A Roundup Of News From The Different Poker Networks
I have been keeping a close eye on a lot of the leading poker networks recently, for my more ‘serious’ news site at http://thepokerbonusnetwork.com
With all that detail, how about we lighten up for a second with a quick fire roundup of all the different news in one (reasonably) short post. This is designed to keep the busy readers up to date with the different networks… without getting too dry / boring or overselling anything. You never know, I might just make this a monthly regular feature – at least until we hear any news of the Durrrr Challenge returning!
iPoker Network News Roundup
The big news from iPoker this month comes from my favorite site Titan Poker (see my SNG Planet review here.) They have launched a brand change to their rewards and loyalty scheme, called Titan Treasures. What I like about this is that the smaller stakes ‘recreational’ players are the key beneficiaries. There is a lot of ‘gamification’ involved in this offer, with tasks set out to collect gold coins which can be exchanged for cards offering different levels of bonuses / rewards – great to see the smaller buy-in players looked after!
Cake / Merge / Revolution Gaming Roundup
We only have 9 more days to wait until Lock Poker make the move from the Merge Network over to Cake, which in turn will be rebranded as the Revolution Gaming Network. We already know that Lock Poker are aggressive marketers, and that they have promised to increase the rakeback percentage on the new network to 36%. What I really like about this move is that there will be some real competition between the US friendly networks – which can only be a positive for players.
Party Poker
Just a quick mention for Party, they have started a promo tied into the upcoming Euro 2012 championship. This involves collecting cards, which can have bonuses themselves or be combined into teams, groups and… erm, all the teams. Collect the whole lot for $100k!
Pokerstars
The SCOOP is over and it is time for the WSOP to take center stage – at least that is what has happened in previous years… I expect a big push to get players to Vegas, followed by some 1-off ‘headline catchers’ like last years car give away…. I drew 3 blanks from my 3 SCOOP entries… oh well, maybe next year!
In other news from Stars, we have heard nothing official about the Full Tilt purchase, however rumors are circulating that the staff at Full Tilt’s HQ have been informed that they will soon be working for their former rivals.
Until Next Time!
That’s about all I can think of for this roundup… some of the minor networks now have their own version of Zoom in place – but the pools are so small it is hardly worth thinking about. OnGame are quiet after promoting some big leaderboards at the start of the month and Everest, well, we never seem to hear much from Everest.
2012-05-11
Competition Set To Increase For US Players After Lock Poker Buy The Cake Network
It looks like there will be some inter-network competition coming in the US friendly poker space – which can only be a good thing for players. Lock Poker, who are currently on the Merge Poker Network have announced that they are to buy the Cake Poker Network – with big plans for a rebranding an move scheduled for the end of May.
While Cake Poker will remain a separate entity, the Cake Network will be rebranded as the ‘Revolution Gaming Network’ with Lock giving their stable of online poker pros there on May 31st. They promise the best US poker deals, with rakeback and rewards bigger and better than ever.
There is a lot of speculation that this will make a big dent in the traffic of the Merge Network, of which Carbon Poker is the biggest site. Sure, there will be an exit, though with 10k simultaneous players on Merge at peak times there is a lot of flexibility built in. What is great from the players perspective is that this network will be working right now on ways to retain players when the move takes place… this could result in some great promotions aimed at existing players at the end of May / start of June timeframe.
At the same time Lock will be hoping to take as many players with them to the new Revolution network as possible.. again there will be incentives. Can you see where I am going with this yet? The net result could easily be a win / win for players on both networks!
Check out the latest blog posts at my poker networks site for more details + a cool Carbon Poker incentive.
The Future
With a stronger Cake Network, Merge will have to keep on top form to attract more players, while the dynamism of 2 choices could easily bring a lot of the players who are currently sitting on the sidelines back to the tables once more. Competition is a great thing, especially when combined with some big marketing budgets!
Obviously there is still much to play for when US players are concerned, with legislation moving in some States, licenses soon to be issued in Nevada and lots of talk and speculation – the future looks bright!
2012-04-13
3 Reasons For US Poker Players To Be Cheerful!
(and no, recent press releases by the PPA is not one of them!).
As we approach the 1 year anniversary of online poker’s Black Friday, there are actually some reasons for US players (or potential US players if you are one of the many sitting on the sidelines) to be cheerful. In this post I will cover 3 of them… first the fact that the DoJ has not been able to stop you having opportunities to qualify online for this years World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas. Second, that the site which used to be known as Doyle’s Room (now Americas Card Room) are running the single biggest guaranteed prize pool tournament which US players can join for a year… and last (though not least) Carbon Poker are now approaching peaks of 10k players and are giving away a really cool poker calculator too…
Before I start a quick plug for an older site of mine which I have revamped recently and am diligently updating every damn day… The Poker Bonus Network looks at the major networks and the stand alone poker sites to bring you the latest news, without any hype and (more importantly) without any of that fake poker celeb bullshit you get elsewhere… check it out today!
US Players World Series Qualifiers
You will find the detailed information on this over on this page at SNG Planet. Both Carbon and Cake Poker are offering satellites which could see you in Vegas. Of the two my personal pick is Carbon, who have more players and so are able to give away more packages. Their prize is worth $12,500 and you can start the satellite qualification path for just $2.20c.
Cake also have a decent offering, which you can start for just 30c. The key advantage to Cake is that the $10k prize will be paid directly to your account, so you can spend it on whatever you like!
