tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11476586107315659232024-03-14T10:02:14.812-04:00MicroRollerThe not so exciting life of a small stakes poker playerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-74263270134038602212014-12-15T08:31:00.000-05:002014-12-20T14:40:24.863-05:00PlayerVsPlayer Chart SoftwareAgainst players I run across regularly, I like to keep tabs on how I'm doing against them and make changes to my game so that I play better against them.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately Holdem Manager's vsPlayer report doesn't graph only the hands played against a specific player so I developed a little application that works with Holdem Manager that allows you to see a graph of winnings between two different players.<br />
<br />
Just choose two players and you'll see a chart displayed indicating how much each player has won or lost versus the other over all the hands they've played.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MISLWhPXnCgGppnS9wMNjSljQbPizADY_1cXVLVoM36MT0mUqKqcjvF-R5LtE0LibErDj10_GuGK-09rN5FtX2WywsCTQDO06T-BZ2l9sV4xR0H1e_F2aE5tbJ7bbrgrAyQpZr-wve4/s1600/PlayerVsPlayer-ss-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2MISLWhPXnCgGppnS9wMNjSljQbPizADY_1cXVLVoM36MT0mUqKqcjvF-R5LtE0LibErDj10_GuGK-09rN5FtX2WywsCTQDO06T-BZ2l9sV4xR0H1e_F2aE5tbJ7bbrgrAyQpZr-wve4/s1600/PlayerVsPlayer-ss-1.png" height="280" width="400" /></a></div>
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I use this program when I first sit down at a table to quickly see how I've done in the past against the other players in the game and against players who I'm trying to improve my results against, I can easily see if the changes I'm making to my game are generating positive results or not.<br />
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For more information and to download check out the <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/software/PlayerVsPlayer.jsp">PlayerVsPlayer</a> information page.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-24579040157820542962014-11-12T22:23:00.000-05:002014-11-12T22:23:36.706-05:00Remove NoteCaddy Scatter Graph For Hero<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmp5mSjzkDjlTeRKAKXxeKpiStWFp_osPh958ILGWO4ANfGVnO_rttNa1hICtDWqIMOog8RtWNHO6QfHaQbvMwTSkOtT0xva9yKZ70CTLn9jObSxzNTXK5LCBxbG6PkvGjehRGkuSDJ1Y/s200/NoteCaddyScatterHeroCleanup.png" width="200" /></div>
If you're like me and you like to use the NoteCaddy Scatter graph in the NoteCaddy popup, you've probably run into the same problems me and many others have. If you try to open your own NoteCaddy popup, even sometimes if you accidentally hover over it, your computer will lag. If you've played a lot of hands this delay can be quite long and sometimes cause your computer to freeze in a middle of a hand until NoteCaddy draws the scatter.<br />
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There's no option to turn of the Hero Scatter graph in NoteCaddy and the developers haven't made it a priority to add that option even though a few people have asked. There are however a few options to alleviate the issue so you don't run into problems with your computer freezing after you've just 4 bet AA.<br />
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First, you can turn off the Hero HUD in the General Settings for the HUD you're using. This is an easy fix but I like to keep my HUD open when I'm playing.<br />
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Another quick fix is to go into the Settings for NoteCaddy and turn off note taking for Hero. This works and you can still use the HUD but you don't get to see notes that are taken for yourself. Personally I like to see the notes taken for me to see where I can make changes.<br />
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Lastly, you can just clear all the scatter data for yourself and leave everyone else's in tact. This way note taking is still enabled for Hero and you can use the Hero HUD.<br />
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To do this, open up pgAdmin III, the admin interface for PostgeSQL, the database Hold'em Manager and NoteCaddy uses. Connect to the database you're using with Hold'em Manager and then click on the SQL button. It will bring up a new window that allows you to enter SQL queries to run against the database.<br />
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Copy and paste the following SQL statement into the SQL Editor, replacing YOURSCREENNAMEHERE with your poker site screenname and hit CTRL-E to run the query.<br />
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delete from notecaddy_scatter where player_id in (select player_id from players where playername ilike 'YOURSCREENNAMEHERE');<br />
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It will clear all the scatter data for whichever username you use in YOURSCREENNAMEHERE so if you want to delete the scatter data for other players you can do that as well.<br />
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As NoteCaddy continues to take notes it will add more scatter data so every 10k hands, or however many you feel necessary to reduce lag, run that same query again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-50776615152008203082014-01-29T11:12:00.000-05:002014-11-12T22:10:41.188-05:00Secure and Reliable Computing For Poker Players<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrKhirsZ7ND45zji4sHP9pERlFRlBOdAvF1PlBuo0JZiq7ySvA8Mon8ai7isVsgRNhIgprFKJ5XhLkuT15VHGKenVFBP6YRZrJB8I45AZI0f4fJ92it11VfE8BWk88N5tH0MZtW6nsko/s1600/ComputerSecurityForPokerPlayers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPrKhirsZ7ND45zji4sHP9pERlFRlBOdAvF1PlBuo0JZiq7ySvA8Mon8ai7isVsgRNhIgprFKJ5XhLkuT15VHGKenVFBP6YRZrJB8I45AZI0f4fJ92it11VfE8BWk88N5tH0MZtW6nsko/s200/ComputerSecurityForPokerPlayers.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
If you play online poker it is very important to make sure your computers are secure and reliable. Here are a few computer tips to help you protect you from things like viruses, trojans as well as disconnections and hardware failures.<br />
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The advice below is based on my experience in enterprise class computing. When you make your living playing poker, or even if you do it just for fun but have a lot of money on your online accounts, it's important to have the most reliable computing platform available.<br />
<h2>
Passwords</h2>
<div>
First some basics. If the sites you use have some method of two-step verification options, such as a password plus a SecurID token, use it.</div>
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<br /></div>
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You should also get in the habit of changing your password on a regular basis. Once a month is good, once a week is better. You can keep your password written down and stored securely in a safe.<br />
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It should go without saying but I'm going to say it anyway. Never use the <i>remember my password</i> feature. </div>
<h2>
Networking</h2>
<div>
You check a monster on the river with thousands of dollars already in the pot, expecting your opponent to bet the river. He bets and you're about to hit raise when all of a sudden your connection drops out. Or maybe you're short stacked in an MTT and just got dealt aces when you're about to cold 4 bet and ... connecting...<br />
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When you finally do connect you're on massive monkey tilt and shoving any two cards. It's fairly simple to make your internet connection more reliable.</div>
<h3>
Redundant Broadband</h3>
<div>
If you depend on the internet to make money you should have at least two broadband internet connections. Preferably from two different carriers. This is easy to do in most markets as you can get a combination of cable and FiOS or DSL. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Using a special router like this <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SYQBN8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005SYQBN8&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20">TP-LINK TL-R470T+</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005SYQBN8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> allows you to have two broadband connections attached to your home/office network. If one of them goes down hopefully the other is still alive.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005SYQBN8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B005SYQBN8&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfOiS__Px_Ho0FgA9_kcrx7ppnfHVIdIVqI-rH_ysFwZnmgP_fIZ9sdzHJg7X5gzfGLKiecSOY279GmntyRcyJQaqzxArL7p6idoJyyIQwcGZ8u7XO1BugIXAhRbFfAvCIvKygFGwk_hI/s1600/TP-Link-LoadBalancingWanRouter.jpg" height="133" width="400" /></a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B005SYQBN8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div>
In addition you'll want to keep all your networking hardware attached to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to keep them running for at least a little while if you experience a power failure. One of the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019804U8/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0019804U8&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">APC Back-UPS</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0019804U8" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> is a good choice for networking hardware. It's like a surge protector with a built in battery that helps protect the equipment from power issues and provides back up battery power in the event of a power outage. These are great for little hiccups in power or short outages but are best used as a temporary step before your backup generator kicks in for extended power loss.<br />
<h3>
Virtual Networks</h3>
</div>
<div>
You're going to be using your internet connection for a host of other things besides poker. Almost everything is connected these days from your phones to TVs to your garage door opener. It's possible to create separate private networks within your home network to help keep your poker computers secure. That way if your buddy comes over and wants to check his email with his laptop or phone he can do it but not have access to the computers you use to play poker. You'll need a smart switch that is VLAN capable. Something like the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004OA721C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004OA721C&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cisco SG200-08 8-port Gigabit Smart Switch</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004OA721C" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />. </div>
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Create one VLAN for your regular internet usage and have a WiFi access point attached to that it. Another VLAN will be for your pokering and you'll set it up so that they can both access the internet but they can't talk to each other.<br />
<h2>
Redundant Hard Drives</h2>
</div>
<div>
I think you're better off having a desktop as your main poker computer. More reliable, more powerful. Hard drives and hard drive controllers can and do fail. You can set up two drives in a mirror (RAID 0) where all data is written to both at the same time. That way if one fails the other keeps going until you replace the failed drive. It also increases read performance.<br />
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An ideal setup would be to install an additional PCI SATA controller in your computer so you have two. One from the motherboard, one from the card. Use 2 SSD drives for the best performance and set them up as mirrored drives through software. I've been using the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&h=8cd6d0e88b7e98894d60cf23cf166e058286ad0f&linkCode=ur2&qid=1390977328&rh=n%3A1292116011&scn=1292116011&srs=2530044011&tag=microrollers-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">OCZ Vertex SSDs</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=ur2&o=1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> on different systems and very happy with them.<br />
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Install the drives in a mobile rack. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0040Z924Q/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0040Z924Q&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">ICY DOCK ToughArmor MB994SP-4S Mobile Rack</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0040Z924Q" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> is a good choice and very durable. It makes it easy to swap out drives if they fail but more importantly allows you to easily remove the drives for storage.<br />
<br />
When you're done playing poker, pull the drives out and put them in your safe until the next time you are playing poker. If you want to use the same desktop for other computing you can have a different set of drives for that. Keep your poker rig for poker only. Don't install IM, Skype, or other software that's not related to poker. Don't even browse the web or check email. Keep a laptop nearby that's on your "public" VLAN for that.<br />
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You'll also want a separate UPS for your desktop and monitors. Get the biggest one you can afford for the most run time.<br />
<h2>
Back Up</h2>
</div>
<div>
On a regular basis, like maybe at the end of each session or at least each week, back up your computer data to an external drive and keep it in a safe place. Even though the RAID setup provides you with some security it's not a substitute for backups.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I have a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004A9ZAQG/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B004A9ZAQG&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Rosewill RX-DU300 Black Hard Drive Dock</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B004A9ZAQG" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> which I use for backups. I like it because I can buy regular desktop hard drives that pop right into it instead of more expensive external drives.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Remember to keep your backup drives secure too.</div>
<h2>
Securing Your Laptop</h2>
<div>
It's important to have a laptop in addition to your desktop. In case everything fails on your desktop you can always resume play on your laptop. If you're a high stakes player you can afford to get a laptop that's just for playing poker. No email, no Skype, no web browsing. Just something you keep at the ready in case you need it. You should have a safe that's big enough to fit your laptop in addition to your SSDs.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Sometimes you'll want to be able to play while traveling. My best advice, every time your computer leaves your safe little poker network treat it as if it needs to be quarantined.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Before you head out for a trip backup your laptop's hard drive. When you return don't boot it up normally. Instead insert a CD that contains your backup software that boots up into it's own environment or use a Linux distribution like <a href="http://www.sysresccd.org/" target="_blank">SystemRescueCD</a>. Use that to restore the drive data you backed up before you left. That way your laptop is exactly the same as it was before your trip and any nasty software it might have picked up along the way is erased. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div>
Once the drive is restored, run a full virus scan before booting it up just to be safe. You can use the <a href="http://www.avg.com/us-en/avg-rescue-cd" target="_blank">AVG Rescue CD</a> for that.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The on drawback is that you'll lose any data you might have added to your computer while you were away but these day's that isn't a big deal. Use cloud services like Google Drive to take notes and store files or use your phone. It's much better than finding out your <a href="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/my-unbelievable-ept-barcelona-story-hotel-rooms-arts-barcelona-broken-into-plant-trojans-1369171/index7.html" target="_blank">hotel room was broken into and your laptop hacked</a>.</div>
<h2>
Don't Be Lazy</h2>
<div>
Sometimes people's systems get compromised because they don't know what to do but a lot of the times even when people know what to do they get lax and don't do it. If the money you have in your poker accounts is important to you then take a few simple steps to minimize the risks.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-62932232608222268442012-09-23T14:33:00.001-04:002012-09-29T00:06:40.775-04:00Is Howard Lederer A Master Manipulator?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYq8sA9bxraovytpkbXCIqqc77FbtdXE7J6ZU5cy4SaRjtpMkuKj5wjYKollKNluv7nOdAz4uTpCBk2momgf_J2VJ8j1OyUndqLgCJuFNlSQsOUPBIXyNZ1z8pInF0dfjTxf533C0VT4/s1600/LedererMasterManipulator.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYq8sA9bxraovytpkbXCIqqc77FbtdXE7J6ZU5cy4SaRjtpMkuKj5wjYKollKNluv7nOdAz4uTpCBk2momgf_J2VJ8j1OyUndqLgCJuFNlSQsOUPBIXyNZ1z8pInF0dfjTxf533C0VT4/s200/LedererMasterManipulator.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Over the past few days PokerNews has been releasing a series of videos of their <a href="http://www.pokernews.com/lederer-files.htm" target="_blank">interview with Howard Lederer</a>, an important figure in Full Tilt Poker who was a large stakeholder in the company, a member of the Board of Directors and up to around 2008 the president.<br />
<br />
After over a year of silence Lederer agreed to an interview to discuss the fall of FTP, the loss of player funds, his role in the organization, the effect of Black Friday, what was going on in the company post BF and so on.<br />
<br />
While watching the videos one thing seemed very clear to me, Lederer's influence extended past the voting power of his share of the company. When the other stake holders attempted to vote the existing board members out of power Lederer was able to talk enough of them out of it to stop the effort. In the interview he stated he could have "killed it in 5 minutes". At times even the interviewer, <a href="https://twitter.com/MatthewParvis" target="_blank">Matthew Parvis</a>, was asking questions in a way that already excused Lederer within the context of the question itself.<br />
<br />
It appears that Lederer might be a <i>master manipulator</i>. He came off as having a covert-aggressive personality to me. Let's examine some of the traits and methods of person with a covert-aggressive personality and see how many Lederer used in his interview.<br />
<a name='more'></a>An excerpt from a bestselling book on manipulation, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/096516960X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=096516960X&linkCode=as2&tag=microrollers-20">In Sheep's Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=microrollers-20&l=as2&o=1&a=096516960X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />, was posted on the <a href="http://www.rickross.com/reference/brainwashing/brainwashing11.html" target="_blank">Rick A Ross Institute's website</a>. It lists some of the defensive and offensive tactics used by covert-aggressive personalities to manipulate others. Let's examine if Lederer displayed any in his interview.<br />
<h2>
Denial</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is when the aggressor refuses to admit that they've done something harmful or hurtful when they clearly have. It's a way they lie (to themselves as well as to others) about their aggressive intentions.</blockquote>
<div>
Lederer denies he had a duty to insure that the company was in sound financial health so that owner's equity and player deposits would be secure. He denies that he was aware of the financial risk player's deposits were in even though he had instructed the finance department to provide him with a regular report that showed that the company always had the cash to back up all player funds. There were many more but the big one is he refuses to take much if any responsibility for what happened to FTP above and beyond what non managing owners would have. </div>
<h2>
Selective Inattention</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This tactic is similar to and sometimes mistaken for denial It's when the aggressor "plays dumb," or acts oblivious. When engaging in this tactic, the aggressor actively ignores the warnings, pleas or wishes of others, and in general, refuses to pay attention to everything and anything that might distract them from pursuing their own agenda. Often, the aggressor knows full well what you want from him when he starts to exhibit this "I don't want to hear it!" behavior. By using this tactic, the aggressor actively resists submitting himself to the tasks of paying attention to or refraining from the behavior you want him to change.</blockquote>
