Speedyfold Poker Blog

Poker Game Experience - not essential for a win

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:51:11 +0000

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 in Poker

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:35:18 +0000

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.

Cash Challenge No.1 - Complete

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:30:04 +0000

Well the little challenge I set myself with this new Sun Poker account has finally been completely. It took quite a bit longer than anticipated in the time sense, mainly due to getting tied up with the WCOOP and the FTOPS and my cash games on Stars and Full Tilt

I set myself a “double my money” goal over the span of 20,000 hands. I am glad to say I was successful within 10,000 hands, so I guess you could say I was a long way ahead of schedule. Cash games are a funny beast though, and it could quite as easily of taken the full 20,000 or more with some very bad negative swings

Closing Balance = $404.86. Total Challenge Profit = $205.86. Total hands played = 9530

I dont know what I’ll do with the money there, donk it off at some MTTs maybe

I may do some more cash challenges at one of my regular accounts, so watch this space.

Madsen Results

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:33:45 +0000

Latest Status on Jeff Madsen Live. As at 28th Oct 2008: $1.81 Million total winnings. 204th in the all-time money list

Most Recent Scores Above $5000

3rd July 2008 - WSOP 2008 - NLHE Main Event - 112th $ 41,816
4th June 2008 - WSOP 2008 - $10,000 Mixed Event - 7th $ 67,680

The Full Tilt Poker Pro Team

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 19:32:00 +0000

The Poker Pro Team at Full Tilt has excellent variety and depth. It consists of 14 top class players. They are

Howard Lederer
Phil Ivey
Chris Ferguson
John Juanda
Erick Lindgren
Erik Seidel
Clonie Gpwen
Andy Bloch
Mike Matusow
Gus Hansen
Allen Cunninghan
Patrick Antonius

These players have a deal for the full, widescale, promotion of the Full Tilt site. This includes being staked by Full Tilt for most major live events (eg WSOPE), and most major online events on Full Tilt (eg $25K Heads-up event). The players get to keep the winnings in all events, both live and online, if they cash. At the live tournaments the players have to wear the Full Tilt logo on their clothing. They also have a commitment to appear in Full Tilt videos, and on any Full Tilt promotional merchandise. Effectively their image rights are owned by Full Tilt. For any side projects they need to get express permission from Full Tilt themselves.

These players, and their portrayal in all forms of media, represent the brand of Full Tilt, so the site is protective over how that brand may be represented in side projects. This is highlighted most recently with the sale of the Gus Hansen endorsed site theplayr. With the sale of the site all Gus Hansen material had to be removed, as Full Tilt own exclusivity over the Gus Hansen image and brand.

Various members of their team take on different roles. Some are more involved heavily in merchandasing and Point of Sale material. Others are heavily evolved online at the tables. Howard Lederer, as his “professor” nickname may suggest, leads a lot of the poker tutorial based discussions and videos. Various of the players write articles or blogs for the site.

All in all it is a good, mutually beneficial, deal for both parties.

And with 34 WSOP bracelets between them, they sure know a bit about poker too

8-game chip swings

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:42:14 +0000

Overall I had a successful WCOOP. I cashed in 3 and made a nice overall profit. One of the new events this year was an 8-game event. I decided to chart my progress in this event for all to see. Here are the chip swings by game:-

2-7 Trip Draw - 4000 up to 4250
Limit Holdem - 4250 down to 4030
FL Omaha Hi-Lo - 4030 up to 4052
Razz - 4052 down to 3712
Stud - 3712 down to 3317
Stud Hi-Lo - 3317 down to 3312
NL Holdem - 3312 up to 3367
PL Omaha - 3367 down to 2137

2-7 Trip Draw - 2137 up to 2647
Limit Holdem - 2647 down to 2227
FL Omaha Hi-Lo - 2227 up to 3127
Razz - 3127 up yo 3332
Stud - 3332 up to 3442
Stud Hi-Lo - 3442 down to 3392
NL Holdem - 3392 up to 3681
PL Omaha - 3681 up to 4821

2-7 Trip Draw - 4821 up to 4981
Limit Holdem - 4981 down to 2821
FL Omaha Hi-Lo 0 2821 down to 653
Razz - 653 down to 0

From this, extremely limited sample, my most consistantly productive game was 2-7 trip draw (3 increase out of 3). My least productive was Limit Holdem (3 decreases out of 3). NL Holdem also saw 2 increase out of 2.