US Players Black Friday Anniversary Tournament At Americas Card Room
Americas Card Room used to be Doyles Room, and they are now on a smaller network called Yatahay. This site have shown their ambition by organizing a tournament with a $250,000 guarantee this coming Sunday the 15th of April 2012. This is a $215 entry event, though there are tons of satellites – including a 250 seat guaranteed supersatellite on Friday the 13th (which you can win a seat in if you are a recreational / smaller bankrolled player). Anyway, this is a great event – and one of 5 liberty weekends planned… make sure you check out Americas Card Room for yourself!
US Players Have A Go-To Network With Merge, And A Free Poker Calculator Too!
Carbon, who are the leading site on the Merge Poker network are giving away a really cool free poker calculator. This is not just some odds-cruncher, it is actually closer to the big ‘database’ type software you can purchase for $100 or more. You’ll get a HUD, opponent profiling and all the expectation + odds and outs info you could ever need… and it is free to all real-money players.
This is on top of my already improved offer of a 150% welcome bonus + free $11 SNG entry – all you need to do is use Carbon Poker Coupon Code PBKLUB and the whole lot is yours. Click this link to check out the biggest single US Poker site – Carbon Poker – for yourself!
That’s all for this roundup, good luck at those tables!
As we approach the 1 year anniversary of online poker’s Black Friday, there are actually some reasons for US players (or potential US players if you are one of the many sitting on the sidelines) to be cheerful. In this post I will cover 3 of them… first the fact that the DoJ has not been able to stop you having opportunities to qualify online for this years World Series of Poker main event in Las Vegas. Second, that the site which used to be known as Doyle’s Room (now Americas Card Room) are running the single biggest guaranteed prize pool tournament which US players can join for a year… and last (though not least) Carbon Poker are now approaching peaks of 10k players and are giving away a really cool poker calculator too…
Before I start a quick plug for an older site of mine which I have revamped recently and am diligently updating every damn day… The Poker Bonus Network looks at the major networks and the stand alone poker sites to bring you the latest news, without any hype and (more importantly) without any of that fake poker celeb bullshit you get elsewhere… check it out today!
US Players World Series Qualifiers
You will find the detailed information on this over on this page at SNG Planet. Both Carbon and Cake Poker are offering satellites which could see you in Vegas. Of the two my personal pick is Carbon, who have more players and so are able to give away more packages. Their prize is worth $12,500 and you can start the satellite qualification path for just $2.20c.
Cake also have a decent offering, which you can start for just 30c. The key advantage to Cake is that the $10k prize will be paid directly to your account, so you can spend it on whatever you like!
US Players Black Friday Anniversary Tournament At Americas Card Room
Americas Card Room used to be Doyles Room, and they are now on a smaller network called Yatahay. This site have shown their ambition by organizing a tournament with a $250,000 guarantee this coming Sunday the 15th of April 2012. This is a $215 entry event, though there are tons of satellites – including a 250 seat guaranteed supersatellite on Friday the 13th (which you can win a seat in if you are a recreational / smaller bankrolled player). Anyway, this is a great event – and one of 5 liberty weekends planned… make sure you check out Americas Card Room for yourself!
US Players Have A Go-To Network With Merge, And A Free Poker Calculator Too!
Carbon, who are the leading site on the Merge Poker network are giving away a really cool free poker calculator. This is not just some odds-cruncher, it is actually closer to the big ‘database’ type software you can purchase for $100 or more. You’ll get a HUD, opponent profiling and all the expectation + odds and outs info you could ever need… and it is free to all real-money players.
This is on top of my already improved offer of a 150% welcome bonus + free $11 SNG entry – all you need to do is use Carbon Poker Coupon Code PBKLUB and the whole lot is yours. Click this link to check out the biggest single US Poker site – Carbon Poker – for yourself!
That’s all for this roundup, good luck at those tables!
2012-04-03
Cool Events And Some World Series Qualifiers
It is that time of year again, not only can we forget about the winter weather, we can look forward to some really cool poker events – and of course the poker sites competing with World Series Satellites.
I’ll round up a few of the best events in this post… hopefully April will see the return of Full Tilt – whether the Durrrr Challenge resumes… well, your guess is as good as mine.
Spring Poker Events #1 – The Pokerstars SCOOP Is Coming
SCOOP is the Spring Championship Of Online Poker… this one always generates a big buzz online and is actually the 2nd largest online poker event (in case you were wondering, the biggest is the World Championship or WCOOP which is also held at Pokerstars). This years SCOOP starts on the 6th May, though satellites are already running for the big events (I personally love the Steps SNGs which you can use the Step 4 tickets to enter any of the $215 events). One cool aspect of this event is that the games are divided into low-mid-high buy-in levels, so everyone gets a shot at some big money!
Check out the schedule via Pokerstars.com
Spring Poker Events #2 – The iPOPS at Titan Poker
iPOPS is a bit of a mouthful, this stands for the iPoker Online Poker Series and is a smaller event with just 5 big money tournaments. There are two reasons you should be attracted to this event. Firstly the Titan Poker games are super-soft when compared to other sites (you have to see them with your own eyes to fully understand what I mean here!). Secondly the last 27 players of the $500k guaranteed main event will be flown to the Spanish City of Barcelona for the live final 3 tables… how cool is that!! The events start on the 29th of April… qualifiers are running now.
You can take advantage of my special deal with Titan, new players can claim a 200% welcome match + $20 free cash. Just use Titan Poker Bonus Code PBKLUB and deposit a minimum of $30 – I will ensure that the extra cash is paid into your account within 48 hours!
