see that card. I figure he's either got a full-house which is possible but unlikely or he already has a small flush and wants everyone out. I eventually fold and he show the small flush, another heart comes on the river saving the all-in and the big-stack wins nothing from the hand. I miss out on taking all the chips tho and knocking one person out.

We're down to 7 now and my stack is almost gone ... chip-monster pushes very hard under-the-gun. I look down and see ace-queen off and figure that will do. Its just the two of us and he turns over pocket 6's. First card out ace ... great! Next card out ten of clubs, queen of clubs (beauty, I have two pair), king of clubs ... 3 of clubs ... giving him a 4 card flush with his 6. I get knocked out to 4 running clubs ... uggggh. 7th placed finish, just out of the money ... so close. I was pleased to go deep in a relatively high standard of cash game (altho there were plenty of bad plays from a number of them), played good poker but hope to do even better next time.

(I'm not Kenny Tran, "king of the cash game" yet)

Cold cards

After my deep run at the APL State Finals my cards have turned COLD. Well, actually they turned cold about 30 minutes before I finished the State tournament.

I've played APL (Australian Poker League) twice this week and seen virtually no cards at all. I had an aggressive table on Monday but it really didn't matter, I saw nothing I could call raises with. Not high cards, not suited connectors, nothing that had a reason to play it.

Then last night at the Shafston it took me around TWO hours before I won a hand. If I had semi-decent cards, I couldn't connect with a flop and when I was able to limp in from the blinds, best I could do was hit bottom pair with no kicker on an obviously dangerous flop. I ended up pushing from under-the-gun with king-ten suited (something I never do) and the big blind was almost all-in so I knew I would get a call. She turned over ace-8 suited, she hits an 8, I hit a king, she hits an ace, hand over. Two hands later I get to limp with ace-2 of clubs from the small blind, two clubs on the flop, I'm first to act so I push all in. The big blind thinks for a short while and then re-raises all in over the top, the other player folds. I'm hoping at this point that the big blind has hit his king and I just need a club or an ace to win the hand ... unfortunately he turns over king-3 of clubs so there are VERY few clubs left in the deck. Thankfully an ace comes on the river and I survive. I end up bubbling, finishing 9th and just missing out on final table. I could have folded my way on to final table and got the points but I wanted to try and chip up because the blinds were high and I'm tired of folding my way on to final table and having no chips.

This Sunday I'm playing in a cash game with friends from the APL. Buy-in is $100 and there's about 25 - 30 people playing so the first prize is more than $1400. These are usually very tough games so it would be VERY nice to take that down, not just for the money but the prestige of running through a quality cash game field!

World Series of Poker 2008

I don't have Foxtel (yet) so I was catching up on the World Series coverage on youtube last night. You may have seen this already but I thought it was worth posting.

So you're in the World Series of Poker and you hit quad aces on the river. You value bet, get raised and push all-in over the top begging to get called and paid. Then insta-call and ...



TOUGH way to be sent packing!

Straight Flush

Up until a few weeks ago my best hand ever had been quad aces. I was yet to get a straight flush until I hit one with jack-ten of diamonds on PokerStars last month. My first straight flush in APL came last Thursday in my regular game at the Shafston.

It was just after the break and I had around 3500 in chips. I was one off under the gun and called the blinds of 200 with 7-8 diamonds hoping to see a cheap flop. There were 2 other callers and then the big blind (an aggressive player) raised 3 times the blind. I figured the other 2 callers would come along and I didn't really want to fold for just 400 more. The flops comes and its exactly what I wanted to see, all diamonds (5, 6, king) and giving me the open-ended straight flush draw. Big blind is first to act and throws out a little continuation bet of 200 so I re-raise to 1000 ... knowing that if another diamond comes my two diamonds are that strong anymore. I get a caller from a big stack on the other side of the table and I put him on the ace of diamonds (with some other non-diamond card). The next comes out the 4 of diamonds giving me the straight flush and hopefully the other guy the ace-high flush. I'm tempted to double check I have the straight flush first but throw out another 1000 hoping he'll instantly call. But, much to my delight he instead puts me all-in thinking he has the nut flush. I insta-call of course and surprise him by turning over the straight flush 4 - 8 which he never saw coming. Dream scenario for me and he's drawing dead on the river.