In terms of swings PLO is probably the big one, no doubt reflective of my kamikaze approach. In the first rotation I lost over a third of my stack. And in the 2nd rotation I gained almost a third on my stack.

The biggest killer of all was the final LHE rotation sliding from 4981 to 2821.

Whilst the tournament was enjoyable, despite a rubbish result, the structure left a lot to be desired. The limit games were running at stakes 4 times the blinds, rather then double the blinds. It left a wierd feeling of comfortable stack, following by a feeling of extreme shortness.

All said and done, a bit of fun, but structure improvements needed, and better play needed from yours truely

Cash Game Challenge Update - over 5500 hands

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 14:27:37 +0000

After a downswing of about $20 I have been on a heater almost ever since. I crammed in some monster sessions. Poker is always so much easier to do long sessions in when you are doing well. I am getting a little frustrated with Sun Poker as a site, but now I have started this challenge I feel obliged to stick it out. It seems ludicrous after a reasonably successful WCOOP to keep it going. But stubborness to complete the challenge drives me on. Must Complete, Must complete (in my best robotic voice).

Current Balance = $317.15. Total Challenge Profit = $117.15. Total hands played = 5539

ckingusc wins the WCOOP

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:28:35 +0000

A very dramatic final table took place in the WCOOP Main Event on PokerStars, with many swings and bad beats taking place. The players agreed a chop with 5 players remaining. Here are the details of the agreement:

StaffBryanS [Host]: ckingusc: $1,065,432
StaffBryanS [Host]: liberace: $1,375,249
StaffBryanS [Host]: AJKHoosier1: $782,542
StaffBryanS [Host]: ShoesRDurrty: $801,153
StaffBryanS [Host]: Markush13: $961,718

They carried on playing with ckingusc picking up the win and the extra $200,000 left on the table

1st: ckingusc - $1,265,432
2nd: liberace - $1,375,249
3rd: AJKHoosier1 - $782,542
4th: Markush13 - $961,718
5th: ShoesRDurrty - $801,153

WCOOP Main Event - Review of Final Table Players

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:23:18 +0000

WCOOP 2008 Main Event

This is the current online MTT stats of the final table players

ckingusc $55,623 profit
liberace $79,181 profit
AJKHoosier1 $379,240 profit
Markush13 - Negative ROI from 333 MTTs, Qualified via a $215 satellite
ShoesRDurrty - Negative ROI from 11 MTTs, ABI $20!
Sumpas - Negative ROI from 335 MTTs, Qualified via a $215 satellite
klslcz - Negative ROI from 558 MTTs
BOLLPOKER - Negative ROI from 125 MTTs
kovi99 - Negative ROI from 801 MTTs

$10,300 WCOOP HORSE Event

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:20:11 +0000

125 players entered the $10,300 HORSE Event in the WCOOP. A tough contest saw DocHolatchya beat PokerStars Pro aakkari to the bracelet

1 DocHolatchya United States $287,500.00
2 aakkari Brazil $200,000.00
3 crazyjanie United States $150,000.00
4 pycb United States $112,500.00
5 pumped4good United States $75,000.00
6 djk123 United States $59,375.00
7 7CardRyon United States $46,875.00
8 gipsy74 Russian Federation $38,750.00
9 MadCaddy United States $25,000.00
10 Empire2000 United States $25,000.00
11 goodolehank United States $25,000.00
12 MrSmokey1 United States $25,000.00
13 Humberto B. Costa Rica $18,750.00
14 ozenc Netherlands $18,750.00
15 floes United States $18,750.00
16 jerrod United States $18,750.00
17 Exclusive Netherlands $13,125.00
18 double joker United States $13,125.00
19 THAY3R United States $13,125.00
20 LeeNelsonP* New Zealand $13,125.00
21 gibralter11 United States $13,125.00
22 bigjoe2003 United States $13,125.00
23 str8flushin5 United States $13,125.00
24 astarisborn United States $13,125.00