Click Here To Check Out Titan Poker’s Easy Games For Yourself Now!
One more quick mention – Party are coming back with another ‘PokerFest’, I will cover that in a separate post closer to the time.
World Series Qualifiers
Spring is great for those wanting to win their way to Vegas for the world series of poker… ever since Chris Moneymaker in 2003 won the main event after winning his seat in an online satellite, the number of players participating in these games has grown and grown… until today the poker sites are fiercely competing with each other to get you to try their satellites!
We already have satellites running at 888.com (recommended!), Titan and Party – with the Betfair team event also running. From previous experience, Pokerstars wait until the SCOOP is completed before starting their games… I am covering these in detail over at SNG Planet – you can see my World Series Qualifiers page here for the best (and the rest!) of the satellite info
Thats all for this week - best of luck in those qualifiers!
I’ll round up a few of the best events in this post… hopefully April will see the return of Full Tilt – whether the Durrrr Challenge resumes… well, your guess is as good as mine.
Spring Poker Events #1 – The Pokerstars SCOOP Is Coming
SCOOP is the Spring Championship Of Online Poker… this one always generates a big buzz online and is actually the 2nd largest online poker event (in case you were wondering, the biggest is the World Championship or WCOOP which is also held at Pokerstars). This years SCOOP starts on the 6th May, though satellites are already running for the big events (I personally love the Steps SNGs which you can use the Step 4 tickets to enter any of the $215 events). One cool aspect of this event is that the games are divided into low-mid-high buy-in levels, so everyone gets a shot at some big money!
Check out the schedule via Pokerstars.com
Spring Poker Events #2 – The iPOPS at Titan Poker
iPOPS is a bit of a mouthful, this stands for the iPoker Online Poker Series and is a smaller event with just 5 big money tournaments. There are two reasons you should be attracted to this event. Firstly the Titan Poker games are super-soft when compared to other sites (you have to see them with your own eyes to fully understand what I mean here!). Secondly the last 27 players of the $500k guaranteed main event will be flown to the Spanish City of Barcelona for the live final 3 tables… how cool is that!! The events start on the 29th of April… qualifiers are running now.
You can take advantage of my special deal with Titan, new players can claim a 200% welcome match + $20 free cash. Just use Titan Poker Bonus Code PBKLUB and deposit a minimum of $30 – I will ensure that the extra cash is paid into your account within 48 hours!
Click Here To Check Out Titan Poker’s Easy Games For Yourself Now!
One more quick mention – Party are coming back with another ‘PokerFest’, I will cover that in a separate post closer to the time.
World Series Qualifiers
Spring is great for those wanting to win their way to Vegas for the world series of poker… ever since Chris Moneymaker in 2003 won the main event after winning his seat in an online satellite, the number of players participating in these games has grown and grown… until today the poker sites are fiercely competing with each other to get you to try their satellites!
We already have satellites running at 888.com (recommended!), Titan and Party – with the Betfair team event also running. From previous experience, Pokerstars wait until the SCOOP is completed before starting their games… I am covering these in detail over at SNG Planet – you can see my World Series Qualifiers page here for the best (and the rest!) of the satellite info
Thats all for this week - best of luck in those qualifiers!
2012-03-21
Rush Poker Is Back – Only It Is Called Zoom!
An unusual announcement today, with Rush Poker coming back ahead of their owner Full Tilt… Yes, Pokerstars have released their own version of the concept. Though we are sure that, legally speaking, Zoom Poker is a different game completely… it does on the surface appear to be exactly the same as the old Rush!
Listen, I am not going to get involved in any politics. Zoom is a great game and judging by the number of players Stars are sending to the tables, it should be bigger than Rush by tea-time.
Here is how it works.
You log on to Pokerstars, hit the ‘Zoom’ tab and you are given 3 tabs, one for Texas Holdem, one for Omaha (PLO high only at the moment) and one which says ‘other’. You choose your buy-in level (just the micros at this time, up to 10c big blinds and $10 max buy-in). Next you choose how many times you want to join in each pool and ‘boom’ off we go...
The games are super-quick, and very smooth. I have it set to fade between hands, though slide and flip are available. You can see the rest of a hand after you fold by holding the control key as you click and a feature I particularly liked, you can choose to sit out on your next big blind – in Rush you had to guess if I remember correctly!
Anyway, at this moment Zoom Poker is a complete Fish-fest… (good enough for the legendary Fish-O-Meter?) with every recreational player and his dog at the tables checking out the games. After a time there will be the ‘regulars’ taking their small profits over 100000’s of hands to make a good wage – so now is definitely the best time to get on over and enjoy the Zoom Games.
If you have not already registered with Pokerstars, then you can claim up to 3 matched welcome bonuses… simply choose ‘Affiliate Marketing Code’ from the ‘Where Did You Hear About Us?’ page, and then enter PSP3108 in the new box which appears on the registration form!
We may have the original Rush back sooner than expected… if reports that the Full Tilt / GBT deal is now very close to being signed. Remember to keep an eye on this blog, I will be screaming from the treetops the moment by favorite site comes back.
Listen, I am not going to get involved in any politics. Zoom is a great game and judging by the number of players Stars are sending to the tables, it should be bigger than Rush by tea-time.
Here is how it works.
You log on to Pokerstars, hit the ‘Zoom’ tab and you are given 3 tabs, one for Texas Holdem, one for Omaha (PLO high only at the moment) and one which says ‘other’. You choose your buy-in level (just the micros at this time, up to 10c big blinds and $10 max buy-in). Next you choose how many times you want to join in each pool and ‘boom’ off we go...
