Archive for August, 2009
A bad beat is not the end of the world
Sunday, August 30th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Strategy | 3 Comments
Submitted by Alex, this article belongs to the Poker Strategy series.
As long as you respect this wisdom, you’ll probably enjoy poker for the rest of your life once you started playing. Of course, facing a bad beat is always a tough moment, because you feel injustice is done to you. Nobody has to be ashamed of this feeling; this is just natural and common for every single person. It only gets problematic when you can’t let it go after the moment has passed and you can’t place this injustice in its right perspective.
First of all, this is problematic because it will hurt your bankroll very badly. Feeling like the whole world is after you pulls you away from the state of mind in which you consider deeply every possible move in every possible situation in every possible position. This is called playing your A-game. But a bad beat creates the risk of being pulled towards a state of mind in which you forget all the moves which brought you your past profits and in which there’s only one target left: win back the money that I lost thanks to this horrible fact of injustice. This is called going on tilt, or steaming.
Of course, just like everybody else, I have steamed a few times in my poker life. But this is not healthy ladies and gentlemen. Besides, keep in mind that the injustice that is just done to you is only microscopic compared to the entire injustice that is done to humanity in general all over the world. If you’re able to do this, you’ll become a greater poker player, in skills as well as a person. That’s why I created a blog as a platform for poker players who also want to discuss other cruelties in the world than their own bad beats which they all remember so well.
Because I’ve noticed during the past years that the average poker player you’ll face in a quality live game has a large world view and is able to deliver interesting insights concerning what goes on in the world today. That’s what I like so much about poker, it’s not only a pleasant strategic game, it’s a complete social happening where people gather and interact with each other. Politicians who want to forbid this game truly underestimate the social value of this phenomenon. Sure, let’s send all those poker players to their homes, so they can sit in front of their TV and believe what’s served by the media.
So please, keep playing poker with your friends and sure, give the wall a serious punch after a bad beat, but think about worse things that could have happened to you and are happening to other people. You’re serving yourself as well this way, as it will improve your bankroll.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Top 10 PokerBRB Freeroll League features
Thursday, August 27th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | No Comments
- Leaderboard displaying both monthly points, monthly $, total points, total $ and the 5 best tournament results you have in each month.
- Article database with the best articles from the Poker Bankroll Blog.
- Poker room overview of the poker sites participating in our league with all the information you need about the great rakeback and promotion deals we have put together.
- Automated leaderboard updates (we have a cool database system which I am very proud of
)
- Log-in functionality so you can check and modify the information you submit on the sign up page.
- A database interface where you can check all the freeroll and tournament results we have on file for your profile at any given time during a monthly competition.
- Exclusive monthly finals for the top 20 players on the leaderboard.
- A poker forum where you can interact, share and learn from other players.
Top 10 accessories and prerequisites when playing online multi table tournaments
Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | 5 Comments
- Bad beat water bottle to crush instead of your mouse, monitor or computer
- Rested and focused mind
- Full stomach + snacks ready for later
- As much time available as it will take to win the tournament
- A girlfriend / wife who is occupied with other things
- An activated adult filter on your computer. Online adult entertainment is a huge distraction when playing online multi table tournaments. Focus man focus!!!!
- Fully hydrated system and additional fluids readily available
- A plan for which tournaments you will play and the discipline to stick to your plan
- Comfortable clothes, a good chair and good luck charms
- Good lighting (you will fall asleep otherwise)
The PokerBRB Freeroll League will kick off this weekend
Friday, August 21st, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Freeroll, Poker News | 5 Comments
This article belongs to the Poker News series.
I am very happy to announce that the PokerBRB Freeroll League will start up it’s first monthly competition tomorrow Saturday 22nd of August.
The freerolls and tournaments counting towards the leaderboard can be found on the PokerBRB League Overview page. Currently only the freerolls have been added but during the next couple of days we will add six (6) 2$ freezeout No limit Hold’em tournaments to the schedule as well.
The goal of the monthly competition is to gain as many points as possible in the 11 tournaments counting towards the leaderboard. You get points according to the PokerBRB Freeroll League Point system when you finish in the money. The top 20 players with most points after the 11 tournaments have been played will be invited to participate in the PokerBRB Freeroll League Monthly Final.
