Sorry for the short notice, but I made Day 2 of the $2000 NLHE event, which has just restarted for the day. Foucault82 is my screenname on PokerStars, if anyone wants to sweat. I have 90K and the average is … Read more…
I had a note that Villain will fight back in position in a 3-bet pot, which explains at least some of this hand. And if his range on the river is all combos of AK, 77, 99, 86s, and T8s, … Read more…
Sorry for the inconvenience, but there’s not going to be a podcast this week. There were some complications getting it together on time, so we’re going to take the opportunity to get ahead of the game so we hopefully won’t … Read more…
Edit: I awarded John a bracelet in the wrong event. John “KasinoKrime” Beauprez, winner of the 2013 $5000 pot-limit omaha $1500 no-limt hold ’em 6-max WSOP event, will be our guest on Episode 43 of the podcast. In addition to talking … Read more…
As you may have heard on Episode 41, our beloved Gareth Chantler is retiring from his post as Thinking Poker Podcast sound engineer. We’re looking for someone to fill the position, and even though one of us will likely end … Read more…
When: Saturday, July 6, 10 AM – Noon Where: Rio Convention Center Starbucks (the one closer to the WSOP area, not the one on the casino floor) What: Sip coffee, tea, or tap water (nitcast FTW!) with Thinking Poker Podcast … Read more…
I’m really tired and busy today, but just wanted to put up a quick update here to say that I ended up 16th in the $1500 PLO8 event, cashing for a little shy of $10K. Certainly not enough to get … Read more…
I’m about a week behind on my WSOP trip reports, but I just want to interject with some exciting real-time news: Today is the $1500 PLO8, the last WSOP event I’m going to play before the main. Although the series … Read more…
My sudden reversal of fortune in the $2500 6-handed was another visceral reminder of how much needs to go right even to make a run at a tournament. I mean by all accounts I ran extremely well in several important ways … Read more…
Followers of this blog probably couldn’t help noticing that I’ve been on a cross-country road trip for the past week and a half. We made a valiant effort, but I simply wasn’t able to find enough downtime to get this … Read more…
Our interview with Jared Tendler is scheduled for Monday night, so please get us your questions for him. You can post them as comments here, send them to podcast@thinkingpoker.net, or tweet them @ThinkingPoker. If you’re buying Mental Game of Poker 2, please … Read more…
For the first time ever, I’m doing pretty much the whole Las Vegas/WSOP thing this summer. In past years I always had other places I wanted to be in the summer, plus I thought my hourly rate would be just … Read more…
Whether you enjoyed my theory videos on Tournament Poker Edge, or if theory videos aren’t your thing, you might be interested to know that I’ve now got a new series going up there that is in the form of a … Read more…
Perhaps you remember Andre Coimbra, the Portuguese player seeking to turn $100 into $100K this year through multi-table tournaments, from his recent podcast interview? He’s well on his way after beating a field of more than 15,000 players to win … Read more…
Sorry all, I’m on vacation this week and thought I’d have time to get this up today but I haven’t. It will be up by Thursday night, apologies for the delay.
