Almost there...

What's up everyone? I managed to accumulate a small bankroll on High Pulse Poker. Since their real money launch my bankroll went up from €78 to €220. I've been playing Pot Limit Omaha and some No Limit Holdem cash games. But I wasn't as successful in MTTs as I expected.

First of all, I played a €5000 GTD (buy-in: €22) tournament. I got busted out relatively quickly. But luckily they had some issues with the tournament and High Pulse Poker refunded the buy-in and they sent me €10 for the inconveniences. :) soooooooo...

.... I got a "free" buy-in for the €12,000 GTD tournament (buy-in: €33). This tournament runs only on Sundays (20:00 CET). Almost 300 players registered and most of them were epic fishes. What can I expect when the whole player pool of High Pulse Poker got their bankroll from playing freerolls? :) Of course, there were good players too but they're rather a minority there. lol

I played great, didn't do much. The table was weird, in the first hour I didn't see any 3bets! Well, the stacks were deep: 10k starting chips with 10/20 blinds. The blinds increased in every 10 minutes. I built up a healthy stack, mostly played with 100BBs. But I did a few stupid things as usual like 3bet bluffs in the wrong time. The blinds went up and my stack decreased and this hand came up:

Stack sizes almost equal, 30-50BBs. (Blinds: 500/1000)

JJ in late position
1 limp in early position
1 limp in middle position

When it was my turn I raised to 3600. Weird amount (because I did not add +1BB/limper) but I felt that was enough to fold to a 3bet preflop (I expected that from the player in EP) and still have enough chips to play with. So I raised, they called. Flop: K J 10
EP checks, MP bets 3BB, I raised to 14BB, EP re-raised to 30BB, MP all-in, I'm all-in, EP all-in.
Nice. Awesome chance to be the chipleader of the tournament. I didn't think that EP don't have AQ in his range but his loose donkish play got me thinking that he could have like KJ, J10, JQ, etc. He was playing straight draws aggressively. 
I didn't really think about the player in the MP because he could make that play with 99 for some reason for sure! Other hands in his weak range mostly the same as EP 10Q, JQ, etc.

Showdown:
EP: Q9c
MP: J10
Me: JJ

The board runs out and my hand didn't improve.

It was quite a nice freeroll but felt a little disappointed after that hand. I simply couldn't fold since I committed most of my money after raising the MP's 3BB bet to 14BB. Who doesn't feel bad after he/she get busted from a tournament he/she wanted to win. :)

High Pulse Poker is not a US friendly poker room. They recently launched real money tables. Freerolls are still running continuously but real money tournaments can be found as well with guaranteed prizepools! Since they're new and need more players, High Pulse Poker offers 50% rakeback in the first month!
The cash tables are very good, many bad players - mostly at the Omaha tables with 200BB+ stacks.

Here is the biggest pot I've won at a Pot Limit Omaha table - blinds were €0.01/€0.02:

2192 BB pot!

I'm still looking forward my biggest cash in 2011. It might come in the €10,000 Christmas tournament arranged by High Pulse Poker, who knows? ;)

Best of luck at the tables!

Jr

New ideas

wow a new blog post starting with a cute cat! Original, isn't it?

I've been reaaaaaaally busy recently and I think I won't post much personal stuff but more strategies and concepts about poker. I haven't wrote much about the previously mentioned topics in this blogs but I'm going to focus on them more.

Short blog post is ending with this epic FTP song:

NEW tournaments and promotions on Carbon Poker

Fat Stack / Slim Stack tournaments
Carbon Poker introduced 2 epic rake-free tournaments. They're running on Fridays and the buy-in is $2 and $5. The first tournament will be held on 4th November.

