Random question:

Assume you regularly play a home game with your friends... small stakes, friendly game. Most people buy in for $5 and some people for $10. The blinds are 5c and 10c, but because of the mix of players (and how aggressive/loose they are), most pots very quickly grow to $3 or $4... easily. This is why some people started playing with $10, because you don't really have the stack size to take more than one bad beat or misread without being crippled. Plus, all-in's are uncommon. It's an interesting game, but a frustrating one for those who want to play smart poker.

So, do you think that having some kind of scaling factor, like 1000:1 (right now we do 100:1 and treat the chip markings as cents) would make a difference, especially if we reduced the blinds to what would essentially amount to 1c and 2c. We tried that anyway by giving out singles chips, but I think people just defaulted back to betting old amounts (45 preflop, 75 or 80 post flop). I just think that more chips mean folks would bet less, just using the same amount of chips.

6/13/2010 11:04:48 AM

I've played a lot of games like this before. I really don't think its the quantity of chips you use. The fact is, if you don't play for at least enough money where people actually care about losing, everyone is just going to play every hand with all kinds of loose action. I would suggest bumping it to a $20 buy in, and .10/.25 blinds.

[Edited on June 13, 2010 at 12:20 PM. Reason : /]

6/13/2010 12:15:34 PM

Ok, time to brag a little bit on some low/mid stakes domination...

3 consecutive wins in the $10 18-man SNG's
won 9 out of last 10 $6 turbo heads ups



[Edited on June 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM. Reason : /]

6/19/2010 12:23:26 PM

^^^Knowing your play style and the cards you play, and then this:

Quote :

"those who want to play smart poker"

does not compute.

6/19/2010 12:44:05 PM

Anyone gonna be in Vegas for WSOP stuff?

I'm heading out the 28th and coming back on the 6th or 7th to play some of the Venetian Deepstacks.

6/20/2010 7:00:25 PM

I'm leaving for vegas on the 25th and my return depends. It's scheduled for the 3rd, but we'll see how it goes, i may stay longer

6/21/2010 1:26:36 AM

Nice yeh i'll be playing these Venetian events:

Deep Stack 12pm $560 29-Jun
Deep Stack 12pm $350 1-Jul
Deep Stack 12pm $560 2-Jul
Deep Stack 12pm $350 3-Jul

If you wanna meet up, i'm down. I have quite a few folks that I know that are out there that wanna go out drinking and what-not so should be a good time.

6/21/2010 3:17:20 PM

cool dude good luck


I'll be playing in a couple WSOP events and if stuff doesnt go well there, some small deep stack tourneys in between. Word of advice, play the caesars mega stack tourneys instead of the venetian ones. Much softer fields. A lot of grinders in the venetian tourneys.

second half of my trip is cards only, but i'll def meet up at some point.

[Edited on June 22, 2010 at 7:58 PM. Reason : /]

6/22/2010 7:55:00 PM

http://www.caesarspalace.com/images/non_image_assets/CLV_2010MegaStackSeries_TournamentlInfo.pdf

6/22/2010 8:03:48 PM

No blind structure?

6/23/2010 7:51:55 AM

my bad

http://www.caesarspalace.com/images/non_image_assets/CLV_2010MegaStackSeries_225NOLIMIT.pdf

6/24/2010 12:41:38 AM

yeh only thing is the fields are gonna be way smaller -- and the caesars structure is shit compared to venetian:

http://www.venetian.com/uploadedFiles/The_Venetian/Gaming/PokerRoom/Deep_Stack/DS08_NoLimit.pdf

they are running 200s every night at the rio for wsop that seem to be pretty good structured, and full of the standard "i want to be at the rio w/ the wsop guys" type clowns so i might give those a shot as well

6/25/2010 7:47:00 PM

is this thread dead?

i just got back from vegas...finished 13th in a big sunday venetian $350 for 2.5k and FTd a smallish caesars $235 finishing 6th for 2k...good times

so i got back home and decided to test myself grinding 12/180 turbos hardcore for the rest of the summer -- last 2 days results:




so whats cracking tww poker ppls?

7/17/2010 10:01:06 PM

i'm getting ready for the wsop circuit.