APL Full Tilt Poker State Finals

Sunday just gone was the APL State Finals sponsored this time by Full Tilt Poker and held at the Caloundra RSL. Its a qualifying event with the top 3 from each venue and the top 10 from each region scoring entry in to the tournament. I was (very) lucky to scrape in by finishing 3rd in my regular Monday night game at Bulimba.

There were almost 500 players (495 officially I think) and our region sent about 20 or so. For the first time the tournament was taking part in one seating rather than having 2 different sessions ... which I think people had been asking for. It was a good venue and having all the players seated at once made for great atmosphere and a sea of tables.

States suits my game quite well because its a deep/er starting stack (5000) and longer blinds (25 mins in the early stages rather than 15). Also, most of the players tighten up a bit because they're actually playing for something so there's not as many dumb plays ... or at least I didn't see as many (thankfully). "Mr Sparkles" was the first out for our region as he unluckily walked in to trips when he hit two pair on the flop. At the first break none of our team were really chipped up and the stacks ranged from around 1000 up to 7500. I sat at 3500 and knew with the blinds going up I had to start building my stack and quickly. Thankfully that happened second hand after the break as I took down a good pot with pocket kings on my big blind and I was soon up to almost 10,000. Unfortunately around this time our defending State champ, Paul McGougan bust out when his ace-king pre-flop push got too many callers and it didn't hold up.

By the next break, our original table had been broken and we were down to around 200 players. Our team was still doing well as we had about 10 or 12 players in but we all knew the next portion of the game was make or break. I was on a much tougher table with the tournament chip leader on my right and constantly pushing the table around. I took a stand, pushing all-in with pocket 10's and got two callers from the big stacks. Thankfully the board comes out all low and they both check it down and my ten's hold up.

After chipping up to about 20,000 in chips, the final hand before the next break I had ace-jack off-suit under the gun with the blinds at 2000/4000 and thought for a while what to do. I ended up raising 3 times the blind hoping I could just take down the blinds without a fight. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as "The Mouth" from Townsville on the other side of the table pushed all-in over the top of me. The one-time chip leader on my right who was big blind had been crushed in this stage of the tournament so he called but was well short of the re-raise and my original bet. I got up from the table cursing my luck that this was the last hand before the break and why did The Mouth have to go all-in. Knowing the blinds would go up when I got back from the break and with over 50K in the pot I knew I had to call and hope for the best. I thought I was going in ahead but was in trouble when The Mouth turned over pocket jacks and the big blind turned over queens. The announcer came over to call the hand and by this time I was begging for an ace. The board comes all low, 2, 4, 8 ... by this time I'm yellling for an ace to bail me out and it comes on the turn ... the cheer goes up from my friends who are watching. Knowing I need to just dodge the river, I go nuts as the final card is another ace giving me trips and the pot!!

During the break, I'm just buzzing knowing that I'm right back in the tournament with a healthy 56K in chips. Our team has lost a few more and with 86 players left, we're down to just 3 or 4 survivors. We come back and my luck continues to flow getting pocket kings under the gun, raising strongly and getting a caller. The board comes out all low with a possible flush draw, so I bet about 1/2 the pot and after some thought the other guy lays down his ace-jack. With a few more small wins I'm up over $100K and luck is on my side. I limp in with king-jack off-suit, the short stack next to me pushes all-in over the top, he's called by a shorter stack next to him and by the time everyone else folds the odds are way too good for me to lay it down. Against pocket 7's and king-queen suited, a jack comes as the highest card on the board and I take down a big pot and knock 2 people out. As I'm stacking the chips the next hand is dealt and the short-stack under the gun pushes all-in for about 25K. I look down and see ace-queen off-suit and after thinking for a few seconds call. As I continue stacking another player goes all-in over the top for 85K. I'm in shock at this point as I wasn't expecting anyone else to call, let alone re-raise. I look at my support crew behind the table (by this time I'm the only left from our region) and they know what I have ... but having just chipped up I don't want to put my tournament on the line so I lay it down. Short stack shows pocket kings, re-raiser turns over pocket queens ... good fold by me and even better when no ace comes but a king does.

