tourneys I'm interested in...

As promised, I am going to get back into the habbit of listing some of the tournaments I am interested in for the upcoming week. Providing the timing is correct and the stars n planets are all aligned properly, I'll be playing in some of these. Should you also be interested, feel free to join in.

Sunday

6.15pm EDT - $50+5 (r/a) 10K Guaranteed at Poker.com --- traditionally speaking, there is a sweet overlay in this event (read: more money than players equals smaller field to fight through and more "initial equity" per player).

9.15pm EDT $5+.50 Omaha, $1K Guaranteed - Kiwi Poker. I can "learn" to play omaha for $5 with 1k guaranteed. If not... I can always play...

9.15pm EDT $10+1 $4500 guaranteed - shorthanded poker tables - Kiwi Poker. Best overlay of the two tourneys gets my love.

10.30pm EDT - $5+.50 10K Guaranteed MTQ - Poker.com - looking to win my way into this for next week.

Monday

I'll begin working on qualification to the stage 2 event for the $5,000,000 online network poker classic at Hollywood Poker.

10pm EDT - CheckRayz $100 freeroll poker tournament - River Belle Poker - free poker tourney, nuff said! Event is open to members of CheckRayz, both new and existing. Register/log in to the CheckRayz site, obtain password from the tourney schedule page.

Wednesday

3.45pm EDT - $14.50+1.30 WSOP Super Satellite - River Belle Poker. These satellites seem to be "hidden," thus I often look for any satellite of theirs and hop in if the numbers make sense. I suspect this one will.

10.15pm EDT - $5+.50 $100 added - CheckRayz private tournament at River Belle Poker. Known for the TAG tourneys with the best players on the net, the monsters of CheckRayz will be once again "holding clinic" with a generous $100 overlay. Same as above, the event is open to all members of CheckRayz, both new and existing members are encouraged to join. Password available for this money added poker tournament on the CheckRayz poker tourney schedule page.


Friday

10.30pm EDT - Private CheckRayz $5+.50 $15K MTQ at Kiwi Poker. All are welcome to play... register/log-on to the CheckRayz site and obtain password from the Poker Tournament Schedule page.

6.45pm EDT - $30+3 $10K Guaranteed at Noble Poker. Prize pool, timing and pricing on this one is perfect. Count me in!

I was planning to give thoughts and feedback on playing AK today, as a fellow BPT member has mentioned that hand is seeming to haunt him lately. Unfortunately, I've run out of time, as I'm heading down to the Burgh to congratulate the Steelers on selecting Santonio Holmes with their first pick celebrate my nephews 1st birthday. Look for AK talk on tuesday (hand histories will not be displayed, play will however... be discussed). Also, rumour has it that there's a big CheckRayz announcement on the horizon (read: big promotion announced). Look for that as early as tommorrow.

Thanks for reading,

Mike



Poker Tournaments

blogger poker tour event #4 highlights...

Top ten

1. skinski $125 cash & pass to the BPT Grand Finals
2. engelke830 $100 cash & pass to the BPT Grand Finals
3. drawdeadcom $75 cash & pass to the BPT Grand Finals --- I think this is his second pass
4. OhioMike $55 & BPT Grand Finals Pass
5. moneym8 $45 - survived the board counterfeiting vs. the beerguy, comes back nicely to take fifth... way to go!
6. Stornswift $30
7. RaisenYa $25
8. PearlSnapMan $20
9. bolcs5 $15
10. UglyDuckling79 $10

Other Notable Finishes
17. gianpy87 - makes the list for collecting the bounty on the Beer Guy.
18. CawtBluffin
30. DamRiver - a.k.a. thestudent at the SPN
32. JayNYC
41. imjusthere4thebeer
58. Pokrind333

Noteable hands on the Beer Guy's tables...

4.25ish - Get my ass chewed from CawtBluffin for referring to HER as a he.

4.45ish - run into a nice value bet from quibbles.

5.25ish - throw the utg limp with AA. Moneym8, in the BB catches two pair on the flop. Board counterfeits on the river, saves the drunken donk.

5.29ish - moneym8 makes nice recovery.

5.30 - quibbles doubles up via my 7-7 to his 8-8.

5.34 - quibbles cripples me catching draw on the river to the nut straight, reraising me to allin on the flop.

5.36 - quibbles runs into a monster, eliminated by gianpy87.

5.40 - 3 handed and allin... knocked out by gianpy87's pocket nines.

Blogger Poker Tour Stop #4: "We're Just Here 4 the Beer"

We're throwin a party, a beer bash of today at Poker.com. The Beer Guy and his trusty blog, The Poker Pub are playing host to the fourth event of the Blogger Poker Tour. This free poker tournament, appropriately themed "We're Just Here 4 the Beer," has a $500 prize pool, and there's even a bounty on the Beer Guy (poker.com sn: imjusthere4thebeer), which gives a bit of further meaning to the theme of the event...

Launch me, and gain free entry into the poker.com 10K guaranteed. Top four in this beer bash of sorts gain entry to the BPT Grand Final. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, to stir the pot further, this is going to be a short table event (read: six seaters), which is in fact, the Beer Guy's specialty - hence the bounty on the drunken host.

This event will be both fun and highly competative, so don't leave home without your beer goggles and your "A-game." The event is open to active bloggers who meet the simple eligibility requirements outlined on the Blogger Poker Tour website. Registration can be accomplished as follows:

1. Download the Poker.com software here if you do not yet have the software and an account,

2. Sign up at the Blogger Poker Tour site, at which time you'll need to add their link to your blog,

3. Use the password: yourshout for this tournament,

4. Show up and play on Saturday April 29th at 15.30GMT-5 (4.30pm EDT for us east coasters).

While you're registering for this event, you might also want to refer a friend or two who has a blog and is a blogger to join in. The Blogger Poker Tour, via the BPT Grand Finals are sending one blogger to the WSOP and giving away lots of prizes. Don't miss out!

Additional "Unofficial" BPT News

I'm always a believer in being an "active," "innovative" and "participating" member of the communities in which I choose to belong. The BPT is no different. I've put together a "blog roll" and have taken the initiative of placing the link to each of the blogs to the Poker Pub. If you would like to do the same, you can access the unofficial text list of BPT participants here.

A few notes on this list:

1. The list was done by hand, specifically by the hand of the Drunken one. That being said, there "may" be some blogs I accidentally missed. Additionally, there may be some duplicate entries.

2. There was surely an automated, easier way for me to do this, though I do not know how, and even if I did, I'd rather go with the personal touch.

3. There is no "real" order to this list presently. I went down the line of blogs linked to the blogger poker tour website.

4. I most likely "came back to you" and listed lower the blogs that had the BPT banner in a post, as opposed to the more perminant outer column.

5. If your blog was "grayed out" (meaning "probation status") and I couldn't come up with a reason to question why that was within approximately three seconds, I probably didn't add ya.

6. I probably put a blog or two on that didn't belong, and it may have been accidentally, it may have been on purpose.

7. If you copy the blog roll and implement it on your site, you'll probably be bumped up the list. If I read your blog regularly, I'll probably bump you up the list (and probably add you to the "blogs I read" list of mine as well). If you update your content regularly and I see that, I'll probably bump you up the list.

8. If you make me aware (drop me a line) that you've copied the blog roll and put it on your blog, you'll almost certainly be moved up the list.

9. If I made a mistake, forgot ya, or you have any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, and/or suggestions; contact me via number 8.

10. This list is unofficial, I will update once per week, most likely on Saturdays or Sundays. When I update, I won't go back to check for "probation" to be satisfied. I'll start with the last blog added and work down. If you're higher than the last blog added (not to be confused with the last blog on the roll, keep in mind), contact me and I'll add your blog to the list, if appropriate. If you'd like me to "push out" new updates to you of the blog roll via email, drop me a line using the link in number 8 alerting me of such.

11. "Catch all"... anything not listed in 1-10 "may" be covered here...

Mike

Blogger Poker Tour

BPT Event #4, weekly recap, & The Friday Night Mailbag...

We're throwin a party, a beer bash of sorts this Saturday. Yours truely and the Poker Pub are playing host to the fourth event of the Blogger Poker Tour this Saturday at Poker.com. This free poker tournament, appropriately themed "We're Just Here 4 the Beer," has a $500 prize pool, and there's even a bounty on the Beer Guy (poker.com sn: imjusthere4thebeer), which gives a bit of further meaning to the theme of the event... Launch me, and gain free entry into the poker.com 10K guaranteed.

Top four in this beer bash of sorts gain entry to the BPT Grand Final. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, to stir the pot further, this is going to be a short table event (read: six seaters), which is in fact, the Beer Guy's specialty - hence the bounty on the drunken host. This event will be both fun and highly competative, so don't leave home without your beer goggles and your "A-game." The event is open to active bloggers who meet the simple eligibility requirements outlined on the Blogger Poker Tour website. Registration can be accomplished as follows:

1. Download the Poker.com software here if you do not yet have the software and an account,

2. Sign up at the Blogger Poker Tour site, at which time you'll need to add their link to your blog,

3. Use the password: yourshout for this tournament,

4. Show up and play on Saturday April 29th at 15.30GMT-5 (4.30pm EDT for us east coasters).

While you're registering for this event, you might also want to refer a friend or two who has a blog and is a blogger to join in. The Blogger Poker Tour, via the BPT Grand Finals are sending one blogger to the WSOP. Don't miss out!

