Speedyfold Poker Blog

You dont need to know the game to win a tournament

JohnnyBax is a poor PL Omaha Hi-Lo player, that is certain. He lacks experience, and his game needs huge amounts of refinement and work. I am one of the few actually qualified to make this statement. Slightly arrogant I know, but nevertheless it is a fact.

However JohnnyBax is a great poker player. One of the best no quesion about it. A legend in his own time.

His recent win in the FTOPS PL Omaha Hi-Lo is testiment to the fact that you dont really need to know a game that well to win. And I am not saying JohnnyBax was lucky either. What I am saying is that his poker instincts are so good that the actual ability or experience in the specific game didnt really matter.

Recently in the 2008 WSOP we also saw a similar case. Mike Matusow freely admitted he had no clue how to play 2-7 Triple Draw. But what the man knew was how to play No Limit. His ability in terms of reads/timing, and piling on the pressure against selected opponents at the right stages of the tournament (etc) was enough to win the bracelet. A refined ability and understanding in the game was not important.

Breakthrough wins are really crucial to the success of nearly all poker players. They are wins that suddenly roll you fully to play at a much higher level than previously, and more importantly be very comfortable in doing so.

Really it is a combination of two factors: firstly the ability to play whatever buy-in you wish, as frequently as you wish. And secondly the general increase in confidence it gives a player.

To highlight the concept I thought I would discuss the breakthrough win of Hevad Khan in July 2007 where he finished 6th in the WSOP Main Event (a score worth $956,243)

Prior to July 2007 his biggest online win was $28,305, which of course is great. But it isnt high enough to suddenly start playing all the big poker tournaments around the world.

Post July 2007 his biggest online wins suddenly shoot up to a new level:

$97,856 (March 08)
$58,410 (June 08)
$125,000 (Sept 08)

Prior to July 2007 his biggest live win was $14,708

Post July 2007 his live wins have now consisted of:

1st in a Foxwoods event in March 2008 winning $108,187
1st in the Caesars Palace Classic, winning $1,000,000

As we said, it partly can be attributed to the freedom of the bankroll, and partly due to the overall confidence of the player, not losing sight of the fact that the two factors are both very much inter-twined

He is now firmly a respected pro on the circuit and a feared force in the majors online, with an endorsement deal with the site PokerStars to top it all off.

The seed of a high profile and establishment on the circuit can happen effectively in an instant, so maintain your faith, as one day it could well be you. Good luck.

The Problem with Winning in Poker

We all love to win in poker. To have a really nice tournament score. To see those dollars materialise in your online poker account. It is after all the prime motivatation to play for the vast majority of online players.

However this often creates a problem. Suddenly to have a large chunck of cash gives you a very liberal feeling when it comes to spending. Suddenly you have bought that $2000 watch that caught your eye, suddenly you are giving out $50 tips like some business tycoon or film star, and suddenly you are buying pretty much what you want whenever you want it.

Sure this feeling gradually subsides, but the fact of the matter is that in poker money won is never really there for liberal spending, unless you are retiring completely from poker, or have a really ridiculous sized score (eg WPT Main Event scale).

You might have spent $5K in tourney fees before that “significant” $18K score, and you could quite easily spend another $10K before you hit another. Variance is by its very nature unpredicatable, and really cold periods can creep up on you. That money is not profit, and it is not a “Christmas bonus”. You are dealing with a fluid operating role. That money won is very much part of that role.

Sure exurberance goes hand in hand with poker, and we all know it is a requirement to buy those diamond studded jeans from the shopping mall at Caesars, the moment you have anything half resembling a decent win

So how do you deal with it without spoiling the obvious fun and pleasure. Really the best way is to wait a few days in a period of reflection until the money properly sinks in. Then decide what you want your operating role to increase to. Look if you have enough to be fully rolled for a level up. Also assess if there are any imporant financial things outside of poker that need to be sorted. Then after this period, have a look at what’s left, and if there is anything then its time for the spending spree.

No matter how long you have been playing poker it is difficult not to be occassionally annoyed by some of the inane comments, language, moans, and opinions of your fellow poker players at the online poker tables.

I think quite a large percentage of these chat annoyances come from noobs to the game. Others of course come from just general idiots. You’re always going to get a few of those.

So, to limit the lame witterings of the majority (the noobs) I have devised a potential solution. All new members of a poker site should get a 3 month period of chat probation. They will be restricted from chatting at all tables, apart from perhaps play money tables and freerolls.

That way at least the chat will be restricted to those who’ve put in a little service, and maybe know a few fundamentals of the game. Hopefully by the end of the 3 months they will by more cultured and versed. Perhaps it will limit the general “rigged” type comments when someone loses a 60/40. Perhaps some will take their beats like a man. Perhaps the tables will be full of insightful and interesing discussions. Hmmmm, but then again, hell might freeze over tomorrow also.

Tipping the dealer at cash poker tables is a concept which is fairly alien to many players in countries outside of the USA. In any regular European casino you can merrily go about your business without even the slightest thought of tipping. Most casinos go to the extent of not even allowing it, even if you were that way generously inclined.

Most casinos and card rooms in all countries will charge a fee in terms of a percentage rake, or in terms of an hourly charge, or in terms of a set fee per hand. That is where the line usually stops, and your main job as a player is to stay ahead of the rake/charge and carve out a profit on top. However in the States tipping becomes almost an extra “hidden” fee on top. An extra tier of juice so to speak.