The games are super-quick, and very smooth. I have it set to fade between hands, though slide and flip are available. You can see the rest of a hand after you fold by holding the control key as you click and a feature I particularly liked, you can choose to sit out on your next big blind – in Rush you had to guess if I remember correctly!
Anyway, at this moment Zoom Poker is a complete Fish-fest… (good enough for the legendary Fish-O-Meter?) with every recreational player and his dog at the tables checking out the games. After a time there will be the ‘regulars’ taking their small profits over 100000’s of hands to make a good wage – so now is definitely the best time to get on over and enjoy the Zoom Games.
If you have not already registered with Pokerstars, then you can claim up to 3 matched welcome bonuses… simply choose ‘Affiliate Marketing Code’ from the ‘Where Did You Hear About Us?’ page, and then enter PSP3108 in the new box which appears on the registration form!
We may have the original Rush back sooner than expected… if reports that the Full Tilt / GBT deal is now very close to being signed. Remember to keep an eye on this blog, I will be screaming from the treetops the moment by favorite site comes back.
2012-03-13
Roundup Of The Different Poker Networks
Rather than focusing on particular players or promotions, I thought I would broaden the horizons for this post… and bring you a quick roundup of the latest poker network news – well, with a little stand-alone poker site news thrown in on top.
Everleaf: The biggest single change of late is that the Everleaf network have been the focus on the US federal authorities, money has been seized from payment processors – and they have been forced to close their doors to US poker players. This was a network of many small skins, several of which relied on their USA traffic to keep them operational, meaning that the fallout has been bigger than you might expect from the published 20% of US players making up the network numbers.
Frozen funds is becoming a familiar theme… I’ll keep up to date with the latest news at my recently reestablished Poker Bonus Network blog, which keeps up to date with all of the latest news from the different online poker networks.
OnGame Network: This one has just been sold to Shufflemaster – I was aware of the brand, but not that they were in the market to buy poker networks! Anyway, since the merger of Bwin and Party this has been speculated upon endlessly and is the natural conclusion of that merger – I guess the bwin players will move to Party Poker some time soon. An interesting aspect of this purchase is that there is an extra $10ish million to be paid should the US market reopen… looks like buying all that technology and expertise is a great way for Shufflemaster to have a B2B offering for when those American doors finally reopen.
iPoker Network: A couple of different things happening at the Fishiest Poker site of all – the infamous iPoker Network. First of all 2 skins are merging, with Chillipoker closing its iPoker skin and migrating players to the Poker770 client instead. Chilli will change to a US play money brand with some connection to Bally.
Second, a rumor! This is that some of the bigger sites on the iPoker network are planning on going their separate way from the smaller skins… this would be great news for players, as the fish all play at the big brand betting site skins, while the grinders tend to migrate to the smaller skins who offer big VIP and incentive deals… basically cannibalizing the players already on the network rather than adding any real value. We will have to wait and see… though this could be an important move.
Merge Network: Only a snippet of positive news from the biggest US facing network. They are currently hosting their first major tournament event… what this shows me is that the traffic is on the up and the future looking bright. The $200k guaranteed main event is the single biggest of all the online poker tournaments open to US players since the major sites were removed on Black Friday.
Pokerstars: Well, I could not really have a roundup without at least mentioning the world’s biggest poker site… the news here concerns Zoom Poker, a ‘Rush-like’ experience which is apparently about to make the transition from play money beta to real money… now, how many times have I said that there is always easy money to be made by following the fish to the shiney new thing!
GL
Everleaf: The biggest single change of late is that the Everleaf network have been the focus on the US federal authorities, money has been seized from payment processors – and they have been forced to close their doors to US poker players. This was a network of many small skins, several of which relied on their USA traffic to keep them operational, meaning that the fallout has been bigger than you might expect from the published 20% of US players making up the network numbers.
Frozen funds is becoming a familiar theme… I’ll keep up to date with the latest news at my recently reestablished Poker Bonus Network blog, which keeps up to date with all of the latest news from the different online poker networks.
OnGame Network: This one has just been sold to Shufflemaster – I was aware of the brand, but not that they were in the market to buy poker networks! Anyway, since the merger of Bwin and Party this has been speculated upon endlessly and is the natural conclusion of that merger – I guess the bwin players will move to Party Poker some time soon. An interesting aspect of this purchase is that there is an extra $10ish million to be paid should the US market reopen… looks like buying all that technology and expertise is a great way for Shufflemaster to have a B2B offering for when those American doors finally reopen.
iPoker Network: A couple of different things happening at the Fishiest Poker site of all – the infamous iPoker Network. First of all 2 skins are merging, with Chillipoker closing its iPoker skin and migrating players to the Poker770 client instead. Chilli will change to a US play money brand with some connection to Bally.
Second, a rumor! This is that some of the bigger sites on the iPoker network are planning on going their separate way from the smaller skins… this would be great news for players, as the fish all play at the big brand betting site skins, while the grinders tend to migrate to the smaller skins who offer big VIP and incentive deals… basically cannibalizing the players already on the network rather than adding any real value. We will have to wait and see… though this could be an important move.
Merge Network: Only a snippet of positive news from the biggest US facing network. They are currently hosting their first major tournament event… what this shows me is that the traffic is on the up and the future looking bright. The $200k guaranteed main event is the single biggest of all the online poker tournaments open to US players since the major sites were removed on Black Friday.
