BigMagic

I would bet about 33% and find out where I'm at. If he calls I more fearful than if he raises. Grinder is an aggressive player but if he flopped a set he is going to value town on the river. If the river is a blank I would check call again trying to look like I wanted a cheap showdown. Grinder is going to fire with most of his range, we know he doesn't have AA -AK or he would have raised preflop to keep the blinds out. So he could have AT-A2, KQ-K2 Qx or a small pair. If he flopped a set and is slowplaying He is going to try to make a bet you can call since the line you took will make it look

Daniel my family shared a prayer for your mother, we hope she gets well soon. Its about time the USA had universal health care. I went through the same thing with my own mother who is now 84. She is still living in her own house taking care of herself. I hope and pray that your wonderful mother does the same. Best wishes Mama-granu Get well soon!

Not much you can do, you got your money in good its just another bad beat story. Now that I've heard yours you wanna here how my Aces got cracked by 9,4 off in a cash game when he whiffed the flop and I shipped it? I didn't think so, shake it off like dust and keep on keeping on, the same guys that do that pay ya off big in the long run.(thats why I like cash games) It sucks, kick, scream and sign him up for the Donkey brigade but really "thats poker". Now please send $5 to my pstars account for being so understanding and listening to your bad beat story.LOL

In a freeroll avoid the early maniacs who shove any two early. Once the blinds reach around 75/150 you can begin to play suited connectors and speculative hands from position. Use a HUD if you have one to identify the high V$PIP players and expect those who played like maniacs and built stacks to continue to play bad. Very often they will have the chip lead and finish no where near the money. Don't call and allin postflop with less than two pair against any but the true maniacs. Bide your time and those guys who got all those chips early will spew them like mad trying to bully the table. It ta

I was a member of the first incarnation of FCP(prior to the online poker skin version). I have always read thru all the incarnations I just wasn't active in the forums. I do think one should gain some experience in a lot of situations before repeating silly questions or dispensing what may be flawed strategy or advice. I am now a winning player so I feel a little more qualified to post. Daniel sent my son an autographed photo years ago after I emailed him and told him he was my son's favorite player. When the site changed the first time I kind of thought it was a disaster and I didn't check in

Daniel I just got to watch(DVR) the WSOPE after the Super Bowl. You ran really really good! You played 5,3 clubs against AK flopped a boat and you were still lucky enough to have a king hit so you got paid off big. The one thing I don't get is the guy with AK is a huge fan of yours, why did he jam it with one pair when he had to know that flop hit your range hard? Here's a belated congratulations well done! (I am now standing and doing the wave)Good luck in 09!Now did you tip the dealers that dealt ya those mini monster hands?

I got my own answer from pstars. Here it is.Hello Ron, Thank you for writing us. The answer is that just as in a brick-and-mortar casino with a real deck of cards, our "deck" is randomized and then dealt. Once randomized, the order of this "virtual stub" is never changed throughout the deal. The cards that come out on any given round are totally independent of any player action. The use of a burn card in brick and mortar casinos is to prevent illicit actions on the part of the dealer, and/or to prevent the use of a "marked deck". If a marked deck is in use in a card room, a burn card ensu

Can you verify this? It would ease my mind. I ask for and received their explanation of the RNG and I find it confusing. Enlighten please?

Just wanted to comment on online poker being rigged. I don't believe it is, but I don't like the way pstars RNG works. It reshuffles by mouseclicks and the card can change based on who calls(mouse clicks) etc. Meaning that two outer on the river might not have come had you bet differently or clicked options. Doesn't make sense to me to not have the deck be shuffled once and cards burnt and dealt like live poker.

I suggest you pay for POKERVT, you'll learn the strategy and why its so effective. There is no two paragraph answer to small ball, you try to avoid being allin and play hands that turn into big hands like suited connectors. If you encounter resistance get out, weakness take it down you have to have position to be effective. The donkament tourneys on stars everyone limps and calls any small raise so its more effective in a bigger buyin tournament. You can play some smallball once the DONKEYs have either been knocked out or aquired huge stacks. Pay the money for Poker VT, learn from someone who

Don't see anything in this post about POSITION! Suited connectors OOP is a dangerous gamble. You can flop the nutz the board can pair and your out. I would play them in late position only unless the table is passive.

Gotta agree with ya Joe, I have done well at those levels but they still make a lot of mistakes that Daniel doesn't make. There are players there that can play with him but the level as a whole is soft.

