I get bored of playing ring games all the time. Plus I’ve been running a little cold so I switch up to some SNGs.

I’ll do this from time to time when I’m running bad in my cash games. Besides it’s good practice when I’m playing my league games which are mostly SNGs anyway.

I start off playing one table. I bust out. Then I decide to fight the boredom of folding by playing 4 tables at a time. This works because I can just concentrate of playing good cards in position. With one table, it seems like I try and make too many moves which usually don’t work out especially (b/c of all the calling stations who can’t lay down middle pair only to suck out on you on the river) at the $5.50 SNGs I play.

The next twelve SNGs I play in, I crush. I mean I literally crush them. I finish in the money 9 times. I finish first 3 times, second 4 times and 2 thirds.

Total investment: $71.50
Total Profit: $66
ROI: 92%

Is this sustainable, certainly not but I’ll take the rush anytime of the week.
In truth though, the players playing at $5.50 are simply horrible for the most part. Sure you get some decent players and you have to really play well to win but that’s not so common.

The common theme in my SNGs is pretty simple. I try to play a lot of pots early on hoping to catch a big hand and get paid off. The middle levels, I tighten up but when I enter a pot I enter it aggressively. I’m always mindful of position and selectively steal when I need to and bet big when I have something very strong.

The key is not to pay off the fish who are chasing. One thing I noticed is that almost always, when an opponent catches a flush they always check it hoping I continue to bet for them, especially if I bet the flop. It’s almost comical b/c I’m never paying them off and if they don’t have the flush they’re giving me free cards. So either way it saves me chips.

During the late levels, when there’s 5 or less players and I can smell the money, I start to play my hands very very aggressively. By this time there are a few short stacks who are unwilling to mix it up unless they have a very strong hand. These are the guys I target to steal. Hopefully I build enough of a stack to withstand some races against the very short stacks and if that works out then I’m pretty much going to win some money.

In the end, it’s only 13 SNGs I’ve played but I’ve done very well in the past also.

This past 3 months I’ve played about 120 $5.50 SNGs and I have a ROI of over 30%. Small sample sure, but I’m confident I can beat this level consistently. Then again I may have jinxed myself as my next post could very well be how I can’t cash in a darn SNG anymore.

In my poker league I played a simulation of the WSOP final 9 where we bid for the exact stacks the November 9 have.

How it works is that we did a silent auction where noone else knew about the other’s bid until all the stacks were won. The minimum bid was $20.

We started with the exact chip count and used the same blind structure. The only difference was that we implemented 30 minute levels.

The big stack ($58,930,000) went for $137
2nd stack ($34,800,000) went for $101
3rd biggest stack ($28,885,000) went for $82- best value in my opinion.
4th biggest ($19,580,000) went for $66 (out bid me by $3)
5th biggest ($13,215,000) was won by me at $55.
6th biggest ($12,390,000) went for $47.
7th biggest ($9,765,000) went for $28
8th ($9,500,000) sold for $23
9th stack ($6,800,000) was $20.

$559 in the prize pool. 3 places payout.

The auction went well. I bid $115 for the big stack and wasn’t even close as 4 others bid more. The fact that I wasn’t going any higher than $115, I knew that I had to target the middle stacks. The surprise was that the 2nd biggest went for just over $100. Maybe I should’ve taken a stab at this but I decide to stick to my guns. I low bid for the next stack but get outbid for the 4th stackby $3. I now target the 5th stack, because I really don’t want to deal with playing the small stacks.

My bid of $55 wins this stack. I outbid the next player by $10. Value? I’m not sure especially since the next stack went for $47 (which was 600k less than me).
Now we’re ready to play some cards. The blinds start out at 120k/240k with 5k antes. It was kind of weird at first because it took some time getting used to betting and calling large amounts but it went smooth.

I didn’t want to mix up too much early on as the pots were pretty wild and I didn’t want to get crippled or short stacked too early. I played it pretty tight early on and during the second level I win a big pot against “Ivey”. I hit a flush on the turn and get paid off.

I’m cruising along playing small ball for the most part but I build up a decent stack after the first hour. After two hours, I’m riding about 19million in chips. Then I finally knock out seat 3 (Ivey).