Pokerstars: Well, I could not really have a roundup without at least mentioning the world’s biggest poker site… the news here concerns Zoom Poker, a ‘Rush-like’ experience which is apparently about to make the transition from play money beta to real money… now, how many times have I said that there is always easy money to be made by following the fish to the shiney new thing!
GL
2012-02-27
How Much Money Can I Earn Playing Online Poker Full Time?
When you first fall for the allure of online poker it can be so engaging that it pushes all other aspects of life to one side. Do you really need that degree when you could grind your way to $100k+ per year? Could you be the next Durrrr or Phil Ivey? Could you escape the horror of your office job for an easy life of playing poker a few hours a day?
It all seems possible, though very few people make it. There are a ton of reasons for this… this article is not the right place to discuss losing players who thought they were winners due to running good or the game evolving and leaving you behind… I wanted to take this one from the perspective of the winning players and look at an ugly fact – most who go full time will not last the first year… even if they are big winners.
The reason is that professional grinding is not what people thought it was. Sure, the money will make up for the isolation in some ways, but after months of clicking on your own this is rarely the case. Sure, playing the game you love for money will make up for this? Well, here is the crux, when you go pro poker is no longer the game you love, it is a job.
This is the key reason why people do not last.
They start their pro career loving poker, and within 6 months they HATE it. I have personally known people give up on $100k / year incomes and take jobs at less than half of this because they just could not stand it any longer.
This is not the minority, this is most people… I’ll make an educated guess here that only 20% of those who drop out to turn pro last the first year and more than half that do will drop out in their second…
Of course, those pro players all started somewhere, the big names who you see taking down millions at major televised events are ordinary people who learned the game good, got grinding, got a break and took things to the next level.
This post is not designed to shatter any ones dreams…. I simply wanted to add a small layer of real-life to those $$ per hour ‘going pro’ calculations. If you want to keep your recreational game profitable, that is another thing entirely… check out the Latest Poker Promotions over at Killer Holdem for more!
GL at the tables.
It all seems possible, though very few people make it. There are a ton of reasons for this… this article is not the right place to discuss losing players who thought they were winners due to running good or the game evolving and leaving you behind… I wanted to take this one from the perspective of the winning players and look at an ugly fact – most who go full time will not last the first year… even if they are big winners.
The reason is that professional grinding is not what people thought it was. Sure, the money will make up for the isolation in some ways, but after months of clicking on your own this is rarely the case. Sure, playing the game you love for money will make up for this? Well, here is the crux, when you go pro poker is no longer the game you love, it is a job.
This is the key reason why people do not last.
They start their pro career loving poker, and within 6 months they HATE it. I have personally known people give up on $100k / year incomes and take jobs at less than half of this because they just could not stand it any longer.
This is not the minority, this is most people… I’ll make an educated guess here that only 20% of those who drop out to turn pro last the first year and more than half that do will drop out in their second…
Of course, those pro players all started somewhere, the big names who you see taking down millions at major televised events are ordinary people who learned the game good, got grinding, got a break and took things to the next level.
This post is not designed to shatter any ones dreams…. I simply wanted to add a small layer of real-life to those $$ per hour ‘going pro’ calculations. If you want to keep your recreational game profitable, that is another thing entirely… check out the Latest Poker Promotions over at Killer Holdem for more!
GL at the tables.
2012-02-20
Who Do You Blame When You Lose Money Playing Poker?
One of the key attributes which optimistic and positive people share is that they take credit for successes and attribute failures to external events. Sure, we have to take some personal responsibility – but in general terms not internalizing your failures is a good life strategy.
It is not necessarily a good strategy in poker though!
Depending on what stage of development a player is at, there are various external factors which take the blame for losing money. The cold hard reality is that given a skill edge and sufficient bankroll + time, the only person to blame for losses is yourself!
Here is a list of 5 things people blame for their losses:
1 – The Donks: if I had a buck for every time I heard that it is impossible to beat ‘so many donks’ or some variation of this. If you think this then stop it, and fast. Poker is not about some mythical ‘correct’ play, it is about adjusting your strategy to take advantage of opponents mistakes… and lets face it the people you label donks make more mistakes than anyone else!
2 – The Poker Sites RNG: People who blame their losses on poker being ‘rigged’ are borderline insane in my opinion. Certified random number generators and literally billions of hand histories independently analyzed found nothing wrong at any of the major sites… Yet trying to convince a losing player of this is next to impossible. Get over it please!
3 – Bad Luck: Another one I wish I had a dollar for… ‘I’m a good player, just unlucky’. Yeah, I know you really genuinely believe this with all of your heart… it is not true though, not at all. Every player gets the same cards and situations over the long term… sure luck plays a role in the short-term, if you have a significant volume and still blame luck then meh, your crazy!
4 – Cheats / Colluders: Sometimes you will come across cheats, not common though. If this does happen it is short-term and usually incompetent ‘dorm-teams’ at the lowest stakes… Not a viable one over time.
5 – Tools / Bots: Could be something in this… I mean people are using poker tools against you, and using them now. If you are trying to take poker seriously and not using tracking software or HUDs then you have a big disadvantage. You can get some awesome poker tools for a small investment – so there is no excuse why you should lose over the long term to players with these.
The message in this post is to stop spewing out blame for your losses to those external factors – take some responsibility and get working on your game… what works in life generally is not actually all that useful in poker.
GL at the tables!
It is not necessarily a good strategy in poker though!
Depending on what stage of development a player is at, there are various external factors which take the blame for losing money. The cold hard reality is that given a skill edge and sufficient bankroll + time, the only person to blame for losses is yourself!
