Anyone wanna talk poker?

[Guest EQ]

Just seeing if there are any other poker players on the board.

 

I play pretty often on Pokerstars... though have a long way to go before I consider myself good.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I'm terrible at poker, but I have predictable luck, and can usually do pretty well on luck-based games. I'd get slaughtered if I played with anyone good.

 

I'll fuck up someone's world at Euchre, though.

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

I smashed pretty much everyone I played at College playing Texas Hold 'Em. I play once or twice a week now that I'm home, I actually just made $10 in a ring game earlier tonight.

[Zorin Industries 0]

My brothers a whizz at poker, probably because he stays up to 5 in the morning playing with his mates. I'm more of a Roulette man myself, i'm pretty useless at card games

[Dr. Tom 0]

I play poker (Hold'Em in particular) as often as I can. I play in a cash game at least once a week (I occasionally have to miss it because of schoolwork), and I play online for money at Ultimate Bet. I just got a Poker Stars account, but I've yet to put any money in it.

[C Dubya 04 0]

I have become quite fond of hold 'em and Omaha as of late. Been playing in a money game every Tuesday night for awhile now.

 

We also have some No Limit buy in tournaments every now and again. Usually a 50 buck buy-in with 3 seven people tables. That works out well and is a shit load of fun.

 

 

 

Edit: I thought I'd add in a particularly bad beat that I just took. They're always fun.

 

Playing Texas Hold 'Em it's me and one other guy left at the table. I get hit with two bullets. Before the flop I've already gone all in, down a few in the chip count to the other guy, but relatively close. He flips over A-4, and I'm thinking that I'm almost a mortal lock. Of course the flop comes 5-x-2. Then he picks up his straight on the turn and I'm out of the game.

[Guest Dids]

Clock on pictures, go to blog, read all about my poker playing.

 

Right now I play 1/2 6 Max on Empire/Party Poker, bout halfway on my way up to 2/4. I'm clearing a bonus- and then I'll also have a $500 roll for tournaments and NL.

 

I've also got a regular $10 buy-in .5/.10 NL game for my home game.

 

I play on Party (and you should to, 'Stars is well run, but the games there aren't that good, much more fish on Party).

 

A few pieces of advice for Poker players

 

2+2 is a fantastic resource. Reading Theory of Poker, Hold 'Em Poker For Advanced Players, and Ed Miller's new Small Stakes book is key. The forums there are a wealth of information.

 

Pokertracker is a must if you play online. Well worth the 55 bucks, but if you think it isn't, download the trial.

[CanadianChris 0]

I play no-limit holdem and pot-limit Omaha tournaments (single and multitable) on PokerStars. I tried playing on Party and kept timing out all the time.

 

I'm probably going to the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods in October as well.

[The Mandarin 0]

..anyone up for Candystand Multiplayer Golf?

[Guest Dids]

I play no-limit holdem and pot-limit Omaha tournaments (single and multitable) on PokerStars. I tried playing on Party and kept timing out all the time.

 

I'm probably going to the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods in October as well.

Going as in playing, or going as in watching?

 

I've got a lot of friends who play at the 'Woods. Dunno if any of them are playing in that event.

[TheBigSwigg 0]

I play nearly every day at my friends dorm. Not for money, though. I've got a $3 buy in game I go to on occasion. It would probably be for more money if we weren't all paying for college.

[Guest Dids]

Heh- my game in college was higher buy-in than the one I have now. Of course then I wasn't playing $100 buy-in games online either.

[Guest EQ]

I played fairly regularly in college... $20 buyin, no limit. I was a lot worse back then than I am now, so I almost always lost.

 

I've started playing omaha a lot recently, but only for fun. If I want to make money, I'll play holdem. With so many split pots, it's very rare that you make money in omaha (unless you scoop).

[Stephen Joseph 0]

I play Texas or Omaha about once a week with some friends, our buy-in is pretty much 5 to 30 dollars depending on how serious we want to be.

 

Like Tuesday night, when half of them had smoked up, 5 bucks.

