"Monthly Game" thoughts...

As mentioned before, Sunday was the "monthly poker game" on the home front for the Beer Man. My table draw was neither favorable nor really unfavorable at first thought. I had a solid player to my right "That guy" was to my left, the hyper-aggressive "chip slinger" was across from me, and a few others, one of which was a relatively new poker player. Things could have been better regarding the seating arrangement at my table, (Read: "That guy" on my right), but I wasn't disappointed with my seat.

Early on, "That guy" and the "chip slinger" engaged in quite the pissing contest, both of them up and down on their stacks. Usually, the slinger and I go back and forth, making for compelling spectating. The slinger's stack ended up shortened up by tool boy (that guy). For the fourth hand in a row, Chip Slinger, raises up on my blind. I look at the hole cards and see the dreaded KJ (suited). Those of you who have followed me knows this hand haunts me quite a bit. I reraise, doubling his bet, knowing he can only either call or push all-in. He reraises to all in, flipping over pocket nines to my KJ. Flop delivers the Jack, river comes another Jack. Chip slinger is on the rail.

About ten hands later, I get pocket nines and raise up 4x blinds. I get a short stacked call. Flop presents Jack 8 blank. She checks, I bet out, she moves allin. I call, with pot odds of about 4:1. She flips over the evil KJo and hits a K on the turn, giving her two pair to my pocket pair. Well played by her. She moved out of short stack status, and took a small chunk from my stack.

Few hands later, I have QQ in the SB. By this time, a player has been moved to replace "Chip Slinger." He missed the game two months ago (the last time we played together), so it was reasonable to assume that I needed time to reclassify him. I believed him to be a tight player and not very aggressive, but could not recall for certain. He limps under the gun. Playing with Sharky in a sit n go or two, I know this move "could" be a danger sign (read AA, AK, strong starting hand). I bank that in my knowledge base, but also keep myself open to the possibility that he might not raise preflop very often and thus has a standard starting hand.

Table folds to me, and I raise up 6 times the blinds, hoping to get heads up with him and knock "that guy" out. Tool boy incorrectly calls cleanly, as does UTG correctly. I think back before the flop and recall several discussions with "That guy" about the hands I play or raise with based on situations and recalled exactly the conversation I had with him regarding exactly this situation. I told him a limp utg could signal strength and my hand selection in order for me to play outside of the BB (which includes the SB) would have to be superior, citing the hands I would be comfortable reraising with would be AA, AK, KK, QQ for certain, and with "position" I'd reraise with JJ-99, and maybe AQs, AJs, 88-66.

Flop comes A-J-2. I check, once again recalling the conversation where I had suggested a trap when first to act is the correct play in this situation (I'm trying to represent a monster to "That guy" given all of our poker discussions). He 2x's min bets. UTG calls cleanly. I need to make a move here. I think that UTG is second pair at best, but most likely, he is holding something in the 10-10 to 2-2 range. If he has an ace, its unlikely he calls cleanly there. While I don't know his playing style, he surely knows mine. He would fold here to my raise if its strong enough. I push out about 75% of my stack, which gives "That guy" odds of about 3:2 to call, once again hoping our conversations on both this situation and pot odds rings a bell in his head. He comes over the top of me, putting me allin. UTG folds, later revealing he had 7-7. I make the call on the all-in. I flip over my QQ, and "that guy" flips over of all things A-3 offsuit. Turn and river are irrelivant, I'm sent to the rail and tilting something fierce.

In this situation, to make this play (per the conversations he and I had recently on poker - which as I've said before, I am trying to coach "that guy" into becoming more of a poker player and less of a tool (read: donk). The hands that I'd have made this play in the SB with (horrible position post flop, not really stacked to bluff) are either dominating preflop (AA, AK), or just behind (KK, QQ). So, if we go solely on our talk, 50% of the universe, if I am true to my word, which I generally am, have him dominated, 50% do not. Laying 3:2 odds to him, in my biased opinion, he cannot make this call, yet he does. Even if my standards are "relaxed" any Axo combo, yes even A2s, beats him, so add in 10 Axs hands. Even add any Axo hands. In the interest of fairness, let's add all pocket pairs as well to the universe of hands. JJ and 22 are ahead of him, with 8 remaining pp's behind him. So, by my count after the fact, about 24 hands I "might" play are ahead, 10 hands behind. Do you make this call correctly preflop and/or post flop knowing this, risking about half your stack when given 3:2 odds AFTER I raise 6x blinds? Needless to say, I was/am pissed.

An hour or so later, he's eliminated from the tourney, finishing out of "the money," and I give the man hug to the playa that ousted his donk ass. He ended up winning the tourney handily. Second game, I finished well off the bubble as well. Once again, donk boy played incorrectly and was rewarded early, however, my prayer to the Poker Gods were answered, as he finished on the bubble. I hate to see donks rewarded when I've been burned. Especially "That guy." Correction, let me further qualify that. Donks need to be rewarded from time to time, this keeps my bankroll flowing. They need a bone from time to time to keep them coming back for more. This is a guy who claims to have the desire to better learn the game. He is constantly picking my brain about "correct play" and how to handle different situations. He acts like he wants to get better and evolve, yet his actions shows he could care less about anything other than wasting my time. He's still my friend and all, but as for poker strategy, the information desk is closed to him. He's capable of learning, he just chooses no to. Nuff said there...

