Playing with Other People's Money

One of my goals on PokerStars is to never make a deposit. So far that's been going pretty well. After playing the Play Money games and doing well I jumped into some freerolls for some small cashes. I took the minor winnings from those and played some of the 10, 25 and 50 cent tournaments for some more small cashes. So far this is working for me and I've been able to play hundreds of games.

The freerolls can be crazy in the first few levels. It's best to just avoid playing hands in these levels unless you have a monster like AA, KK, or can get in cheap and in position with other Group I or II hands. It's not uncommon to see a couple of thousand people get knocked out during the first 30 minutes. Try not to be one of them. Bellow are some links to freeroll strategy articles that will cover more than I will here.

Freeroll Tournament Strategy
Freeroll Poker Tournament Strategy
Freerolls - Strategy and Tips

Get Staked!

Another way to play on someone else's dime is to find a good staking site. While I was playing a freeroll someone recommended I check out NeverBeg. NeverBeg is a great staking site where you can use your money to stake other players or get staked. A stake is basically one player giving another player money to play a game or a series of games. If the player wins, they will send the staker back a portion of the winnings and in most cases the initial stake amount (Stakeback). The percentage of winnings and stakeback requirement may vary. An example may be a $2.20 stake to run a $2.00 + 0.20 buy-in MTT with 50% staker's cut and Stake back required. Lets say the player wins $10.00. He will send the staker $6.10 and keep $3.90. 5% of the player's share will also need to be sent to NeverBeg as a service fee.

Rules are very important on NeverBeg. Before you do anything read the rules linked in the introductory private message you will be sent. Seriously. Read all of them and follow them.

If you're a new member it will be harder to get stakes. First thing you should do is check your stats at http://www.officialpokerrankings.com/ (OPR) and http://www.sharkscope.com (SS). OPR tracks games of 45 players or more while SS tracks SitNGo's of 180 players or less.

You should try and build up your stats either with your own bankroll or by playing freerolls to build a bank roll. There are also many stakes given out for new members that don't require good stats. Try and get some of these and hopefully do well. If you do well your chances of getting more stakes will improve.

If you are already a good player don't just assume you should get stakes. New players will have a hard time getting staked even if they have great stats. Remember, you're playing with other people's money and they don't just want to know you'll do well, they want to know you won't run off with their money. Try applying for some of the lower stakes for new players to show you take the site seriously and won't roll anyone. Don't let your ego get in the way of applying for smaller stakes. I had some new member play a 0.10 stake for me which he cashed in and then disappeared. That 0.10 stake wasn't a lot but it means he won't get staked on that site again.

Leave good rail threads. Most stakers request a rail thread. A rail thread is a thread which you will post some of your hands from the game in. This is fun for the staker because they get to see some of the action. It also proves that you played the game and weren't a complete idiot with their money. If you play a good game you may get staked again, even if you didn't cash. Don't do this half-assed.

Also, try putting out some of your own stakes as well. It shows you want to give and not just get. Let someone else spend 5 hours in a tournament and still get paid :)

There is also more to the forum than just the staking sections. The Strat forum has a lot of great members giving advice. Participate in more than just the staking forums either by giving or asking for strategy advice.

Don't lie, don't be a jerk, don't be an idiot, don't get discouraged if you don't get all the stakes you want, don't apply for stakes above your level or for games you can't play, don't apply to stakes unless you read all the rules for the stake and meet the requirements and most importantly Never Beg! :)

Make your own Poker Videos!

After seeing some of the poker videos available on YouTube I searched for a screen capture program for myself. I found CamStudio which is an open source video screen capture program. It's completely free to download and use. CamStudio will record a section of your screen as well as voice from a microphone and save it either as an AVI or SWF (Flash) file.

The project is listed on SourceForge at http://sourceforge.net/projects/camstudio/. You can find Help and Discussion forums there. The source code should be on there as well but for some reason I couldn't find a download for the source or anything in the CVS browser?!?!?

Download it and record some of your games, post them on YouTube and then come back here and put a link in the comments (if anyone ever reads this).

I hope to put up some myself at some point.

Tournament Indicator

Tournament Indicator is one of the many poker odds calculators available out there. They have an offer where you can get Tournament Indicator for free if you sign up to one of the affiliated poker rooms and make a minimum deposit.

Unlike some of the other poker odds calculators out there, Tournament Indicator is geared specifically towards Texas Hold'em tournaments. Both Sit and Go's and MTT's. One of the key features is player profiling. Tournament indicator tracks the players at your table assigns icons to indicate their type of play. You can instantly see if a player is a Rock, Calling Station, Tight Aggressive, etc. and adjust your play against them accordingly.