I take down a few smaller pots and win a race against someone when I have king-queen and he pushed over the top with ace-ten. I figured he was ahead but I had raised and I would still have chips left should I fold but the odds for me to call were more than good enough to take a chance. The king comes, his ace doesn't. We're now inside the top 20 and my run of cards turns ice-cold, the blinds are up to 15K/30K, pushes are coming from all sides and my stack is dwindling. With 25K left and me in the small blind, we're on the bubble (down to 17 players, top 16 get cash) and there's a short stack on the other side of the table from me, if I can just make it through this hand. I get dealt pocket 4's but if I call I don't have enough chips to cover the big-blind let alone put him to a decision. He has two random cards which are likely over my pair but will get to see all 5 cards. I agonise for a few minutes (hoping other players will get knocked out) and then eventually throw them away knowing I'm likely just playing for the cash now. Big blind had 2 - 9 but I still consider it a good fold considering the position of the tournament.

Thankfully the short-stack on our table gets knocked out by a straight on the river and cheers go up as we're all in the money. We now get moved to the final two tables and thankfully I pick the ace card which means I get the dealer position so I get a whole round of the table before I have to play a hand. One player gets knocked off the other table, so I move up another spot. My cards stay ice-cold and I get queen-five off on my big blind and I'm up against an all-in with pocket 4's and a call by pocket 6's. With an ace, king, ten on the board I have outs with any queen or jack but hit neither, game over. The 4's also get knocked out but since I had less chips I finish 15th, he finishes 14th. I get my $500 cheque and congratulations from the guys from my region who had hung around to support me. After kicking off at 11am, I finish around 8:30pm ... thankfully the breaks made it easier but it was a long day and hard work. All thoroughly enjoyed tho of course and capped off with some celebratory late night Chinese with some of the team (the duck was gooood).

(Me, in green, early on in the tournament)

Poker credentials

So when all the poker books recommend that you play a strong, aggressive game ... how does a tight, conservative player fair in the world of free poker? Well, my game seems to be best suited to deep stack tournaments rather than small stack, quick blinds.

Your normal APL game is small stack, quick blinds, loose players, etc ... so I don't win too many actual games (I've won twice so far, both in the last few months). I do well, I regularly get on final tables and have a strong average (points) but I tend to place rather than take out the win.

Online free events are TOUGH. The play is erratic to say the least and you come up against all types of players and all different skill (or lack there of) levels.

My best performances in APL have been:

1. In a joint regional tournament (a few months ago) of about 150 players, I made final table with not too many chips and finished 8th.

2. I finished top two in a Lucky 13 regional tournament of about 65 players. I was just about out half-way through the tournament but rode a HOT streak of cards that chipped me up massively. In the space of 30 minutes I saw pocket 7's, pocket queens, pocket jacks, pocket aces and pocket kings and won with them all. Finishing top 2 won me a trip to Sydney including flights, accommodation and buy-in to play in an APL Pro Open (cash tournament).

3. Two quarters ago I won the Shafston venue which meant I had the most points over a 3 month period. I won a trophy and qualified for my first State tournament.

4. Yesterday I played in my second State tournament and out of 500 players finished 15th which won me $500. More about this in my next post.

Now, in online freeroll tournaments (on PokerStars), my best performances so far are:

1. I finished top 50 in a qualifying event (out of around 5000 players) that put me through to a World Series of Poker satellite. Competing against 14,000 other players I was very unlucky to get knocked out around 650th (the other guy was way behind when he called a second re-raise on the turn and he hit one of only 3 outs on the river).

2. I finished top 50 in a qualifying event (out of around 3000 players) which put me through to a satellite for an APPT event in Macau. There were more than 2500 players in the satellite and the top 100 would be paid (only $5 it turns out) ... I finished 70th.