Sharky has a great post in his blog today regarding live play. Check it out. Additionally, hit up the tourney calendar for CheckRayz. Shark also has some upcoming tourneys. Specifically, check out his blackjack tourneys this weekend. I've yet to play blackjack online, but I am rather certain I will be hitting the tables with him and the army this weekend. Also, stay tuned for commentary on the Steelers-Hawks matchup, and how CheckRayz - Shark Poker Tour are invloved.






Poker Stories
SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga
Horrible Poker Play
Poker Tournament Strategy

Play money vs. real money

I originally wrote this article on 11 Nov and decided today would be a great day to repost and add additional thoughts. The original article can be found here.

Monopoly Money vs. the Green Back...

King of the Poker Ocean Shark spoke recently (I believe in his forum - http://sharkpokertour.com/phpbb2/index.php ) on the topic of play money and poker games. He claimed there is nothing worse for one's game than play money. I couldn't agree more and here's why.

1. We're all naturally creatures of habbit. Play money creates bad habbits. Nothing "real" at risk. You lose, no big deal. You win, you feel like a genius. The real world of poker ain't the way you see it in the play rooms. If you are or aspire to be a "real poker player," play money is good for nothing more than to test the software of a poker room.

2. Our brains are wired in such a manner that when we put effort into something and get "desired result," we repeat said actions thinking we will get the same desired results. Consequently, when we "evolve" to cash tables, because we're "geniuses" of the make believe play money game (endless refills), we go into the real world, thinking it is OK to call down a 10x raise in the BB with 2-5, 2-6, or 2-7. I assure you, this is NOT ok. We fall into this trap because we never truely got "burned" the first time we did it, playing with monopoly $$$. We just reload, grabbing fruit or chips off the play money tree. No consequences for donk like action. All reward, no true risk.

3. We see other people who have a million plus play chips throwin them around like no one's biness. We therefore relate the stack to his skill level and thus try to duplicate his play, which then becomes habbit and transfers to the cash tables.

4. THE ABSOLUTE WORST THING YOU CAN DO WHEN ON A LOSING STREAK IS TRY TO FIX YO GAME ON A PLAY MONEY TABLE. During this time, a string of bad cards, its natural to want to move to play $$$ to "fix your game," (see the appeal of zero risk, egotistical reward). A lot of times, its bad cards! I went 27 consecutive pocket pairs without settin' on the flop. Bad streaks come, even to Drunken Beer Gods such as myself. When this happened, I did not change a thing. I played through it. I knew it wasn't me (pokertracker verified this).For these reasons, we really only want to use the play money to try out the software. I will say I do not even use play chips for that. I'm comfortable enough with the eye to determine whether or not I'd deposit based on what I see and read. I'd be more inclined to drop a fitty into a room that I wanted to try, thus "trying" things out on real tables, not risking to much principle. Last thing I wanna do is risk corrupting my focus on a day at the monopoly tables.For me, Play $$$ is off limits. I'd rather lose $50 than corrupt my style. So, in closing, stay away from Uncle McBucks or whatever his name is... Deposit today. If you're uncertain of the room you play in, try one of my rooms, or one of shark's rooms (we each have links on our blogs). These are sites we're comfortable puttin money in. Any questions on a poker room, give me a holla, I'll be glad to screen for ya or give ya my opinion.

In fact, should anyone have any questions about any poker room at all, drop me a line. I'll be glad to share my insight on rooms, bonuses, playthrough requirements, appropriate level of play, etc. I consider myself a resource to my readers and the members of CheckRayz. I'm always glad to help a brotha (or sista) out, if asked.

My "Monthly" gathering for live action is today. I never walk away from the 12 hrs I spend on this day without a great story or two. Look for results, poker anecdotes and insight tommorrow!

Mike



Thoughts on Poker
Poker Strategy
Poker Tournament Strategy

Kiwi Poker Freeroll Thoughts...

The CheckRayz Leaderboard Tour tore up the felt at Kiwi Poker last night during our Freeroll Poker Tournament. I was performing triple duty, playing in Shark's awesome Sun event, throwing chips around at kiwi, and tending to "Daddyz lil angelz" all at once. Before discussing the tourney, I want to address something.

There was a miscommunication of some sort, it seemed, regarding Shark's start time at the sun. I made a similar error as well, releasing a 9pm start time at Kiwi, as opposed to 8pm. We do make mistakes. Everyone does. When registering for tourneys, I get in the practice of verifying what it is (and when) I am registering for. When you're the busiest man in the business, like Sharky is, or a hard-working rookie such as myself, sometimes events or other things become confusing. So, please, no hate mail on this (though, I may publish some in my Friday Night mailbag column). If anything, show sharky some love by telling him that you appreciate all he does for the Army, and continue to show him the love and support that he works so damn hard to maintain. Hats off to ya shark!