7/18/2010 5:25:02 AM

and after this, im done for the day...

PokerStars Game #46939923598: Tournament #321010467, $25.00+$2.50 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200) - 2010/07/18 14:44:46 ET
Table '321010467 20' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: Pocok85 (5356 in chips)
Seat 2: diegokeep (4325 in chips)
Seat 3: eppy12588 (6621 in chips)
Seat 4: stm219 (4680 in chips)
Seat 5: Corner7 (6395 in chips)
Seat 6: ColdWinter (1708 in chips)
Seat 7: The Hish 24 (4108 in chips)
Seat 9: bdubs3737 (2880 in chips)
ColdWinter: posts small blind 100
The Hish 24: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to The Hish 24 [Jd Js]
bdubs3737: folds
Pocok85: raises 300 to 500
diegokeep: raises 700 to 1200
eppy12588: folds
stm219: folds
Corner7: folds
ColdWinter: raises 508 to 1708 and is all-in
sbryzgalov is connected
The Hish 24: raises 2400 to 4108 and is all-in
Pocok85: raises 1248 to 5356 and is all-in
diegokeep: calls 3125 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (1031) returned to Pocok85
*** FLOP *** [4c Ks Jc]
*** TURN *** [4c Ks Jc] [As]
*** RIVER *** [4c Ks Jc As] [4d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pocok85: shows [Ac Ah] (a full house, Aces full of Fours)
diegokeep: shows [Qd Qs] (two pair, Queens and Fours)
Pocok85 collected 434 from side pot-2
The Hish 24: shows [Jd Js] (a full house, Jacks full of Fours)
Pocok85 collected 7200 from side pot-1
ColdWinter: shows [Kd Kc] (a full house, Kings full of Fours)
Pocok85 collected 6832 from main pot
diegokeep finished the tournament in 115th place
The Hish 24 finished the tournament in 116th place
ColdWinter finished the tournament in 117th place
dbthdo is connected
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 14466 Main pot 6832. Side pot-1 7200. Side pot-2 434. | Rake 0
Board [4c Ks Jc As 4d]
Seat 1: Pocok85 showed [Ac Ah] and won (14466) with a full house, Aces full of Fours
Seat 2: diegokeep showed [Qd Qs] and lost with two pair, Queens and Fours
Seat 3: eppy12588 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: stm219 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: Corner7 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: ColdWinter (small blind) showed [Kd Kc] and lost with a full house, Kings full of Fours
Seat 7: The Hish 24 (big blind) showed [Jd Js] and lost with a full house, Jacks full of Fours
Seat 9: bdubs3737 folded before Flop (didn't bet)

7/18/2010 2:47:05 PM

holy shit that is a tough beat

What are the odds that AA, KK, QQ, and JJ all get dealt in the same hand?

7/18/2010 3:20:58 PM

NCSU alum (and one of my fraternity brothers) Justin Young is mentioned in ESPN the magazine this issue in a good article about another poker professional Eric Baldwin.

http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/poker/insider/news/story?id=5386422


I should mention in 2002 I had a record of roughly 62-67 against JY heads up, but I can't compete with his 2nd place finish in the WPT or his other couple million dollars worth of winnnings since haha

7/18/2010 8:30:12 PM

haha thats funny i was railing the 25k 6max at the rio a few weeks ago and there was a dude w/ a ncsu shirt on at gboro's table and i didn't know who it was

it was that justin young guy apparently...sick

7/19/2010 3:10:59 AM

won the daily ninety grand on stars yesterday for 16.5k -- biggest score to date .. weeeeeeeeeeee

7/31/2010 9:19:34 PM

congrats, what are you going to do with it?

8/1/2010 10:51:33 AM

nice win!

8/1/2010 12:47:06 PM

Quote :

"congrats, what are you going to do with it?"

wedding coming up fairly soon -- so most of it just going to that

8/1/2010 1:30:09 PM

congrats. I think I may have asked this before, but does anyone do the 300 chip super turbo gamblefests on FT? I can't see them ever being +EV, but they damn sure are ADD friendly.

8/3/2010 12:32:52 PM

congrats!

