Another Low Limit Donkfest!

There is money to be made playing Low Limit HE online. You just need to figure out how to do it :-). Most important thing is to be able to shake off the bad beats you will take along the way. It seams the play has gotten worse and worse. I multi-tabled $2-4 Limit holdem last night. I was down around $100 within 30 minutes, do to some horrendous play! Nevermind my pocket Aces getting cracked by Q-9 off for 3 bets. He went to the river with a gutshot heads up and hit it on the river. This hand I will talk about illistrates what you need to get used to playing online. In middle position I am first to come in and bring it in for a raise with K-Q of hearts. Loose calling station after me calls the raise cold, everyone else fold. Flop come 9-4-2 with 2 hearts. I bet out and he calls. Turn comes with an offsuit queen. I now have a 4 flush and queens, king kicker. I bet he calls. River brings a King, which in my mind has to be a good card for me! I bet and he raises. I am sure you know the punch line. He has an offsuit ten jack. I called just to see his cards, I was 90% sure what he had but had to see it. What an all around bad play, but get used to it. In the next hour he proceeded to donk off around $150 of his money. He then states that we are all idoits and that he is going to play some $1-2 No limit. I almost wanted to follow him. I made most of my money back over the next hour and quit a small loser for the night. Patience and a good temper are all you need to beat these games. The play seams to be this bad at all of the sites I play at. Good Luck at the tables. Tony
P.S. - My favorite site to play at is FullTilt. Click on my link at the top of this Blog to check it out. Disclaimer yes I will get a referral commision if you click thru. and join. I need to pay the bills also - LOL.

Some Good Poker Jokes.

Some good poker jokes for your entertainment.

1) Two dog owners were bragging about the intelligence of their pets. "The brightest dog I ever had," said one, "was a
Great Dane that could play cards. He was a whiz at poker, but I had him put to sleep." "You had him put to sleep, a
bright dog like that? A dog like that would be worth a million dollars." "Had to," he replied, "Caught him using marked
cards!"
2) Q: What did the giraffe say to the leopard at the poker table? A: I thought you were a cheetah.
3) A bum asks a man for $2. The man says, "Will you buy booze?" The bum says, "No." The man says, "Will you gamble it
away?" The bum says, "No." So the man says, "Will you come home with me so my wife can see what happens to a man who
doesn't drink or gamble?"

Good Luck at the tables. Tony

Razz Hand from WCOOP HORSE Event.

I played in the $215 WCOOP Horse event on saturday. Felt I played the tournament well but I feel I suffered from some "Razz Tilt" late in the tournament. Here is the bizarre hand I played that took most of my chips. I started with 8-2-4, with the 4 showing and came in for a raise. Everyone folded but the jack bring in. I hate his play, why call with something like A-2-J when there is no money in the pot? I caught a 4 on 4th street, he caught a queen. I bet he called, this annoyed me big time. On fifth I caught another 4 and he caught a King. At this point I should be done with the hand. Instead I was annoyed that I had started way ahead and caught 2 bricks. Also was annoyed that the other player called me showing J-K-Q in Razz! I checked and he bet. For some reason I wasn't thinking clearly, also 90% of my chips were in the pot, I insta-called. On sixth I caught a 5 and he paired up his jacks. What a bizarre hand of Razz this was turning out to be! I had like T200 left at this point. On the river I filled up and checked he checked behind me. His 2 pairs were good to take down the pot and any hope I had of winning this tournament! His play was bad but mine was much worse. After playing poker all day I was getting tired. Razz has a way of frustrating people very easily. Just because you are way ahead on 3rd and 4th street it doesn't mean you deserve to win a hand. Well I went out on the next hand, started with A-2-5 and went all in. I made a 6 low and lost to a wheel! I love the tournament but really feel I blew it at the end. Oh well I will get them next time. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

WCOOP Horse Event.