Weekly recap

In case you didn't know, read the above, as "I'm sure I haven't mentioned that I'm hosting the blogger poker tour event this weekend."

The CheckRayz Rewards held last night, thus closing the books on our highly successful first quarter tour. We're nearly one month into our second quarter tour, and the Beer Guy is highly satisfied, knowing he has some of the best poker players on the net in this tour. Our events, both freeroll and money added buyins, have been growing smartly. I thank everyone for playing their part in successfully kicking off the hottest little tour on the net. Our momentum and excitement shall carry us far in the second quarter and beyond.

This week, I announced that I'll be making some huge announcements right here on the Poker Pub regarding some of the new and exciting promotions we're offering our members. Look for those announcements (yes, you read correctly... plural announcements next week). I'm not at liberty to release the details until the deal has been done, but think "free money."

Also right here on the Poker Pub, the Beer Guy called his homerun ball at the "monthly" game. He said he was gonna win it, cold cards and bad beats irrelivant, and win it he did. He then went above and beyond the call of duty and took down the after game, in addition to the main event. See, here at the poker pub, we don't just sing it... we bring it.

Finally, we got a play by play of the evolution of the Beer Guy's online poker career. Look for me to expand on this in the weeks to come as I discuss specifics on how specifically I evolved my game and why. I remain committed to educating and informing my readers, helping you along in your journey to become the playa you strive to be. Take notes, study, ask questions, and apply the suggestions I put forth. Use the resources I've helped to bring you.

"Mailcall... mailcall"

Ah, the call for mail. The one thing to look forward to while at sea... (pause to thank god that's behind me).

The first email comes from Vasile and reads:

You gave me a password and it's not working. Please change my password.

My response:

Hi Vasile,

I have no idea what you mean by "i gave you the password." Please clarify what specifically you're talking about. If in fact you mean that you've registered for the CheckRayz site and received your welcome letter, I assure you the password does in fact work.

Using the welcome letter as a reference, type in the email address in which you registered to CheckRayz with in the box appropriately marked "email address." Then, highlight the text on the welcome letter that contains the password. While the text is highlighted, press the ctrl and the c key at the same time to copy the password. Next, click on the "password" box on the log in page. Push the ctrl and the v button at the same time to paste the case sensitive password into the block. Then click the button to log in.

Mike

(mailbag note: some day I will finally get around to pushing out an update to the site which includes a frequently asked questions page. Until then, I guess we have mailbag material...).

Next up, Norman...

Hi, Mike. Read your latest rambling, (lol), and noticed I got a mention. It's amazing how many doubters there are out there. Of course, maybe he didn't believe I could win anything! I haven't even got into the Poker Tracker yet. It's been a good week for me at Sun Poker, and you know the old saying, "you have to make hay while the sun shines"! I'm up over a "shitload" (Beer Guy edit: deleted the actual dollar amount to protect privacy, insert word "shitload") for the week, mainly due to players who think they can't lose! Anyway, I'll get into it one of these days, and give you a shout if I need any pointers.

By the way, in the "Judith" saga, there was no indication how long she had been at the same table with "villain", but if she had seen a good amount of his play, she should have added her assessment of his play into her decision making. (Maybe she did, but it wasn't mentioned). Thanks for your work in keeping the Poker Pub going. I'm a faithful reader, as I'm sure many others are, even if we don't let you know often enough. Keep up the good work! Take care. Norman

Great post Norman. And congrats on taking down a "shitload" (once again, my word edited into his email) at one of the Beer Guy's favorite hangouts. I highly doubt that anyone was doubting your ability to take down a tourney, and it should be noted, Norman knocked me out of the tourney, on his quest to the pt program and cashish. It sounded to me that the person was questioning whether or not we actually gave that out as a prize in a free tournament. To which, I say "hell yea we did!" Its straight up on of the perks of playin with the Beer Guy... we, from time to time, give away free stuff to reward the loyalty of our members.

That being said, I'm available anytime you have questions. Just give me a holla. I'm confident you're going to find that your already solid game can... and will be elevated to the next level with the introduction of pokertracker into the equation. I know it did mine wonders, as it helped on my reads, and straight up showed me the error of my donk-like ways (stats, when in the proper context do not lie). One concrete thing pokertracker did for me was to minimize my bad beat stories starting with the ever so famous "so I was in the big blind..." (the place most bad beat stories begin).

Finally, several peeps ask about my ever so famous case sensitive passwords... no, not the login passwords, but the passwords for the actual tourneys:

Beerman, Why doesn't the pw on your site work for (insert upcoming tourney of choice here)?

or...

BeerGuy, Why you gotta make those passwords so difficult? Can't you at least allow us to cut and paste the passwords from the site? Or how about emailing the buyin passwords?

My response: The passwords are "exactly" how I wish them to be, short of copyrighting them (coming soon, rest assured). I don't make it easy to share passwords, as I do not wish for them to be shared with non members. Making it hard in turn makes it easier to protect our vested interest in each and every one of our events.

Have a great weekend peeps,

Mike



CheckRayz Mailbag
CheckRayz Announcements

How did you get your start playing online?

Today, I want to talk about how it is I got my start playing online poker, in addition to discussing how my online game... and live game, for that matter "evolved." But before I do so... I would like to plug the upcoming Blogger Poker Tour event this Saturday which yours truely is hosting:

Blogger Poker Tour Event #4 Update

The Beer Guy has played host in events such as the "Beer Football Club Drunken Derby," which pitted both of the previously split squads against one another. Also, I've hosted the Beer F.C. Kegstand Invitational (self explainitory title there, I suspect). I've made appearances and/or helped organize things at the local "Celebrity BeerPong Tournament" not too long ago, made a cameo appearance at a local Pub Poker event or two, not to mention brought my favorite arch-villian, SuperDonk, cheering him on to victory in the Pub's $500 freeroll. Essentually, I am somehow finding myself involved in all things Beer, providing they're fun and time well spent. That being said, it was only natural that your's truely... the Beer Guy, accept the offer from Poker.com to host the Blogger Poker Tour's "We're Just Here 4 the Beer" party/tour stop.

Here are the details:

We're throwin' a kegger this weekend at Poker.com - The Beer Guy has been tapped to host the fourth event of the blogger poker tour. This tournament, "We're Just Here 4 the Beer" is slated to be a short handed (six seater) event. This is going to be a fun event. $500 freeroll in the prize pool, plus 4 seats in the Blogger Poker Tour Grand Finals are on the line this Saturday! All bloggers are invited to play, and can register by following the below instructions:

1. Download the Poker.com software here if you do not yet have the software and an account,
2. Sign up at the Blogger Poker Tour site, at which time you'll need to add their link to your blog,
3. Use the password: yourshout for this tournament,
4. Show up and play on Saturday April 29th at 15.30GMT-5 (4.30pm EDT for us east coasters).

While you're registering for this event, you might also want to refer a friend or two who has a blog and is a blogger to join in. The Blogger Poker Tour, via the BPT Grand Finals are sending one blogger to the WSOP. Don't miss out!

Breaking news on the BPT event, hosted by the Beer Guy: This just in, Kris from Poker.com has placed a bounty on the head of your drunken host and hero... He is obviously familliar with the beer guy's lack of social consideration as host of his frequent CheckRayz events - known to take down his own hosted tournaments. The bountry will be an entry into Poker.com's Sunday 10K guaranteed. Despite the bounty, the Beer Guy (screenname imjusthere4thebeer) still vows to drop the hammer at least once in this event and welcomes with open arms the bounty along with all the bounty hunters.

This is going to be a great event. Thanks to Poker.com & the Blogger Poker Tour for both considering me as the host and placing the bounty on my head. I believe this tournament will be a lot of fun and showcase some serious skill. I embrace the opportunity to host and promote this event and the tour with open arms.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled reading:

How the Beer Guy got his Start playing online

There's been a lot of talk recently in our community regarding playing online, freerolling/playing for cash, taking "the next step" and what not. I decided, instead of commenting directly on the topic, which I am prepared to do, but holding back for the time being... I'd prefer to explain how it is I got interested in online poker, how I started out, how my "game" progressed, and what I did to get there, written of course in the traditional third person:

In the beginning, the Beer Guy had no skills what-so-ever. He got his start playing at PokerStars in tournaments. He was a depositer from day one, never made it to the play chips. His first deposit was $50, wanting to just play the game and figuring he was smart enough to "figure out what the hell he was doing" from day 1. The fitty was a small price to pay. Somewhere in his first three tournaments at Stars, he got damn lucky. He was playing in one of the guaranteed tournaments, (can't recall which, as this wasn't "written" in the history books, he was a nobody to the online poker world during this timeframe), and managed to slide his way into the money. He had no concept of endgame tactics or proper play. In fact, he'd not even heard of Sklansky, only knew of "that Moneymaker guy" (believed he had to be a great player, as a matter of fact). Dan Harrington was that "one old guy with the hat and flat bill." The unibomber was the insane genius guy who wrote that one manifesto. Jesus was a biblical person, not a poker player. Truth be told, the Beer Guy never watched poker on the tele. He knew it was on TV. He knew peeps raved about it. But, at this point, he never watched a hand played on TV. For that reason, when seeking advice on how to play, he went to what he believed to be the best source of advice, the Chris Moneymaker/Pokerstars website.