	Fat Stack	Slim Stack
Starting stack	1,000,000	10
Blinds	25,000/50,000	0.5/1

$2 Fat Stack Buy-in: $2.00 + $0.00 (Rake-free!) Starting Stack: 1,000,000 Chips Date/Time: Fridays @ 20:00 PM Carbon Server Time Location: Scheduled / Regular and SitNGo / Regular

$5 Fat Stack Buy-in: $5.00 + $0.00 (Rake-free!) Starting Stack: 1,000,000 Chips Date/Time: Fridays @ 22:00 PM Carbon Server Time Location: Scheduled / Regular and SitNGo / Regular

$2 Slim Stack Buy-in: $2.00 + $0.00 (Rake-free!) Starting Stack: 10 Chips Date/Time: Fridays @ 21:00 PM Carbon Server Time Location: Scheduled / Regular and SitNGo / Regular

$5 Slim Stack Buy-in: $5.00 + $0.00 (Rake-free!) Starting Stack: 10 Chips Date/Time: Fridays @ 23:00 PM Carbon Server Time Location: Scheduled / Regular and SitNGo / Regular

---

Chip King November promotion



Carbon Poker announced a $10,000 Chip King promotion! There will be a freeroll every weekend starting 6th November (Saturday). Make sure to opt in and earn at least 50 VIP points!







How to qualify 
Earn at least 50 VIP point and you're in. The more points you earn, the more chips you'll get to start with in the freerolls.

Points Earned During Qualification Period	Starting Stack for Chip King Freerolls
50 - 99.9 VIP Points	250 Chips
100 - 249.9 VIP Points	500 Chips
250 - 499.9 VIP Points	750 Chips
500 - 999.9 VIP Points	1000 Chips
1,000+ VIP Points	Unique stack based on VIP Points earned

$5000 for the Top 50 Chip King Final 
"To monitor where you stand amongst the other Chip King participants, check back to the Chip King Leaderboard below to see the Top 100. If you're in the Top 100, that means you're a solid session away from making the huge-value $5,000 final."

---

CARBON POKER RELOAD BONUS FOR NOVEMBER

NOV375 awards 75% up to $375.00.
»Bonus valid for CarbonPoker, PDC Poker, and Aced Poker.
»Enter the code “NOV375″ in the cashier with any reload deposit.
»This bonus is claimable until 12:01 AM server time on Thursday December 1, 2011.
»Bonus requires minimum deposit of $10.
»Bonus awarded in $5 increments and completed after earning 100 VIP points for each dollar of the bonus amount.

NOV30 awards 10% up to $30.00.
»Bonus valid for CarbonPoker, PDC Poker, and Aced Poker.
»Enter the code “NOV30″ in the cashier with any reload deposit.
»This bonus is claimable until 12:01 AM server time on Thursday December 1, 2011.
»Player must earn 30 VIP points for each dollar of the bonus amount, the bonus is expired if a withdrawal is made before the playthrough is complete.
»Bonus requires a minimum deposit of $50.

Merge Gaming Network welcomes US players

Good news for US players:

As of Wednesday, October 13th at 12:01AM Server Time CarbonPoker and PDC Poker will be accepting new players worldwide.

Create an account on ACED Poker: 150% first deposit bonus up to $750. + get 35% cash back every day! Visit aced.com here »

Note: does not accept players from the following countries and states: Australia, France, New York, Kentucky, Washington DC, Maryland, Washington, Missouri and Louisiana.

Links:

• visit carbonpoker.com
• visit pdcpoker.com
• visit aced.com 

US friendly online poker room, US friendly online poker rooms, US friendly online poker, accepting poker player from the US, accepting US poker players, accepting poker players from the USA,

One month long break - it's over!

Only a few of you know that I was in hospital in September for 2 weeks. My life became a bit more complicated. I'm going to go back to the university soon. I feel very motivated. I'd like to do something useful in this world.

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me. Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful, that's what matters to me." - Steve Jobs

I also read an interesting article from Olivier Busquet: The Value of a Collage Education. Don't get me wrong, not a thoughtful quote and a well written article made me return to study. I was about to start my 2nd semester in my university when the unexpected happening happened.

