Poker bankroll management, building and strategy – online poker guide

Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year

Saturday, December 24th, 2011 | Mark | Off topic | No Comments

Merry X-mas and a Happy New Year to all readers of pokerbankrollblog.com. It’s been a so so year for this blog, as I haven’t gotten around to writing as many poker articles as I would have liked. Perhaps it’s because I’ve reached the limit of what I’m able to write about. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been busy with a bunch of other projects. Who knows?

One thing’s for sure: next year I’ll reach my milestone of 500 articles and then new milestones have to settled upon. Perhaps one of them will be to sell this blog to someone who can take it to the next level.

By the way, in 2012 spammers will still not be allowed to post comments on my blog. It still amazes me how many gut-wrenchingly bad spam comments I receive every single day. JUST FORGET IT. I will not publish your crap!

Don’t allow rocks to take your money

Sunday, December 11th, 2011 | Mark | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building, Poker Cash Games | No Comments

There is nothing as frustrating as seeing a rock take a pot from you when they show you the nuts and you called them down with nothing but two pair. You feel somewhat of a chump for calling down with such a weak hand. But this is exactly why watching your opponents very carefully is so important. In games like full ring then rocks thrive for one simple reason, this is because they can fold far more and still make money. Folding is what the rock loves but they love it even more when someone pays them off and they thrive in weaker games where their strategy gets paid off often enough by weak players or even the odd strong loose-aggressive player who hasn’t noticed that they are a rock.

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They like full ring games as stated because they can fold more but this allows us a sneak preview into their mind-set. This is because if they will not commit a lot of chips unless they have a lock or a powerful hand then this allows us to build a framework for how they like to play and what their method of operation is. For example rocks in full ring games will steal and bluff but only pre-flop and on the flop. They may fire another barrel on the turn but they will never go for the big river triple barrel bluff. So when they show every sign of betting and raising early in the pot and that they want to play for stacks then you had better watch out.

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However you beat these players but not by defeating them in big pots when you play them in full ring. It is very hard to defeat them in bog pots often enough because they simply do not get all in for 100bb without the nuts or a powerful non-nut hand. You beat them by winning small and mediocre pots and you beat them by playing what is known as small ball poker. You will be on the wrong side of big pots as often as you are on the right side and so this isn’t where you make your money against rocks. Steal from them and force them to commit more money when they don’t really want to and you will basically own them.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Why players struggle in no limit cash games – part 3

Sunday, December 4th, 2011 | Mark | Poker and Life, Poker Cash Games, Poker Strategy | No Comments

Everywhere you look these days then there are poker coaches, poker websites and poker books and magazines all discussing no limit hold’em. But yet even as a full time player and writer then I am still not blinded to the fact that this form of poker is probably the most difficult of the lot for novice players to succeed at. In the final part of this series then I want to discuss variance and how this affects your mind set. I often hear how tournament poker has the worst variance out of all of the major forms of poker. I am certainly not going to dispute this as it is a given.

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However what you also need to factor into the equation is that if you are playing a live event then even if you bust out horribly, you are never going straight back into another event in a negative frame of mind. This is not the case in online cash games where if you get AA busted by KK for 100bb then you just may be multi-tabling and facing several more key decisions within the next few seconds. In fact you may be buying back into the very same table that you have just lost 100bb on.

What makes matters even worse is that these beats can come thick and fast online and you can take several very big punches in a very short space of time even though the speed of online play means that you will get into the long term faster. This is not always seen or noticed by novice players in the heat of the moment and is why variance can often be the most formidable enemy that any poker player has to face during their lifetime as a player.

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In fact many a potential successful player has probably stopped playing the game simply because a really bad run very early in their poker life totally and utterly destroyed their confidence. Someone once said that poker was a “tough way to make an easy living” and these words are very prophetic. Poker can be an easy living if you can accept everything that comes with it or it can just be the hardest thing that you have ever tried to do in your life.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Why players struggle at no limit cash games – part 2

Sunday, December 4th, 2011 | Mark | Poker Cash Games, Poker Strategy | No Comments

Following on from part 1 and in this article I want to discuss a very obvious but yet under-estimated part of no-limit hold’em. This is the fact that it is a two card game and not a four card or a six card game like at PLO. So what does this very obvious statement have to do with difficulty in playing the game?