Our first monthly competition will be hosted exclusively on Poker Nordica. In later competitions we plan to add freerolls and tournaments from PowerPoker, PKR Poker, Full Tilt Poker and Titan Poker.
It is completely free to sign up to the PokerBRB Freeroll League and you can read more about how to sign up here:
New sign-up system for the PokerBRB Freeroll League
We have made our system so that your freeroll and tournament points are automatically calculated and displayed on the PokerBRB webpage. However in order for this to work we need a correct username on file for the poker site hosting the tournaments and freerolls.
This means that you need to register a username at Poker Nordica in our system to participate in this month’s competition.
Username registration is done through the PokerBRB league sign-up page.
If you don’t already have an account at Poker Nordica you can sign up through the PokerBRB website and get a great rakeback and bonus deal.
If you have any questions please feel free to add pokerbrb@live.com to your MSN live contact list.
All In Poker Radio Show 18 – Back to basics with just Vic, Craig, Cody and Andy
Friday, August 21st, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro | 1 Comment
This is the 9th installment of the weekly All in Poker Radio Show resume series I have planned for the Poker Bankroll blog.
The All in Poker Radio show is hosted by Vic Porcelli who is joined in the studio by Big Slick Andy Kazen, The Young Gun Aggressor Craig Hogard and The Insider Cody Duffey. Produced by Game On Network Entertainment the show can be downloaded as podcast at All In Podomatic and listened to live each Saturday through the Team 1380 website.
In show 18 Vic and the guys go back to basics and discuss poker related issues without guests in the studio.
Highlights from show 18
Most of the show is spent talking about the 40000$ buy in anniversary event won by Vitaly Lunkin and the champions invitational event won by Tom McEvoy. Both tournaments took place at this year’s WSOP. During their coverage of the two event there is a particularly funny bit about Phil Hellmuth and his relationship to his mom. Interestingly one of the keys to Phil Hellmuth’s success is that he underestimates the value of his hands. This means that he often avoids situations where other players would lose their stack with top pair against a made set or two pair. Also some great poker plays are discussed in particular a hand in which Dan Harrington knocked out Peter Eastgate. Vic especially is very fond of Dan Harrington who among a long list of accomplishments made the squeeze play famous at the 2004 WSOP final table.
In their WSOP classic clip regular feature a hand is replayed from the 40000$ buy in WSOP anniversary event where Greg Raymer holding pocket 6s is up against Isaac Haxton holding pocket Js. As Vic smugly points out: “It doesn’t have to be old to be classic”. I was a bit disappointed to hear the “Does he have the nuts or is he just nuts” bit this week. You mentioned the hand between David Suharto and Ivan Demidov from the 2008 WSOP main event a couple of weeks ago on the show. I’m sure there are plenty of other hands to choose from for this particular piece.
You should also listen to show 18 if you want to learn more about poker player levels, how to play small pocket pairs and how to use the online hand history features to your advantage.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
Holiday thoughts and recollections
Thursday, August 20th, 2009 | Off topic | No Comments
As you may know I recently came home from a 1 week holiday on Skiathos, an island in Greece. When you are on holiday and lie at the beach all day long you get a chance to reflect over a lot of things. In my case I managed to write 7 articles mostly about poker but I also had some random thoughts about holidays in general. In addition to sharing these thoughts with you I thought I would also give a general review of Skiathos as a holiday destination combined with some pictures we took during our holiday.
My first thought was spawned when we started comparing what we had seen so far on Skiathos with one of the best holidays we ever had in Croatia. I have come to realize that you should try not to compare the holiday you are presently on to great holidays you have had in the past. You run the risk of belittling your current holiday which can lead to disappointment and regret. In my opinion you should live the moment while you’re on holiday and reflect after you return home.
Also I realized that when you make your holiday budget you should remember to take into account the living expenses you would had at home if you weren’t on holiday. These living expenses should be mentally withdrawn from the amount of money you spend on your holiday.
Granted they are not the best thoughts I have had by a long shot, but hey what do you expect from a lazy beached out brain.
Now on to my review of Skiathos. On the positive side the beaches and weather were great. Crystal clear water combined with sandy beaches fringed with green pine trees make for a great setting. Our favorite beach was Eleni so if you ever have a chance to visit it….do it.