Recalling this fabled first tournament, the Beer Guy had no concept of endgame play, followed Moneymaker's "keys to success" and got really lucky. When approaching the final two tables, despite significant pot odds (what the hell were they?) he was knocked off a a hand in which he called UTG holding K3s with over half his stack. The board missed him, (though no ace hitting the board), he checked, other player pushed allin (beer guy had him covered) but folded. 1 hand later, and in the unraised big blind, holding the 10-7 offsuit, the flop comes j-9-A. Beer guy checks and makes the call hitting an eight on the turn and an eight on the river, trying to figure out for days how he lost that hand when he had a straight... quite honestly, there had been a few hands that were hard to comprehend, where his substandard kickers were counnterfeited as well. Anyways, he took down a nice payout in this tournament with his donk-like play and felt like a pokah genius.

He'd rack up a few more tournament cashes at pokerstars with his grossly unorganized game, more than quadrupling his initial deposit of $fitty, though he finished out of the money far more than in the money, usually busting out in the first three rounds of the tournament, unless it was a rebuy. However, one weekend of WSOP qualifiers and gross disregard for tournament selection would wipe his winnings out singlehandedly. This brought him back to reality. He did a little online research and came across two significant things. The first was this Sklanksy character seemed to be the expert on poker play. Second, the Shark Poker Tour seemed to be a place where tight agressive players (whatever the hell that was) played. So, the Beer Guy signed up with the SPT and bought the hold'em bible, "Hold em for Advanced Players" by David Sklanksy, et al. He read through that book, really not understanding what the hell this guy was talking about at first and would watch the Shark events from the rail. He wasn't doing a lot of playing.

Then, the Beer Guy came across this site, Poker.com, which was a new site and had a bunch of freerolls, that "seemed" worthwhile to both enter and try out some of these concepts that Sklansky discussed. In exactly one day, the Beer Guy placed second in one of the $200 rolls there and got a nice payout. At the same time, he got quite bored playing the freerolls, seeing peeps go allin on the first hand five deep, and decided that freerolls were not his cup of tea. He additionally got some bux playing the AP $50 freeroll with 2000 peeps, amassed a huge chip lead calling down a preflop raise, cracking aces with four peeps allin with his King nine suited, nailing down a set of nines on the flop. He doubled up a few times more, sat out the rest of the way because quarter drafts were starting, and he'd probably do better "coasting." He took down roughly $2.35 which nearly paid for his first fifteen minutes of quarter drafts that night.

With the boredom of freerolls, the drunken one began playing sit n go's at poker.com, starting out first with the $5 tables, then moving up the ranks as both his bankroll began to grow and his knowledge of the game. He began to see the light and now knew that one unibomber played poker and had nothing to do with a manifesto of any sort. Jesus was a poker icon, Harrington was a great tournament player, Brunson had a signature hand, Moneymaker was a lucky bastard who lacked skill, Sklansky was the guy who named concepts and made them easier to understand, and large freerolls sucked. Eventually, the Beer Guy purchased Ed Miller, et al's Small Stakes Hold'em book, read this and moved to the cash tables of Poker.com to play for the "big money" (read: .10/.25 no limit). He did relatively well for himself on these tables, figuring out that he needed to have standards with starting hands, he needed to not be calling allins unless he had better than the obvious board, and that large freerolls that anyone could join sucked. He did, however, make some regular appearances in the larger freerolls which one needed to "qualify" for at poker.com. He additionally diversified himself by occasionally playing the cash tables of AP. He continued to watch the Sharks in their tournaments play their games, but still failed to join a single tournament.

Then, just as any good third person documentary would have it... tragedy struck. Something changed... a ruleset of some sort in the Beer Guy's firewall, that blocked him from accessing the poker.com software. This had been the Beer Man's steady stream of income suppliment, the poker.com .10/.25 cent tables were. He knew not what to do... Couldn't hit the "fish" as he knew them fresh off the freeroll wins. He couldn't even play in the larger rolls there that were looking better and better the more he tried and failed to access their server. The poker.com staff spent nearly all day trying to help the drunk one get back onto the server (read: top notch highly dedicated support staff + beer guy being "computer dumb" still equals no success). Additionally, as fate would have it, the Beer Guy gets an email from the Shark to his entire army announcing several things, of which is a rakeback program at Caribbean Sun and also hinting to the beginning/birth of the shark forum. Beer Guy takes this as a sign, and emails the Shark asking if he has a new room to reccommend. The two exachange info and the Beer Guy begins playing at the Sun. Additionally (fast forwarding just a bit here, the Beer Guy sees a post in the forum discussing an opportunity to get onboard with the business end of this online poker thing). Summary: Beer has technical issues with favorite poker room of his, emails sharky, sharky hooks a brotha up with a new poker room, a sweet rakeback deal, and they begin to "talk shop" on what would become CheckRayz).

Beer's first month at the Sun wasn't too bad. He had just busted out at AP on the micro stakes no limit tables, and was en route to doing so on his Sun account. By "not too bad" we're meaning that for a new site and increasing stakes slightly, still having money in the account without reloading "wasn't too bad." He discussed what was going on with his game, and Sharky made two suggestions that changed the Beer Man's game completely. He first suggested downloading pokertracker, blindly paying $55 to get the activated version - DONE. He also suggested blindly having faith and moving to the limit tables - DONE. One should fairly note, it is very rare that the beer guy does anything on blind faith. Usually, its show me now and I'll do it later - a drunken skeptic by nature, the beer guy is. So off to the limit tables, with pokertracker in tow, combined with the "ideal stats cheatsheet." It was during this timeframe that the Beer Guy purchased the Harrington series of books and began reading.

Additionally, the Beer Guy finally began dragging his drunken donk arse into the Shark events, now confident he could swim with the sharks with a better working knowledge of how this poker game worked. While playing the events, and participating in the forum, in addition to reading his books, looking at his statistics and tweaking his game, and some other reading (shark's and other's poker blogs), he saw what he failed to see before. The Shark events were a great place to learn the game and evolve one's game. Sitting out of these shark events - SPECIFICALLY THE BUYINS probably stunted his poker game evolution by about 1 year, perhaps even more.

(switching to first person commentary): Fast forwarding to today, I can honestly say that it takes an nothing short of an act of God to catch me in a "non private" freeroll. I flat out refuse to play a large field freeroll. No one has a dime invested, thus nothing to lose. Time means nothing to them, whereas time, not money, is often quoted as being the most valued commodity in my life (though one should note that it takes some money to conquer the "problem" of time). The biggest thing that the Shark buyins gave me was in fact time. I went a month or so of religious playing before cashing in one of them, however, the experience I accumulated by playing in these games gave me the experience I'd not have obtained playing a year, perhaps even two of poker the way I was used to. Was I intimidated when I first "took the leaps" of faith that I took, playing the shark events, taking sharky's word when he said I won't regret buying PT and playing limit, buying into the shark games? You bet your ass I was. However, I fully recognize that successful people consistantly take themselves out of their comfort zone to strive for success in achieving a goal. My goal was to become a better poker player. If that was the case, I needed to read books written by poker players, I needed to begin thinking like a poker player, and finally, I needed to get myself into events with "poker players." The best place for me to do this was in the Shark buyins.

Moving along here, we now have more than just the shark buyins to help evolve our game. We now have more than the Shark blog to read and discuss strategy. The tools we now have at our disposal are as follows:

First, we have the Poker Pub Blog, which if you're still with me here, you'd know that this blog is in fact the Poker Pub. Quite often I talk beginner poker strategy. I bring to the table ideas one can utilize RIGHT NOW to improve their game and solidify their play. This blog, combined with the Shark's blog and in addition to the blogs that he and I take time to list down the left of our blogs are in fact poker blogs worth reading. All the blogs I advertise are ones in which I read regularly. I take my linkage very seriously. I do not ask for a link in return. These are people who for one reason or another, I enjoy/gain value of some sort from reading. I suggest reading some, if not all of them regularly, in addition to your regular poker pub readings.

Second, we have the Shark Network Forum. This is where the minds of the Shark Network get together and discuss any and all aspects of our collective games. I suggest not only reading there, but posting regularly. Have a hand or a bad beat you wish to discuss? Post it, as I assure you that you'll get constructive play by play commentary from many a playa. Be active in the community, as we have a lot to offer and you do too! Read my past discussions both in the forum and on the blog regarding endgame strategy, starting hand selection, and other topics strategery oriented, which I will soon have links for so that you may read them in order and have a convienant way to go through them.