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Well only having two starting cards in your hand means one very important thing. It means that it is much more difficult to flop or to make a strong hand. Now you may say that this isn’t bad news at all but good news as this means more bluffing opportunities.

This much is true but the mere knowledge that both you and your opponent are unlikely to have a hand causes many players a lot of problems in this form of poker. Players who understand how difficult it is to make a hand then begin to think that they are quantum leaping their game by being very aggressive. So they start bluff-raising, floating, double and triple barrelling and all the rest of it simply because they know two things……this is that their opponents are unlikely to have a hand and that their aggression will likely win the pot a high percentage of the time.

But here comes the problem because if you are putting more money at risk without the necessary skill then who do you think comes out on the positive side of your strategy……certainly not you. Blind aggressive play is not good poker play and if you take these strategies into higher levels then you are going to get picked off by the better players.

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If your own skill level or lack of skill makes you –EV against the field or against selected players then you are going to be placing more money on the table in these situations. You are also going to be polarising your ranges as well and so the blind aggression will fail miserably because your more astute opponents will begin to call you down lighter. So the fact that it is more difficult to make a hand in a roundabout way is actually getting an awful lot of players into trouble and hence the term “Dumb LAG” and “LAGtard” became part of the poker dictionary because these are terms used to describe poor aggressive players who have no idea what they are doing or why.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk

Why players struggle at no limit cash games – part 1

Saturday, November 26th, 2011 | Mark | Poker Cash Games, Poker Strategy | No Comments

Many people ask me as a full time player/writer and coach what the toughest aspect is about playing no limit hold’em? It is in actual fact the potential to put your stack at risk in any one individual hand and while everyone knows this, what they may not be aware of are the mechanics of just why this is the case. This will be the first part of a three part series explaining just why no limit hold’em cash games are just too tough to crack for many players.

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Firstly you have the capacity to play very deep whereas in tournament poker then you are rarely playing all that deep unless you reach the final stages. However in a cash game then you can immediately buy in for 100bb and if you amass money at the beginning then your stack could soon be several hundred big blinds deep. The size of the mistake that you can make are commensurate with the size of the stack that you have. This means that if you play the post flop part of the game badly then your mistakes will be bigger sitting on a 150bb stack than if you were sitting with a 40bb stack.

When you play deep then no limit hold’em becomes a whole new ball game! But one factor that few players take on board is that unlike in limit hold’em, you are constantly taking and laying odds in no limit play. This form of poker requires you to have an intimate knowledge of gambling odds and probabilities and if you are weak in that area then no limit play will find you out and expose you. Let us look at an example here to show you what I mean.

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You decide to steal raise from the button with 100bb at NL100 meaning that the stakes are $0.50-$1.00. You make it $3.50 and the big blind calls you. This puts $7.50 in the pot which is really around $7 after the rake. So you were risking $3.50 to make $1.50. If the big blind checks and you make a c-bet of around $5 then you will likely take the pot down quite often. But then again you need to because at this stage of proceedings then you have placed $8.50 into the pot and there is only $3.50 of that money which isn’t yours. These are hardly good odds to be taking and you have to win this pot with a very high frequency to justify the risk.

Players get this part of the game wrong because they bet and raise for the wrong reasons and I will explain this in part 2.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson plays poker at www.pokerstars.co.uk.

Upcoming poker weekend

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 | Mark | Poker and Life, Poker Tournament | 2 Comments

I’m sitting here – bored as hell – playing the PokerStars daily 50k$ guaranteed tournament and suddenly realized that it’s been ages since I wrote a post on my blog. Since I’m not getting any playable cards what so ever, I thought I might as well fill in whoever reads this blog what I’ve been up to lately.

The main take home message is that I’m busy. About 2-3 months ago I enrolled in an MBA program to get one step closer to a big-money job as director of some insanely – GOD DAMN IT just busted out with AJ vs KQ, Jokerstars kicks me in the balls again -  rich company. In addition, I started up a new website project, which will hopefully be launched within the next couple of months; it’s going to be awesome!!!!

