Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Won'durrrr'ful Life of Tom Dwan
Now before some of you say OH !!! its Durr, and jump this topic before reading it WAINT.
You need to read this story to see where he came from and where he is now. This story is a insperation, it tells me if you have a dream, and your willing to grind it out it will happen it just depends how bad do YOU want it.
By the time you finnish reading this ask yourself where do you want to be right now?.
and just maybe you might think diffrent of this man.
A 22-Year-Old Self-Made Millionaire
On Dec. 6, 2008, Tom Dwan found himself in a particularly action-packed game on Full Tilt. Most days, this $500-$1,000 no-limit hold'em six-max table is vacant, but on this Saturday night, the seats were occupied. It was during this session that Dwan raked in $657,070 in one pot, setting the record for the biggest hand he'd ever won online.
It was cause for major buzz on the online poker forums, but to Dwan, it was just part of another session. The exchange of six-figure amounts is nothing out of the ordinary for the 22-year-old.It's hard to believe that just a few years ago, Dwan was a high-school student, sitting at his parents' computer, nervously playing two $6 sit-and-gos on Paradise Poker with his account at zero. Knowing that he would have a tough time convincing his parents to deposit more money online, he had to cash in at least one of them. He did snag a first-place finish, which gave life to his depleted bankroll, boosted his confidence, and put him on the path that has led him to become the poker phenom he is today.
How it All BeganDwan was born and raised in Edison, New Jersey, a town that is home to around 100,000 residents. He grew up as an only child. A carefree, happy, and outgoing kid, Dwan tried his hand at a few competitive activities. He played basketball, baseball, and soccer, and while he excelled at a few of them, he didn't find a passion in any of the sports.As he became older, it was common for him to play some variation of cards with his aunt, uncle, and parents. One day, Dwan's friend was hanging out at his house and they decided to play a $5 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament. Immediately fascinated by it, Dwan and his friend introduced the game to the rest of the group, and they began playing sit-and-gos. On one fateful rainy day, Dwan and a couple of his friends came across Empire Poker, an online site where he could play the game for free. Hooked on the game, Dwan wanted to play for real money."I convinced my dad to put $50 online for me.
I had some Christmas money, so I gave it to him to put on Paradise Poker," said Dwan. "It wasn't hard to convince him the first time, but I'm sure he wouldn't have kept depositing for me. He would think I was a degenerate or something."Dwan began playing $6 sit-and-gos. Still learning the ins and outs of the game, his bankroll dropped all the way down to $15, but he found a way to win. He played tournaments until he built it up to $300, at which time he started playing cash games."I remember the first time I won $100 in a day. I was playing 25¢-50¢, and I thought it was so awesome.
"As Dwan improved and built more wealth, he moved to PokerStars in pursuit of higher limits. It was there that he began multitabling [playing more than one table at the same time] $2-$4 and $3-$6 no-limit hold'em. At the end of Dwan's senior year in high school, his parents attempted to force him to get a job for the summer, but by this time, he had built his $50 into $10,000. Not only did he not get a job, he also paid for a house at the shore to spend the summer months with his friends before he was to begin his freshman year at Boston University.
He entered college as an engineering major, but it was clear that he spent much more time studying poker. He continued to learn, progress, and hone in on his edge at the table, often winning or losing more money in one session than his fellow college buddies could earn in a year."I ran my bankroll up to 150K, but then lost like 50 or 60K really quick, and at the same time, I realized I was failing out of school."Struck with somewhat of a self-imposed ultimatum, Dwan gave up school to focus on poker.Just PokerDwan played on numerous sites under the alias "durrrr," with the number of r's varying from site to site. In 2004, after he conquered the $10-$20 and $25-$50 no-limit hold'em games, word of the young, ruthless, and hyperaggressive player spread like wildfire through the underground world of high-stakes online poker.
Though cash games remained his bread and butter, Dwan couldn't resist taking a shot in major tournaments, and in 2005, at the age of 19, he finished 12th in the European Poker Tour London event. While most people his age were digging through seat cushions and recycling empty beer cans for some extra money, Dwan was jet-setting around the world, playing in the most prestigious poker tournaments ... well, the ones that he was allowed to play, of course.Too young to play tournaments in the U.S., he continued to concentrate on cash games, and met a few fellow players along the way, including David Benefield. The two became fast friends and, along with a few other regulars, traveled to overseas tournaments together.High-Stakes LivingIn 2006, Dwan and Benefield, both of whom were still too young to even drink legally, decided to buy a house in Fort Worth, Texas.
The bachelor pad, impressive by any standard, gave the two a place to not only party hard, but work hard, as well. Dwan focused on his game, plugging leaks and tightening his grasp on advanced no-limit hold'em concepts and strategies.Constantly challenging himself, Dwan was not afraid to sit at the virtual felt with anyone. He admits to being a little cocky, and nearly always feeling like he had an edge over every opponent, but when he'd lose, he would step back and re-evaluate, rebuild, and then try again. He recalls the days of competing heads up against players like Frederick "H@££ingol" Halling at $10-$20, as well as Prahlad "Spirit Rock" Friedman at $25-$50. "I would play Prahlad day in and day out for a week, and if I was down, I would just take a couple weeks off from playing him until I earned the money back against other players, then play him again.