Here is a list of 5 things people blame for their losses:
1 – The Donks: if I had a buck for every time I heard that it is impossible to beat ‘so many donks’ or some variation of this. If you think this then stop it, and fast. Poker is not about some mythical ‘correct’ play, it is about adjusting your strategy to take advantage of opponents mistakes… and lets face it the people you label donks make more mistakes than anyone else!
2 – The Poker Sites RNG: People who blame their losses on poker being ‘rigged’ are borderline insane in my opinion. Certified random number generators and literally billions of hand histories independently analyzed found nothing wrong at any of the major sites… Yet trying to convince a losing player of this is next to impossible. Get over it please!
3 – Bad Luck: Another one I wish I had a dollar for… ‘I’m a good player, just unlucky’. Yeah, I know you really genuinely believe this with all of your heart… it is not true though, not at all. Every player gets the same cards and situations over the long term… sure luck plays a role in the short-term, if you have a significant volume and still blame luck then meh, your crazy!
4 – Cheats / Colluders: Sometimes you will come across cheats, not common though. If this does happen it is short-term and usually incompetent ‘dorm-teams’ at the lowest stakes… Not a viable one over time.
5 – Tools / Bots: Could be something in this… I mean people are using poker tools against you, and using them now. If you are trying to take poker seriously and not using tracking software or HUDs then you have a big disadvantage. You can get some awesome poker tools for a small investment – so there is no excuse why you should lose over the long term to players with these.
The message in this post is to stop spewing out blame for your losses to those external factors – take some responsibility and get working on your game… what works in life generally is not actually all that useful in poker.
GL at the tables!
2012-02-13
It Is Only A Matter Of Time Before We Can ‘Rush’ Again
Pretty sure I have gone on about this one before – so sorry about that! I’m just missing that Rush Poker so badly… and the ‘noise’ about Full Tilt Poker coming back is getting more constant now.
PLO Rush Poker was my ‘relaxation’, it might sound odd – but opening up a couple of sessions of this one and pounding away on that bet pot button required so much focus, that whatever else was on my mind was temporarily gone.
There have been rumors that Pokerstars were going to come out with something similar. Last time these got everyone buzzing it turned out that they were releasing a new advert instead… big disappointment.
You can always try Terminal Poker, they have ‘rush’ which works either online or on mobiles… its pretty good, though at the moment the player pools are small. Shame, since this would be a great game if they could get a little in the way of momentum going. You can read a review of Terminal Poker over at SNG Planet here.
Anyway, just a short post, I really just wanted to share my anticipation that Rush would return (along with FullTilt!) soon…
Gl at the tables!
PLO Rush Poker was my ‘relaxation’, it might sound odd – but opening up a couple of sessions of this one and pounding away on that bet pot button required so much focus, that whatever else was on my mind was temporarily gone.
There have been rumors that Pokerstars were going to come out with something similar. Last time these got everyone buzzing it turned out that they were releasing a new advert instead… big disappointment.
You can always try Terminal Poker, they have ‘rush’ which works either online or on mobiles… its pretty good, though at the moment the player pools are small. Shame, since this would be a great game if they could get a little in the way of momentum going. You can read a review of Terminal Poker over at SNG Planet here.
Anyway, just a short post, I really just wanted to share my anticipation that Rush would return (along with FullTilt!) soon…
Gl at the tables!
2012-02-07
Super Mega Hyper Tilt Reducing Turbo Chaos – Who Has The Best Ones?
Poker can tilt the best of us at some point or another. Sure, you might be experienced enough to handle those 80 / 20’s with a slightly resigned shrug… but when they happen for the 5th time in an evening, busting you 12th in that big tournament when you really should have been chip lead entering the final table… well, you know what you mean.
For me, profitable Texas Holdem needs the occasional release valve, something you can have some fun with for not much money. I tried various things though the years… sitting in the 1c / 2c limit games, capping every street and then folding for the last bet on the river was fun (and for the record 90% of the players were not capable of noticing and / or adjusting to beat this massively exploitable strategy).
So, what about the Sit N Go Tournaments – the hyper all in or fold crazy ones which are a good 90% chance (I know, I know this does not stop an army of Eastern Europeans grinding them 12 hours a day for enough cash to buy vodka). Most of the sites now have them, 2 minute blinds, push-fold only, blinds big enough to force you all in every hand – that kind of thing!
Here are a couple of the best, starting with one for US readers.
#1 – Carbon Poker Hyper Turbos
Carbon, the biggest site on the Merge Network, now have peaks approaching 10k players – which means a huge improvement in their tournament and SNG offerings (cash games were already pretty strong!). They have Super Turbo SNGs (1000 chip starting stacks, starting at 25 / 50 blinds and 3 minute levels) and also the frantic all-in or fold games… you either play for all your chips or you fold your hand… no half way! Fees are smaller for both games, and they do get some nice traffic, particularly in the weekday evenings.
You can claim a free $11 SNG token + double-sized 200% welcome bonus at Carbon poker, using the coupon code PBKLUB – check out the leading (and very cool!) US friendly poker site for yourself now!!
#2 – Non-US Pick – Mad Tilt All-In At RedKings Poker
Red Kings Poker are the best site on the OnGame Network, a group whose tables are kept very soft by the large number of sports-betting brands who are members. Cool software and a friendly feel combine with generous bonuses at RedKings… my personal rec is to check out the tournament schedule there, you will find lots of smaller buy-in guaranteed events with medium-size fields!
