Posts Tagged ‘Full Tilt Poker’

Some of you are probably aware of this controversy already, but in the Full Tilt Poker lobby, heads up tables are currently displayed in alphabetical order. What this means is that whoever is lucky enough to get Table Acre or other names that occur early in the alphabet have by far the best chance of getting a fish to come and sit at his table.

I don’t know how much big of a deal this is at the small stakes, but in high stakes games it is really freaking annoying. There are usually 25-40 tables with just one player sitting and waiting for action, with just a handful of games actually running. Most of these nits sit out against any remotely decent player who tries to play them and just wait for fish. That’s all fine and good and totally their choice, but I don’t think they ought to be able to squat the most valuable real estate.  Read the complete post...

I was playing some rush poker the other day when this hand came up against allinstevie. I recognized him from MTT’s and sit-and-go’s and quickly wrote him off as just another tourney donk. He went on to show me that he had a little tricky in him:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $2.00 BB (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($221.05)
UTG ($200)
MP ($359.95)
CO ($212.55)
Hero (Button) ($200)
SB ($263.05)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K, J
3 folds, Hero bets $5, 1 fold, BB raises to $20, Hero calls $15

Flop: ($41) A, K, 10 (2 players)
BB bets $25, Hero calls $25

Turn: ($91) J (2 players)
BB bets $52, Hero calls $52

River: ($195) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $103 (All-In), BB calls $103

Total pot: $401 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, J (two pair, Kings and Jacks).
BB had Q, A (straight, Ace high).
Outcome: BB won $398  Read the complete post...

The FTOPS main event started at 3PM PST. I busted the NAPT around 3:20 and booked it back up to my room to late register. Obviously immediately after experience some bad luck in a big live tournament, I wasn’t in a mindset to play the best poker of my life, but I didn’t want to miss a juicy $500 tournament. Hard to say whether that was a good decision though. Here are the two big pots that did me in:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 (t7733)
CO (t8986)
Button (t7340)
SB (t7032)
Hero (BB) (t8773)
UTG (t4813)
UTG+1 (t14044)
MP1 (t1738)
MP2 (t16268)

Hero’s M: 73.11

Preflop: Hero is BB with 6, 5
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t280, 3 folds, CO calls t280, 2 folds, Hero calls t200

Flop: (t880) 4, 7, 6 (3 players)
Hero bets t333, 1 fold, CO calls t333  Read the complete post...

My starting table had not a lot of chips but a couple of notable players, including Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Andrew Chen, Jonathan “driverseati” Tamayo, and Lauren Kling. We broke after less than an hour, but I still managed to play a few interesting pots. Also, a very friendly reader named Mark (hi, Mark) recognized me from the Blog and introduced himself, which was cool. A kid at the PCA recognized my voice from Poker Savvy, but I think this is the first time a blog reader I didn’t already know has recognized me.

500/1000/100, I open complete 73o in the SB, Lauren checks.

Flop Ks Js Jc, I check planning to call a bet and bluff river. She checks behind.

Turn 7c, I check, she bets 3000, I call.

River 9d, we check, I show my hand, and it’s good. Owen comments on my playing 73o and predicts that I won’t be giving a lot of walks.  Read the complete post...

Edit: Yeah, I’m an idiot. It was late when I posted this, and I did in fact calculate my pre-flop equity rather than my flop equity. I’m actually a 2:1 dog here, which is more what I expected. Thanks to qanda201 for pointing it out in the comments. I thought it seemed too good to be true.

Full Tilt Pot-Limit Omaha Tournament, 500/1000 Blinds (9 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

UTG+1 (t32863)
MP1 (t13444)
MP2 (t17933)
MP3 (t4420)
CO (t19270)
Button (t11849)
Hero (SB) (t20290)
BB (t16994)
UTG (t11219)

Hero’s M: 13.53

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K, 2, 3
1 fold, UTG+1 bets t2500, 1 fold, MP2 calls t2500, 3 folds, Hero calls t2000, BB calls t1500

Flop: (t10000) 5, 10, J (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets t10000, 2 folds, Hero raises to t17790 (All-In), BB calls t4494 (All-In)

Turn: (t38988) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)  Read the complete post...

Full Tilt Poker recently introduced some new small stakes tables in a format they call “Rush Poker”:

Available exclusively at Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker* is the ultimate high-speed poker experience.

This new poker format is designed to minimize your wait time between hands and keep you in the action. You’ll join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents every hand you play. When you fold your hand, you’ll be rushed to another table for a new hand right away.

To play even faster, use the Quick Fold button to move to a new table for the next hand immediately.

The basic idea is that you always have a hand to play. The second you decide you want to fold, you are instantly assigned to a random new table, with new opponents, and have a new hand to play.  Read the complete post...

My tournaments results have been pretty good the last few months, culminating most recently in two PCA seats and a win in the FTP $300 Saturday 6-Max. I attribute this improvement to a disciplined effort to avoid bringing the aggressive play needed to win in high-stakes cash games over to a tournament setting where my opponents are far more passive and far less tricky.

Last night, in the $300 rebuy FTOPS event, I was rolling along nicely and then fell off the wagon:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 170/340 Blinds 25 Ante (6 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t13511)
UTG (t19356)
MP (t20140)
CO (t18855)
Button (t12236)
Hero (SB) (t19919)
Hero’s M: 30.18

Preflop: Hero is SB with 8, K
4 folds, Hero bets t1020, BB calls t680

Flop: (t2190) 9, 2, 7 (2 players)
Hero bets t1333, BB raises to t3125, Hero raises to t18874 (All-In), BB calls t9341 (All-In)  Read the complete post...

The whole idea of betting for protection is one that I feel I am really only now starting to understand. Most people, when they first start playing, are way too concerned about protecting their hands. You see them overbetting and moving all in with one pair hands in spots where they will never be called with worse.

Many better players like to make fun of the fish who talk about protecting their hands. Because betting for protection is so popular among weak players, many stronger players think it is an intrinsically bad play.

I’ve been trying to reach a more nuanced understanding of the concept recently. My current thinking is that it has a lot to do with, not whether you will get drawn out on, but whether future streets are likely to be +EV for you. Sometimes you have a hand that will play well on future streets, in which case you aren’t concerned about protecting. Other times, you have a hand that can’t improve and can’t catch bluffs, in which case it’s often best to take it down right away.  Read the complete post...