 

They're good players, but they play way to aggressively. I play a conservative style (modeled after Harrington) that keeps me at least 3rd and moneyied every game (we play with about 9 people starting)

 

I'd thought about playing online, and I imagine it would be much more quantitative in terms of playing strategy which fits my style better (and math background) but I don't know where to start and where my time is.

 

I've got Hoyle games and I play on that sparingly.

[Guest Dids]

I'd thought about playing online, and I imagine it would be much more quantitative in terms of playing strategy which fits my style better (and math background) but I don't know where to start and where my time is.

Your statement makes no sense. Nor does your use of the word "qualitative".

 

Math is more critical in online poker than live, because often that's all you have to go on. You don't have tells, and the reads aren't as obvious, so it's all about pot odds and what not.

 

You want to start in the microlimits, I'd suggest Party .5/1.

[Stephen Joseph 0]

I used Quant, not qual. Quant's just my speak for odds and stuff. Econ bullshit I deal in everyday.

I assumed that since you can't have tells and reads you have with the live players, playing a bluff is much more risky, so people play the cards and more represent their hands the way they are.

 

Thanks for the suggestion though. Whence I get the time, I'll check it out.

 

Good luck with going to the WSOP.

[Dr. Tom 0]

Hmm, I'll have to check out Party Poker. I figured it had the most fish, since I see ads for it everywhere. They're going to draw people who aren't poker players, but just like giving their money away because they get to feel like real gamblers.

 

The cash game I play in is a $20 buy-in, .25-.50 NL Hold'Em game at my old roommate's house. He has two poker tables (just got the second one), and the crowd ranges from 8-18 people. Most nights, I walk out with about $60-160 more than I walked in with. The last time I played, I could only stay for 2 and a half hours, but I won $120, and won each of the six hands I showed down.

[Guest Ram]

I used to play Hold'em with friends all the time on Yahoo. It's not much fun there since people just bet bet bet because it's play money.

 

I'm thinking about starting a weekly (or bi-weekly) Hold'em get-together around here.

[Guest EQ]

Playing against fish is nice, but can also be bad sometimes. They're usually calling stations and can river the hell out of you. Although, it is easier to exploit their bad play

[Guest Dids]

EQ- that type of thinking is lousy. You want fish to try and draw out on you. Yeah, sometimes they'll river you, but more often than not they won't, and that makes you money. If you can't beat a lousy game, you'll never consistantly beat a good one.

 

Seriously- if any of you posting in this thread haven't read TOP or HEPFAP, stop playing until you've done so.

[Guest Italian Stallion]

Im a fairly good player at Hold'em. Tried out my luck in Vegas and ended up walking out of a casino $250 richer and a free buffet. I guess I can thank all the years of me and my dad playing at home since I was 18. I have a 2000 chip set at home, those nice suited clay chips, and a pretty cool poker table that cost me and my dad over 2 grand. It was worth it though cuz we mainly won back most of the money from home games and such. Im heading over to Vegas on the 8th, staying at the Flamingo which is an awesome hotel. I'll tell you how that goes.

[Guest EQ]

EQ- that type of thinking is lousy. You want fish to try and draw out on you. Yeah, sometimes they'll river you, but more often than not they won't, and that makes you money.

I realize that. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but I've been getting bad beat a lot lately from shitty players getting hit when they call me down.

 

For example, last night I got AA and KK cracked by the same player. The AA was almost my fault for slowplaying it preflop. When I got the KK, I raised preflop (5X the big blind, by the way). He called with 9-6 offsuit and not only hit a flop, but runner-runnered a boat on me. It's just frustrating when bad players get rewarded at your expense

[Guest Dids]

EQ- that type of thinking is lousy.  You want fish to try and draw out on you.  Yeah, sometimes they'll river you, but more often than not they won't, and that makes you money.

I realize that. Maybe it's just my bad luck, but I've been getting bad beat a lot lately from shitty players getting hit when they call me down.

 

For example, last night I got AA and KK cracked by the same player. The AA was almost my fault for slowplaying it preflop. When I got the KK, I raised preflop (5X the big blind, by the way). He called with 9-6 offsuit and not only hit a flop, but runner-runnered a boat on me. It's just frustrating when bad players get rewarded at your expense

You play NL?