Lederer claims that he didn't know a lot of what was going on with the company. His interpretation of his role as a member of the Board of Directors was that he was to serve as an adviser on software and marketing and not to oversee that the company is run in a way that protected shareholders equity and liability which is the general role a Board of Directors plays.<br />
<br />
He acts as if he had no power over the managers of the company. He only requested that CEO Ray Bitar not accept a salary post Black Friday as if the Board of Directors didn't have authority over the CEO when he knew full well the type of control that the Board has over the company's executives. He even indicated that Bitar was concerned if someone like John Juanda ever got a seat on the board because he would essentially be Bitar's boss.<br />
<br />
It has been reported and also confirmed by Lederer in his interview that there were a number of owners that had concerns about the way the company was run and specifically about the suitability of Bitar as CEO yet he was somehow able to dismiss these concerns.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="298" src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/NkZrFSQkM2M" width="530"></iframe><br /></div>
<h2>
Rationalization</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A rationalization is the excuse an aggressor tries to offer for engaging in an inappropriate or harmful behavior. It can be an effective tactic, especially when the explanation or justification the aggressor offers makes just enough sense that any reasonably conscientious person is likely to fall for it.</blockquote>
Lederer has a rationalization for everything and a lot of people seem to have fallen for them. They kept taking ROW deposits because if the company stopped operating there would be no chance of players getting paid back. That sounds logical except putting more people's money at risk for the chance to save other people's money isn't the right (or legal) thing to do.<br />
<br />
When asked why the board didn't verify the financial condition of the company he claims that the <i>Operating Agreement</i> for Tiltware did not specifically state that he was required to perform any independent financial audits. He doesn't state if the Operating Agreement states that the Board of Directors is required to approve, authorize or in some other way insure owner distributions but this is a fairly universal duty of any board of directors as is making sure the managers of the company are doing a good job. How can you do any of those if you don't pay close attention to the financials of the company?<br />
<br />
He also claims FTP did not act as a Ponzi Scheme as alleged in the DOJ's second ammended complaint because the company was generating revenue. That sounds like it may be right but it's not and a company that does generate revenue and even a profit can turn into a ponzi scheme. Once FTP was reliant on incoming funds from ROW players to continue operations and to process player withdrawals while lacking sufficient funds in the appropriate accounts it had become a ponzi scheme.<br />
<br />
When the other owners of the company wanted to remove Bitar from his CEO position post Black Friday Lederer explained that it would be difficult because of how many licenses were in Bitar's name, among other things and that it would be best for the company to focus on what he believed to be more pressing issues. These were not impossible problems to tackle. Bitar thought it would be a bad idea to replace the board and management because if word got out it would devalue the company and could cause a "run on the bank" which the company could not handle. The mess the company was in devalued the company, they just wanted to try and hide that by creating an illusion that it was just business as usual. Replacing the board and management would have at least let others know that there were people within FTP that were interested in making changes to turn the company around.<br />
<h2>
Diversion</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
A moving target is hard to hit. When we try to pin a manipulator down or try to keep a discussion focused on a single issue or behavior we don't like, he's expert at knowing how to change the subject, dodge the issue or in some way throw us a curve. Manipulators use distraction and diversion techniques to keep the focus off their behavior, move us off-track, and keep themselves free to promote their self-serving hidden agendas.</blockquote>
The biggest instance of diversion was his constant desire to switch attention from his role and actions prior to Black Friday to his actions trying to save the company post Black Friday. He even explains that this is what he was doing with the other owners of the company. He criticized those owners that wanted to find out what happened and who was responsible and instead wanted everyone to focus their attention on what needed to be done to solve the problem and not point fingers.<br />
<br />
This sounds reasonable. If your house was on fire the first thing you'd want to do is try and minimize the danger and damage and try to put out the fire but at some point you'd also want to know why the fire started. Wouldn't you? I would. Lederer doesn't seem to care about that even now that the PokerStars deal bailed out FTP. Forget about how FTP abused player's trust and stole their money, forget about how it's been over a year and players still didn't get their money. Just focus on all the hours and hard work Lederer put in to get you your money back!<br />
<br />
When I was young there was a teacher that used to say "he who has no brain, has feet" whenever someone did something stupid. It means if you aren't smart about what you're doing now, you'll have to run around fixing things later. All the hard work Lederer put in could have been prevented if he and the rest of the board of directors put a little more effort in before Black Friday.<br />
<h2>
Lying</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It's often hard to tell when a person is lying at the time he's doing it. Fortunately, there are times when the truth will out because circumstances don't bear out somebody's story. But there are also times when you don't know you've been deceived until it's too late. One way to minimize the chances that someone will put one over on you is to remember that because aggressive personalities of all types will generally stop at nothing to get what they want, you can expect them to lie and cheat. Another thing to remember is that manipulators – covert-aggressive personalities that they are – are prone to lie in subtle, covert ways.</blockquote>
<div>
I can't say one way or another if Lederer was lying but there were some obvious inconsistencies in his interview. A former FTP employee who started a <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/poker/comments/107f4g/the_lederer_files_30_truth_30_plausible" target="_blank">thread he started on reddit</a> claims Lederer was lying. Bill Rini who has years of experience in the online poker industry and had worked for FTP in the early years posted two opinions on his blog concerning the interview (<a href="http://www.billrini.com/2012/09/20/a-review-of-the-lederer-files-parts-i-iv-and-andy-bloch-interview/" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://www.billrini.com/2012/09/20/a-review-of-the-lederer-files-parts-i-iv-and-andy-bloch-interview/" target="_blank">here </a>worth reading) and some <a href="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showpost.php?p=34941898&postcount=1673" target="_blank">comments on twoplustwo.com</a> that indicate Lederer might not have been completely truthful.</div>
<div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I still don't buy it.<br />
For all of the BS Howard spouts about not knowing and not being an accountant, Howard is selling himself far too short. He's very good with numbers. He's the kind of person that in a meeting can recall numbers down to two decimal places.<br />
The reason I don't believe that he didn't know anything was that the numbers had to seem funny to him. There's no way that the DOJ seized $40 or $100 million from the company and it wasn't brought up in a board meeting. There's no way nobody asked where the money went and how that would impact the company and the owner distributions.<br />
I know Howard can grill people. I've been on the other side of a grilling trying to justify a project or explaining a cost/schedule overrun. He's very bright, very intelligent, and very detail oriented. Numbers are not something that just pass right by him.<br />
I can't believe that someone who knows FTP as intimately as he does, knows all of the company KPIs, couldn't look at a balance sheet and KPI report and know that something wasn't adding up. </blockquote>
</div>
<h2>
Covert Intimidation</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Aggressors frequently threaten their victims to keep them anxious, apprehensive and in a one-down position. Covert-aggressives intimidate their victims by making veiled (subtle, indirect or implied) threats. Guilt-tripping and shaming are two of the covert-aggressive's favourite weapons. Both are special intimidation tactics.</blockquote>
This is something that seemed to happen more between the BOD and other owners. The owners were going to lose their equity and potentially face legal issues, the players were going to lose their money and blame the owners. The owners might potentially face legal issues themselves. These are things I can imagine and infer being told to the owners to keep them in check.<br />
<h3>
Guilt-tripping</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One thing that aggressive personalities know well is that other types of persons have very different consciences than they do. Manipulators are often skilled at using what they know to be the greater conscientiousness of their victims as a means of keeping them in a self-doubting, anxious, and submissive position... All a manipulator has to do is suggest to the conscientious person that they don't care enough, are too selfish, etc., and that person immediately starts to feel bad. </blockquote>
<div>
Lederer proudly recalls how he used guilt to keep Ivey in check when he wanted to distance himself from the company. He told him that if he started promoting another site it would hurt the company and his friends. Hurting the company after Black Friday would risk any potential deals and thus prevent players from getting repaid. He even goes so far as to tell Ivey he would be hurting the company that has given him so much.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The theme that the other owners didn't seem to care as much as him about getting players paid back was also prevalent.</div>
<h3>
Shaming</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This is the technique of using subtle sarcasm and put-downs as a means of increasing fear and self-doubt in others. Covert-aggressives use this tactic to make others feel inadequate or unworthy, and therefore, defer to them.</blockquote>
<div>
When the other owners of FTP got together to replace the current board and replace Bitar as CEO Lederer takes great pride in telling the story of how <a href="http://twitter.com/tiltdad" target="_blank">JK Scheinberg</a>, who was brought in by <a href="http://twitter.com/PhilNoLimits" target="_blank">Phil Gordon</a> to be the new CEO, gave up and requested a one way ticket out of Ireland because the job was too tough. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When the contract for the new board members included a $20k/month salary for each new board member, Lederer was absolutely disgusted that these people would want to profit while the players were suffering financially. When he talked about Bitar not giving up his salary (which I saw somewhere as being over $200k/month) his words lacked the same vitrol he expressed for the owners.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Not something Lederer said but was addressed in the interview, when <a href="http://twitter.com/LuckBoxJuanda" target="_blank">John Juanda</a> had concerns about FTP's customer service it was reported that Ray Bitar said "John you can’t tell us how to run this company, you are an owner and nothing else, you don’t run the company, so just **** off". </div>
<h2>
Playing the Victim Role</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This tactic involves portraying oneself as an innocent victim of circumstances or someone else's behavior in order to gain sympathy, evoke compassion and thereby get something from another. One thing that covert-aggressive personalities count on is the fact that less calloused and less hostile personalities usually can't stand to see anyone suffering. Therefore, the tactic is simple. Convince your victim you're suffering in some way, and they'll try to relieve your distress.</blockquote>
After Black Friday Lederer wants to portray himself as someone in a terrible situation that worked long, hard hours for no pay to try and resolve a terrible situation he found himself in. A situation which he accepts little responsibility for.<br />
<h2>
Vilifying the Victim</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This tactic is frequently used in conjunction with the tactic of playing the victim role. The aggressor uses this tactic to make it appear he is only responding (i.e. defending himself against) aggression on the part of the victim. It enables the aggressor to better put the victim on the defensive.</blockquote>
It may appear that Lederer didn't vilify the victims since he didn't attack the players in any way, but let's not forget that the players weren't the only victims. The other owners of the company were also victims who lost hundreds of millions in equity (if not more) that they found out almost overnight had been completely lost due to the poor decisions made by those in charge of FTP.<br />
<br />
He has no problem attacking these victims. They were uninterested in participating, they tried to get in the way, they didn't want to help solve the problems, they wanted to financially gain from a deal, they wanted a salary to be on the board of directors, they owed the company money, they wouldn't sign a paper that would have been inconsequential according to Lederer, etc. This is what Lederer has to say about them.<br />
<h2>
Playing the Servant Role</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Covert-aggressives use this tactic to cloak their self-serving agendas in the guise of service to a more noble cause. It's a common tactic but difficult to recognize. By pretending to be working hard on someone else's behalf, covert-aggressives conceal their own ambition, desire for power, and quest for a position of dominance over others.</blockquote>
Lederer continually reminds us how everything he did after Black Friday had one purpose, to get players repaid. Let's not forget that Lederer was facing civil charges from the DOJ that could potentially turn into criminal charges. If he couldn't get outside investors to take responsibility for getting players repaid there's a strong possibility that he would have to forfeit his own money to aid in player restitution. Are we to believe that this had no bearing on his decisions?<br />
<br />
It seems to me that Lederer tried to stay in power post Black Friday because he didn't want to emerge as someone who contributed or at least should have prevented the collapse of FTP and the loss of player funds but instead he wanted his last actions to be those of someone that was instrumental in getting players their money back. Then maybe we might forget the rest.<br />
<h2>
Seduction</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Covert-aggressive personalities are adept at charming, praising, flattering or overtly supporting others in order to get them to lower their defenses and surrender their trust and loyalty. Covert-aggressives are also particularly aware that people who are to some extent emotionally needy and dependent (and that includes most people who aren't character-disordered) want approval, reassurance, and a sense of being valued and needed more than anything. Appearing to be attentive to these needs can be a manipulator's ticket to incredible power over others. </blockquote>
The demise of FTP couldn't have been accomplished with out the involvement of FTP's senior management. The board of directors had a duty to oversee these managers. While Lederer has many negative things to say about other owners of FTP, who were not directly involved with the day-to-day operations, he even blamed some of their actions as hindering efforts to repay players, he took it very easy on senior management and other board members.<br />
<br />
How can he not have outrage over the people that cause so much harm? How can he not want to name names? Why wouldn't he want to out them as the people that ultimately caused the loss of player money? He had no problem naming people he thought were creating obstacles to get players repaid.<br />
<br />
Why would he not turn on the people that would have direct involvement? Is he afraid they might retaliate in some way?<br />
<h2>
Projecting the blame (blaming others)</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Aggressive personalities are always looking for a way to shift the blame for their aggressive behavior. Covert-aggressives are not only skilled at finding scapegoats, they're expert at doing so in subtle, hard to detect ways.</blockquote>
The DOJ, the other owners, I think enough was mentioned previously to cover this one.<br />
<h2>
Minimization</h2>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
This tactic is a unique kind of denial coupled with rationalization. When using this maneuver, the aggressor is attempting to assert that his abusive behavior isn't really as harmful or irresponsible as someone else may be claiming. It's the aggressor's attempt to make a molehill out of a mountain.</blockquote>
He starts off the interview "I'd like to point out I am one person in what was a complicated situation" and ends the interview painting himself as just an owner, like all the other owners even though he was on the Board of Directors and at one time President. In contrast, when he's talking about all the things he did to get players repaid he makes it sound like he was the only person doing anything.<br />
<br />
When he talks about the <i>phantom deposits</i> where FTP would credit player accounts when they made a deposit in the US via eCheck even though FTP did not have the ability to collect those funds from the players' bank accounts he calls it a "backlog". That backlog was the result of months of giving out money without the means to collect it according to the DOJ which resulted in over $150 million dollar hole in the company's accounts. To put that in perspective, FTP owes players just over $300 million and had paid out over $400 million to shareholders. $150 million is a huge number for a company this size.<br />
<br />
He focuses on the point that FTP was not a ponzi scheme, a term most are aware of following the Bernie Madoff incident, and tries to make distinctions because FTP had assets and generated revenue. Even though the company had become dependent on outside investment and player deposits (keep in mind deposits, not revenues generated from rake) to be able to pay it's bills and process player withdrawals.<br />
<h2>
Pre and Post Black Friday Actions Were The Same</h2>
<div>
This isn't a tactic of manipulators but one thing struck me in everything Lederer said.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
He claims to have had a major role post Black Friday trying to get things in order. His plan was to essentially try and keep the lights on, keep the servers running by keeping new deposits coming in (after he already knew there was a major hole in player accounts) so that the company would be more attractive to potential investors who would swoop in and fix everything.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Prior to Black Friday one of the problems was that FTP was spending more money than it could afford to. When PokerStars faced similar problems with eChecks they stopped accepting them. FTP on the otherhand saw it as an opportunity to increase their player base to make up the distance with their rival. They chose to credit players money in their FTP accounts without being able to actually collect that money. They continued to pay owners their distributions so that nobody would raise an eyebrow even though the company had funds siezed from processors in previous years, a big hole in their accounts due to crediting phantom deposits and the finance dept had projected the company would run out of money for months prior to Black Friday.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Lederer claims he didn't have a big role in the operations of the company prior to Black Friday, at least with respect to finances, yet I find it interesting how similar his approach to fix things was to the approach that ruined the company. The mentality was basically, let's just do whatever we have to do right now even though it's unethical, illegal or puts our customers and owners at risk, we'll make up the difference later. And we'll do it all with other people's money, including player deposits.</div>
