Best Poker Deals

Pokerstars Update

2008-05-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

Although in a previous blog, I mentioned that I did not like pokerstars all that much, I have been playing on that poker site quite a lot recently and have been enjoying it and have also been making a positive return on investment, which is always something you should strive towards as a self respecting poker player.

I think a lot of choosing a site is not about choosing your favourite site overall and playing there, but finding which site you best like to play S+G's on, which site is best for tourneys, freerolls, etc and playing on that site for that particular type of game (eg. $1.75, 18 player Turbos on Pokerstars)

Anyway, I noticed their battle of the planets, which seemed quite interesting, whereby you get points for finishing in the money of S+Gs and after you have finished 20 S+Gs your points are totalled up and if you are high enough you reach the leaderboard and the top 100 get money in their account and the top 10 get to play in a tournement to get even more money.

At the moment, ive got 137 points after 8 tournaments, and last week, 100th place on the leaderboard had 429 points, so I guess I have a marginal chance of making the leaderboard over the next 12 S+Gs if I can just stop bubbling! Will let you know if i ever make the Leaderboard.

One last thing, check out www.pokerweblogs.com as it is an excellent site if you are into blogs as it lists hundreds and hundreds of them (and you can also list your blog there)

May 2008 Pokerplayer Magazine Freerolls

2008-05-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

Pokerplayer magazine is one of my favourite magazines mainly because it has good analysis and some good exclusive freeroll offers, although if you are not from the UK, sorry to dissapoint as it is only open to UK residents.

Case in point, the May 2008 edition has the following exclusive freerolls:

WSOP Main event: Pokerstars, June 5th, 1st place =\$12,500 WSOP package 2nd-9th = $215 Pokerstars Tourney Ticket.

Virgin Poker Festival Freeroll Qualifier: Virgin Poker, May 26th 8pm, 1st-10th = seat in the Virgin festival of poker main event. 11th-20th=Euro16.50 satellite ticket.

The freerolls general tend to have around 750 entrants, and there is a fair amount of deadwood, partly because you can often sign up well in advance of the starting date. The virgin poker one definately looks generous and i am a bit peeved off that i will be away that bankholiday and probably will not get home in time to play, as I have wanted to qualify for the Virgin Poker Festival for ages.

These tourneys both require passwords, and unfortunately Im not giving the password out because I dont beleive that it's fair on the magazine, but if you want to know the passwords, they are available in the magazine.

More on playing on tilt:

2008-05-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

So, last time I mentioned I would take a break from online play to let my tilt pass. In the meantine I would play live poker at a home game that I sometimes go to. So, what happens tilt turns to a run of bad luck

Ok, I know that luck comes in many different forms in poker ie: getting good cards/getting good flops/getting bad cards that are slightly better than your opponents, but this genuinely is a case of bad luck.

So the table is playing very loose aggressive: We've been playing for half an hour and im down to about 1300 hundred chips (we start on 2500) Blinds are 100/200. I havent been playing particularly well: I've been weak against a couple of raises when Ive had pot odds and overcards, but Im also getting a read on betting patterns and hand ranges: As I said, people are playing loose - raising by large amounts pre flop with Ace/middle kicker and more than a few people are making large bets on the flop with hands like middle pair.

Anyway. Ive got 1250 chips: Im under the gun and I get dealt 10-10. I can fold, call, make a small/medium raise or make a push and go all in. Although there are only 6 players left and 3 make the money, I calculate that as Im the shortstack, folding probably wont get me to a place - rather, with the blind structure and my chipstack this is where I need to be doubling up if i am to have a chance. All in is likely to chase people away and i dont want to be called by someone with a premium hand or higher pocket pairs. If i make a raise, I dont have much chance of taking people off the pot on the turn, and if i elect to call Im only still in the hand if I hit my 10 or there are no overcards.

I elect to call. Someone who had been quite loose, but could obviously play a bit raises me to 800. I decide to move all in even though he is probably not going to fold. He calls and turns over A-6. Im in better shape than I expected. He hits his Ace on the river and Im out. He tells me that I should have pushed and then he wouldnot have called me. My estimation of his ability goes down slightly. I tell him that I wasnt just trying to take the blinds and that I was over 2:1 in front pre flop.

I observe the table for the rest of the game and there is some seriously loose play. With a more generous blind structure I would really relish that, but with 10 minute blinds, you are not even getting a round of action before blinds go up.