I played in the $215 Horse Tournament on PokerStars yesterday. I love Horse events being I do well in the Razz and Hi/Lo Stud legs of it. Yesterday I did great in the Razz portion but the hi/lo stud killed me. I don't want to complain about bad beats but I could not believe how badly some people play Hi/Lo stud! I ended up finishing 814 out of 1798 entries. I outlasted many of the Internet famous players and pros. I was disappionted not finishing in the money. For the first 2 hours I was chip leader at my table. Oh well I will try to play some other of their events this week. Maybe later on I will post some interesting hands from the tournament. Good luck at the tables. Tony

Welcome To all German Readers!

I am so glad my BLOG is reaching readers in Europe now. I added a link to Pokerblox.com and it has been a big success. I am a huge fan of http://50outs.blogs.com/, that is where I heard about the PokerBlox site. This works out great being My wife and I are planning to take a trip to Europe in the next few months. I am interested in any feedback about the current poker scene in Europe. Are there many ganes in Germany, what the stakes are, how the action is, etc. Also if anyone knows about the games in Ireland or England.? Please respond back to this post, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

Ben Roberts Presents: 'Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone'

Breaking Out of Your Comfort Zone.
Many beginner poker players naturally gravitate toward a level of game where they feel most comfortable. The reasons for their choice may vary, but often include the size of their starting bankroll, and the amount of money they feel comfortable wagering in a particular hand or throughout a session.
This is perfectly normal and reasonable. One of the things that separate truly profitable players from winning players, however, is their willingness to step out of their comfort zone and explore higher limit games.
After a few hundred hours of play, many people can determine whether or not they are beating their regular games. For those players who are showing a profit, there are some for whom taking home an extra $100 or $200 per week is perfectly acceptable. They're mainly playing for fun and the winnings are a nice benefit. For others, however, poker may be a steady source of income, and boosting their bottom line could significantly affect their lives away from the table.
One of the smartest things these players can do is to stretch their games and play at higher limits. With proper planning, and the right approach, the rewards can be immeasurable. To that end, I have some suggestions for players who are thinking about taking their game to the next level.
First and most important, make sure you have the bankroll to sustain yourself at a higher level. If you take a shot and lose, you shouldn't have to worry about rebuilding your bankroll from scratch. A good recommendation is to stockpile enough money so that you can comfortably afford between eight and 10 buy-ins before you have to retreat to a smaller game.
This leads to my second piece of advice, which is not to let a few losing sessions affect your attitude or impair your judgment. I'm not saying that losing doesn't sting and that tilt doesn't happen. They do. But, players who successfully move up the ladder understand that not every session will be a winning one, and that by constantly analyzing their games - and those of their opponents' - they'll be able to make adjustments that will help them succeed.
When moving up the poker ladder, you'll inevitably encounter players with more experience and skill than you possess. Recognizing these players and learning from them is one of the smartest moves you can make. Conversely, letting your ego and pride get in the way of observing these players can lead you to keep investing money in a losing situation and, eventually, affect your overall performance and excitement toward the game.
Remember, successful people fail more often than unsuccessful people. Successful people try new things, fall down, pick themselves up, and try again. So, if your first attempt to move up to a higher stakes game falls short of your expectations, don't despair. Look at your play and the play of your opponents, regroup, and try again. The experience will be worth it.
>> Another great post from Fulltilt. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

$5-10 LHE at Foxwoods.