Anyway back to poker. This weekend my poker buddy Arturo will be visiting me in Copenhagen. We will be kicking ass on PokerStars. You have hereby been warne

PokerTableRating’s 30000$ PartyPoker Challenge

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 | Mark | Poker Articles, Poker Bankroll Building | No Comments

Starting Thursday the 29th of September you can enter PokerTableRating’s 30000$ PartyPoker Challenge for free.

The concept is simple. Earn badges by completing specific tasks on PartyPoker cash tables and you are automatically entered into the competition to win cool prizes and tournament tickets.

If you do not have a PartyPoker account and sign up to one to enter the PokerTableRating competition you get a 3 months PTR premium account for free! Don’t worry if you already have a PartyPoker account; you can still enter the competition for free.

Check out the competition here:

Top 10 USA Casinos For Poker #9 – Bellagio, Las Vegas

Sunday, September 18th, 2011 | Mark | Poker and Life, Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | No Comments

In this article series we plan to make a top 10 list of casinos for poker in the USA

The Bellagio is an iconic venue which is known around the world. Having become a shining beacon of Las Vegas, Sin City’s top casino has been showcased in many a film, television show and other entertainment, bringing it to the forefront of the public eye. However, whilst the glitz and glamour of the venue may be ever present, it hasn’t stopped the fact that the Bellagio really is one of the worlds top gambling establishments.

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Part of a famed hotel complex, the Bellagio is located in the very heart of Las Vegas, offering easy access for all visitors to one of the most popular American cities. Built on the Vegas Strip, the Bellagio replaced the legendary Dunes hotel, opening in 1998 with a reported $88m grand ceremony. It has found international acclaim on the gamblers circuit and continues to be a top spot for notorious poker players including Jennifer Harmon, Barry Greenstein, Chip Reese, Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson.

One of the attractions of the Bellagio is that if caters to a wide number of visitors whether gamers want to drop just a few dollars or play with thousands. An impressive art gallery, the famous fountains and fine restaurants can be found at the Bellagio, enabling those enjoying the casinos services to spend many hours enjoying their favourite pastime whilst surrounded in glitz and beauty. Meanwhile, the casino includes a wealth of gambling opportunities including the usual slot machines, some of which are unique to the Bellagio, and table games such as baccarat, craps, roulette and poker. And it is poker that makes the Bellagio one of the worlds most sought after venues.

Whilst playing against the house can be fun, the Bellagio offers one of the best poker rooms in the world, with high rollers able to come and bet thousands amongst each other. Whilst gamers can make a few hundred grinding away at the table games, it is in the poker room where the real money is made, and for those entering this high stakes world, it’s worth getting some practice by using websites such as partypokerbonuscodes.com to play a few free games first.

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The poker room itself has the same chic appeal as the rest of the Bellagio complex, and it offers one of the only live poker spectator events in the industry with its ‘Big Game’ of $2,000 and $4,000 limits. However, aside from the main event there is plenty going on, and the casino has regular tournaments of Hold ‘em including $300/600, $75/150 and $4/8 limits allowing everyone to play no matter their budget. Las Vegas’s only $20/40 stud game is found here, and they also provide a range of no limit Hold ‘em games. Of course, such is the popularity of Bellagio that weekend waits for lower stakes tables can take hours, and staff can sometimes seem a little pompous. But, whether gamers want to be spectators, dabble a little or play for big bucks, the Bellagio remains one of the world’s top poker venues.

Full Tilt down due to FBI investigations – the full story

Wednesday, August 24th, 2011 | Mark | Poker News | 3 Comments

The world of online casino and poker has received a major shock wave a few months ago, with the shutdown of a few major online poker sites.

On April 15th, on a day that subsequently became known as Black Friday, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation seized the domain names of a number of US facing poker sites, including Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker. There was no warning that there would be a shutdown of these online casino gaming sites and, literally overnight, US online poker players were faced with the FBI logo, stating that they would not be able to withdraw their funds. The Department of Justice stated that it would be taking 11 defendants to court, claiming that they violated wire fraud and money laundering laws in the United States.

In this Black Friday swoop, the FBI also shut down scores of payment processor used by Full Tilt Poker and other poker sites to pay their players. US players found that they were unable to sign up at Full Tilt Poker and could not play for real money. They found themselves locked out of real money tables and tournaments. In addition, and more seriously, they could not withdraw their money from their accounts.