Nuff said there. On to the Kiwi Freeroll Tourney. I came out firing early, getting some quality cards and benefitting from the scent of weakness. Its trouble when I get off to an early lead, as I don't consider myself a cheap date by any means. I continued punishing the table, taking down some nice sized pots, relative to the blinds. On a key hand, I called a 2x raise in the late position (yes, I do occasionally call late, to keep it real). Flop comes 3-3-3. Looking at my hole cards, I am loving life. Blinds check to the raiser, raiser pushes all-in, one fold to me. I look down into the hole and see my pocket nines. I think this through, counting only a three, and 5 other pocket pairs above me that can beat me. I don't "think" he'd only raise 2x with AA-QQ, so that leaves JJ-1010 as probibilities. There's six pp's that are behind in the count. This guy could have any of the above. Then again, he could have AK, AQ. I have him covered and decide to reraise, in hopes of showing down heads-up, putting him on a smaller pp, AK, AQ (assigning about 70% probibility of this in my mind), and 30% probability of AA-1010). Blinds fold as expected. I'm crushed when he turns over his Aces. He mowed me down with "authorita." Well done!

BB hits me at the same time pocket 4's do, and tootal raises up on the cutoff. I call. I nail a set on the flop, he flushes the turn. Prayers for a boat to navigate the river go unanswered, nh gg, I'm outie. Got the kiddies to bed and came back for the final table. Tootal, by the way, put forth a strong finish in the 9th position, taking down some leaderboard points. He was "sandwiched between two monsterous stacks." Phenominal play at the finals table, specifically among the final three. Lots of lead changes, smart folding, hard betting. Shark Tour standout, Greenhippy went on to win the event, mowing down his last two obsticles (scgj, and molnarkc). "This is funny, I've only been doing this since October," a festive Hippy says on his first CheckRayz win in two final tables appearances. Well, hippy dude, some people are fast learners and a natural for the game. U one of them, bro. Great job, nice win and more to follow! Thanks to all who participated.

CheckRayz will return to Kiwi Poker on Feb 8 at 9pm in a $10.75+1 private qualifier to win a seat in the NZ Poker Champs Super Satellite ($200+15). 1 seat per twenty entries. Additionally, I have one of those $200+15 seats on my head, as there will be a bounty to launch my donk ass.




Poker Strategy

Friday Night Mail Bag...

Due to the large amounts of "fan mail," cards, and letters I get, I'm going to begin doing a regular "Friday Night Mail Bag" column here. Don't worry, I'll still respond as I normally do. I'm just going to post the more frequent and/or humorous questions and comments here (paraphrased by yours truely, of course). With that, on to the Mail Bag.

Our first letter comes from Norman,

Deer Beerman,
What's the deal is with the advertised Hollywood Poker Tourney? I see three tourneys listed, none of them have the guaranteed $$$ you speak of. Please advise.

Well Norman, thanks for asking. I was trying to get CheckRayz to be the name of the tourney. However, my imhere4beer name is all I could manage. As for the three tourneys, one of them are listed as registering, the other two are cancelled. Sam from Hollywood informed me that H-wood poker is not yet able to accomidate formal private tourneys like many of the other sites we play. Thus, he cannot add money in advance. There is still $200 in the prize pool. This pays out in addition to the entry fee. The entry fee pays immediately, the $200 will follow within 24-48 hours, manually credited by Hollywood Poker. And finally, the free bonus $10 will be credited to everyone who is eligable (downloaded software from CheckRayz, made first time deposit, and played in the tourney). The bonus will be credited at the same time the $200 pays out.

Next question comes from Carey in Michigan. Carey writes,

Beer,
What the hell is a NZ Super Satellite Qualifier?

Carey, the NZ Super Satellite Qualifier is simply a private qualifier we're holding at Kiwi Poker, in which we will be sending someone to the NZ Super Satellite, which is $200+15 to buy in. We will have 1 seat to award per twenty players who enter. Plus, the monster to launch my donk ass from the tourney will also be awarded a Super Satellite seat. Should one of these individuals go on to win the NZ Super Satellite, they will be on their way to Christchurch, NZ to play in the NZ Poker Championships. I read somewhere that you'll also be eligable to win a WSOP Seat while in NZ.

Joe writes - Does that Shark dude really think the Hawks stand a chance against the Steelers in the Super Bowl?

HaHaHa, Joe. The beerman thinks the shark broke into my beer stash.

And finally, several people wrote in asking why they cannot log into the Rayz site.

To that I answer this way.

1. Did you register for the CheckRayz site? (sharkpokertour, onlineshark, and checkrayz; while all part of the shark powered network, operate on different databases, and require different registration). If not, please register and try to log in again.

2. Did you put your email address, the one you registered with, in the email address field? Or did you incorrectly put your leaderboard screenname?

3. Did you know that passwords are case sensitive? I suggest copying and pasting your password from the registration email.