My wife(Theresa) and I made a short trip to Foxwoods this weekend. We played some $5-10HE, with a full kill. The game was great, in 3 hours our combined win was $300. We could have continued crushing this game but we needed to get back to her sister's house in Newport Rhode Island. By the way it's beautiful in Newport this time of year. Nice cool breeze off the bay. There was a very popular boat show up there this weekend. Anyway back to the Poker at the new WPT branded room in Foxwoods. The waiting list to get a seat there has subsided. For the first few weeks, after they opened the new poker room, the wait to get in a $4-8 or $5-10 LHE game was crazy! It was like the wait used to be at the Borgata on a Saturday, before they opened up their new poker room. Let me tell you Poker is booming on the East coast! Anyway back to our game. There were like 5 solid tight players and 3 lose terrible players, as well as us. The real money to be made was from the nice guy in the 10 seat.(From now on I will refer to him as the ATM.) When I arrived at the table the ATM was just crushing it! I don't know how much he started with but he had 2 full racks of red($1000) plus about $350 in front of him.(Don't know how much he started with.) The guy next to me told me he was playing every hand and winning. I knew that couldn't last much longer. I saw him call someone on the river with a jack high and win the $120 pot! I can't believe the players at the table hadn't figure out he couldn't be bluffed. There was a man 2 players to his left,in the 8 seat, that was on tilt do to his running over of the table. For some reason he thought he could run Theresa over. Everytime a scare card came on the turn or river he tried to bully her out of the pot. I will now tell you of a hand between Theresa, the eight seat, and the ATM. She posted in the big blind and got dealt a Q-9 off. The flop came down 3 handed 9-3-2 with 2 spades. Theresa bet and they both called. The 5 of spades fell on the turn, Theresa didn't have a spade. She bet out and the 8 seat raised her.(As usual he was representing a draw that arrived on the turn.) The ATM cold called both bets. An offsuit Ten fell on the turn. Theresa checked and the eight seat checked behind her. This caused the ATM to bet out. Theresa called him and took down a nice pot with a pair of nines queen kicker. (The ATM had a pair of nines with a jack kicker.) Her instints in Poker are getting better and better. It sure looked like she was beat on the turn. Also when the ATM bet the river he could have easily called to the river with a ten in his hand. She was playing the players on the turn. Then she made the crying call on the end being the pot was so big. It looks like my teaching is getting thru. to her :-). By the way when we left the ATM was down to $400! Good Luck at the tables.

Hi/Lo Stud Tournaments.

I played in the $1000 Hi/Lo Stud tournament at this years WSOP. Hi/Lo stud has always been my favorite game. Years ago
the Tropicana in AC had a $50 Hi/Lo tournament on Sundays. Yes in those days they had tournaments other then No Limit!
I loved that tournament, won it a few times in the 3 years I played in it. A funny story about that tournament. My
father, who at the time was a Stud high only player and I were making a trip down to The Tropicana on a Sunday.(By the way my father only played $1-5 and $5-10 stud.) I told him about the tournament and he was interested in playing in it. I taught him the rules on the ride down there.(Takes us about 2 hrs and 15 mins. without traffic.) I gave him a few
pointers about trying to play 3 low cards that could make a straight or a flush. Tried to explain to him that you need
to play for a scope in that game. He didn't listen to me at all. He was playing starting hands like 8-9-10 off! Of
course we ended up at the final table together. My father knocked me out of the tournament and went on to win the $1200
first prize. The thing about his play is that he never folds on the river if he can beat the other players board. At
the final table he called someone down with an A-K high. The other player had no pair, just a busted low draw. The
regular Hi/Lo players were all complaining that they couldn't put him on a hand. The reason being that he had just
learned the game and didn't have a clue how to play it properly. Those were good times that I miss. I loved playing in
that tournament, oh well now I only get to play live hi/lo tournaments a few times a year. Last year I played at the
WSOP, Taj Mahal, and Foxwoods. I will post some interesting hands I played in the WSOP in the next few days. Good Luck
at the tables. Tony
By the Way FullTilt has a great $22 Hi/Lo Stud tournament every few days a t 6:30. Also have Horse and Razz tournaments that I play in a few times a week. Click my link at the top of this BLOG to check it out.

Yet another $10-20 game at the Borgata.