This is great for the dealers, who can potentially earn good amounts at the right tables, however it is slightly less good for the player. From my perspective I have never really liked the idea of tipping in any casino based or card room based game. When you’re lucky you give up some winnings, but when you are unlucky no-one is going to give those earlier tips back. There is a sort of underlying injustice there. That injustice is probably most obviously seen in a fixed-edge game like roulette. The house has a very specific fixed edge in their favor. The longer you play the more you can expect to gradually lose. So to tip a “winning” spin with the odds always set at negative expected value seems borderline crazy, yet amazingly almost compulsary in the USA. Where it is less easy to define the odds against you at a cash poker table against your piers, it is still equally absurd to be expected to do it.

Sometimes social conventions become established which have no sensible place in existing. This is certainly one of those instances.

Are WSOP Events Speed Tourneys?

WSOP Tourney

If we take a standard $1500 NLHE Event as a comparison.

Starting Chips = 3000, Blind Levels = 60 mins

1 $0 Ante $25-$50 Blinds
2 $0 Ante $50-$100 Blinds
3 $0 Ante $100-$200 Blinds
4 $25 Ante $100-$200 Blinds
5 $25 Ante $150-$300 Blinds
6 $50 Ante $200-$400 Blinds
7 $75 Ante $300-$600 Blinds
8 $100 Ante $400-$800 Blinds

Standard Online Tourney Structure

3000 Chips, 15 min levels (eg $11 NLHE $20K Guaranteed at 19:00 ET on PokerStars)

1. $0 Ante 10/20 Blinds
2. $0 Ante 15/30 Blinds
3. $0 Ante 25/50 Blinds
4. $0 Ante 50/100 Blinds
5. $0 Ante 75/150 Blinds
6. $0 Ante 100/200 Blinds
7. $25 Ante 125/250 Blinds
8. $25 Ante 150/300 Blinds

A reasonable translation between live and online events is to multiply by 3 to translate online into the equivalent live blind speed (due to standard things like shuffling time, physical chip counting, manual split pots, longer time banks for thinking, etc etc)

So, on this basis, the WSOP is running at equivalent of 20 mins “online blinds”

Both are 3000 starting stack, so we just need to look at the cost of a rotation as the tournament progresses. So if we look at a point 2 “online hours” deep we will be at Level 8 online, and Level 6 in the WSOP. This leads us to:

Online Cost of Rotation = 9×25 + 150 + 300 = 675 chips
Live Cost of Rotation = 9×50 + 200 + 400 = 1050 chips

Which means that the WSOP is a faster structure than a standard online tourney. Welcome to the World Series of (Speed) Poker!

No-Limit Omaha - Right or Wrong?

PokerStars have recently started to offer NL Omaha tournaments. Part of me considers this sacriledge to the great game (PLO). Part of me thinks, oh well, it’s not that bad. But what’s the reality. Friend or Foe? Right or Wrong?

Omaha is a game played fast enough and loose enough as it is. NL Omaha is almost encouring recklessness and coin-flip lotteries. Of course it can be played in a refined manner too, but that seems rare. Just one hyper aggressive player at the table can change the whole dynamics of Omaha. And that isnt rare. Full Stack launches of 20-30BBs seem common place, and value-bets seem to have been fully abandoned in favor of the 5x Pot size launch when the draw comes in.

Part of me wants to attribute this to the fact that NLO is in itself to blame. IE the game has caused the bad play. But really I think it is the NL tag alone. Suddenly NL Holdem players are signing up for Omaha, and are clueless really. Launching chips around with shear abandon. The PL and Limit tags on any game had them running for the hills, but suddenly the NL prefix turns the tourney into fair game for the NLHE loyalists….or so it certainly seems.

Now, as all good players should agree, this should be considered a good thing, not bad. The more reckless donks and hopeless fish the better. So do you give up the pureness of PLO for an unnatural yet potentially very +EV game? The jury is most definately out on that one.

I am sure you are familiar with the game Where’s Wally or Where’s Waldo.  How about Where’s Phil Ivey?

Somewhere here at the Lakers game.  Can you spot him (really not that difficult)

Anyone who plays alot of poker, will probably know what it is like to get it in the ear from the Mrs/Girlfriend.   Poker can be very time consuming, particularly tournament play.  And the worst thing about tournaments is that if the Mrs wants to make plans, it is tough to say when exactly you will be free, because you could bust out in 10 mins time, or be playing for another 6 hours and win the damn thing (you lucksack!)

This, combined with things like foul moods following a particular bad beat ridden evening, makes it potentially far from harmonious on the homelife to be a poker junkie.

I think probably the best method to deal with it is to get them involved, in terms of playing a little.  You’ll often find that they find it quite enjoyable to play the occassional tournament.  Ask for them to take over (a cheaper buy-in!) once, and sit back and watch them get hooked ;)   Well, maybe it wont work every time, but you get the drift.

The only other advice I can give is to try play poker in a seperate room if possible (eg an office), and try to keep it seperate from the home life.  At least then the swearing doesnt interfere with their favorite TV program!

Good Luck, and hopefully you wont have to compromise on your playing time that much.  If you do, then only one phrase remains….under the thumb or what!

One thing I found interesting recently was seeing that in the Full Tilt store you could get a car (a Mini) for 6 million points, but you could get a customised avatar (a unique picture for your ID) for 1 million points.  

What sort of vain person would spend 1/6 the cost of a car on a personlised avatar?  Bizzarre to even contemplate it.  But I bet someone has.