Third, we have shark event via both the Shark Poker Tour and Online Shark; and we have the CheckRayz poker tour events. It seems like one of us has a tourney of sorts every day. I highly suggest playing every event you're able to participate in, both freeroll AND buyin. Use the buyins to experience poker the way it should be played. Get on the poker tables with the "killas." Ask questions while playing. Make it a point to meet the Clayshooters, the sharkys, the beerguys, the gary812's, the texasdans, the cardluvrs, the Bob's (BC5457), the royalty (Prince Sheba) and all the regular knowledgable friendly peeps of the respective tours. Get to know everyone. Don't be afraid to ask me or any of them why they played a hand the way they did, either at the table or in the forum or via instant messenger. Learn from their play, and take what you've learned and incorporate it to a style that makes sense and you're comfortable with. Take these learned skillsets and participate in the private freerolls we put together. Let these events reinforce your newly learned skills and table vision. Then bring it home and come back to the buyins... learning, implementing and applying along the way continuously. Dedication, an open mind, and "on the job training" are the quickest path to success in this game.

Fourth, step out there and play the cash games. I started out playing .10/.25 tables and killin the game, once I made the jump to playing ring. If ring games aren't your style, take on the $5 or $10 sit n gos. Small field to fight through there. These games will help you improve, as you can further reinforce your skills obtained via checkrayz/shark events to kill the competition. Move up the ladder as your skills develop and bankroll supports it. As I said, I started playing .10/.25 ring, now I'm playing $2/4 and $3/$6, and open to moving up from there even. When I play sit n go's, I'm not buying in for less than $25, unless I'm keeping someone else company from one of our tours. And while you're at it, please download the poker rooms from one of the links present here on the poker pub blog, the shark blog, the shark forum, the rayz and/or shark sites, or via our regular poker tour newsletters. This helps us continue to bring you free poker tournaments and money added buy-in poker tournaments.

When playing multi table poker tournaments, I avoid freerolls open to the general public at all costs. I mentioned this before, and I will mention this again, I gain nothing, in terms of value by playing these events. Fields are too big, play is too donk, and I'm wasting my time, as I have only my MVC (most valuable commodity) invested... my time. No one has money invested here, and the overall play reflects that. Why bother, I ask? I cannot come up with one legitimate reason, so I avoid em... nuff said. I am selective about the public buyins I play. I look for money added overlays, giving me a bigger prize pool with a lesser field in terms of number of people entered to fight through. I got out of the habbit of posting tournaments I am watching, considering entering, but promise I will get back into that habbit.

Finally, read read read... read your poker books. I've listed several times my favorites. I always have a book on poker strategy that I am reading/rereading. Ask me what I'm reading now... or what I'm reading next. Take measures to improve your game!

The bottom line is this... We have several resources available to everyone who enjoys playing poker. If you're serious about your game, don't do just the minimum "on the bus" effort in playing only freerolls. Read the blogs, participate in the forums, do play the freerolls we put together, but also hop into the buyins looking to learn something. Buy or borrow the books we discuss. Step out there play for cash, perhaps even download pokertracker. Just like in society, become a valuable, participating, productive member of your community. Embrace the resources we have to offer, and give back to your group. Learn a little, then teach someone else as your knowledge grows. Understand what you're doing and why you're doing it, ask questions, think it over, reflect, reinforce. Learn, practice, particpate, wash, rince, repeat... Help us help you to get the most out of our events and resources. Do play our freerolls, but also play in our cash games as well, as they are the best place to learn your "trade."

CheckRayz rewards tournament is slated for tonight, at River Belle Poker. Mailbag is tommorrow on the pub. Stay tuned.

Mike



Thoughts on Poker
CheckRayz Announcements
Misc. Offtopic Ramblings

"We're just here 4 the beer"...

We're throwin' a kegger this weekend at Poker.com - The Beer Guy has been tapped to host the fourth event of the blogger poker tour. This tournament, "We're Just Here 4 the Beer" is slated to be a short handed (six seater) event. This is going to be a fun event. $500 freeroll in the prize pool, plus 4 seats in the Blogger Poker Tour Grand Finals are on the line this Saturday! All bloggers are invited to play, and can register by following the below instructions:

1. Download the Poker.com software here if you do not yet have the software and an account,
2. Sign up at the Blogger Poker Tour site, at which time you'll need to add their link to your blog,
3. Use the password: yourshout for this tournament,
4. Show up and play on Saturday April 29th at 15.30GMT-5 (4.30pm EDT for us east coasters).

While you're registering for this event, you might also want to refer a friend or two who has a blog and is a blogger to join in. The Blogger Poker Tour, via the BPT Grand Finals are sending one blogger to the WSOP. Don't miss out!

Mike




Poker News
Poker Tournaments
CheckRayz Announcements

You play 2-3 offsuit?

OK, so I've got a lot of "feedback" on my playing the "baby schroeck" when taking down the second game in our "monthly game." Apparantly peeps were shocked/outraged when I not only flipped over that two-three offsuit, but had willingly pushed allin on a bluff. That being said, while I will not attempt to "justify" this crazy move, I will in fact put it in the proper context and perhaps then it will make a bit more sense.

The main factor to keep in mind, is that this particular matchup pitted your hero versus arch-nemasis SuperDonk. Anything we do against one another usually ends up in both a battle of skill and a battle of ego.

When the heads up play began, I had about 80% of the chips in front of me. In the first game, the main event... I did not get the privledge of heads up play, as the second-third place finishers agreed to a split. That being said, I was slightly itching for some heads up action. I had pretty much handed SuperDonk a substantial amount of chips, bringing him back, uncontested to 45% of the chip count. I was both wanting to make it a game, and "tell a story" of sorts.

Heads up play, up to the 2-3 hand went pretty much like this. SuperDonk raises, Beer Guy folds. SuperDonk raises, Beer Guy folds... As I said, I was chipping him up and setting the context to "tell a story" in the process. My thoughts were that SD would quickly realize that raising preflop appeared profitable. Furthermore, based on my "story telling," he'd believe that I'd raise only with a quality hand. This in turn suggested he should raise with any two cards, giving him a wide hand range and that my hand range that I was playing would be very narrow, or predictable. That clues him in to raise/fold preflop. Believing that I incorrectly had "standards" with respect to starting hands dictates that he fold if he's on the more likely low range of starting hands if I reraise him, specifically reraising to allin.

That being said, in my mind... I'm chipping him up, which he is not aware of. I want to use this reraise move on a hand that I do not expect to win from. Ace-ten is positive EV heads up. I'm thinking why waste this move on a hand like ace ten... So, he raises preflop. I see the 2-3 and push allin, certain he will fold up shop. He makes the call with QJ offsuit, in his words "believing he had the better preflop hand." If he in fact did believe this, he made a great read. Additionally, if he made any read at all, he's further ahead than he was a few short months ago.

On a slightly related topic, he and I were discussing the infamous knockout of all things donk with my four five suited. The fact is, when I pushed allin, I could have told everyone that I had a straight, and was holding 4-5 of hearts. Not a soul at the table would have ever believed me. In fact, I probably could have shown everyone my cards, and they'd have all somehow believed it was one of those "elaborate jedi mind tricks" I was pulling... and I likely really had queens or something.

On a CheckRayz note, free poker tournament at Noble Poker tonight. $100 freeroll prize pool for the noble tournament. Additionally, $5+.50, $100 added poker tournament at Noble tommorrow. Don't miss out on playing in the best and tightest private poker tour on the net.

Mike



Poker Tournament Strategy
Poker Stories

Monthy Game recap and thoughts...

The "monthly game" is in the history books... 21 peeps showed up for the live game this time around, though some of the regular faces were absent from the event. Despite the absence of a few notables - Vegas Jack, CheckRayz member and last month's winner and the ever so popular "chip slinger" weren't able to answer the bell due to VJ's 40th birthday party the night before - the field was still as tough as ever.

Before the game started, we were forced to revisit a quote of some sort, as some idiot made himself a very bold prediction:

"My performance at the monthly game, in terms of results (read: cashing) have not been in line with my expectations. More often than not, I've been either the "bubble boy" or the first one out once the money hits. I'm making a bold prediction for this month, something I've never done, and calling my home run ball... I'm putting everyone on notice and saying "I will win this event this month." I know, bold statement, considering I've not factored in the chance of getting cold cards, or "bad beats" placed upon me. Oh, but I have... Bad beats and cold decks are something every poker player must deal with and work through. Its how one responds to said bad beats and cold cards that defines a winner. Taking that into consideration, I am vowing to overcome any cold cards and/or bad beats to emerge victorious. Failure... is not an option (read: it is very possible that I make a similar post next month, just prior to the "monthly game," however nothing is going to deter me or turn into an excuse if I do not win). I'm giving it my all and plan to win. Nuff said. " - the Beer Guy at the Poker Pub on 22 April regarding the "monthly game."

As fate would have it, not only is this prediction made known, but I also have what appears to be the worst draw in the history of my playing the "monthly game." To my immediate left sits SuperDonk, who is pissed off... not because he has position on me, but because Dusty Rhodes King Kong Donkey Kong, master of the figure four plunge from atop the Empire State Building Jack-three offsuit has position on SuperDonk. The host sits with Donkey Kong to his right. The host is a very solid, technical playa, having not only read, but also sold the beer guy on the Harrington Series of books. Then comes Giant's fan. I know not much about his play, though I recall sitting at a table with him once upon a time where he had been playing the players, not looking at his cards, but instead betting based on the posture of the person. He had once eliminated me with two pair in a not so obvious two pair situation. Then comes the hostess, a very solid playa, wife of the host, who pretty much enters the pot with the best hand preflop. Between the hostess and I sits "new guy."

