Timestamps

0:30 Nitcast Meet-Up Announcement
4:39 Hello and Welcome
16:30 Triple Draw Strategy
24:00 Blogging for FTP
38:00 Gareth on David Foster Wallace and Nate on Dave Eggers
51:00 Andrew Brokos vs Ricky Gervais
1:01:30 Zoom/Rush Poker Strategy

While I see tremendous potential here, the current Rush Poker application, playable on Android devices, hasn’t quite got it right yet. It’s close: the graphics are clean and crisp, the interface is uncluttered, and all of the information you need is easy to find and read on a small screen. The major problem is that the bet slider is extremely difficult to control. This combined with the generally short time to act allotted in Rush Poker games and the occasional lag left me intermittently timing out and folding or settling for a bet size that was merely in the neighborhood of what I wanted.

On my Droid X, the application was somewhat slow to load and connect to the server initially, but once it was up and running, the lag that I experienced on the Verizon network, even from rural Texas, wasn’t in itself unmanageable. The only problem is that it ate a second or so off of the time that I had to fiddle awkwardly with the bet slider.

The familiar radio boxes to “Fold to Any Bet” or “Call Any” aren’t available, which isn’t really a problem since you can only play one table at a time anyway, nor is there a chat box. When applicable, an “Auto-Fold” button appears prominently on the screen in case you want to fold and move on immediately to the next hand. Otherwise, buttons to “Fold”, “Call”, or “Raise” appear when it is your turn to act.

Clicking “Raise” brings up more buttons and a slider. Your options are “Minimum”, “Pot”, “All In”, or the amount that you select with the slider. Maybe I’m still new to the whole touch screen thing, having had my smart phone for only a few months, but I found it virtually impossible to pin the slider down on exactly the amount that I wanted. Playing 1/2 NL with play chips, I could reliably get within 1 or 2 chips of the amount I wanted to bet, but even lifting my finger off of the screen after selecting my size sometimes caused the slider to shift slightly higher or lower. In the half-hour that I played, I both timed out and made incorrect bet sizes more often than I actually bet the amount that I wanted using the slider.

To be fair, the application is still in its public beta testing and restricted to play money games. Hopefully they can either improve the bet slider or provide a virtual number pad to enter bets manually. Maybe it isn’t so bad if you’re playing on a tablet. What lag issues there are will presumably improve as cellular networks get faster. I wouldn’t recommend playing Rush Poker Mobile for real money in its current incarnation, but it makes me extremely optimistic for the future of mobile poker applications.

10. Sharron Angle- Thanks for being so goddamn crazy that you couldn’t even get elected as a Republican in Nevada during the 2010 midterms. If anyone remotely competent had gotten your party’s nomination, poker players would be without our friend Harry Reid in the Senate.

9. The 2+2 Pokercast– Fantastic free entertainment! They have consistently great guests and keep me in the loop about both important developments in the poker world and the best photoshop threads in BBV4L. The Pokercast is a regular companion when I’m grinding the Sunday Majors.

8. Barney Frank- If we see fully legalized and regulated online poker in the US anytime soon, it will be because of Barney Frank. So here’s to you, you beautiful curmudgeonly bastard!

7. Rush Poker– I buy the hype; this is a major development that will change the face of online poker. It’s fast, it’s fun, and it’s bringing in new recreational players. Now let’s see some heads up Rush in 2011!

6. My $25,000 Suckout– It was the single biggest pot of my career, and I needed a miracle to win it.

5. Five of Clubs– A lot of cards would have done it, but this river won me a huge flip against David Baker on Day 6 of the WSOP and kept me alive for several hours’ worth of pay jumps. And I got some solid TV time out of it!

4. FTOPS Jersey- Obviously it took a lot of luck to win this, including QQ > AK on the final table bubble and AA > KK at the final table to win a huge pot from Bakes. People named David Baker did not have a good year vs. me.

3. Chris Moneymaker- For making it all happen in the first place. He was the right guy, with the right name, to win the WSOP at exactly the right time. Seven years later, we’re still profiting from the boom he jump-started.

2. 2+2 Forums– The content of the strategy forums has gone downhill in recent years, but even so they continue to serve an incredibly valuable role as a community forum where the industry is kept at least a little bit in check. Keeping sites, and players, honest is difficult work, and these forums are the single best tool that we as a community have to combat cheating.

1. You- I’m sure I would have given blogging long ago if weren’t for all of you frequent readers and commenters. Thanks for keeping it fun and interesting!

