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Andy Bloch is a long-time professional poker player and computer programmer who was one of the pioneers at the intersection of these fields. He was also a member of the MIT Blackjack team that was the subject of Bringing Down the … Read full post
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Patrick Leonard (pads1161 on PokerStars, plenopads on Twitter) is one of the most respected MTT players in the world and one of the head coaches at bitB staking. It’s too bad we lost some of the audio from our interview with … Read full post
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Alan Boston has long been known as a sports better, but now he’s back on the east coast, making a living in the Foxwoods Poker Room. Alan tells his stories with characteristic bluntness and candor, from Stu Ungar and 1980s Las Vegas … Read full post
After busting Flight A of the Crazy 8s WSOP event on Friday yesterday, I took another shot at Flight C yesterday. I ended up with a shallow cash and there were one or two moderately interesting hands, but I’ll cut to the chase: about halfway through the day, Chris Ferguson … Read full post
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Gareth quits his job. Nate folds an overpair. Andrew agrees to let Gareth come back on the show.
Gareth’s last appearance on the show was Episode 123. For those who don’t know who he is, his first appearance was Episode 6… Read full post
Nate and I are grateful to those of you who have listened to The Thinking Poker Podcast this year, whether you’re a regular follower, a sporadic listener, or just now discovering the show. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite episodes of the year, in case you missed … Read full post
As you may remember from his latest appearance on the podcast, Gareth Chantler is now in charge of the Full Tilt Poker Blog. He’s done a bang-up job on the content, including an interview with me and a collaboration with Carlos Welch. Nate’s first appearance there was commenting, … Read full post
Tony “Bond18” Dunst, host of the World Poker Tour’s Raw Deal, joins the Thinking Poker Podcast to talk about wearing suits, interacting with fans, and treating poker like a job.
If one podcast a week isn’t enough to make you sick of me, you can get an extra two hours this week. I joined RonFezBuddy and Killingbird on the Tournament Poker Edge Strategy Podcast. We talked about my background in poker plus a ton of strategy topics, from hand … Read full post
As “The Poker Philosopher”, and in honor of one of my favorite non-poker blogs, I occasionally consider the ethical dimensions of a high-profile controversy or occurrence in the poker community. This is the first in a series of posts about the major players in the recent Poker Stars – … Read full post
One year ago today, the Department of Justice unsealed its indictments against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Ultimate Bet/Absolute Poker. It’s been a tumultuous year for me, but not necessarily a bad one. As I predicted in an article entitled Gray Friday, “This catastrophe is forcing me to confront … Read full post
Today is Sunday, but I won’t be playing the Sunday Million, because I’m currently in the United States.
For as long as I’ve had this blog, I’ve started every year with a series of posts about my poker-related goals and resolutions, and I’ve ended every year by assessing the progress … Read full post
Ethics for Sale
Some of you may have heard that Phil Hellmuth overslept yesterday morning and was getting blinded off in the tournament. Apparently Mike Matusow called security at Phil’s hotel and got them to enter his room and wake him up. I didn’t know any of this at the … Read full post
There is obvious untapped potential for poker games playable on mobile devices. Full Tilt Poker’s fast-paced Rush Poker in particular is a great fit for this format. The relative speed of the game makes one-tabling it more tolerable, and the general aesthetic of speed poker fits well with that of … Read full post
Obviously I’ve been closely following discussions of the “Reid Bill” that would pave the way for licensing of US-based online poker operations following a “blackout period” during which it would be unlawful to offer such games to American players. I have no inside knowledge of the issue myself, but I … Read full post
I final tabled the $500 KO Friday Night Fight on FTP last night, finishing in a slightly disappointing 8th. Not too shabby though considering I never got above the average stack and collected not a single bounty.
Since my November strategy article was about bet sizing in tournaments, here’s a … Read full post
A few days ago, Poker Grump asked me what Harry Reid had ever done for internet poker. It wasn’t until I saw this article in the Wall Street Journal that I remembered I hadn’t responded:
… Read full postStaffers for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are circulating a bill to legalize poker
It’s been a while, but with only one month left in the year, it’s time to assess my progress on my goals for the year and consider how I should allocate my remaining time.
Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
I started things off with a solid cold decking, and within minutes I was 3rd overall:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds 3 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t6043)
UTG+1 (t6006)
MP1 (t6253)
MP2 (t5929)
MP3 (t5889)
CO (t5949)
Button (t5949)
SB (t6133)
Hero … Read full post
One of my criticisms of Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, which I generally liked, was that the authors neglected opportunities to play Ace-high for showdown value and turned such hands into a bluff too frequently. Today I had the misfortune of having one of the authors … Read full post
Gary Wise’s new article on ESPN.com, Choosing Between Career and Home, about the recent decisions by Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars to forbid residents of Washington state from playing on their sites. Obviously this decision, made to comply with a long-standing Washington law making online poker a felony, … Read full post
A lot of players are torn about what to do when they know an opponent is frequently betting the flop without a hand. Is it better to float, or to bluff-raise? I’ve written a strategy article on the subject, but in the 1K FTOPS tonight, I had the chance to … Read full post
This wasn’t anything that I planned from the get-go. It was just that on each street, I kept feeling like he could be weak enough for an underbet to show a profit. I almost shoved the turn, and then I was like, “Screw it, 80% of what he folds to … Read full post
About 3 hours into today’s $300 6-max, I got moved to a table with two Pocket Fives superstars. One was to my immediate right, and one two seats to my left. We tangled in a few interesting spots, and while I definitely got the best of the one on my … Read full post
Finished a very frustrating 12/500 in this, capping off a long and shitty day of poker. I was in very good shape approaching the bubble, then got scooped in two sizable pots to get busted down to average as we approach the final two tables. Cyndy Violette took two more … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP3 ($126.70)
CO ($508.10)
Button ($470.80)
SB ($443.50)
Hero (BB) ($823)
UTG ($469.40)
UTG+1 ($793.10)
MP1 ($400)
MP2 ($376.90)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 9
, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $12, 4 … Read full post
FWIW I shouldn’t have 3-bet this guy pre-flop because he rarely calls but often 4-bets and KQs isn’t quite so good that I’m happy about 3-bet-calling it (although I did after remembering who this guy was).
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com… Read full post
28 players remaining in the FTP Friday Night Fight, 27 places pay. As soon as I saw this flop, I told myself that if the pre-flop raiser made a continuation bet I’d have to either check-call or check-fold. I just didn’t see him betting this board into two players with … Read full post
This hand generated some really interesting comments and discussion both at Thinking Poker and at Cardplayer. Thanks to everyone who participated. Some of you have seen the results already, but for those who haven’t, here’s what happened:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool … Read full post
I finally got around to buying a new phone today, after having run out my contract with Sprint months ago. I’d been wavering between a Droid and an Iphone for a while, and then Full Tilt went and made the decision for me by releasing a Beta version of Rush … Read full post
A lot of you probably get these “pro tip” e-mails from Full Tilt from time to time. I’ve glanced at a few and they were always very rudimentary and sometimes wrong. The title of this one caught my eye, though, and while it’s not a very sophisticated concept, it’s well-executed:… Read full post
Thanks to all the commenters who have contributed to some very good discussion this week. Let’s keep it going!
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($518.20)
SB ($490.30)
BB ($276.80)
Hero (UTG) ($773.50)
UTG+1 ($1109.10)
MP1 ($154.10)
MP2 ($1936.65)
MP3 ($943.80)… Read full post
I’ve bragged about some creative bluffs recently, so here’s one where I got owned:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($434)
BB ($160)
UTG ($400)
UTG+1 ($641.60)
Hero (MP1) ($1081.40)
MP2 ($418.40)
MP3 ($1143)
CO ($131)
Button ($402)
Preflop: … Read full post
Different opponent from yesterday’s hand, but similar situation where a guy is simultaneously pissing me off and making it very obvious that he doesn’t have the nuts. I contemplated floating, but this is a really good hand to just ship on him:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($424.85)
UTG+1 ($167)
MP1 ($435)
Hero (MP2) ($1165.50)
MP3 ($638.40)
CO ($753)
Button ($744.75)
SB ($606.60)
BB ($433)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5
, 5
3 folds, Hero bets $8, 4 … Read full post
I’ve posted a few hands recently where I floated AK and ended up bluffing the river to get an opponent off of a pocket pair. Here’s another:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP2 ($587.50)
MP3 ($867.20)
CO ($182.90)
Button ($316)
SB … Read full post
I really had no idea what to put UTG+1 on here, but I didn’t think he’d play anything better than 99 this way on the flop. Obviously the K is rather unlikely to hit him, and while his turn bet is weird, I also wasn’t sure he’d check Kings on … Read full post
Honestly I can probably even fold the flop. Granted I have one of the best bluff-catching hands, but it’s just so unlikely Villain is bluffing here. Calling the flop to see what he does on the turn reduces the chance that I end up folding to trips with a worse … Read full post
I won’t be a back-to-back champion in the $2000 2-day FTOPS. I actually had quite good luck with my table draws, recognizing no one at my starting table and only two players over the course of the three and a half hours I played: Eric Froehlich and Tmay. The two … Read full post
Here’s a sad but humorous exchange I had with FTP support today. For what it’s worth, I’m pretty sure I would have folded the river anyway, though that’s hardly the point:
… Read full postI just played a hand in the $1000 NLHE FTOPS event in which I activated my time bank, for
I had a solid Sunday today, no wins but made two deep runs. I took 2nd out of nearly 1000 runners in the Stars $150 6-max. The competition was surprisingly tough for a $150 tournament: I recognized three good players at my starting table, and the last few tables were … Read full post
This was the second rush tournament I’ve played, and while I miss having reads and establishing dynamics at the table, I will say that rush otherwise allows for great tournament structures. You get in a ton of hands at each blind level and the tournament still goes by pretty quickly. … Read full post
The first in a series of four videos reviewing my play at the final table of the FTOPS $2K event that I won has just been posted on Poker Savvy Plus. The video contains a lot of insight into managing final table dynamics. Without giving too much away, I can … Read full post
Over two weeks ago, I won the FTOPS Tournament of Champions, the prize for which was a seat in the WSOP Main Event. I never received the money or any further information, so eventually I wrote them to ask about it. It sounds like the only incentive they are … Read full post
Last night, as I was sleep-deprived and caffeine-jittery and getting deep in the $300 SCOOP 4-Max, I was also on the phone with Mike Johnson and Adam Schwartz, hosts of the 2+2 Pokercast on which I am this week’s feature guest! You can search for it on iTunes or listen … Read full post
Full Tilt Poker hosted a Tournament of Champions today for everyone who won an FTOPS event in any of the last four series. The only prize was a $10,000 WSOP seat (no details whatsoever on how/whether it can be cashed out) to the winner, and guess who that was?