The local buses run every 15 minutes from 8 in the morning to 9 in the evening. With only one main road on the island it is pretty easy to find your way even if you are orientational retarded like me. You can rent both cars, motorbikes, scooters and bicycles on the island but if you stay in a fairly central hotel this isn’t really necessary to get around. If you like tormenting yourself try renting bicycles and take the main road to the beach of your choice.
On the minus side it seems that many businesses on Skiathos have grown accustomed to a steady flow of “fresh” tourists. As a result business is taken for granted and people do not take pride in what they do. In our experience this is especially the case in restaurants. You would have a hard time finding a restaurant in Denmark where the staff does not ask you if everything is to your satisfaction during your meal. On Skiathos however this is pretty common. Therefore if your food sucks, and it will, make sure to let the staff know as soon as possible. You won’t get an opportunity to complain presented to you by the staff on a silver plate.
You may have guessed that we had crappy food served to us on more than one occasion. I would like to take the opportunity to say to the people at Mouragio that the lamb kleftiko I ordered was dry, uninspired and pricey. In addition you took way too long to get us the bill and give us back our change. And why on earth do you put bread on table without informing people that you will bill them for it if they eat it?
To the owner of Mitsa’s house I would like to say that your grilled lamb platter was a f…ng joke. It contained 80% fat and bones and 20% meat. Your rice was dry because it was heated from a frozen mixture and your bread tasted like cardboard. If you lose customers due to this article I will be the happiest man in the world.
If you ever go to Skiathos there is only one restaurant we find worth recommending. Maria’s pizza close to the church near the old harbour. The staff is friendly and attentive and the pizzas and pasta dishes are great!
As for organized tours we found several boat tours of the island. At 20€ they are good value as you get to see all the beaches of Skiathos and swin at some of them as well. If you’re totally beached out consider taking a day trip to the island of Skopelos where the main town is more scenic and less busy than Skiathos. The fare takes 1 hour each way and costs about 24€ in total.
Finally, if you are not a fan on mosquito bites that start out as harmless small spots but then all of a sudden explode into giant mounds of pain, get a room with air condition and keep the doors and windows closed at night. Also do yourself the favor of taking a round of your room before you go to bed and kill any little f…ckers that may have sneaked in.
Old harbour of Skiathos
Mandraki beach
Scenic view on the island of Skopelos
Maria's pizza....best place to eat in Skiathos
A very rare sight of me riding a horse (horses scare the bejesus out of me)
Trying to avoid the bloody mosquitos
New sign-up system for the PokerBRB Freeroll League
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | Poker Freeroll, Poker News | No Comments
This article belongs to the Poker News series.
I am very pleased to announce that we have implemented a new sign-up system for the PokerBRB Freeroll League.
It is still completely free to sign up to the league.
The first thing you will need is a forum username on our Poker forum:
http://www.wosb.com/betting-forum/register.php
Secondly you go to the PokerBRB Freeroll sign-up page where you enter the following information:
- Your forum user name
- Your preferred email address where you will receive information about the PokerBRB Freeroll League
- A password of your choice which you will need to log into your League Profile page.
- Your different user names with our collaborating poker sites (it is important that you make sure you submit your correct user names otherwise our database will not be able to locate your results)
- Your MSN email address and Facebook name if you want to receive all our offers.
- The correct CAPTCHA at the bottom of the page.
If you have filled out the form correctly, once you press the submit button you will be redirected to a registration confirmation page and receive an email with your registered information.
Thirdly you can log in to your League Profile Page to check and edit the information you have registered.
The brand new feature in the sign-up system is that you are now able to log into your League Profile Page. You do this by entering your forum username and chosen password into the log-in box at the top of the left menu on the PokerBRB front page. Once you press the Login button the “My League Profile” page will appear right under the log-in box.
On this page you will find all the information you registered and you will be able to change/edit your preferred email address, your password and your poker room usernames.
Once you have made the changes you want, simply click the submit changes button at the bottom of the page and your user information will be automatically updated in our database. You will also receive an email summarizing the changes you made.
Currently we do not have any requirements on the number of poker rooms you need to be signed up to or whether you have signed up through the pokerBRB site. However, you will need an account at Poker Nordica and a Poker Nordica username on file in our database in order to participate in the league when it starts up this weekend.
If you do not have an account at Poker Nordica you can get one through our Poker Room section.
Top 10 reasons for joining the PokerBRB Freeroll League
Thursday, August 13th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker Top 10 Lists | 7 Comments
- It’s free!!