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

SB ($453.80)
BB ($418)
UTG ($400)
UTG+1 ($402)
MP1 ($402)
MP2 ($427.20)
MP3 ($400)
CO ($240)
Hero (Button) ($962)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 9
6 folds, Hero bets $8, SB calls $6, BB raises to $36, Hero raises to $77, 1 fold, BB calls $41

Flop: ($162) 6, K, 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $66, BB calls $66

Turn: ($294) 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $99, BB calls $99

River: ($492) 3 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $492, 1 fold

Total pot: $492 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, 9 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $489

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 folds, Button calls $12, 1 fold, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($38) J, 5, 10 (3 players)
Hero bets $28, UTG+1 calls $28, Button calls $28

Turn: ($122) 3 (3 players)
Hero bets $99, 1 fold, Button calls $99

River: ($320) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $210, Hero calls $210

Total pot: $740 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had K, Q (one pair, fives).
Hero had 9, 10 (two pair, tens and fives).
Outcome: Hero won $737

UTG is a predictable TAG regular, and BTN is a loose-ish random. I donk the flop because my hand isn’t good enough to call a c-bet but also doesn’t generally want to see the flop check around. Also I am already thinking about possibly getting UTG off of an overpair by three-barreling.

After the flop action, I am confident that UTG has a better hand than mine and that BTN is on a draw. The turn bet puts a lot of pressure on UTG. Not just anyone will fold top pair/an overpair here, but I think he will, if not now then on the river. Of course having him fold and BTN call is the ideal outcome.

And then a brick on the river makes for an easy check-call. I probably lose to AJ or Kc Qc now and again, but that’s about it.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($205.20)
Button ($615)
Hero (SB) ($1643.25)
BB ($439.60)
UTG ($464.10)
UTG+1 ($1420.30)
MP1 ($426.70)
MP2 ($406)
MP3 ($400)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, Q
6 folds, Button bets $8, Hero raises to $32, 1 fold, Button raises to $70, Hero calls $38

Flop: ($144) 6, A, 8 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $20, Hero raises to $123, Button raises to $545 (All-In), Hero calls $422

Turn: ($1234) K (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($1234) J (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $1234 | Rake: $3

Results:
Button had 9, Q (high card, Ace).
Hero had K, Q (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $1231

His flop shove is atrocious because he’s so often drawing slim to dead when called. Check-raising his underbet is very important. Although he probably will fold sometimes, there’s no way he makes a bet like that without expecting me to play back at a fair bit of the time. That means that he’s sometimes trying to induce with some big hand (a set, perhaps) and also that he’ll float and/or rebluff it. Although I have blockers to his rebluffing range, we can see that he’s willing to be quite liberal about it.

The guy who sold it to me was pretty ridiculous. I came in knowing what I wanted: which phone, which plan, etc. He was immediately trying to sell me on a two-year contract and downright distraught when I declined the insurance. I believe, “I would never have a $500 phone without insurance.” As a debater, I’m always tempted to try to refute stupid arguments like this, but I have to remind myself that this isn’t a situation where I’m going to convince him of anything. He may or may not actually realize why it’s a bad investment, but it’s not like he’s ever going to be like, “Oh hey you’re right that insurance totally is a losing proposition for anyone who can afford to buy a new phone if necessary.”

So anyway he needs my e-mail address and I decide to give him my thinkingpoker one. Big mistake. He asks if I make money playing poker, and I just shrug and say, “It’s paying for the phone.”

“Where do you play?”

“Online.”

“Yeah like which sites?”

“Just Poker Stars and Full Tilt these days.”

“I used to play online. I’m convinced it’s rigged.”

Oh god are we really going to have this conversation? It’s literally ripped straight from the pages of BBV.

“Think about it. How many times have you had the second nuts, and they give someone else the nuts?”

“If it is rigged, it seems to be rigged in my favor, so I guess I’m OK with it.”

“There’s so many people on there who just don’t care. They go all in with anything. Hard to beat that.”

“Hm.”

“I love putting bad beats on people though. Isn’t that the best feeling?”

Please stop.

“Like this one time, I was playing at Commerce- it’s this card room in LA.”

“Yeah, I know the Commerce.”

“So I was playing in a 5/10 game…”

I’d been avoiding eye contact to signal my lack of interest in this conversation, but this got my attention. Does this nimrod really play 5/10?

“There was this guy playing crazy aggressive, just raising everything.”

“That sounds like the Commerce.”

“So you know I’m just sitting back, taking stock of the situation. I only have a couple hundred dollars, so I don’t want to get caught. Then I pick up Rockets.”

Naturally you call them Rockets.

“He raises, and I re-raise, and we end up capping it.”

Ah, of course. You are playing 5/10 limit. That makes more sense.