Home run

Play goes for a while and I am involved in perhaps two hands, both of which I laid down on the flop (2's and sevens). I'm dealt A-10 and deciding in middle position, I'd like to play this hand, so I limp (gasp!). "Beer guy, you limp? Occasionally, I do. I did so, knowing a raise was probably more appropriate, however, I wanted to both disguise my play, and play some smaller pots, hoping to catch and chip up. Four handed, the flop comes 10-8-3. Action is checked around to me and I bet out, throwing down about 1/2 the pot. Giant's fan, in the BB makes the call. We're two handed and the turn brings out an ace. Two pair for me. SB checks, as do I. River card brings out a jack. This is a scary card for me. I'm thinking though that it might not have helped SB as he bets out strongly. I reraise to all-in, he makes the call, displaying the slow played AQ, which my two pair takes down. Giant's fan is eliminated as I cringe.

The fall of all things donk

Few hands later, Donkey Kong, who is a bit low on chips, with blinds now at 4/8 (round two - each round being 20 minutes, starting stack being 600) limps UTG. The hostess calls, now giving me sufficient odds to complete the SB with my 4-5 of hearts. SuperDonk checks, and the flop comes King of diamonds, six of diamonds, three of hearts. SuperDonk and I check it, Donkey Kong moves all-in. The hostess reluctantly folds up shop here. With Donkey Kong's all-in, I'm spending roughly ten percent of my stack to see the next card. This of course is providing SuperDonk either cleanly calls or folds. I call, and SuperDonk also calls. As a sidenote, I have SuperDonk covered nicely, as he has maybe 50-60% of the chips I have at this point. The turn card brings me a seven of spades, making the board kd, 3h, 6d, 7s. My turn. I reflect on the board, seeing a clear flush draw. I suspect that SuperDonk has some sort of hand, most likely either a flush draw or Kx, with X possibly being six or three. He might also have something like 88-99. I'm not chancing the draw and quickly move all-in. This whole thought process to action took roughly three seconds, and was similar in pace to the time I bet out strongly with my QQ vs. the SuperDonk hand of A3 offsuit when he called my monstrosity of a preflop raise and nailed an ace on the flop.

So, I push all-in, and quickly hop to what is now known as my "perch"... standing behind my chair, chips pushed in, sunglasses on top of my stack, staring down SuperDonk, assisting him in determining whether or not to make the call. He talks himself through it, struggling with whether or not to call... When asked, I inform him that I have a "made hand." Question becomes to him... what is a made hand? Am I serious, is this a douche bag move, breaking the implied cooperation rule sealed by the high five? Does he have me beat? Am I sitting on pocket queens? He snaps and makes the call, proudly turning over King eight. Donkey Kong turns over his pocket aces, which I never had him on. And I flip my four five of hearts sending quite the gasp to the table, as I've never once shown a hand that had such little preflop value. River card matters not, and both SuperDonk and donkey kong are sent to the rail by yours truly.

Massive chip-up for your drunken hero, and quite the moral victory by sending both the evil Donkey Kong and nemesis SuperDonk to the rail with one smooth Ric Flair like chop to the chest, accompanied by the trademark “Whoooooo!” from the fans. Two new peeps are brought to the table, to take the 2 spots to my left, and button is passed to me. I’m dealt AQ, the tainted hand that Bonds Giant’s fan was ousted with. I limp with that hand, citing a look on the hostesses face when she peaked at her hand, and also the aura of bad taste still in the air from the AQ. The host in the small blind completes, the hostess raises minimally. I think and fold, just not wanting to get involved, preferring instead to stack my chips, as I am absent any real chip skills (read: I‘m wanting to take a count on my stack). The host and hostess battle it out. She represents one of the hands I believed she had when I folded, and does so in textbook fashion, eventually forcing her hubby to lay down what would have been the winning hand on the river. Mad props to the hostess for that play. Sidenote, I am sure that she was going to make a play of some sort in looking back, based on her facial expression.

The Cerebral Hand

The host knows he had been had, and admits to being slightly on tilt. The button passes the two newcomers to the table, “new new guy” (I’m not original in all my nicknames, and the “Transylvanian Terror,” a very aggressive playa who I recall terrorizing the table with his balls out play, and excellent reads. I’m now UTG and I think for a second, and limp (Read: Danger Will Robinson! Danger, danger!!!). SuperDonk is on the rail looking on and giggles to his donk-self. The host looks over at the donk with super powers, and recalls the conversation the host and I had “pre-game” regarding how SuperDonk made the textbook move on the pub freeroll final table where he limp/reraised all-in with pocket aces under the gun, and how I had said only three hands are limp-worthy; additionally going on to say how this was the first time I had ever cheered SuperDonk on to win anything.

The host associated this move with the fact that he was on tilt, and that I knew the story was fresh in his mind… He assumed I did not hold one of my “big three” hands where I’d limp UTG, so he puts a standard raise in on the button. SB-BB fold them up. I think for a second, knowing that I’m up against a technician, reader of the same books I read, very similar strategy we share… So, in doing so, I’d know that if I put a weak looking reraise in, that would signal strength. I’d know that he knew this is how it looked, which to him, he’d then interpret this as a “move” or representation, rather than actuality. So, he pushes all-in… I have him substantially covered. I think for a bit, for the sake of television ratings, getting ready for May Sweeps. I call, as I hit the perch. He flips over Ace-Seven of spades, to my KK (no representation here, it is what it is… as advertised). Kings hold up and the host is sent to the rail.

Play continues

OK, now the head begins to swell, and the ego cracks it. I’m surveying the house, asking if there’s anyone on the rail that I didn’t put there (read: take me out back and whip my ass right now just for making that comment). As I’m surveying the carnage, the hostess knocks out original new guy with pocket kings to his ace something or other. We break our table down. New new guy and I are assigned to table 1, while the hostess and the terror are assigned to table two. Good news for the hostess is that she gets away from me, and misses sitting with “the shirt” and eggs in addition. The bad news is that she pairs up with the terror, and has the blind defender, who has been her nemesis on the table, eliminating her a few times, historically speaking with a lesser preflop hand.

Table 1

Off to the new table I go. Of course, I requested a bell hop to help me lug my excess baggage (read: massive chippage) to the table. Table consists of myself, to my left sits bills fan, a somewhat solid and slightly aggressive yet readable player. Two to his left sits Eggs, who given a chip stack will be a thorn in the side of all players within table distance from him. Then new new guy, now known as just new guy. Two to my right sits “the shirt.” I call him (I could really end the joke right there, because he‘s typically known for his calls…) “the shirt” because he has this Hawaiian style poker shirt, and I often ask him to stand up and turn around, because I need to find my starting hand and its not on “page 1” (the front of his shirt). To my immediate right sits “the mask” who gets his nickname on the first hand of this table upon my arrival.

Action folds around to the mask, in the small blind. He completes. I want to send the message, with King Jack that I’m not going to be a cheap date, and I wish to establish right here and now that there will be no limping on my blinds…. Period. Especially when it’s a SB-BB match up. So, I raise the size of the pot (blinds now ten twenty, ante of five). He makes a clean call. The flop comes K-J-3 rainbow. He checks to me, and I fire off a pot sized continuation bet. Once again, I am wanting to convey the crystal clear message there is no cheap match up. He thinks and calls, to my surprise. The turn card brings an ace. He checks. I’ve never played with him before, though I figure if he knows what he’s doing, he knows I am going to bet. He just might be comfortable with this, so I check behind him. River card brings a ten. He checks it to me. I consider firing off a bet. However, with the possibility of him having either a queen, or having two pair at this point, I’m comfortable checking on the back end. I flip over ko-jack and he shows down ace jack. Aha! He properly disguised his hand in the SB-BB match up and takes the pot with two pair. I sit here being thankful that Judith had shared her SB-BB hand regarding Ace queen and that we had spun it on the pub. She saved me some chips for sure.

Moving on, I’m in the BB later on, and the shirt moves all-in on the short stack. I look at my hand, and see jacks. I make a face or two, make the call and hit my perch. Holding true with tradition, he draws on me and sets his eights and is happy with the win. Fortunately for me, I’m chipped up enough whereas I can withstand a beat or two of this nature. Moving along, I would surrender my chip lead, but by no doing of my own. Eggs knocks out the mask and ceases power at the table, but not before the mask mows down the shirt in a battle of Halloween costumes. This comes right as the final table is announced to be forming (we formed at eight, however, the knockouts occur, making it seven… of which five spots pay).

Final tableage

We draw for position, and I snag the ace, making me dealer and giving me choice of seat. Eggs cites that he’s in an overall negative EV scenario, as he has chips, wants to win, yet he has to be at the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese with his fam very shortly. I say negative EV because should he win, he pisses the wife off, but wins the tourney. Should he lose, he makes the event, but “wastes” money in the tournament. Either way, there’s a loss involved somewhere. I try to make life easier for the chip leader, and sit relative to his card, so that he need not move, lugging his massive stack around.