Nate and I are going to start releasing new episodes of The Thinking Poker Podcast on Wednesdays rather than Mondays as we’ve been doing (in theory). That means the next one will be out in two days, but in the … Read more…
Sorry I’ve been so self-promotional these last few days, it’s just that I’ve had a lot to promote and not much time to write about anything else. First I was showing Miklos, my Hungarian PCA roommate, around DC and Baltimore. … Read more…
In case you haven’t heard the announcement on the podcast yet, I’m pleased to let you know that I’m now producing poker strategy videos for Tournament Poker Edge. My first series focuses on hand reading and is essentially a much … Read more…
Update: Thanks for the enthusiastic response! Everything I want to sell is spoken for, so if you haven’t contacted me about this already, sorry but there’s no more action for sale. Hope you’ll root for me anyway though! I … Read more…
I’m at the card room sitting in a $1/$3 game while I wait for a seat in the $1/$3/$6 when the player on my left mutters, “What the fuck?” and turns to stare at the entrance to the poker room, … Read more…
I’m playing the Main Event Day 1B on Monday, getting into Atlantic City Sunday evening. If any readers are going to be in AC for the tournament or any other reason, drop me a line and maybe we can get … Read more…
Sorry it’s been quiet here of late, I’m in the middle of a very busy week. If you’re looking for a good read, you could do worse than CrAAKKer’s analysis of the implications of the recent United States v Dicristina … Read more…
Last weekend I played at the Aria poker room for the first time. I used to enjoy playing at the Venetian, but for a variety of reasons, not least Sheldon Adelson’s opposition to online poker, I was looking for a … Read more…
Sorry I’ve been slow in updating here. For those who didn’t see on Twitter, I busted out of the WSOP main event shortly before the dinner break on Day 2A. It was a quite uninteresting day except for the two … Read more…
I arrived in Las Vegas last night. The descent and landing were rough thanks to currents of hot air rising up from the scorching city. It was also a clear flight, though, with spectacular views of Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, … Read more…
Sorry for the long silence. It’s the same old story: too much fun in Europe, not enough time, and too many cheap vacation rentals without internet access. Hopefully I’ll have oodles of juicy WSOP content to bring you soon. A … Read more…
Some of you may remember this e-mail that I received last year seeking staking advice: I am 24 years old and I live in Henderson, NV. Following the shut down of service to US players on Pokerstars I decided to … Read more…
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 … Read more…
My home state of Maryland recently built its first casinos, which by law offer slot machines only. That means no table games and no poker. As much as I dislike using -EV luck-based games as a source of state revenue, … Read more…
I’m sad to say that I won’t be staying on as a member of PokerStars Team Online in 2012. It was a great honor and a great experience to be a member of the team, but so much has changed … Read more…
47 1 Rudi Vanheeswijck 34.100 47 2 Sam Greenwood 90.100 47 3 Eric Mizrachi 58.000 47 4 Andrew Brokos 38.500 47 5 Greg Gokey 31.200 47 6 Corey Burbick 50.000 47 7 Micah Smith 141.100 47 8 Maria Panyak 39.700 47 … Read more…
I took plenty of notes for a full write-up, but for now I’ll just say that we started with 30K and I finished with 38.5K. I think the average is between 50 and 60, and blinds will be 500/1000/100 on … Read more…
It’s a beautiful morning in the Bahamas. Walking around in the morning is a totally different experience, because they are empty except for some grounds crew and a few early risers such as myself. Later today there will be screaming … Read more…
Ballin’: I’m current on my way to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, where I’ll be staying for eight nights and playing in the $10,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. Anti-Ballin’: I’m bringing a small pantry with … Read more…
Huge congratulations to fellow PokerStars Team Online member Shaniac, who started the year off right by final tabling the New Year’s Day Sunday Million. What an insane tournament, where $200 can turn into $84K. And what a great player- Shane … Read more…
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 … Read more…
I can get jaded about poker sometimes, so wrapped up in improving and maximizing my hourly rate that I lose sight of what is fun about this game and what is remarkable about its internet incarnation. Then PokerStars rolls out … Read more…
She doesn’t and wouldn’t, but PokerStars Team Online member Adrienne “Talonchick” Rowsome (though not nearly old enough to be my mother) is the next best thing. Both are occupational therapists, both are avid yoga practitioners, and though I’ve never met … Read more…
Awesome day today, most fun I’ve had playing poker in a while. For most of the day I shared the table with three really entertaining guys. I’m not ready to post the full trip report yet, but I told one … Read more…
I don’t have time to write a full TR this morning, but I made it through Day 2 with 128K, average is about 105K. There are like 63 players remaining with 47 paid. The field started off soft but these … Read more…
Edit: Apparently I misunderstood how these tournies work. Unfortunately a lot of what I wrote here is irrelevant in that format, so I’ve deleted it. Sorry for the confusion. Here’s more from PokerStars about how Time Tourneys work: Tournaments last … Read more…
