YTD: +$41033.96
Well I thought I would kick off with one of the amusing PLO hands I have had of late. No not the one where I won a showdown pot for $800 with a pair of twos (?) but the following:
I check raise from UTG with AA double suited and get one caller, the original mini-raiser. The flop comes Kh 4h 8h - which is my suit - so I bet about 3/4 of the pot. The turn pairs the four and I bet the pot, which he calls and he calls the river with his remaining small change when a rag 9 comes. And what does he have? 4c 6s 7d 7h . That's right he called on the flop to hit a middle pin against a potential already made flush and then proceeded to flush his whole stack down with it. Sometimes I do wonder how much longer this kind of madness can continue.
On some miscellaneous topics:
Doyle's Poker Room and the VC skins
Ok...I wanted the book :-) At the table the VC software is ok, but it is too buggy and you can only play two games at once. The games are fantastic however. Several times, playing 10-20 holdem, I had to double check I wasn't playing some kind of free money game. The action made Party look like Stars, mostly fuelled by clueless Brits. The PLO and PLO8b, whilst a bit small, were similar mindless. Never has so much been given by so many with so little.
The Hendon Mob Forum
I've sacked it now. I may post when I want something, like today, but no more for anymore. The incident with Mad Marty in the UK Championship and the responses it drew were just mind boggling. After all the tourney drones wittering on about the importance of the integrity of the game for it to become a sport they then, by and large, just shrug their shoulders when *one of the fundamental rules of poker is broken on TV* It was a bit like a forward scoring a goal and the referee awarding it to the opposition.
On a more amusing note, has been the comments about Grumpy, sorry "Burnley", John. Fair play to the guy winning a big chunk of life changing change. But all the nonsense about what a great player he is and what a breakthrough year he's having, by people who have never played with him, is taking Doyle Disease to dizzy new heights. I have played with John for a reasonable period of time. It wouldn't be rude to say that prior to his win, he was one of many subsistence players that you see on the circuit. And unless he has suddenly metamorphosed his play, I can't imagine he gets people's knees quaking when he sits at the table either.
Card Player
The battle of the giants continues; who can produce the worse poker "journalism" in a month - Rob V or Allyn J? Its tough this month, I just can't separate them.
The Poker Bastard
After a promising start he seems to be flagging. Telling us that poker players are cunts is not breaking news. Saying that THM is the best poker site on the web shows a fierce lack of judgment. Where was the expose, long overdue, of chronic Bolivian Marching Powder use amongst the tourney "faces" that he alluded to? He seems to have gone all toothless.
Coming soon this month...a state of the nation review and detailed win rates for all my games! Woo hoo!
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18 comments:
Just wanted to say thanks for your blog. Been reading religiously for about 3 months now and regard it as one of only 5 or 6 poker related sites worth reading.
Cheers for all the effort - puts me to shame.
Ross McC
An excellent blog. I like the fact it is predominantly focused on Omaha as well. :-)
An excellent blog. I like the fact it is predominantly focused on Omaha as well. :-)
Re: VC / Doyles,
There is a way to get around the 2 table limit. Instead of pulling up the 3rd table, add yourself to the waiting list for that table.. You won't get to choose which seat you want, but you can play more then 2 tables at once...
I've made myself a home at the .50/1 NL tables.. Deeper buyins then party, you get to know the better players... but lots of fish to spread the $$ around..
Tx for the kind words folks.
As to the VC skin thing, I doubt i will be back. The Omaha games are too small and I dont trust myself in NLHE. But it sure did seem a good advert to learn limit holdem.
gl
dd
Sklansky's sense of humour needs some working on, clearly.
The Mad Marty thing was basically that on the river Marty had the worse two pair hand but the player didnt notice. Neither did the dealer. Neither did the tourney director, whose sole skill set seems to be wearing a suit and saying very little. So the player just left. Then Marty made it clear that he had noticed. As had the commentary team. Maybe they had all been reading the Dan N article where he claimed straight to confuse a newbie who would have also had the same hand to try and get him to pass. Let justice prevail!
Dave -
Are you still playing the 2/4 PLO on Stars? Do you mind if I ask your name on there? I've looked around for a Big Dave D but never seen him 8-)
Roswell
Rosswell,
I'm not on Stars at all at the moment. The 2-4 there is a much worse game than the 5-10. My sig is a kinda open secret...if you can figure it out, then say hi. I dont like to overly publicise it in case im playing v bad tho :-)
Dave
Really? The players are significantly worse at the 5/10 than the 2/4?
I had a good session at 2/4 last night, but that was because of just one player, craig22. Also, it was just my first session and I caught a ton of hands.
Roswell
In the 5-10 there a prolly a handfull of truely fantastic players, then some ok ones, then a huge amount of mostly bad, but dangerous gamblers. The 2-4 doesnt have the peaks of the 5-10 in terms of skill, but often doesnt have a whole group of players playing like its mostly short handed holdem either. You just end up with 8 ok, average-ish players.
gl
Dave
So I guess you are saying that the biggest game is easier than one level down? Barry Greenstein said that is often the case.
Do you ever worry about collusion in the 5/10 game?
I did sit the 5/10 for about 30 minutes yesterday, but I'm not comfortable there yet.
Roswell
I have found that on a lot of sites the biggest game is easier.. certainly that is the case on Betfair, Ladbrokes and Paradise Poker. I think that you attract some serious gamblers at the highest levels who are there more to gamble than play any poker. They are more than willing to commit their entire stack on a marginal hand.
I do agree that the best players are far higher skilled in the biggest games. I make notes on all the players i play with. If there are two or more players that i have marked as excellent/very good players then i don't sit down at that table.
DoylesRoom trick.
Dave, I read elsewhere, that if you get on the waiting list for a third table while you have two open, it will allow you to open the 3rd when a seat is availbe.
Roswell,
I never worried about collusion in the 5-10. Its hard to collude at PLO anyway, and as I review all the big hands I lose it would be fairly easy to track. Also I just never saw any sign of it...why do you ask?
Dave
Dave,
I was sitting at a bar in the Bellagio a couple of weeks ago when Doyle walked by, stopped, looked at the football game on the screen above my head for a minute or so, and then nodded hello. Am I allowed a brief onset of Doyle's disease in this particular instance?
Peter B
Dave,
Thanks for your response. I was asking about collusion, because it would definitely be worthwhile in 5/10 PLO. $2000 pots are big amounts to be gambling for on the Internet.
A colluder would definitely be helped by knowing the dead cards that his partner folded. For instance, if the A of a suit was dead, you could draw to the K high flush, or call a pot bet on the river.
That being said, I am now playing the PLO 2/4 and 3/6 games when they look good. I like to sit in the 3/6 game with $600 when a bunch of guys have $200 stacks. You know they are just taking a shot, and you can gamble with them.
Roswell
Rosswell,
The main reason it is hard to be colluded against is that if you just play tight, its hard for it to make a huge difference as you are just peddling the nuts. The reason people can make it pay in other games is either whipsawing a 2nd best hand or drawing for a 2nd nut when they "know" the nut draw cannot be there. Its hard for this to hurt a tight PLO player.
gl
Dave
Pete,
You need to put up a post, KB style, on THM saying how you and Doyle are close friends and you often share poker wisdom with him. Then you will be fully DD'd up :-)
Dave
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