I definitely attribute that as being a huge reason I got better so quickly, because it's so much easier to learn when you're playing against good players."Armed with a "bring-it-on" attitude and no-fear mentality, Dwan moved up in stakes at a rapid pace, and within a year of living in his new house, he had begun taking shots at $200-$400 no-limit hold'em. Despite being a little under-bankrolled for the game, Dwan was successful at the sky-high limits.Million-Dollar DownswingWhen there are ups, there are, inevitably, a few downs. Dwan experienced the largest downswing of his career just before the 2007 World Series of Poker. After running well for a few weeks at the $200-$400 level, his bankroll hovered around the $3 million mark. Then, in the span of four months, he lost more than $2 million."That was really rough to deal with.
I was thinking there was no way I was going to make that money back anywhere other than poker. It would take like 10 years if I was really successful somewhere else. It was some bad play and a ton of bad luck."With two-thirds of a bankroll gone, it would be easy for many 20-year-olds to buckle under the pressure. However, Dwan proved once again why he's not just an ordinary player. With wisdom beyond his years, he rolled up his sleeves and put in the work. He dropped down to $25-$50 and steadily rebuilt."I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or throw the rest of my money in a bank account and start working at McDonalds. Grinding it out sounded more fun."Turning 21 Brings Tournament SuccessOn July 30, 2007, just after the culmination of the WSOP main event, Dwan turned 21.
Just months after beginning to compete in major U.S. tournaments, he made a World Poker Tour televised final table in the World Poker Finals main event at Foxwoods. He placed fourth, for nearly $325,000. Following that, he had a couple of cashes at the 2008 Aussie Millions tournament series, as well as a second-place finish in a Borgata Winter Open preliminary event. He also placed ninth in the prestigious $25,000 WPT Championship, for more than $184,000.The 2008 WSOP was Dwan's first crack at a bracelet. Proving that his poker talent transcends variations of the game, he finished eighth in both the $5,000 no-limit deuce-to-seven draw lowball event and the $10,000 world championship mixed event. So far, Dwan's lifetime tournament earnings total nearly $1 million.
However lucrative tournaments have been for him, he says that cash games are still where the money is.What it TakesSo, what does it take for Dwan to be so successful? Well, if you ask him, he might say, "I just gamble and hope I win." From the charming smile that always follows his many sarcastic statements, it's easy to deduce that this just isn't the case.Dwan consistently crushes the highest-stakes no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha games on the Internet, and is one of the biggest winners on Full Tilt. One of his major assets is the ability to avoid tilt, but at the limits he plays, most everyone is a high-caliber player who rarely lets emotions take over."Right now, at the highest stakes, no one has an understanding of no-limit hold'em or pot-limit Omaha that is much above anyone else, meaning that the best player and the next-nine-best can play together.
You just need to adapt to your opponents."When he talks about poker, Dwan has a tough time articulating exactly what it is that makes him so good. Perhaps it's because most of it is instinct. In poker, players often talk about an X factor, an intangible skill set that is impossible to teach. Almost like a sixth sense, those who have that X factor can literally feel their opponents' breaking points, read their subconscious minds, and punish them by always thinking a step ahead. There's no question that Dwan has this X factor. He is constantly making incredible reads online by always trusting his instincts. Because he has become one of the most feared players in the world, he often finds it hard to get people to play him.The ChallengeThe flailing economy and legal restrictions of online poker have greatly affected the high-stakes games.
There is less "dead money," and the big-limit heads-up tables online are often lined with different pros sitting at various tables, refusing to play with one another. In an attempt to stir up some action, many pros have resorted to offering enticing challenges for both profit and fun, and Dwan has one of his own - a heads-up challenge.Dwan is putting up $1.5 million to anyone's $500,000 as escrow on the side to play 50,000 hands heads up against him at four tables minimum and at $200-$400 minimum stakes in either no-limit hold'em or pot-limit Omaha.
The player who ends the session with the most money will win both the equity earned during the heads-up match and the bet on the side. If Dwan loses, he will pay his opponent $1.5 million. Should Dwan win, he will keep the money earned, as well as the $500,000."I don't get enough people to play me heads up. Even though there is more money to be made in other games, rather than playing heads up at one or two tables, it's so interesting and you learn a lot. I might think I have an edge here, but it's more to have fun and gamble a little. That's why I'm making this challenge."There is one stipulation, however. The only player to whom this challenge is not open is Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond. Not only are Galfond and Dwan close friends, but Galfond is another elite and widely respected player online.
"Not only is he challenging any player in the world, he's offering them odds," said Galfond. "I mean, a lot of people are confident in their game, but no one I'm aware of has ever backed it up like this. I really hope someone takes him up on it, because I'd love to watch the match. As far as the challenge being open to anyone but me, I take that as one of the highest compliments I've received as a poker player."What's NextFor someone who never books a flight more than a couple of hours before going somewhere, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where he sees himself in a few years, but if he had to guess, Dwan says he'll be playing a lot less poker.