<h2>
What Do You Think?</h2>
<div>
Do you think Lederer was a master manipulator? I didn't cover all the examples so feel free to leave others you spotted in the comments.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-64429588699785048202012-05-22T12:43:00.000-04:002012-05-22T13:04:39.740-04:00Phil Galfond New Face of New FTP?<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img alt="Phil Galfond Lead Pro of New Full Tilt Poker" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5sA73Pzm4id7kRUCr0vNKNPeeIg20rmLwa9d_KmdhCitorW5salFxVqT2OXoipbb597X3lYAtZ3fu_kXJkXs3Qt1jKxN59mgT8SjkDO7et0mVUc69D0aCl3xACl6EsMuDOPQY_y6BxOs/s1600/PhilGalfondFTP.jpg" title="Phil Galfond Lead Pro of New Full Tilt Poker?" /></div>
I have a feeling that if/when the <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2012/04/pokerstars-saves-day.html">New FTP is launched by PokerStars</a> (if the rumors are true) <a href="http://www.philgalfond.com/" target="_blank">Phil Galfond</a> will be one of their sponsored pros. And not just any old sponsored pro. I think Phil Galfond will be one of, if not the lead sponsored pro. The new face of the New Full Tilt Poker.<br />
<br />
This is all just my speculation but over the past few months I've noticed trends that lead me to believe this is a likely scenario.<br />
<br />
Many of the prominent Team Full Tilt members are not just sponsored pros. They're also owners of the site. Considering how terrible Full Tilt Poker has been to it's players, it might not be a good idea to have people who profited from the theft of player funds be a part of the new lineup.<br />
<br />
Sorry guys, even though some of you weren't at the reigns it doesn't sit well with some of us knowing you owned as much as 10% of the company and let these things happen.<br />
<br />
The New FTP will have substantial hurdles to overcome even if players are made whole. If the intention is to have FTP continue to run as a profitable online poker room, they will need to restore the reputation of FTP.<br />
<br />
Phil is one of the most respected members of the poker community. Not just for his ability at the table but also for his contributions. Very few, if any would impeach his integrity. It just makes sense as it would be the quickest way to patch the tattered FTP brand.<br />
<br />
There was a lot of speculation that a big sponsorship may be in the works for Phil when he <a href="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/phil-galfond-stepping-down-bluefire-1137843/" target="_blank">announced his departure from BlueFirePoker</a> but there have been other little things going on that reinforce my belief that Phil will be a big part of the new FTP.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt09f_WwCSnC0z0soGKQn9ro2DinUS_GYfMjZfeYpsjMGrF-HwFiu-Rzn7Qjt2FSaKnBkryamja-sM11073x4w6j259AjH0RCHm2LnWYHTpE0J3Rk4BiIn0zsE3HS2i52-wzrk-i2r0U/s1600/BromancingTheStone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirt09f_WwCSnC0z0soGKQn9ro2DinUS_GYfMjZfeYpsjMGrF-HwFiu-Rzn7Qjt2FSaKnBkryamja-sM11073x4w6j259AjH0RCHm2LnWYHTpE0J3Rk4BiIn0zsE3HS2i52-wzrk-i2r0U/s200/BromancingTheStone.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
Daniel Negreanu and Phil have been getting very chummy on twitter lately.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-in-reply-to="156146241737207808" style="margin: 0 0 0 160px; width: 280px;">
@<a href="https://twitter.com/PhilGalfond">PhilGalfond</a> ok looks like we need to chill on the massive bromance now <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523getaroom">#getaroom</a><br />
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) <a data-datetime="2012-01-08T23:03:56+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/RealKidPoker/status/156149163720052737">January 8, 2012</a></blockquote>
<br />
<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js">
</script>
And it didn't escape the <a href="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29/news-views-gossip/phil-galfond-issues-challenge-2p2-1150585/" target="_blank">attention of 2p2</a>. Other PokerStars pros also seem to be mentioning Phil Galfond more in their tweets.<br />
<br />
Phil's also been working on his online presence through his <a href="http://www.philgalfond.com/" target="_blank">blog</a>,his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/philgalfond" target="_blank">youtube channel</a> and his <a href="http://twitter.com/philgalfond" target="_blank">twitter</a> feed. His tweets especially have been getting more consistent and more frequent. He's even been getting in better physical shape. While he could be doing all this for other reasons, it has had the effect of polishing the Phil Galfond <i>brand.</i><br />
<br />
PokerStars really figured out how to utilize social media effectively to promote themselves and I wonder if Galfond has been getting some coaching.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSMEq0XIFYWP415euO7SVc_7DeOs3_D7XYlvej7dXVfUIBbjcB-aB9UemarC7hZtomeXyfcTXFm_9HezY7ZAbU7K9aHMimuFkiQ7IzyYB2GbI8DH0zxwg6OslZ-CgOZ8UQJdozkHPjbc/s1600/GalfondNegreanuShoulders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQSMEq0XIFYWP415euO7SVc_7DeOs3_D7XYlvej7dXVfUIBbjcB-aB9UemarC7hZtomeXyfcTXFm_9HezY7ZAbU7K9aHMimuFkiQ7IzyYB2GbI8DH0zxwg6OslZ-CgOZ8UQJdozkHPjbc/s200/GalfondNegreanuShoulders.jpg" width="158" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">on the shoulders of giants</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
More precisely, it feels like Negreanu has sort of taken Galfond under his wing. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but there seems to be some sort of subtext in their online interactions. I can't point to any specific example but my gut feelings have had a pretty good track record.<br />
<br />
Many similarities exist between them.<br />
<ul>
<li>Both recognized for their poker skills (Negreanu for tournaments, Galfond for cash games)</li>
<li>Both have been very active early on in poker communities (Negreanu usenet, Galfond 2p2)</li>
<li>Both have taken the time to write articles about poker </li>
<li>Both are great ambassadors for the game</li>
<li>Both are very well respected</li>
<li>Both are very likable and great communicators</li>
</ul>
<div>
If you were going to make a Daniel Negreanu v2.0 (not that there's anything wrong with the current version) you would start with Phil Galfond.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I really hope I'm right. I can't think of any other player that has given as much to poker as Phil has, yet have received so little in return. Well... other than the millions he's won playing poker :)</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-46190447248897473882012-04-24T17:14:00.003-04:002012-04-24T18:54:12.124-04:00PokerStars Saves The Day<br />
PokerStars' Head of Corporate Communications just published a post on pokerstarsblog.com that says they can't say anything but rumors are running wild that PokerStars will be purchasing FTP and settle their outstanding legal issues with the DOJ as a result of Black Friday.<br />
<br />
Sometime soon we can expect to hear good news. So far the rumors are:<br />
<ul>
<li>GBT deal with FTP/DOJ is off the table.</li>
<li>PokerStars will pay $750 million to acquire FTP. This includes covering the $330 million owed to FTP players as well as fines to settle charges with the DOJ.</li>
<li>FTP will continue to run as a separate poker room.</li>
<li>FTP will re-enter the US market.</li>
<li>Isai Scheinberg will be stepping down from his position at PokerStars.</li>
</ul>
If these rumors are true PokerStars is bailing out everyone in this mess including, US and ROW (rest of world) players, GBT, themselves and even the DOJ
<br />
<h2>
GBT Out Of FTP Deal</h2>
<div>
This part seems to be confirmed based on this <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/french-investors-push-to-buy-troubled-full-tilt-poker-fails-on-feds-terms-over-player-funds/2012/04/24/gIQAT91keT_story.html" target="_blank">Washington Post article</a>. The biggest issue that killed the deal appears to be a last minute requirement from the DOJ that GBT has a plan to repay ROW players within 90 days.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A second issue is that laws in other countries may allow FTP's creditors to go after FTP assets to recover liabilities owed to them as the DOJ agreement would not be binding in their country.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've never been too confident in the GBT deal. There were rumors that GBT was having a hard time coming up with the money on their own that it would take to complete the purchase. <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22px; text-align: left;">Benham Dayanim statements regarding collections of loans from FTP pros prior to the deal seemed to lend credence to this in my mind.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The rumored GBT/FTP/DOJ agreement was that FTP would forfeit their assets to the DOJ and GBT would purchase those assets for $80 million which would include a $25 million dollar bank account as well as agreeing to handle repayment of roughly $150 million in ROW payer accounts.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars coming in to take over the deal helps GBT save face as it seems they didn't have the ability to finalize the deal and now they get to blame it on PokerStars sabotaging it.<br />
<h2>
FTP Players To Be Paid Within 90 Days</h2>
</div>
<div>
Making players whole within 90 days was a sticking point in the GBT deal and one can assume that the DOJ/PokerStars deal will include such a provision.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars has a lot on the line. They are currently the biggest online poker room. They're ability to pay out US players post Black Friday enhanced their already strong reputation. Doing anything to diminish their reputation would be a bad decision.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars has purchased other failed poker rooms in the past. The way it was handled was that their old account balances were treated sort of like bonuses and they needed to play enough to clear the balance before they could withdraw. It wouldn't surprise me if there were similar provisions in this case though no information has been released.<br />
<br />
There were a lot of things concerning the GBT deal that didn't make sense.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In my opinion players would be more willing to play to clear their accounts having PokerStars behind FTP rather than GBT which doesn't have as great a reputation in the online gaming industry as PokerStars.<br />
<h2>
PokerStars Bails Out The DOJ</h2>
</div>
<div>
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York has the reputation of going after deep pockets and getting big settlements. Although they are enforcing the laws they do seem to grab a good chunk of change when they do.</div>
<div>
<br />
After it was discovered that FTP and AP/UB were insolvent their hope of recovering $3 billion in fines as a result of Black Friday had to have been diminished.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That might not seem so bad. Just take what you can from FTP and AP/UB and be done with it. But settling with FTP and AP/UB for the small amount they could would leave the DOJ in a poor position in their ongoing settlement negotiations with PokerStars. The only player with deep pockets.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Some have even questioned the strength of the DOJ's case considering they came out to say that the Wire Act doesn't apply to online poker and they allowed <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2012/03/27/federal-prosecutors-dodge-online-poker-trial-by-handing-banker-a-misdemeanor-deal/" target="_blank">Chad Ellie and John Campos to plea to misdemeanors</a>. The Forbes article suspects that had the case gone to trial it had the possibility of compromising the case against the poker sites.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars gives the DOJ some of the money they were after and the DOJ avoids going to trial risking losing the case and creating dangerous precedents.<br />
<h2>
Why would PokerStars Want To Own FTP</h2>
</div>
<div>
At first glance this doesn't make sense. With Full Tilt Poker offline any players outside the US that want to continue to play online poker would have already started playing on another poker site, primarily PokerStars.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars does not need to buy the player base of FTP as they already had them. Some may argue that the FTP software is better but that's mostly a subjective issue. I've always preferred the PokerStars software over FTP.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
They're obviously not buying the brain trust that ran FTP into the ground so why would they be interested in buying FTP?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
While PokerStars has FTP's players there is the risk that they could lose some of those players if another entity buys FTP. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Considering the mess FTP has become the value of FTP seems less than the $750 million that PokerStars is shelling out. Especially since GBT was going to spend $80 mil, -$25 mil, +$180 mil in ROW deposits. So why would PokerStars be willing to pay so much?<br />
<h2>
PokerStars Settles With The DOJ</h2>
</div>
<div>
That $750 million figure isn't just for FTP. The rumored breakdown is $380 million to cover player accounts and $370 million as fines to the DOJ.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars has been in constant negotiations with the DOJ after Black Friday to settle their outstanding criminal and civil charges. The DOJ was seeking $3 billion in fines. Given the financial position of FTP and AP/UB, that figure was out of reach. There seems to be enough evidence that laws were broken and someone has to pay.<br />
<br />
PokerStars still has the threat of criminal and civil charges against their companies and some individuals. They were going to have to settle with the DOJ one way or another. Allowing PokerStars to buy FTP gives PokerStars something back for their fines in addition to having the charges settled.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Even if PokerStars felt they could win at trial it is easier and cheaper to settle. If poker sites are allowed to come back to the US then PokerStars will need a clean record to re-enter the market. That can be accomplished via the settlement.<br />
<h2>
FTP Returning To The US</h2>
</div>
<div>
Two of the rumors posted by Shawn Deeb was that FTP would be returning to the US market and that Isai Scheinberg would be stepping down.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I would assume if FTP is allowed to return, so would PokerStars. This is the best rumor to come out today. I can see this being true but won't hold my breath.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Scheinberg stepping down reinforces the rumor (though that's a rumor in itself.) Scheinberg is facing criminal charges as a result of the Black Friday indictments. If he is being asked to step down the settlement likely includes resolving his criminal charges. It seems as if he will plead guilty to some charges and have the matter settled with the above mentioned fines and maybe no or limited jail time.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The most telling thing about these rumors is that the DOJ has no jurisdiction to tell a foreign company who can be in charge and who can't. If this is being included in the deal then one can assume that it is in preparation for PokerStars to re-enter the US market.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
PokerStars and Scheinberg are taking a big hit here. They've been a great part of the online poker community and did a lot to promote and enhance the game. It makes sense that they would come in and save the day which is why so much weight is being given to these rumors.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Let's hope they're true.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-9267665672632392012011-04-22T17:16:00.001-04:002012-09-24T19:27:50.485-04:00Let's Not Turn Our Backs on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyY8hZCe06OfD63utvfGLckJoZZRGoyOgi8QtKItQEmonGSmzrqnmTpGVz4bT5qoGoJBTDq5NuZ35LAP1eSBdk04opP7jQDbO7f66kV2K04UfvGMMCdItnJzUHR6-K87ezz112_9LYsQ/s200/ftp-ps-underthebus.jpg" width="200" /></div>
<b>UPDATE: Obviously a lot more has come out since I first wrote this and my opinion of Full Tilt Poker has changed drastically.</b><br />
<br />
I really hate this phrase but some people have been throwing PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker under the bus since the indictments came out.<br />
<br />
The crimes they are alleged to have committed are quite disturbing but they have not been convicted of anything.<br />
<br />
Some people who were comfortable playing on those sites (probably mostly people that don't regularly play poker) in the past few years are now slamming them and trying to distance themselves from those sites.<br />
<br />
When other sites pulled out of the market FTP and Stars remained after consulting with their legal staff. Without them in the market there would be very little in the way of online poker for us Americans.<br />
<br />
Here's a summary of what happened and why I'm not ready to slam these guys.<br />
<a name='more'></a><h2>
Making Online Poker Illegal in the US</h2>
There was a push back in 2006 to make online gambling illegal. None of the proposed stand-alone legislation that would have made online gambling illegal became law. It wasn't until the UIGEA was added at the last minute to the <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-109hr4954enr/pdf/BILLS-109hr4954enr.pdf" target="_blank">SAFE Port Act</a>[pdf] of 2006 that there was federal legislation that threatened online gambling. <br />
<br />
The other measures weren't gaining much traction in Congress but the SAFE Port Act had bipartisan support and was important legislation that needed to go through. It was the perfect act to sneak UIGEA into.<br />
<br />
The UIGEA prohibits the "acceptance of any financial instrument for unlawful Internet gambling". Aaron Todd <a href="http://aarontodd.casinocitytimes.com/article/uigea-regulations-keep-my-money-off-pokerstars-but-nowhere-else-58607" target="_blank">summarized the UIGEA</a> best as "The law was designed to prevent U.S. citizens from playing poker and casino games or making sports bets on the Internet by <b>requiring banks and financial institutions to block player deposits to Internet gambling businesses</b>."<br />
<br />
Since these gaming sites are outside of the jurisdiction of the US the most effective way to prevent online gambling in the US was to threaten US based financial institutions.<br />
<br />
Recently it seems that the banks have not only been pressured to not allow deposits but also to not accept withdrawals as some players on 2+2 have reported having their accounts closed after receiving cash outs. Fortunately they haven't lost their funds but it is a pain to have to set up a new account, especially if you have payments automatically scheduled.<br />
<br />
The general consensus is that <b>online poker is not illegal</b> except in some states that have specific legislation to that effect.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of issues with the UIGEA. One is that it possibly violates WTO polices. Antigua and Barbuda had <a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/03/30/oukin-uk-trade-gambling-wto-idUKL3047306520070330" target="_blank">won a verdict in 2007 against the US</a> with regards to UIGEA and they continue to fight.<br />
<h2>
If Online Poker Isn't Illegal Why Can't We Play?</h2>
For most people they can't continue to play poker if they can't make the occasional deposit, which is now illegal.<br />
<br />