Another week another great game at the Borgata. My wife and I went down to AC for another weekend trip. She played in the Women's No Limit event of the Borgata Poker Open. She didn't do well, came in around 250 out of 350 women. Oh well another $300 down the drain. That is the bad news. The good news is we made a good score in the $10-20 Limit game again. It was many of the same suspects as last week :-). Bad overly loose agressive players at every table we played at. In 4 sessons over the weekend I went 4 wins and 0 loses! My wife didn't fair as well but my wins easily covered her losses and her tournament buy in. Also being she played in the tourn. we got a discounted room in the Borgata for Sunday night. Let me tell you that is the best hotel in AC by far! I would like to discuss one huge pot that I played in and lost on the river. An over-agreessive women under the gun brought it in for a raise. I found pocket jacks and made it 3 bets to go. We got one more caller for 3 bets cold. A very bad call for 3 bets cold. The original raiser caps it. Flop comes down K-J-10 rainbow with 1 heart. My wife, who called the 3 bets cold, had q-j suited. We discussed why she called there and she told me she had a hunch. Hmm we need to work on not making those hunch calls. Anyway I had a set of jacks, my wife and open ender and a pair. I later found out the raiser had K-Q of hearts. An action flop if I have every seen one. We went to war on the flop, the betting was caped. My wife got wip-sawed in between me and the raiser. By now I am sure she realized she was in trouble. I was pretty sure I had the best hand but feared all the draws out there. The turn brought a safe 3 of hearts, so I thought. The board now had 2 hearts on it. I lead out my wife calls and the original pre-flop raiser 2 bets. I raise and again she caps. My wife gets trapped for all the bets. At this point the pot is so big that she can't get away from it. I am fearing 3 kings or A-Q for the nut straight. The river brings another heart. I think I am safe if I was already ahead being no one would be playing runner runner here. I checked anyway, my wife checks also. The loose agressive women shows her side of the table her cards with a smile on her face. I am thinking she missed and is showing everyone how unlucky she was. Nope she fires out a bet. I make a crying call. She made a flush on the river and dragged down a huge pot. Oh well I feel I played this hand as well as I could. I think she over played her hand all the way. That is one of those hands I am destined to lose a lot of money on. I was a little unhappy at that hand but knew over the course of the day that she would lose all of the pot back to me. At that point she was up over $600 in that game. Around 5 hours later all her chips were done. I won around $500 in this game. We can't wait to go back down to the Borgata and play again. I hope you enjoyed this hand today. Good Luck at the table. Tony

More $10-20 hands from the Borgata.

Like I said in a previous post our trip to the Borgata this weekend was very profitable. We had some really bad players at our table. In this post I will discuss a few hands my wife and I were involved in. First hand I think I made a really weak call of a raise pre-flop that got me in a lot of trouble. The 2 seat who was a fairly good, tricky internet player brought it in for a raise. His range of raising hands was really wide! I had seen him raise with anything from J-7 suited to Aces of course. In this hand it felt like he had a big Ace. I called with A-J offsuit. (A hand I
usually fold to an early postion raiser.) I called being there were some really weak calling stations behind me. Plus
I figured if I hit my jack that I knew the raiser had A-Q or A-K. (Probably a dumb call being I was like a 3-1 dog
against both of these hands heads up?) In my defense I knew the hand wouldn't be heads up. The flop comes down J-4-5
rainbow. The raiser bets out and I raise it. He makes a comment that there is no way you called me pre-flop with A-J.
Hah I showed him I was that bad to call with A-j - LOL. Anyway the 10 seat, calling station, calls the raise cold. He
was doing that all day, such a bad play. The original raiser folds, later tells me he had A-Q. I bet a blank on the
turn and the ten seat calls. River brings a 3, I smell trouble, being the ten seat would call with a 6-7. I check he
bets and I call, of course he made a straight on the river. I know I played the hand badly but his play was much worse.
He called a raise cold pre-flop with 6-7o and then a raise cold on the flop too. Of well this hand just showed how
juicy the table was.Next hand my wife was involved in a huge pot, which she lost to the calling station in the 10 seat. We debated her play
in the hand trying to figure out if she over played it or not. 7 people limped into the pot and she had K-2
suited in the small blind. She called the other $5 to see the flop. I think this call was ok being she was getting
great pot odds of 13-1 on this call. The flop comes down 10-7-2.(2 clubs) She Checks and it's checked all around. The
turn is another 2, she now has 3 twos and a King kicker. She bets out and 2 people call, the ten seat raises to $40.
When the action gets back to my wife she 3 bets to $60. When we later discussed this hand she was trying to get the
club draws to fold being it would be hard to call 3 bets with a club draw. Sure enough everyone folds except the 10
seat who calls the raise. The river is a blank but she checks. The ten seat also checks and shows down 3 twos with an
ace kicker. He takes down the huge pot. I like her play on the river. If he was on a club draw he wasn't going to
call her bet anyway. Maybe she would have induced a bluff on the river if he had missed a draw. It's sucks that she
was dominated the whole hand but that's poker. We debated her turn raise and after much discussion I think it was the
right play. She charged the draws to high a price to continue with the hand. Also she bought a free river by 3 betting
the turn. The ten seat should have bet the river but like I said previously he was a weak calling station. I will
stress again the $10-20 game at the Borgata is juicy on weekends. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

Poker Jokes.