"A lot of the hours I play now, I'm not enjoying. I obviously enjoy doing this more than about any other job I could have now, but a lot of the hours, I'd rather be doing something else." When Dwan isn't making millions of dollars online, he's busy enjoying life, whether he's watching TV, hitting the hottest Vegas club, or losing a $50,000 chess bet with Benefield.In the short time that Dwan has been running in the poker circles, he's gained the utmost respect from tournament and cash-game players alike. He has come a long way from where he was as the anxious teenager on the brink of going broke. Part of becoming a poker legend is having staying power, proving that one's success isn't just a flash in the pan. Should Dwan jump off the poker radar in the next few years, it's safe to say that it would be for one reason only - he decided to do so
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
HATE TAKING NOTES!
When is has to do with something you don't like it is awful, andall I can say is:
GET OVER IT -- Note Taking = More Money when it comes to onlinePoker.
Most players don't take notes because they don't know how. Othersdon't know what to type in, or what to take notes on.
Here are some things to make notes on a player so you can getinside his game and CRUSH him:
* Limper: limps a lot
* Rock: very tight
* PFR: how often the player makes pre-flop raises
* CBETS: will he make a continuation bet after raising pre-flop?
* CBETSB: will he even make CBETS when he misses the flop?
* AGG: aggressive
* C/R: warn yourself that he likes to check-ra
Profit Calculations and Strategy Adjustments for Sit n Go Multi-Tablers.
We will look at some of the issues involved in Multi-tabling Sit n Go Tournaments. Here we will cover ROI issues and strategy adjustments. and more practical questions of whether to Tile or Cascade your tables and playing in 'sets' or 'continually'.
Let us begin with an important concept - it is not possible to make a decent profit playing SNGs unless you multi-table! Think about it this way, a fantastic player at the $20 level with a 20% ROI – and an average game length of 40 minutes. Single-Tabling this player can expect to make an average of $6 per hour... This is fine for the recreational player who is having fun and making a little profit along the way. But for those wanting to use SNGs to build a poker bankroll it is probably not enough.
Of course adding more tables will usually reduce the ROI for each game played – while at the same time the hourly profit will increase. The question is what is the ratio? How much does each additional table remove from your profit?
Jennifear, an online pro and regular poster on Pocket 5’s came up with a figure that makes sense - 8%, not from your overall ROI though - of your total profit figure. That is 8% of your $4 profit per game per extra table, the next table taking another 8% from your $3.86 and so on. I will list the numbers and see how it works with our experience / expectations, assuming 1 game = 40 minutes.
1 Table - $4.00 per game - 1.5 games per hour = $6
2 Tables - $3.86 per game - 3 games per hour = $11.04
3 Tables - $3.38 per game - 4.5 games per hour = $15.21
4 Tables - $3.10 per game - 6 games per hour = $18.60
5 Tables - $2.85 per game - 7.5 games per hour = $21.37
6 Tables - $2.62 per game - 9 games per hour = $23.58
It seems to work - notice that by the time we get to 6 tables the original 20% ROI has gone down to a little over 10% (ignored the rake here to keep the numbers simple). This would seem to account well for the lesser amount of reads / time to make decisions that multi-tabling involves.
Of course, there is no need to stop at 6 - while some forum posters seem to base their self-esteem on the number of tables they can play we will look at it from a profit / loss perspective only though!!
Now, 6 early game situations are far easier to deal with than 6 bubbles right? You'll be folding, folding and then folding some more... but the key strategy perspective for multi-table SNG players is this:
You will not always get the time to make decisions that you would like - you need a plan!
What kind of plan? OK, we will look at the various stages...
Early - Since you'll have less time to make good post-flop decisions you'd better cut any marginally profitable hands from your pre-flop range, the profit from these may well rely on hand reading, which you are not going to be in a good position to do! Suggestion is to know in advance which hands you will play from which positions.
Middle - One good aspect of multi-tabling is that it forces you to play extra-tight early, so you may well have a little fold equity by now. Again though you are looking to keep those decisions as simple as possible, a great example of this is that small pairs play better than unpaired high cards... you get immediate feedback on the flop (either hit a set or did not).
Late to Bubble - Probably going to find yourself in push / fold mode sooner when multi-tabling (again you want easy decisions). Revisit your ICM Calculator and work out the numbers for BB200 for example. Since you will have less time to accurately put opponents on ranges then err on the side of caution at first - assign 'average to loose' for opponents until you have evidence to suggest otherwise.
KEY PARTS:
1 STACK SIZE
2 POSISTION
3 CARDS
4 CHIP CONSERVATION
OPEN SHOVE VERY INPORTANT, ALSO PAIRS HAVE QUITY 4.1 AND TARGET YOUR AVERAGE STACKS NOT YOUR SMAL STACKS.
