PokerStars announced that starting on October 1st there will be some new changes to the VIP program. Some pretty great changes in my opinion!

First, VIP Reward Bonuses will now be available in your account instantly. In the past if you purchased a $50 VIP Reward Bonus for 4,500 FPP you'd have to clear that bonus by earning 350 VPPs (7 times the dollar amount) before that amount was added to your account.

Tomorrow, when you purchase a VIP Reward Bonus from the PokerStars VIP Store, the amount will be instantly credited to your account.

I really like this change except I recently purchased a bonus that I'm still working on clearing. Damn my impatience! Update: Thanks to a tweet from @fpppro I found out you could email PokerStars support and request a refund for VIP Reward Bonuses that haven't cleared and then purchase a new VIP Reward Bonus that clears instantly. Sweet!

Micro stakes players will also be earning VPPs faster at NL and PL ring games up to $0.05/$0.10.

This is an extension of the MicroMania promotion they held in July where micro stakes NL and PL games earned 10 VPPs for each $1 collected in rake. What came as a surprise to me was that the 10x multiplier didn't end in July. They continued to run the promotion without making a fuss over it.

I was trying to track my cash game VPP earn rate and I thought something seemed off. Now I know why.

The normal VPP multiplier is 6x for tables with 8 or more seats and 5.5x for tables with 7 or fewer seats.

The new VPP multiplier at each stake are at follows:

$0.01/$0.02: 12x
$0.02/$0.05: 10x
$0.05/$0.10: 8x

6-max players will realize the biggest gain going from 5.5x to either 12x, 10x or 8x depending on the stakes. Heads-up players are unfortunately left out since the smallest heads up tables are $0.10/0.25 which have been excluded from this new change even though they were part of MicroMania.

Still, these are very good changes, especially not having to clear VIP Reward Bonuses!

It's been a while since my last post and update. I've been busy with a few other projects and haven't had as much time. I have been playing my challenges but haven't had time to update my blog.

I really wanted to splurge and play one of the $200 WCOOP events but I just couldn't find the time. :(

Since my last update my Double or Nothing Sit N' Go challenge bankroll is up over $1,000 to $2,584. I'm currently playing the $10 DoNs. My winrate since the last update was only 55.6% giving me a little better than a 3% ROI.

Not a spectacular winrate but it's mainly due to one big downswing.

I started out this update playing the $5.40 DoNs even though my bankroll rules allowed me to play the $10.80 DoNs. There were a couple of reasons why I decided to stick with the $5 DoNs.

First, I just got used to playing a large number of tables and was having fun and showing good results doing so and I didn't want to stop.

The other reason (and this is longer than I wanted but I can't stop talking about new toys)  was I needed to replace the TV in my office and decided to use my FPPs to get a new TV from the PokerStars' VIP store. Sticking with the $5 DoNs I was able to generate FPPs faster since moving to the $10 DoNs would mean I would have to play fewer tables.

I had planned to restrict my FPPs to only cash bonuses but just couldn't resist. I'm the type of person that usually goes nuts looking at specs and comparing models before I make any purchasing decision. I hate wasting money and more importantly I hate getting something and then realizing for only a little bit more I could have gotten something better.

The downside is that I start out looking for something that costs let's say $300 and then realize for $50 bucks more I can get something better, and then for only another $25 I can get something even better. Eventually I say screw it if I'm going to spend $200 above my initial $300 budget why not just get the top of the line model!

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I didn't have time to do that and just blindly bought the 26" 720p Samsung HDTV that PokerStars lists on their store. It was the right size and I could do without 1080p in my office. I'm happy with it. The picture quality is good and it has some nice features. My favorite is that it comes with a USB port and I can connect an external drive to play videos from my computer.

OneCall.com seems to be the company that fulfills electronics orders for PokerStars's VIP Store. The TV was listed for $480 when I ordered it for 32,000 FPPs. If I chose to purchase bonuses with those FPPs I would have only been able to get less than $400 worth so it seemed like a good deal. Amazon put it on sale shortly after I ordered it and it would have been a toss-up. Check out Amazon's current price for the Samsung LN26C450 26-Inch 720p 60 Hz LCD HDTV
Overall I was very happy with the process and service and would buy from OneCall.com again but instead of purchasing something directly from the VIP Store I'll go about it a different way. I noticed that in the VIP Store you can purchase $200 gift certifcates for OneCall and that would allow me to be more selective about what item I purchase.

OK, back to DoNs...

After I earned the FPPs I needed for the TV I finally moved up to the $10 DoNs. I started playing one and then two tables at a time and things were going well. Very well actually.

Since I continued with the $5 DoNs longer than I should have my bankroll could actually support playing more than 2 tables at a time and I quickly moved to about as many as I was playing at the $5 level. That's when the downswing hit and it was a pretty big one. I never hit the point where my bankroll rules told me to move down so I kept at it trying to find my bearings.