4. If you REALLY did all the above. Then and only then do I suggest reregistering.

More from the Mailbag next week. Keep the emails coming!!!



CheckRayz Mailbag

Heads up Recap...

I continued my ring game, doin the six seater 3 tablin' limit gig yesterday. Once again, an "average day" as for my win rate. I do have to say, I'm playing some good poker right now, according to my pokertracker stats. It doesn't help to FINALLY have the Poker Gods on my side either.

I shut her down after a few hours of play and decided I wanted to get some head's up action in. So, off to Celeb I went.

My first match, I feigned weakness early, hoping the guy would later take my checks for weakness and bet into me. This strategy did not work, as I'm not certain he was even aware there was an opposing hand that could possibly beat him. This one ended up with him raising, I re-raised up and my JJ got nailed vs. his Q10, and lost out.

Next match I came out firing and easily defeated my opposition before the blinds had a chance to increase.

I decided that perhaps I needed to move up in limits a bit, because "these people" weren't going to give me a challenge. I say that respecfully. My purpose of playing, in addition to making money, is to better my game. Sure, winning is great, but these people weren't posing a challenge. Either they were going to outdraw me, or they weren't. Nothing educational at all.

So, I moved up and found what I was looking for...

This guy wanted to come out firing chips. So, I decided once again to feign weakness early and set up the trap or the check-raise. So, early on, I often set down my hand, which I was rather certain had him beat --- he was bullying and I was allowing. Key hand in this match was my flopping of top pair. I check the flop, he bets, I call. Turn gives me trips. I check, he checks. River comes blank. I throw out a small bet (1/4 of the pot), hoping he's gonna get a sniff weakness. Sure enough, he does and overbets. With the board paired, I'm also needing to worry about a trap. However, his overbet was enough that he was seriously chip deprived if he folds. I take a chance and push all-in. He folds after nearly timing out. His stack is now 4 times big blind. Like clockwork, he raises to allin preflop. I decide that I want to play this one out, as he could be on tilt (he was), and besides, I had the only garbage hand I enjoy playing (7-10o - I used to be a bowler, don't ask). I hit, he misses. Win to me. I ask if he'd like a rematch, he tells me to pound salt and that's that.

Next player totally dominated me. I couldn't get a read on him at all. I felt like Peyton Manning facing my Steeler defense. I couldn't make anything happen and had no clue how this man was coming at me. Needless to say, I never did get a good read on him and lost badly. I asked for a rematch, he declined citing he needed to get to work.

Last match before having to pick up the kids. Early on, this guy seemed passive, so I got aggressive early, and was off to commanding lead. He responded by turning up his aggression on me. Seeing this, i tightened up just a little bit, being a bit more selective of my raising hands. Once again, I began setting up the check-bet-fold move (I check, he bets, I fold) letting him feel in control. First CheckRayz of game folds him up, giving me a decent size pot. I took down the next hand as well, calling him cleanly, then value betting the checked river, working him while on the ropes. Next hand, I check call a boat. Finish comes from allin call 66-a4 on the limp, he pushes i call. Win me.

Record for the day: 3 wins-2 losses

Went on to play the Shark Event at PokerTime. Good showing by me. Solid playing, with a few strokes of luck. Made the finals table yet again in the Shark-PT event, however this time, instead of taking second, I finished on the bubble, taking 6th out of 300+. Good time, great play! Two events tonight, CheckRayz @ Kiwi @ 8pm, and Sharks at the Sun @ 8.15pm EST. I'm two tabling tonight. See you all there!



Poker

Finally "made" time to play...

So, after a two-three week absence from the ring games, I finally "made" time to play. Part of the reason I've not "made" time to play ring is due to the bad run of cards I'd come across. Otherwise, unwinding from the holidays, working the business end of the Rayz site, soccer, STEELERS FOOTBALL, and (insert excuse of choice here) have been the other reasons I've neglected to ring it out. I'd managed several MTT's (mostly unsuccessful in finding cashage), and quite a few Head's up challenges (pretty much owned the tables) without being able to drag myself to the cash tables. I know others have had the same going on recently.

That being said, I've ran quite well in the past two days 2 to 4 tabling the $1/$2 shorthanded limit tables. Pokertracker has provided me with several good laughs, as its identifying donks who are playing 70% of the flops or more. And of course, they're grossly negative on their BB/100 hands rate.

There was this one individual yesterday that raised every pot preflop that he was in (Read: the pot was raised preflop 73% of the time). I had an established table image, showing down quality hands and discussing tight-aggressive play with the group at the table (which by the way, I'd been privledged to meet some quality individuals the past couple days - always a reward to me at the end of a session to "slow it down" and take 1 table and just be social while playing). Anyways, I had decided that anytime I was planning to enter the pot when this clown raised, I was reraising him. This naturally caused me to be a bit more selective than I already am, and play hands that were either better from a starting hand standpoint, or would be hands capable of holding up in a classic head's up format.

