The Saga continues as Mr Banner finds a new Bar...Doc
by John Yossarian
This is footage of the local events for those of you who have never experianced this venue. I may or may not attend. [I did not record this]:
Be warned, what you are about to see may permantly damage your brain from all the non-sensical plays and idiotic remarks.
http://www.youtube.com/v/Eq86vwc6RCg
I attended another event this week. God help me.
Strolling in half an hour early, I paid my $5 dollar 'chip-up' (pot) and found a seat at the bar. The bartender recognized me immediately and poured my drink. Predictable? Never.
As I downed my Miller product, I notice the ritual beginning at one of the tables.
A few players like to create a table orgy, sitting together, and are unwilling to move. So, they come early, find their table and put their chips down. Marking their territory without lifting their leg. How very interesting. The bar quickly fills up with donks. The person running the tournament, our local drunk, downs a shot before signing-up more people. Give him another hour and he'll be running his mouth and talking to us like an overpaid, resentful kindergarten teacher. Shouting at us: “You never listen! No, I didn’t say we started! I’ll tell you when!”
“I’ll chip you up when I do. I see you. Don’t worry about what I’m doing…”
Good times await us all.
With the cheap alcohol fogging my brain, I ponder my ritualistic actions. How much serotonin is being released by coming to these events? What urges do I feed in sacrificing my time and money in attending? Am I really that sadistic?
Before I could calculate the improbable odds of finding a good player and a good beer at one of these places, a break in action…
“Shuffle up and deal!”
It’s time to play. But all I can envision, as I push off my stool, is this as a intervention of some sorts, than a poker event.
Time for donkie anonymous. -“My name is Matt. For years now, I have been calling with 2-5. I’ll go home and close the door to find my favorite hand on the computer. No one knows its me. But, I’ll start calling down pots with it. It empowers me.”
-“Hello. I’m Jason.”
*Hi Jason*
“This is my first time here. I don’t know why I am even here. Someone told me I needed help. I’m still unsure. I mean I win every week, so I know I don’t have a problem. “
Each table has bags of chips filled with 1,500. Blinds start at 25-50. Since I donated $5 to the pot, I get an extra 3000 in chips. I find a table with an open seat, avoiding the orgy table of donks, putting down my beer, open my bag of chips and look around.
Let’s meet our Contestants:
Seat One: Drunkey ‘drunk’ McColley. He is your typical Irish-American. There is no drink he will turn down. There is no pot he hasn’t ATM’ed his way into. And there is no way he understands what is going on. Barely able to keep his balance on a level stool, he is constantly looking for the waitress while not paying attention to the game. Guaranteed you will have to deal for him, count his chips and stack them (after he beats you in a pot, after ATM’ing you), and wipe his ass. However, he is, for all purposes, what keeps these events afloat. His deep pockets fatten the owner of these events.
Seat Two: Random ‘girl’
You can double down on knowing she was brought by her boyfriend and has no clue what she is doing. Her low cut shirt shows off her best qualities, while her eyes say, “I don’t want to be here.” The life expectancy of her at this table is as short as Nicole Smith; and just as meaningful.
Seat Three & Seat Four: Newcomer
I feel for these individuals. Fresh from their local home game, after finding the website, and heading down to ‘try it out’. They have no clue about what is going to happen. Their innocence is so refreshing. I remember the enthusiasm all to well. One hour later, they will, as I did, feel like a young catholic boy.
Seat Five & Seat Six: Professional ‘tavern’ Player
They rank high on the ‘tavern’ point system. You can count, having them sit at your table that numerous rounds will be bought to 're-buy'. They will justify whatever plays (rationale) backed by their high points and numerous “final table” results. Yet, they play 5 days a week, spend hundreds of dollars on beer (when it should be spent on a ‘How to play Poker for Dummies’ book), and lack any real substance in their life except for these achievements.
Seat Seven: Me.
More to come….
We've all been down this road.. Doc
By John Yossarian
Just call me Mr. Banner, an Allusion to the big green guy?".
I stroll from bar to bar playing local 'free' tournament events. Of course there are plenty of perks. The website sucks you in with its advertising:
-Waste your life every night, drink enough beer and you may find yourself with enough points to cash in for a monthly tournament. Lowly cash prizes and ultimate bar fame awaits you.-
I am a sucker for beer; I can't help myself to be recognized by lower life forms.
Damn you poker gods.
I started playing poker after a freak 'accident' one night. My friend raised 5x the blinds with his Kings and got called.
The flop: A-K-3
So, my friend pushes and gets insta-called by the lone stranger.
