Wednesday 25 March 2009

Back In Action

Hey guys I just wanted to give you all a quick update on the challenge. I haven't played for nearly three weeks as I've just moved out to Thailand and finding a place with a solid Internet connection has been nearly impossible.

Anyway as of yesterday I'm back and I'll be attacking this challenge head on. I've seen that there are a good number of new players that have joined up through Tagpoker which is great, I wish you new guys all the best in building a roll on the site and I'd love to hear how you're getting on so just send me an e-mail at Brokerstar@tagpoker.co.uk with any brags.

Right now the roll is just over $600 and I'll be playing a mix of NL20 6 max and NL20 heads up until I reach $1000 then it'll be time to take some shots at NL50.

For anyone new to this blog or challenge, I've also made some free poker training videos which will show you the exact style I use to beat the games.

See you guys at the table.

Broker

Monday 9 March 2009

Zero 2 Hero - Fish of the week

For anyone in any doubt as to why I have chosen to really pursue this challenge on Minted poker, keep reading!

Firstly the rake back is huge and paid weekly right into your poker account. This is great for speeding up the growth of your roll and helps with staying motivated when you have the odd bad week.

Secondly (and most importantly) the fish. Some of the guys that I've been playing with are so unreal that you will have to see it to believe it. Granted I never intend to run into any super stars at NL20 but I can't stress how bad a lot of these guys are.

In order to really illustrate just how soft the games are and how terrible some of the guys playing are, I've posted the above screen shot. The guy in the hand with me has valiantly earned the title - Fish of the week.

To give you a run down of how the hand played out, here goes. Bad player limps in under the gun (first to act), the table folds round to me where I raise for a pot size bet. The bad player takes half a second to think about his options and snap calls. I flop two overs and a flush draw so am happy to get my money in here (if I can).

I fire out a pot size bet on the flop and the donkey calls. On the turn I make top pair with the nut flush draw so I still want to extract value but not scare him off so I fire about 2/3 pot, if he calls the river is a very easy shove as his stack is so short (basically I don't need to mash the pot button on this turn). After I bet the turn, to my surprise the guy then decides that his hand is best and shoves all in, I snap call, not entirely sure if I'm good or not but he's too short stacked to fold by this point.

Now I have no idea what the guy is thinking from start to finish and to be fair I don't care, there is no real lesson to be learnt from this hand but what it should do is make some of you want to get involved in what is essentially shooting fish in a barrel.

I have a feeling that it'll take some doing to get this guy off of top spot but then again I see more and more amazing and wonderful hands played by these guys everyday, so never say never.

If you also feel like jumping into the huge fish tank that is Minted Poker then check out the sign up details and get started.

The only other site that I know to have so many bad players (from my personal experience) is PKR. I'll do a seperate review before long but the main reason being is that the graphics seem to entertain people to the point where they stop focusing on how you play. Also the PKR rakeback is pretty good.

Good Luck



Brokerstar
(Current Bankroll)

Saturday 7 March 2009

Free Poker Training Videos


Hey guys I wanted to let you all know that I have been making free poker training videos on Tagpoker. These videos are aimed at micro stake and beginner players.

I focus on No Limit Texas Holdem, 6 max cash games and walk you through how to play a tight, aggressive game.

As well as videos of me playing poker I have been making leakfinder videos for some of Tagpokers member. These additional free poker videos help the guys with problems that are specific to their games yet many beginner and micro stake poker players suffer from.

There will be plenty more videos coming on a regular basis and from other players and coaches and this will remain free poker training.

I hope these really help move your game to a level where you can start building a bankroll.

Good Luck


Brokerstar

Wednesday 4 March 2009

Zero 2 Hero - How To Crush Micro Stakes Part 1

There are so many reasons why micro stake games are easy to crush but today I want to talk about one subject in particular. I want to talk about the danger of playing dominated hands, hands that have reverse implied odds.

The picture on the right is a screen shot that I took today which to me summed up everything about the majority of bad micro stake players.

To run you through the action quickly, I raised pre flop, the guy called (not totally horrible, if you are capable of laying top pair down). I fire the flop, he calls, I near pot the turn, he calls, I shove the river, he calls. So the guy is a first class calling station that had no clue what he was doing and will never fold a pair.

Now don't get me wrong, these are the guys that will suck out on you from time to time, rivering all sorts of weird two pair type hands etc. But on the whole they are just going to donate money over and over until you either move up in stakes or they go broke and stop playing. So a side lesson here is make hay whilst the sun is shining and value bet the hell out of these guys.