Sit N Goes come in a variety of sizes including the great fun ‘Mad-Tilt All-In Games’ which come in single and multi-table format… starting stacks are just 60 chips – with blinds at 10 / 20 and 3 minute levels… not too much in the way of skill needed to enjoy these – great for stress or tilt relief though!
You can choose from 6 BIG welcome bonuses at Red Kings Poker, and will receive an additional $300 bonus (requires clearing) the first time you get dealt the 2 red kings in a cash game. Check out the awesome RedKings Poker now!
GL!
For me, profitable Texas Holdem needs the occasional release valve, something you can have some fun with for not much money. I tried various things though the years… sitting in the 1c / 2c limit games, capping every street and then folding for the last bet on the river was fun (and for the record 90% of the players were not capable of noticing and / or adjusting to beat this massively exploitable strategy).
So, what about the Sit N Go Tournaments – the hyper all in or fold crazy ones which are a good 90% chance (I know, I know this does not stop an army of Eastern Europeans grinding them 12 hours a day for enough cash to buy vodka). Most of the sites now have them, 2 minute blinds, push-fold only, blinds big enough to force you all in every hand – that kind of thing!
Here are a couple of the best, starting with one for US readers.
#1 – Carbon Poker Hyper Turbos
Carbon, the biggest site on the Merge Network, now have peaks approaching 10k players – which means a huge improvement in their tournament and SNG offerings (cash games were already pretty strong!). They have Super Turbo SNGs (1000 chip starting stacks, starting at 25 / 50 blinds and 3 minute levels) and also the frantic all-in or fold games… you either play for all your chips or you fold your hand… no half way! Fees are smaller for both games, and they do get some nice traffic, particularly in the weekday evenings.
You can claim a free $11 SNG token + double-sized 200% welcome bonus at Carbon poker, using the coupon code PBKLUB – check out the leading (and very cool!) US friendly poker site for yourself now!!
#2 – Non-US Pick – Mad Tilt All-In At RedKings Poker
Red Kings Poker are the best site on the OnGame Network, a group whose tables are kept very soft by the large number of sports-betting brands who are members. Cool software and a friendly feel combine with generous bonuses at RedKings… my personal rec is to check out the tournament schedule there, you will find lots of smaller buy-in guaranteed events with medium-size fields!
Sit N Goes come in a variety of sizes including the great fun ‘Mad-Tilt All-In Games’ which come in single and multi-table format… starting stacks are just 60 chips – with blinds at 10 / 20 and 3 minute levels… not too much in the way of skill needed to enjoy these – great for stress or tilt relief though!
You can choose from 6 BIG welcome bonuses at Red Kings Poker, and will receive an additional $300 bonus (requires clearing) the first time you get dealt the 2 red kings in a cash game. Check out the awesome RedKings Poker now!
GL!
2012-01-30
You’ll Never Be The Next Durrrr Unless You Take A Shot!
If you look around various online poker sites, you will find a lot of articles on poker bankroll management – and most of them will be telling the same tired old story… You need 20 buyins for cash, 50 for SNGs and 100 for tournaments or, or, or – you’ll go BROKE!
My problem with these articles is that they are written by small stakes pro grinders with aspiring small stakes pro grinder in mind. These articles are not for recreational players who can reload if they go broke, they are not for the stars of the future who might be willing to take a couple of chances to hit the big time… they are for people who aspire to becoming multi-tabling robots in the small to mid stakes.
If that is your goal, then that’s fine by me! If you would prefer to take a little risk with your leisure money and give yourself a chance of moving up into the league of poker pros and celebrities then repeat after me:
You’ll never be the next Durrrr unless you take a shot!
Right, lets define taking a shot – after all putting your entire bankroll into a single game you are neither skilled nor experienced enough to be playing in is not ‘taking a shot’ at all… it is poker suicide.
What I mean here is some measured risk, giving yourself a chance of taking a big win that will make you comfortable at the next level up… yet will not devastate you if you end up losing the buy-in.
For cash games, maybe someone is bankrolled and beating 25c / 50c – why not cut down the number of tables you play and add a $1 / $2 game, do it at peak time, check your opponents to minimize the number of grinders you play against and have a go… a couple of good sessions and you are now rolled to move up to 50c / $1 and use that as your platform for the $2 / $4 games a little way down the line… if you lose a couple of buy-ins then, hey, at least you gave it a shot – back to the 25c / 50c tables to rebuild and try again in 2 weeks.
Stop focusing on volume, on rewards and rakeback and take that shot – I have seen so many people burn out messing around at the small stakes and then leave poker when they could have been the next superstar it is fvcking untrue.
Taking A Shot In SNGs / MTTs.
Same logic applies to these games, with the MTTs it is easier to find a bigger game and take your occasional shot there. SNG Players should really be using these games as builders for something… to have an end game in mind whether this is cash or tournaments… you might love grinding out the profits for now… just look at how many players actually stick those games out for more than a year or two (hint, it is probably under 0.001% !!).
Right, that is my rant over… come on folks, stop taking lectures from high volume grinders – this is not the life that most of you aspire to anyway. Take that shot, if you do not make it then at least you tried – and hey, 1 or 2 of you just might get there!
Gl at the tables.
PS: I started a new weekly column over at Killer Holdem looking at the latest poker promotions... check it out now!
My problem with these articles is that they are written by small stakes pro grinders with aspiring small stakes pro grinder in mind. These articles are not for recreational players who can reload if they go broke, they are not for the stars of the future who might be willing to take a couple of chances to hit the big time… they are for people who aspire to becoming multi-tabling robots in the small to mid stakes.