If sites like FTP and PokerStars want players in the US to continue to play the needed to find a way to have them deposit.After the UIGEA there were no legal options to do so. Chuck Kidd, CEO of PPNPoker who also runs a payment processor, indicated he could do it legally when he was on the <a href="http://www.quadjacks.com/" target="_blank">QuadJacks Live</a> broadcast but that does not appear to be the case based on the various documents I've read.<br />
<br />
The allegations in the indictment seem pretty bad in regards to setting up dummy sites to mask transactions as golf ball sales and other items instead of marking them as gaming transactions but keep in mind we've only heard one side of the story. PokerStars and FTP have not made any statements related to their defense of the charges.<br />
<br />
Even in the DoJ's indictment they stated that PokerStars wanted to operate in a more transparent manner. PokerStars' statements in the past revealed that they did not believe that what they were doing was illegal. This is a plausible argument since online poker is a game of skill and may not be lumped into the "illegal internet gambling" bucket in some jurisdictions, which would exempt it from the UIGEA.<br />
<br />
It is claimed that their "transparent" plan involved "bribing" banks to accept their payments. Another way to look at it is that they tried to convince banks that what they were doing was not illegal and they provided incentives to the banks to offset legal costs since the banks seemed to be under pressure because of the UIGEA. This is just a different way the charges could be interpreted. I have no idea what really happened.<br />
<br />
If the charges in the indictment are true there are obviously better ways that these sites could have acted. For example they could have restricted deposits but allowed US players to continue to play if they had money in their accounts. The countries where they are licensed and regulated could have also sought relief from the WTO as Antigua and Barbuda did or use other legal channels. During the legal battle American's would likely have not been able to make deposits.<br />
<br />
People make mistakes. If they made a mistake to get around a rushed piece of legislation that was snuck in another law, that possibly violates WTO regulations, restricts our personal liberties and ultimately didn't deprive people of any money, I'm not going to crucify them for it. The people that wanted to put money on the sites put money on the sites, the banks that processed the transactions did not have any funds stolen from them.<br />
<br />
They had financial incentive to (allegedly) do what they did. There's no doubt about it, but if they didn't do what they did we would have lost the ability to play online poker.<br />
<br />
The sites have done a lot for us and to promote and popularize the game. <br />
<br />
They took a risk. A risk that we also benefited from. I think it's wrong to bash them now. I trust that they will process our withdrawals and if FTP or PokerStars ever return to the US market I will gladly play on those sites.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-25400388924265460492011-04-21T12:05:00.003-04:002011-04-21T12:41:32.098-04:00Most Online Poker Players Will Not Switch to Live Poker<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CCM05.jpg" target="_blank" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="By CercleCM (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Dj84mJqyrIjZ9J7ZaORXaLzM0TM2_zUc8pQQsXsffn6YQxe80fg7wOPhcuyB7PEeoZds81DrkLBkBxAFr6kpwco5c_9iJKh8ya7AU73AlYjCNAEqh96fEnXbtLYmHJF2X_ORCj3420s/s1600/EmptyPokerRoom.jpg" /></a></div>There has been a lot of talk about online poker players transitioning to live poker play. I just don't see it happening, at least not in large numbers.<br />
<br />
A lot of online poker players are essentially shut out of making money from poker.<br />
<br />
There are a small number of poker players making millions of dollars a year online. There are some that can make a good living playing online poker at mid stakes full time with no other source of income.<br />
<br />
The majority of poker players, that do have some sort of steady income from poker, are part-time poker players. <br />
<br />
Playing live poker is going to be much harder to do than playing online poker. A typical part-time online poker player can come home after his day job, sign on to his favorite poker site, play a few hours and that's it. It's something that they can easily squeeze in between their job, their family and other commitments.<br />
<br />
Now if s/he has to drive to a cardroom, wait for a table, tip dealers, pay for food, etc., they're just not going to be playing as much as they used to. It is going to be harder to fit into their schedule.<br />
<br />
Live poker is much slower as well. When you're sitting at a poker table you can expect to be dealt around 30 hands per hour. That's not even factoring in commute and wait times. If you're mulitabling even just 4 tables online, you're being dealt over 300 hands per hour. <br />
<br />
Winning poker players biggest competitor is variance. The way to conquer variance is to put in a lot of volume. Someone who only plays poker a couple of hours a night may only be able to drive once a week to a casino and play for 8 hours.<br />
<br />
Now they're playing 240 hands a week compared to the thousands of hands they would normally play a week online. The <i>long term</i> in live poker is a lot longer than online poker.<br />
<br />
People were able to have a good part-time job multi-tabling something as small as 25NL online and be their own boss. Now the minimum most people have access to live will be around 1/2. <br />
<br />
Even if live poker is easier it will get harder once the full-time pros transition to live. The loss of online poker is going to be hardest on these players, who make up the majority of online winners.<br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="360" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/embeddedform?formkey=dHBFYnoyZEgteGRnbVJ0UmEwcGNsUXc6MQ" width="550"></iframe><br />
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="550" width="550" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" src="https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewanalytics?formkey=dHBFYnoyZEgteGRnbVJ0UmEwcGNsUXc6MQ"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-55524934105949604902011-04-21T11:13:00.001-04:002011-04-21T18:42:31.648-04:00Received Email From PokerStars Regarding US Withdrawals<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjesQHs7nKHO5JSYIFRek9501hCC-852pbVNKXsxEusDV34SmryO0kqyYI9UbzjGJzEDVPzCCHyqSR4E8Hp5-ym4KnECf077w_NR7omQzBxcVX52_IruGpoOWS6T83PI9pgYvFDj8vlHlI/s200/PokerStarsSpadeLogo.png" width="200" /></div><br />
I finally received a reply to my support email from PokerStars. It seems that they are replying to each email individually so they can address any specific concerns that their players might have.<br />
<br />
This personal attention is what we have come to expect from PokerStars. Understandably, we can't expect the same speedy responses we've become accustomed too given the circumstances.<br />
<br />
In case anyone is still waiting for an email here is the generic parts.<br />
<blockquote>We were very pleased to receive the news that allows US players to cash out their real money balances.<br />
<br />
In response to this update, the Cash Out option in the PokerStars Cashier will temporarily be unavailable, to allow us to prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required to allow you to cash out your balance.<br />
<br />
Please be assured, US player balances are safe. We will notify all US players as soon as the cashier is available to allow you to proceed to cashing out. In the interim, any pending cashouts will be returned to your account in order to ensure players have the opportunity to cash out orderly.<br />
<br />
Providing you with the facility to cash out is our top priority right now, and hopefully all US players will be able to cash out via the PokerStars Cashier in the near future.<br />
<br />
In the event that you are no longer living in the United States, and can prove it, you are free to play on our site from your new residence. However, to do so, you will be required to submit proof that you are actually resident in another location to have your privileges reinstated. You will be able to keep your VIP Status, as well as your yearly VPP total (as of April 15, 2011).<br />
<br />
Acceptable proof consists of copies of photo identification as well as a recent utility bill showing your new physical address. Just an address, without actual proof of residency, will not be sufficient.<br />
<br />
Once you have moved, and have the necessary documents to prove your new residency, please email the documents to verification@pokerstars.com and we will assist you further.<br />
<br />
We apologize for the temporary delay, and sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation, as we continue working towards providing you with a solution to cash out.</blockquote>You can also find information at the <a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/usaplayers/faq/">PokerStars FAQ for USA Players</a>. Note because the domain was recently released it might take a couple of days for the DNS changes to propagate to your local DNS and you might get a 404 Not Found Error page. Be patient.<br />
<br />
Another email I received is that USA players cannot purchase anything from the VIP store. If you have any pending purchases they will probably be canceled. This does not seem to apply to cash bonuses that you can purchase from the VIP store.<br />
<br />
I don't think PokerStars will screw us over. Things are just going to take time to work themselves out. I'm sure the same is true for Full Tilt Poker. I'm willing to be patient but I hope they continue to keep information coming out while they work on resolving these issues.<br />
<br />
<b>Update: </b> Received the following email from PokerStars Security:<br />
<blockquote>We were very pleased to receive the news that allows US players to cash out their real money balances.<br />
<br />
In response to this update, the Cashout Option in the PokerStars Cashier will be temporarily unavailable to allow us to prepare the technical solutions and formulate the plan and processes required to allow you to cash out your balance.<br />
<br />
In the interim, any pending cashouts have been returned to your account in order to ensure players have the opportunity to cash out orderly.<br />
<br />
Please be assured, player balances are safe. We will notify all US and US territories players as soon as the Cashier is available again.<br />
<br />
Providing you with the facility to cash out is our top priority right now, and hopefully all US and US territories players will be able<br />
to cash out via the PokerStars Cashier in the near future.<br />
<br />
If your account balance is over 4000 USD you will be required to send documentation at cashout stage. In order to avoid delays at that time<br />
we kindly ask you that you scan and email in advance the following two documents to security@pokerstars.eu:<br />
<br />
a) A clear photocopy of your government issued photo ID (front and back).<br />
<br />
b) A copy of a recent utility bill or bank statement clearly showing your full name, current address and statement date (no older than 3 months).<br />
<br />
Please ensure that you clearly state your UserID. If you have already provided the above documents in the past, you are NOT required to send these again.<br />
<br />
We apologize for the temporary delay, and sincerely appreciate your patience and cooperation as we continue working towards providing<br />
you with a solution to cash out.<br />
<br />
Regards,<br />
<br />
PokerStars Security<br />
</blockquote><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-45337058351072078562011-04-20T13:15:00.002-04:002011-04-20T14:51:17.922-04:00Domain Names Shouldn't Hang Up Poker WithdrawalsToday the United States Attorney for the Southern District of NY put out a press release that they have come to an agreement that allows the domain names for FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com to be returned to the respective sites.<br />
<blockquote>Under the terms of the agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, the companies agreed that they would not allow for, facilitate, or provide the ability for players located in the United States to engage in playing online poker for "real money" or any other thing of value. The agreements allow for PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to use the pokerstars.com and fulltiltpoker.com domain names to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. players’ funds held in account with the companies. The deposit of funds by U.S. players is expressly prohibited. In addition, the agreements do not prohibit, and, in fact, expressly allow for, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker to provide for, and facilitate, players outside of the United States to engage in playing online poker for real money. The agreements also require<br />
the appointment of an independent Monitor to verify PokerStars’ and Full Tilt Poker’s compliance with the agreements. The Government stands to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker if it so chooses.</blockquote>I recently posted some information about the <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/04/info-relating-to-domain-name-seizures.html">domain name seizures</a>. They're not really that important and shouldn't have been something that hung up player withdrawals. The poker sites should have been able to process withdrawals without getting their domain names back.<br />
<br />
Full Tilt Poker also put out a <a href="http://www.pokerplayer.co.uk/news/latest-news/11458/full_tilt_website_back_up.html">statement</a> which states "in addition, the agreement represents an <b>important first step towards returning funds to U.S. players because it allows Full Tilt Poker to utilize its domain to facilitate the withdrawal of player funds</b>."<br />
<br />
The agreement will help players get their money back but they didn't need the agreement to do so. This whole mess makes things difficult because they have to process a large number of withdrawals simultaneously while some accounts may be frozen but it's good news that the sites have begun to comment on us getting our money.<br />
<br />
The DoJ also stated that the seizures of the accounts where not intended to seize player funds and will help the poker sites get the money back to US players.<br />
<blockquote>In fact, this Office expects the companies to return the money that U.S. players entrusted to them, and <b>we will work with the poker companies to facilitate the return of funds to players</b>, as today’s agreements with PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker demonstrate.</blockquote>Today's news is good news as far as getting our money back but I found FTP's statement troubling. Implying that the domain name seizures held up withdrawals is just not true. I'm not going to be celebrating until more information comes out with how and when funds will start coming to us.<br />
<br />
<b>Update:</b> The full text of the executed domain name agreements have been released online for both <a href="http://bit.ly/dUjFYb?r=td">Full Tilt Poker</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/enmhXp?r=td">PokerStars</a>. The only text in the agreement relating to withdrawals is:<br />
<blockquote>This Agreement does not prohibig, and, in fact, expressly allows for, PokerStars to utilize the Domain (and any other forms of communication) to facilitate the withdrawal of U.S. players' funds held in account with PokerStars. While withdrawal of funds is expressly permitted, the deposit of funds by U.S. Players is expressly prohibited. Pokerstars agrees that any financial transactions with players located in the United States shall be strictly limited to the return of those players' funds held in account with PokerStars.</blockquote>The agreement doesn't seem to change the state of player withdrawals but it's nice that player withdrawals are becoming part of the conversation.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-51822355357522196362011-04-19T14:07:00.001-04:002011-04-19T15:29:04.990-04:00Will US Poker Players Get Their Money?<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; width: 200px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center; width: 200px;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6BPPj4-h8kDFto7JPu2UrswMuexjr0ryvuzKu1CUIKlg6kYOjOCaoSYLea4s4In2oGk4djXcnK1Fz5SYLypkMrjoUBvo3htxmWBDX32jyj6kGuPlW43M5sUhnlFKayvIb-flRhE3Jjns/s200/PokerChips.jpg" width="200" /></div><div style="color: #666666; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://flickr.com/photos/74159937@N00/564143766" style="color: #666666;">Jam Adams</a></div></div>Short answer. I don't know if we will but we definitely should!<br />
<br />
Some quick facts. The UIGEA doesn't make payments from poker sites to players illegal. Only deposits.<br />
<br />
Playing online poker is also not illegal in most states and whether or not online poker constitutes "illegal internet gambling" also hasn't been tested in a court of law.<br />
<br />
Keep in mind I'm not an attorney, I'm not an industry insider and the following is going to just be my opinion based on what I've been able to determine from my own research.<br />
<h2>Should US Poker Players Receive Their Funds?</h2>I don't see why we shouldn't. As I mentioned. There isn't anything illegal regarding withdrawals as far as the UIGEA is concerned.<br />
<br />
Even though the money was (or is in the process of being) seized for criminal activity, that criminal activity was not perpetrated by the poker players.<br />
<br />
The counts in the indictment involve bank fraud and UIGEA violations.<br />
<br />
Players who made deposits were not willing participants in any of the claimed bank fraud incidents. Even though the bank codes made it look like charges came from various web merchants, it's not like PokerStars told us to go to some website and buy 5,000 golf balls when we wanted to make a deposit.<br />
<br />
We went to the poker client and clicked the deposit button and followed the instructions. Whatever happened behind the scenes happened without our control or knowledge.<br />
<br />
Even though withdrawals are exempt from the UIGEA, I just wanted to make it clear that the money isn't being confiscated for anything the players did.<br />
<h2>Why Aren't US Players Getting Our Money?</h2>Recently, some banks have been giving poker players a hard time when they do make withdrawals. Some players have reported having their bank accounts closed. I'm not sure why this is happening but banks are either unwilling or being instructed to not handle withdrawals in some cases.<br />
<br />
The big reason though is that the DoJ/FBI has seized a lot of accounts owned by the payment processors and the poker sites.<br />
<br />
The way I understand how things work, payment processors open bank accounts for handling the transactions of the poker sites. They process both deposits and withdrawals on behalf of the poker sites. The payment processor earns a fee for processing these requests.<br />
<br />
Since the payment processor handles money coming in and out they hold funds in their bank accounts to handle these transactions without constantly needing to transfer funds back and forth between them and the poker sites.<br />
<br />
So you make a $100 deposit, it's going to stay with the processor. The processor isn't immediately going to send the money to the poker site. Where the money actually belongs is basically tracked in a spreadsheet. (Hopefully more sophisticated but you get the point.)<br />
<br />
The gaming commissions that regulate these sites also have provisions that require player funds to be segregated from operational funds. Meaning that player bankrolls aren't supposed to be in the same bank accounts that the poker sites use to pay their bills, payroll, etc.<br />
<br />
Our money is out there somewhere. The DoJ/FBI has put a freeze on it and it seems someone in government has incorrectly instructed banks to not allow players to receive withdrawals in some cases.<br />
<h2>Who Owes The US Poker Players Their Money</h2>The poker sites are responsible to return the money to their players when they request a withdrawal. I think it's pretty clear.<br />
<br />
What's holding it up is that the bank accounts may have been frozen and the poker sites, even though it seems not all the accounts have been frozen, are a little less liquid right now.<br />
<br />
Even with the loss of the US Market, they're still raking in millions of dollars a day so even if the accounts aren't released we should expect them to start saving up to pay us back. If not there will likely be legal action against them by the players.<br />
<br />