Seat 6 takes down a huge pot when he hits his flush against a set on the turn. The curious thing about this hand is that seat 6 and seat 4 had a lot of chips and yet we get a shove and a call on the flop. This was a $30 million dollar pot and the guy drawing called a huge raise on the flop with nothing but a draw. Pretty sick.

We go back and forth and I’m still building my stack. I’m playing solid poker, I’m reading well and making good folds (at least I think I am). I folded some pretty strong hands at times but I was never truly in trouble, I never risked my stack at any time and I rarely played out of position.

After 4 hours, I’m sitting on a stack of about $36 million and there’s 5 of us left. The play has really slowed down and I get by winning blinds and antes from time to time. Then the two biggest stacks go at. One has JJ and the other has AA. JJ spikes a Jack on the turn and takes down a huge, huge pot (there had to be at least 70 million in that pot). So now we’re down to 4 players. Bubble time.

There’s one huge stack with over 100 million and I’m at about 39 million and the other two are about the same as me but I have them outchipped I think.

The big stack starts to bully and I mostly fold. My stack shrinks to about $32 million when I strike gold.

I’m in the BB with 67 suited. The blinds are 500k/1million with 50k antes. The big stack limps in. Button folds and the SB completes. I smell dead money so I raise to 5 million, hoping to take down this pot. The big stack calls. I get a decent flop. I have top pair with a gutshot straight draw. I bet out 8 million and the big stack calls. Not good, now I have to put him on an over pair but then this player is tricky so he could have anything at this point. I turn trip sixes and I’m golden. I check and the big stack bets, I push and he calls. He turns over AA.

I double up and now I’m in business.

Later on I take down a 40+million dollar pot when I have AK and flop broadway. The villain had top two pair and I knock out the bubble boy. I feel that I played this hand very well. I had AK in the BB. The button attempts a steal but I flat call hoping to trap. The rest is history.

Now I’m the big stack and I start to bully myself. I’m guaranteed a profit because I bought my stack for $55. The other two guys paid more than me, so they need to hit second in order to make some money. They’re playing relatively safe so I keep up the heat.

I finally take the short stack down with A10 when he shoves with A9.

We’re now heads up and I have over $130 million in chips, twice my opponent.

We go back and forth. He runs hot for awhile and we’re just about even.

He’s been trying to trap more often given my aggressive nature so I turn the screws on my opponent by limping with big hands.

This was how I was finally able to crack the other stack. I flat call a raise with JJ. The flop is 7 high with two hearts. I bet out and get flat called. The turn brings another heart. I still have an overpair to the board but no heart. I decide to take anther stab at it. Again I get flatted. The river was a scare card as it put 4 hearts out there on a 9 high board. Now I’m screwed, I decide to check and the villain checks behind me. He shows 88, no hearts. I am relieved because at this point the pot was pretty big but even though I had an overpair, I just couldn’t bet out of position on a board where its’ 4 to a flush. I was glad he didn’t raise because I would’ve folded if he did.

Now that I’m 3-1 in chips against my opponent, I get a decent run of cards and I finally take down the tournament.

The winning hand was 97 and I cracked 55.

I clear $245 for my trouble. Pretty sweet. The whole tournament last about 7-8 hours (with breaks for food and stuff).

Although, it took a very long time, it was worth it (especially since I won). It was fun, I think we’ll do it every year so now it’s tradition.

This tournament may given me a glimpse of what goes on during the final table of the WSOP, so that was an adventure in itself. Maybe the best thing about this tournament was that I was finally able to say “I raise to 10 million” on a bluff.

So the WSOP finally comes to a close. This year was just like any other year that I’ve been watching the WSOP on ESPN. The only difference is probably all the super young players making deep runs. It was due to happen. The younger kids are very adept at playing poker. They understand situations very well, because they play thousands upon thousands of hands daily and that gives them the advantage. They’re also willing to gamble and are not afraid of making plays that many people may think are stupid. Ok, the luck factor plays into it but still, they’re willing to stick in their chips because they know that one lucky swing in the tourney can mean a WSOP championship. They’re willing to play for huge hands at any given time.