On the flip side, if you are just learning the game and starting out yourself, avoid playing dominated hands, especially if you're out of position. The reason why is because when you flop a top pair type hand you either win a small pot because your opponent is scared by the ace or you lose a stack because he has you crushed. This is what's meant by the term 'reverse implied odds'.

Patience and position are key to building your bankroll at these levels. Don't be tempted to play inferior hands out of position just because they are 'suited'. Suited hands only gain a little bit of equity for when they flop draws and drawing hands are best played in position, in multi way pots, where you have more control of the hand. You just can't draw to hands out of position as your hand will look pretty obvious and you may not get paid when you hit plus you'll normally be getting charged the wrong odds by the person in position. You are totally at their mercy when you play out of position.

I have no doubt that this player justified the play because his hand was 'suited'. But the cold truth is that just because his cards are the same colour doesn't mean he'll win the hand. The fact that he had no kicker, ended up losing him his entire stack and this will be the case more often than he'll ever flop a flush or even a flush draw.

So to sum up, avoid marginal situations, avoid playing out of position, in fact just refuse to play out of position (premium hands aside). Value bet the stations and patiently watch your bankroll grow. This advice alone with the addition of a good rake back deal will be enough to make you a winning player in these games.

Good luck


Broker





Monday 2 March 2009

Zero 2 Hero - Heads Up Poker Is War



For those of you poised, waiting to see how far along with the challenge I am, all I have to say is not very far!

"OMG, why?" I hear you scream.

Well let me tell you. Today, my bankroll should be hovering somewhere around the $700 mark, should be.

Whilst trying to think of an excuse to tell you I realised that poker players are a lot like fisherman, their endless bad beat stories remind me of the fisherman's 'the one that got away' story. But sadly I can't even blame my lack of progress on running bad, tempting as it was, I just decided to be honest with you and myself.

I take full responsibility for where I am in this challenge as I allowed myself to be consumed and fell victim to the beast that is tilt. Oh yes, I fell, I fell hard and I fell fast. My ego hasn't hit the ground that hard in a while.

You see I've played six max poker to death, I'm at a stage where I accept bad beats, I accept variance and just get on with things, I mean I'd need a huge down swing to really take me off of my game. But six max isn't where the problem lies.

Now lets talk about heads up poker and lets talk about what it's not. It's not a friendly game between two people, oh no. It's a personal war, it's a fight to the bitter end and I have found it hard not to take the game personally.

This is all fine whilst I'm claiming scalp after scalp, but as soon as I get sucked out on or dare I say out played, I instantly start to feel my heart pounding. Another stack or big pot lost and that's it, I find myself out for blood. I was sat at a NL20 table yesterday with a guy who to be fair was an ok, aggressive player. Normally when I run into anyone who is even half capable, I leave. Not because I'm afraid of playing them but more because we just won't beat the rake at these stakes.

So lets talk about why I'm not up to $700, what exactly happened?

Well a guy sat down to play and as I said, seemed very aggressive. we played about 15 hands and I was just about to leave in search of the real bums that just hand over their money when it happened. I was dealt AKs and open raised from the button, the guy three bet which he had done a few times already. So at this point I decide to four bet and he calls. The flop comes A,5,8 and he checks, I bet, he jams for a a tiny bit more, I snap call and he shows 55 for trips.

That was it, the beast instantly got hold of me and I immediately reloaded, muttering under my breath about what a donkey the guy is, I mean calling with 55, WTF is he going to do unless he hits a set, what a monkey.. blah, blah, blah. Yes I was actually saying that to myself.

The amazing thing is that when I was playing $2/$4 I'd be 3betting pre flop to $38 -$40 and not fussed about folding in the right situations, yet here I am, ready to explode into monkey tilt over losing twenty bucks.

I concluded that the guy was not any good and decided it was defiantly +EV to play him. A few more hands later and I've 3 bet pre flop with 56 suited, he calls. Flop comes down 346. I flop top pair and an open ended straight draw. I c-bet the guy raises and I insta jam. He snap calls with Q6suited and ends up scooping a pot.

By this point I'm past help. I'm in full on, self harm, irrational, monkey spew, tilt monster mode and there's nothing anyone can do except watch me spew off four buy ins. Afterwards I wanted to throw up. A whole weeks worth of work simply undone in an hour.

It's not about the money, it's more about setting myself back in this challenge. I haven't tilted like that in such a long time but then again I've never been a heads up player or involved in the psychological warfare that goes with it.

The lesson here is that tilt is real. It really can and will have a huge effect on your bankroll if you let it. The best thing you can do when you feel consumed by the beast is stop playing. Now if only I can follow my own advice.

My only saving grace is rake back, as with it I managed to eek out a small profit for the week but nothing like I could have.

Learn from my mistakes as it can happen to the best of us.

Broker