Table now sits as follows:

I’m on the button, to my left sits new guy, then comes “Gerg,” all around great guy, personal friend of SuperDonk and mine, reluctant to admit brother of Donkey Kong (no Ditty Kong jokes here please)… To Gerg’s left sits the Blind Defender, as he makes it well known to us TAG types that he “likes to defend his blinds.” Next is the hostess. To my right sits the actor. The actor runs the local theater here, thus appropriate “named.” Eggs sits two to my right with roughly half the chips as play begins.

I start off the final table, paying five spots, rather quietly, lacking “presence” and wanting to get a feel as to what is going down. Note that there are two extremely short stacks, having an M of roughly two. My M sits about eight at this time and I’m either second or third in chip count, when the table begins. The actor has a short stack as well, M’ing at about five. Hostess and defender are at about 7-8 in M. New guy is the first to be eliminated, being outed by making a move UTG, pushing all-in and trying to steal before having to post blinds. Eggs reraises to all-in and takes him down, adding a small profit to his already monstrous stack.

Six remain and we’re on the bubble. Play goes around for a bit, and I sense the table is a bit tighter than previous, due in fact to the bubble being formed. I start my endgame play with my low M, all-in or fold. The actor, UTG pushes all-in and is eliminated by the hostess. The bubble bursts. One very short stack remains, in Gerg and we’re all in the money. Gerg busts out taking fifth place to Eggs.

A friend of mine walks into the game, arriving in time to play game number two, and decides to remind me of my Poker Pub Quote: “ blah blah blah… calling my home run ball... I'm putting everyone on notice and saying "I will win this event this month. Blah blah blah…"

Down to the final four. I’m still second in chips and eggs has roughly 55% of the stack on his end, table is leaning his way. I have about 25-30% of the count, with roughly 15-20% of the remaining chips equally distributed between the blind defender and the hostess. Push push push push, I continue… Eggs hits a cold deck in the process, and allows me to steal a few pots preflop. I push with pocket fours, with King seven, and with J10s. No takers. I’m doing a nice job accumulating uncontested chips preflop and frustrating the table in the process.

I am in the SB and pick up AA. I think for a second… a quick second as to how I am going to play this hand. It occurs to me that if I limp, this will look suspicious to all. If I end up “having to” show down this hand, it will totally kill my “all-in/fold” game. The peeps will clearly think I am pushing with garbage, limping with quality. So, despite being certain that I’ll collect more chips in the short term by limping, I push all-in, thinking maybe a frustrated blind defender will put in the call. He considers doing so, but folds and I do not show my hand.

Shortly after, the hostess moves all-in with pocket sixes. I see ace seven in my hand, suited no less. I make the call from the big blind and eliminate her with a seven hitting the board on the flop, and an ace joining me on the river.

Exactly one hand later, Eggs, our chip leader pushes all-in preflop, deciding now that he’s going to make a stand. I see Ace jack, and make the call. I have his queen jack dominated, adding insult to injury by getting two aces on the flop. I regain the chip lead. Correction, I take a monstrous chip lead. In front of me sits roughly 85% of the total chip count, leaving only 15% to spread out between the blind defender and eggs. The buzzer goes off and the blinds are preparing to go up. While I’m getting organized, they decide amongst themselves that my lead is insurmountable. This, combined with eggs needing to go to Chuck E. Cheese, the cut a deal and surrender, thus naming me the winner by default.

The poker pub prophecy holds true, and now I shall quote myself:

“Tomorrow is the ever so famous "monthly game" for the Beer guy and all his poker playing friends. Rumour has it that Poker Pub legend SuperDonk will be making a promotional appearance at the local Circle K having a pregame autograph/meet n greet session. Circle K is, in case we're keeping score, the official provider of the Beer Guy's coffee and obnoxious chewing gum prior to the "monthly game."

My performance at the monthly game, in terms of results (read: cashing) have not been in line with my expectations. More often than not, I've been either the "bubble boy" or the first one out once the money hits. I'm making a bold prediction for this month, something I've never done, and calling my home run ball... I'm putting everyone on notice and saying "I will win this event this month." I know, bold statement, considering I've not factored in the chance of getting cold cards, or "bad beats" placed upon me. Oh, but I have... Bad beats and cold decks are something every poker player must deal with and work through. Its how one responds to said bad beats and cold cards that defines a winner. Taking that into consideration, I am vowing to overcome any cold cards and/or bad beats to emerge victorious. Failure... is not an option (read: it is very possible that I make a similar post next month, just prior to the "monthly game," however nothing is going to deter me or turn into an excuse if I do not win). I'm giving it my all and plan to win. Nuff said.” - Beer Guy, 22 April on the Poker Pub calling his homerun ball.

Oh, but it doesn’t stop there… No sir, it does not. Not only do I mow down the field in our main event game, but I also continue on to win the second game! I may discuss this game at a later date this week, though I will disclose the final hand. The beer guy and arch-villain SuperDonk heads up, 55% of the chips belonging to the Beer Guy, relentless back and forth heads up action. Beer Guy pushes forth a bluff, holding the “baby schroeck” (2-3 offsuit, the signature hand of SuperDonk’s alter ego “that guy”). SuperDonk calls, holding queen jack offsuit. In a fit of irony, the “baby schroeck” nails a deuce on the flop, SD fails to improve on the turn or river, and the Beer guy sends SuperDonk home with both the second best hand and the second best finish of the event.

As always, thanks to the host and hostess for putting this event together. They do a phenomenal job in ensuring that everything runs smoothly and has a professional yet friendly feel to it!

Mike

Poker Stories
Poker Tournament Strategy

Shoutouts...

I'm a firm believer in giving credit where credit is due. That being said, here are my list of shoutouts for the month of April. This is a "right this minute, off the wall" idea, so I'm not purposely leaving anyone out. If there's anyone I should be listing... or if anyone wants to toot their horn, drop me a line:

Shout outs to...

Clayshooter for taking down the Q1 CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour Championship,

Norman for not only taking down the winner takes all CheckRayz Challenge, but for also parlaying it to one hell of a week in the Sun,

Reelcrazy for knocking down his second CheckRayz event of the quarter and then cashing in the 20K guaranteed,

The Student for "bringin it" at the Shark hosted Blogger Poker Tour event,

Sharky for putting on one hell of a blogger poker tour event (family obligations and confusion in start time, sorry I couldn't make it!),

Judith for continuing to bring me hands and situations to break down,

Poker4ever for putting on what I believe is the tightest low limit public event I've ever played in in the 2k guaranteed (I was in endgame mode at the beginning of the second hour, bringin it for two more straight and played 14th),

River Belle Poker for sponsoring the leaderboard and holding our three post-tour special events (checkrayz rewards is this week),

Yours truely for donking my way to a second place finish in an Omaha tourney (gasp!),

CT for bringing me some awesome and exciting, yet still "hush hush" news (read: congrats on something I'm not yet allowed to talk about! buzzzzzz),

SuperDonk for defying the odds and taking down "the hand."

The Beer Football Club for knocking off the 2 time defending League champions and posting their first A League win of the season (2 games in). Beer have handed the Coach's team what is only their second loss in three seasons and add this strong showing to the hard faught draw they earned vs. the coaches early last season.

The CheckRayz members for making the tour what it is...

Mike

Misc. Ramblings... "because I can"...

Its been a while since I've gone off on one of my ever so famous rambling sessions (though, maybe it hasn't and I've just not noticed?). So today's your lucky day... The beer guy's misc. rambling post, "because I can." I will try to keep it as focused as possible (read: organized chaos).

Blogger Poker Tour at Poker.com

Anyone looking to their left can see I have signed on as an active participant at poker.com in the Blogger Poker Tour. The tour is underwritten by poker.com, which also is the home to all of the tour events (shout out and thanks to poker.com for taking on such an endeaver). A second shout out to my online poker mentor and business partner Sharky for playing host to the event last week. One of our own took down the event with "authorita," I might add (read: congrats!).

I love the idea of having a tour where bloggers may come together and play some sound poker while having their eye on the prize (WSOP seat). I further love the fact that this event is somewhat exclusive, in that one must currently be or strive to become a blogger in order to participate. When rattling off my next statement, I am saying right up front that my statement is not one of an elitest. I welcome newcomers, people new to the blogging community... even bloggers who blog on something other than poker. I recognize that one of the many purposes of having a tour of this nature is to encourage blogging in general and that the rules should allow for people to stumble across the tour and think to themselves, "you know, I've been meaning to start a blog for quite some time. This gives me more of a reason to do so now!" However, I do absolutely despise those who create a blog just to gain access to the free, somewhat exclusive event.

I'm not going to rant on how one should conduct themselves within the scope of their own blog. But to me, two posts, ironically entered right around the time that one registers for the tour, coupled with the fact that they've perhaps had a blogger profile active for a year or so, more than likely because they wanted to comment on someone else's blog that does not allow anonymous entries; in my opinion does not a blog make. A mother is not guilty of "being" a mother simply on the premise that she gave birth to a child, just like a father is not necessarily a father simply because he participated in the conception. Sure, the named parties are the parents, but doing little to actually parent. Taken one step further, just because someone has a blog, does not mean they are, in turn a blogger. I'd like to see more "bloggers" involved in the tour and less "blog owners."