I feel that it is this willingness to shove with any two at any time is the difference between the new and old guard. I think the old guard are still playing the old school style. Look at Ivey, he was playing super tight for the most part, nothing like the old Ivey that I used to see. Additionally, these young kids play a lot of tournaments every single day and they understand the nuances better than most because of the sheer experience of playing online tournaments.

Additionally, the hands they show on ESPN are taped and edited for the casual fan and not the hardcore poker enthusiast. The hands were picked for a particular reason, either a solid fold, a huge pot, a bold bluff or a terrible suck out. You’re not going to learn about how a pro plays a hand for the most part or are you going to get any new insights into poker that you haven’t known about before. I think the beauty of televised poker lies in the fact that an amatuer can beat a pro at any given time.

Despite this, I still watch the WSOP on TV whenever it’s on because it’s fun to watch players make incredibly tough decisions for millions of dolars and then watch somebody else hit a miracle river card. That’s the beauty of the game and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I just wrapped up my best month ever on Full Tilt. com I was down to $1.25 and with the help of the WDIAV freeroll I went on to turn that $1.25 in to $1k!!! I know it was a wild ride I won the WDIAV 1 K freeroll event for $270.00 and then placed 5th and 7th in the 10+1 KO tournies on Full tilt. I then placed 2nd in the following WDIAV 1k freeroll tournament. Combine this with FullTilts Take 2 promotion” Played 25 out of 30 days in September for $50.00 I built a solid bankroll in 30 days!!! I owe a lot of my sucessful run to the great players and friends at Wedoitallvegas.com!

Download Fulltilt Poker online and receive up to $600 free with your deposit. With Fulltilt poker you can play with playchips or real money. It is very fast and easy to download. Play a tournament, cash tables or just sit in for a few hands and leave when you want. Good Luck and Have Fun!!

Here is some advice from FullTilt Poker Pro Mike McDonald:

Many players new to online poker find multi-tabling – playing more than one table at once – intimidating. While it might seem this way at first, there are several things

that you can do to get the most out of your experience right from the start.

One of the first things to consider is how to arrange your tables. Tiling your tables so that they’re beside each other without overlap lets you see the action at every table at all times. A second option is cascading your tables. This is particularly useful if you have a smaller monitor and are playing lots of tables. Personally, I prefer to tile my tables so that I’ve got a better view of all of the action at once – I find that I time out a bit more and miss out on some good opportunities when I’ve got them cascaded and can’t see everything at once. Try both formats and decide which works best for you.

It’s also important to keep track of how many tables your opponents are playing. If a player is at more than one table, it’s likely that he’s a regular Multi-Table player. This is important because it affects the way your opponents play. Most Multi-Tablers will play fairly straightforward and won’t make elaborate bluffs. When I’m only playing one table, I’m more likely to make an aggressive move than when I’m playing four tables or more.

I’d also recommend that you buy in for the maximum amount on each table and keep it topped up so you can capitalize on the power of a full stack. Generally, I think it’s a good idea to top up when you lose a pot – I like to stay as deep as possible. When I get into a big pot for full stacks, I’ll usually have the best hand and I want to be able to get as much value as I can – I’d rather have a full stack than 90% of a stack so that I get maximum value from that situation.

Keep these things in mind as you start multi-tabling and you’ll find it’s not as intimidating as it initially seemed.

Here is the latest update on the 1st Pokerdog283 no limit holdem poker freeroll tournament on Bodog! In order to qualify for this tournament you must register a new account at Bodog.com using the link provided.
Date:September 9th,2009
Time:8:05PM eastern
Buy In : Freeroll
Prize: $25.00
All Sign ups will be pre registered if they set up an account 24 hours before the event.
Hope to see you there!! Here is the link!

My satellite went smoothly until one stinking hand. That’s usually the case in a SNG.

We start off with 10k in chips and 20 minute blinds. It’s a fairly deep stack tournament and the blind levels are long enough to play spec hands early on. That’s usually my strategy. See flops for cheap with spec hands and see if I can bust someone out. It’s worked pretty good but for the satellite, I’m playing a different game.

