This month I am chasing a $450 rake chase bonus on Red Star, and as a result have played nearly all my sessions on there (Cake). Apart from choosing first the tables with the high % of players to flop, I have virtually stopped table selecting - I just hop on as many tables from 3/6 to about 6/12 as I feel comfortable playing. I am pretty confident that I can beat any table at these stakes (on this site at least), and with rakeback, rake chases and a deposit bonus I am way into green territory. And I am still constantly surprised at the number of poor players who hover around the higher stakes.
Case in point was a nice little half hour heater at 6/12 which netted 25BB or so. The player on my right was an awful, awful loose passive player who would play way too many hands preflop, call too many bets and then fold the river if he didn't have a pretty strong hand. Earlier, I played with a mouthy guy at 4/8 who is a dreadful weak tight player - he plays way too tight preflop and then completely fails to get value from his monsters (his set of kings went check-check on the turn and river because someone raised him on the flop).
It's probably obvious from reading the above that I am running well - up nearly $2500 since the last cooler just over a week ago. I am planning to take a bit of a break once I hit this month's $2500 rake target, since I have been playing way too much and have a lot of other stuff going on in my life.
Showing posts with label rake races. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rake races. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Downswing officially over
My last peak prior to the big downswing was June 7th, and I am very happy to have eclipsed that mark. One month in the doldrums I can handle - it's when it stretches out to two and three that it drives you up the wall.
Bad news this month though in that RTR have dropped the RedStar rake race, which is very bad news. Choosing a Cake room seems to be a bit of a lottery, since you can only have one room with rakeback and the promotions change so much from month to month. I have a deposit bonus to finish, but once that's done I may need to find another room or two.
Bad news this month though in that RTR have dropped the RedStar rake race, which is very bad news. Choosing a Cake room seems to be a bit of a lottery, since you can only have one room with rakeback and the promotions change so much from month to month. I have a deposit bonus to finish, but once that's done I may need to find another room or two.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
February summary
Well I spent a long time in the dog house, but I'm finally back in the black. Having started the month on $1911, and sinking as low as $1650 during the month, I finished on approximately $2893. This is up from my previous high of $2710, and means my first dividend since November.
The result is due in very large part to the NoiQ rake races. I scored $300 from the Jan-Feb main race, and $400 from the RTR exclusive race. I also made $100 on the monthly race at Eurolinx, and $150 in rakeback ($100 from NoiQ and $50 from Euro).
Pokerwise, I made a princely profit of about $30. But I am actually really pleased with how the poker is going, especially considering that the month started on a continuation of a massive cooler. I am still in a transition phase to NL, and am running incredibly well at the 20EUR NL tables, up over 30bb/100. I *was* running well at 50EUR NL until a nasty session a couple of days ago where I lost three buyins to a mix of bad play and bad beat.
I probably won't play as much in March. I overdid it in Feb a little, due to the races and need to slow down. The NoiQ races are much tougher now, and I think the best I can hope for is a small score in the RTR exculsive race (maybe $50-$100). I'll aim to repeat the $100 win on Eurolinx, as that is pretty easy. I also aim to continue playing predominantly NL - $50 6max tables for preference, or else a mix of 20 and 50 Euro.
I may look for a new kickback this month, and might also attempt to sort out RTR VIP on Littlewoods (which I have tried and failed a few times). I still havent played that live session, but will try again this month - though perhaps it will be 200NL (2/3 blinds) rather than 10/20 limit.
The result is due in very large part to the NoiQ rake races. I scored $300 from the Jan-Feb main race, and $400 from the RTR exclusive race. I also made $100 on the monthly race at Eurolinx, and $150 in rakeback ($100 from NoiQ and $50 from Euro).
Pokerwise, I made a princely profit of about $30. But I am actually really pleased with how the poker is going, especially considering that the month started on a continuation of a massive cooler. I am still in a transition phase to NL, and am running incredibly well at the 20EUR NL tables, up over 30bb/100. I *was* running well at 50EUR NL until a nasty session a couple of days ago where I lost three buyins to a mix of bad play and bad beat.
I probably won't play as much in March. I overdid it in Feb a little, due to the races and need to slow down. The NoiQ races are much tougher now, and I think the best I can hope for is a small score in the RTR exculsive race (maybe $50-$100). I'll aim to repeat the $100 win on Eurolinx, as that is pretty easy. I also aim to continue playing predominantly NL - $50 6max tables for preference, or else a mix of 20 and 50 Euro.
I may look for a new kickback this month, and might also attempt to sort out RTR VIP on Littlewoods (which I have tried and failed a few times). I still havent played that live session, but will try again this month - though perhaps it will be 200NL (2/3 blinds) rather than 10/20 limit.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
RakeTheRake and NoiQ: two thumbs up
I have been playing at the new Entraction NoiQ site for 45 days. In that time, I have raked approximately $685. In return, I have earned $205 in rakeback, won $300 in the Jan-Feb rake race, completed a 120 Euro (about $155) first deposit bonus (just short of the 140 maximum), and am on target to take $400 in the RakeTheRake exclusive freeroll for a total of around $1060 in bonuses.
That is absolutely amazing value. I really hope the transition to Entraction is successful, as they have really invested in the players to achieve it. It's just a shame that I donked off most of the bonus in the process :-/
In other news, I played a couple of freerolls this morning (one of which was on NoiQ via RTR). I bombed out of both, and also failed to place in a couple of sit 'n gos. On the upside though, my NL cash game streak continued to three sessions and about eight tables (with no loss on any table). I played two 50EUR tables with a full stack, doubling on one and winning about 10 on the other. On the double up table, I didn't stack anyone but just built up a stack slowly by playing aggressively on the button and picking up small pots. On one hand, I called a raise on the button with some junk like J9s and whiffed the eight high flop. When the flop checked around and the turn paired the board and checked around to me, I simply bet 5 into a 7 pot and picked it up. Poker really shouldn't be that easy.
