I've been playing $10 NL Zone on Bodog. It went okay. In a small sample of 1,000 hands I made a small profit. About 3bb/100. Nothing special but glad for a win.
Of course anyone can run well or poorly over 1000 hands so can't read anything into it either way. Still I'm going to call it good and move up to $25 NL Zone on Bodog. Whatever happens that will be where I play. If I bust I can reload. I'm a casual recreational player anyway.
Still it's good to win something again and complete a level. I know it's $10 NL and I can't make too much of it. There was more open limping than I expected and less 3-betting. I expect 25 will be tougher and that's fine.
So that's that. onto the next thing.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Saturday, May 21, 2016
+1 for Stars Coin
I saw some email and announcements go by back around December I think it was. Something about Stars VPPs being changed into something called StarsCoin. I didn't pay much attention to it. There was something about a 1.2 conversion rate of VPP to coin which seemed generous at the time. There was also something about FPP, the truth is I could never figure out the difference between FPP and VPP.
As it happened I'm a low volume recreational player and I had about 1,000 VPPs over the years. I remember years ago in 2009 I bought a PokerStars travel mug for 1,250 FPP. I was pleased, I still have that mug and use it. I found the old email from the VIP store. Good times back then.
Anyway I checked the store yesterday for whatever reason and I was surprised to see that I could do a straight exchange of 1,000 StarsCoin for $10 of cash bankroll. That's awesome! before it was not possible for a bronze star to make this type of VPP to cash exchange and it was generally not available or badly priced below at least the silver star level. So that's yay.
The new bonus scheme at Stars seems much friendlier to lower volume recreational players. In the past it was confusing what was available and how to get anything. It's much simpler now coin is coin. And the coin all spends the same in the store, no different prices or availability based on your stellar status. As a recreational player I see these as positive changes.
Now for the $10, well the way I play and run at $10 Zoom PLO I will likely lose it faster than it took to write this post. Oh well at least I was able to get something useful for my VPPs so it's all good.
I did notice the coin seem to be earned in a more quantized way now. At this point I have about 150 hands in this month and the slider says I'm 69% to unlocking 7 coin in step 2 this month -maybe I got 7 coin earlier and didn't notice? Thus I guess if I can put in a little over 200 hands a month at $10 Zoom PLO I can get at least this tiny amount of bonus, less than a big blind. I'm sure it gets better if I could put in more volume. Still it's something and very attainable for a recreational player. In the past it was intimidating and it felt like the VPP store was tilted in favour of high stakes and mass multitabling.
As it happened I'm a low volume recreational player and I had about 1,000 VPPs over the years. I remember years ago in 2009 I bought a PokerStars travel mug for 1,250 FPP. I was pleased, I still have that mug and use it. I found the old email from the VIP store. Good times back then.
Anyway I checked the store yesterday for whatever reason and I was surprised to see that I could do a straight exchange of 1,000 StarsCoin for $10 of cash bankroll. That's awesome! before it was not possible for a bronze star to make this type of VPP to cash exchange and it was generally not available or badly priced below at least the silver star level. So that's yay.
The new bonus scheme at Stars seems much friendlier to lower volume recreational players. In the past it was confusing what was available and how to get anything. It's much simpler now coin is coin. And the coin all spends the same in the store, no different prices or availability based on your stellar status. As a recreational player I see these as positive changes.
Now for the $10, well the way I play and run at $10 Zoom PLO I will likely lose it faster than it took to write this post. Oh well at least I was able to get something useful for my VPPs so it's all good.
I did notice the coin seem to be earned in a more quantized way now. At this point I have about 150 hands in this month and the slider says I'm 69% to unlocking 7 coin in step 2 this month -maybe I got 7 coin earlier and didn't notice? Thus I guess if I can put in a little over 200 hands a month at $10 Zoom PLO I can get at least this tiny amount of bonus, less than a big blind. I'm sure it gets better if I could put in more volume. Still it's something and very attainable for a recreational player. In the past it was intimidating and it felt like the VPP store was tilted in favour of high stakes and mass multitabling.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
resurfacing as a fish
There was a bummer 2+2 thread about heads up. meh I don't play HU myself so I have little stake in the matter. Still it got me thinking about things. I seldom play cards anyway but from time to time I feel I'd like to get playing again. There's one more barrier away from the tables I need to work through before I really can get back to playing.