Moving up quickly probably wouldn't have been such a big problem but a few weeks went by where I didn't have time to play any poker and I guess I forgot how? I should have eased myself back into it.

At the $10 level players generally make fewer mistakes than they did at the $5 level and I found I needed to focus more to keep myself from making mistakes myself. I dropped back down to 2 tables at a time to pay closer attention and make some adjustments to my game.

I slowly worked my way up to 5 tables at a time and I'm playing them pretty much tiled (with a slight overlap) so I can pay attention to the action easier.

I created a custom layout with 5 tables arranged as shown in the image to the right. There's a little bit of overlap but I can still see what's going on.

More important than seeing what's going on, this layout helps me remember the players. This is helpful when there's a player I'm picking up a read on but I don't have enough hands against them for the HUD stats to be reliable.

I'm not good with remembering names or avatars but I'm good at remembering something like the player in the upper right table in seat 1 raises loose and calls shoves light. Playing with my tables stacked doesn't allow me to remember players in that way.

My next step is to play 6 tables. I have a layout where I moved the center table up and added a 6th one just under it. After that 8 tables with a bigger overlap and then I'll see if I can go back to stacking tables.

The challenge is going much slower than I initially thought it would but as long as that chart keeps moving up I guess I can't complain. :)

Received an email today that PokerTableRatings.com is now offering Sit-n-Go hand histories for purchase. For a limited time there is a 30% discount if you use the promo code: SNGLAUNCH.

Plus you'll also get 14 free days of SnG daily hand updates with your order if you use the promo code.

PokerTableRatings has been tracking cash game hands for hold 'em and omaha for Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Absolute/Ulitmate Bet, Bodog, iPoker/Titan, Party Poker and recently the Cake Poker.

Like other data mining sites they allow you to size up your competition quickly. Through their website you can review a players playing style, win/loss record and even watch recent sessions. Their new PTR Premium service gives you a more in-depth analysis and even provides typical HUD stats in the PTR replayer.

For months PTR has secretly been data mining SNG hand histories as well and has now made them available for purchase. Like their cash game hand histories these files can be imported into your poker analytics software such as Holdem Manager or Poker Office. This can give you more insight into players than just their win/loss record that other sites such as SharkScope provide.

One problem though. Data mining and trading/purchasing hand histories violates the terms and conditions of most major poker rooms.

A few weeks ago a reader, Rishan, sent me an email with some questions about Double or Nothing Sit-N-Go's.

He had some good questions pertaining to variance, bankroll management and some strategy. With his permission I'm posting his email along with my answers in case others find it helpful.

It took a while to find the time to reply but hopefully it's worth the wait.

Here's the email:

This is my best update so far! No major downswings and I had time to put in a lot of volume. I was finally able to significantly increase the number of simultaneous tables I'm playing too which made a big difference.

Current DoN SnG Challenge Bankroll is at $1,542 a whopping $732 more since my last update. An increase of around 90%. That's almost double!!!! Can you tell I'm excited!?!?!?!? :)

I ran pretty decent too. 58% winrate with a 7.6% ROI. When I first started playing these games (before I started this challenge) my winrate was just over 60% so I'm starting to creep back up closer to that number.

Sundays no longer seem to be a problem. They used to be my worst day but last Sunday was my best. I played a little over 100 SnGs and had a 68% winrate which gave me a 26% ROI netting me $145.

There were a number of things I felt made a difference which I'll discuss in further detail below. Plus what's going to happen next with the challenge.

If you liked my Cash Game Bankroll Management Spreadsheet and DoN SnG Bankroll Management Spreadsheet you might get some good use out of my multi-table tournament (MTT) bankroll management spreadsheet.

It has the same features as the other spreadsheets in that it suggests your buy-in based on your bankroll management rules, keeps track of your progress and provides you with some useful stats, allows you to publish your bankroll chart on the web.

Poor bankroll management practices can result in a winning player going bust so it's important to keep good records and follow a sound strategy to keep your bankroll safe.

There's a lot of variance and there can be some big swings in MTTs so this spreadsheet isn't as straightforward as the previous ones.

Because a big score in an MTT can dramatically increase your bankroll you can be rolled to play in much higher games than you are used to but just because you had a big win doesn't mean your ability has dramatically increased. I tried to tie the recommended buy-in to the average buy-in to keep the spreadsheet from suggesting buy-ins that were too much above the buy-ins you have the most experience in but you'll still want to use your judgement when you move up in stakes. This spreadsheet is still a work in progress.

This spreadsheet can be used for all your MTTs or you can create separate spreadsheets to segregate different types of tournaments. For example you could create three different copies. One for Turbo MTTs, one for 180 SnGs and one for ReBuys tournaments. Since your bankroll management strategy should reflect your winrate and potential variance it makes sense to separate them since different types of games have different variance and you're ability might be different in them.