Let us begin with an important concept - it is not possible to make a decent profit playing SNGs unless you multi-table! Think about it this way, a fantastic player at the $20 level with a 20% ROI – and an average game length of 40 minutes. Single-Tabling this player can expect to make an average of $6 per hour... This is fine for the recreational player who is having fun and making a little profit along the way. But for those wanting to use SNGs to build a poker bankroll it is probably not enough.
Of course adding more tables will usually reduce the ROI for each game played – while at the same time the hourly profit will increase. The question is what is the ratio? How much does each additional table remove from your profit?
Jennifear, an online pro and regular poster on Pocket 5’s came up with a figure that makes sense - 8%, not from your overall ROI though - of your total profit figure. That is 8% of your $4 profit per game per extra table, the next table taking another 8% from your $3.86 and so on. I will list the numbers and see how it works with our experience / expectations, assuming 1 game = 40 minutes.
1 Table - $4.00 per game - 1.5 games per hour = $6
2 Tables - $3.86 per game - 3 games per hour = $11.04
3 Tables - $3.38 per game - 4.5 games per hour = $15.21
4 Tables - $3.10 per game - 6 games per hour = $18.60
5 Tables - $2.85 per game - 7.5 games per hour = $21.37
6 Tables - $2.62 per game - 9 games per hour = $23.58
It seems to work - notice that by the time we get to 6 tables the original 20% ROI has gone down to a little over 10% (ignored the rake here to keep the numbers simple). This would seem to account well for the lesser amount of reads / time to make decisions that multi-tabling involves.
Of course, there is no need to stop at 6 - while some forum posters seem to base their self-esteem on the number of tables they can play we will look at it from a profit / loss perspective only though!!
Now, 6 early game situations are far easier to deal with than 6 bubbles right? You'll be folding, folding and then folding some more... but the key strategy perspective for multi-table SNG players is this:
You will not always get the time to make decisions that you would like - you need a plan!
What kind of plan? OK, we will look at the various stages...
Early - Since you'll have less time to make good post-flop decisions you'd better cut any marginally profitable hands from your pre-flop range, the profit from these may well rely on hand reading, which you are not going to be in a good position to do! Suggestion is to know in advance which hands you will play from which positions.
Middle - One good aspect of multi-tabling is that it forces you to play extra-tight early, so you may well have a little fold equity by now. Again though you are looking to keep those decisions as simple as possible, a great example of this is that small pairs play better than unpaired high cards... you get immediate feedback on the flop (either hit a set or did not).
Late to Bubble - Probably going to find yourself in push / fold mode sooner when multi-tabling (again you want easy decisions). Revisit your ICM Calculator and work out the numbers for BB200 for example. Since you will have less time to accurately put opponents on ranges then err on the side of caution at first - assign 'average to loose' for opponents until you have evidence to suggest otherwise.
KEY PARTS:
1 STACK SIZE
2 POSISTION
3 CARDS
4 CHIP CONSERVATION
OPEN SHOVE VERY INPORTANT, ALSO PAIRS HAVE QUITY 4.1 AND TARGET YOUR AVERAGE STACKS NOT YOUR SMAL STACKS.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thankyou Rainns and all at JB'Z
Thankyou to Rainns for putting in the work at the Aussie Millions and for posting the interview with Annette_15 in particular the following sectionAnnette: What I mean by this is, its good to read a lot of books, you never can stop learning. But what is more important is to be yourself, have fun playing, that is very important, and not copy some pro player. Sooner or later your style will work for you.
As it happens I have been reading heaps of books in an attempt to improve my game but could not put a finger on the major downswing in my success, And until reading this I was lost then it occured to me, I was doing excatly what Annette says here I was imitateing the pros only one thing missing in this equation I am not them. No sooner did I return to playing my game then the success started to return.
Cheers mate this has certainly helped my game and saved me a lot of cash
Moose
As it happens I have been reading heaps of books in an attempt to improve my game but could not put a finger on the major downswing in my success, And until reading this I was lost then it occured to me, I was doing excatly what Annette says here I was imitateing the pros only one thing missing in this equation I am not them. No sooner did I return to playing my game then the success started to return.
Cheers mate this has certainly helped my game and saved me a lot of cash
Moose
Thankyou to JB'z Poker Room and especially Rainns
Just like to send a thankyou out to Rainns and this wonderful site for all your help.
This site has improved my poker skills 1000% and it all came together today with a final table in the Midnight Madness Tourney on Full Tilt Poker.
Lots of great info on here to help people with their game, great interviews with pros and amatuers alike and some great people to help you out
Thankyou all and hope to see you all on the final table real soon
Goodluck on and off the felt!
RAINNSThan you for the kind words Aussieharro. We are happy that were were able to help you improve your game. We will endeavoure to continue this, so we can improve otheres in there game as it has for you.
07:14 PM on 02/14/2009
andray
Reading Posts like this makes it all worthwhile!!
I too would like to thank Rainns as he is the genuis behind the scenes doing all this Great Work.Cheers Mate!
This site has improved my poker skills 1000% and it all came together today with a final table in the Midnight Madness Tourney on Full Tilt Poker.