The 2+2 thread combined with another thing. On a Saturday evening recently I passed through the local casino to spend $5 on slots to fill some time and get parking validated. Walking past the poker room there were 4 tables going on a Saturday night. Not very good considering when I arrived there in 2009 there were 6-8 tables on any Friday or Saturday. I hope the card room remains open.
It's a different world now it seems. Higher rake, fewer fish. And with that time to close the books and move forward.
Eventually switched to real money, had some success in the pre-UIGEA, pre-Black Friday days with lots of Americans and lots of bad players. Won a $2/90 tournament or two, got up to $0.25/$0.50 LHE and $25 NL, ran well at times over small sample sizes.
2009 appeared at the local casino to play $1/$2 live. Another exciting time playing for stakes that dwarfed anything I'd played online. I remember the first hand I won that night. Live poker is fun and I watched some others seem to be making steady profits. I had ups and downs, played way too tight for live, and like everyone enjoyed the occasional upswing and worked through the occasional downswing. I wanted to and was rolled for it at the time but never took a shot at $2/$5.
It was a good time and now it's run its course.
So when I return it will be as a "fish". Now I don't plan to donate buyin after buyin. What I mean by fish is someone with a losing expectation. A recreational player. With higher rake and tougher competition I have to expect that to play cards I have to put in money. And that's fine. I have a day job and I can still play for fun and the challenge. Even if I have to keep my bankroll up from the outside source. It's a hobby, something I can choose to spend my own money to participate in.
I'm still going to try to play well and improve and do as well as I can. Like the fish, I'm going to focus more on having a good time playing and less on results. Just play the levels I'm bankrolled for and enjoy the stakes. Don't hold back about "beating" some lower levels for however many hands or amount. It's ok if run well over a small sample (disregarding previous results) at a small game and take winnings and try the next level for fun and see if I can stick for a little while before dropping back to the baseline level.
Online play Zoom since I can get in the most volume per limited time available to play. Forget table selecting. That's from a past era. The tables are far worse than in the past so just sit and play Zoom and enjoy the challenge.
So I'm feeling positive about things and looking forward to getting back in the game.
The 2+2 thread combined with another thing. On a Saturday evening recently I passed through the local casino to spend $5 on slots to fill some time and get parking validated. Walking past the poker room there were 4 tables going on a Saturday night. Not very good considering when I arrived there in 2009 there were 6-8 tables on any Friday or Saturday. I hope the card room remains open.
It's a different world now it seems. Higher rake, fewer fish. And with that time to close the books and move forward.
Poker Era 1 2005-2014
I've been playing cards longer than I'd realized. I remember hearing some news reports about someone named Moneymaker and some game of poker with two cards. Started out in 2005 play money on Yahoo, then 2 and 3 table play money tournaments on PokerStars.net. Didn't have a clue. Finished 5th in the first 3 tabler I played for a mincash. What a rush. I remember the first of those play money tournaments I'd won, another rush.Eventually switched to real money, had some success in the pre-UIGEA, pre-Black Friday days with lots of Americans and lots of bad players. Won a $2/90 tournament or two, got up to $0.25/$0.50 LHE and $25 NL, ran well at times over small sample sizes.
2009 appeared at the local casino to play $1/$2 live. Another exciting time playing for stakes that dwarfed anything I'd played online. I remember the first hand I won that night. Live poker is fun and I watched some others seem to be making steady profits. I had ups and downs, played way too tight for live, and like everyone enjoyed the occasional upswing and worked through the occasional downswing. I wanted to and was rolled for it at the time but never took a shot at $2/$5.
It was a good time and now it's run its course.
Poker Era II 2016-present
So when I return it will be as a "fish". Now I don't plan to donate buyin after buyin. What I mean by fish is someone with a losing expectation. A recreational player. With higher rake and tougher competition I have to expect that to play cards I have to put in money. And that's fine. I have a day job and I can still play for fun and the challenge. Even if I have to keep my bankroll up from the outside source. It's a hobby, something I can choose to spend my own money to participate in.
I'm still going to try to play well and improve and do as well as I can. Like the fish, I'm going to focus more on having a good time playing and less on results. Just play the levels I'm bankrolled for and enjoy the stakes. Don't hold back about "beating" some lower levels for however many hands or amount. It's ok if run well over a small sample (disregarding previous results) at a small game and take winnings and try the next level for fun and see if I can stick for a little while before dropping back to the baseline level.
Online play Zoom since I can get in the most volume per limited time available to play. Forget table selecting. That's from a past era. The tables are far worse than in the past so just sit and play Zoom and enjoy the challenge.
So I'm feeling positive about things and looking forward to getting back in the game.
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