In the case of Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars I don't think that will be necessary. They intend to remain in business outside the US and have invested a lot in their brands. Stiffing their players would tarnish their reputations too much.<br />
<br />
It would make things easier if the DoJ/FBI would unfreeze the accounts in excess of the amounts their seeking in fines so that PokerStars can pay their players. It would be helpful if financial institutions were instructed to not give players a hard time if the receive checks or wires from these processors.<br />
<br />
Like I said previously. That's our money and we didn't commit the crimes for which that money is being held. Think of it as if you parked your car with a valet and the valet decided to get drunk and drive your car through a store window. The car may be held as evidence by the authorities but you didn't participate or authorize the crime. You should get your car back as far as I understand or at the very least are entitled to seek compensation from the valet or his employer for the loss of your car. Forfeiting assets like this is meant to punish criminals. In the case of the car, you're not a criminal and shouldn't be punished.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-84996047342227264562011-04-19T08:33:00.001-04:002011-04-19T11:50:30.302-04:00How FTP/PokerStars Can Come Back to the US<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj791Wg0cv7X0jbC8_J55IDHAN0S7OLeit2MqatuYytbNPX01feutfKlPzHf8lH9AoZYHE6aMhyMiDa29nIrUGZTKR1XM7xaSdAL5kCU6ZYDV_MkqTJCNp7TkYfZa5enqYIQlVCILkB7UM/s200/DurrrrTinFoilHat.jpg" width="183" /></div><br />
A lot of different conspiracy theories have been discussed regarding online poker's <b>Black Friday</b>. I love conspiracy theories so here's mine. :)<br />
<br />
I think there's a chance that sites like Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars and Absolute Poker/UB can return to the US market once online poker legislation is passed.<br />
<br />
The way I think things might play out is going to be similar to the recent banking crises we had in the US.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
During that period a lot of smaller, and even some of the larger financial institutions such as Lehman, were gobbled up by the behemoths.<br />
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These entities that were already "too big to fail" were encouraged and even aided to get bigger. The federal government was purchasing debt, giving great loans and other incentives to allow these larger entities to acquire the smaller, troubled institutions.<br />
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In the event that online poker legislation is worked out in the US, the brick and mortar casinos and other entities (maybe Zynga) that are trying to break into online gambling can get a big head start by purchasing one of these exiled poker rooms.<br />
<br />
Even though sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker are continuing to be profitable in other markets, the loss of the US players caused their values to drop. One analyst on Bloomberg estimated that they're valuation has dropped at least 50% since Friday and will continue to do so.<br />
<br />
The costs of dealing with these legal issues as well as any fines that might be levied against them is going to hurt. It may not bankrupt them but a buy-out option might be very attractive and for US based casinos this gives them the ability to "flip a switch" and provide a mature infrastructure that US poker players have confidence in. Take jail time off the table and the sale looks even sweeter.<br />
<br />
If you like to believe the US government schemes like this, this is the way they could strong arm these foreign companies into becoming tax-paying US corporations.<br />
<br />
In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the recent sale of Cereus (AP/UB) could have been completed with the intention of flipping the company to a US based casino once poker was legalized here. <br />
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Just a crazy thought.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-10256004067484255762011-04-18T09:03:00.001-04:002011-04-18T09:48:22.275-04:00Info Relating to Domain Name Seizures of Poker SitesThere's been some confusion about the seizure of the domain names and what it means. There's also been a rumor going around that the sites (PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, AbsolutePoker and UB) will be getting their domain names back this week.<br />
<br />
I'm not sure about the rumor but here's some info that might clear up what it means for the FBI/DoJ to seize the domains. It actually doesn't mean all that much. At least in terms of putting them out of business. <br />
<br />
First of all. The poker sites have what I would assume is a large infrastructure that runs their games as well as their various websites. They have all their servers (computers) in a secure data center outside of the jurisdiction of the US authorities.<br />
<br />
Computers on the internet are identified via an IP address. This is a number that looks something like 192.168.123.123. These numbers are inconvenient so there is a naming system, the Domain Name System (DNS) that allows the association of names to IP addresses. So if you type in an address such as www.pokerstars.com your computer will do a DNS lookup through a series of DNS servers to resolve the name into an numerical IP address. Just like calling 411 and getting a phone number based on someone's name.<br />
<br />
There are top level domains (TLDs), (.com, .net, .org) etc that are controlled by Domain Registrars. You can register a domain name (such as pokerstars.com) and have the right to exclusively use that domain name for your servers.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZXd7cJA3_VntjFrx6qU9ET2UBZV4YSDcgKCiaHPJHxBcTZX6GM91MgXljjHmxE6k_rPwSGcaGh9GODDLaMct1vxy9ZgOTmJG3wrww8QfRqX2qE-pCOFVdGXV-Eapo-ihlUeTUKCBqek/s1600/DNSDiagram.gif" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHZXd7cJA3_VntjFrx6qU9ET2UBZV4YSDcgKCiaHPJHxBcTZX6GM91MgXljjHmxE6k_rPwSGcaGh9GODDLaMct1vxy9ZgOTmJG3wrww8QfRqX2qE-pCOFVdGXV-Eapo-ihlUeTUKCBqek/s320/DNSDiagram.gif" width="320" /></a></div>When you type www.pokerstars.com into your web browser on your computer, your computer makes a request to the DNS server of your local ISP (comcast, Verizon, etc). Your ISP's DNS server then sees a request for a .com address and sends a request to the ROOT DNS servers which contain pointers to Domain DNS Servers, in this case a DNS server that is controlled by PokerStars, where an IP Address is returned for PokerStars' web server.<br />
<br />
That information then gets sent back in reverse order until it winds up at your computer, then your web browser makes whatever request necessary using that IP address.<br />
<br />
The ROOT DNS servers for all .com, .net, .gov (as well as .name, .cc and .tv) are controlled by a US based company called VeriSign. VeriSign is subject to the laws of the US and has to comply with any judicial orders that are issued to it.<br />
<br />
When the US Gov't seizes a domain all they are really getting control of is essentially a couple of lines of text (or rows in a database) in the ROOT DNS servers. Those lines that used to instruct the ROOT DNS servers to contact PokerStars' DNS Servers to resolve names into IP address now contacts US Gov't DNS servers which ultimately results in requests being sent to US Gov't servers.<br />
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The poker site server infrastructure, which is safely housed in a data center outside of the US' reach remains untouched. If you knew the IP address you could theoretically still reach PokerStars website in this example.<br />
<br />
DNS Servers cache requests. So if you make a request for www.pokerstars.com on your computer, it will go to your ISP's DNS, then ROOT DNS and then PokerStars' DNS server. But if another customer with the same ISP makes the same request, your ISP's DNS server will just use it's locally cached data instead. For this reason domain name changes can take hours or sometimes a couple of days to propagate through the DNS system.<br />
<br />
Different federal agencies have been seizing domain names for various reasons in the past few months. This has caused concern because the .com, .net and .org domain names are important top level domains (TLDs) in the Internet, which is considered global and shouldn't be owned/controlled by the US.<br />
<br />
After a site like PokerStars loses their pokerstars.com domain you can no longer access their website by going to www.pokerstars.com. Since the PokerStars client also needs to connect to PokerStars' server infrastructure and uses names (such as update.pokerstars.com) to find those servers, you can't play poker using their software. <br />
<br />
Basically all PokerStars needs to do to get everything working again is to get a new domain name registration. In this case they chose pokerstars.eu. The .eu TLD is administered by EURid which is a consortium of different European national domain registrars which the US can't easily touch. <br />
<br />
They didn't have to pick pokerstars.eu. They could have chosen pokerstars.im (Isle of Man TLD) or even bobssuperpokerwharehouse.it for that matter. The only thing that matters is that they have a domain name registration that points to their DNS servers and that their poker client is updated to point to the new update.pokerstars.eu server.<br />
<br />
These are relatively simple changes to make and it's easy for a site like PokerStars to let their customers know that they need to go to a new url to download the new software. PokerStars was back up and running the same day. Then the software on your computer can be able to communicate with PokerStars' servers and function as normal.<br />
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The seizure of the domain names does very little to disrupt the business of these poker sites. It would be like the local police trying to shut down a crack house by changing the house numbers on the front door.<br />
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To me, it just looks like a lame show of force. If they continue to do these types of domain seizures it's going to make the rest of the world try and get these important TLDs out of the control of the US.<br />
<br />
It looks impressive, but it's ultimately meaningless. I'm not familiar with how the forfeiture of bank accounts works but what Carol (forgot last name her blog is <a href="http://bwop.blogspot.com/">bwop.blogspot.com</a>) said on the <a href="http://www.ustream.tv/channel/day-2-qj-live-show">massive QuadJacks Black Friday webcast</a>, the funds weren't actually seized. Only a restraining order was placed on those accounts. I'm not sure how that will work for banks outside of the US. If someone can clarify how easy it would be for these sites to get access back to these accounts in different jurisdictions I would appreciate it if you left a comment.<br />
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*EDIT: Further research indicates the US has a lot of leverage over the forfeiture of foreign money. They usually get the foreign bank to cooperate. If they don't, they just seize the same amount from a local branch of the the foreign bank. The type of forfeiture (in rem) also doesn't require a conviction. This could be ugly.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-84950427658713145322011-04-18T00:32:00.001-04:002012-04-24T18:59:38.189-04:00Carbon Poker for US Players?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLExpj9fj_CgUa45YFtg35Ql0rjFIAjpEm_kNzzQe8hnZkbAIJ0S67oTikLKD2Jn30w-qrqNtVj41dGae-upAHVpS0Xk5JhNwu8891YoJR-83exOn9hYk-mj0NjkZnE1yRnsYesldZsE/s1600/CarbonPokerLobby.gif" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="142" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnLExpj9fj_CgUa45YFtg35Ql0rjFIAjpEm_kNzzQe8hnZkbAIJ0S67oTikLKD2Jn30w-qrqNtVj41dGae-upAHVpS0Xk5JhNwu8891YoJR-83exOn9hYk-mj0NjkZnE1yRnsYesldZsE/s200/CarbonPokerLobby.gif" width="200" /></a></div>
After being shut out of PokerStars and FullTilt Poker following Poker Black Friday I've been looking at options for US Poker Players that want to continue playing.<br />
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<a href="http://www.fullraketilt.com/rakeback/carbon-poker.html?raf=MicroRoller">Carbon Poker</a> is on the Merge Gaming Network and is still accepting US Players. They are licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.<br />
<br />
From what I've seen, the Merge network has good feedback from players. Some of the videos on <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">BlueFirePoker</a> (member reviews I've seen) were played on sites on the Merge network.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndPCqOzI7Gp-IEvH1peeYbW08hG_M6Z8Br0ddKskSaH1loVUZQlZgufRBrUVMzj7PJOSVY2iL6VdgwR3uQh-BMf5ExwPNxOVsSltEjWO1D4rfizMbNo-cuEAxPh6-gy43xUGmIb0kuDI/s1600/CarbonPokerBadBeatTable.gif" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndPCqOzI7Gp-IEvH1peeYbW08hG_M6Z8Br0ddKskSaH1loVUZQlZgufRBrUVMzj7PJOSVY2iL6VdgwR3uQh-BMf5ExwPNxOVsSltEjWO1D4rfizMbNo-cuEAxPh6-gy43xUGmIb0kuDI/s320/CarbonPokerBadBeatTable.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
There seemed to be a good bit of traffic from 4NL to 50NL when I checked. There were also a few 100NL tables running.<br />
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There were a lot of US poker players at the tables. <br />
<br />
There didn't seem to be much SnG traffic. There are a few MTTs running throughout the day though. There's a $33 $7k Guaranteed running right now that had 275 players registered.<br />
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The software looks pretty good. I played some play money games on it and it didn't take long to adjust. I really like the pot size betting buttons that are available. This is good because TableNinja won't work on that site. Fortunately the next release of Holdem Manager will work with Carbon Poker but I'm not sure if HUDs will be supported. Reading their TOS makes me think they're not allowed.<br />
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They have a bunch of freerolls and cool promotions including a bad beat jackpot. Use the following link and you can get <a href="http://www.fullraketilt.com/rakeback/carbon-poker.html?raf=MicroRoller">35% Carbon Poker Rakeback</a> as well as a 100% deposit bonus up to $600.<br />
<br />
The future of online poker in the US isn't clear but for now there are still some options for real money poker. I can't predict what might happen but I created an account with Carbon Poker after looking at different sites. Not sure if I will be depositing yet.<br />
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Update: Contacted Carbon Poker and they replied saying they are still accepting US Players and have not been affected by what happened on Friday. Still have some trepidation.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-72624717968228643412011-04-16T23:32:00.003-04:002012-04-24T18:57:17.979-04:00MicroRollers Home Game<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZnvrGx8QHGf_YvJVfksyUMa9uzrX8-SLRF9F71uJ0D0bzxGFJczoRy7tJYMmO3Gdw8WgztxBvvM1TtkZYDvMPAx6PjVRqVfpTL-WK-AwdlYXuM8fE6Tt2slDVQAS-XFhX2LT4RMy_5Lc/s200/mu.gif" width="200" /></div>
<b>Update: I haven't been able to log in at all to update the home game. My apologies to those recently trying to join.</b><br />
<br />
I created this Poker Club on PokerStars.net a while ago and it looks like it might be a good time to get it out.<br />
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Online poker will likely come back in the US at some point and it's important to not let our skills get rusty.<br />
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The general play money games are a joke and won't keep you on your game. So I thought maybe we could keep our chops by playing against other decent players for play money in my Home Game on PokerStars.net.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
You can use either the PokerStars.net play money client or the regular real money PokerStars client to register and play in these play money games.<br />
<br />
<b>Let me know what times would be good for scheduled games.</b> I'm thinking in the evenings EST time?<br />
<br />
You are invited to join my private poker club for Home Games online.<br />
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- If you don't already have it, download the free PokerStars software from www.pokerstars.net<br />
- Open the main poker lobby, then click on the Home Games tab<br />
- Click the 'Join a Poker Club' button<br />
- Enter my Club ID number: 8217<br />
- Enter my Invitation Code: smallstakesgrinders<br />
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That's it! Once I've approved your membership request, we'll be ready to start playing Home Games online together.<br />
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If you want to find out more, visit www.pokerstars.net/homegames<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-76635916179700426502011-04-16T21:20:00.002-04:002011-04-18T10:01:22.595-04:00Sad Day For US Poker Players<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVMSc0UR8KKE814XbkgQZYvnfqK_xlFeSzHcq_2vaXo1093u6IrUR_ql7wGzl-2OoIW62WnqIFQSEd3UEwuB29FujgFd01YOmSFhLYnx6KNUANXw4NmTL9wJu1QAtA8NhrmGQeqrGx_A/s200/SadFace.gif" width="200" /></div>I spent most of yesterday offline, you know, in the real world where people laugh instead of type LOL so when I finally logged into twitter and saw my stream going crazy I was a bit surprised.<br />
<br />
When I found out what all the buzz was about I was in shock.<br />
<br />
This isn't going to be a very informative post on the subject. I just wanted to air some of my thoughts and make a few other personal statements but here's the lowdown in case you missed it. If you're up to speed with what's going on <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/04/sad-day-for-us-poker-players.html#thisMakesMeSad">click here</a> to skip it.<br />
<br />
The US States Attorney for the District of New York and the FBI unsealed an indictment that charges 11 individuals including the founders of "the big three" in online poker, PokerStars, FullTiltPoker and AbsolutePoker/UB (Cereus network) with bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling offenses. More information can be found in the DoJ <a href="http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/April11/scheinbergetalindictmentpr.pdf" target="_blank">press release</a> on the matter.<br />
<blockquote>The United States also filed a civil money laundering and in rem forfeiture complaint (the "Civil Complaint") against the Poker Companies, their assets, and the assets of several payment processors for the Poker Companies. In addition, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts utilized by the Poker Companies and their payment processors, and five Internet domain names used by the Poker Companies to host their illegal poker games were seized.</blockquote>As a result PokerStars and FullTiltPoker are prohibiting US players from playing in real money games on their sites. This includes cash games, multi-table tournaments and sit-n-go's. That constitutes the majority of real money online poker for US players.<br />
<br />
This is sad because recent news made it seem like online poker in the US was getting close to a point where it would be regulated and any murky areas in the law would be cleared up.<br />
<br />
The sizable legal staff that sites like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker employ have determined that playing online poker in the US is not against the law. I'm not a lawyer but from my understanding I can see the law interpreted that way. The problem is the law makes it illegal to wire money into or out of US based financial institutions. According to the indictment the poker sites and they're payment processors are alleged to have committed fraud in order to get around these restrictions.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y2ydxVm4jig7CQdQ7lHdiXCSw-ZRKaJScjQifDX2rp-IxJY52tqd8sZC5cc-ADDbcyY0xyC_EFVfePGRc1hVu_PNgIVS5oJTLLcGi9YWsMUsVOx_eJbO6mNxUlungw18GgjnLH_lQXU/s1600/SeizedDomainPage.gif" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5y2ydxVm4jig7CQdQ7lHdiXCSw-ZRKaJScjQifDX2rp-IxJY52tqd8sZC5cc-ADDbcyY0xyC_EFVfePGRc1hVu_PNgIVS5oJTLLcGi9YWsMUsVOx_eJbO6mNxUlungw18GgjnLH_lQXU/s200/SeizedDomainPage.gif" width="200" /></a></div>When you visit the effected domains you're likely to see a message that the domain was seized instead of the actual homepage of the site you're visiting.<br />
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It may take a while for you to see the changes reflected when you visit the sites because the DoJ seized the domain registration and not the actual servers hosting the websites. The domain registration is in the US, the servers are not. <br />