8/3/2010 12:53:27 PM

The donks are killing me today on Fulltilt, I've been getting my chips in 2 to 1 or better almost every big pot and haven't cashed in a single sng all day. Variance can be a real bitch sometimes.

8/3/2010 6:48:14 PM

i play the 14 dollar super turbo MTT things on FTP..but i refuse to play any higher until i run hot

those things r so ridiculously swingy

8/3/2010 8:57:38 PM

okay so im trying to learn how to play no limit again, this isnt a groundbreaking hand but just curious how to play this because im not used to playing fairly deep stacked really because ive always built my game around short to medium stacks.

KK on the button. Game is 1/3 NL with $6 rock my stack is about $675-$680...

UTG straddle is $9 and there's an early raise to $25 and a call.... then hijack makes it $88 and it folds to me on the button.

Hijhack has me covered, up front stacks are $300-$400.


Do you 4-bet this here, move all in, or smooth call and take a flop in position?


I 4-bet to $200 and it folded around to the hijack who 5-bet me allin.... this was an uncomfortable spot as Im facing a 5-bet from a LAGGY hijack and now the pot is about $940 and I've got $480 to call which is close to 2-1 with a hand that is either way ahead or 4-1 behind to aces...

I realize my 4-bet to $200 is probably terrible because it puts me in this spot far too often. At the time I was thinking he may force the issue and go allin with AK (which is what i put him on on the 3-bet) because he likes to bully and would want to see 5 cards anyway in this spot. Also it gives him odds to call with lesser hands and he probably isn't committed with an underpair that doesnt spike a set or AK that doesnt connect while I'm committed on basically every flop (and probably committed preflop to a 5-bet).


So my question is given that you don't like my play either, would you 4-bet all-in or smooth call?

4-bet all in the pros are it gives me the appearance of AK or JJ-AA probably which potentially leads him to some calls where he's screwed.

My other idea is smooth call the flop and take it against either jsut the hijack or possibly 3 or 4 ways. This gives me great implied odds if I can spike a set, a small opportunity to get paid off by a tptk by a weak player up front ( or maybe a committed AQ on a q high board)

I've still got $600 behind in a ~$225 pot if we get heads up. So I could even smoothcall a flop bet from the hijack with the intention of folding to an all-in on the turn or pushing myself if checked to on the turn. If I push there it puts his aces in an uncomfortable spot as it appears I've made a set and our stacks are just deep enough that he maybe folds. I feel like our stacks are just deep enough to makes his aces tough to play OOP since he knows I know his range is so narrow.. or am I off base here?


Help? These are pretty routine plays that I'm still not sure how to play correctly and they are expensive lessons.


[Edited on August 14, 2010 at 2:38 PM. Reason : a]

8/14/2010 2:32:13 PM

4 bet all in

8/14/2010 4:40:12 PM

yeah just go all-in. what if the board shows a bunch of small cards? he's just gonna push anyway, and are you really gonna fold then? might as well just do it now. the odds are like 22:1 that he's got aces (for a full table), so just take your chances.

8/14/2010 4:52:07 PM

1) The odds are nowhere near 22:1 that he has AA here. Against certain opponents it's better than 50-50, against this guy it's probably ~35-40% of his range on three bets. He just stuck $88 in preflop in a 1/3 game. If there's a game out there where AA is 22:1 in that spot please invite me.

2) If he's going all-in for $600 into a $235 pot on every flop then you are supporting an argument for just calling the preflop bet...


I don't necessairly disagree with the 4-bet allin, but the reasons you just gave seem to support the opposite?

8/15/2010 1:15:07 AM

I 4b small here -- ~190-220 like you did -- to induce.

If he's ok than he could be squeezing here plenty, if he's nitty than his range should still be like QQ+,AK. The problem with just jamming is that it folds out more oh his range that might hoodflat or spaz 5ball. 4b-calling is the standard value line here ... nh.

8/15/2010 11:59:53 PM

What is the best online poker site for someone just getting back into it? I haven't played online poker in years, probably since i was in the dorms playing PartyPoker before the whole craze even started.

8/18/2010 8:56:36 AM

The 2 big/safe ones are Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. I personally like Pokerstars software more, but both are pretty good.

