Posts Tagged ‘Guest Posts’
Getting smoked and going broke
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Guest blogger Swail returns today with a post near and dear to my heart. I’ve become quite the expert when it comes to putting my hard earned money in a cash game only to have a combination of mediocre play and unspectacular cards evenly distribute my once formidable stack amongst the other bingo players. I am lucky enough to not rely on my skills or poker bankroll to make a living, I do not have a daily nut to make each day in order to survive. It still doesn’t mean I don’t like sitting down at a poker table and getting crushed like a newb playing for the first time.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail
World Series of Poker – Should it go old school?
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
After spending two straight months covering the World Series of Poker, it was interesting to see a lot of those non-NLHE games drawing big crowds and how they played out. The world of poker is not limited strictly to go ol’ No Limit Texas Hold’em (Cadillac of Poker not withstanding). I was able to witness all varieties of Stud and Omaha games, there were two HORSE tournaments, an 8-game mix event and throwing a little Deuce to Seven Lowball.
Popularity: 19% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa Johnny, WSOP
Catching the Action and Playing Stuck at the L.A. Classic
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The L.A. Poker Classic has been rolling along at the Commerce Casino for a few weeks now and all reports have Tournament Director Matt Savage running another top notch series, that is as long as you avoid the tweets by notorious nit Allen Kessler. The Commerce is by far my favorite of the many California “card barns” with insane action at all levels from micro to nose bleed. It was also the place where I took my first half-hearted shot at taking the game seriously but didn’t end well when my best memory was meeting former NFL player Bob Golic. That is not a good poker trip.
Besides a great festival of tournament action, the Poker Classic also drives even more players into the cash games and these guys know how to gamble it up. You will find action under the worst circumstance, these last few weeks were sure to be insane full time. Guest blogger Swail has spent the last few weeks and checks in with his thoughts on the action and also playing stuck in the Disneyland of poker.
Enjoy.
Catching the Action and Playing Stuck at the L.A. Classic
by Swail
I’ve gotten back in touch with the road gambler in me by heading out to the Commerce Casino in L.A. for 5 weeks during the L.A. Poker Classic. The Commerce has a special significance for me since it’s where I first cut my teeth playing bigger games. It’s also the first place I ran really, really good in poker and made the decision to turn pro in 2004. I thought I’d first write a little bit about how the action is down here in L.A and discuss some of the things I hear other pros chatting about at the tables these days. Later, I’ll discuss one of the pitfalls of poker that plagues many of us, playing too long when you’re stuck.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail
Leave or Stay? Cash Game Decisions
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s one of the toughest decisions when you are sitting at a cash game whether online or live. You’re running good or running bad or running indifferent, at some point you will need to leave the table. There could be fiscal, mental, or court ordered reasons to stand up from a game but it will happen even with Super Man stamina and a blimp sized bladder. Sometimes these decisions are easy and sometimes it’s a struggle to talk a degenerate brain into giving up the seat.
Tuscaloosa John returns to his usual guest spot position and and takes a look at the money side of the decision. When do you decide to leave a cash table based on where your stack started and how it’s looking.
Deciding To Leave The Table
by Johnny Kampis
One of the hardest decisions you’ll make in any given session of poker isn’t just related to calling a big all-in or how much to bet with the nuts. For me, the hardest decision is often when to leave the table. As your average poker degenerate, I have the unfortunate knack of sitting too long at a table trying to get even while having a losing session. Sometimes I also like to leave too early when running well to book a nice profit when I should probably stay and play with the fishies.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Tuscaloosa Johnny
Guest Post – Why I Love Poker
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Everybody has a different story about how they got started in poker. My love affair started with a silly game with friends around a kitchen table playing nickel ante games like midnight baseball, low in the hole, follow the Queen, or just about any variation that removed skill but upped the fun times. My entire bankroll was whatever coins I could fit into my little Crown Royale pull string bag. I can’t be the only one who used one of those. But before long I found myself hosting real games and cutting my teeth in the low-limit games at the Taj in Atlantic City. Some day I may write about those old times and some of the players in the game. That was so long ago, now I can’t believe now my only income is derived from many different parts of the game.
No matter how much I’ll grind on about this sick game, it’s in my blood and I love it.
We all have a story to share about how we came to play poker whether for fun or profit or as a way of life. Guest blogger Swail returns with his second guest post and wants to tell you why he loves this game.