He shows: 2-5
I didn't know what to do or say. Everyone stared at the stranger, looking (pleading) for an explanation. But the dark figure looked confident, even beneath the dark, smokey shadows. He knew it was coming.
The turn came the a 10 followed by the wrecking of a river the 4.
I lost my friend to the river, never to be seen again.
In attempts to understand and prevent the future wicked poker beats, I immersed myself for days inside my office. I tried to bring myself down to the level of a typical poker player. And then I dropped down even one more level. Immersed within my room, I undertook extreme punishment playing for hours on PokerStars and PartyPoker. My bookshelf lined with Carl Sagan, Walt Whitman and Dickinson was replAced by Mad Magazine, The Onion and Stephen King. Vast amounts of hours were wasted watching Fox News and the cult-classic, The Matrix.
On my 18th consecutive hour of a trolling a 1-2 cent table on PokerStars, a freak accident occurred: I started winning with garbage. I raged hard at the table, winning pots, calling others 'idiots' for knowing pot odds. I passed out 3 hours later and awoke not knowing what happened. I logged back into PokerStars.
My account, which I started with $2.53, was up to $156.39!
WTF?
My results from the history of hand play showed a Hitler’s list of victims I put bad beats on. I was horrified. What made me do this? And, more importantly, why? Shamed, I logged off, closed my accounts, burned the books and headed out into reality. In hopes of a better answer. A way to reclaim my normal life.
Ever since, I have been roaming from bar to bar, looking for the perfect poker game. My current sites are on a local tavern tournament, where it is 'free' to play. But I fear my inner darkness. Sometimes, playing with the nubs, I find myself twitching. They do things that make no sense.
The bad beats make me mad. I try to warn them. No, please don't.
I plead. "I'll even SHOW you my rockets. Just don't call!"
But they ignore my miserly play and obvious good cards and reply (with a twinkle)
"But this is my favorite hand!"
It blows up in front of me. All their years of failed high school math and useless G.E.D. education come to the moment when they say "I call" and show me Q-6.
I turn the color of rage.
And I decide to make them pay.
The world goes black. And my inner hulk comes out to play.
Against all rules of poker etiquette [no such thing] and social decency, I rage and troll.
I want to hear their shrivel voices cry from within their beer belly chests.
I want to see their confusion as to why they lost with their "suited" Q-6 (and I show 2-7, with a smirk on my face).
I want to feel the never-ending, harboring, festering frenzy of rage after I troll them for hours about playing "suited" Q-6.
This is my story; one man, hiking from bar to bar. Look for the inner peace.
Follow my journey.
Hi, while reading through the blogs on another site I ran across this "GEM". A guy walks into a local Tavern Bar Tourney. Plays the "Smart" way only to get his Ass handed to him on a plate so he decides to play their game. Read on ..It had me rolling in the floor.. Thanks to John for allowing me to repost this here.. Enjoy.Doc
Where: Local 'donk' tournament event (last night). This is a 'free' event with money in the pot.
Who: 50 donks in attendance.
What: Texas No Limit
Why: I am sadistic; I am unsure why I went...
How: I drove there.
Situation(s): After playing, and losing, a total of 3 quality hands in 2 hours, I go on 'Donk' tilt . Time to start feeding them some of their own crap.
I start the "F**k you, beat this", all-in push.
Donk tilt hand #1
Blind: 100-200
My Stack: 2,200
Me: All-in (blind)
Hand: Unsure, didn't look.
Donk 1: (4,300) Call
Donk 4: (1,900) Call (all-in)
Flop: 2-9-10
Turn: 3
River: Jc
Donk1: J-K
Donk4: 2-2
Me: 5-10c
Well played. But, did I succeed?
Donk Tilt Factor: 3 are slightly annoyed. The others thought it was a decent play.
Outcome: Not successful enough. Time to keep moving forward...
The very next hand....
Donk tilt hand #2
Blind: 100-200
My Stack: 6,600
Me: All-in (blind). Big Blind.
Hand: Unsure, didn't look.
Donk 5: (3,000) Call
Flop: A-Q-9
Turn: 7
River: 2
Donk 5: J-J
Me: 2-9
Nice! You are on your way, sir! Now I am starting to wonder why I ever played 'good' cards like pocket aces or A-K. Pftttt, this is the real way you win.
Donk Tilt Factor: Donk 5 is stunned. Two donks are starting to mutter to themselves. One asked me if I wanted to "go home or not". Outcome: Fail! I have not gotten through to them. Forward hoooo!!
The very next hand....
Donk tilt hand #3
Blind: 200-400
My Stack: 9,900
Donk 6: Are you going to push in again?
