ILX Poker Players Unite

I am loving PKR.com! haha, like, i was sceptical at first, but, after the first time you make CHICKEN NOISES at people, you fall in love with it.

oh my god.

the only thing is you need a pretty decent computer for it to work.. my laptop can just about run it on the min spec settings.

Yeah, I tried it and it was just ridiculously slow. Haven't played it for a while, so they may have ironed out the issues. Have you actually played real money there?

Having a pretty crappy May - am only in the black thanks to bonus and rakeback. $100NL isn't kicking my arse as such, but it's not letting me get a foothold either. Still trying though...

i've just played STTs there so far!

but with real money

Finished May $100 down on the tables, but $450 up in rakeback and bonus terms. Oh! Just checked my stats and actually I finished UP about $45. Not sure how that happened. Played less than 10,000 hands for the first time this year, but that's okay.

Here's May's graph. Enjoy the mid-month downswing...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v222/biondino/May2007.jpg

I think Ken might have an update for us?

My update (after I started playing again, just in time for the anti-poker legislation to kick in):

- I suck
- I get angry way too easily, and I start sucking as a result
- I should not play when I'm tired, because I get angry
- people suck, and should not be allowed to play poker against me
- STOP CATCHING ACES

i just won £1000 at some crazy rebuy tournament thing! omg, dudes on TV were there! and they all got pwn3d!

played pretty damn tight at the rebuy stage.. probably strange tactics, but it somehow worked, and won a bunch of chips when i had a hand and guys were playing loose. and with that money somehow survived the endgame and was in the money. amazing.

then it was mental, everyone were on the brink of going out, but doubles through when they go all in, and it went on til like half past midnight and then we got to the end of the highest blinds and we were going to play 3 last hands, with 4 of us left, but when we played the first hand one player went out we were all pretty much even with 2 hands to play, so we just split the money.

amazing. i didn't rebuy at all (but bought an add-on)!

Hi Dave!

My update: $1000 profit in June, mainly thanks to bonus/rakeback. Not sure what to do in July, what targets to aim for.

Nice work, Ken :)

did you know all of those people there mark? some of them looked famous

I've eaten through $600+ this month, of my money & of bonus deposit money (just like I did the first few months of my online back a few years ago), and it's all I can do to slap myself. Most of that was @ ring tables, tho, which I'm avoiding like the plague (just like I did when hit rock bottom after starting off) - sticking to sit-n-gos of the $10 / $20 persuasion, & some regular old tourneys, until I get back on my feet. Then I will move to Monte Carlo, oil my chest hair, and get buck wild.

That is, until the preznit decides to cap my ass.

Congrats, BTW, Ken! Winning in a rebuy w/out rebuying is the best feeling ever.

BTW, how awesome is it that foreign countries are pitching a fit @ the US online poker ban!

it's harsh cos online poker is harder without america :((

Ken, no, I didn't know many of them, and the ones I did know were producers rather than actors/presenters etc (apart from the gregarious H4rd33p K0hl1 who I know a bit). Glad you had fun :)

I joined a Sunday night game. Tonight will be my 3rd night with this group. Went home broke both previous nights.

But still I'm SO EXCITED about tonight. I love it. There is the bothersome issue of why did I lose all my money the past 2 times, but still I think it's just a matter of time before rise to the top of this field.

These dudes just play it straight. Period. It's funny, but this is actually a bit of a predicament. When you're on a table where you know everyone's playing straight (weak hands are folded, good hands stay in) what's the best strategy? I almost find it easier to play against more daring/colorful players b/c if you're good with reads/tells you can sniff out a bluff... With these guys there's nothing to read, a check is a check and a raise is a raise... hmmph.

Wanko, if they are playing it straight and tight, then you bet and raise more, both pre- and post-flop, with position being almost more important than cards. Bear in mind that most of their hands WON'T hit on the flop, so you can take down a lot of pots by betting, especially with position.

Equally, you know that when they do bet, or call your bets, you're going to need a good hand to showdown. So play very cautiously in these situations when you have draws or marginal hands, and make decent raises when you have strong hands, especially if they'll call down almost anything with top pair etc.

Play drawing hands in position, make regular semi-bluffs when they show weakness, and if they don't bet enough to take away your odds, you should win a few big pots.

Since this thread's back, here's a proposal for you. I am 14 FPPs away from being able to set up private tournaments at Pokerstars, and I want to do an ILX invitational for all the people who post on this thread or would like to play.

I have a list of 30 or so players who have posted to this thread, so I know there's plenty of possibles. The idea would be to have a nice cheap tourney - $5.50 or $11 I imagine - and just have a laugh.

I chose Stars because it's open to anyone in the world, and is the biggest site currently operating, so if you don't already have an account you can quickly and easily make one.

I was thinking of emailing people rather than posting on this thread, but I'll do that too :)

So, what do you think? Let me know if you'd be up for it!

Wanko, if you fancy chatting on messenger about poekr I'm always up for that - drop me an email.

Thanks, Mark. I haven't studied Hold 'em formally to any degree yet, and I really don't know about positions and those dynamics (I guess it's sort of apparent, but I haven't given much thought to it). I'm going to start reading up. ESPN doesn't go into much strategy.

Count me in for ILX tourney.

The way we play is big blind ($.50) -> little blind ($.25) -> dealer. (Player left of dealer is small, player to his left is big). I'd love to hear some position theory if you're so inclined.