 

I'm not a NL player, so I won't comment much, but unless you're very SH, slowplaying big pairs preflop is horrible.

 

FWIW- there's probably more easy money to be made playing limit.

 

But seriously- check out 2+2, it's made a huge difference in my game.

[Dr. Tom 0]

I've pretty much always been a NL player. My old roommate says the money's easier to make in Limit, but I've only tried it a couple times. The problem I have with it is that you can't protect your good hands nearly as well. I know people who prefer it because you can't take big losses at once like you can in NL, but to me, that's part of gambling.

 

Tonight, I won a $10 sit-and-go on UB. I had 10's under and faced an all-in with 3 low cards on the flop, and decided to call, gussing the other player had A-K. He actually had A-Q, and that gave me the early chip lead, which I'd keep until trading it back and forth with the guy I ended up heads-up against at the end. I raised with Q-9 suited, bet big when a Q flopped, and then turned a 9. I bet 1000 chips at the pot to keep him in, he went all-in, and I called. Turns out he had 2 Pair also, but his were Q-3. w00t~!

[Guest EQ]

Nice play, Dr. Tom. Your style seems very similar to mine, actually.

 

About NL, I think it's the best way to play. You could flop top pair or 2 pair in a limit game and still get called down when you don't really want to. Lets say you limp in on the BB with something shitty like 4-8 offsuit. The flop comes 2, 5, 8 all different suits. In NL, you could bet huge to let people know you have that 8, but in a limit game you could bet whatever it is and get called by someone playing AK which opens the door to you getting fucked on the turn or river. On the other hand, you can kind of bleed people dry in a limit game when you have the nuts or something close to it. You can also try to bleed people in NL, but it's almost a completely different game. If you bet small in certain NL games, everyone knows it's a "call me" bet.

[Guest Dids]

The notion of "protecting" your hand is something of a fallacy. You want people to try and draw out on you, because by doing so you'll make money in the long run.

 

The thing with limit poker is that it's a marathon, not a race. You don't play limit and think over the course of one night, or one week. You know that if you get Aces or two pair, and they only win 50% of the time, you're still making money. I'd much rather have people chase their 4 outers on me, because I know more often than not they'll be giving me money and the times I win 15 bets will make up for the times I lose 5.

 

Sometime's you'll get sucked out- put over time you'll end up winning. I started around Feb with 50 bucks, and I've made over 1K by now. Along the way there have been some brutal suckouts (I dropped 40 bucks in 40 minutes today, but am still up like 40 for the day), but you take your time, and you'll do well if you play the right way.

 

Most of the players I know who make big money do it by 4 tabling 30/60. I don't know a ton of guys who make money primarily by playing straight NL, although one guy pulls down tons playing 8 200+15 SNGs at a time. I can't even fathom multitasking at that level.

[Guest EQ]

Yeah, that's a little nuts. Every now and then I'll do 2... *maybe* 3 tables at a time. Any more than that, and it's just too much

[Guest Dids]

The people I know who 4 table well are all very, very good players. I also know a lot who don't do it so well. People forsake reads a lot in online poker, and part of that is because they're too busy multitabling to get them. It works online, because the level of play is so low, but it leaves you unprepared for live poker against good players.

[Guest EQ]

Well a lot of people who got started online seem to be doing well professionally judging by a lot of these poker-related shows

[Dr. Tom 0]

Yeah, and that kind of puzzles me. Online, you get very few reads and tells. When you play in person, you have to watch people and know what to look for, and what those things mean. A lot of it is common sense, and I guess an online-only guy can go out and get Caro's Book of Tells and have a good idea what to look for. I wouldn't have been surprised to see an online-only guy do well in a smaller tourney, but to see someone like Moneymaker win the WSOP main event in his first live tourney... well, that was surprising. I like the "anyone can win" feel that the WSOP has (it encourages me to try it for myself one of these years), but there's also a part of me that finds it silly that a fellow who had only played tournies online can sit down and win The Big One like that. Of course, this year, he busted out on the first day...