Lots of great info on here to help people with their game, great interviews with pros and amatuers alike and some great people to help you out
Thankyou all and hope to see you all on the final table real soon
Goodluck on and off the felt!
RAINNSThan you for the kind words Aussieharro. We are happy that were were able to help you improve your game. We will endeavoure to continue this, so we can improve otheres in there game as it has for you.
07:14 PM on 02/14/2009
andray
Reading Posts like this makes it all worthwhile!!
I too would like to thank Rainns as he is the genuis behind the scenes doing all this Great Work.Cheers Mate!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Multi-tabling Sit n Go Tournaments - How many is too many?
How many SNG’s is too many to play at one time? First, let’s squash the notion that playing 1 SNG at a time is even feasible. If you’ve never played more than one table at a time, you might be worried about what happens to your abilities when adding additional tables. Well, first, start by adding just one more table. Playing 2 tables at a time should really have minimal or no negative impact to your play, and by playing 2 at once, you are basically doubling your $/hr even if you don’t get any better over time as a player.
Also, what you’ll find is that if you’re playing more than 1 table, you will actually concentrate more on your play than if you’re playing just one. What I find is that when I’m playing only one table, I am also watching TV, talking to my wife, chatting on some instant messenger software, and probably chatting it up on my favorite poker related forum. When I run 4 or 5 tables at a time, I actually spend much less time on those other things, and I find myself spending more quality time on the SNG’s themselves.
So, playing more than 1 at a time is obviously a good thing, but, how many tables is too many tables? Ask any player the question of how many tables at a time, and you will get probably get a different answer from each player. Everyone has their own optimum number of tables. Remember the important thing with SNG’s is volume. The more volume you have, the better your hourly rate. It’s all about your hourly rate. So, some people say 4 tables is their optimum, and others may say that 10 or 12 is their optimum. Well, how do you find your optimum? It takes time, but it can easily be found by simple trial and error.
The important thing to remember is that your ROI will probably drop as you add more tables, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your hourly rate will go down. Actually, your hourly rate should continue to go up. And once you do hit the point that your hourly rate goes down, take away one table from the number, and you have found your optimum number of tables to play at one time.
Now, before we start discussing the method for putting the above into practice, I need to spend a little time talking about how to accurately determine your ROI. I would say that a minimum of 1000 SNG’s should be played before you start to have a true understanding of what your ROI is at any game. After you’ve played 1000 $6.50 9 man SNGs, if your ROI is around 28%, you can rest assured that you have played enough games to get a good feel for how well you’re doing. Understand that we’re not as worried about your exact ROI as we are your comfort level with your play when it comes to how many table to play. We aren’t going to wait until 1000 SNGs to see how we’re doing. We’re going to take a look after just 200. While that’s nto a perfect way to determine ROI, it’s close enough.
It’s more important to determine how comfortable you are with the number of tables, and how different feels to you as a player.
What I’ve put together is a decent plan that, I feel, maximizes your games played, the time it takes, and your comfort level with any number of tables at a time. Let’s say that your game is $6.50 9 man SNG’s (since that is the example we used above). If you’ve been single tabling these SNG’s and you are sitting at about a 30% ROI, you’re doing well, but you could be doing better. To make the math simpler, we’re going to assume that it takes 1 hour to play a $6.50 9 man SNG. So, if you’re single tabling these games, and you’re maintaining a 30% ROI, then you’re making about $1.95/hr playing these.
Now, the first step is to add one more table. So, begin playing two $6.50 9 man SNG’s at one time. Now, how long do you stay 2 tabling? Well, I am going to recommend that you play a minimum of 200 games while two tabling. After 200 games, let’s take a look at your ROI. I realize there’s variance and that it could fluctuate and that 200 games isn’t enough to feel completely comfortable with the ROI, but it’s an easy number of games to play, and it will at least ensure that you’re completely comfortable playing 2 tables at one time. Like I said above, your ROI really shouldn’t change any at all moving from 1 table at a time to 2. So, let’s say that you do maintain the 30% ROI while two tabling. Well, guess what, you just doubled your hourly rate. That $1.95 has now become $3.90/hr.
All right, great, you’re now completely comfortable 2 tabling. Now what do we do? Well, we add another table, and we do it all over again. So, keep good records and run 200 SNG’s while 3 tabling. After 200 games, determine your ROI, and you’ll see that it might drop just slightly. Also, you’ll notice that after the first 50 games or so, you’ll begin to wonder why you haven’t been playing 3 at a time all along. You will be as comfortable playing 3 games at one time as you used to be playing 2 tables at a time. Let’s say your ROI dropped though to something like 25% while 3 tabling. Well, let’s do some math. Remember we’re saying that these SNG’s take 1 hour to simplify the math. So, if you’re 3 tabling at 25% ROI, your hourly rate is, $6.50*3*25% works out to about $4.88/hr.
Let’s try one more example, and let’s move up to playing 4 tables at a time. Again, play 200 SNG’s while 4 tabling and keep good records. Then, determine you ROI, and let’s say that your ROI drops to 20% while 4 tabling. Well, remember, volume is the key, and let’s see what that does to you hourly rate. $6.50*4*20% works out to about $5.20/hr.