This moron was apparantly not used to being bet into, as I think he has enjoyed a short-lived career of pushing person after person out of the pot. So, when he and I were heads up, which often my reraising him allowed us to be heads up, I punished the donk. Flop would come, I'd bet when I hit, I'd bet when I missed, I threw the check-rayz in there quite a bit. I reraised his donk ass. Essentually, I threw the kitchen sink at him and sent 'em the bill.

Either he was a total idiot, or his ego committed him to try to finally "beat me." Unlike him, I was able to set it down if it just seemed impossible that I was ahead in the hand. I felt like I took the maximum money from him that I could. He, however, could not set his hand down... ever. Well, not til we busted him, that is. Then, I don't think he could afford to play any longer. Either that, or he just finally had enough. I'm not sure who he thought he was dealing with, but he sure the hell was not gonna push me around at MY table.

Without this guy, it would have been an "average" winning session. However, said donk did inflate my win rate quite a bit, and I will not complain about that one bit! I must say though, I suspect it was "smart play" on my behalf, not just "lucky cards" that allowed me to own this biatch. I knew when to enter the pot against him. I knew well enough to re-raise him when he opened with a raise to a pot I was in. I knew to be the aggressor. And finally, I knew when to lay down and fight the battle in the next hand. All in all, great session.




Poker
Poker Strategy

poker day with "the boys"...

Written while still intoxicated from the night before, edited while "sober"...

So, we had this diaper party for my bud. And of course, poker was the "entertainment" of the day. No disrespect to "the boys"... but it was tough "playing" poker against them. So, I'd push with hands that I normally would not push with, just having a good time (said another way, I played extremely donk-like purposely).

The final game of the evening, I decided I wanted to truely "play" (read: I was gonna win). First hand I am dealt, I look at the hole cards and see AQs, and I'm under the gun. I think this through, and at the table 2 of the eight, in addition to me, are actual players (guy who plays often, and the infamous character known as "That Guy"). My friend (the guy who's party it was) didn't realize when we first began playing several beer, shots, and hours ago, that the hole cards meant anything. He'd call or bet before looking at his hole cards, as he thought the flop would tell him how valuable his hole cards were, and he'd pay dearly to see them (he knew no better and really thought this was "correct," by the way). Other guys at the table have called down large raises with one face card (i.e. - j3offsuit). So, I'm thinking that a raise preflop would do nothing more than get more money in the pot, but I'd still be up against 4-5 people and have to worry about being outdrawn more expensively.

So, I limp preflop. And of course, so does most everyone else (i think we were six handed going into the flop - we'd have been five or six handed if i raised with a sweeter pot). The flop comes AJ5 rainbowed. Normally, this flop is favorable to me, but this time; I'm frustrated with this flop, as I wouldn't be surprised if someone was holding Jack five. Rather certain no one has AJ. Possibly, could be an ace five, but the clowns would raise with any ace. So, its checked to me... I push all-in, thinking that this is the only way I am gonna get any value out of my hand (either stealing or getting heads up, maybe even three way). 1 caller (jack seven offsuit). GG him, wtg me.

I took about five hands off, announcing i wasn't "playing" again til we were three handed. I broke that promise though, and ended up knocking a few more out. A friend of mine wrote online about knowing your opposition, citing specifically that a "monkey" would never recognize the elaborate moves of a chess master in a game of chess, thus the "moves" would not be nearly as effective. Same stands true with poker, you can "bet hard," but does the opponent who knows nothing about poker know what this should represent? How bout check raising... any clue that is sending a message that he's beat? When you're playing against simple minded people (from strictly a poker standpoint), keep it simple. Don't throw all these complex, potentially expensive moves that will cause a tight, knowledgable player to set his hand down, fearing either a coin flip or that he's against the absolute nut.

Fast forwarding in the story, I did indeed win the game, as I "knew" I would. I took home top prize and was able to leave a nice tip for our bartender of the evening.

Mike




Poker Stories
SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga
Horrible Poker Play

CheckRayz and Hollywood Poker

Weds, Feb 1 9pm --- CheckRayz and Hollywood Poker will be hosting a $200 added $5+.50 buyin MTT. Additionally, in an attempt to be innovative in our tourneys and what we have to offer, Hollywood have agreed to give each member who deposits and joins this tourney a "free bonus." The bonus will be either $10 or $20, and is for merely depositing and playing in this tourney *through the CheckRayz site.

Said another way, prize pool to be won, & free money to everyone who deposits through us and joins the tourney. This will also be in addition to the regular bonuses Hollywood offers (there are several first time deposit bonuses they offer). Email me if questions arise.

Tourney is listed under imhere4beer on Feb. 1 at Hollywood. Register/log in to the CheckRayz site to see the password (pw will be listed tommorrow on the rayz site). Download Hollywood Poker here




CheckRayz Announcements
Poker News

CheckRayz - Hollywood Poker Announcement...

Check Back tommorrow for an announcement regarding CheckRayz and Hollywood Poker...

Celeb Announcement...

As promised, I have a HUGE announcement regarding CheckRayz and Celeb Poker. Celeb have stepped up bigtime for the CheckRayz membership. For the last two months or so, they've offered a handsome bonus. They've given us an even more attactive bonus for the next thirty days.