Daniel kicked some serious arse his first session of .2/.5, he tripled his starting stack going from $5 to around $14 give or take a few cents. I thought the table was soft except for one guy. I was really impressed with his reraise allin with A,3 on a board full of overcards. Very impressive Daniel! Daniel commented he thought the table was tough, I didn't think so since he mostly got away with min raising, on the hand that he made two pair (A,3) I thought sure he had 4,5 the board was something like 23KAJ maybe the the river was lower but the cutoff played very aggressive on the river,

Isn't 5bb per 100 hands a bit low? I think something in the range of 7-8 BB per 100 hands is fairly common. In my own experience I average just a little over 7 in the last 20k or so hands in my new database. I have had short term spikes above that but I haven't been below that in a while. I am asking, not bragging, I really would like to know the numbers for most successful micro players. I must also add that my success has been multi-tabling I never did have much of a winrate at single table play(I think I get impatient. What do you thing the $VPIP preflop raise % and aggression factor should

You are so right, I took a beating tonight not all from playing 25NL, I multitabled some low priced SnGs($6.60) and had aces cracked multiple times. I was taking a shot to raise some extra money for a trip to DC(I have two tickets waiting for the inaugural ceremony). Oh well back to .1/.2!

I would skip Vegas for a while and multitable online for a while. You can make more online unless your terrible and Vegas can wait. If you absolutely must go, mix live play with a lot of online play. IMHO playing online is the best way to be a pro today. You can play a couple of hours and get as many hands in as you would in a week of live play. Good Luck!

Dude, are you kidding me? This is a joke right? That's the dream table for me. You can open up your game so much on a table like that.

I mostly play cash games but I do understand SnG strategy here are my thoughts: I don't think in a SnG I'm folding AQ unless I have a good read on the PF raiser. You kind of have a reverse position edge in the SB in that you can bluff first and still have a hand with showdown value. I might even reraise to isolate the initial raiser since a lot of SnG players blind steal with any ace. You should be taking some notes on players that you see and monitor what hands they are showing down. Generally a button raise is not as strong, but you can't count on that 100%. If your running Pokertracker or P

Ok, my bankroll doubled tonight! I wish I could say it was because of my skill but I got very lucky. I was treading water up and down at .1/.2 so I said what he heck and bought in the 25NL game(my favorite level so far). On the first rotation I picked up sevens hit a set against Qs and doubled up. Bankroll now at $51 dollars. I know I could have lost it all. But it seems there are fewer donkeys at 25NL. Good Luck All! (except against me)P.S. What level should I play now?

You skipping the donkey levels that Daniel is wading through. I actually think .50/$1 is much different and perhaps easier to maintain a winrate(fewer Donkeys). That said I will be watching with interest your results with just 200 BBs seems like 500 would allow you to play a little less cautious. Keep us posted as to your Preflop raise,VPIP and AF you have success with. I have played at that level but only a few times.(successfully I might add). Good luck! I await your results with interest.

I agree with the more buyins theory. Thats why I buyin short(50bb) the swings don't dent the bankroll as much. The better I play and the better read I have the easier it is. You have to keep playing sometimes even when your down a few buyins in a session. The same guys who cracked your AA or KK will give it back many times over if they stay at a table. I don't stay at a table unless I think I can outplay two or more players. Sitting at a table with a bunch of regulars gets ya nowhere. You can still win but the winrate goes down.

My $3 dollar initial investment is now up to $33.54 after a little over a week. I did play a .25 SnG(90 players) and finished 5th for 1.54 otherwise its all been .1/.2 NL . I have found play to be slightly weaker in the a.m., my strategy is kind of simple and is a slow grind method. I only buy in for $1 and as soon as I double I change tables. My swings are mostly caused by calling down LAGS who sometimes get lucky. If a table is juicy I up my buyin to $5 often after I lost the first dollar just calling someone down to see what kind of hands they reraise with etc. It can be a worthwhile invest

Daniel, I have built a few micro limit BRs before blowing them in tournaments or cashing out. Currently I started with $3 one week ago. I have been up and down like a yo you but have managed to get it to $27 in a week. I of course have dozens of bad beat stories I won't bother you with or the sic call down I made with A high for five bucks. I think identifying the way someone plays is even more important at the micro limits. Some will raise any two on the button, some will fold a pair to a river bet while others will call down with an under pair. I usually am willing to drop a couple of bucks

Daniel I wholeheartedly agree with your position on the Bush administration. I am on record prior to the war in Iraq on a number of forums debating the "Weapons of Mass Destruction" claims. It was pretty clear then and its pretty clear now that this administration is a propaganda machine. Since when does a country who prides itself on freedom hold men prisoner without legal representation or charges being filed? Every move the man has made since he has been in office has been to fulfill promises made to his contributors. The whole "stop the flow of prescription medicine" from Canada is just o

Daniel, Fox aired the final four at the from the Plaza tourney last night . What a great read you made calling A9 as Freddie's hand! How in the world did you do it and what whas your thought process? This tournament has been the best filmed and interesting I've ever seen on TV. Your hand reading skills are fantastic! Please enlighten the rest of us on how you do it! Thanks