So, what have we learned so far? Even though our ROI has gone down, the amount of money that we are making is still going up. Also, one other thing to keep in mind is that if you’re now 4 tabling, your making 4 times the FPP’s you were making while single tabling in the same amount of time. Okay, but when do we stop? Excellent question, and keep adding 1 additional table at a time and running 200 games and then determine your hourly rate. At some point, you will hit a point where your hourly rate is lower than it was at the last level. So, let’s say at 7 tabling, your hourly rate was about $6.80/hr after 200 games. Then you move up to 8 tables, and when you complete the 200 games, you find that your hourly rate has dropped to $6.30/hr. Well, you just learned that 7 tables is your optimum number of tables to play at one time.
In conclusion, let’s talk about all of the other benefits of multi-tabling. The first benefit, is that unlike moving up in buy in amounts, your bankroll required doesn’t really change all that much at all as you add additional tables. I would recommend 80 or 100 buyins in your bankroll whether you’re playing 1 at a time or 10 to 15 at a time. The other benefit of multi-tabling is how much faster you can earn player points from the sites themselves. Let’s say you earn 3 player points for each $6.50 played.
Well, when you were single tabling you were earning about 3 player points per hour, and if you get up to 7 tabling, you are now earning player points at a rate of about 21 per hour. Those player points can be used for any number of things. They can be used for buyin’s, free gifts, etc. By doing this it also increases your chances of becoming a VIP player on the sites you play. That could mean private poker freerolls (again free money). The last real benefit to multi-tabling is that it forces you to spend more of your concentration on the games you’re playing. This will also help you to become a better player and increase your skill level.
So, again, it’s not whether to multi-table or not. It’s all about how many tables is too many tables at one time. And, if you follow the plan, it should allow you to easily increase the number of tables your playing, and it will also allow you to become comfortable with the number of tables your playing. And, remember, it’s all about making more money. Good luck at the tables, and I hope to see some of you 8 to 10 tabling $27 SNG’s some day with a nice ROI for a pretty hefty hourly rate.
Also, what you’ll find is that if you’re playing more than 1 table, you will actually concentrate more on your play than if you’re playing just one. What I find is that when I’m playing only one table, I am also watching TV, talking to my wife, chatting on some instant messenger software, and probably chatting it up on my favorite poker related forum. When I run 4 or 5 tables at a time, I actually spend much less time on those other things, and I find myself spending more quality time on the SNG’s themselves.
So, playing more than 1 at a time is obviously a good thing, but, how many tables is too many tables? Ask any player the question of how many tables at a time, and you will get probably get a different answer from each player. Everyone has their own optimum number of tables. Remember the important thing with SNG’s is volume. The more volume you have, the better your hourly rate. It’s all about your hourly rate. So, some people say 4 tables is their optimum, and others may say that 10 or 12 is their optimum. Well, how do you find your optimum? It takes time, but it can easily be found by simple trial and error.
The important thing to remember is that your ROI will probably drop as you add more tables, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that your hourly rate will go down. Actually, your hourly rate should continue to go up. And once you do hit the point that your hourly rate goes down, take away one table from the number, and you have found your optimum number of tables to play at one time.
Now, before we start discussing the method for putting the above into practice, I need to spend a little time talking about how to accurately determine your ROI. I would say that a minimum of 1000 SNG’s should be played before you start to have a true understanding of what your ROI is at any game. After you’ve played 1000 $6.50 9 man SNGs, if your ROI is around 28%, you can rest assured that you have played enough games to get a good feel for how well you’re doing. Understand that we’re not as worried about your exact ROI as we are your comfort level with your play when it comes to how many table to play. We aren’t going to wait until 1000 SNGs to see how we’re doing. We’re going to take a look after just 200. While that’s nto a perfect way to determine ROI, it’s close enough.
It’s more important to determine how comfortable you are with the number of tables, and how different feels to you as a player.
What I’ve put together is a decent plan that, I feel, maximizes your games played, the time it takes, and your comfort level with any number of tables at a time. Let’s say that your game is $6.50 9 man SNG’s (since that is the example we used above). If you’ve been single tabling these SNG’s and you are sitting at about a 30% ROI, you’re doing well, but you could be doing better. To make the math simpler, we’re going to assume that it takes 1 hour to play a $6.50 9 man SNG. So, if you’re single tabling these games, and you’re maintaining a 30% ROI, then you’re making about $1.95/hr playing these.
Now, the first step is to add one more table. So, begin playing two $6.50 9 man SNG’s at one time. Now, how long do you stay 2 tabling? Well, I am going to recommend that you play a minimum of 200 games while two tabling. After 200 games, let’s take a look at your ROI. I realize there’s variance and that it could fluctuate and that 200 games isn’t enough to feel completely comfortable with the ROI, but it’s an easy number of games to play, and it will at least ensure that you’re completely comfortable playing 2 tables at one time. Like I said above, your ROI really shouldn’t change any at all moving from 1 table at a time to 2. So, let’s say that you do maintain the 30% ROI while two tabling. Well, guess what, you just doubled your hourly rate. That $1.95 has now become $3.90/hr.