Why I Love Poker
by Swail
In my last post I discussed some of the things that led to me feeling like I’m constantly on the rail, even though I’ve been a pro poker player for 6 years. Why would I go through all these hardships just to play a game of cards? I’ve had several conversations with old-timer pros who’ve told me that if they’d put the same amount of time and energy into other endeavours, they’d be better off. Even Mike Matusow says he hates his life. So why do I keep playing the game? For one, it’s in my blood and it always has been, I’ll discuss that a little later. But there are other things that influence the decision. Actually, there are a bunch of reason I love this game.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail
Bigshots and Distractions
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
The world of poker is full of stories about players who come into the game with some big initial success. They tear through the game and bankrolls rapidly climb giving the common impression “this game is easy!”. Dreams of enough disposable cash to challenge any whimsical fancy, TV time during major events, and the inevitable sponsorship deal from every angle. Then Mother Variance has something to say about those dreams as well as real life stepping in to insist on it’s proper place and time.
It’s not hard to imagine becoming a “big shot” in the game of poker and not necessarily a bad thing. Setting goals and working hard to obtain them should be common among all serious players. Our new guest poster Swail is here with his first entry about his big start and how life can change things before you know it.
Enjoy
I Thought Being A Bigshot Pro Was Supposed To Be Easy
by Swail
Sometimes I get the impression that I used to run like God, and now I’m just average. I hate that feeling. Is it just me? When I quit my job as a blackjack dealer at the Casino De Montreal back in 2004 I was running really hot at poker. I’d picked up over 10 grand in just a few months playing online, while also studying and working. I was gonna take over the poker world! Next thing you know I was in Los Angeles at the Commerce playing $80-160 with guys like John Phan and Greg Mueller, up over 35 grand on my first ever serious poker trip! How did I go from being such a promising up and comer 6 years ago, to some broke guy in basement apartment in Calgary? I can think of a few reasons.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Swail
Why Play No-Limit Omaha/8?
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
I generally do not make specific requests for blogger guest posts. Most of these guys have been writing for far longer than my amateurish scraps, it wouldn’t seem very fitting to use too much direction. Pick a topic and riff away. That changed a little when I received another late night Instant Message from Drizztdj with a standard message, “come play some NL08!”. These messages generally arrive late night/early morning on the weekends after the man has consumed at least a handle of his most favored Captain Morgan and I finally took him up on the offer.
What I found was by far the craziest push monkey game I have ever seen. 100 BB shove preflop was standard, post flop play was non-existent, minor tribute was paid to the gods of hand selection. It is truly and honestly the purest form of four card bingo on the planet and Drizz loves it almost as much as his two offspring (or his spiced rum). It was a shocking display of bankroll mismanagement but players would shove/bust/reload almost non-stop and just keep trying for the double up.
I asked Drizz to please please write up a guest post to explain the who, what, and gods help me WHY anyone sane would actually put any part of the roll in this game. Here’s what he sent me. Enjoy.
No Limit Omaha/8, Gamble it Up!
by Drizztdj
Think about the last time you adventured out to Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or your closest Indian reservation casino. You, the poker enthusiast, walked calmly past the smoke-filled rows of slot machines and video poker boxes cloistered as over grown video games. Laughing about how people/gamblers would throw money towards a casino game with such lousy odds on winning while confidently walking towards the back poker room. Out of the corner of your eye you see games like Pai Gow, Crazy 4-Card Poker, WAR!, and Ultimate Texas Hold Em’ but that wad of bennies in your pocket isn’t going to be used to chase the dragon and 7-card straight flush bonus on the Pai Gow poker table. No, you’re the man/woman with a plan of timely check-raises and positional continuation bets. You’ve read the forums; you stop by here to check out our red letter pros dropping their knowledge to improve your chances against Vern, the rock in the seven seat who gets so excited three-betting kings pre-flop that he nearly knocks over his wife’s packed thermos of Sanka when he has a hand.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, drizztdj, Guest Posts
MiniFTOPS XIV Midterm Report
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
While today is not necessary the “middle” of MiniFTOPS XIV, it was on Tuesday when I finally emerged from my self-imposed hibernation to check back into the fantastic world of online poker. Yesterday found us with 12 of the 25 events completed and 3 more to run throughout the day with something for everybody. Event #13 kicked off in the afternoon as a sold out 6-max shootout tournament. Events #14 and #15 ran consecutively with a little HORSE action and Turbo NLHE. It was a rough day for the Full Tilt pros as Eddy Sharf was the only one with a small cash in the turbo.
The first half was up and down for the rest of the red letter names. Christian Kruel started things off well by making the final table and finishing 4th in Event #1 ($14,872.79). After that only Sascha Biorac has been able to make another final table. Scott Fischman, Esther Rossi, and Roy Winston have cashed in 3 of the 15 tournaments but nothing big finishes to set the world on fire. 26 Full Tilt pros have cashed in the series so far which has attracted just south of 100,000 players and $3,000,000 total.