Favourite/lucky hands

A lot of people have favourite or lucky hands. Sure, everyone loves high pockets, suited cards or two high cards, but its the more unusual hands that you win with that tend to be remembered. Whether its the time you cracked aces with (insert crap cards here), the hand that you won your first tournament with or the time you flopped a boat with (insert crap cards here).

For me, its jack-three. Ironically, its the first hand that I got knocked out of an APL game with but since then I've done a lot better with it. One APL game, first hand of the night with blinds at 25/50 I looked down and saw jack-three of spades and called. Being the first hand of the night, its talked about regularly that because people don't shuffle thoroughly enough that the first hand of the night is often by a flush. So I'm like, two suited cards why not and hopefully I'll see a flop. Anyway, the blinds check and the flop comes out jack, 3, something else. Big blind checks, I bet and I get two callers. Next card comes out another 3 giving me a full-house. Big blind checks again so I throw out another bet, I get re-raised slightly by the big blind, I call and so does another player. The final card is basically a blank, I think the big blind bets, I push all-in over the top, the other player calls as does the big blind. By this stage I'm wondering what's going on and what they could possibly be calling with. Big blind turns over pocket aces (a lesson in how not to play them), I show my full house and the final player who called all the way folds without showing. I knock them both out and am tripled up after the first hand!

I've had other experiences with this hand but that is by far the most memorable. Now, don't get me wrong ... I know jack-three is a crap hand (often referred to as "jack shit") and if someone raises or I'm in bad position, or the blinds are high, I'll happily throw it away quick smart. But if I can limp in with it when the blinds are cheap or if I get it in the blinds, I really hope to see a flop ... just in case.

I'm also quickly coming to understand the power and beauty of suited connectors but that's a story for another time.

My poker persona

So what "type" of poker player am I?

Well, anyone that plays poker with or against me knows ... I'm a tight, conservative player. I've read the books, I know what good cards are, so I tend to sit tight waiting for good hands and then try to take down those pots. Everyone (well most people anyway) knows what good cards are ... but I can fold just about anything depending on the situation, position, the table, the people I'm playing against, what I'm playing for, etc.

I know I need to loosen up a bit because good/great cards don't come along that often, and even if they do they don't always hold up. I'm starting to play a wider range of cards and I need to pick a few more spots to throw in some bluffs at the right time. I know I'm too tight because people can often pick the hands or at least get close to the cards I'm playing (in APL, where you tend to play against the same people regularly). Playing online poker is quite a different scenario ... you're usually playing against people for the first time and it takes time (which you don't often have) to create a reputation or an image. Just by the way, my "name" on PokerStars is CapitalDodge ... say hi if you're playing against me.

A quick poker introduction

I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of this blog will be yet (poker obviously), but I've got a few ideas and I'm sure it'll figure itself out in the upcoming weeks.

How did I get in to poker? Well, one of my friends put together a cash game about 18 months ago. The buy-in was $50 and we would play once a month. I knew what texas hold-em poker was and the game had always intrigued me. I had watched it on TV and I knew what poker hands beat what, etc ... but didn't really know how to play. My brother had played a little pub league poker so he was the first person I turned to for the quick "teach me how to play in under 5 mins" version. The lesson basically was about strong started hands ... pockets and high cards.

I enjoyed playing and I did ok in the second of the cash games but I'm fairly competitive so I figured if I was going to put in $50 a month to play, I wanted to give myself the best possible chance of coming out ahead. So I asked one of my friends where he played/practiced and he mentioned PokerStars as a good place to play for free and learn how to play. I built up my free bank playing limit hold-em (so you weren't up against idiots/donkeys going all in with nothing) and then the small stakes no-limit. Now I just tend to play sit'n go's and freerolls.

After playing for a little while online I was chatting to another Aussie during a game and he mentioned the free local pub league games and said they were worth checking out. One night when our regular cash game got cancelled I decided to check out the Australian Poker League (APL) game down the road from my place at Bulimba Golf Club. I didn't really know what I was doing but I enjoyed the thrill of the competition. I now play in the APL at least twice a week, regularly Monday and Thursday nights sometimes on the weekend.