Edit: Corrected the prices below, forgot to update them when copy/pasting. Almost immediately after moving to Vancouver, I’ll be heading to Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe, most likely just the main event. Although I never considered this … Read more…
Card Player magazine just published an interview with me for their “Capture the Flag” series. It was actually conducted soon after the WSOP, which is why there’s so much talk about that and the comparison between tournaments and cash games. … Read more…
…since moving to Canada. All because of this hand: PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com Button ($468.50) SB ($584.05) BB ($400) Hero (UTG) ($487) MP ($400) CO ($420) Preflop: Hero is UTG with … Read more…
Another great song by SrslySirius With regard to all the controversy about the WSOP prioritizing ESPN’s interests over those of the players, I do want to ask, “Why shouldn’t they?” I certainly don’t like it and think it is pretty … Read more…
I got to my new home in Canada about a week ago (more on that soon) but just this morning got a legit bankroll onto PokerStars, so while I’d donked around a bit in small stakes games, I was thinking … Read more…
Just received this e-mail, which made my day: Hey Andrew, I just placed 2nd in the Florida State Poker Championship last night. It was my first 5K-live event (played a bunch in the 1K-2K range at the WSOP / Borgata … Read more…
I’m just a few days from being back in Canada and back on PokerStars and am starting to get pretty excited about the prospect, moreso now that the WCOOP tournaments are in the lobby and open for registration! Granted I … Read more…
This is an interview that I did with Railbirds.com a few hours after my elimination on Day 7. No beautiful women in this one but it is much less rushed than the others so I’m able to answer questions in … Read more…
I owe you guys an apology. After sending a mysterious tweet from the table claiming that it was “literally a miracle” that I didn’t bust on a particular Day 6 hand, I took my merry time in providing any explanation … Read more…
I started to title this blog something about getting eliminated or finishing in 53rd place but that’s an awfully pessimistic way of looking at it. I just won $160,000. I cashed in the Main Event of the World Series of … Read more…
Just a quick update to say that I survived the day with a little shy of 1.6 million chips. I think that’s a touch above average. In some ways it wasn’t a real significant day. I won a sizable pot … Read more…
Thanks to Dana Rossi for posting this in the comments. Deepak Bhatti 77,510 Pavilion / 42 / 1 Paul Farmer 77,700 Pavilion / 42 / 2 Ryan Hall 94,300 Pavilion / 42 / 3 Vladislav Varlashin 111,000 Pavilion / 42 … Read more…
Just published, thanks to Kevmath for getting this out in the Twittersphere so quickly! Sorel Mizzi 47900 – ie imperium ie famous multi-accounter and also frontrunner for last year’s player of the year Andres Rodrigues 24125 Lauchlin McKinnon 35100 Claudio … Read more…
I’m about to leave for the airport, and it occurs to me that I haven’t actually posted about my Main Event plans! I’ll be at the 2+2 party tonight and then playing my first day on July 9th, Day 1C. … Read more…
Sorry I’ve been so slow in posting this. I didn’t want to talk about this at all before everything was squared away, and then as you’ll see it ended up taking me a long time to tell the story of … Read more…
More details to follow when I finish playing, but check it:
Last week, I posted plans to play a few of the early WSOP preliminary events. I was scheduled to leave for that trip this morning. I woke up feeling miserable this morning, so much so that I didn’t feel up … Read more…
Amidst all the bad news in the online poker world these days, there is one development that I find very exciting. Two news sites have launched recently, both promising to cover the online poker industry without the conflicts of interest … Read more…
Surprise, surprise, I’m just now making plans for where I’m going to be and what I’ll be doing a few weeks from now! I’m going to the Rio for the first week of June to hit a few of the … Read more…
My father was generally the parent more interested in playing board and card games, including poker, with my brother and me, but this particular story involves my mother. I meant to post this on Mother’s Day but didn’t get around … Read more…
Without online poker to order my life, the days just run together. Sunday in particular used to be a day that would almost invariably be given over to poker. But I just now realized what day it is today, and … Read more…
Andrew busted at EPT Madrid shortly after the dinner break Day 1A. I expect he’ll post a more thorough recounting tomorrow, but he did have a Spanish friend relay the busto hand info for me to share – It was … Read more…
My current 2+2 Magazine article, Gray Friday, is one of the most personal I’ve published. It’s about what was going through my head around the time of the online poker indictments and by extension a reflection on my relationship to … Read more…
I’ve made a last-minute decision to play the EPT Grand Final in Madrid. I’ll be starting Day 1A on May 7th. A friend who used to play in my old high school home game way back when is going to … Read more…
I want to begin with appreciation and an apology. I’m flattered that so many people have been eager to hear my thoughts on the recent events that rocked the online poker world, and I’m sorry that this post is going … Read more…