I have a lot to catch up with... I'll do my best!

Poker: Even though I'll be very busy in the upcoming weeks or months, I don't want to stop playing poker or give up my PokerSpace Ambassador role at PokerSpace. I love helping people, give advice and talk about poker.

Click on the picture for better resolution

In that picture you can see, I recently won a $33 coupon in a crazy rebuy tournament. It's a crazy tourney because people are doing insane things there. There are not donking, their range is just very wide from every position. :D
New tournaments coming up on Carbon Poker. It's really cool that they're working hard to provide better online poker experience. They have a sub-forum on 2+2: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/201/carbon-poker/ please feel free to chime in :)


Today I'm playing a long session. I don't plan to do such things in the future (except SCOOP, WCOOP, etc.). I try to be healthy and I don't want to make a mistake to fuck up my sleep cycle. I'd appreciate it, if anyone could help me/has any tip how to eat healthier.

Thanks for reading, see you at the tables!

JrMontana08 is back online!

3 months ago my blog was marked as spam by a GoogleBot. I asked for help in the forums and now I'm back online. It was a mistake of the GoogleBot in question and hopefully it'll never happen again.

Many things happened in this summer that I couldn't share. In the last 3 months I focused on Heads Up SnGs. Honestly, I don't feel that I done well in those things. I got a few aha moments but I'm still confused in a few situations. Hopefully I'll be able to fix those leaks until 7th September 2011. I'm going to play in the WCOOP Event 7 -- $215 buy-in -- NLH HU tournament.

Let's talk about something else.. I got a new laptop! More creativity coming your way (if you're reading this blog and/or you're on PokerSpace) because now I'm a MacBook Pro owner. The Mac OS X was weird at first but I got used to it. It's a powerful machine, I'm quite satisfied with it.

I'm surprised that many sites don't have Mac friendly software. Example: Party Poker, iPoker Network... Yes, they have web based version of their client but PokerStars is way ahead of them with their software and their thinking is a lot more advanced as well.

iPhone owners! The official PokerStars Poker Clock is here. Click on the link and it will take you to Apple's website -> iTunes section -> PokerStars Clock (Global Edition)

The summer holiday was fun, I had a lot of time to relax. Good to be back online and see you reading this blog post.

It's 2 a.m. here, these thoughts came to my mind. Follow me on Twitter: @JrMontana08

Best of luck at the tables!

Royal Flush NL5 MSS @ PokerStars

I'm over 10,000 hands playing NL5 MSS on PokerStars. I hit a Royal Flush yesterday, first time at this level. I got the Royal Flush badge on my PokerTableRatings profile.

Hand converted with online PokerStrategy.com hand converter:
Replay Hand


$0.02/$0.05 No-Limit Hold'em (8 handed)

Known players:

BU = ($3.80)
SB = ($5.00)
BB = ($1.43)
UTG2 = ($4.02)
MP1 = ($5.22)
MP2 (Hero) = ($3.09)
MP3 = ($2.32)
CO = ($2.10)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, K.
UTG2 calls $0.05, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $0.20, 3 folds, SB calls $0.18, BB folds, UTG2 calls $0.15.

Flop: ($0.65) T, 3, A (3 players)
SB bets $0.45, UTG2 folds, Hero calls $0.45.

Turn: ($1.55) J (2 players)
SB checks, Hero checks.

River: ($1.55) 2 (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $0.70, SB calls $0.70.

Final Pot: $2.95.

Results follow:

Hero shows a royal flush(Q K).
SB shows a pair of aces(A Q).

Hero wins with a royal flush(Q K).

35% rakeback until 1st June 2011 on Merge!

Since Black Friday, the Merge Gaming Network had a huge growth and became the number one US friendly online poker network. They needed a little bit help from the Department of Justice (DoJ) because PokerStars and FullTilt Poker said that they don't allow US players in their poker rooms.

So the US players started registering to Carbon Poker, PDC Poker, ACED Poker, etc.