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I read the 52-page indictment and it doesn't look good. Indictments usually don't. The defense of the poker sites looks like it's going to need to be that poker is not unlawful internet gambling and that they were insulated from the actions of their payment processors. <br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
This might wind up being good for online poker overall but right now it really sucks. It may not be that good for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars in terms of getting licensed and regulated in the US if that ever happens and that also sucks.<br />
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FTP and Stars have been doing this for a long time and have gotten a lot of things right. They've rightfully earned player's trust and loyalty. When (if?) online poker becomes 100% kosher in the US it's going to take a long time for other companies to establish that trust with players.<br />
<br />
Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars say our balances are safe. I hope that's true and PokerStars hasn't given me much reason to doubt them in the past. I don't have as much experience with FTP so I won't comment but I don't think they'll screw over their players either. I think they had some sort of disaster plan in the event something like this happened and since they'll want to continue operations in the rest of the world it would be bad to let a large portion of their customers get screwed over.<br />
<a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=1147658610731565923&postID=7663591617970042650" name="thisMakesMeSad"></a><br />
<h2>This Makes Me Sad :(</h2>I'm a bit bummed out about all this. I had a lot of goals in regards to poker and it doesn't look like I'm going to reach them the way things stand. This is right after I started getting confidence in my abilities that I could.<br />
<br />
Finding poker was very good for me. I had gone through some difficult times that really wore me down. Playing a little bit of online poker at first was a nice distraction. When I realized I could be good at it working on my game really helped get my head out of the muck it was in.<br />
<br />
Then I started this blog and had a lot of plans on where to go with this site and that feels like it's up in the air now too.<br />
<br />
This blog isn't huge but for a no-name microstakes donk I'm pretty impressed that what I've written is read thousands of times a month. Last month was my biggest month with over 6,000 page views.<br />
<br />
I got a nice jumpstart shortly after launching my blog when Daniel Negreanu retweeted one of my tweets. For that I'm really grateful.<br />
<br />
That as well as the emails I've received and people that chose to follow me on twitter has meant a lot to me. Thank you to everyone that has been following my micro stakes journey.<br />
<br />
One thing I found out is the poker community is just f***ing awesome. They're good people that don't deserve to go through this mess.<br />
<br />
There aren't many other activities where you get to participate and interact with the elite in the field. It was a big thrill for me to get a bit of contact with my poker heros like Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond, Scotty Nguyen and others. Even if it was limited to a few 140 char tweets.<br />
<br />
This is sounding like a goodbye post. I hope it's not but there's a lot of uncertainty now. I'm optimistic that things will work out for all of us in one way or another.<br />
<br />
Good luck everyone.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-50986044080173506042011-04-12T06:56:00.000-04:002011-04-12T06:56:18.910-04:00Last Night I Played My A-Game<div style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; padding: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 280px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1em; padding: 10px; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaxX9wcSD61bahvz_x2cTQyiOkt8Dj6X5fI9R7ZsR_JoxdCuzBSO2z6-pBXAbDc26BsjdTaKLNUQ0XFoynzS42dKSQGP91cO3pUfX5AqXJH960pqf70LslB_-Sir9ewrg0wg3OssXG2RA/s1600/celebration.jpg" /></div><div style="color: #666666; font-size: 10px; text-align: center;">Photo Copyright Andy Beecroft courtesy of <a href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/820733" style="color: #666666;" target="_blank">geograph.org.uk</a></div></div>Last night I played some full ring NLHE for my cash game challenge.<br />
<br />
I had the best feeling ever playing that session and for the first time I recognized I was playing well. I <i>knew</i> I was playing my A-Game. There was no doubt about it.<br />
<br />
There isn't a time that I can remember feeling as comfortable playing poker as I did last night.<br />
<br />
I've been putting in a lot of time trying to work on my cash game by analyzing my <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/hem" target="blank">Holdem Manager</a> database and watching a lot of videos on <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">BlueFirePoker</a>.<br />
<br />
Up until this point I've been pretty happy with my play and my results but I've always had some doubts. Last night was comforting to realize that I do have an A-Game and it's pretty good!<br />
<br />
So how much did I win? I'll get to that but some more details about the session first.<br />
<a name='more'></a><h2>How Did I Know I Played My A-Game?</h2>First my general mood was very good. I was calm and completely focused on the tables I had open.<br />
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My note taking was very good last night and I was able to color code most of the players that I ran across within a few orbits. I was aware of every player on all my tables and had a good idea how they played and adjusted my play accordingly when necessary.<br />
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My hand reading was very good. Many times I felt like I could just see my opponents cards. I did make some mistakes but for the most part I was spot on and was rarely in a position that I didn't know where I was.<br />
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I didn't let my emotions get in the way and I made some big laydowns when it was pretty clear I was beat. I also made some great river calls. I just knew they had to be bluffing the way the hand played out.<br />
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My pre-flop hand selection was better and I was picking good spots to 3-bet or sometimes 4-bet bluff. <br />
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My bet sizing was much improved both pre and post flop. For the most part, when I wanted an opponent to fold I could bet just the right amount and get them to fold. When I wanted them to call I bet just enough where they could find a call. When I wanted them to shove I was able to time and size my bets in a way that would get them to shove.<br />
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Like I said, I wasn't perfect but this was by far the best I've felt I've ever played cash games online.<br />
<br />
I felt very confident in my abilities but not so confident that I was blindly throwing chips in the pot thinking that I could never lose. I was thinking through my opponents ranges, estimating my equity and making good decisions. I would review big or difficult hands in the Holdem Manager replayer right after they occurred as well as run the hand in PokerStove against the range of hands I thought he had, compare it to his stats and see how close I was in estimating his range and then make adjustments for future hands. <br />
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I was in charge of the tables I sat at. Nobody was dictating my action. This really showed in my <b>nonshowdown winnings</b> graph. It was a fairly steady rise and I was earning around 10 big blinds per 100 hands (5 PTBB/100) in non-showdown winnings.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwKJEYuPfmdmCZli6WvdYleB5Rw9vv11X16siD8yafiq-D0TUKT0iSXwMVRKvR85osW-PgMK26_9upgGOI6sOJBS-iaN2tmgxy7JMeaZ02pqx9ERemanfBOteVrVMZGxTybxJxJewm8E/s800/AGameNonShowDownWinnings.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="76" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbwKJEYuPfmdmCZli6WvdYleB5Rw9vv11X16siD8yafiq-D0TUKT0iSXwMVRKvR85osW-PgMK26_9upgGOI6sOJBS-iaN2tmgxy7JMeaZ02pqx9ERemanfBOteVrVMZGxTybxJxJewm8E/s400/AGameNonShowDownWinnings.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
I wasn't just running hot. My all-in EV graph looked great as well. Just steadily climbing minus a couple of missteps. When the time came to get all the money in the middle I was making many more right decisions than wrong ones. In fact I think I only went all in behind twice, one of those I did have the right odds to call though. In 1,000 hands I was up over 2 buy-ins in All-in EV. In other words, 20 bb/100 or 10 PTBB/100.<br />
<br />
Most sessions are less than 2 hours because I tend to lose focus or patience after that. This time that wasn't a problem and I was able to play much longer.<br />
<h2>So How Much Did I Win?</h2>I didn't win a dime. In fact, my winnings were only positive for two short periods during the whole session and even then not by much.<br />
<br />
The session started off on a bad note when I made the right read on an opponent holding TPTK and I had 2 pair and got him to put all his money in on the turn drawing to 3 outs. He of course hits. This happened a couple of times.<br />
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I don't want to turn this into a bad beat story but everything beat you can imagine happened. I'd flop the nut straight on a rainbow board and get it all in with one or two players. The board pairs and I lose to a full house, or a backdoored flush. I'd flop a set, get it all in and they turn or river a bigger set. Many times when I did hit an unbeatable hand nobody had anything they would bet/call and they weren't inclined to bluff.<br />
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I was only down around a buy-in and it didn't phase me too much. I knew I was playing well and sometimes luck won't be on your side.<br />
<br />
My frustration started to interfere around the 4th time I had to lay down an overpaid because the nit doesn't play anything but a set this way. I've been up and down the past few days in a break even stretch running below EV and I felt it just wasn't fair.<br />
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At this point I wasn't playing my A-Game anymore. I dropped another buy-in playing poorly and decided it was time to quit. My All-in EV was still positive. FU Luck!<br />
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Overall I'm still very happy with the way I played and the length I was able to stay focused. There's still a lot I'm working to improve and hopefully last night's A-Game becomes my B-Game of the future but I can already feel a lot of the pieces coming together in my cash game.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-43823237928492841222011-04-05T10:16:00.002-04:002012-04-24T18:58:25.620-04:00$50 Cash Game Challenge Update 3<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://spreadsheets.google.com/a/microrollers.com/oimg?key=0AvzqL28M4eEfdGY0QWhJLW84YkdxbktWOEJkOTFQdnc&oid=2&zx=ae3i9vmkpoib" rel="lightbox"><br />
<img border="0" src="http://spreadsheets.google.com/a/microrollers.com/oimg?key=0AvzqL28M4eEfdGY0QWhJLW84YkdxbktWOEJkOTFQdnc&oid=1&v=1268691445045" /></a></div>
It's been way too long, over a year, since I've updated my <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2009/12/50-cash-game-challenge.html" title="Cash Game Bankroll Challenge">Cash Game Bankroll Challenge</a> which I started with $50.<br />
<br />
There were a number of reasons for this. One is that I was focusing so much time on my <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2010/01/don-sng-challenge.html">Double or Nothing SnG Bankroll Challenge</a>. Another is that I was working on a similar cash game challenge that I wasn't publishing but I'll discuss later in this post.<br />
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In my last update, my bankroll was at $100. <b>Current challenge bankroll is around $330</b>. I've put in a lot of hands since then. almost 10x the number of hands in the first two updates combined.<br />
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My winrate for this update is just over 3 BB/100 which I'm not too thrilled about at these stakes. I think I can do a bit better.<br />
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Once my bankroll crossed the $200 mark I started adding more tables to my sessions and now play anywhere from 2-6 tables depending on my frame of mind.<br />
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Six tables is a little too much for my bankroll so I probably won't be doing that often. I'm also trying to really think about each hand more and pay attention to players even when I'm not in a hand.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<h2>
Aggressive Cash Game Bankroll Challenge</h2>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBqSqLACexyhc64XtQKDP9gJ66xQ482JZeOHm-_GKq22GgO9XN-5xWsTW1R5_nexpPSyUdA6zwrkIOexwm9jWuYvtJWWWFSG3QCqFsgW83RaA5KYczn8zaAAEjfMzyX5a47A_Du-vGIc/s1600/AggressiveCashGameChallenge.png" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBqSqLACexyhc64XtQKDP9gJ66xQ482JZeOHm-_GKq22GgO9XN-5xWsTW1R5_nexpPSyUdA6zwrkIOexwm9jWuYvtJWWWFSG3QCqFsgW83RaA5KYczn8zaAAEjfMzyX5a47A_Du-vGIc/s200/AggressiveCashGameChallenge.png" width="200" /></a></div>
One of the other challenges I mentioned earlier and in my <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/03/i-joined-poker-training-site.html">BlueFirePoker Review</a> had a more aggressive 5 buy-in rule before moving up. This was similar to the microstakes bankroll challenge that Daniel Negreanu is doing.<br />
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I started with $10 and got it up over $300 at 50NL before I started feeling a little out of my league.<br />
<br />
I spent more time on this challenge than my regular cash game challenge. I really enjoyed it and liked playing at 25NL although I didn't feel that prepared for it, especially when I got to 50NL. After I've watched some more training videos I might go back to it.<br />
<br />
Negreanu has been making slow progress with it too and I'm no Daniel Negreanu!<br />
<h2>
My Analysis and What I'm Doing To Improve My Cash Game Results</h2>
My hand reading and estimating hand ranges still needs some work but has gotten much better as has my tilt control.<br />
<br />
I'm loosing a lot of money to bad river calls when I don't think villain should be betting as much as he is and think he's bluffing. I'm usually right but he tends to have me beat. Two pair vs my TPTK or a set vs my two pair when the board is 3 flushed and 4 to a straight and things like that.<br />
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I no longer feel like the Robin Hood of micro-stakes where I would win money from the regs and give it to the fish. I've gotten better at judging hand ranges for loose players, though I still make some mistakes.<br />
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My 3-betting frequency has increased and I feel more comfortable about my overall approach to 3-betting, especially when it comes to <i>3-betting light</i>. I have to give credit to Neil Gewirtz's <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker/NeilOn3Betting" target="_blank">3-betting video</a> for helping me in that regard.<br />
<br />
Neil has been a successful <i>micro stakes coach</i> that <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">BlueFirePoker</a> added to their roster this year to make <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker/NeilGewirtzVideos" target="_blank">microstakes training videos</a>. I've watched them all and recommend all micro stakes players that don't play on my table to watch them too. :)<br />
<br />
My play has been loose-aggressive and while I'm still playing about as loose as I used to, I'm not playing as aggressive. I'm finding myself picking better spots to be aggressive post-flop rather than trying to barrel people off hands recklessly. Pot control and checking to induce have become my new friends. I'm still bluffing my fair share but getting better results now.<br />
<br />
I realized I needed to make a change when I analyzed the stats of some of the good LAGs I ran across and noticed they were playing quite a bit different than me post-flop. They got some money from me because I was curious about how they played and tried to get to showdown frequently.<br />
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What they were doing and why really started to make sense after watching more videos. I've watched a ton! My DVR is full as I haven't been able to keep up with the TV shows I have programmed because I'm spending that time watching poker training videos instead. Not a bad thing considering I got to skip this really weird Grey's Anatomy episode where they thought they were Glee.<br />
<br />
Jason Senti has two <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker/JasonSentiMicro" target="_blank">50NL videos</a> which really gives a good foundation on how to play lag at micro stakes. He does a thorough job of explaining his thoughts and it was easy to follow. Hope he does more micro stakes videos.<br />
<br />
The <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker/SamoleusProtege" target="_blank">Samoleus Protege series</a> helped me a lot. Niman 'Samoleus' Kenkre did a series with one of his students analyzing the student's sessions. The back and forth created long discussions on the hands which some people with more poker experience might find boring but I loved it and learned a lot.<br />
<br />
The videos I mentioned above as well as the micro and small stakes NLHE videos by <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker/DrGiggyNLHE" target="_blank">DrGiggy</a> are helping me to get more value for my strong hands, value bet thinner, pick better spots to bluff and just generally play poker better. I still have a ways to go and many hands to practice but I'm really enjoying learning and and feel more confident. I still feel a bit overwhelmed by how much the video instructors know though but not so much anymore.<br />
<br />
It feels really good to be playing more NLHE cash game sessions. I've always enjoyed it more than other poker games. It's just more fun and I'm forced to think more.<br />
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Within the next two to three months I'm hoping to be playing at 25NL regularly for this challenge. Maybe sooner if I watch less videos each day and play more poker instead. My goal is to get to 100NL by the end of the year but that might be a little optimistic.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>MicroRollerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08859061638087303080noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-87003978425448802162011-03-30T13:29:00.001-04:002011-03-30T13:47:45.512-04:00I Joined A Poker Training Site<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pHNEk4xfMp1EAfq0gwGJ6Jz7GG0A76_XuGCvJvpF-o1xHR6VbCVXNabKZFGLGE61GQT0fe7kgaXZMpFXYqYbDMTb0-3WExGmopZi5WPMqnFpOF0Tne9aAL7GRstdcG2IgGHRjZWtyeY/s200/BlueFirePokerTrainingSiteSquare.gif" width="200" /></a></div>Now that the Double or Nothing SnGs are gone I'm going to be playing more for my Cash Game Bankroll Challenge.<br />
<br />
I think I play pretty well but I know that I can improve my cash game results. I hate saying that I make mistakes because I think there are a lot of different ways to play, but yeah, I probably make some mistakes.<br />
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I've been looking at <i>poker training sites</i> for months now trying to decide which one to join. I read different reviews for poker training sites throughout the web, I watched sample videos, I looked at stats of their coaches, etc.<br />
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It's such a pain in the ass because I don't like to feel that I wasted time and money so I do a lot of research on important decisions. Not that the cost of a training site is that big but there's a lot of time involved and the implications of choosing the wrong site can really set me back. Plus players constantly evolve and the game changes and it's important to keep up. Watching a few videos is nice but it's better to commit to a long period so that you can keep up with changes and really let what you're seeing soak in without rushing it. <br />
<br />