Me: No, I am going to wait for rockets; I am playing tight.
Me: All-in (blind). Small Blind.
Hand: No clue. Beer #alot. *Where am I?*
Donk 6: (10,800) Call
Flop: 3-4-10
Turn: A
River: 2
Donk 6: 7-7
Me: A-J
Donk 6: "Dude, what's wrong with you? If you want to go home, just give us your chips. No need to waste our time."
Me: "My Pot Odds had me committed to play hands out/in of position because of they were suited. I am new to poker, sorry bro."
Donk 3: "Can I get a table change!! Hey, Brian [tournament organizer], can I move?!"
Me: "I'll make it even and look at my cards next time before shoving in. Fair?"
Donk Tilt Factor: Heavy. Now they are starting to complain.
Outcome: Sucess! A few more blows and I may be able to break their wall of ignorance. Er, nevermind, they are donks.
The very next hand....
Donk tilt hand #5
Blind: 200-400
My Stack: 20,400
Me: All-in. Fake look at cards. Act impressed.
Hand: Who knows. I think it was Miller-Jack.
Donk 1: (2,000) Call
Donk 7: (1,900) Call
Flop: J-K-A
Turn: 10
River: 9
Donk 1: K-K
Donk 7: A-4
Me: 8-Q
You are a master!
Donk 1: "It's been real."
Donk 7: "Ummm yeah...."
Donk 2: "I hate idiots like this."
Donk 5: "WTF?"
Bystander Donk: "wow....wow"
Me: "I think I'll go to the bar. Blind me off till the final table"
I return, 45 minutes later, and see the final table going. 5 people are busted out already and my chips are start to dwindle. Kind of.
I walk up to the table: "I'll be all-in every hand. You to split?"
They agree.
$90 dollars richer.
Donk-tilt status: Master
Outcome: Success
Today at 9:08 am
Morning all,
I was on another site this morning and ran across this blog by Jack Welch on PL Omaha and thought it was worth reposting here. I don't play Omaha very often because I tend to get in deep and out really quick.. Lol. Jacks' post points out some of the fundamental flaws in the way I've been approaching PL Omaha. I hope you find it as informative as I did..Doc
PLO MTTs For Beginners Posted: Monday, November 16, 2009 - I have been playing - seriously - Omaha for the last month or so. Oddly enough, ever since I purchased Hold'em Manager. But that's another story. I played mostly PLO cash games and not very successfully. Then I discovered PLO and O/8 MTTs, which seem to play to my strengths. As all you ladies know, my strengths are patience and discipline. I am virtually tilt less - when sober - and I can play position. Lord knows... Anyway, I have probably Final Tabled as many MTTs in the last month as I have Final Tabled in four years of NLH. I just got knocked out by a three-outer, so I don't even think I am running so freakin' red hot. I just think I have found my venue, so to speak. I am old... it's not a moment too soon. Below is a bunch of savvy knowledge I purloined from the Internet, which, as you all know, was invented by Al Gore. But enough about him... Please note, I am talking to beginners playing PLO at a low limit in an MTT. You don't play PLO like this in a cash game. In Hold'em, there are 169 distinct hands. In Omaha, there are 16,432 different possible unique starting hands you can be dealt. When you are dealt four cards, you are really looking at six distinct hands. Ideally, all of your four cards work together. Success in Pot Limit Omaha depends largely on the starting hands you choose to play. If anything, the edge a good player has over a bad player is higher in PLO than in NLH, which is excellent news if you're the one with the edge. The edge in a PLO MTT is often simply the cards with which you entered the pot. And as long as the structure of the tournament is good enough, you will have plenty of opportunities to exploit your opposition. The top 30 Omaha starting hands are as follows: 1. A-A-K-K 11. K-Q-J-T 21. Q-Q-A-K 2. A-A-J-T 12. K-K-T-T 22. Q-Q-A-J 3. A-A-Q-Q 13. K-K-A-Q 23. Q-Q-A-T 4. A-A-J-J 14. K-K-A-J 24. Q-Q-K-J 5. A-A-T-T 15. K-K-A-T 25. Q-Q-K-T 6. A-A-9-9 16. K-K-Q-J 26. Q-Q-J-T 7. A-A-x-x 17. K-K-Q-T 27. Q-Q-J-9 8. J-T-9-8 18. K-K-J-T 28. Q-Q-9-9 9. K-K-Q-Q 19. Q-Q-J-J 29. J-J-T-T 10. K-K-J-J 20. Q-Q-T-T 30. J-J-T-9 Note: All hands in the top 30 must be double-suited. The best Omaha starting hand is AA-KK double-suited. The Odds of actually being dealt that hand are 50,000-1 against. Even such a powerful hand is just a 3-2 favorite to win against 8765 double-suited. In addition to the top 30, you will to play wraps, hands like 8-9-10-J, which can result in nice straights. Ideally, you will have 2 cards of the same suit, as this is the only way you can possibly hit a flush. In Omaha, players rarely have a strong edge over their opponents. Rarely will you find yourself with over 60% equity HU. Each additional player reduces your equity immensely. The lesson here? Play good hands and nothing else until... Well, you'll know when. Omaha is considered to be a "nut