The Merge Gaming Network will be ending their rakeback program starting the 1st of June.

It doesn't affect those who already have rakeback and the new players who sign up for rakeback until the 1st of June.

If you want to have rakeback on Carbon Poker but you already have an account, I'd advise you to register to Aced Poker or PDC Poker.

Aced Poker	visit website	download
PDC Poker	visit website	download

35% rakeback is a pretty sweet deal but there is a lot more value there:


$3000 MGR:

19500 points/month, 975/day, $3000 rake paid/month:

35% RB

6.6% marathon (750+pts/day x 20 days = 200)
6.5% points exchange ((19500/2500) x 25 = 195)
13% money tree ((10 x 975pts) / 25 = 390)
Total rakeback = 61%



$2250 MGR:
20days/month -- 2250$Rake/Month -- 14625pts/month -- 730pts/day

Carbon with rakeback
35% rakeback
6.5% points exchange
13% money tree
10% marathon (needs 750pts/20days)

Total rakeback = 64.5%

(at 2bb/100 + rakeback/bonuses = ~2400$)

Black Friday Repercussions -- Traffic Measured By PokerScout
				Net change	Net change
Site/Network	1st Weekend	2nd Weekend	3rd Weekend	(avg. players)	(%)
	Apr. 16/17	Apr. 23/24	Apr. 30/May 1	Apr. 30/May 1 vs. April 9/10
Left US Market
PokerStars	-26%	-3%	+2%	-7569	-26%
Full Tilt Poker	-49%	+28%	-4%	-6878	-38%
Cereus Network	-40%	-42%	-30%	-1664	-76%
Still in US
Merge Network	+23%	+31%	+5%	+634	+69%
Bodog	+26%	+5%	-6%	+164	+23%
Cake Network	+19%	+9%	-3%	+144	+26%
Everleaf Network	+8%	-7%	+1%	+7	+2%
European Majors
PartyPoker	+9%	-5%	+6%	+328	+10%
iPoker Network	+4%	-5%	-4%	-178	-5%
Ongame Network	-1%	-8%	+2%	-168	-7%
888poker	+0.5%	+3%	+1%	+75	+5%

Rake changes at PokerStars

Click on the picture for better resolution

Read more about the Sit and Go changes here.The new buy-in structure reminds me to Party Poker..

Wassup?

What's up everyone?

I met Zwemnaar at an Omaha tournament on PokerStars (for 2+2 PokerCast Listeners).
Nice tournament by the way..

April was cool because I learned the basics of MSS. I here is my first month's graph:

Click on the picture for better resolution

The sample size is small because I read many articles and watched tons of videos. + I didn't want to play when I was in bad mood.

I try to grind NL5 MSS to reach SilverStar VIP level on PokerStars. The games are still soft..

Advanced Bankroll Management article coming in the next blog post.. (how should a pro handle his/her bankroll, etc.)

BEAUTIFUL

First of all, congrats to zwemnnar on winning his biggest online pot. Check out that hand here: https://www.pokertableratings.com/hand-history/stars/59822186475/13843194658

+ read The Chronicles of Zwemnaar here


BEAUTIFUL - Tag Heuer Aquaracer PokerStars Watch

Tag Heuer Aquaracer Watch

115,000 FPPs - available for Platinum Star VIP level only

I'm crazy for watches.. I don't know why but I recently started looking for watches. Longines was my favourite brand (for about 1 week lol).

I started learning Middle Stack Strategy (MSS).
What is MSS?

The Mid Stack Strategy is a strategy developed to play profitably in No Limit Hold'em cashgames. It is very well suited for a beginner in poker, as it enables you to play with less risk to your poker bankroll, and it is also simple to learn and start playing right away.

With the MSS you bring less than the maximum amount of chips to the table, which means that you risk less, and also use your chips more efficiently when betting.

I'm playing everyday (2-4 tabling at PokerStars), I'm practicing, posting hands..