8/18/2010 6:26:45 PM

^what he said

8/18/2010 6:45:25 PM

Ditto

8/18/2010 8:02:25 PM

Had no idea about Harrah's Cherokee until I saw it on 2p2 just now. Anyone been? Thoughts? Heading to Vegas in October so I'm hoping to get a little more casino play in.

8/24/2010 12:45:14 PM

They have the electronic tables and you can't drink.

2 things i'm not to happy about when playing live poker lol. It's ok though.


Going to AC for the WPT Borgata Summer Open Sep 9th-15th -- anyone gonna be up there? Just booked my room at the Borg.

8/24/2010 7:47:56 PM

That sounds terrible.

8/25/2010 2:36:26 PM

^^they changed the alcohol policy, doesn't surprise me cause them Indians know how to make some profit

Quote :

"On June 5, 2009, alcohol sales at the casino were approved by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Alcohol is served from 7 A.M. until 2 A.M. Monday through Saturday and from noon until 2 A.M. on Sunday. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrah%27s_Cherokee

8/25/2010 6:00:21 PM

Nice I must have just missed that when I went...fml.

8/25/2010 6:03:58 PM

Question about transitioning from friends to a poker room at a hotel:

I'm reading up on rakes and stuff, and they mention that for higher stakes games and some no-limit games, the rake is $5/half hour. I likely won't be playing these games, but is that a per person take? Do they just collect a chip from you ever half hour or something, I'm just trying to figure out how it works. I assume with a normal pot rake, the dealer just takes it out of the pot. I'm up near Foxwoods now and considering going every once in a while on the weekend, just looking for the tips/info about making the transition from home games to a casino setting.

9/5/2010 9:26:10 PM

Played a few hour orbits with Lauren Kling at my table last weekend in vegas. She's definitely fine.




^it's $5 per player for rake each half hour. Floorman comes around and you toss him a redbird. Thats how it was done before the internet. Now you cant win shit live because everyone wants to whack off to porn while they play.

[Edited on September 8, 2010 at 7:25 PM. Reason : moan about stupidity of internet vs live ]

9/8/2010 7:23:20 PM

whats wrong w/ porn and poker?

9/8/2010 10:07:43 PM

It's stopping the donks from playing live. Game was def much harder last time I was in Vegas vs 2 years ago. I mean, I was still up, but I only played 1-2 and even that was tough.

9/9/2010 3:19:59 PM

dont you think the live games getting harder has more to do with

a.) the general player pool having more experience and in turn, getting better
b.) the total easy money has washed out and the wells are dry. chipping off of some tard who's never played before is pretty rare
c.) fad dying
d.) economy killing casinos in general

9/9/2010 4:49:38 PM

I don't think a/b would be a problem if it weren't for c.
d is definitely an issue though.

9/9/2010 5:40:49 PM

I'm in AC atm for the WPT shit. I can definitely tell ya that the cash games on the east coast have gotten considerably more difficult that the games out in Vegas and LA, at least in my experiences from the last year or so (and only for the limits i've played 1/2-5/10). Dunno why that is, but the games in AC, WV, and DE are a fair amount harder than equal limits in Vegas. I have no trouble beating 1/2 and 2/5, but I can definitely say there's been tables at 5/10 i've seen up here that I doubt i'd be comfortable playing in.

9/10/2010 10:40:41 PM

Games just suck in general now. There is so much money flying off the table every hand that its tough to beat an average 1-2 nl game for enough to make it worthwhile. You got the house taking $6 a pot at some tables now with these stupid jackpots plus a dealer tip makes $7.

There just aren't enough people getting stacked light to make these games good.

You've also got clowns at almost every table sitting there with $30 just folding or raising allin with j-j or better which really eat into proftable laggy preflop plays. They really need to have minimum stacksizes in nl poker, its freaking stupid otherwise.

The problem with no limit poker is that there is nothing in the pot to win... they've got to introduce an ante or something to generate some action and punish the weak tights who make the game so boring.

9/12/2010 10:05:23 PM

They do have minimum stacksizes at all the games I play.

9/13/2010 7:59:08 AM

Where? I've seen a few of those games popup online but certainly haven't seen them live in casinos (or home games for that matter)

9/13/2010 8:22:02 AM