That is absolutely amazing value. I really hope the transition to Entraction is successful, as they have really invested in the players to achieve it. It's just a shame that I donked off most of the bonus in the process :-/
In other news, I played a couple of freerolls this morning (one of which was on NoiQ via RTR). I bombed out of both, and also failed to place in a couple of sit 'n gos. On the upside though, my NL cash game streak continued to three sessions and about eight tables (with no loss on any table). I played two 50EUR tables with a full stack, doubling on one and winning about 10 on the other. On the double up table, I didn't stack anyone but just built up a stack slowly by playing aggressively on the button and picking up small pots. On one hand, I called a raise on the button with some junk like J9s and whiffed the eight high flop. When the flop checked around and the turn paired the board and checked around to me, I simply bet 5 into a 7 pot and picked it up. Poker really shouldn't be that easy.
Monday, February 16, 2009
A minor stroke of luck
The NoiQ main race finished on Friday, and I had a minor piece of good fortune in finishing in 99th position in the "Raked Hands race" for a $300 win (101st was $150). They paid 500 places in the rake race (in which places 251-500 also get $300), and 175 places in the hand race (where only those who miss in the rake race are eligible). So $300 was definitely the optimal result there, especially considering I am also well placed in the RTR exclusive race which finishes end of Feb. TFAL also scored in the hands race.
A bit of good fortune was sorely needed, because in all other respects I am still running like a turd. In fact, I think my resolution for the rest of February is to play limit only when I am racing or a ludicrously juicy table is available.
A bit of good fortune was sorely needed, because in all other respects I am still running like a turd. In fact, I think my resolution for the rest of February is to play limit only when I am racing or a ludicrously juicy table is available.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Test your poker IQ
http://www.donkeytest.com/
I managed a fairly respectable 117. Not too bad, considering I don't actually play no-limit and have never properly studied it.
It is quite a good quiz, with lots of tough situations to consider. It is also quite long (52 questions). Let's have your scores!
As an aside, NoIQ is looking to be quite lucrative this month in the Rake Race stakes. I found that not only am I in $400 position in the RTR affilliate race, but I'm also sitting in a $300 position in the main NoIQ race. I suppose the $150 I donked off playing PLO on tilt the other night helped out there :-P
I managed a fairly respectable 117. Not too bad, considering I don't actually play no-limit and have never properly studied it.
It is quite a good quiz, with lots of tough situations to consider. It is also quite long (52 questions). Let's have your scores!
As an aside, NoIQ is looking to be quite lucrative this month in the Rake Race stakes. I found that not only am I in $400 position in the RTR affilliate race, but I'm also sitting in a $300 position in the main NoIQ race. I suppose the $150 I donked off playing PLO on tilt the other night helped out there :-P
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Mornings still suck..
So I was going to post about how I've actually run pretty well the last couple of days and recovered a fair bit of bankroll.
Then I logged in for a quick half an hour of 1/2EUR and ran like a dog turd on valium. I don't think I won a single pot, and I somehow managed to dump 25BB in the space of about 40 hands. Every time I had a raising hand I was three bet and flopped the anti-nuts. Friggin marvellous.
On the upside, I ran pretty good for the previous couple of days. I have been playing mainly on Eurolinx where I cashed a $100 rake race prize and managed to double it pretty quickly, and on NoIQ which has just moved from iPoker to Entraction (where I am back to even par after starting with a good run). Both of these sites are running good rake races via RakeTheRake at the moment (see sidebar link). Eurolinx has a $10k race from 12th to 31st Jan, paying 40 places. From prior experience it should be very easy to pick up $100 in this race, and possibly up to $250 if I manage to get a bit of volume in. NoIQ has a massive $70,000 race running from 5th Jan to 28th Feb, paying a huge 120 places (minimum $200 prize). I have only played a couple of days on NoIQ and yet I am already sitting in a $400 position in the race. When added to 30% rakeback and a decent signup bonus, this looks potentially very very lucractive.
The one problem with NoIQ at the moment is that it isn't supported by Holdem Manager. It is supposed to be supported by PokerOffice, but I haven't had any luck with it so far. It is supported by PT2 but not by PT3.
Then I logged in for a quick half an hour of 1/2EUR and ran like a dog turd on valium. I don't think I won a single pot, and I somehow managed to dump 25BB in the space of about 40 hands. Every time I had a raising hand I was three bet and flopped the anti-nuts. Friggin marvellous.
On the upside, I ran pretty good for the previous couple of days. I have been playing mainly on Eurolinx where I cashed a $100 rake race prize and managed to double it pretty quickly, and on NoIQ which has just moved from iPoker to Entraction (where I am back to even par after starting with a good run). Both of these sites are running good rake races via RakeTheRake at the moment (see sidebar link). Eurolinx has a $10k race from 12th to 31st Jan, paying 40 places. From prior experience it should be very easy to pick up $100 in this race, and possibly up to $250 if I manage to get a bit of volume in. NoIQ has a massive $70,000 race running from 5th Jan to 28th Feb, paying a huge 120 places (minimum $200 prize). I have only played a couple of days on NoIQ and yet I am already sitting in a $400 position in the race. When added to 30% rakeback and a decent signup bonus, this looks potentially very very lucractive.
The one problem with NoIQ at the moment is that it isn't supported by Holdem Manager. It is supposed to be supported by PokerOffice, but I haven't had any luck with it so far. It is supported by PT2 but not by PT3.
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