Tower Poker are running a promotion where the first person each day (US e.s.t.) to make quads (10s or higher) in Texas Holdem wins a $50 bonus. The catch is that it is not automatic - you have to report your quads to support.
On Saturday I made quad Jacks at about 9:00am. I thought myself no chance, but submitted them anyway. Was astonished to find myself winning the $50! Then on Wednesday, I played a brief session at 12:30am, and made quad Aces. On top of picking up a tidy pot, I won myself another $50 for the trouble. Not bad going. Three other players have won the quad bonus twice (in about 20 days), so I can only assume that not many people are submitting their quads. So playing 6 tables short handed at midnight looks like a pretty profitable strategy right now!
Thanks to these bonuses, I have hit the $180 mark, and will soon add a $93 deposit bonus to that.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
A change of tack
A few weeks ago I switched to playing poker at Tower Gaming (a member of OnGame, another chain of linked poker rooms). I was attracted by the twin 100% signup bonuses that appeared to cash out quickly.
When I started playing, I found that the going was pretty slow. One reason is that you only earn points when you contribute money to a pot, the other was that you only earn points for pots over $2. This latter only became an issue because I blew my stack down to $20 (twice) and had to limp back at low limits.
I switched strategy when I got back to around $40, and started playing short stacked at NL and PL tables (mostly holdem, a little Omaha). The initial aim was to find tables with small blinds (.10/.15 or .15/.25) but large average pots (say over $8) , buyin for the minimum and then to play loose for one bet preflop and tight otherwise - I expected this might be a slightly negative e.v (expected value) strategy, but positive when the bonus is factored in.
The strategy made a big improvement in earning points towards cashing out my bonus, but surprisingly also turned out to be remarkably profitable. I found myself not playing as tightly as I planned (bluffing, semibluffing when prudent) , but turning a better profit on average than when I was playing limit. I am now on track to cash out a $93 bonus soon, and have a very healthy stack.
When I started playing, I found that the going was pretty slow. One reason is that you only earn points when you contribute money to a pot, the other was that you only earn points for pots over $2. This latter only became an issue because I blew my stack down to $20 (twice) and had to limp back at low limits.
I switched strategy when I got back to around $40, and started playing short stacked at NL and PL tables (mostly holdem, a little Omaha). The initial aim was to find tables with small blinds (.10/.15 or .15/.25) but large average pots (say over $8) , buyin for the minimum and then to play loose for one bet preflop and tight otherwise - I expected this might be a slightly negative e.v (expected value) strategy, but positive when the bonus is factored in.
The strategy made a big improvement in earning points towards cashing out my bonus, but surprisingly also turned out to be remarkably profitable. I found myself not playing as tightly as I planned (bluffing, semibluffing when prudent) , but turning a better profit on average than when I was playing limit. I am now on track to cash out a $93 bonus soon, and have a very healthy stack.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Ups and Downs
Boy, poker can be a rough ride.
My hard earned $100 swung down to $30, back up to $100, down to $17, up to $50, down to $20. And some of those downswings can happen so fast - maybe I went on tilt, maybe I played the wrong games. But it seemed at the time that I was being hit in the guts time after time by runner-runner straights, gutshots, backdoor flushed. My good hands were being chased down. I played some poker at a loose limit Omaha table, and burned pretty badly - I'll talk more about Omaha another day.
Today, for a change I experienced a rapid upswing - 50 big bets in less than half an hour. I don't even think I was playing particularly well, or my opponents particularly badly. I just caught a lot of cards. And I mean a *lot*.
Here are some highlights:
Hand 1(BB): 99, held up
Hand 2(SB): 83, called and flopped two pair
Hand 4: AJs, made J high straight
Hand 6(BB): A4s, flopped fours full of aces
Hand 10: 22, flopped a set
Hand 24: KQs, flopped two pair
Hand 25: JJ, flopped a set and paired the board for a full house
Hand 28: 99, flopped a full house
Hand 37(BB): K10s, flopped top pair, turned a 10
Hand 55: A8s, flopped top pair (eights) and made a runner-runner nut flush
In all of that time, I only got sucked out on once (to a runner-runner straight).
My hard earned $100 swung down to $30, back up to $100, down to $17, up to $50, down to $20. And some of those downswings can happen so fast - maybe I went on tilt, maybe I played the wrong games. But it seemed at the time that I was being hit in the guts time after time by runner-runner straights, gutshots, backdoor flushed. My good hands were being chased down. I played some poker at a loose limit Omaha table, and burned pretty badly - I'll talk more about Omaha another day.
Today, for a change I experienced a rapid upswing - 50 big bets in less than half an hour. I don't even think I was playing particularly well, or my opponents particularly badly. I just caught a lot of cards. And I mean a *lot*.
Here are some highlights:
Hand 1(BB): 99, held up
Hand 2(SB): 83, called and flopped two pair
Hand 4: AJs, made J high straight
Hand 6(BB): A4s, flopped fours full of aces
Hand 10: 22, flopped a set
Hand 24: KQs, flopped two pair
Hand 25: JJ, flopped a set and paired the board for a full house
Hand 28: 99, flopped a full house
Hand 37(BB): K10s, flopped top pair, turned a 10
Hand 55: A8s, flopped top pair (eights) and made a runner-runner nut flush
In all of that time, I only got sucked out on once (to a runner-runner straight).
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