If you choose to mix tournament types try to adjust the recommended buy-in accordingly. For example if your recommended buy-in is $10 and you normally play regular speed full ring MTTs you might want to buy-in for less in a 6-max turbo MTT. If you're throwing in a rebuy tournament, try to keep your buy-in + rebuys + addon close to your recommended buy-in. This is one area where you're going to need to use your judgment.

At the 2010 WSOP Ladies No-Limit Holdem Championship about a dozen guys registered and played the event. Some of them did so because they believe the field to be softer but Shaun Deeb, who started the event in drag, claimed he did it for female poker player rights.

He feels that the special Ladies tournament shouldn't be a part of the World Series of Poker. In his view, women poker players are intelligent and competitive enough to battle it out in the open events and should do so.

Unfortunately my good run didn't last. After my last DoN SnG Challenge Update things continued to go well and then disaster struck. I experienced my worst downswing ever in these games. Over 30 buy-ins.

The current DoN Challenge bankroll stands at $810. It was up to $883.61 at it's peak before the downswing. I was looking forward to moving up to the $10 DoNs by now but that is going to take a little more time.

Since the last update the bankroll has increased $25 and my win rate and ROI has been 55% and 0.5% respectively. Nothing to get too excited over.

In addition to winnings from the games I also earned a $50 VIP Stellar Reward  as well as a $50 VIP Reward Bonus so things aren't so bad.

After only 2 days my new Logitech M500 Mouse arrived from Newegg.com even using their standard 3-day ground shipping. Ever since I've discovered them I don't think I've ever bought any computer hardware from anywhere else.

My old mouse, a Logitech MX-310 was tilting the crap out of me. It seems the cord had developed a short and was cutting in and out and buttons where being pressed when I didn't press any.

That's a recipe for disaster when you have multiple poker tables open. I had timed out a few instances with big hands while I was wiggling the cord trying to get the mouse to come back. I also had some unfortunate misclicks.

PokerStars' new TV high stakes cash game show, "The Big Game" will start airing June 14th on FOX. The show will run 5 nights a week at 1:00 am.

It's a 6-handed holdem cash game with $200/$400 blinds and $100 ante. The minimum buy-in is $100,000. It looks like it's going to be pot-limit preflop, no-limit post-flop.

Along with the poker pros every week one seat will be filled by a Loose Cannon. A player that wins a $100k buy-in for The Big Game. Anything they win above $100k they get to keep.

PokerTableRatings is a service that data mines no-limit holdem and Omaha cash games across various online poker rooms.

You can review your own hands and stats as well as those of other players. From their website you can access basic statistics for free or you could purchase hand histories to import into your poker stat software such as Holdem Manager, PokerOffice or PokerTracker.

PokerTableRatings today has launched a new PTR Premium service which expands on the stats you can find on their website.

What a joke! Bodog is offering Tiger Woods a 5 year $100 million sponsorship deal with a "no moral judgement" clause.

With divorce an increasingly likely outcome and speculation about a multitude of other ‘sins’, BodogBrand feel they are the only ones who can extend a deal that will be totally unaffected by any non-golf related activity but in fact actively encourages endorsees, employees and customers alike to 'Play Hard.'

This is their 3rd offer to Woods, the first two were apparently declined and I wouldn't be surprised if this third one is rejected as well.

Woods has been losing some of his endorsement deals after his affairs came to light. I don't think that's necessarily fair. While I don't condone what he did, he worked hard to get where he is. His endorsement deals were mutually beneficial relationships where corporate sponsors were able to benefit from his accomplishments in exchange for cash. Now that he's facing losing his family some of these backers want to distance themselves. When someone that has done so much for you is in a difficult situation you don't dump more crap on them. At least that's what I think decent people should do.

Last month PokerStars announced a new type of Sit-n-Go tournament, the Knockout SnG.

I didn't notice them until recently. They seem pretty cool. They are structured like normal 9-man single table tournaments with 10 minute blind levels and 1500 starting chips.

Buy-ins match their non knockout counterparts but their is an added 25% fee that counts as your bounty. Whenever a player knocks you out of the tournament, they get your bounty. Whenever you knock someone else out you get theirs.

Jean-Robert Bellande (@BrokeLivingJRB) poker pro and former Survivor: China contestant has been tweeting his bankroll updates since he started his $0 to $1million run. His last bankroll update simply read:

Cash 0 Stars 0 FTP 0 I feel sleepy.
Sun May 09 02:31

Starting from nothing he got up to around $100k playing a variety of cash games and tournaments.

Some staking deals and credit lines got him going. Following his tweets poor table selection and bankroll management really did him in.