Anyway, second game, and its the third round already and Im in the small blind for the second time. Blinds are 100/200 I get dealt K-K and I thank my lucky stars as this is near perfect position to get them. Under the gun limps, as does the person to his left and everyone folds round to me. I raise to 800. BB and under-the-gun fold. Position number 2 re-raises me to 1600 (see what I mean about loose-aggressive play). I only have 600 so its quite doubtful I can make him fold. I try to imply that I have kings saying to him that I hope for yoursake you have aces. It doesnt work and he calls. I turn over my Kings and before he can turn his cards, the dealer deals the flop and deals me a king. I have three Kings and my opponent turns over A-7 hearts. Why would he re-raise me with that? did he think I was stealing the pot with rags?? Anyway, the flop, K, 8, 4 also comes down with 2 hearts. The turn is a non-heart queen and the river is the 9 of hearts which is kind of ironic since I was more of a favourite to improve to a Full House (10 outs) than he was to improve to a flush(7 outs - I had the King of hearts). He went to shake my hand, I did, but told him to play better next time and went back to Mill Hill thinking that considering I would have had over 5000 chips out of a total of 2500 with 9 players remaining, that I had been more than a little unfortunate.

I admit it, I'm on tilt.....

2008-05-01T16:06:00.000-07:00

Ok, I admit it, im on tilt.... actually, if you check my sharkscope stats, Im on 'super tilt'. Ive lost about $50 in the past 3 days, which is quite a lot for me. Im telling you because its good to get these things out in the open and be honest, right?

My name is Solly and im on tilt.

So like anyone on tilt Ive had my bad beat stories: My All in K-K pre flop being busted by A-Q for instance, and quite a lot of going out on the bubble (at least 3 times) Ive played about 10 S&Gs ($2-$10) to get in this situation. Mainly its just been that Ive been playing in a bad mood. Its a bit disappointing because it makes you question your basic game, but I think if I look at the amount of times I bubbled, then if i was a little more cautious then things probably wont be looking that bad. Anyway, one of the things to watch out for when on tilt is playing. Tilt makes you want to play. Tilt makes you want to gamble. Tilt makes you want to place strong bets on the river with nothing. Tilt makes you want to catch that fish that just doubled up when he called all in with A-8 (who has also lost $2000 over 1000 games). Tilt makes you want to say screw you to your bankroll. Tilt wants to make you play higher levels or waste those higher level qualifier tickets you were saving until you were 'in the zone'. Tilt makes you want to play all day. When you are on tilt, you just want to play. The best thing to do is walk away, not play until you are no longer on tilt, but how many of us have the strength of mind to do that when they first start to tilt? Ive managed to avoid playing today which is good I guess.

Tommorrow Im playing at a home game that I havent played at for a while. I know: its kind of breaking my no play while on tilt rule, but its live poker, and although my name is Solly and I'm on tilt, its a live game, so it does not count, and besides, you've got to start playing again sometime, right?

VC Poker - $35 giveaway

2008-04-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

Noticed this deal at VC poker. If you sign up using the bonus code 'FreeMoney' they will deposit $10 into your account. If you generate 1500 action points they will deposit another $25, and it seems like you dont need to deposit any money whatsoever. Will check it out myself when i have the time..............

More Freerolls - Full Tilt & Party Poker

2008-04-22T07:02:00.000-07:00

Ixgames.com are holding regular freerolls for anyone who registers for their forums. On the 25th April, there is a $250 PartyPoker freeroll and on the 26th a $250 Full Tilt freeroll. They also have other freerolls for other sites. Passwords are located here http://forum.ixgames.com/poker-freerolls/

Full Tilt Freeroll Password

2008-04-22T03:49:00.000-07:00

Just noticed a freeroll on Full Tilt in the private section. Its freeroll #46593852 running on April 22nd(today). Its being organised by bluecollarpoker.com. If you register at their site, which is free, they will give you the password (Sorry not allowed to give it out here.)

If you missed the one on the 22nd, dont worry, it says on their site they are running freerolls everyday starting from 1st May. I signed up for the freeroll - not sure i'll be in when its on, but if i am will update. The prize pool isnt that massive ($25) but its free money, so worth checking out! Heres the link again.

Loose Cannons update

2008-04-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

I mentioned earlier that I would be playing at Jim's game at Loose Cannons last Friday night. Apologies for not updating earlier..... Well..... it didnt go the best but at least I learnt an (expensive) lesson in return - always good when it costs you over £20 if you incude travel.