Some of the key profiling data is as follows:

• vpip% : The percentage of time the player has voluntarily put chips in the pot. A player with a high vpip% is a loose player or is on the card run of his life since the chances of getting premium hands a large amount of time is not likely. You can use this number to gauge the hand-strength of the player along with his play.
• pfr%: The percent of time the player raised pre-flop. Again, since premium hands don't come along too often, if the player has a high pfr% then they tend to raise weaker hands.
• af: Aggression Factor. This indicates how aggressive the player is post flop with his betting. Used along with vpip% and pfr% as well as your judgment you will have some idea of what the player's bets/raises actually mean.

If you've read Dan Harrington's books you'll be familiar with M-Zone. M-Zone is basically your chip stack size in relation to the blinds. M-Zone = (chipstack)/(small blind + big blind + (numplayers * antes). M-Zones ranges are grouped into different numbered and colored groups. Knowing your M-Zone will help you decide which hands to play and how to play them. If you're low M-Zone you want to push premium hands all-in. If you're in a high M-Zone you can limp more speculative hands. Knowing your opponent's M-Zone will also help you understand why he's playing the way he is. If he's red M-Zone'd, he may be pushing with any Ace, any pair or any two cards greater than 10 for example.

Tournament Indicator displays your M-Zone along with the M-Zone of all the players on your table. In a Multi Table Tournament (MTT), Tournament indicator will keep track of any players you might have come across in previous tables and you can see how they played when they were in various M-Zones.

Tournament Indicator will also give you an indication of the strength of your hole cards by displaying both the EV and the Sklansky Group the hand belongs in. As the preflop action goes along, it will update the Pot-Odds as well as your Win Odds. If you're holding AXs and you have some limpers in front of you, it will let you know when you have the correct odds to play to try and catch a flush. After the flop, the pot odds and win odds also update with the action to let you know if you have the right odds to continue with the hand.

This is where it gets tricky. You cannot rely solely on pot odds and win odds. You have to examine player tendencies and your read on what's happening. The mathematically correct decisions don't always result in a win. If you play the odds, in the long run you'll win but in a tournament, you can't just dig into your pocket and pull out more money. When you bust you're out. Thankfully, Tournament Indicator provides more than just the odds. It provides you with information about your opponents that you can use in conjunction with the odds. For instance, if you're in a hand with a Tight Passive player who has won 100% of his showdowns and you've hit middle pair, and he is betting aggressively, chances are you're beat. The odds may say you can continue but really think about what he may have and make sure you're not drawing dead.

One of the nicest features is the odds comparison against standard hands. It will tell you your odds of winning against big pairs, AK, small pairs, suited connectors, random cards, etc. This will help you decide when to push or fold (or call a push) when you're in the red M-Zone. If you were in the Big Blind and an early position raiser makes a big raise and you put him on AK, AA, KK or the like would you re-shove all-in with a hand like 79 suited? If you have the right pot odds sure. You're only a 3:2 underdog to win and you're re-raise my cause the other player to lay down a weak hand. This scenario actually happened to me today when I was short stacked in a Sit and Go. My 79s busted a pair of Aces when I made a flush on the river. Sometimes you have to take calculated risks and Tournament Indicator will help you make those decisions. It won't tell you what to do, but it helps you make better informed decisions.

If you are a player that likes to multi-table many games at once, Tournament Indicator will profile your opponents while you're focused on other hands.

If you've seen Marty Smith's videos on www.pokersitandgoreport.com you'll see he uses Tournament Indicator extensively. If you haven't seen his videos sign up on his website and watch them. I can't go into all the features as well as Marty has but luckily he has provided a series of video tutorials for Tournament Indicator.

Do Not Steal My Blinds!!!

This is a video from Marty Smith showing some great blind re-steal moves. You can go to www.PokerSitAndGoReport.com and sign up for his series of videos. These are some of the best Sit and Go videos I have come across.

Some more Sit N Go Videos

This is a set of 4 videos from an 18 man SnG on Poker

Sit N Go Tutorial Videos

I hit a bump early on and couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong in the 9 man Sit n Go Tournaments.

Took a shot and searched YouTube and found this great series of video tutorials which really helped me out. It's pretty much a full game broken up into 5 pieces.

KFE $10 SnG Online Poker Strategy Tournament Tutorial 1/5
KFE $10 SnG Online Poker Strategy Tournament Tutorial 2/5
KFE $10 SnG Online Poker Strategy Tutorial 72os 3/5
KFE $10 SNG Strategy NL Holdem Online Poker Tutorial 4/5
KFE $10 SNG NL Holdem Online Poker Tutorial 72os 5/5

Get Edumacated!

Take the time to read some good poker books. Here are some I liked.

Phil Hellmuth Jr.'s "Play Poker Like The Pros

If you've seen any poker on TV you've seen or heard of the "Poker Brat". Forget the antics forget the odd behavior. Phil plays good poker. You don't win as many WSOP bracelets or cash in so many tournaments without knowing what you're doing.

This is a great book to learn good solid poker strategy. There were times when I sort of laughed at some of the ways he said things and the overall tone of some sections but I can't deny this book didn't help me improve my game.