I’m playing tight. Super tight. Tighter than I’ve played in awhile. Tight means no limping and when I come into a pot I’m raising. Tight also means I’m playing maybe the top 15% of the hands. I’m not forcing things, and I’m waiting for good cards. I build my stack to about 13k, when my AQ beats out KQ. I lose 5K when my AK doesn’t hold up against 77. I steal a few blinds and I’m at about 11k in chips at the 300-600 level. I”m up against a player with about 7k in chips. I raise to 1,500 in MP. The button raises to 5k. Ok, I’m pretty sure I’m ahead. The only hand that gives me heartache is AA. The villain only has 2k left behind so I put him all in. He calls so fast that it kind of startles me. I know he has something big. This player is super tight. I mean so tight that if he’s in the hand he’s got something, it’s just a matter of how big is he? I’m hoping it’s AK or QQ, heck I would’ve taken KK but the villain flips over AA and I’m crippled. I’m out soon after when I miss my draws with QJ diamonds. I finish in 5th place.

Oh well there’s always next quarter.

I know that several readers are also members of a very friendly poker forum community called Rail Birds. I added a link to Poker World to my list of poker sites that I am an affiliate for so that members not already signed up could do so from my blog. I like the site so far as it is part of the Cake network of sites, however as always you should try it for yourselves! I also have a link to Bodog as RailBirds will also start playing more tournaments there along with the events they are still holding on Full Tilt!

I have received several requests lately for the freeroll schedule for Full Tilt. I posted the regular freeroll schedule below so that players will have a better chance of locating these daily events.
Freeroll Schedule
Daily Freerolls
Time Game Prize Pool Places Paid
05:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th
09:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th
13:40 (ET) Omaha Hi $100 1st-27th
15:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th
17:40 (ET) HORSE $100 1st-27th
19:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th
21:40 (ET) Razz $100 1st-27th
22:40 (ET) Omaha Hi $100 1st-27th
23:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th
01:40 (ET) No Limit Hold ‘em $100 1st-27th

I hope this helps and remeber if you dont already have full Tilt you can sign up here!

does any one do satellites for these FTPs? i noticed there

Adeptes du poker.. vous serrez servis..!Télécharger le jeu..

Full Tilt Poker.. est un des rare jeu de poker où vous vous sentez comme si vous y étiez. Ce jeu permet une sélection d’avatar, vous pouvez choisir un décor différent à l’entour de votre table de jeu, d’afficher les avatars ou non, etc..

Vous pouvez jouer à l’argent réel ou bien fictif. Lorsque vous jouez à l’argent fictif vous commencerez avec 1000$ poker tilt, et, si vous les dépensez tous, vous pouvez recharger votre monnaie en passant par la Caisse et en cliquant sur Recharger dans la section d’argent fictif.

Langues..

Le jeu est disponible en plusieurs langues, dont le français, l’anglais, l’espagnol, etc.. Lorsque vous jouez vous êtes plus souvent confronté envers des joueurs anglophones, mais bref.. cela n’enlève rien au jeu selon moi.. car, lorsqu’on jous au poker, personne ne parle ou presque, pour une concentration total!

Alors, tous à vos cartes, préparez vos “pokerfaces” et faites vous un maximum de monnaie !

I won $3.75 in the step 2 WDIAV tournament last night on Fulltilt. I came in 8th place of over 100 players. Later this month feb 10 is a step 3 freeroll with a $500.00 prize pool.I hope to do well in this event and really kick of February. This means only a few more tournaments to earn a seat to the 2009 WSOP!!! Remember if you dont already have a fulltilt poker account click here and sign up through me and help me freeroll to the top!!

What the hell are the odds? Post your numbers!

In a freeroll tourney for the forum CardsChat I finished 11th for 3.00 on Full Tilt. 168 players total and also one the side event the hold called Last man Standing. Its for fun but pushes you to out last the other participants in this side game.

Today I added my affiliate links that I will use to try to build my Bankroll. The links are listed on the right of this blog. So far none of these has a sign up so that I can adequately track my progress begining 2009!I will be checking the accounts monthly and updating my blog as to how many sign ups and a running total of monies earned. The entire reason for this process is to see if I can make a sucessful run at a nice bankroll by freerolling and player sign ups to jumpstart the bankroll. Besure to sign up for any site your interested in and help the cause!! I have only chosen sites that I play on and enjoy playing poker at!

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