The good people behind the Blogger Poker Tour are beginning to take measures to weed out the contenders from the pretenders, effort which I for one sincerely appreciate. Would these pretenders be as courtious to their community if something along the lines of what happened to me last week happened to them? I had penciled in time to participate in the Shark hosted beach party tour stop of the Blogger Poker Tour. I had penciled this time in knowing I had family functions all day long. However, I knew that I'd be able to make time to play from start to finish, assuming it started when I thought it did. As fate would have it, the change from standard to daylight time occured, and wouldn't you know that due to this, I would not be able to give it my all - assuming i ran well and played to conclusion. For this reason, I decided that I'd pull out of the tournament because I could not "give it my all." To me, pulling out was a better solution than playing for an hour, knocking some peeps out, then having to go and being faced with either "donating" (read: chip dump), or sit out and hope to coast into the money. My choice was true to myself, my game, and the community, and I chose to unregister. My family time had to supercede my poker time... and rightfully so.

Further clarification: I have no problem with anyone being on a strict time schedule. I know of one person who was crunched for time, played hard, and then work pulled him away. He is not the person I am referring to. In fact, I'm referring to no one specifically. He knew he'd have time to play a majority of the event, and stood chance of the event actually finishing before having to leave for work. To me, he made a great choice in playing. With the event being held 1 hour later than what I thought, I'd have got in maybe twenty-thirty minutes of play before I had to start making some "command decisions." Rather than chance that, I opted out of the event. Both of which were, in my opinion, "correct" decisions. How many people out of those who have set up blogs for the sole purpose of playing yet another free tournament would have even given any of that even the slightest thought? My guess is none. Not a one. They'd "play" from the "sitting out" position and never have even the slightest of regrets... because after all, they're bloggers for God's sake! Its their "right" to sit out! ...Not in my eyes... It disrespects the tour, it disrespects the host of the tour event, and it certainly disrespects the players involved. I applaud the peeps behind the Blogger Poker Tour for stepping up and working to weed out these bad seeds, and encourage the players... the real bloggers involved to help them in the weeding out process. Together perhaps we can all work to keep it somewhat real.

CheckRayz Buyins of late...

I'm not the only one who has noticed this of late. But, there's not a "good" seat in the house anymore in these CheckRayz buyins. By "good seat" I mean a seat where there's a donk or two at your table (read: "dead money"), let alone in the poker tournament. Even the freeroll poker tournaments feature a very tough field. This is EXACTLY what I was shooting for when Sharky and I set out on our CheckRayz endeaver. We envisioned smaller events, which in turn result in a "tougher" field. And by golly, we got exactly what we were aiming for! What pleases me the most, is that our membership is growing both smartly and nicely. The new players who are coming onboard are catching on quick. I like to hope, in part that its due to the combined efforts of Shark and myself to stress strategy in our discussions both in the blogosphere and on the Shark Forum. Personally, I prefer a tough poker table, especially in our private events. And I LOVE the fact that it seems that everyone who plays actively seeks to improve their game. That being said, thanks to each and every one of you who continue to make CheckRayz and the leaderboard poker tour what it is.

Monthly Live Game Tommorrow...

Tommorrow is the ever so famous "monthly game" for the Beer guy and all his poker playing friends. Rumour has it that Poker Pub legand SuperDonk will be making a promotional appearance at the local Circle K having a pregame autograph/meet n greet session. Circle K is, in case we're keeping score, the official provider of the Beer Guy's coffee and obnoxious chewing gum prior to the "monthly game."

My performance at the monthly game, in terms of results (read: cashing) have not been in line with my expectations. More often than not, I've been either the "bubble boy" or the first one out once the money hits. I'm making a bold prediction for this month, something I've never done, and calling my home run ball... I'm putting everyone on notice and saying "I will win this event this month." I know, bold statement, considering I've not factored in the chance of getting cold cards, or "bad beats" placed upon me. Oh, but I have... Bad beats and cold decks are something every poker player must deal with and work through. Its how one responds to said bad beats and cold cards that defines a winner. Taking that into consideration, I am vowing to overcome any cold cards and/or bad beats to emerge victorious. Failure... is not an option (read: it is very possible that I make a similar post next month, just prior to the "monthly game," however nothing is going to deter me or turn into an excuse if I do not win). I'm giving it my all and plan to win. Nuff said.

Final thoughts...

Finally, I wish to reitterate my thanks to everyone who has made CheckRayz what it is. Additional shout out and thanks to those who take time to read my "drunken ramblings" here at the Poker Pub, and to those who take the time to comment. Here's to you! (tippin my mug in your honor).

Mike

Limit Poker Tournament Hand Analysis Continued... Mailbag

To continue or discussion on Judith's Limit Poker Tournament Hand, we recall that Judith had Ad-Qs in the BB, our villian had 7c-5c. Blinds were 3000/6000. We were on the bubble (12 player remaining spread out over two poker tables. Judith was in fourth place overall with a bit over 60000 tournament poker chips, an M of roughly 6, effective M of 4 - placing her in the red zone. Our villian had Judith covered, with 80000 tournament poker chips, and M of 8 and effective M of 5, also in the red zone, based on my previous poker endgame discussions.

When last we left off our villian had completed the blind, only to run into a Judith raise, which he donkily called. The pot contained 24,000 tourney chips (each person having 50% equity in the pot) and the flop came 7s Qh 3d, giving Judith top pair with a sweet kicker, but giving our villian middle pair with a poor kicker.

My flop analysis from the villian's point of view:

While I cannot say for certain that this flop did or did not help her, I know it helped me. One small problem however, I was looking to flop a straight or a flush and I got a pair. One thing that is working in my favor is that the flop is the "cheap date" if I check, its only 6k of my stack if and when she bets out... and I do have middle pair (I'm beginning to forget that my hand was not a "winner" when it pairs). However, if I just check and call here, I'm not able to put her on a hand. She could have a pocket pair, of which I'm currently beating 4 of them (2's, 4s, fives and sixes). If she has Ax, I'm beating all but two of them right now. I'm almost beginning to wish I would have reraised preflop or did something to help her further define her hand to me. I do, however, need to show strength right now. I'm going to bet out, to see if she raises me trying to get her to further define her hand. If she raises here and I call, I'm obligating myself to call the turn and the river though because barring an obvious card hitting the board the odds will be too good for me to not check-call to the river on this one. But I do have her covered and can always pull a surprise later if need be. So, I'll bet 6k here.

The masses regarding villians situation:

7 of the ten ("ironically" the five who call and the two who cite the suited hand arguement) all bet here "because they have a pair." The more aggressive answer, the one praying for a raise to reraise, would check and call here. The remaining two check and fold to a bet.

My take on Judith's hand:

This is perfect, a flop lacking anything really connected. How do I get the most of his chips into the center, I wonder? I don't see him calling with q-7, q-3, 7-3, or 4-5. I'm surely the best hand here. He'd have likely reraised with a pocket pair. I think this hand is a good slowplay canidate for this flop. If he checks, I'll check behind him. If he bets, I'll just call. I want to continue to keep the odds low for him to not draw on me "correctly."

The masses on Judith's hand:

9 out of ten bet, because they have top pair. One player surveyed checks "because AQ always finds a way to lose."

Real action: villian checks, judith bets (6k), villian calls cleanly.

Turn card: pot contains 36000 tournament chips. 10s hits the board.

my take on villian: OK, now I have third pair. Two cards are on the board that more than likely could have helped her. I've not shown strength so far, and its totally unlikely I have the best hand. She is capable of playing Q-10s, but likely has ace - something sizable. She "could" be holding one of my "favorite" hands (KJ), which this card would have helped her out. There's a flush draw on the board and a straight draw, along with two big cards. If I bet and she reraises, I'm in for half my stack with one card to come. If I check and call, though not my style, I'm in for about half my stack come the river. I'm already too far into this hand and "should" fold. I do believe the only way to win right now is to bet my hand though. Do I want to bet this hand? Do I think she might fold to a bet? Meh, I don't care... I'd rather save my chips for a better hand. I'd check/fold, even though the numbers suggest check/call, as there's not enough hands I have beat at present.

Masses take on villian:

Five of ten bet "because they have a pair." Two of the original seven, plus the original aggressor check/call. The remaining check/fold.

My take on Judith: Bet/reraise. Unless he's slowplaying a monster, I have him beat.

Others on Judith's hand: 9 of ten bet. The remaining one person throws this hand away regardless of whether or not a bet is made by the small blind because "AQ always loses and I'd rather muck it right now than see the river card that will surely beat me."

Actual play: villian checks, judith bets 12k, villian calls.

River: Pot contains 24k from preflop, 12k from the flop, 24k from the turn (5 BB or big bets). River card is 7d.

My take on Judith's hand: Well, at least the good news is that the board didn't flush. The bad news is that I don't have him on a flush draw though. This is a horrible card for me. I was sure I had the best hand all the way through, but now I'm not so sure. Although, if he is going to make a steal attempt, it would probably be now. I'm not sure I want to fall for that though, so if he bets, I'll just call. If he checks, I bet/call. Either way, I'll still have enough tourney chips left to do something, but not nearly enough as if that damn card didn't hit the board.

