Bingo And Poker
by on Sep.28, 2010, under Other
Online bingo and poker seem worlds apart to me. I can see the connection between casino games and online poker but bingo … I’m not so sure. I write this because my mrs is well into online bingo right now and it seems like she’s develoed a minor addiction. Personally I’m not sure what all the fuss is about but she’s so keen she even started up her own online bingo website which can be found at UK bingo sites here.
I’ve sat and watched her play for like 30 minutes and it looks like a total luckfest to me. There’s no skill whatsoever and some of the chat is pretty lame to be honest. It’s not a game that I think many online poker players would be interested in playing or any serious gamblers for that matter. It seems to attract the house wife type people who chat a bit, lose a few quid and don’t seem bothered.
I did a bit of research into it and it seems like there are online bingo halls all over the place. Like literally hundreds of them and the bonuses on offer are pretty sweet as well. They must give out such good bonus deals becasue players just lose constantly. Massive industry that I didn’t even know existed.
In the poker world things are going quite well for me, I’ve been crushing heads up this month for close to 10bb/100 and am considering taking the jump to $1/2 and $2/4. We’ll have to see how things go. Haven’t played an WCOOP events, I hate mtt’s!
Betting And Poker
by on Sep.01, 2010, under Other
I know this isn’t really a heads up post but betting and poker is something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. Lets face it a large percentage of online poker players bet on sports as well as play poker but how many do it profitably? I bet not many. It’s like it’s ok to be a sports betting fish but it’s not ok to be a poker fish. It’s a leak on anyones bankroll but betting on sports is almost an acceptable leak for many players.
I’ve been looking into backing and laying and match betting recently. Match betting is basically where you use the free bet offers from certain bookmakers, like the coral bookmakers for instance (more info), and you cash in on the equity of the free bet bonus. Backing and laying is a little different, you try to predict which way the market is going to move and then secure yourself a profitable situation by backing and then laying off a bet of laying a bet then backing it back (this can only be done on betting exchanges).
Anyway I’d be interested to know how many poker players who bet on sport do so with a winning record. Is it harder to bet on sport profitably than it is to play poker profitably. Poker is certianly easier for me. Over the next few weeks I’m planning on looking into sports betting a bit more, especially the betting exchanges.
HU SNG’s
by on Aug.23, 2010, under Other
I’ve decided to start playing some HU SNG’s, they aren’t something I’ve tackled before but I’m told they are seriously profitable. I do however have a few concerns, the biggest being the fact that you can’t really decide who you play. Anyone can jump in and out of a cash game quickly and easil but once you join a SNG and it starts you’re stuck playing the player that’s infront of you for the whole match. I know you’ve only got to play 1 game against them but I do like being able to suss out my opponenet and quit them if I want to instantly.
I’ll make a longer post later on in the week about HU SNG’s once I’ve played some and have a little more experiance. I will be starting at the $50 level and playing mostly on PokerStars and perhaps a little on Full Tilt to test out the waters. Check back later in the week for more info.
In other news I backed Newcastle to beat Aston Villa yesterday on VC bet (found their free bet deal listed on best betting sites) and they won the match 6-0! Andy Carrol scored 3, Nolan got 2 and Joey Barton got the other (apparently it was a screamer). I’m yet to see the goals but am going to try to catch them online somewhere asap!
Heads Up Poker On Victor Chandler
by on Jul.30, 2010, under Other Sites
I don’t normally talk about where I play my heads up poker matches but I just wanted to give a quick shout out to Victor Chandler. It’s on the ipoker network and recently I’ve been doing really well when playing there. Ipoker in general can be pretty tough and the regular 50nl 6max and 9max matches are full of grinders.
The heads up poker section on VC isn’t as popular as say Pokerstars or Full Tilt but there are plenty of fish at the tables and the regs who play there simply aren’t as good as those who play at Stars and Tilt.
If you haven’t got an Ipoker account yet the it doesn’t matter what room you join you still get access to all the same tables. Find yourself the biggest bonus on offer, ipoker doesn’t offer rakeback and give the heads up tables a go.
To find out more about Victor Chandler check out this VC Casino link or this Victor Chandler Casino link, both cover reviews of the casino side of their site, which is just as good as the poker room.
How Hard is 50nl Heads Up?
by on May.07, 2010, under Bankroll Management, FAQ
50nl heads up is the first level of heads up poker where you can really start to win some serious cash. You don’t have to win many buy ins at 50nl (25c/50c) before your bankroll really starts to grow.
