Friday, March 28, 2008
$109 Nightly Event
The Pokerstars $109 nightly HORSE tournament has only been in existence for a few months, and it's finally starting to show larger numbers and a significant prize pool. Tonight there were 55 entrants and a pool of $5500 with 6 places paid. WHPG members have been sending email to ideas@pokerstars.com that requests a $10k guarantee for this tournament. There is no guarantee right now, but that could change soon if the event continues to gain in popularity.
Full Tilt Lobby
From the experience I've had emailing suggestions to Full Tilt and Pokerstars, I have reached a few tentative conclusions. One is that Pokerstars is more receptive to player suggestions than Full Tilt. I have never received a reply to a suggestion email from FT, whereas a member of the PS management team sent me a personal reply twice and suggestions I made were implemented at least three times. It's true that I have been a member of PS slightly longer, but I have played high stakes tourneys and played ring games enough at FT to earn some respect.
In my opinion, FT just implements ideas differently. FT has many more "red pros" than PS, those players that are considered a part of Team FT. And these red pros are probably responsible for many of the changes that occur in tournaments, including HORSE tourneys. Therefore, a new strategy of the WHPG is to ask these FT pros to suggest ideas. I have already done this in last Sunday's $216 HORSE. I asked Michael Craig if he could recommend a guarantee increase for the $216 HORSE to a total of $25-30k. Mike replied that he would request that, which reinforced my view of Mike as one of the most responsive and cool pros.
So please ask any FT pro that you chat with if they will request an increase in the guarantee for the Sunday Night HORSE. This increase is the most important item on the FT agenda at the moment!
In my opinion, FT just implements ideas differently. FT has many more "red pros" than PS, those players that are considered a part of Team FT. And these red pros are probably responsible for many of the changes that occur in tournaments, including HORSE tourneys. Therefore, a new strategy of the WHPG is to ask these FT pros to suggest ideas. I have already done this in last Sunday's $216 HORSE. I asked Michael Craig if he could recommend a guarantee increase for the $216 HORSE to a total of $25-30k. Mike replied that he would request that, which reinforced my view of Mike as one of the most responsive and cool pros.
So please ask any FT pro that you chat with if they will request an increase in the guarantee for the Sunday Night HORSE. This increase is the most important item on the FT agenda at the moment!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Heads Up with Scott Fischman
Last night in the Omaha H/L 5k guarantee on FTP I experienced what probably was my most memorable tournament finish on FTP to date. Although I ended up taking 2nd it was the intense heads up battle for 1st with 2 time WSOP bracelet winner Scott Fischman that I will take away as validation of my skill level in this particular game.
Entering the final table I was right at the chip average after being chip leader most of the second half of the tourney. As the limits increased, the field got whittled away until it got down to 3. I was at roughly 75k, Scott was the chip leader with about 150k and the short stack was down to about 25k. It took only a few hand before Scott was able to take out the short stack and we entered heads up play with Scott out-chipping me by more than 2 to 1. At that point the intense struggle for 1st place began. Scott took the first couple of hands with little resistance and put me down to roughly 40k. At that point I made a few nice hands and was able to take the chip lead at one point by about 50k. The battle continued back and forth for about the next 40 minutes with each of us taking the lead at least 4 or 5 times. With the blinds at 8k/16k I lost a couple of crucial hands in a row, unable to complete either end of some nice looking drawing hands and was crippled to about 25k. The tournament ended soon after that concluding a 45 min. heads up tug-of-war that I will not soon forget. Even though I didn't win, I took away great satisfaction and confidence from this game. And the $1081.00 2nd place cash wasn't too bad either.
I know that Scott will remember snookondahook as a formidable adversary and further validates the WHPG as a force to deal with in online poker tournaments.
Entering the final table I was right at the chip average after being chip leader most of the second half of the tourney. As the limits increased, the field got whittled away until it got down to 3. I was at roughly 75k, Scott was the chip leader with about 150k and the short stack was down to about 25k. It took only a few hand before Scott was able to take out the short stack and we entered heads up play with Scott out-chipping me by more than 2 to 1. At that point the intense struggle for 1st place began. Scott took the first couple of hands with little resistance and put me down to roughly 40k. At that point I made a few nice hands and was able to take the chip lead at one point by about 50k. The battle continued back and forth for about the next 40 minutes with each of us taking the lead at least 4 or 5 times. With the blinds at 8k/16k I lost a couple of crucial hands in a row, unable to complete either end of some nice looking drawing hands and was crippled to about 25k. The tournament ended soon after that concluding a 45 min. heads up tug-of-war that I will not soon forget. Even though I didn't win, I took away great satisfaction and confidence from this game. And the $1081.00 2nd place cash wasn't too bad either.
I know that Scott will remember snookondahook as a formidable adversary and further validates the WHPG as a force to deal with in online poker tournaments.
Riding The Horse
For those of you who don't know... a HORSE Tournament is made up of five different card games.