Whatever, I’ll spare you the rest of a long and boring story. Board comes out Q422A, and they cap it all the way, and his opponent had Q2 and was pissed. I just thought it was ironic that this clown was trying to convince me both that online poker was rigged and that buying $9/month insurance, with a fucking $90 deductible on top of that, was a good idea.

But yeah, I’m finally a smart phone owner. Hopefully I’ll be able to report on the quality of the mobile Rush Poker experience soon.

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)
CO ($517)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 8, 8
Hero calls $4, 4 folds, CO bets $22, 3 folds, Hero calls $18

Flop: ($50) 8, 4, 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets $28, Hero calls $28

Turn: ($106) 4 (2 players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($106) 8 (2 players)
Hero ??

Villain is a decent regular, a bit on the tight side but smart and capable. What do you do here and why?

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: Hero is MP1 with Q, Q
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $12, Hero calls $12, 6 folds

Flop: ($30) 4, 9, 10 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $9, UTG+1 calls $9

Turn: ($48) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $15, UTG+1 raises to $64, Hero calls $49

River: ($176) 7 (2 players)
UTG+1 bets $140, Hero raises to $996.40 (All-In), UTG+1 calls $416.60 (All-In)

Total pot: $1289.20 | Rake: $3

Results:
UTG+1 had A, A (two pair, Aces and sevens).
Hero had Q, Q (two pair, Queens and sevens).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $1286.20

When he check-raises the turn, I realize there’s a substantial risk that I’m not good. I don’t see him playing any full houses this way, so I went for it.

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 folds, BB raises to $32, Hero calls $24

Flop: ($66) 4, 7, 3 (2 players)
BB bets $48, Hero calls $48

Turn: ($162) 10 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $66, BB raises to $132, Hero calls $66

River: ($426) Q (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $953.50 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $426 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show 5, 5 (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $423

I don’t see him min check-raising anything worse than the Ac for value on the turn, and even then, I think he just bets it 99% of the time. That makes it an easy float and half-pot bluff shove on the river. FWIW I think calling the flop is pretty questionable unless you’re capable of turning your hand into a bluff sometimes. Even with a gutshot, 55 no club probably doesn’t have enough equity to play for showdown value alone.

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 ($543.20)
Hero (BB) ($459.20)
UTG ($379)
UTG+1 ($322)
MP1 ($562.10)

Preflop: Hero is BB with A, K
2 folds, MP1 bets $12, MP2 calls $12, 4 folds, Hero calls $8

Flop: ($38) 2, 7, 7 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 bets $38, MP2 calls $38, Hero calls $38

Turn: ($152) J (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 checks

River: ($152) 6 (3 players)
Hero checks, MP1 checks, MP2 bets $52, Hero raises to $409.20 (All-In), 2 folds

Total pot: $256 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero didn’t show A, K (nothing).
Outcome: Hero won $253

The important read here is that MP2 is a pretty huge nit. That’s mostly a pre-flop read, but I really don’t see him hero calling the river even with AA. I mean it wouldn’t be a bad call, but it’s not one that I see him making. Pre-flop is some combination of drawing, as the A and K are often good if I hit them, plus banking on being able to run a bluff like this even if I miss.

The $500 was even worse. I got off to a nice start, doubling up during the second hour by check-raising T7 on a J98 flop and shoving over a 3-bet into what turned out to be a horrifically played AA. Speaking of horifically played AA’s, here’s my bustout hand:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, 530 Tournament, 300/600 Blinds 70 Ante (9 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB (t38207)
UTG (t27759)
UTG+1 (t33127)
MP1 (t19844)
MP2 (t74614)
MP3 (t34194)
CO (t44994)
Hero (Button) (t22083)
SB (t83994)

Hero’s M: 14.43

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, A
4 folds, MP3 bets t1800, 1 fold, Hero calls t1800, 1 fold, BB calls t1200

Flop: (t6330) 5, J, J (3 players)
BB checks, MP3 bets t4200, Hero calls t4200, BB raises to t10060, MP3 raises to t32324 (All-In), Hero calls t16013 (All-In), BB calls t22264

Turn: (t91191) 2 (3 players, 2 all-in)

River: (t91191) 9 (3 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t91191

Results:
Hero had A, A (two pair, Aces and Jacks).
BB had A, J (three of a kind, Jacks).
MP3 had 6, 5 (two pair, Jacks and fives).
Outcome: BB won t91191

Ordinarily this would be a fold for me, and it still probably should have been, but there were some extenuating circumstances. For one thing, as you can see, MP3 was clearly pretty bad, so despite the fact that he looks strong here, I’m actually crushing his range.

