Bad Beats: Roll with the Punches

This one wasn't even technically a bad beat, as I was behind the whole way, but it is a rough beat. I guess at least (on the flop) I was the one with the open-ended straight draw to his inside draw...

If you look at the picture above, you will see that I lost the pot with a straight flush. That is a situation you will not run into very often. If the river comes and you've made your straight flush...you should be able to breathe easy, but if it turns out you were easy-breathing in some carbon monoxide...

Just roll with the punches. There's always another hand.

Multi-Tabling: The Release Valve Table

Well, it's a technique that I've come to gradually develop and one that I utilized during my recent re-entry into the poker ocean. My game has been back up to form, but I'm still utilizing this tool just because...well, I like it. It will be a bit controversial to some and perhaps laughable to others who think I am "throwing away money." But it is one of the things that works for me and helps me keep a cool head.

Nobody is permanently impervious to tilt.

I've been staying at the $20 sit-n-gos, rather than moving back up to higher stakes, despite having fully regained normal form and doing quite well at the 20s. But what I am doing is utilizing a couple of $10 "release valve tables." I will play maybe four $20 tables at a time and also add a pair of $10 games which I keep running at the bottom of the screen.

An interesting phenomenon happens.

Yes, I don't take the $10 tables quite as seriously. That isn't to say that I run around playing donk poker on them. I just tend to give in to my impulses a little more and maybe tend toward my more borderline-reliability aggressive reads, ones that I would normally be aware of but not consider strong enough to warrant a serious commitment of chips.

Especially if some drunken retard calls my preflop all in with QQ on a $20 table when he has 2/5 off-suit...and wins...well, I have a lower-penalty forum in which I can go nuts and try to roll over everybody for a few hands until my blood pressure settles back down.

The result? I basically break even on these lower-stakes release valve tables. Maybe a slight profit. But they help me maintain my A-game on the tables that really count. And if you've got your multi-tabling attention division skills up to par, then give it a try. It's actually kind of like a little vacation from the tables that make you worry.

Returning After a Layoff

Well, I've been away from the game for a few months. And it's a little bit like sports. If you stay off the ice for a while, the first time you step back on, your timing is off. Same with basketball. Same with football. But like anything competitive, if you've got game, it will come back. Texas Hold 'em is no exception.

I have a tendency to take time off to focus on other pursuits, and then return full force for a while, get a little tired out, and take another break. So I've developed a bit of a routine for easing myself back into competitive play at the tables.

My typical routine is a mix of ring games and sit n' gos. I started out with sit n' gos when I first broke in, so it tends to be my comfort zone when I dip my feet back in. When I'm running and gunning, I am usually multi-tabling (6 tables or more) at six-person tourneys with a minimum buy-in of $20. If I'm on my game, it's a reasonable hourly return.

So anyway, this is what works for me. For the first five or six days, I've only been playing four tables at a time, at six-person sit n' gos with a $10 buy-in. That means I only have $40 or so in play at once. And sure enough, for the first two days, my timing was off. I was playing break-even poker (at best).

And then since day three, I've been edging my way back to regular form. Another good day at $10 (it's been three in a row) and I'll step back up to $20. Three good days in a row and I'll step up the sit n go stakes again, while I simultaneously reincorporate my ring games into the routine (beginning with low stakes, either $.50 / $1 or $1 / $2).

And before long it should be business as usual.

As you can see, I have a tendency to be somewhat conservative. And it takes discipline to hold to a methodical re-entry to the scene when you want to just dive in headfirst back to the big stakes. But it's what's worked for me and keeps me comfortable. If you're easing yourself back in after a layoff, you may have a routine that works better for you. But if you're looking for one, feel free to adapt mine to your stakes and comfort level.

Good luck at the tables.

Following up the Absolute Poker Scandal

I was never a particularly regular user of Absolute Poker. The combination of layout, rake and player availability just never put it up at the top of my list when I had a given window to grind the tables. That said, I never had anything bad to say about the site. I certainly didn't go out of my way to avoid it.

We undoubtedly all heard about the scandal with the God account last year and we surely remember the Chicken Littles of the poker world (possibly the same people who dug underground bunkers for Y2K) yelling from the rooftops that this spelled the end for internet gaming. That said, the end never quite came to be. In fact, the fallout was pretty soft even for Absolute Poker specifically.

That said, I've simply collected a few links to various stories for anyone who wants to read up on the incident and what came to pass in the aftermath.

CASINOSMACK STORY

FREAKONOMICS STORY

HIGHSTAKESREPORT STORY

GAMBLING911 STORY

POKERJUNKIE STORY

And here is a site actually devoted to the story itself.

ABSOLUTEPOKERSCANDAL.COM