- It adds value to freerolls you would be playing anyway.
- You will improve your online multi table tournament skills
- You will get to know other freeroll players and learn from them.
- You will get the opportunity to knock me out of a tournament.
- As the league grows you will win bigger and bigger prizes.
- You will get great rakeback and promotion offers
- Did I mention it’s free?!!!
- You will gain the necessary experience, and perhaps initial capital, to start building your own bankroll.
- It’s fun (at least we think it is )
If any of the above caught your interest, check out the PokerBRB Freeroll League site.
August plans for the PokerBRB Freeroll League
Sunday, August 9th, 2009 | Poker Freeroll, Poker News | No Comments
This article belongs to the Poker Freeroll series.
The PokerBRB Freeroll League has been off to a flying start with 40+ registered league players during our two kickoff freerolls at PowerPoker.
We will be back from holiday on August 18th at which time we will start up the league for real (meaning hosting freerolls that count towards the leaderboard) at Poker Nordica.
After our holiday we will also have implemented a new and improved sign-up system.
If you sign up, or have already signed up, and want to participate in the league when it starts up you will need a Poker Nordica account. If you sign up through the PokerBRB website you get both rakeback and a 200% bonus up to 400$.
You can find details about Poker Nordica here:
You can sign-up to the PokerBRB Freeroll League here:
PokerBRB Freeroll League sign-up
You can find more information on how to sign up here:
PokerBRB Freeroll League is open for registration
Look forward to seeing you at the tables in a couple of week’s time.
All In Poker Radio Show 17 – Mike Eise (WSOP Bracelet Champion in Studio) – Heartland Poker Tour and Fred Bevill heads to St . Louis
Friday, August 7th, 2009 | Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro | No Comments
This is the 8th installment of the weekly All in Poker Radio Show resume series I have planned for the Poker Bankroll blog.
The All in Poker Radio show is hosted by Vic Porcelli who is joined in the studio by Big Slick Andy Kazen, The Young Gun Aggressor Craig Hogard and The Insider Cody Duffey. Produced by Game On Network Entertainment the show can be downloaded as podcast at All In Podomatic and listened to live each Saturday through the Team 1380 website.
In show 17 Vic and the guys are joined in the studio by Mike Eise “The CLINT EASTWOOD of Poker” and Fred Bevill.
Highlights from show 17
- Vic and the guys talk to Mike Eise, winner of a WSOP bracelet this year. Some good points are made. Mike’s definition of being lucky in a tournament is that your good hands hold up. If you’re drawing out on people you are playing badly. He hardly ever puts his tournament life on line with coinflips. Live tournament play is a lot different than online tournament play in this respect. The rapidly increasing blinds force you to take chances and seek out coinflip situations.
- Fred Bevill talks about the Heartland “real people, unreal money” Poker Tour which is soon coming to St. Louis. The Heartland Poker Tour is known as the event where average Joe players can get the chance to win big money in main events where the final table is televised. 90% of the Main Event field have qualified through satellite tournaments. Fred Bevill’s background as a stand up comedian shines through when he makes the following statement: Poker is one of few sports where you can sit down and play with the best in the game. Calling poker a sport….now that’s funny!
- Vic treated us with one of the best poker quotes ever made from Tom McEvoy: “Poker is not a card game with people it’s a people game with cards”. Great quote…
- WSOP classic clip. 2006 WSOP 50000$ buyin HORSE event. Andy Bloch vs. Chip Reese are heads up for the bracelet.
- Vic and the guys talk about playing face cards such as KQ, QJ etc. The essence is: don’t play face cards early in long live events if you’re not able to lay them down on a flop where you hit top pair but face opposition. These hands can get you into a whole lot of trouble.
- Mike Eise talks about playing the WSOP Main Event. His experience was that there is no need to rush things if you are ever lucky enough to play in this tournament. There is plenty of time to sit tight and be patient. In any case long events are a serious grind where you will be playing up to 14 hours of poker a day. You might as well get used to being patient.
- Does he have the nuts or is he just nuts? 2007 WSOP Main Event final table. Jerry Yang is putting the pressure on John Kalmer. Does Jerry have the nuts or is he just nuts? Check out the show to find out.
You could be posting your articles on the Poker Bankroll Blog. Read all about it here.
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