The Hoff - A Student Becomes The Master

Back when I first started writing this blog I also began to help a friend (Alex Gould) develop his poker game.

Alex or the Hoff as he's known to many of his friends looked like a natural poker player that just had a few leaks and misunderstandings that were holding him back from being a winning player. Alex was naturally aggressive and not scared to put people to tough decisions, I simply had to show him the difference between good and bad spots in which he could unleash the fury off the Hoff.

I told Alex to drop down in stakes as his bankroll just wasn't big enough for the games he was playing. Alex being the action junkie that he is wasn't too happy about this at first but soon found his feet playing four tables of NL50 (No Limit Texas Holdem with a $50 buy in). Now however Alex has moved up in stakes and is playing 4-6 tables of NL200. After speaking with Alex yesterday, it's apparent that he firmly has his sights set on NL400 as soon as his bankroll allows and I for one have no doubt that he'll get there.

I can't take all of the credit for Alex's game now as he's put a lot of work in behind the scenes. The big guy played enough poker to earn himself a Free Deuces Cracked Membership through Tagpoker where he was able to further develop his game.

Here is Alex's graph since December 2008. Pretty amazing when you think he was not even a winning player four months ago. One thing that this graph doesn't show is the $2400 Alex has also earned in Rakeback, taking his total winnings to just under $11,000. Not bad for a part time hobby.

So this post is a huge well done to Alex and all I have to ask now is, when can you fit me in for a lesson?

If you're struggling with poker or you're just starting out, then here I have some free poker training videos.

As always.

Good luck at the tables.

Broker

Zero 2 Hero - The Graph!

OK my beloved poker fans, groupies, worshippers, stalkers and random readers, I have a little something for you.

Not a lot has changed since my last update as I haven't played much. I've been helping some of Tagpoker's micro limit grinders with their games.

I have been really trying to produce a graph of my results which has been only slightly tricky as Minted Poker doesn't support Poker Tracker. But alas, I found a hand history converter on the 2+2 forums that converts Everleaf hand histories into Pokerstars format so that PT can read them. (yay!)

I've also found it hard to stay focused playing 6max micro stake games as I'm used to playing higher and as such think some of my motivation has been lacking. So to combat this I have been playing on Minted poker's micro stake heads up games. The rake is killer but my edge is crazy compared to these players, and along with 46% rake back I have managed to run up some easy money, whilst staying focused by playing a new format.

I've just started playing NL20HU in this challenge and I'll keep you posted of the ups and downs along the way. Here is the graph of my first 10,000 hands played.

The sites huge lack of traffic is more than made up for by the rake back and also the fact that the few players that are on there happen to be the best fish I've ever tasted.

Notice also that my graph is only $418 profit, the other $100 in my roll is all rake back, pretty sweet and just goes to show how much money you're missing out on if you're playing without it.

If you too would like to start playing on Minted Poker then check out the Minted Poker Rake Back Deal on Tagpoker.

Good luck guys.


Broker

Zero 2 Hero - Moved up in limits

Hey guys

This is just a quick update. I haven't played much at all this week but I have managed to move up in limits to NL20 after hitting $500.

The NL10 games were super soft and most players were either really loose and over played weak top pair type hands and chased draws no matter what price I was setting them or they were very, very tight and played a very straight forward game where it was easy to dodge their big hands or float in position and take pots away on the turn when they check/folded with nothing.

I expect NL20 to be much the same and I will try to put more hands in to get to NL50 ASAP. I intend to move up to the next stake level when I hit $1000 giving me 20 buy ins.

If I lose more than five buy ins now that I have just moved up (leaving me $400) then I will move back down to NL10 and re-grind my roll but due to the level of competition I expect a pretty low variance game.

This just goes to show that playing a straight forward game is all you need to crush NL10. You will not need to run crazy bluffs or chase draws as most of the money I have made has just been value betting the hell out of fish and reading the board texture to make good decisions.