Masses on Judith: 9 of ten bet, "because they have top pair." One of ten folds regardless of action, however he cites he checks this through or folds to a bet saying "I knew I should have thrown this away on the turn! Its unfair that I have to "play along" with this. I'm not even in the hand preflop! Damn you Mike, I can't even get a hypothetical win out of you!"

My take on villian: great card! As long as she's not holding ace seven or a set, I'm da man. Will she bet this though? I'm not chancing whether or not she'll bet, as the correct move is for me to now bet out, hoping for a raise and then I will reraise. I need to run up my bar tab here.

Others on villian: 10 out of ten bet out here, because they have three cards the same.

Actual action: Villian bets, judith raises, villian reraises, as does judith... she ends up allin with the second best hand and loses to the villian. NH, gg.

Overall analysis: she lost the hand. She didn't necessarily play it "incorrectly" in my opinion. Slowplaying was not "incorrect" either. By playing it the way she did, she provided him "better" odds to draw (raise preflop put 4 big bets in the pot before the flop came). He was justified calling a 1/2 bet on the flop. Additionally, the math says he was justified calling the lone turn bet, if you didn't factor in the implied river bet he'd also have to call. The river comes, he was correct in betting out. Judith, in my opinion, erred when she raises, as she could have continued, though somewhat crippled if she made a mere call. He called, saying at the very least he was on the board. With the board pairing, he "could" have improved.

On the other hand, if she disguised her hand preflop, by checking and then checked the flop, the pot is not big enough to justify his call on the turn. I think she wins this pot on the turn if it were smaller. There are many ways to assess this hand and its play. Obviously the masses (the whole ten people who are not statistically significant due to the very small sample size) see the board differently than perhaps you and I do, feel comfortable betting "because they have a pair." It is apparant that "most people" don't ponder what hands someone else might have. They were only "betting their hand" they weren't respecting the board and demonstrated no clue that the opposition could beat them because "they had a pair" (great thing to remember when playing against "the masses"... they bet or call "because they have a pair... and will even call when they "seem" to be beat).

I'm sure this hand will be discussed in further detail at some other time... but as for now... onto the mailbag.

Mail time!

First email comes from everyone who accumulated 1000 rake points since March 1st at Poker4ever:

BeerGuy, what's the password for tonight's $500 freeroll at poker4ever?

The password is oneGrake . There needs to be 20 peeps who have accumulated 1000 rake points for this event to get underway, so take that for what its worth.

Next one comes from everyone who was eligable for the CheckRayz Rewards Tournament:

Have we rescheduled the rewards tourney yet?

Yep, this Thursday at River Belle. See your invitation for more details... I sent it yesterday.

Moving on...

If I followed the instructions, and could not register for the rewards tournament, when will I be able to register?

You'll be able to register on Monday morning if you're unable to register, providing you follow the instructions I provided.

Next email is regarding the recent buyin at kiwi:
why the hell didnt you just send the password out for the buuy-in game?? I mean what the hell! I can understand a freeroll. Anyhow i misssed joining by 1/2 a min.

It is my policy that rarely give out passwords via email... and by rarely I mean almost never... I don't care if it is a freeroll or a buyin. I like the "semi-closed" community we have. If someone is going to choose to play with us, I want them to take the time to sign up and obtain the password on their own. I do not wish to make it easy for the people out there to "crash" our tournament without an invitation from me. That being said, I have no problem with people seeing our tournament last minute, registering on our site, joining the tournament and becoming a member of our community. Realistically, I know that passwords are sometimes "given out" by people to their friends without telling them they have to register. Ethically, this is "stealing" considering that all tournaments are listed as "private" and the terms are that one must be a member of checkrayz to participate. I don't leave my door unlocked at home. If someone breaks in to steal from me, I make it hard, I lock the door. The same stands true with passwords. If I don't issue them via email, and take measures to protect them, I'm not guaranteeing they won't be stolen. I am, however, taking measures to protect them and making it a bit more difficult for them to "steal" from us. That being said, I'll almost never give them out via email.

As for others, keep that in mind next time anyone considers handing out my passwords. I work hard to get money added to the tournaments we hold. I have two general rules, if you cannot play, don't register or just unregister... Second, do not give out the password to your buds. If ever I catch anyone giving out passwords, I will do whatever I can to "sanction" these individuals. Nuff said.

Final email for the mailbag this week:

Beer, Did you REALLY give out $100 and pokertracker for that one tournament you held at River Belle?

Damn right I did! $100 transferred to the winner within 30 minutes of the tournament ending, and he received the pokertracker activation roughly 24 hours after the end of the tournament... all as advertised. Speaking of which, Norm, how's it working for ya?

Mike



Poker Tournament Strategy
Endgame Strategy
Poker Tournaments
CheckRayz Mailbag

Limit Poker Tournament Hand Broke Down...

On Sunday one of our players, Judith, posted a hand in the Shark Forum that she had just played out in a Limit Poker Tournament at River Belle Poker. The actual thread can be found here. In any event, I discussed this hand with several of my friends, who's skill level and understanding of poker vary greatly. I admit I had become fascinated with this discussion and with this hand. The hand went as follows, and as I replay the hand, I will enter the commentary during each part as appropriate.

Situation:

$200 Freeroll at River Belle Poker. 12 people remain, top ten get paid (read: bubble). Tables are six seated at this point. Judith, our hero is fourth in chip count with a bit over 60K sitting in front of her. The villian ("boooooooo!") has roughly 80K in chips and sits directly to her right. Blinds are 3000/6000. Judith's actual M is 6, with her "effective M" (M adjuststed for shorthanded tables - something I've not yet discussed in the endgame series) is under 4. Villian's actual M is 8 and effective M of 5. Observe that both players are "short stacked" relative to the blinds. Both players actual M is in the "orange zone" and their effective M places them into the Red Zone.

Preflop Position and cards and play:

Villian sits in the small blind with 7c-5c. Judith sits in the big blind with Ad-Qs. Action folds to villian. Villain completes the blind, calling 3000. Judith raises, making it 12,000, villian completes.

Preflop analysis:

Me: (on villian) with an M of eight and effective M of five, especially being a limit tournament, this hand is not really "playable" from the orange zone. I'd be equally comfortable with a steal attempt here, being heads up, as I would be with folding this hand. However, I'm not wanting to commit my chips with this hand and would probably fold to any pressure. If my M was not so low, I'd be inclined to raise heads up and on a short table with this hand to "protect" the value of my raises with hands more monsterous in value.

Other players through conversation on villians hand: 5 people out of the ten surveyed said that seven five suited, heads up was "a good hand" and would call. Two people "surveyed" would have raised, "because the hand was suited." One person would have called, praying for Judith to raise, and then reraised her. Surprisingly, two people would have folded this hand.

So preflop survey: 5 call, two raise, two folds, one call/raise/reraise. Mike would be almost equally likely to fold as he would to try to steal, and would be inclined to back off to any pressure under unfavorable circumstances (i.e. a reraise and/or unfavorable flop).

Me (on Judith - and not "knowing" what this guy has): Sitting in the big blind in a limit tournament with this hand, heads up and against the chip leader, I'm inclined to want to slowplay this hand. The hand is ideal to stand up unimproved if the board misses the both of us, it has top pair capability, and is capable of producing a straight (thus connectivity). I'd be inclined to want to naturally raise with this hand, as it is somewhat of a monster. But, I'd think that I could both disguise and extract more value from this hand by checking it through, given that I am heads up and have position relative to the small blind. Furthermore, by checking, I'm able to look at the flop and cut down his odds to draw on me, causing him to make a mistake by calling anything after the flop. A raise here would sweeten the pot, however, it would potentially give him the odds to call down and draw somewhat correctly. For these reasons, I check.

Others (on Judith's hand and not knowing what the other guy has): Eight of ten surveyed raise preflop with this hand, because "its a strong hand." One out of ten checks because "AK and AQ ALWAYS lose." The remaining one likes the idea of slowplaying this hand, citing nothing about pot odds.

Actual Play: SB completes, Judith raises, SB calls...

Flop: 7s Qh 3d

...To be continued tommorrow, along with the mailbag.

Mike




Poker Tournament Strategy
Endgame Strategy
Poker Tournaments

"SuperDonk... You are NOT... the baby-daddy"...

Haha. I have to give a shout out to my good friend "SuperDonk" today. He's been hiding out in his secret lair awaiting results of the dreaded DNA test. It has been rumoured that SuperDonk may have been "force fed" a ridiculous amount alcohol, with the purposes of getting him to crossbread with a quarter horse and produce a mule. The oddsmakers had assigned 3:2 odds that superdonk was the baby-daddy and that the DNA test would prove exactly that.

However, just like SuperDonks' call of an allin, hitting runner runner straight holding 2-4 offsuit in the bigblind when three-king-two hits the flop, SuperDonk defies the odds, busts the book makers and is declared not the baby-daddy.

"Honestly, I am shocked" comments SuperDonk in an exclusive Poker Pub interview. "I looked at her, she has my ears, my same "messy main", her "hooves" even greatly resemble mine. I never thought that this would end in my favor."

It should be duly noted that SuperDonk makes ridiculous calls on the poker table all the time without thinking that things will end up his way.

More information on Donkeys in general:

Wikapedia
American Donkey and Mule Society
Donkey Manifesto





SuperDonk, Poker Idiot Saga