If that is your goal, then that’s fine by me! If you would prefer to take a little risk with your leisure money and give yourself a chance of moving up into the league of poker pros and celebrities then repeat after me:
You’ll never be the next Durrrr unless you take a shot!
Right, lets define taking a shot – after all putting your entire bankroll into a single game you are neither skilled nor experienced enough to be playing in is not ‘taking a shot’ at all… it is poker suicide.
What I mean here is some measured risk, giving yourself a chance of taking a big win that will make you comfortable at the next level up… yet will not devastate you if you end up losing the buy-in.
For cash games, maybe someone is bankrolled and beating 25c / 50c – why not cut down the number of tables you play and add a $1 / $2 game, do it at peak time, check your opponents to minimize the number of grinders you play against and have a go… a couple of good sessions and you are now rolled to move up to 50c / $1 and use that as your platform for the $2 / $4 games a little way down the line… if you lose a couple of buy-ins then, hey, at least you gave it a shot – back to the 25c / 50c tables to rebuild and try again in 2 weeks.
Stop focusing on volume, on rewards and rakeback and take that shot – I have seen so many people burn out messing around at the small stakes and then leave poker when they could have been the next superstar it is fvcking untrue.
Taking A Shot In SNGs / MTTs.
Same logic applies to these games, with the MTTs it is easier to find a bigger game and take your occasional shot there. SNG Players should really be using these games as builders for something… to have an end game in mind whether this is cash or tournaments… you might love grinding out the profits for now… just look at how many players actually stick those games out for more than a year or two (hint, it is probably under 0.001% !!).
Right, that is my rant over… come on folks, stop taking lectures from high volume grinders – this is not the life that most of you aspire to anyway. Take that shot, if you do not make it then at least you tried – and hey, 1 or 2 of you just might get there!
Gl at the tables.
PS: I started a new weekly column over at Killer Holdem looking at the latest poker promotions... check it out now!
2012-01-17
My Favorite Promotion Is BACK! The Fishmarket Free $11 Token Offer
Being full time in the business I get to see a lot of promotions come and go... some (think Stars) are so huge you wonder how you will ever compete with those 100,000 others all getting a piece of the action... some are just too complex, or specialized or just 'meh'.
And then there is the Fishmarket at the OnGame Network's Red Kings Poker.
This is a simple, yet effective idea. You give all new players a free $11 token to enter a tournament with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Since all the new players are in, the game becomes very soft compared to similar games - attracting many other players... which results in a huge game which regularly trashes the guarantee, paying big prizes for the final table. The next game is on Feb 16th - make sure you do not miss out!
You can claim your $11 token, take your pick from 6 BIG sign-up bonuses and enjoy the benefits which come with sharing a network with some huge betting brands (hint: easy games!) now - just click this link and check out the awesome Red Kings Poker for yourself.
US Readers... Cake Poker Have Gone Gold Card Crazy!
I did not want US readers of this blog to feel left out in this post - so a quick reminder about the generous addition to the already generous 'Gold Card' loyalty scheme at Cake Poker during January 2012.
Cake are giving you the opportunity to win some instant cash prizes (up to $2500) by getting dealt a Gold Card with an ace this month. Gold cards are awarded randomly as you play, with more getting distributed at the higher levels. If you catch an ace in jan then here are the payouts depending on the suit.
- Spades - $2500
- Hearts - $1500
- Diamonds - $500
- Clubs - $250
Not bad for just playing your usual games. Cake poker bonus code PBCLUB gets you the top 110% welcome bonus while you check out the games - click here to check out Cake Poker for yourself!
By the way, since I only have the time to post here at the DurrrrChallenge blog occasionally, I have a suggested bookmark over at another of my sites - Killer Holdem - you will find a dedicated page there for the Latest Poker Promotions (great for your bookmarks / favorites).
And then there is the Fishmarket at the OnGame Network's Red Kings Poker.
This is a simple, yet effective idea. You give all new players a free $11 token to enter a tournament with a $10,000 guaranteed prize pool. Since all the new players are in, the game becomes very soft compared to similar games - attracting many other players... which results in a huge game which regularly trashes the guarantee, paying big prizes for the final table. The next game is on Feb 16th - make sure you do not miss out!
You can claim your $11 token, take your pick from 6 BIG sign-up bonuses and enjoy the benefits which come with sharing a network with some huge betting brands (hint: easy games!) now - just click this link and check out the awesome Red Kings Poker for yourself.
US Readers... Cake Poker Have Gone Gold Card Crazy!
I did not want US readers of this blog to feel left out in this post - so a quick reminder about the generous addition to the already generous 'Gold Card' loyalty scheme at Cake Poker during January 2012.
Cake are giving you the opportunity to win some instant cash prizes (up to $2500) by getting dealt a Gold Card with an ace this month. Gold cards are awarded randomly as you play, with more getting distributed at the higher levels. If you catch an ace in jan then here are the payouts depending on the suit.
- Spades - $2500
- Hearts - $1500
- Diamonds - $500
- Clubs - $250
Not bad for just playing your usual games. Cake poker bonus code PBCLUB gets you the top 110% welcome bonus while you check out the games - click here to check out Cake Poker for yourself!
By the way, since I only have the time to post here at the DurrrrChallenge blog occasionally, I have a suggested bookmark over at another of my sites - Killer Holdem - you will find a dedicated page there for the Latest Poker Promotions (great for your bookmarks / favorites).
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