game". This means your chances for straights and flushes are more important than high cards. Minimize losses. When you lose, lose the minimum amount, and when you win, win the maximum. In MTTs, especially early, I try to get involved risking the least chips possible before deciding if I plan to move forward post-flop. Check for rocks before you dive in. Let your opponents play trash. Leave weak and marginal hands out of your game. Watch what hands your opponents show down. And there will plenty of showdowns to inspect. Look for the NLH players who don't yet know - or care - about the 6 possible hands. You don't have to be Stephen Hawking to comprehend you have more of a chance to win with six hands than one or two. A-A-rag-rag rainbow is hardly better than fertilizer. A-A-A-rag is also plant food. Lay it down and wait for an actual Omaha hand. If an opponent pushes pre-flop, especially out of position, he will typically have A-A. Especially in a low limit MTT. How does your hand play against top pair?? It is difficult to get your opponents to fold, so bluffing is ill advised, especially for those new to Omaha. And don't get worried about being bluffed. Look for reasons not to complete your small blind. Position is even more important in PLO than NLH, so avoid entering the pot OOP. Even if there are only two players yet to act, that is still a dozen potential hands to defeat. Essentially, PLO is a post-flop game. With four cards, no hand going to be a huge favorite over any other hand pre-flop, but the pot-limit nature of the game usually prevents all of the money going in before the flop. PLO focuses upon making solid post-flop decisions; this is where your edge lies. The ultimate overpair is, of course, A-A. A-A in PLO can be more trouble than they are worth; as a new player, you will undoubtedly go broke with them more times than you care to imagine. Try to get in the mindset of only playing your big pairs in PLO for set value, and learn to ditch them immediately if you face any sort of resistance post-flop. Doing so will immediately improve your game 100%. You're given four cards, might as well use them all. Sets are so vulnerable you're not a guaranteed winner, even if you do hit your hand. Boats, flushes, straights...that's where the glory lies. PLO is all about connecting hard with the flop. PLO is a game of the nuts. Straights, flushes, sets, full houses - they're all commonplace, so don't be too surprised to see your Queen-high flush or your bottom straight drawing dead when the cards are turned over. With this in mind, only chase draws if you are confident you are drawing to the best hand. You don't want to pay to hit a card that may lose you a big pot. For the same reason, small pocket pairs should only be played as part of a strong combo hand with both straight and flush potential. These lower pairs are unlikely to make top set when they do connect with the flop. Small sets can be some of the most costly hands in PLO, as the danger of someone having a higher set is far higher than in NLH. If you see the flop with a small pair, proceed with caution. As a general rule, don't play pairs lower than nines or tens for set value. Position is more important in PLO as bets, calls, checks and raises give away much more reliable information. There are few hands that can afford to give free cards. With four cards in each of your opponents' hands, the chances of being outdrawn are high, meaning only the strongest hands or the safest of boards are suitable for slow-playing. The information you receive from betting decisions made by the players who act before you is much more reliable than in NLH. Patience is not just about card selection. It's easier to come off a shortstack deep in a tournament in PLO and still win the tournament than in NLH. A disciplined shortstack strategy is important and overlooked by many who become too willing to gamble in bad spots when short. If there are three to a suit on board, you can almost always assume someone has the flush in Omaha, and a paired board yields a very high probability of someone holding a tight (full house), whereas that would only be a minor concern in most Hold'em hands. Tight-passive players are less likely to be steamrolled in Omaha than in Hold'em. Reduced opportunity for bluffing reduces how effectively you can bully a passive player. Respect displays of strength. Players making large bets in Omaha are far less likely to be bluffing than the same caliber of players in NLH. Do not get "married" to an eight-out straight draw. In Omaha, it is possible to flop 13-out, 17-out and 20-out straight draws. It is best to wait until you hold one of these draws before you heavily involve yourself in the pot. Do not overplay unsuited aces: when all you hold are a pair of aces and two unsuited, unconnected rags, there is little you can flop to improve your hand. If you do not flop your set, you're not going to hold up often in a multi-way pot. The potential to have upward of 20 outs in Omaha allows for drawing hands to be statistically ahead of made hands. Common Mistakes in Pot-Limit Omaha1. Overplaying "Hold'em strength" hands. 