All right, great, you’re now completely comfortable 2 tabling. Now what do we do? Well, we add another table, and we do it all over again. So, keep good records and run 200 SNG’s while 3 tabling. After 200 games, determine your ROI, and you’ll see that it might drop just slightly. Also, you’ll notice that after the first 50 games or so, you’ll begin to wonder why you haven’t been playing 3 at a time all along. You will be as comfortable playing 3 games at one time as you used to be playing 2 tables at a time. Let’s say your ROI dropped though to something like 25% while 3 tabling. Well, let’s do some math. Remember we’re saying that these SNG’s take 1 hour to simplify the math. So, if you’re 3 tabling at 25% ROI, your hourly rate is, $6.50*3*25% works out to about $4.88/hr.
Let’s try one more example, and let’s move up to playing 4 tables at a time. Again, play 200 SNG’s while 4 tabling and keep good records. Then, determine you ROI, and let’s say that your ROI drops to 20% while 4 tabling. Well, remember, volume is the key, and let’s see what that does to you hourly rate. $6.50*4*20% works out to about $5.20/hr.
So, what have we learned so far? Even though our ROI has gone down, the amount of money that we are making is still going up. Also, one other thing to keep in mind is that if you’re now 4 tabling, your making 4 times the FPP’s you were making while single tabling in the same amount of time. Okay, but when do we stop? Excellent question, and keep adding 1 additional table at a time and running 200 games and then determine your hourly rate. At some point, you will hit a point where your hourly rate is lower than it was at the last level. So, let’s say at 7 tabling, your hourly rate was about $6.80/hr after 200 games. Then you move up to 8 tables, and when you complete the 200 games, you find that your hourly rate has dropped to $6.30/hr. Well, you just learned that 7 tables is your optimum number of tables to play at one time.
In conclusion, let’s talk about all of the other benefits of multi-tabling. The first benefit, is that unlike moving up in buy in amounts, your bankroll required doesn’t really change all that much at all as you add additional tables. I would recommend 80 or 100 buyins in your bankroll whether you’re playing 1 at a time or 10 to 15 at a time. The other benefit of multi-tabling is how much faster you can earn player points from the sites themselves. Let’s say you earn 3 player points for each $6.50 played.
Well, when you were single tabling you were earning about 3 player points per hour, and if you get up to 7 tabling, you are now earning player points at a rate of about 21 per hour. Those player points can be used for any number of things. They can be used for buyin’s, free gifts, etc. By doing this it also increases your chances of becoming a VIP player on the sites you play. That could mean private poker freerolls (again free money). The last real benefit to multi-tabling is that it forces you to spend more of your concentration on the games you’re playing. This will also help you to become a better player and increase your skill level.
So, again, it’s not whether to multi-table or not. It’s all about how many tables is too many tables at one time. And, if you follow the plan, it should allow you to easily increase the number of tables your playing, and it will also allow you to become comfortable with the number of tables your playing. And, remember, it’s all about making more money. Good luck at the tables, and I hope to see some of you 8 to 10 tabling $27 SNG’s some day with a nice ROI for a pretty hefty hourly rate.
Friday, June 12, 2009
SMALL SUITED CONNECTORS
This article is in a series of articles that will look at various starting hands you can get in hold’em and what to do with them. It will focus mainly on preflop play, and will cover a normal 9 handed No limit game were you have an average chip size and a reasonable read on other players. While these articles do focus on no limit play, the principles can be applied to limit and pot limit games.
Before we discuss the strategies for playing suited connectors, this article will discuss what suited connectors are. Suited connectors are basically any 2 cards that are suited and are close enough to each other that they can form a straight on the flop. So for example 7, 8 of clubs is a suited connector because it can form a flush and can form a straight on the flop. A hand like K, 3 of hearts is not considered a suited connector because although it is suited, the cards together do not help form a straight together.
This article will discuss the strategies with playing suited connectors but first will describe what suited connectors are best to play. The suited connectors that should be played are the ones with no or 1 gap in them. For example 7, 8 has no gaps in it and should be played, 6, 8 has a gap in and can also be played. Even 2 gapers such 8, J can be played but 3 gapers should be avoided. They should be avoided because a 3 gaper such as 7, J can get you into real trouble when a flop such as 8, 9, 10 flops. You will like that flop as you have a straight but you will be losing to J, Q. For that reason I recommend you stick to playing no and 1 gapers. The other advantage of playing the connectors with less gaps in them is that they have more combinations and hence ways of making a straight on the flop. This means you are more likely to hit a straight and so their value increases over other cards.
You should aim to play middle or high suited connectors. So for example hands such as 2, 3 and 4, 5 should be played less aggressively then hands such as 7, 8 and 10, J.
the best suited connectors are probably the middle ones because they have more combinations of straights to hit but also have more of a surprise value.
We will look at what you should do with these hands in the following 3 positions early, which is 1st or 2nd person to act, late position on the button or 1 off it, or in middle position.