Broker

Zero to Hero - Minted Poker Bankroll Challenge

Hi Guys

I must admit that this challenge was kind of an accident. I deposited some money on Minted poker to transfer to a friend. I deposited $50 to send him but was only allowed to transfer $30 (as I had to have a minimum of $20 in my account to make transfers for some reason).

Rather than put another $20 on with my credit card I decided to play some heads up, no limit, holdem $10 poker. After I grinded another $20 out I send it over to said friend but still found $20 in my account. So not being much of a heads up player I donked around on the NL$10 heads up tables not really caring if I won or lost. Due to the standard of play being unreal (lots of really bad players) I quickly found myself with $50 again.

A few days went by and I was reading the latest edition of Card Player magazine where Chris "Jesus" Ferguson had another article about his zero to $10,000 bankroll challenge. I'm not a bad poker player by any stretch but I wouldn't put myself on his level. I splashed around here and there for the next two weeks (when I was drunk or bored) messing with some micro stakes heads up.

Then last week I decided to challenge myself and show the micro stakes players on Tagpoker what is possible with a $50 deposit. So this week has been a fairly solid grind (about three hours a day at least lol) and I am nearly ready to move up to NL$20. Seems amazing that in a week of play I have gone through a whole level, when I hit $500 I'll be moving up.

Above is a screen shot of my Minted Poker account, I have high lighted my current balance, the fact that the account is showing all transactions (I have not topped the account up in any way) and my initial deposit. I'll post more screen shots as I hit milestones.

I'll also be using hands from the Zero 2 Hero challenge to make videos for Tagpoker focusing on the adjustments I make as I move up. I have never actually grinded micro stakes so this should also enable me to relate to the games better in order to help those guys out.

My screen name on Minted is Paris_Tilton in case you try to find me in action.

Good Luck at the tables

Brokerstar

3 Ways To Impress Your Poker Friends.

(Warning: The following tips are likely to cause severe losses to your bankroll during Poker sessions. However, you will look damn good in the process. )

For some, Texas Hold'em Poker is all about getting the better of your opponents and winning money. However, that's an old school way of playing.

To be a great Hold'em Poker player these days, you need to go out of your way to play in style, so that your opponents and friends know that you mean business. As long as you look good, nobody is going to care about how much money you might be winning or losing.

Use these quick tips to help you become the star of the Texas Hold'em table, wherever you decide to play.

Use lots of flashy plays

Check raises
Randomly large bets
Min raises
Ridiculous calls

These sort of plays are key in the game of Texas Hold'em Poker.

If you want to look good, you have to play like you have no idea of what's going on at the table. It's the ultimate deception.

The wilder and borderline foolish you can be with your plays, the more respect you are going to be able to command at the table. Checking and betting is for the weak. How about mixing it all together into one obscene manoeuvre to create the mother of all plays?

Learn chip tricks

It's not about how much you bet or when, it's how you play with your chips in between.
Nothing screams inexperience louder than a Poker player that is not twirling chips in between making decisions. These players are simply looking to get run over by all of the other guys at the table.

Stand your ground and learn how to do the butterfly with your chips. When the other players see this, they will think twice about continuation betting the next time you are in a pot with them. Everyone knows that the best way to defend against an aggressive player is to do a knuckle roll.

Explain your actions at the end of each hand

Did your opponent have a better hand? Let everyone know that you were aware that they had you beat before you made the call.

Did you fold the winning hand? Congratulate your opponent on playing so deceptively, but don't forget to remind them that it will not happen again.

Did you win the hand? Be sure to let everyone know how your superior poker skills led you to make the winning call at the end.

Bluffed your opponent? Go wild. It's your time to shine.

Overview

The more you play Texas Hold'em Poker, the more you realise that it gets harder and harder to establish yourself as a great player and let everyone know about it through solid strategy alone. Most of your good plays will go unnoticed, and nobody will be aware of your greatness.

You really have to go out of your way to push those edges, and take those steps to ensure that your presence at the table is felt by all the other players.

Just as with anything in life, the more you practice, the better you will get.


Best of luck.