It has been a great series so far for us lower bankrolled players, big payouts for low buyins. There hasn’t been much ballyhoo from those busy writing about nosebleed tables but I’ve got our back. Here are the current numbers as we get ready for two more events today.
Number of events: 15
Players: 98,887
Guarantee Prizepool: $2,210,000
Actual Prizepool: $2,996,820
Largest Prizepool: $536,370 (Event #10 NLHE)
Smallest Prizepool: $36,450 (Event #3 Shootout)
Overlay: NO OVERLAY
Largest FTP Pro Payout: $14,872.79 (Christian Kruel)
Total FTP pro cash (#): 26
Total FTP pro cash ($): $27,927.13
You can find the final table results as well as another Julius_Goat report after the jump:
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Julius_Goat, MiniFTOPS
MiniFTOPS XIV Weekend Report
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
Every once in a blue moon I feel the need to pull away from the laptop for a little live action. This weekend provided that and even more. It was the yearly gathering of bloggers in Las Vegas and I once again stuck my head into the craziness. Much more to come later on that insanity including your (barely) humble author finishing second in the blogger poker tournament at Caesar’s.
Naturally the timing of my run to the west coincided with the kickoff of MiniFTOPS XIV and reporting on it here. My laptop never left the bag so I had regular guest blogger Julius_Goat keep track of the action this weekend since he was one of the few unfortunate who could not make the trip.
I asked him to keep an eye on the Full Tilt pros and big online names for anything spectacular or out of the ordinary. He passed along a bunch of reports but I figure my favorite is from Event #7.
The Full tilt pros got mowed down in Event #7 like extras in Saving Private Ryan and thus there was nothing to report on their actions in that event.
He stuck around the entire final table of Event #4, $200 rebuy tournament with a $600,000 guarantee. His first reports as well as the final table results after the jump.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, Guest Posts, Julius_Goat, MiniFTOPS
Guest Post from Drizztjd – Tournament or Cash?
Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail
It’s usually fuel to fire up a fine argument amongst poker players, especially those plied with large amounts of alcohol and a spur under their saddle. What’s the best, poker tournaments or cash games?
It generally goes a little like this: Tournaments are the best format, cash games players rule. Tournaments are for lucksack push monkeys, cash games are for boring rock-garden nut-peddlers. As long as poker has been around there has been an argument for both sides of the equation. Nothing is ever solved but in the end it’s just a matter of preference and comfort zone.
You can count me in with the nut-peddling grinder crew as I generally view the tournament players as a bunch of gamblers looking to get all their chips in the middle on the come. It’s also true I’m so tight that I make Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler look like the world’s biggest LAGtard. Different strokes for different folks. Tournament players find my process of grinding out my daily nut in number of big-bets won the dullest most unimaginative form of the game.
This week’s guest blogger comes along and tells both sides it’s our best interest to cross the line, get our money in the game when the price is right and expand horizons. I’ll let him explain.
Ladies and gentlemen, your guest blogger Drizztdj.
Tournament or Cash Player?
by Drizztdj
Unless you have been living under cryogenic freeze for the past six months, or last decade for that matter, you dear readers are aware of the poker exploits of one Phil Ivey. He flies, he wins, he grinds, he smiles on a rare occasion when certain loggers from Maryland are not outdrawing him at the World Series of Poker Main Event final table (that apple must have tasted bitter after the queen flopped).
He’s a tournament player obviously, right? Nearly won WSOP bracelet number eight by becoming one of this year’s “November Nine”, a WPT bracelet, $12.2 million in tournament winnings, the man excels at closing out the tournament once given the chip ammo piled up from the countless check-raises and reading the souls of those who dared to pony up the entry fee to sit at his table. No emotion unchecked, staying just ahead of the blinds to cash isn’t an option as its first place or no place, Phil Ivey is definitely a tournament player.
But, wait. There’s a little side cash game going on at the Bellagio with millions of dollars on the felt. When the lack of tournament chips appear in front him, the high roller can be seen behind the glass doors of Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio playing for stakes that normal nine-to-five cube monkeys like myself only see while hitting up the play chip games. Only those aren’t play chips they’re $10,000 and $25,000 real currency chips being splashed across the felt on an up-and-down straight draw, or trying to squeeze out a wheel in deuce-to-seven triple draw. Likewise, if you’re a closet online nosebleed railbird like me, you’ll see Mr. Ivey’s avatar taking on all comers at Ivey League, Ivey Showdown, Ivey Thunderdome, and Ivey’s Playground tables, playing with $1,000 /$2,000 blinds all levels limit or no limit and in all games.
So, he’s a cash game savant right?
Wrong.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Tags: AlCantHang, Bloggers on the Rail, drizztdj, Guest Posts