Early Position:
To play suited connectors well you need other players already in the pot to give you better odds at drawing to your straight or flush. Therefore from an early position I will usually fold the suited connectors unless I am very confident people will limp behind me. I would never raise with them here as they are a drawing hand and are a horrible hand to play heads up.
Middle Position:
If there are 1 or more raises in front of me I will generally fold these cards unless a few people have called the raise and I am confident of a reraise not coming from behind. If I do flat call here I hope to hit on the flop otherwise I will fold unless I have a really good draw like a flush and straight draw. If people have limped in front of me I will generally just limp with them. If no one has entered the pot I might limp in here if I am confident of others limping behind me otherwise I will fold. I would not raise here as once again getting heads up suited connectors is a weak play.
Late Position:
This position plays the same as the middle position except I would never limp from this position if no one had already entered the pot. If I wanted to play I would raise to put pressure on the blinds and to make them think I had a big hand. If I did not want to raise I would just fold.
Than You. May the flop be with you.
Before we discuss the strategies for playing suited connectors, this article will discuss what suited connectors are. Suited connectors are basically any 2 cards that are suited and are close enough to each other that they can form a straight on the flop. So for example 7, 8 of clubs is a suited connector because it can form a flush and can form a straight on the flop. A hand like K, 3 of hearts is not considered a suited connector because although it is suited, the cards together do not help form a straight together.
This article will discuss the strategies with playing suited connectors but first will describe what suited connectors are best to play. The suited connectors that should be played are the ones with no or 1 gap in them. For example 7, 8 has no gaps in it and should be played, 6, 8 has a gap in and can also be played. Even 2 gapers such 8, J can be played but 3 gapers should be avoided. They should be avoided because a 3 gaper such as 7, J can get you into real trouble when a flop such as 8, 9, 10 flops. You will like that flop as you have a straight but you will be losing to J, Q. For that reason I recommend you stick to playing no and 1 gapers. The other advantage of playing the connectors with less gaps in them is that they have more combinations and hence ways of making a straight on the flop. This means you are more likely to hit a straight and so their value increases over other cards.
You should aim to play middle or high suited connectors. So for example hands such as 2, 3 and 4, 5 should be played less aggressively then hands such as 7, 8 and 10, J.
the best suited connectors are probably the middle ones because they have more combinations of straights to hit but also have more of a surprise value.
We will look at what you should do with these hands in the following 3 positions early, which is 1st or 2nd person to act, late position on the button or 1 off it, or in middle position.
Early Position:
To play suited connectors well you need other players already in the pot to give you better odds at drawing to your straight or flush. Therefore from an early position I will usually fold the suited connectors unless I am very confident people will limp behind me. I would never raise with them here as they are a drawing hand and are a horrible hand to play heads up.
Middle Position:
If there are 1 or more raises in front of me I will generally fold these cards unless a few people have called the raise and I am confident of a reraise not coming from behind. If I do flat call here I hope to hit on the flop otherwise I will fold unless I have a really good draw like a flush and straight draw. If people have limped in front of me I will generally just limp with them. If no one has entered the pot I might limp in here if I am confident of others limping behind me otherwise I will fold. I would not raise here as once again getting heads up suited connectors is a weak play.
Late Position:
This position plays the same as the middle position except I would never limp from this position if no one had already entered the pot. If I wanted to play I would raise to put pressure on the blinds and to make them think I had a big hand. If I did not want to raise I would just fold.
Than You. May the flop be with you.
Annette Obrestad Interview.
Already an online legend and former world number one ranked player as annette_15, this 20 year old broke almost every record when she won the 2007 WSOP Europe man event in London ( on the day before her 19th birthday), and the $1 million first prize - the biggest cash for a female in any game or sport. She showed that result was no fluke with a second-place finish in the EPT Dublin main event for $297,800.
Rainns : Welcome to Melbourne Australia.
Annette: Thankyou, its nice to be back.
Rainns: How are you going in the main event ?.
Annette : I'm just sitting above average, on day 3.
Rainns : How did the nick name of "anneta 15" come about ?.
Annette : The reason why people started calling me "aneeta_15" is because I started playing poker at 15 yrs old.
Rainns: So when you won the WSOP, how old were you then?.
Annette : I was 19 yrs old.
Rainns: Did you ever feel like the underdog, considering no one knew you especially on the final table?
Annette:It does not matter who your up againts. In time your style of play will work for you.
Annette:It does not matter who your up againts. In time your style of play will work for you.
Rainns : There probably were a few players thinking that, Can you ellaborate more on this?.
Annette: What I mean by this is, its good to read a lot of books, you never can stop learning. But what is more important is to be yourself, have fun playing, that is very important, and not copy some pro player.
Rainns : Do you think a lot of players when they start out try and copy some pro player, say like Gus Hansen etc?.
Annette : OH yes. That was until Gus said you need to find your own style. Once you find your own style you should never change it.
Rainns: Well it worked, you won the world series. !! Well thank you for taking time out to speak with me.Much appreciated. All the very best in the Main Event.Annette : Thank you. I hope I can take it out. lol.
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