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In the days and then weeks following Black Friday, there was a great deal of confusion regarding the future of these sites, and players were desperate to learn how they could get their money out of their accounts. Poker Stars immediately reached an agreement with the Department of Justice and was able to start paying its players out the over $1.5 billion owed to them as soon as possible. There were great expectations that Full Tilt Poker would be able to do the same, and, indeed, in the first few weeks, statements were issued that the site was nearing such an agreement with the DOJ. Unfortunately, as the weeks passed, players became more disgruntled as they realized that the online poker site was simply trying to buy time.

It is estimated that Full Tilt Poker owes its players $100 – $150 million, which is yet to be paid back.

Poker professionals previously linked with Full Tilt Poker, including world champ Phil Ivey, noted their disgust for the way that players were being treated and Ivey went so far as to sue the site for money owed on behalf of thousands of players.

In June, 2011, it emerged that Full Tilt Poker was trying to negotiate a deal with a group of European investors that would buy out the company, allowing it to settle its debts to increasingly frustrated players. No details were made of the identity of the group, although an attorney acting for Full Tilt Poker said that they were not a rival group in the industry. In July, rumors started circulating that the investors were only interested in purchasing Full Tilt Poker’s UK and Irish assets as they felt that the US side of the business came with too many risks and costs. This was a further blow to the negotiations, which, as far anyone knows, are still ongoing.

Around the time that news broke about the investors, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission announced overnight that it was suspending Full Tilt Poker’s license and ordered the internet casino to cease operations. The group was told that it was forbidden to register new customers, accept deposits, allow players to withdraw their funds and host any poker games.

Explaining its drastic measures, the AGCC said in a statement in June: “The decision to suspend these licenses follows a special investigation prompted by the indictments unsealed by US Attorney General’s Office in the Southern District of New York on 15 April 2011, during which grounds were found to indicate that these licensees and their business associates were operating contrary to Alderney legislation. The nature of the findings necessitated the taking of immediate action in the public interest.”

Play halted at Full Tilt Poker almost immediately and players were met with the message: “Scheduled Maintenance in Progress: The system is currently shut down for maintenance. Please check back soon!”

Alderney then scheduled a public hearing in London for July 26th, inviting players and the media to attend so as to discuss the future of Full Tilt’s operations. The AGCC said that its choice to hold a public hearing demonstrated its “willingness to act transparently”. The commission added that its “primary concern is the protection of the player.” Hope was generated among Full Tilt players in the weeks leading up to the public hearing that they may see some of their money back.

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However, these hopes were dashed when Martin Heslop, the attorney acting for Full Tilt Poker, requested that the meeting adjourn as he was worried that it would jeopardize the ongoing talks between the internet casino site and the group of European investors. The meeting was taken behind closed doors, not before players, who were led out of the ‘public’ hearing were heard
screaming: “What about the players??” It was learned later that Full Tilt Poker told the AGCC in no uncertain terms that it would not paying the commission £250,000 in unpaid license fees if it did not get its license back. It is believed that this was a major part of the AGCC’s decision to agree to adjourn the meeting until September 15th, much to the frustration of players. Within minutes of the news breaking that nothing came out of the much- anticipated hearing, poker players swamped poker forums, condemning the authority for giving in so easily to a site that has clearly not kept up its side of the bargain to protect its players and their funds. True to their word, Full Tilt Poker paid the AGCC its fees due, several days later.

Throughout this period, players continued to desert Full Tilt Poker for rival pokersites or prefer to download online casino, and numbers continue to dwindle. At the beginning of August, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission granted Full Tilt the right to renew their secondary license held in their territory.

At the time of going to press, Full Tilt Poker has still not settled money due to its players, nor have any public statements been made regarding the negotiations with the investor group.

Why do you play poker?

Sunday, August 14th, 2011 | Mark | Poker and Life, Poker Tournament | 2 Comments

Despite being in a rotten tournament slump these days with no cashes in ages and underdogs constantly busting me out, I still somehow enjoy the game. Why else would I keep playing through frustration after frustration with a bank account that would be better off if I didn’t play at all? Maybe it’s simply a bad habit when I’m bored or maybe it’s more of a love/hate relationship…..fact is I keep playing. Why do you play poker?