Well, the essence of it is that the dealer has the best position as he is last to act on each street post-flop, and therefore sees what action each opponent takes before he has to make his own mind up. Often, the other players will simply check to him - they either have weak hands or are at least representing weak hands, and the player can simply bet at this point and take down a number of pots uncontested.

Also, because the player find out what bets his rivals are prepared to make before he acts, he will often find himself able to make correct calls (depending on pot odds and implied odds) when he has a drawing hand.

As a result, the player with position basically controls the hand. As a result, you can play many more hands profitably when you have position than when you're out of position. A hand like 67s (i.e. 6 and 7 suited, say both hearts) is an easy fold out of position, but can be raised or called when you have position for the reason above. These type of hands are my favourite; they're easy to fold when you don't hit and someone else shows strength; but when they do hit, they both hit strong hands (two pair, straight, or flush) and these hands are fairly well disguised.

Conversely, when you are out of position, such hands are much harder to play. This is because, while you'll hit monsters just as often (assuming you are able to stay in the hand), you'll have far fewer opportunities to get them as good players who DO have position will be betting into you much more often (and, of course, you are handicapped because whatever you do, there are still one or more players to act after you, any of whom may make a play that renders your hand no longer playable).

Out of position, also, your good (but not great) hands, like AJ or KQ, are much more vulnerable, because even if you hit top pair, you will have to act first, and if you get raised you have to wonder if the raiser has you dominated (with, say, AQ) or if they're just playing aggressively to induce you to fold the best hand. And, of course, if you don't hit then you have to decide whether a bluff - known as a continuation bet or cbet, because it "continues" your pre-flop raise - will get a fold or whether they'll call you, which leaves you in a really tough position, or raise you, which will mean you have to fold.

So position is absolutely vital - it's a truism that above a certain level of the game, it becomes more important than the cards you hold because it has such an effect on the hands you play and how you play them.

Just checking my stats.... I play 6-handed cash games primarily, and under the gun (the first person to act pre-flop) I put money into the pot 14% of the time, compared to on the button (i.e. when I am dealer) when I put money in 26% of the time.

What is the buyin in your game, and do you play fixed, pot or no limit? My post was specifically about no limit but it's pretty much the same for each form of the game. With 50c big blinds you should be playing with at an absolute minimum $25 in your stack, and ideally $50.

ha we buy in @ $20 and this is a problem... too easy to lose. And I usually don't reup.

This is good reading, thanks! In your 3rd paragraph, what do you mean by "and these hands are fairly well disguised"?

The problem with low buyins is that the sexy hands - pocket pairs, suited connectors,i.e. the ones that can win the big pots when you hit three of a kind, straights and flushes - can't be played as easily with small stacks as you need big implied odds - i.e. the amount you COULD win if the hand plays out well - to justify playing them. Basically, in a raised pot, they just don't hit often enough to justify the money it costs to play them.

In small stack poker, the big hands like AK, AQ, JJ etc go up in value, while small pairs and suited connectors, suited aces etc become less valuable as the implied odds are seldom there to play them correctly.

I'd just suggest to your mates that either you up the buyin a bit, or you reduce the blinds - 10c/20c blinds would be perfect, and the pots can get just as big during the big hands.

Disguised: let's say you are holding 67 and the other guy has AK. The flop is A58, which gives him top pair and you an open-ended straight draw (i.e. both ends of the straight draw, which is currently 5678, can complete your straight, so a 4 or a 9 both give you the straight).

Let's say he gets cocky here, and just makes a small bet - less than half the pot and you can call, thanks to implied odds (which I'll go into more later if you like). The turn is a 4, and you've hit your straight.

However, to him, the board is a harmless looking A584, and he has top pair top kicker! Now your aim is to stack him, which you will hopefully be able to do by betting or raising the turn and/or river. He won't have seen it coming!

Phew, just won a $16 SNG after typing all that lot - glad I can multitask :)

Okay, just earned my 2,001st FPP - tourney creation is now possible!

Cool. My game's in an hour, I'll report back! Thx again!

Oh snap, game cancelled tonight. I just registered at pokerstars. I know nothing about it. I thought online gambling was illegal, but it seems you can bet real money? Anyway, I'm scared to sit at a table b/c the games move quick and I don't know how to play. where's the flippin tutorial?

on PS I am 'thesmallcat'

It's here, but it's pretty limited. I'd recommend the forums at flopturnriver.com where I've a member - I think I have something like 2,400 posts there! Start with the stickies on the beginner's forum - I wrote one of them (I am biondino there) :)

Online gambling isn't illegal in the US unless you live in Washington state. The difficult bit is depositing money on the sites, but it's doable. For now, check out the play money tables - you weren't learn much (as people play totally differently when there's no real money in play) but you will get a feel for how it all works, the speed etc., and you'll begin to absorb how hands play out. But reading is key.

xpost hahahahaha :D

One final thing - figure out whether you want to play limit or no-limit. Limit is good for learning the odds, because it's a very technical game. No limit is more psychological, and is much more about bet sizing, position and reading your fellow players. A much better game IMHO :)

FUCKING ADDICTIVE (I'm up few hundred play money)

Nice going! I lost $120 yesterday. All in a day's work.

Bump! Other ILX poker players, please see my suggestion 20 or so posts ago!

Yeah, the play-money tables are kinda worthless. I like that there's a limit to how many times you can go back to the well, but it's still a bit liberal. I'll continue to practice, though, and maybe go in for realz if I gain confidence.

Well, Stars has tables where the big blind is 2c and although they're hardly high quality, they're def much better than play money tables. I'd find out how you can deposit if i were you.