BB was a (decent) maniac and the reason that I flat-called the AA pre-flop in the first place. He’d recently 3-bet my UTG+1 raise and then called a cold 4-bet shove from a third player with what turned out to be J8o. Like I said, I should still probably fold this, but I gave him credit for being able to make a play here with like a flush draw or maybe even air.

After 7 hours, I finished just outside of the top 25%. These structures are crazy, too good really. I played for better than 10 hours straight today, which is among the longest days I’ve played, and since I was multitabling rush games on the side the whole day, I’m pretty sure I set a personal record for most hands played in one day.

The rush games were awesome, BTW. I finished with a stack of over 1000 BB’s on one table. And I won a WCOOP main event seat in a $100 rebuy satellite. So despite the WCOOP frustration, it was still a very solid day.

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 the river. Given the number of draws out there, though, I do think his line is a good one. I still like my value bet, though, even if knowing he can occasionally have a K.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($162)
Hero (Button) ($414.60)
SB ($309)
BB ($413)
UTG ($522.60)
UTG+1 ($544)
MP1 ($889.40)
MP2 ($335.80)
MP3 ($634.10)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9, 9
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $16, 4 folds, Hero calls $16, SB calls $14, 1 fold

Flop: ($52) 3, 7, 6 (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $17, SB calls $17, UTG+1 calls $17

Turn: ($103) K (3 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets $55, Hero calls $55, 1 fold

River: ($213) 6 (2 players)
UTG+1 checks, Hero bets $166, UTG+1 calls $166

Total pot: $545 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had 9, 9 (two pair, nines and sixes).
UTG+1 had A, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
Outcome: UTG+1 won $542

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 kicker, but he’s one of the better Rush players, so I kind of doubt he’s overvaluing such a hand this way in the first place.

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

MP3 ($648.60)
CO ($602.05)
Button ($160.90)
Hero (SB) ($420)
BB ($413.50)
UTG ($452.90)
UTG+1 ($219)
MP1 ($400)
MP2 ($860.90)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 7, 8
5 folds, CO calls $4, Button calls $4, Hero calls $2, BB checks

Flop: ($16) 8, 4, 8 (4 players)
Hero bets $16, BB raises to $48, 2 folds, Hero calls $32

Turn: ($112) J (2 players)
Hero checks, BB bets $92, Hero folds

Total pot: $112 | Rake: $3

Results:
BB didn’t show
Outcome: BB won $109

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

When he checked the river, I decided to turn my hand into a bluff to get him off a better two-pair, figuring he’s never checking a straight here. Whoops!

It’s a very good check, I think. It’s pretty rare that I’m going to call this river with anything but a Q, meaning that if he bets, he’s only ever going to chop with me. His check gives me room to turn a hand into a bluff or even go for a thin value bet. It’s a rare spot where my value betting range is probably wider than my calling range, and his check is a very nice way of taking advantage of that, never mind the bluff that he induced here.

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.

In my opinion, this is a fantastic idea and a great example of allowing online poker to be its own game rather than just a derivative of live poker. No one enjoys sitting and waiting for others to finish playing a hand so that the next one can be dealt, and now you don’t have to. Just because this is a necessity in a live setting doesn’t mean sites like FTP can’t take advantage of the magic of the interwebs to provide a better (or at least different) experience.

Rush Poker has a couple of implications, the most obvious of which are that you can play dramatically more hands per table-hour (though presumably fewer tables simultaneously) and that you have little opportunity to get reads on your opponents or build up a table dynamic with them.

I underestimated how significant this second factor was going to be. There’s a world of difference between a relative unknown and a complete unknown, and even in a few dozen hands I can get at least a bit of a baseline on how someone will play. Even at $.50/$1, the highest stakes at which Rush Poker is currently offered and where I am presumably far better than the general population, I found myself in surprisingly many spots where I wished I had at least a vague idea of whether someone was loose or tight, passive or aggressive.

That said, you will run into the same player more than once, especially since multi-tabling is possible. Over 444 hands at 6-max tables, the most I ever saw any single player was 8 times. At the time that I quit, there were 200 different players playing, and 355 “entries”, which I assume means that the average player was playing fewer than 2 tables at once.

As for getting more hands, I managed 444 on two tables in about an hour and a half. That comes out to 150 hands/table-hour, which is 2-3 times what I get at a normal 6-max table. That seems about right.

I lost three buy-ins in that 444 hands, but I also lost a pre-flop coin flip, flopped a set vs. a straight, flopped top pair and a flush draw vs. a set, rivered two pair vs. a set, and had someone river a straight flush on my full house, so overall I feel like I was in OK shape despite my experience in dealing with the fishies.

If you want some more thoughts on how to adapt to Rush Poker, Michael Craig made some interesting posts on the subject recently on the Full Tilt blog.