2. Calling with weak holdings and low-outs draws when facing a bet. 3. Playing too many starting hands. 4. Not raising pre-flop with premium hands. 5. Giving free cards or under-betting the pot without the nuts. What hands to play pre-flop? 1. All top 30 hands with at least one suit and most of the time when offsuit. 2. All suited A-K-x-x with at least one x-card, 10 or higher. 3. All double-suited four in a row of hands, five or higher. 4. All double-suited connected hands, five or higher, with a maximum of one gap between the top two and the two low cards or between the low card and the three high cards. An example is K-Q-T-9 double-suited and J-9-8-6 double-suited. 5. All K-K-x-x double-suited. As with any poker advice, these are just guidelines to give you a place to start from. The hands you raise and limp with will change depending on your table, your image, your skill and the skill of your opponents.A hand should not be considered made until the river. The nuts on the flop means very little after the final two streets fall. It is seldom wrong to bet out with top set in a short-handed pot, even though the board looks scary. Remember, anytime you flop a set, you have about a 34% chance of improving to a full house on the turn and river combined. Cliff Notes. If you start playing PLO now, you will be ahead of the game. And the crowd. It's that simple. |
Very solid run. 1,800, 000 at the time of the chop.
I put the pictures up.
FTP Promotion “Piece of Ivey”
This is an excellent promotion. In order to register yourself click the Requests Tab in your FTP browser, and hit “My Promotions”
This promotion allows you to win tickets for random drawings for multiple prizes. Prizes include Cash, and a few different tournaments where you can win a percentage of Phil Ivey’s WSOP cash. This promotion started today, and will run until next month.
You can win tickets on cash games, or Tournaments with more than 30 people.
Gl to all, hope someone gets a piece!
For more information go to http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/piece-of-ivey
Super Satellite to the Double Deuce
SNG Satellites
$1.80 + $.20 ( 3 Tickets Awarded )
$0.75 + $.15 ( 1 Ticket Awarded )
Through these SNG Satellites you can win a $5.50 Ticket on Sunday into a 1:4 MTT where you will pick up the $22 Seat to the 200k Double Deuce. I use to get into this MTT weekly because it seems so easy to win the 1st round, and people incorrectly play the ticket tournament which allows a lot of EV in getting into the DD. I recommend playing the $1.80 + .15. With the extremely deep ticket payout in this SNG, it is fairly easy to win. Some weeks I would grind out 20 or so of the satellites just to turn the $2 into T$5.50. Good Luck on the Tables.
Thanks for reading J - The Snake.
FTOP Warm Up
250,000 Guaranteed – 50k Player Max
10 Minute Blinds
$5.50 Buy-In
MTT Satellites
Super Turbo 300 Chips 1.50 + .10 (5 Min Blinds)
Turbo 1500 Chips 1.10 + .10 (5 Min Blinds)
SNG Satellites
$1.20 + .15 [2 Tickets] (3 Min Blinds)
$0.75 + .10 [1 Ticket] (3 Min Blinds)
160 FTP [1 Ticket] (3 Min Blinds)
This is an excellent satellite array to start off the FTP’s FTOP series. This Warm up allows players who are not able to get into the high buy in FTOP action, a shot at a 250k Guaranteed. With multiple ways to satellite in players are able to get in relatively cheap. I personally won a few of these satellites and find the play weak at best. Though you will have to fight off a host of players to win the 250k, you cannot beat the price. I feel that it wont hit the guarantee and have some additional overlay to add to the value of the ticket. The 250k Warm Up starts at 3:05 on Nov 1st (Sun). As an additional added value there will be one $525 FTOP Main Event Seat Added to the prize pool. It has 10 Minute Blinds, and right now first is paying around 20k. I hope you decide to try and satellite into this game at least, and I wish you the best of luck.
TP + Open Ended on the flop, call an all-in with a flush draw. I turn the straight and he rivers the Flush...
You cant win every 3-1 Favorite.
Also Bodog is hosting a 15th Anniversary Freeroll on the 3rd. Password is in the email that was sent
out for this month. If you are having problems getting the monthly newsletter. I think you can go to the site
and have it resent to you. There is 15 $T162's up for grabs. If you win, and know you would'nt have found it
without my help you could always send me $T1.62 as a thank you. More is always nice too.