If you are just starting out this is a good book.


Doyle Brunson's Super System and Super System 2

The original "Super System" is the book that changed poker for many players. "Super System 2" is a good update.

If you want to learn to play more aggressive and learn some sick plays, these are the books. Great advice on a variety of games from different collaborators.

Nice read and will definitely improve your game.





Dan Harrinton's "Harrington on Hold'em" Series.

If you want to play Texas Hold'em tournaments online or in casino's you have to read these books. Period.

Well written with a lot of different real world examples.

Buy'em, Read'em, and Read'em again!

Real Poker is nothing like what you see on TV.

Get that out of your head now. When you see episodes of the World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour, you're not seeing the complete game. You're seeing bits and pieces of the most exciting hands or just the final table. The early stages of a tournament are boring. Most people play fairly tight.

Real poker isn't all about the bluff. You might see some semi-bluffs for drawing hands, or a continuation bet if you don't hit the flop in the right circumstances and blind steals but generally speaking, bluffs are a small portion of the game.

Get it out of your head that you're the next Gus Hansen or Daniel Negranu and play good solid poker until you get more experience and a better understanding of the game and the players. In later stages of a tournament you'll want to open up your game a bit, and if you're short stacked you'll have to know when to shove all your chips in pre flop but in general you're playing ABC poker.

There are some maniac players that will play many hands and try and bluff people out or hit miracle flops and win against a better starting hand. From my experience though, these players don't make it far. They may have big chip stacks early on but they can become easy targets for tight players that can use their aggression against them to double up. There have been so many times when I flop a monster and check it to an aggressive player, who I know will push all-in with bottom or middle pair, to double me up. Remember the saying, "You can't win a tournament in the early stages, but you can easily lose it."

Sometimes these maniacs get very lucky and go far or win, but in general they're losing players. I was recently in a 9 person Sit N Go with a very loose aggressive player. All the other players got sick of him and tried to take him out. But he always managed to suck out with the worst hand. It was incredible. He was seeing the flop about 70% of the time which is insane. The probability of getting good hands that often is not likely. I didn't catch many good hands that game and I wanted to stay out of the maniacs way. In 21 minutes, about a third of the time of a normal game, the maniac and I were the last two people standing. I only saw the flop about 3 times until that point. I managed to win a couple of pots to keep me ahead of the blinds but in 21 minutes, the blinds didn't hurt much. I was completely outchipped heads up and got unlucky when he actually woke up with a real hand but it was the quickest 2nd place finish I've ever had and the easiest as well.

After the game I looked up this guy's stats on www.sharkscope.com and his profit graph was almost a straight line pointing down. This must have been his first win in a long time.

The importance of Bank Roll Management.

This is by far the most important concept to understand. It's something I wish I heard of earlier.

I started off in a different site than I'm playing at now. I made a small $20 deposit to get started. Within no time I had nearly doubled my initial deposit. My low limit texas hold'em results were good and I was having a good run in the small buy-in Sit n Go tournaments. I even made the final table in my first multi table tournament, finishing 8th out of a field of over 2000 entrants.

Things were going good and my confidence rose. Then I hit a loosing streak. Probably a combination of being overconfident, a run of bad luck and some bad beats. These things happen. I didn't drop down too low but I wanted to get back up to where I was so my plan was to play some of the higher buy-in SnG's to rebuild the bankroll faster. Things didn't work out as planned and then another couple of deposits and attempts to play at levels above my bank roll.

So the hard work I put in initially to work a profit was quickly corrupted by my stupidity. This is the classic bank roll mistake.

In the beginning you want to play conservative to build your bankroll. Your primary goal should be cashing rather than going for the big wins until you have a bankroll that can support your play. Some general rules are to keep Sit n Go buy in's to about 3-5% of your current BR and 1-2% buy in for Multi Table Tournaments (MTT's) . If you're a good player, you should expect to cash in about 30% of the single table SnG's and if you're a very good player about 15% of MTT's.

Here are a few links to Bank Roll Management articles:

http://www.texasholdem-poker.com/bankroll-management
http://www.pocketfives.com/5C57520F-8A89-43F3-97E6-54D240CB3E59.aspx

So what's this all about?

For a few years now I've been watching poker tournaments on TV. I've learned a bit just from watching, especially from Mike Sexton's commentary on the World Poker Tour.

Recently, the itch has been getting harder to ignore and about a month ago I decided to jump into the world of online poker to see where it takes me. The main motivation was my success in a Dish Network interactive WPT poker game where I managed to finish in the top 20 and win a $50 gift certificate. While this wasn't against real players it did give me a better understanding of the game.

Like most people, I've played different games with friends and family but nothing on a regular basis. I have some understanding of the game but there is a lot I need to learn.

As I learn I'll be posting information I find useful.

This blog is starting after a lot has happened in my poker life so I'll be posting a few entries early on to bring it up to speed.