Exclusive to CheckRayz members, Celeb are offering a 250% first time deposit bonus (up to $500)! This is compared to the standard 200% bonus they've been offering the general public. Play thru requirements do apply, however, they are a great deal less than the standard Celeb play thru. Email me for details.

Additionally, as previously announced, Celeb have given CheckRayz a $250 added $10+1 tourney, slated for 15 Feb. with a special 10pm EST start time (clay, we heard your request on this one bud). This event is expected to be huge, registration is open now. Winner shall receive a Celeb hat and tee, and additionally we're throwin' in a CheckRayz first edition tee (the swag treble).

Announcement tommorrow regarding RB's $200 freeroll. They've committed to two $200 frees and a $200 added $5+.50. We may bump these events back 1 week... or it may go off as scheduled. Expect to hear tommorrow AM/early afternoon as to the status of the tourneys.

More to follow.

Mike



CheckRayz Announcements
Poker News

newsletter error...

sorry bout the newsletter lacking content. Something is wrong with my mailer. It was supposed to be an announcement for the heads up tourney at celeb today.

Mike

Heads-up Holden Training

So yesterday, I decided to work on my "match fitness" for the upcoming $150 added Heads up Tourney at Celeb, that CheckRayz is promoting. So, having bonus dollars to work off, I went to Absolute Poker to play some heads up holdem.

I dropped my first two matches, first one losing boat vs. flush. This wasn't much of a match at all. Of course, I didn't see the boat as a possibility on the board (read: first thing in the morning). Second match was a little better, but not much, as my JJ got donked in favor of the four board card straight (he head A-9off, I pushed preflop, he pushed back into me, ended up all-in preflop).

I decided to play a bit higher stakes, and had things to do. So after putting Daddy's lil Angels to bed, I fired that bad boy up and went to work, of course this was after playing the Shark Event.

I owned my opposition, only passing chips his way in two hands, and the pots he won were very small in nature. I nailed the figure four in classic Ric Flair fashion, letting him push my KK around with his 7-7 preflop and flop. Turn comes, he bets, I go for the thumb in the eye, raising him to all-in, he calls... chop, chop, suplex, knee, figure four, "whoooo!"

Determined, he asks for (and receives) a rematch. He wins the return match, flushing out my set of Jacks. We go again, classic back and forth battle. Blinds continue to raise and the higher they go, the more of an advantage "the champ" is at. This time, I nail the "figure four" with a boat to his bluff.

Next match (same opponent), this time he's finished off with "television time remaining," falling victim to my top pair, open end straight draw vs. his middle pair, garbage kicker.

OK, OK, fine, one more match... this time, its a loser leave town match... (feels like Flair-Rhodes feud of old). Once again, he starts the match out aggressively, as the blinds rise, so does my advantage. The champ "takes him to school" with (ironically) a set of fours he never saw coming.

One thing I noticed was that whenever the blinds went to 50/75, I clearly outplayed him preflop. My mindset was that for $25 tourney dollars, there were few cards that did not offer the odds to call. Consequently, I ended up rayzin up more often than not. This worked for me about 4 out of five times, giving me the pot either pre-flop, or on the continuation bet.

Furthermore, I didn't like the idea of allowing him the luxery to call me, completing the blinds for only $25T (5:1). So, of course, he completes the blinds, and I raise them 3 out of four times, regardless of my cards. Eventually, he was "beat down" and would fold if he didn't have what he believed to be a solid starting hand (hell, for 5:1, I'll see a flop with 2-7offsuit heads up).

I'm really looking forward to the heads up tourney today at Celeb (as I think you can tell). CheckRayz gear to anyone who enters the tourney today - need an email with shipping info sent to me here. Good luck and see you all on the virtual felt.

Mike



Poker Strategy

Huge Celeb happenings...

Just got off the line with the Celeb rep. They're really steppin' up in February. Details will be released by Monday. Check back...

Tourney time in thirty minutes. Hope to see everyone there. Download here... Also, $150 added heads-up tourney at celeb this Sat 4pm start time.

Nuff said for now. See ya on the virtual felt...

Mike
Poker Tournaments

Tonight's celeb freeroll

Tonight's Celeb freeroll should be a way smaller field than the crowded AP Free --- 1000 entries. In the event anyone is having difficulty locating the tourney, there could be two potential problems.

1. You didn't download the poker room from the Rayz site, or blog, or email. If this is the case, delete the program and download here.

2. You did not set the poker room clock to EST. If this is the case, just go forward five hours and look under 1/13/06 at 2am (tourney is 1/12/06 at 9pm).

Good luck. Small field, prolly tighter than your normal freeroll, which means better playing, higher chance to win!

Mike



Poker Tournaments
CheckRayz Announcements

upcoming events...

Leaderboard is up!!! Missing screennames for a few who were on the finals table. Email me and we'll get it fixed, otherwise the points are "dead." Everyone who joins must put in a screenname in order to get credit for tourney wins. Nuff said on old business, now onto new biz...