To … Read full post
Isn’t it pretty? Plus, now that my avatar is no longer the black guy with the Afro, I expect to see 17% less racist vitriol directed at me in the chatbox!
Don’t Try to Bluff a Guy Named Psycho
This one’s a little embarrassing. I shoved turn here hoping to get him off a mid-pair, but here’s what happened instead:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 6000/12000 Blinds 1500 Ante (8 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (CO) (t497480)
Button … Read full post
Wow. Thanks to everyone who was watching and following along.
For those who weren’t, here’s the quick version:
With 10 left I was in 8th, which was a tough spot because Bakes was swinging his big stack extremely well. I pretty much couldn’t move. Finally picked up AK and ended … Read full post
We played for 10 hours, so obviously there were a lot of hands, but here are two that stick out in my head:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 250/500 Blinds 50 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t55790)
UTG+1 (t36186)
MP1 (t27509)
MP2 (t15323)
MP3 (t15790)… Read full post
Woke up at 6AM this morning, drove from Boston to Baltimore, got in just in time to fire this bitch up, and 10 hours later I am through Day 1 ranked 22/106, with 946 runners starting. I actually burst the bubble myself, busting the lovely Lauren Kling when she shoved … Read full post
Congratulations on busting durrrr in the following tournament:
FTOPS Event #25 (2-Day) (147664209)
Your Full Tilt Poker account has been credited with a bounty prize of $200.00.
In addition to your bounty prize money, you’ve also earned a T-shirt to commemorate your accomplishment. You’ll receive a second email that will … Read full post
Like the $100 rebuy, this one ran with an overlay. I was only in for $900, so I had like $240 in overlay.
It went down basically the way I expected it to: got some fish to clown off their stacks to me early, then had to play poker with … Read full post
I’ve had some deep runs lately in the Saturday $300 6-max, so I was looking forward to this event. Unfortunately, it didn’t really go my way. I lost a big pot (though not my stack) with AJ vs. AQ on a AJ7Q9 board in a 3-bet pot. My bust-out hand … Read full post
OK I did play it ;-). It didn’t end up taking up much time at all.
I’m still not sure about this fold. He certainly ought to have more than AA to do this, but you never know with these clowns. Then again if he does have AA2 (or any … Read full post
I finished 12th in this, out of 1024, meaning I made it to the Sweet 16. I’m not going to go into a lot of detail about hands here because I’ll probably make a video of this for Poker Savvy Plus. But here’s the quick rundown:
Round 1- Guy was … Read full post
Well this is embarrassing. A few days ago I made a post about the new card mod I was using for FTP. I suggested downloading the image files from RapidShare, which as several commenters pointed out is needlessly risky. I did use that link myself and I don’t have any … Read full post
Edit: Changed to a better link for downloading.
From time to time I like to check in at the 2+2 Software Forum to see what kinds of software, mods, etc. are out there that could potentially enhance my playing experience. These cards have actually been around for a while, but … Read full post
We’re just inside of 100 people left in the monthly FTP $500, down from a little over 2000 who started.
UTG is a random who definitely does not play these stakes with any regularity. Googling his name reveals a few $.05/$.10 hands, so I’m sure he’s a satellite qualifier. He’s … Read full post
I don’t necessarily call here vs. randoms, but these two were both red pros and knowledgeable tournament players (Jon Turner and Mandy B). Against the, it’s a mandatory snap-call. Jon isn’t the wildest player in the world, but he has to be on at least 60% of his hands here, … Read full post
As
“The Poker Philosopher”, and in honor of one of my favorite non-poker blogs, I occasionally consider the ethical dimensions of a high-profile controversy in the poker community. In September, I discussed Joe Sebok’s decision to join Team Ultimate Bet. In November, I examined a $50,000 $W swap … Read full post
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 … Read full 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 … Read full 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, … Read full 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 … Read full 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 … Read full post