You’ll find a very wide mixture of players at the 50nl heads up table. You’ve got the real fish playing it becasue it’s one of the lowest levels available and they want to really gamble with their cash and then you’ve got the regular grinders who know there’s good money to be won and are trying their best to improve their games and cash in.
As you move up the stakes you’ll find that there are more and more regular grinders and less of the fishy players. You could play 50nl heads up all day against fish if you play on both Pokerstars and Full Tilt and you look for the weak players.
So in reality 50nl can be as hard or as easy as you want it to be. If you spend your time searching out the fish then you can maintain a very high win rate. If you sit and play the regulars then you can still win but it’s much harded and you’re win rate will be significantly less!
The Best Heads Up Poker Strategy Websites
by on Apr.21, 2010, under Other Sites
I just though I’d make a quick post about some of the best heads up poker startegy websites around. These are all sites I have used and continue to visit every week. If you need specific heads up advice then the sites on this list should be able to help you out!
Best HU Strategy Sites
heads-up-poker.org – a site dedicated to heads up poker, strategy advice available and some poker rooms reviews as well.
kickasspoker.com – A general poker strategy site with some great heads up poker tips articles on offer. Check out their 5 tips to use when playing heads up poker article, it’s one of the best around.
anskypoker.com – A blog dedicated to heads up poker. Some of the best strategy advice for heads up poker you’ll find anywhere on the web. Possibly my favorite heads up poker site. Also has a forum where you can ask questions about specific hands you have played.
Bum Hunting In Heads Up Poker
by on Mar.30, 2010, under Bankroll Management, Strategy
Bum Hunting Defined: When playing heads up poker bum hunting is the act of finding weak heads up players and playing against them while never playing against players who aren’t fish.
Pro’s Of Bum Hunting
- You’re always the better player at the table
- You’ll have a big win rate
- More often than not you will leave the table a winner becasue you opponent is so poor.
- You need a smaller bankroll to play high stakes games becasue you have such a big edge.
Con’s of Bum Hunting
- It can be hard to find a game if there are no fish around.
- You never get any better beasue you aren’t challenging yourself against good players.
- You’ll get on the regular players nerves by sitting out on them all the time.
- Often fish buy in for small amounts so even though it’s easy to win you don’t end up winning that much cash!
Should You Bum Hunt When Grinding Heads Up
The answer to this question really does depend on what you want to get out of playing. If you want to become the best player you possibly can then it’s not a great idea. However, if your sole goal is to just win cash then it can be seriously profitable.
At the end of the day everyone wants to play against weak opponents where their edge is at it’s largest. Don’t let others influence your decision when it comes to bum hunting. Make up your own mind!
How To Beat 2nl
by on Feb.25, 2010, under Low Stakes, Strategy
This article will cover how to beat 2nl or 1c/2c as it’s sometimes called. 2nl is pretty much the lowest possible limit you can play online and it’s very beatable. Quite a few players bypass this limit completely but if you’re someone who’s looking to learn the game cheaply then it’s a good place to start building your bankroll. If you’re going to learn to beat 2nl first you’ll need to know what the general standard of play is like.
What is 2nl like online?
There are generally two types of players who dominate the 1c/2c tables online. The first are the really tight regular players. These guys won’t be re rasing you before the flop with anything shy of pocket kings and they’ll spend a lot of time trying to make sets with small paies against preflop raises.
The second type of player you’ll find at 2nl are loose passive. This means they are doing a lot of calling preflop but very little raising after the flop. They will call you down very light and usually display strength by check min raising or making small bets.
How To Beat These 2nl Players
Know we know what the main player types at 2nl are we can look at how to beat 2nl with a focus on beating the main player types in the game.
Firstly lets deal with the overtight regular players who infest the 1c/2c tables waiting for monster hands to get paid off with. Your best strategy against these players are to set mine when they make a preflop raise and get into pots cheaply against them. If they enter the pot preflop they’ll likely have a premium hand or a small pocket pair. If the flop comes low and you hold an overpair but are faced with a re raise or check raise it’s highly likly your hand is beaten. However on the flip side of the coin these guys will stack off with top pair top kicker and overpair type hands 100% of the time. If you can flop well against them you can break them over and over again.