Both the Shark and I are busy nailing down events for everyone. Six days, six events over three sites, four pokerrooms, and over $1000 in FREE MONEY!!!

Wednesday 11 Jan 9pm EST, Shark Poker Tour freeroll at Absolute Poker - $200 added.

Thursday 12 Jan 9pm EST, CheckRayz Leaderboard Freeroll at Celeb Poker - $100 added. Swag to those who download, deposit, and play 250 hands .50/1 and up.

Friday 13 Jan 8.15 EST, Online Shark Event at Sun Poker - $200 added Freeroll.

Saturday 14 Jan 4pm EST, CheckRayz Leaderboard Heads-up Tourney $150 added. $5+.50 entry. Celeb Poker --- Swag to all who download deposit and enter.

Sunday 15 Jan 9pm EST, Online Shark freeroll at Titan --- $200 added.

Monday 16 Jan 8.15pm EST, Online Shark $100 Added Event at Sun Poker - $5+.50.

Busy stretch for those of us who follow all three tours. No need to go anywhere else to play... (there's other places to play? --- not really... all others tied for last). I wouldn't be surprised to see at least 1 event a day in the near future from one of the Shark Network Sites. Each one has seperate registration, so make sure you're booked at all of them.

Sign up is here for those who want in:

Shark Poker Tour - flagship site for the Shark Powered Network.

CheckRayz Leaderboard Tour - Specializes in smaller freeroll and money added tourneys, home of the Leaderboard (player of the year honors) and the Heads up tourney.

Online Shark Tour - Freerolls, money added tourneys, and satellite events.

Casino site - Fortune River, for those enthusists who crave non-poker gambling.

As you can see, there's nothing the Shark Powered Network doesn't cover in the gambling realm. More to come.



CheckRayz Announcements
Poker Tournaments

Misc.n random thoughts early in the tourney...

So, I'm playin the 40K Guaranteed *rebuy/addon at Pokerroom right now... Still early in the tourney (just began lvl 2). 1186 began, 1100 remain. Its painful seeing 2-5s played utg (limp then called a raise) winning with a flush vs. AKs, AK and 10-10. I've got about 3800 chips, which is good for 100th place at the time of this entry.

I must say, two times now the card gods have tested me. I sat late position with 88 and 44. When I had the 8s, AQx hit the board. I folded to an overbet, only to see an 8 hit the turn. Holding the fours, I had a raise and a reraise in front of me. I correctly dumped the fours preflop, and would have nailed the set on the flop. Both were correct plays, but as I said, the poker gods are trying to get me to donk... "Not this drunken fool," I say! Speaking of drunken things, the CheckRayz "sponsored" soccer team, Beer F.C. (the Beer Football Club) begins their Winter II season this week.

As for Rayz business, it appears as if Kiwi wants us to come back (wow, we didn't even clean up after ourselves --- clay left shotgun shells all over the grass as he gunned down all his opposition in his march to victory, I left Beer cans all over the place, CT threw bottle upon bottle of nyquil on the ground, missing the garbage can cuz she was a bit disoriented from all the meds she was on). Anyways, I'm corresponding with the Kiwi rep, and details about another tourney or two will be released shortly. As will tourneys at a few additional sites. Remember, Next week is Celeb (Freeroll on Thurs, Heads up buy-in on Sat). CR Tees, or Celeb Tees or hats to anyone either depositing and playing 250 hands .50/1 or higher... or enters the heads up tourney. No pw for these events, however, you MUST download through the checkrayz site to be eligable to enter.

"Lil bro" (screenname Steveman on the Checkrayz Leaderboard Tour) will be perfecting the Leaderboard on the Rayz site real soon. Speaking of, you must have a screenname entered with the rayz database, otherwise I can't credit ya points. Anyone scoring leaderboard points (top 9 finishers) must check to ensure they enter a sn. (As i type this, the card gods "do" me again... I raise, only to be reraised twice... My 10s utg vs AA vs AK, I folded preflop so as to live to play another day... However, yet another set woulda hit... Grrr). Gods however have rewarded such discipline on my part, as they've allowed me to set with sevens in a seven-way pot and blessed me with a higher kicker when queen-shit (x2) hit the board. I'm now sitting in 150th place with 4800 chippies, blinds 50-100 and 925 peeps remaining, damn, just got a table change... I'm no longer the old bag with the old looking bag. I'm the cowboy dude now and dealt queens in the hole first hand... 1 caller late (the fat ass). And of course, he draws on me... calling with J10offsuit. He gets the "tool" label, i lose about 1000 chippies and we move on... Few other hands play out, mostly me tilting over top fat bastard... I get to the break with 4900 chips and sit in 285th place, 839 peeps remain...

I've rambled for an hour... put out some important thoughts, distracted myself, played "link whore" and lasted the hour without rebuying or donking out. Go me!!! More to come later...

update: end of hour 2, I sit with 6500 and in 240th of 336th place. "Mr. My pocket pairs have been hitting all night" got mixed up with my AA and paid me. I donated back to "Mr. I love to see every flop, regardless of cost." Blinds now 300-600, 7500 chipstack for me after stealing with JJ in the cuttoff.

update: end of hour number 3, other than jj, i've not had a playable hand in position. Down to 3699 with blinds now going to 800-1600. Button just passed me, 126th out of 132... top 130 get paid, so yes... I'm on the bubble. Looking for something to offer up to the poker gods here.