It seems like everyone and their brother has a training site now. For the most part a lot of them are at least okay. Some sites are going to be better than others for certain games, some coaches are better than others, sometimes it's just a matter of what teaching style works for you.<br />
<br />
For me, my primary objective was <i>improving my cash game</i>, specifically No Limit Hold'em, because that's where I feel there's the most potential to consistently make good money and keep a flexible schedule.<br />
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Of all the videos I saw there was one poker video coach that really clicked with me, Phil Galfond. So as of yesterday I am a member of his <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">poker training site</a>.<br />
<a name='more'></a><h2>ZOMG! It's OMGClayAiken</h2>The way Phil describes the action is very thorough and makes a whole lot of sense to me. There were times when I was watching a video and thought "why did he just do that?" and it's like video Phil read my mind and answered it in a way that I completely understood. That was a little creepy but not enough to dissuade me from continuing.I just make sure to wear my tin-foil hat when I'm thinking about personal things I don't want video Phil to hear.<br />
<br />
There were some publicly available videos where Phil reviewed hands from the Durrrr Challenge. During his excellent analysis discussing hand ranges and tendencies and number of possible combinations he stopped and said something like "I'm going too far. People will find this boring." Noooooo! NOOOOOOOOO! I screamed as I grabbed my monitor and tried to shake some sense into him. It was like that time in high school where my girlfriend decided she was ready to go all the way and then her brother came home unexpectedly just as things were getting good.<br />
<br />
Tell me how 80% of the time he'll have these 30 combination of hands and 20% of the time he'll have these combinations so we can shove Ace-high for value. Tell me how there's more thin value hands and bluffs in his range than strong value hands and we can check raise bluff shove any two. Tell me how his range looks strong and we have to fold QQ on an 8-high board. It's not boring, it's like music to my ears. Tell me all night long!!!!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgag-9jTVo3ukOX6QPERgWoX8EPTW-4H9y-kjZQagmVe2b16-jwkZ4t9R8e22Yip_R5vzkqP9qFI5-oioByvQFNz4xfKQoW3KPWP3kmrYkyQtgA65dQK-gumM9ZHzX2hanFIUYd9cmUvJc/s320/the-awkward-pause-time-demotivational-poster-1256334497.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
Errrr... Where was I. Oh yeah. So now I have unabridged access to pure poker genius where he doesn't stop because he thinks it might be too in depth. As you've probably guessed, I'm pretty excited.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp7I8uYQQuJsI4dsqc-15kMiF2gFfeeCGypIMZefuT_LYeh8dNO8Tf7eZB714KehFg9O9e0LBDVI5TgUmWKr9iSSlQoTbJ4XUJQ9ks6IKJyV6h_OYd0m0lMMszGwkqtHrU3HGkucsmP4g/s1600/phil-galfond.jpg" /></div>Phil also seems like a genuinely nice guy from the TV appearances I've seen dating back to the first time he was on some cash game show shot at Binnions that aired on some local PBS affiliate.<br />
<br />
Here was this quiet looking millionaire kid with a ton of chips in front of him sitting with some big names in poker, casually sipping from a gallon jug of water between hands. He looked like anyone of me or my friends in college late at night working on a project or playing a video game but he was doing something that was so much more incredible than we were..<br />
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His affiliation and responsibility in choosing other coaches made me feel more comfortable joining a site that hasn't been around as long as some of the other training sites. He may leave you penniless if you face off with him on the felt, but he doesn't seem the type to be involved in a site that's not going to give you your money's worth. I've never met him but the good guys tend to be easy to spot.<br />
<br />
I was also recently contacted by Ryan who works at BluefirePoker. I guess I put a link to their site in a post that I don't remember and he wanted to let me know I was sending them a good bit of traffic and that I should join their affiliate program. I've been doing things online for a long time now and I have never, ever, had someone contact me and tell me I'm sending them free traffic and suggest I monetize it at their expense. That just doesn't happen, and not just because I'm a bit of a whore when it comes to links and trying to get something out of them. :) That's a really stand up thing to do and with the scandals that some of the other training sites have had it's nice to know that the people at BluefirePoker have such integrity. <br />
<h2>Good Training for Small and Micro Stakes Players Too</h2>The videos Phil Galfond makes are for mid and high stakes NLHE and PLO, a weeeee bit out of my current bankroll (for now) but I still find a lot of what he says helpful. Even though I know certain things won't work at micro stakes games there's a lot that is applicable and helps me better understand different situations. Just listening to him talk through hands as the game progresses and trying to digest it helps my general understanding of the game and should improve my poker instincts.<br />
<br />
What I've been realizing is that learning about advanced poker plays and topics does help at micro stakes but I shouldn't make the mistake of thinking my opponents know and understand those concepts. For example, just because I perfectly represented a hand doesn't mean my opponent understands my line is strong and they should fold top pair no kicker. Check-raise river bluffs don't do so well. There's a big difference between trying to get someone to fold a medium strength hand for $5,000 than there is for $5.<br />
<h2>More than Just Phil Galfond</h2>While Galfond is the main draw to the site there are other great coaches that make videos including <a href="http://affiliates.bluefirepoker.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=275&url=24" target="_blank">micro stakes cash game videos</a>.<br />
<br />
I saw some small stakes videos from <a href="http://affiliates.bluefirepoker.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=275&url=21" target="_blank">Martin Fournier Giguère</a> (AKA Dr Giggy) that I thought were very good. He plays like I think I play. (Maybe how I want to play is more accurate.) A bit loose but not a complete maniac. There's a lot I could learn from his videos because they really suit my style. The things he does aren't completely foreign to me and what I've seen so far is really helping to hone my game.<br />
<br />
I'm playing full ring NLHE in my cash game challenge and there's not a lot in the way of full ring cash videos on BluefirePoker but that's not a big surprise as 6-max seems to be the dominant choice on most poker training sites. I've always played full ring similar to 6-max so that's not a problem. (Side note: I probably play 6-max more like heads up as a result which is why I've had some difficulty there.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://affiliates.bluefirepoker.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=275&url=22" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7rZgT0r9pSn3tqEWhKB6bS-vhEyHyZ9tdtsFptDANXDE5hD3sq9Jr9gu7C_yh7cw1a0IJmRUfDH9SAcdyaYQE12FpfXwy4Xs_jVvh3vRotULzXLiwNbXU62XT0ZkEagLxiKaUhKZbcQ8/s1600/DrGiggyFullRing.gif" /></a></div>Yesterday I watched a DrGiggy video that did a good job of explaining the differences between <a href="http://affiliates.bluefirepoker.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=275&url=22" target=="_blank">6-max and full ring strategy</a>. There are certain adjustments you need to make because of the three extra seats and the tendencies and ranges of players at full ring. Watch this video and it's easy to apply what you learn from other 6-max videos to full ring.<br />
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There are other good coaches including 2011 WSOP November Niner <a href="http://affiliates.bluefirepoker.com/idevaffiliate.php?id=275&url=23" target="_blank">Jason Senti</a> and Ryan Fees, who wrote a great eBook on 6-max cash games, has done some guest videos for BluefirePoker. There are many more but I haven't had time to check them all out and form an opinion.<br />
<h2>Features Accomplished SnG and MTT Players</h2>I knew for a while now that I wanted to join BluefirePoker. The only thing holding me back was that I didn't want to have to join two different sites. When I first looked at BluefirePoker they only had cash game videos, which meant I'd have to join a second site for MTT and SnG help. Now they've added a bunch of SnG pros to their site that make both SnG and MTT videos so that's not an issue anymore.<br />
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One of their new SnG Pros is Brian 'bfizz11' Fite who I talked about in previous posts because I attended a couple of his MTT webinars. When I first contacted Brian I didn't realize he made videos for BluefirePoker so this is a really happy coincidence for me.<br />
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I've already watched some videos and downloaded some others to a USB drive that I connect to my TV so I can watch later. I'm already very happy with my decision. The quality of the videos is very good and the instruction is awesome. The videos aren't as flashy as some of the other sites but that doesn't matter to me. I want to learn poker, not watch cartoons.<br />
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Even though I'm currently only at 10NL for my Cash Game Challenge the membership rates are reasonable (less than 4 buyins a month) and I'm getting ready to move up to 25NL soon.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBqSqLACexyhc64XtQKDP9gJ66xQ482JZeOHm-_GKq22GgO9XN-5xWsTW1R5_nexpPSyUdA6zwrkIOexwm9jWuYvtJWWWFSG3QCqFsgW83RaA5KYczn8zaAAEjfMzyX5a47A_Du-vGIc/s1600/AggressiveCashGameChallenge.png" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDBqSqLACexyhc64XtQKDP9gJ66xQ482JZeOHm-_GKq22GgO9XN-5xWsTW1R5_nexpPSyUdA6zwrkIOexwm9jWuYvtJWWWFSG3QCqFsgW83RaA5KYczn8zaAAEjfMzyX5a47A_Du-vGIc/s200/AggressiveCashGameChallenge.png" width="200" /></a></div>I've also played slightly higher. When I was analyzing Daniel Negreanu's microstakes challenge I decided to start a separate bankroll using similar bankroll rules. Things went pretty well and my $10 bankroll quickly grew. Once I reached 25NL things were going fine but I felt uncomfortable in certain spots. At 50NL i felt that even more and decided I should start thinking of what I can do to improve..<br />
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Part of it might be the tight bankroll rules that didn't leave me with much room for error but other parts were having to deal with better players at those stakes. Many of whom are members of training sites themselves.<br />
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If I want to compete at higher levels I can't be vain and think I just have some raw poker talent and will figure things out on my own. I mean, if I wanted to become a surgeon I'd go to med school, I wouldn't just start hacking into people's bodies until I figured out how to do it right. The videos on BluefirePoker will speed up my progress and save me money.<br />
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Maybe my choice in domain name was short-sighted. I never intended to stay a micro stakes player and I feel that joining BluefirePoker is an important step in achieving my long-term poker goals.<br />
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BluefirePoker offers a 7-day trial period which gives you free and full access to their <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">poker videos</a> during the trial. Give them a shot. I think you'll be as impressed as I am.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-64238334341372596682011-03-26T23:23:00.001-04:002011-03-28T21:43:25.769-04:00Add Rakeback to Your Blog<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.fullraketilt.com/refer-a-friend/blogger-rakeback-gadget.html" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="Rakeback Sidebar Widget"><img alt="Blogger Rakeback Gadget" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbVSMllrUvi0GqnqpscB4lwpqG5JAtEeFvlvzs_FAV2lk58tloY3URDZhfQnJvGYwKQgeKdmnXVvWCXXIzf5WjbRMvNCOrrmbeKITcP0eYGr11tCDQwX-mvvhHUC-wJVOHm78OQvQRTyg/s1600/FRT-bloggerRakebackGadget.gif" /></a></div>It's been a while since I've posted anything poker blogging related so I guess it's time :) Plus I've received a few emails about how to <i>add Rakeback to a blog's sidebar</i> like I have on my site.<br />
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It was a little bit involved and requires some programming skill so maybe it's not for everyone. The good news though is there's a much easier way to do it that is also more customizable than the rakeback widget I have on my blog's sidebar.<br />
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The <i>rakeback</i> site <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/full-rake-tilt">Full Rake Tilt</a> offers two options for adding rakeback offers to your blog depending on if you use Blogger.com or a WordPress powered blog.<br />
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You'll receive anywhere from 2-4% of the MGR (monthly gross revenue AKA rake) that all the players you refer generate. The players will receive a portion of their rake back in addition to special bonuses, promotions and freeroll tournaments.<br />
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Not a bad deal for something that takes only a minute or so to set up. Just be sure to create an account and include your username when you set up your sidebar, as explained in the following instructions.<br />
<h2>Blogger Rakeback Gadget</h2>If you host your blog on Blogger.com instructions for adding a <a href="http://www.fullraketilt.com/refer-a-friend/blogger-rakeback-gadget.html">Rakeback Gadget</a> are pretty straightforward. Just copy and paste a URL and your pretty much done.<br />
<h2>WordPress Rakeback Widget</h2>Instructions for adding a <a href="http://www.fullraketilt.com/refer-a-friend/wordpress-rakeback-widget.html">WordPress Rakeback Widget</a> are very simple because the widget is in the WordPress.org repository. Just do a search for "FullRakeTilt" and installing it is just a few clicks away. Full instructions are provided in the link above.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-57178152392124149412011-03-18T16:18:00.002-04:002011-03-30T04:31:02.952-04:00Review of Bfizz11 MTT Webinar<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigwZnRNcq9Erl1dX_XtkU1RpCWxU4KUwWjnmKiTI2IO0Nqr8SjSa6-wMcR_mLKooDoVfAl2cQveHhiN-aoUnNhBym6RhusFa7f0NEP8Ae9mXGyJKdlzgtEQiNjsyvwGAYu9xeFiJ0htHc/s1600/Bfizz11MTTCoachingWebinarsm.jpg" /></div>In an effort to try and improve my tournament play last Saturday I attended one of Brian 'bfizz11' Fite's <a href="http://www.bfizz11.com/">MTT Coaching Webinars</a>.<br />
<br />
Last week I posted what I learned about <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/03/mtt-poker-coaching-with-brian-fite.html">Brian Fite</a> and his webinars so I won't go into detail about his success in MTTs and other poker accomplishments but I wanted to post a review to illustrate what the experience was like.<br />
<h2>Getting Registered</h2>The first step is to contact Brian letting him know when you're interested in attending his webinar. His contact information is available on his website <a href="http://www.bfizz11.com./">www.bfizz11.com.</a><br />
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If you're interested in attending more than one webinar he currently seems to be willing to discuss discounts so let him know how many you'd like to attend and ask what he can offer you.<br />
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Once you've agreed to sign up for his MTT coaching webinars you then make payments. For most players this will likely be through a transfer on either FTP or PokerStars.<br />
<h2>Preparing For The Webinar</h2>First, make sure you have the time available since the webinar runs at least 5 hours. Also gather some questions and hand histories of spots you want advice on.<br />
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The webinar uses GoToMetting.com which requires some software to be installed.<br />
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The process of getting the software set up is simple. You'll receive a link via email for the webinar. Clicking on the link will guide you on how to download and install the software. It took a few minutes but it was fairly simple.<br />
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After you have the software installed you request access to the webinar and you'll receive a second email that provides a link that will get you in. At least that's how I remember it.<br />
<h2>Participating in the MTT Webinar</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIKFKrWWT-DQBHKWo1SCUd6GXrHgREP-DlOP337uSyf5CiXXjMIeTdMGzAYAqGSPcc4meeSOCY6CUQGV_IJv_0UCdGbSOSMZgz437Y6jJCkfYH8DXORJA99p2pZgXt01thslQt0lM6KDk/s1600/Bfizz11MTTCoachingWebinar.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIKFKrWWT-DQBHKWo1SCUd6GXrHgREP-DlOP337uSyf5CiXXjMIeTdMGzAYAqGSPcc4meeSOCY6CUQGV_IJv_0UCdGbSOSMZgz437Y6jJCkfYH8DXORJA99p2pZgXt01thslQt0lM6KDk/s320/Bfizz11MTTCoachingWebinar.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>OK, you've got everything done and you've signed into the webinar. What you're going to see is a live view of bfizz's monitor where he loads up his tournaments for the day.<br />
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He uses a 30" monitor so if you don't have a monitor that large your going to have to view the webinar slighly reduced in size.<br />
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I have a 22" widescreen monitor and I had no problem following the action. Even reading his HUD stats was possible.<br />
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Brian seems to be mindful of the fact that not everyone is going to be using a 30" monitor and keeps the tables big enough for us less fortunate to view. Good news is because of the coaching I'll probably hit a big score soon and head over to <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/newegg">NewEgg</a> to get one. ;)<br />
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During the session Brian is on mic talking through his thoughts on different hands and even commenting on some hands he's not in as well as general strategy.<br />
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The GoToMeeting interface allows viewers to participate in one of two ways. You can type in a question that only the meeting moderator can read and Brian will answer it, or you can click a "raise hand" button which will let you use your pc mic to ask a question verbally.<br />
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Brian was very good about answering questions thoroughly that were typed in. Nobody used the mic during last session so I'm not sure how that works. Or maybe only the meeting moderator can hear???<br />
<h2>Review</h2>From a technical aspect, getting set up for the webinar was very easy. Click a link, click a button, run some software, click another link. The video and audio quality were good and the interface was fairly simple to figure out.<br />
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This was the first time I participated in something like this and I don't really know any good poker players near me that I can actively share ideas with. I knew that watching a successful MTT player at work would be beneficial but I was still surprised how much I actually got out of it.<br />
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Being able to hear his thoughts on hands and ask questions in real-time is a great way to learn. Brian did a good job of keeping us informed of his thoughts. He has a <i>grind house </i>where he lives with a few players he coaches and stakes and he also makes videos for <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">BlueFirePoker</a> so it's no surprise he comes off as an experienced coach in his webinars. <br />
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Even from just one session I feel I learned a lot and my confidence has improved with regards to tournaments. If one webinar is good, more should be better. :)<br />
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Different people have different trouble spots in tournaments so being able to see how someone else handles that situation and ask why they did what they did can be very helpful rather than just reading about what someone decides to write in a book. <br />