1) A bum asks a man for $2. The man says, "Will you buy booze?" The bum says, "No." The man says, "Will you gamble it away?" The bum says, "No." So the man says, "Will you come home with me so my wife can see what happens to a man who doesn't drink or gamble?"

2) "That idiot husband of mine wanted me to sleep with the landlord because he lost the rent money playing poker," the housewife told a neighbor.
"You didn't do it, did you?"
"I have to admit I did - though with certain misgivings, I might add. What I haven't done, though, is tell my husband the rent is paid up for six months!"

3) Q: Do you know how to play Greenwich poker?
A: Queens are wild and straights aren't allowed.

>> Just a few Poker jokes. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

$10-20 at the Borgata and the Taj.

We had a great labor day weekend playing $10-20 at the Taj and the Borgata. We usually love the action at the Taj but on sunday it wasn't great. There weren't many fish at our table. It was all regulars that didn't play great but didn't play badly either. We both did well but decided to leave after a few hours. One interesting thing happened at the table. I don't think I have even seen this in a live game. A guy in the 8 seat flopped 4 sets within an hour! All 4 of them filled up on the turn. Crazy thing is he got action on all of them, being 2 times someone else had flopped a straight! Overall I would recommend playing the $5-10 and $10-20 games there on weekends being they are usually juicy! We decided to go over to the Borgata to play $10-20 over there. What a great choice! The games there was crazy. People were playing at our table who had never played live poker in a casino before. What do you mean by fixed limits, I can't go all in? LOL. Also the people that knew how to play were totally over agressive. They thought top pair with any kicker was the nuts everyhand! One hand I had 2 queens and raised pre-flop. We took the flop 3 handed and I bet out. Got called by one person on a ragged board. Think it was like 8-7-2 rainbow. A ten comes on the turn and I bet, the 7 seat raises me. This slows me down being he had been playing a lot of hands and could easily have a 9-j for the nut straight. A rag comes on the river and I check. He confidently bets, like he had the nuts. After some hesitation I make a crying call, at this point just to see what he has. He turns over 10-Q offsuit for a pair of tens with a queen kicker! I win a nice pot with my 2 queens. This type of play was common at our table. In another hand I gad 10-7o in the big blind and decide to defend my big-blind. We take the flop heads up, I flop 2 pairs tens and sevens. I check-raise the flop against the raiser in the 8 seat. I bet the turn and get called. On the river an ace comes, I bet and the 8 seat raises me. I make a crying call to be shown A-Q offsuit for a pair of aces. I win another nice pot. Things went even better for my wife. I will post some of the hands she was in later or tommorow. We had a room in the Borgata and it was great. Definetly the best rooms in AC are at the Borgata. It was a great, profitable trip for us. That's all for now. Good Luck at the tables. Tony

Bad August Online.

I am so glad August is over! This was the first losing month of online poker I have had in over a year and a half. Nothing went right for me. I tried mixing things up be playing different games, levels, and sites but it didn't help. I tried SNGs and MTT, yet still no success. I Played 28 $11 SNG in August and only finished in the money 2 times! I usually cash in 1 out of 3. Played Omaha hi/lo, Stud hi/lo, and NO HE, no luck in any of them. MTT were even worse, finished within 5 of the money in every other one I played in. Didn't do as bad in cash games but still had a losing month. If it wasn't for Bonus whoring I would have lost much money in August. Oh well that is the bad news. It's water under the bridge. I will start fresh tonight. September will be my month. Can't wait to play at the Borgata open and the USPC! My wife will be playing in the Ladies event on the 11th. I will post about her tournament results as well as mine. Also will give some AC room reviews after that 3 day weekend for us. That's all for now. Good Luck at the tables. Tony