Final update: Bubble bursts, poker gods don't like my offering... "Mr. My pp have been hittin all night" resurfaces, gets mixed up in a pot with me. I'm shortstacked and on the BB, so of course I move all in, he calls with a 6-8s from mid position (give me a break here)... Flop hits him hard, the same way a greese monkey would hit an unlocked tool room as his shop is goin out of business. He takes my chips, crushing my AQ, knocking me out in 127th place. Overall, not a bad showing... I'm outie.


Mike



Thoughts on Poker
Poker Tournament Strategy

More Blog Surfin'...

I wrote before on the development or evolution of a bad poker player. I came across a poker blog where someone discusses the evolution/development of a good player. I found this article to be a very accurate assessment of where one begins and how he/she evolves as a player. You can read the article here - great, quick read.

Additionally, while surfing through his blog, I came across another article of interest to me. This, in turn, is a shout out to all you donks... or as nrg still calls them, "fish." Pay attention to how your 8-7s may not be a wise all-in bet when you flop middle pair, flush draw in a multi-way pot. The article, from Cardplayer Magazine, discusses drawing hands, specifically combination hands... Good read, written by Matt Lessinger.

Here's yet another link from the same blog to another blogger, ten random rants about online poker (yet another one I can relate to).

And finally, perhaps the best write up I've come across today, "The best worst hand." This entry details the author's 45 "playable" hands, and he filters out/assesses his "problem hands." Great read, once again donks take note both at how your Q2o is not on his list, and how certain hands spell trouble.

Good quick reading... Enjoy. Next post will be something original...

Mike



Poker Strategy

Thoughts on Poker

First Tourney a Success...

Our first tourney was a success. We had a nice, as opposed to monsterous sized field for the CheckRayz tourney at Kiwi Poker. I sat at a great table to start things off, with SPT regular CT and a local friend of mine, who also plays Shark events, John (help me out one more time on the pronounciation of your sn again, if you would). The one thing I have to say (from my observation), there was very little donk playing in this tourney. Most freeroll poker tourneys feature donk after donk after donk. This one was different, for some reason.

Right around the first break, I stepped up and begin accumulating chips, sitting in 10th. John was not too far behind... And Clayshooter, yet another Shark standout, was running on or near the "lead lap" from pretty much start to finish. He and I ended up on the same table later on in the tourney, where he "floated me a loan" (said another way, he raised from the button, I had a pocket pair and believed him to be attempting a steal --- I figured if he had a monster he would be more likely to trap against me). Needless to say, he doubled me up and though he "counts" the three way hand on the finals table as repayment (I lost the hand, but not to him), I am certain I still owe him chippies.

One can deduce by that last statement that we both made the finals table. This finals table was an excellent one. Several conversations and stories being told. Relaxed "feel" to it. I always enjoy the friendly feel of tables such as this one. I dropped off in ninth place. Clay went on to win the event (guess he didn't "need" my chips after all). Great showing by him and everyone else in the first CheckRayz event.

In case you've never played at Kiwi, the software is quite similar in nature to Titan, however, it appears as if we're playing in the grass of the outback. I think my chair, on the first table, was on some uneven land and my beer cooler kept rolling away from me, but that could have been BMC (sitting to my right) tryin to steal a beer or two. Overall, great tourney.

Next stop for the CheckRayz Leaderboard Tour is CelebPoker, home of the "loosest tables on the net." Their short tables are five deep, as opposed to the traditional six seaters. To me, this is the NL Ring Player's dream scenerio. I've cracked many a donk at Celeb. Great deposit bonus goin on right now at Celeb (200%). Deposit and play 250 hands at .50/1 or higher and get yourself a CheckRayz first edition Tee. Email me through the Rayz site when you complete.

Upcoming Celeb Tourneys are as follows: Thurs 1/12/06 at 9pm for the CheckRayz Leaderboard Freeroll. Then we return to Celeb on Sat 1/14/06 at 4pm for the $5+.50 First Ever CheckRayz Heads-up Tourney!!! All who enter the tourney will get either a CheckRayz first edition Tee, a Celeb Tee, or a Celeb Hat. Celeb was nice enough to throw in some "swag" for our players and an additional $150 to sweeten the prize pool.

Look for more events to be added to the calendar very soon.

Mike



Thoughts on Poker
CheckRayz Announcements
Poker Tournament Strategy

Kiwi Freeroll Begins 2006 Tour...

CheckRayz begins its 2006 Leaderboard Tour tonight at 9pm with a Freeroll Poker Tourney at KiwiPoker. Kiwi's software can be downloaded here. Look for the actual Leaderboard to be online at the Rayz site shortly after the Heads up tourney at Celeb next week.



CheckRayz Announcements