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As I was watching the webinar I pretended I was the one playing each tournament and thought about what I would do in each hand. If he did something different than I would have done and I couldn't understand why it was great being able to ask him to help understand it better.<br />
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During the session I attended, not many people brought hand histories for review and neither did I so I can't really comment on that aspect of the webinar.<br />
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Overall I'm very happy that I attended the webinar and plan on attending another. If you're looking for a way to improve your MTT results this seems to be a very good way to do it and given how long each webinar lasts, it's quite reasonably priced.<br />
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You can find out more about Brian Fite and his webinars at <a href="http://bfizz11.com/">bfizz11.com</a> or follow him on Twitter (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/bfizz11">@bfizz11</a>).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-1101643865687907552011-03-15T11:38:00.001-04:002011-03-15T23:34:26.351-04:00Sunday Storm - PokerStars $1/4 Million Revisited<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/pokerstars" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI4NWZ2RvsdSbOXD7Xx1lXf7GUuZMQzLbV3Jk1yWY90Y4Cbgh6MVKvJgFXblT6SnWQKHpArUGglFUArxYfSK7DMbS6xf0OUQ8IsIKGMg_a_mK8UxOwO6_1hKn3uZdIJhjVDYM3aeYNOyk/s1600/SundayStorm.jpg" /></a></div>The PokerStars weekly Sunday $1/4 Million tournament, the little brother of the big Sunday Million has been renamed to the <b>Sunday Storm</b>.<br />
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To help celebrate the new name change, PokerStars is giving the Sunday Storm a $1 Million guarantee on March 27th. Not a bad prize pool for an $11 tournament.<br />
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This is one of the tournaments I try and play regularly. The field is huge, over 25,000 players, which makes it a high variance event but it's one of the few tournaments that a low stakes player, like myself, can really hit a 5 figure win. <br />
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I took a big shot last week in the special <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/03/took-shot-and-missed.html">5th anniversary Sunday Million</a> and didn't even cash so I'm looking forward to playing this $1 million Sunday Storm. This is a tournament I've played before and have cashed in. Got my first 3 figure mtt win in it :)<br />
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I've been reviewing my previous MTT hand histories from when I felt my MTT game was better than it is now and feel more confident after attending <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/">bfizz11's MTT webinar</a> Saturday. It's been a while since I've been at a final table so I'm hoping I'm due and that it comes in this one :)<br />
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To play in the special $1 million dollar Sunday Storm you need to download a copy of <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/pokerstars">PokerStars software</a>. If you make your first real money deposit of $20 or more use the code "STORM" you'll get a free ticket into the $1,000,000 Sunday Storm. In addition you'll also get the 100% deposit bonus up to $600. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.microroolers.com/go/pokerstars" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj67d-IAc3_lKo63MSQFxLoRmTZHJnKVkkV1h5zzVhp10AdBRMNdP0LAIjbOxVQcFBxPcjQJhRrRpKTi2ca3DQUcl0OCNyv75anbuvyYCDSWKJ8GhTjezFFFdWfHXHbmZMYNADfj8R8IfE/s1600/SundayStorm1Mil.png" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-55265087763187965832011-03-12T02:39:00.006-05:002011-03-30T04:30:33.188-04:00MTT Poker Coaching with Brian Fite<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://bfizz11.com/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank" title="MTT Poker Coach Brian Fite"><img alt="MTT Poker Coach Brian Fite" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQbxrqFfjyCurC5WRFdooZYSArjQfg9XklLifNqXKk4GAEp-DX92hRPGO_8ramWN_CPE35nVpxSSnyQMJwhsYpAGSHpyMwDzmCbUsbxQzylOEnMbaeGY7Urg14R13ITP3KA5YO39I6I8/s1600/BrianFite.jpg" /></a></div>So I've been bitching about my frustration with MTTs lately and I decided it's time to do something about it. Namely finding an <a href="http://bfizz11.com/"><i>MTT Poker Coach</i></a><i>.</i><br />
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OK, maybe I stumbled into that decision. You see, some time ago I started adding some poker players to follow on my twitter account. Some of them because I've heard something about them, some of them because someone else I followed followed them and things like that. Point is, I'm not very familiar with everyone I've followed.<br />
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All I know is that there's one MTT regular on twitter, <a href="http://twitter.com/bfizz11">@<b>bfizz11</b></a> (<a href="http://bfizz11.com/">Brian Fite</a>) whose tweets stood out to me because they're all similar. "Final table in xxx mtt", "just won xxx mtt for lots of money", "deep in the xxx mtt ". It seems like this guy's making one or two final tables every day. I'm not exaggerating. Here are his last 4 tweets.<br />
<blockquote class="tweet">bfizz11 Brian Fite <br />
I took 3rd for $2k and min-cashed the Nightly, a good day overall. Getting to bed early tonight so I can crush it tomorrow.<br />
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bfizz11 Brian Fite <br />
6 handed in the $55 rebuy and approaching the $$$ in the $163 Nightly on FTP<br />
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bfizz11 Brian Fite <br />
25 left $55 1r1a on stars and 13 left in the $55 rebuy on AP<br />
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bfizz11 Brian Fite <br />
31 left in a $55 on FTP, in the $11 rebuy money...cashed almost every tourney today so far it seems like time to close one out!</blockquote>At first I thought this can't be real. Must be some guy that created a program that just randomly pulls tournament names and adds results or something like that. One day the program would have a bug that would be obvious and tweet something like 'I just finished %random(1-9)% in %getRandomTournament()%' or something like that. But it never happened so I did some digging. <br />
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After looikng up bfizz11's results it turns out <b>Brian 'bfizz11' Fite's results are real!</b> Before I really knew much about him I decided to contact him to find out if there's some way he could help me <i>improve my mtt results</i>, especially with regards to <i>going deeper in MTTs</i> and <i>making more final tables<b>. </b></i><br />
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Since my first contact with him I've learned a lot more about Brian. If you follow the tournament leaderboards you've probably heard of bfizz11. I don't, so I haven't. Here's a summary in case you're like me, plus some other facts. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigq6U5ZMveGEE8fIPkXGl-Vxo-J-1jESN0NR140sVdW1RqMSui0pt04J34XpHMZY0Es1p9SJbtIXTXJO6AA62HPUS2BwKJL_gfUUC_0ZnhkenNsR7e7NVBrm0pXwFNj7EBLJI4-Lpb3aA/s1600/BrianFiteFeatureTable.jpg" imageanchor="1" rel="lightbox" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigq6U5ZMveGEE8fIPkXGl-Vxo-J-1jESN0NR140sVdW1RqMSui0pt04J34XpHMZY0Es1p9SJbtIXTXJO6AA62HPUS2BwKJL_gfUUC_0ZnhkenNsR7e7NVBrm0pXwFNj7EBLJI4-Lpb3aA/s200/BrianFiteFeatureTable.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><ul><li>Won a monthly Tournament Leaderboard Title</li>
<li>Won 3 Weekly Tournament Leaderboard Titles</li>
<li>Was 3rd in the PokerStars 2010 Yearly Tournament Leaderboard</li>
<li>Has over $125k in SnG Profits</li>
<li>Around $1.5 Million in MTT cashes</li>
<li>Makes Videos for <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/bluefirepoker" target="_blank">BlueFirePoker</a></li>
<li>Was on the 2010 WSOP Main Event feature table (finished in the money) </li>
<li>Offers a <a href="http://bfizz11.com/Poker/FAQs.html">weekly mtt coaching webinar</a></li>
</ul>After messaging Brian I decided to give his mtt coaching webinar a try. It seems like an <i>affordable poker coaching</i> option even for someone on a micro stakes bankroll. :) <br />
<h2>About bfizz11's MTT Coaching Webinar</h2>Once a week Brian has a coaching session he conducts over the web, a webinar. The webinar lasts a minimum of 5 hours of watching Brian during an MTT session.<br />
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During the session Brian explains what he's doing and why and students can ask questions over their mics. In addition he'll review hand histories submitted by viewers.<br />
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Brian keep's the webinars small in size to give each attendee an opportunity to participate in the discussion. <br />
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A single webinar costs $150. That's less than $30/hr (since sessions run longer when he runs deep) which seems like a really good value to me. <br />
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So I'll be attending my first MTT webinar with Brian 'bfiz11' Fite soon and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll update my blog once I've completed it.<br />
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In the meantime you can keep up with Brian by following him on twitter (<a href="http://twitter.com/bfizz11">@bfiz11</a>) and find out more about him and his <a href="http://bfizz11.com/">poker coaching</a> on his website <a href="http://bfizz11.com/">bfizz11.com</a>. <br />
<ul></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-3947172326295597572011-03-11T07:16:00.000-05:002011-03-11T07:16:02.277-05:002011 SCOOP Tournament Schedule Calendar Feeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.microrollers.com/go/pokerstars" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNVyzh5RwuxKdVzvPgIEVlI1m0EAygW9AlLFyUN-vvnbV7Xa0z5MnlJJlVE3U46q3iNgCjIjaUiygByYHuyi4HFKG5EqK6MUbNYO6ZgJmY5gr_7fC5dg6kKQA2pnmz-ivJJ10xYt6SooQ/s1600/PokerStarsSCOOP.jpg" /></a></div>The <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker</a> is just a couple months away.<br />
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The SCOOP is a special tournament series that PokerStars holds every spring since 2009 which has a special twist. Each event is available at three different stake levels, low, medium and high.<br />
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This gives players of many different skill levels and means to participate. There are buy-ins as little as $11 and as much as $10,300 for the high stakes SCOOP Main Event.<br />
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If you've ever wanted to play in a big tournament series like the World Series of Poker but the expenses of travel and those high buy-in tournaments was too much for you, the SCOOP is a good way to get a similar experience right from the comfort of your own home.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pokerstars.com/?source=10334951" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-NxVjW3dAICnn2lW363_2qjMp34UiktIybY9P5LicNPxoYZJGn5kN0tD9aV4IvxDrEgfxWON5UY5k15tC5A5zbNTdFAATkEfAv3IJl5sfs0mKVs-KXp4gL2dXsISRXiukjdPnDPzH_gA/s1600/PokerStarsCurrent175x200.gif" /></a></div>You can download PokerStars and create a free account <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">here</a>. <br />
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Even the <i>low</i> tournaments have big guarantees and could mean a big score.The thrill of playing in the special <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2011/03/considering-playing-pokerstars-5million.html">PokerStars Sunday $5 Million tournament</a> has me wanting to take some more shots a couple of times a year at some big tournaments so I've been looking through the schedule to see what I might want to play. <br />
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There are 38 events running from May 8th to May 22nd 2011. That gives me plenty of time to improve my MTT game.<br />
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If you want to easily add the events to your calendar software on your desktop, iPhone or other device, I created some Calendar Feeds for the 2011 SCOOP Tournament Schedule that you can use. They are available as <b>XML</b>, <b>iCal</b>, or you can just view them as HTML and add them to your Google Calendar on iGoogle.<br />
<h2>2011 SCOOP Low Tournaments</h2><a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/microrollers.com_5rp6u467or7n1l5d3scu4488rk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">XML</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/microrollers.com_5rp6u467or7n1l5d3scu4488rk%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics">iCal</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=microrollers.com_5rp6u467or7n1l5d3scu4488rk%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York">HTML</a><br />
<h2>2011 SCOOP Medium Tournaments</h2><a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/microrollers.com_aak271ep62b8ga3hj637s729e0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">XML</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/ical/microrollers.com_aak271ep62b8ga3hj637s729e0%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics">iCal</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=microrollers.com_aak271ep62b8ga3hj637s729e0%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York">HTML</a><br />
<h2>2011 SCOOP High Tournaments</h2><a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/microrollers.com_3cc0g666ohghpu1303qd5rrdv8%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">XML</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/microrollers.com_3cc0g666ohghpu1303qd5rrdv8%40group.calendar.google.com/public/basic">iCal</a>, <a href="http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=microrollers.com_3cc0g666ohghpu1303qd5rrdv8%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/New_York">HTML</a><br />
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If you notice any problems with the entries please let me know. I'll do my best to update them if any events change.<br />
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Looking for an easy way to track your SCOOP results and publish them on your blog? Check out my <a href="http://blog.microrollers.com/2010/06/mtt-bankroll-management-spreadsheet.html">MTT Bankroll Management Spreadsheet</a>. <br />
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If you're not familiar with online poker tournaments here are some explanations of how tournaments are named that might help you:<br />
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The format for the event name is something like "Evt 99-L: $100 NLHE Turbo $500K GTD"<br />
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Evt is just short for event, 99-L signifies the number of the event and what stake level. Events range from 1-38 and stake levels are L for low, M for medium and H for high.<br />
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After that is a description of the type of tournament. What type of game is played and if there are any special features of the tournament such as a Turbo, a shootout, or if it is not a normal full ring (9 players per table) tournament such as 6-max or 4-max.<br />
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Finally there is the guaranteed prize pool marked as $xxx GTD. No matter how many players enter the tournament the prize pool will be <b>at least</b> the guaranteed amount. These tournaments are fairly popular and the prize pools generally are larger than the guarantees.<br />
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Some tournaments are labeled as "2-Day" tournaments that are scheduled to run over the course of 2 days.<br />
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Some abbreviations used in these calendars:<br />
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NLHE - No Limit Hold'em<br />
PLO - Pot Limit Omaha<br />
HU - Heads up<br />
GTD - Guaranteed<br />
FL - Fixed Limit<br />
+R - Any buy-in labeled $xxx+R indicates it's a rebuy tournament where you can purchase additional chips if you lose all your initial chips during the rebuy period.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1147658610731565923.post-72385054390612247222011-03-10T07:10:00.000-05:002011-03-10T07:10:09.293-05:00Daniel 'KidPoker' Negreanu vs Viktor 'Isildur1' Blom HU Match Is On!!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCrkECyoPbCj4FKxIW4MozqdiehPJ4oPVZ8Qz_q-Pl5mHb4xQ8TqOgovG9o2lqk-OiV_1LU1aBKzpDFroB_gxw_2GlHL0zOaG99fzmKA-z7fwpc_zcXbatxRAmH4q53HPxC6Eed_uN24/s200/DNSuperstarShowdownOn.jpg" width="200" /></div><br />
Last month I posted on how <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Daniel Negreanu was practicing his HU game to play Viktor Blom in the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown</a>.<br />
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He had been taking on some really good poker players in 4 table HU matches trying to improve his HU game and he crushed most of them at $5/$10 NLHE HU.<br />
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Recently he moved up to $50/$100 NL. He destroyed K_O_S_T_Y_A by winning over $100k (<a href="http://www.pokertableratings.com/hand-history/stars/KidPoker/1IkrNaahGJfckMsMEjzRVVBV9LXctejqLuAF5/idcsFy6XeycNciEm4WwgaWqiOfvLodVw1h/u2Ucgk8QrXYNVcyLw1PdMRZArggyEZNIQQ=#ptraid=microrollers">replay</a>) but lost just over $100k to Sauce123 yesterday (<a href="http://www.pokertableratings.com/hand-history/stars/KidPoker/1IkrNaahGJegBrPtK7rO5oazXQUtqcDZJ5zdicItDjDAVYt/EpPFwKPuyPzihodnMw/IydEFkj2lzES%20FWjbicsKZfPA3qhw7EY9zzXCpYw=#ptraid=microrollers">replay</a>) at these stakes.<br />
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I was railing the game against KOSTYA and after he busted him on one of the tables another player sat with Negreanu. He played a few hands with him until he finished off KOSTYA on the other table and at the end of the session said something like <i>'you suck as a practice partner, you're nothing like Isildur'. </i>I don't think he meant to be a prick but I found it hillarious.<i></i><br />
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Now Negreanu thinks he's ready to take on Viktor Blom in the SuperStar Showdown.<br />
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This will be slightly different that the other SuperStar Showdowns because it will run over 2 weekends, Sunday March 20 and Sunday March 27 at 3:00pm EST.<br />
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Each day will consist of 4 $50/$100 heads up no-limit hold'em tables with each player having a $150,000 bankroll for the showdown and play the usual 2,500 hands. Then the next week they'll continue the match with the money they had the previous week for another 2,500 hands. Twice as many hands as the other SuperStar Showdowns!<br />
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In my last post on Negreanu's heads up games I predicted that the match might come up in a couple of months. I didn't expect it so soon but he's been putting in a lot of time working on his game and recently tweeted that 'April is the new May', because he usually relaxes in May to get ready for the WSOP but with tournament schedules moved up this year, he'll be taking off in April.<br />
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So March seems like the only time he can do it and why not when he's been on fire lately.<br />
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I don't play a lot of heads up so I can't really comment on Negreanu's game but his results are pretty impressive and they've been fun to watch.<br />
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This SuperStar Showdown should be $%#ing awesome to watch! If you don't already have a copy, <a href="http://www.microrollers.com/go/pokerstars">download PokerStars software from PokerStars.com</a> to be able to watch the match. Once you create an account and log in, hit CTRL-P to bring up a window showing the currently logged in Team PokerStars players when the match is scheduled to run to be able to find Daniel Negreanu or Viktor Blom. Then double click one of their names and in the new window that comes up double click the 4 tables they're playing at to watch.<br />
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I have a feeling this is not something most poker players will want to miss!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><p><b>View <a href="http://rakeback.microrollers.com">the best Rakeback deals for micro stakes poker players</a>.</b></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0