So there I was in the big blind with J-4 a few hands in. The person to my right is already being a bit of a pain - commentating on every pot that he's in - (lets call him poker chav due to hoodie and cap). It gets raised to me 1x the big blind with a few people in the pot, so figure I might as well call. Anyways, flop: J,10,6, rainbrow and decide not to bet as its quite likely someone has a jack and if so they have a higher kicker. Everyone checks. Turn brings a 6. SB checks, I take quite a long time to deliberate and bet 150 into a pot of 400. Everyone folds except the button with his earphones on and stares straight at me like theres no tommorrow. Im quite glad about this as it gives me a read and I put him on nothing, though I figure he's likely to try to take me off the pot after the river. Turn comes, and I cant remember what it is - it might even be a queen. I send some more time deliberating - do I need to put a blocking bet in, will it take down the pot, will he raise me etc etc all the time looking away from him while he is staring straight at me. Anyway, suddenly he says "let me make it easier for you so we can get on with the game - this aint the world series, its a £15 buy in - I fold. I had 2,3"

Next up my stupidest play in a long time: four of us in the pot, poker chav to my right who is really being getting on my nerves with his commentating, again i'm in the BB. Ive got 4-3, and no one bets the flop - flop comes down 5 - 7 - 9 and a 7 on the turn. SB bets 150 into the pot of 600. I think for a bit and decide to raise to 500. Everyone else folds, poker chav calls. River comes down a 6 and poker chav bets 650. I figure im beat but call anyway with a low straight - we've all done it, but i'll be doing a lot less in the future. Anyway, he shows 5-8 and I loose half my chipstack. Things get worse and worse from then on. Steal a couple of blinds, but keep on bleeding chips. Just as I decide to go all in as the blinds reach me with my last 700 chips, I get moved to another table. Anyway, the table captain some smiley guy in a sharp suit and posh accent has a long rolled up cigarette sticking out his ear (I dont mean on his ear like a pencil - I mean actually in his ear, sticking out from his head at a 90 degree angle) with tobacco dropping off it. Im in 2nd position and get dealt Q-7. I push straight in and everyone folds round to the table captain which i think is strange as ive only stuck in just over 1 x BB, and the table captain announces, "I call, I've got snowmen" - which turns out to be 8-8. I don't hit, people look a bit bewildered that i came to sit down for just one hand, and Im on the next train home to Mill Hill thinking that just about sums up my night.

So what expensive lesson did I learn for my troubles? Mainly to play much tighter and not to get involved in stupid pots trying to make a play with 4-3, as especially in live play with shallow structure as its going to decimate your pot! Until the next time!

Bluesquare Poker Freerolls

2008-04-11T07:37:00.000-07:00

Bluesquare is a site I play at quite a lot due to all the microstakes games I play (see an article that I will be posting about how I am rebuilding by bankroll after letting it all fritter away....)

Anyways, the other reason I play there is because of their freerolls to the GUKPT (the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour). Also at the moment they are also hosting freeroll qualifiers to the JP Poker Irish Masters (Euros 1000 + 150 buyin)

They run three freeroll qualifiers a day for each event. (5pm, 8pm, 9.15pm for the GUKPT and 10.30am - ideal for early risers, 3pm and 8pm - so you can play the GUKPT and Irish Masters at the same time.) Generally speaking you can expect 200-350 runners and 5-10 qualifier places . Its not necessarily the easiest to get a place, and you will need a bit of luck but I have managed it more than a few times.

The Irish Masters freeroll has 5 tickets each for the $5+50 super satellite. Winners of that qualify for a $50+5 grand final and winners of that qualify for the Irish Masters. Phew.

The GUKPT freeroll gives away tickets for the GUKPT feeders (different freerolls give tickets for different feeders). At the feeders, you can win a ticket for the super-satelitte and from there a ticket to the Main Event itself.

Now this might all seem a bit long winded, but I have noticed a few things about qualifying: 1) Qualifying from the GUKPT super-satellite to the main event is not in-itself something beyond most players if they are cautious and have a bit of luck - around 10% of the field qualify. 2) Freerolls aside, the feeder tournaments are very good value. For instance there is a $3.30 rebuy feeder most days, and that is usually comprised of the 10 people who qualified from the freeroll and two or three others at most. Considering I have often found some of the freeroll qualifiers do not turn up (especially later at night), you are basically paying $3.30 for a 1 in 12 chance at qualifying for a $109 satellite event, which is excellent value in anyone's book. Also, one tip I have noticed: All the feeders are rebuys, but most of the freeroll qualifiers are very reluctant to rebuy, so there is a definate edge for anyone who is willing to rebuy once or twice.