Round 1 - Hold 'Em
Round 2 - Omaha H/L
Round 3 - Razz (*some of you may know this one as Lowball)
Round 4 - Stud (7-card)
Round 5 - Hi-low Stud (So how come it's the E in Horse. Can someone explain that to me).
Please use the COMMENT field and tell us which is your favorite round in a HORSE tournament, and which one gives you the most trouble? Any tips on dealing with the particulars of each round? How does it impact the overall tournament.
Me personally -- I do well at Hold 'Em, Razz and Stud -- and experience tremendous volatility in the split pot games. OMAHA has cost me many a HORSE tourney.
What's your favorite? Please COMMENT.
Round 1 - Hold 'Em
Round 2 - Omaha H/L
Round 3 - Razz (*some of you may know this one as Lowball)
Round 4 - Stud (7-card)
Round 5 - Hi-low Stud (So how come it's the E in Horse. Can someone explain that to me).
Please use the COMMENT field and tell us which is your favorite round in a HORSE tournament, and which one gives you the most trouble? Any tips on dealing with the particulars of each round? How does it impact the overall tournament.
Me personally -- I do well at Hold 'Em, Razz and Stud -- and experience tremendous volatility in the split pot games. OMAHA has cost me many a HORSE tourney.
What's your favorite? Please COMMENT.
Keeping Track
OK.... you want to get serious about your poker playing? Then it's time to start keeping track!
All players remember their wins. Most forget their losses (it's so much more convenient that way).
If you want to really track your progress, and learn where your strengths are I suggest creating a spreadsheet to track your tournament activity.
Column I: Date
Column 2:Tournament Format (i.e. HORSE Limit, Hold 'Em NL Turbo, etc)
Column 3: How many in the field?
Column 4: What place did you finish in.
Column 5: Total entry fee (your investment)
Column 6: Your winnings (if any)
Column 7: Profit/loss for the event (C6-C5)
Column 8: Ongoing Bankroll. Add your win or loss to the row above.
There you have it! You can use this to analyze your successes and failures. Find out which games best suit you. And accurately measure your progress.
Staring mine this week -- and its about time!
- Rtrout
All players remember their wins. Most forget their losses (it's so much more convenient that way).
If you want to really track your progress, and learn where your strengths are I suggest creating a spreadsheet to track your tournament activity.
Column I: Date
Column 2:Tournament Format (i.e. HORSE Limit, Hold 'Em NL Turbo, etc)
Column 3: How many in the field?
Column 4: What place did you finish in.
Column 5: Total entry fee (your investment)
Column 6: Your winnings (if any)
Column 7: Profit/loss for the event (C6-C5)
Column 8: Ongoing Bankroll. Add your win or loss to the row above.
There you have it! You can use this to analyze your successes and failures. Find out which games best suit you. And accurately measure your progress.
Staring mine this week -- and its about time!
- Rtrout
Monday, March 24, 2008
FTP Sunday Horse
The WHPG was once again well represented in the FTP Sunday Horse 20K tournament on 3/23 by J-Matrix and ,yours truly, Snookondahook. For the second straight week we both cashed while strattling the bubble and making numerous key decisions during crunch time. J-Matrix made an impressive final table showing, ultimately placing 5th and cashing $1852.60. And I respectively was able to grind out a 12th place finish for a 596.60 award after a typical yo yo type performance in the tournament's final hour.
We plan on continuing to represent the WHPG in this presitgious internet HORSE tourney and hope to conitue cashing. A 1st place finish shouldn't be too far off in the future!
We plan on continuing to represent the WHPG in this presitgious internet HORSE tourney and hope to conitue cashing. A 1st place finish shouldn't be too far off in the future!
Friday, March 21, 2008
Results
Yesterday on Pokerstars I finished 10th in the daily $22 limit Omaha HL, which is on the bubble. I probably should have folded my last hand even though it would have essentially crippled me. There was still a decent chance of a 9th place finish.
The Stud HL round removed most of my chips in last night's $4k guarantee HORSE on Full Tilt. I was beat twice by a full house and barely missed the low on one of those hands. Maybe I should only play rolled up hands in this round! Just kidding...it would be playing too tight.
The Stud HL round removed most of my chips in last night's $4k guarantee HORSE on Full Tilt. I was beat twice by a full house and barely missed the low on one of those hands. Maybe I should only play rolled up hands in this round! Just kidding...it would be playing too tight.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Good News
Pokerstars has added a $25k guarantee to their $215 Sunday Night HORSE tournament. The event starts at 7:45 PM EST.
I emailed PS on March 10th and asked them to add a guarantee for the $33 daily and $109 nightly HORSE. They have implemented a few of my suggestions before and I look forward to a positive result for this idea!
I emailed PS on March 10th and asked them to add a guarantee for the $33 daily and $109 nightly HORSE. They have implemented a few of my suggestions before and I look forward to a positive result for this idea!
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