It’s a lot easier to win money from the loose passive opponents you’ll face on the 1c/2c tables. These guys will be calling all your preflop raises and generally calling you down to the river with weak one pair type hands. You should be value betting these guys to death and trying to get as much cash as possible from them when you have a top pair type hand. Bet big, they won’t be folding after they’ve called the flop. Keep betting very close to the pot and they’ll be paying you off all day long. Alarm bells should start ringing if these guys raise you post flop but as long as they are calling you should continue betting!
In all honesty 2nl really is quite easy to beat online. You’ll find a mixture of bad players, very tight players and the odd complete maniac. If you can develop a good tight style and work out what kind of style your opponents are playing then you should have no problem sustaining a good winrate at 2nl and moving up to 5nl or 10nl pretty quickly.
If you want to know how to beat 2nl in one simple sentence then play good cards preflop, value bet big and don’t bluff at all.
Low Stakes Heads Up – Finding The Fish
by on Feb.10, 2010, under Low Stakes, Strategy
Heads up poker at the lower limits is obviously easier to beat. The higher up the stakes you move the tougher your opponenets get. Some poker sites only offer 50nl as the lowest stakes heads up games but you can play smaller stakes if you find the right site.
On Betfair for instance you can play 25nl heads up.
The key to low stakes heads up matches is not to get overcome by the rake. Every hand is raked when playing heads up and as a result you can spend lots of time just trading blows the a player who’s on your same skill level. Try to avoid these players at all costs, if after say 30 minutes of play you’re locked in a low stakes battle and no one is winning then consider quitting and finding an easier opponenet to play against.
You should find lots of fish at low limits heads up.
How to find heads up poker fish at low stakes
There is one classic way to find fish at low stakes poker matches. Look for players who buy into the table with less than the maximum amount. These players are always under confident or can’t afford to buy in for the full amount. Virtually 100% of the time these players are weaker than the players who buy in for the full amount!
Look out for them and take their cash.
How To Beat 5nl
by on Jan.04, 2010, under Strategy
If you are wondering how to beat 5nl then you’ve come to the right place. This article is intended to teach you how to beat 5nl or 2c/5c as some players call it. We are going to look at the type of players you will be facing at the 5nl tables and what kind of strategy you should employ pre and post flop to exploit your opponents to the best of your abilities. Lets start out by looking at common opponents and their tendancies.
Types of players at 5nl
At 5nl you will find three types of players, two of which you’ll find at 2nl as well as 5nl but one other which you may not have encountered before.
The first type of player you’ll find at 5nl will be the really tight regulars. These guys are looking to make monster hands and get paid off. They play very tight preflop and rarely get their money in on the flop.
The second type of player you’ll find at 5nl are the loose passives. Loose passive players do very little raising preflop or postflop, they represent strength with min raising and they are generally calling stations.
The third type of player you will encounter at 5nl is the player who’s trying to move through the limits the same as you. These guys have probably played 2nl for a while and beaten the game. They know a little bit about what it takes to win at poker but will still have big leaks in their game which can be exposed quite easily.
How To Exploit The 5nl Players
We’ll focus on how to exploit the third player type in this section of our how to beat 5nl article. These players will cause you the most problems at the table but are still pretty poor by a general standard.
The players who are winning at 5nl and are looking to move through the limits will probably already be running some kind of poker tracking software. If you’ve got Poker Tracker or Holdem Manager installed and running then their stats will be somewhere in the 16 – 24% VPIP range and a PFR somewhere around 9 – 18%. This tells us that they are selecting a good range of starting hands. This doesn’t mean they are playing well.
These guys will be generally quite poor post flop. They will still be calling stations and your best bet when playing against them is to treat them as a loose passive type player. Value bet them and if they show resistance in the form of a re raise then it’s time to seriously re evaluate your hand. You shouldn’t be bluffing these guys or anyone else at the 5nl limit for that matter. These players might bluff you but they won’t be paying enough attention to the game to realise you’re only betting when you have the goods.
The same rules and principles apply at 5nl as they do at 2nl. Play good starting hands, value bet strongly when you make a top pair good kicker type hand or better, don’t bluff and be very aware of passive players who start re raising and check raising post flop.
If you can beat 2nl the chances are you already know how to beat 5nl. The two games play very similar and you won’t find many decent opponents at either limits. At 5nl tight is certainly right!
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Heads Up Poker
Hey Guys, I'm Zaumlab (poker screen name). Welcome to my heads up poker blog, here I plan to post about my poker journey and my time spent playing heads up poker. I will try to include some strategy advice as well!
