But They're Suited!

Yeah, I'm still here. Playing poker now and then. Anyway...

Because Al Can't Hang asked

WORST POKER PLAYER EVER

Well, after a bit of a break during the holidays, I jumped back into the fray this month. Pokerstars had a deposit bonus that expired on 1/2, and I deposited 400 to get a 100 bonus just before the time limit.

I'm actually suprised how well I've been doing since taking the break. I'm up about $130 in my bankroll from playing .25/.50 and .50/1.00 NLHE earning FPP to get my bonus, and I'm about 350 points into the 1000 I need to clear my bonus.

Maybe taking a break from playing has somehow helped me focus more now that I've returned? Or maybe lots of new fishies have hit the water since the holidays? Whatever it is, I like it.

Labels: NLHE, pokerstars

Time for yet another installment of What I'm Reading. I know you've all been holding your breath waiting for this, so...

This past weekend I went on a bit of an SnG rampage. I played 6 Turbo SnGs on Stars on Saturday (mostly the 3.40/10 player), cashing in 4 of them including 1 first place finish. One of the ones I didn't cash in was when I tried to take it up a level and play the 6.50/9. I bubbled out of that one. Oh, well. Then on Sunday I went at it again, but with less stellar results this time. 5 3.40/10 played, 5 finishes out of the money.

Today while lunching, I was catching up on some older posts at ScurvyDog's Blog (Sounds of a Suckout) that I'd bookmarked in my feed reader, and noticed he'd been playing SnG's lately, too. Here are 3 posts with some great SnG content that gave me something to think about:

Let's Get Grindy (first 3 paragraphs)

Two-Outer Magnet

4th Place, Baby, 4th Place

One thing about my game that definitely needs to improve is my aggression, especially on the bubble. It still surprises me when I bet out in position on a flop I missed and the rest of the players in the hand fold (2-4 players).

I think I'm going to keep banging away at the $3.00 turbos for a bit, as it's less of an impact to my bankroll when variance sends my win rate south. Of course, that wouldn't be as big a deal if I hadn't
1) Decided to mess with real money 2-7 Triple Draw after about 1/2 hour at a play money table,
2) Managed to increase my buy-in by 2/3rds in the first few hands of said cash money game, and
3) Tried to "get back my losses" by losing that buy-in and another. There go my 4th place winnings from the 4.00/180 the other day.

Playing 2-7 triple draw for the first time for real money can be rather high variance.

That is all.

In another attempt to post fairly regularly, I decided to do a regular "What I'm Reading" post. Give some link love to the stuff I've enjoyed, and possibly alert some people to stuff they may not have seen, though I imagine I'm usually last to the party on most (if not all) of this stuff.

Over on CardSquad, Wil Wheaton has a great article on a Barry Tanenbaum article: "Are you a a long term winner?". I haven't read the original article yet, but it sounds good from Wil's summary.

Since I'm at work, and lunch hour is over, that's all for now. I may add more later, or maybe tomorrow.

By the way - has anyone heard of (or used) CheckYourBets.com? If so, how did you like it?

The fall hit the area, and it was nice to be outside. I took advantage of that. I mostly kept up with reading poker blogs, but didn't play poker or write here (obviously).

About 2 weeks ago I started dipping my toes back in the poker water. I started playing some limit poker at Stars, and did fairly well. Typically ended with winning sessions - sometimes just barely, sometimes doubling up before quitting. One thing about Stars since the demise of Party Poker for US players: there are now LOTS of players that WAY over value TPTK when straight and/or flush possibilities exist on the board. WEE!

Tonight I played one of the 4.00+.40/180 tourneys at Stars. I played a few of those (not sure how many - less than 10) before taking the poker hiatus. I decided to give one a try tonight. I managed to get 4th place for a 57.60 payout. First time I've finished in the money in one of those. I might have to try that again sometime.

Of course, all of the above happened only in my imagination since I live in the USA.

We all know about the impending doom (or not) of online poker. No need for me to rehash that. I've read here and there about the various plans of various poker sites, etc. I read on CardSquad that Neteller hadn't really said much yet. Well, when I logged into my neteller account I was prompted to review and agree to new terms of use before proceeding to my account. One paragraph in particular has piqued my interest:

12. Other Member Obligations

12.1 You are prohibited from engaging in any of the following:
(i) using the NETELLER Service to obtain a cash advance from your credit card ( or assisting others in such activity); (ii) using the NETELLER Service for any purpose contrary to laws, statutes or regulations applicable to you, including without limitation, those concerning money laundering, fraud, criminal activity, financial services or consumer protection; (iii) sending unsolicited email or similar methods of mass messaging (spam); (iv) harassing or engaging in obscene, rude or abusive behaviour against us or any of our representatives; and (v) tampering, hacking, modifying, damaging, interfering with or otherwise corrupting the security or functionality of the NETELLER Service, or attempting to do any of the foregoing.

And this part:

14. Limiting Access or Terminating your Account

14.1 At our discretion, we may suspend or limit access to your Account (including without limitation, placing a hold on funds in your Account, limiting your ability to send or redeem, transfer or withdraw electronic money from your Account, limiting your payment sources) or terminate your Account, at any time and for any reason, including but not limited to the following:

(g) we believe your Account has been used or allegedly used in or to facilitate fraudulent or illegal activity;

That bolded sections (emphasis added by me) is very interesting. Could that be their loophole to stop allowing US players into their accounts? Anyone know?