Check Bluesquare out and if possible let me know what you think/how you are getting on as I would love someone to post the first comment on this blog!

London Poker Meetup, Loose Cannons

2008-04-10T16:09:00.000-07:00

Gonna be playing at Jim's Game as part of LPM at Loose Cannons tommorrow night. Will let you know how I get on and any comments I have about these types of live poker games..........

London Poker Meetup (recommended for London Poker Players)

2008-04-08T05:01:00.000-07:00

Joined Pokerstars today, and a little bit dissapointed with the range of games, and not entirely sure that I like the playability in comparison to most other sites I play on.

I joined mainly because a) I had heard of their 180 seat S&G's which I fancied, and b) because I noticed that they had a planets leaderboard, whereby you take a chunk of 20 of your S&G's and you get points.

Anyways, I figured if I could place in the top 2 in just over about half, that I had a shot at making the leaderboard. So I logged on, and in terms of sit and go's they have a $1+$.20 and then its just turbo tournaments all the way to their $5 S&Gs which dissapointed me a fair bit as I was expecting a bigger range of low stakes tournaments, and also for there to be a lot more fish! - was playin a $1+.$20 9 player S&G and after 35 minutes, there were 8 players all with medium and my all in on the turn trip aces got rivered.

Im even thinking of cashing out as Im not sure I like the structures.

Logged into Poker rooms tho which I now reserve for when Im playing bigger S&Gs ie $5 and $10 (see article) and played a couple of qualifiers, and bad mood resulted in bad results - surprisingly

32Red Poker $19,000 30 Day Festival of Poker

2008-04-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

Just found out about this excellent sounding giveaway.

The folks at 32Red Poker (the sponsors of Aston Villa) are holding a $19,000 30 day festival during this current April.

I signed up for it myself. I havent played in the first freeroll as it hasnt happened yet, but it seems completely free which is amazing in itself as its got seriously generous payouts and pretty generous payout structures - particularly check out the Redback Freeroll giveaways among others:

Monday 7th April 16,500 Redback Giveaway Freeroll
Top 32 players receive 500 Redbacks ($5)

Monday 14th April 33,000 Redback Giveaway Freeroll
Top 32 players receive 1000 Redbacks ($10)

Monday 21st April 49,000 Redback Giveaway Freeroll
Top 32 players receive 1500 Redbacks ($15)

Monday 28th April 66,000 Redback Giveaway Freeroll
Top 32 players receive 2000 Redbacks ($20)

Redbacks are 32Red's player points and 100 Redbacks are equivalent to $1 buyin, so 2000 = ($20). Click here if you would like to check it out.

Pokerroom WSOP Freeroll

2008-04-03T03:43:00.000-07:00

Pokerroom are currently hosting their WSOP freeroll with two WSOP tickets up for grabs and 500 cash prizes in total, and reckon its not too difficult to make it to the top 500 with a little bit of that all important freeroll patience.

Its got three rounds - Level 1, Level 2a and Level 2b. Last night I qualified from level 1 along with 250 other poker players, and with an entry field of only 1137 people I didnt have to much more than double up, which always makes things easy. Bring on Level 2a!

Pokerroom

Doyle's bounty

2008-04-03T03:18:00.000-07:00

I know I know, you want to play in a higher stake tournament like maybe, $25+2.50? but it is kind of outside of your bankroll? Well how about this for an offer at Doyle's Room:

Not only do they have a free play area where you can develop your game and also some decent value freerolls, if you signup for an account and also sign up for the $25+2.50 (I know - you have to deposit $25+2.50) then the first time you play, they will refund your buy in, which means you get to enter the tournament for free.

If you dont believe me, check it out!

Welcome to best poker deals

2008-04-03T03:06:00.000-07:00

There are some great online poker deals, freerolls and other special offers out there. I trawl the sites, forums and blogs so that you dont have to!

What sort of offers in particular do we aim to tell you about?

Freerolls that allow you to qualify for live/high stakes tournaments (see the post on Blue Square)
Freerolls that offer genourous prize structures and prizes (See the post on Pokerroom)
Simply great deals (see the post on Doyles Room)