I'd love to have a PokerSpace Hand History Converter but I'll write about it later :)

I'm going to post some stuff about MSS, this strategy is suitable for:

• Beginners, who would like to start playing and earning money with a strategy that is not very complicated.
• Former Short Stack Strategy players. Same as in SSS, the post-flop decisions in MSS are rather simple and kept to a minimum.
• Those Big Stack Strategy players who would like to try themselves on higher limits with less risk.
• BSS players with a low win-rate, as this strategy will help you keep a similar win-rate, however also provide you with additional income from rakeback, comparable in amount to that from your direct winnings.

 I'm not going for the 100K PokerStars watch. If I hit Supernova VIP level, I'll choose the money (this status worth about $5000 - read more about it here).

What's going to happen in the near future?

• master MSS
• learn BSS (Big Stack Strategy)
• watch videos, read articles
• write about my experiences at the tables

Best of luck to everyone - See you at the tables!

$3K GTD R/A 2nd place finish

I told you that I won't be stuck at NL4 SH with my $50 bankroll..

PokerStars SCOOP 2011 Schedule

2011 Spring Championship of Online Poker schedule

Sunday, 8 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 01-L*: $22 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-M*: $215 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $750,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 01-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em [6-Max], $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 02-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 02-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,500,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 9 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 03-L*: $5.50+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-M*: $55+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 03-H*: $530+R NL Hold'em (6-Max), $750,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 04-L: $16.50 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-M: $162 FL Badugi, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 04-H: $1,575 FL Badugi, $50,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 05-L: $11+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $250,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-M: $109+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $500,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 05-H: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Turbo), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 10 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 06-L: $11 PL 5-Card Draw, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-M: $109 PL 5-Card Draw, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 06-H: $1,050 PL 5-Card Draw, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 07-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-M: $162 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 07-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Heads-Up Match Play), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 08-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 08-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 11 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 09-L: $22 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-M: $215 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 09-H: $2,100 Mixed Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 10-L: $33 7-Card Stud High, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-M: $320 7-Card Stud High, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 10-H: $3,150 7-Card Stud High, $100,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 12 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 11-L: $22 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-M: $215 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 11-H: $2,100 PL Omaha (Heads-Up Match Play), $200,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 12-L*: $27 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-M*: $265 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 12-H*: $2,600 NL Hold'em (Knockout), $600,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 13 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 13-L*: $16.50 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-M*: $162 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $200,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 13-H*: $1,575 NL Hold'em (Ante Up), $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 14-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 14-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo, $225,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 15-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $150,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-M: $162 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $400,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 15-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em (2X Chance, Turbo), $750,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 14 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 16-L: $22 NL Hold'em - Quadruple Shootout (10-Max), $125,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-M: $215 NL Hold'em - Triple Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 16-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em - Double Shootout (10-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 17-L: $16.50+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-M: $162+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 17-H: $1,575+R PL Omaha (6-Max), $400,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 18-L: $22 Triple Stud (Turbo), $25,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-M: $215 Triple Stud (Turbo), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 18-H: $2,100 Triple Stud (Turbo), $75,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 15 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 19-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 19-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 20-L*: $22 NL Hold'em, $350,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-M*: $215 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 20-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em, $2,000,000 Guaranteed

Monday, 16 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 21-L: $16.50 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-M: $162 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $150,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 21-H: $1,575 NL Hold'em / PL Omaha, $300,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 22-L: $33 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-M: $320 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 22-H: $3,150 NL Hold'em (4-Max), $500,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 23-L: $11 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $75,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-M: $109 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $200,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 23-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (Turbo, 1R1A), $350,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, 17 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 24-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 24-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7, $75,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 25-L: $22 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $25,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-M: $215 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 25-H: $2,100 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo, $150,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 26-L*: $11 NL Hold'em, $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-M*: $109 NL Hold'em, $300,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 26-H*: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $600,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, 18 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 27-L: $22 Razz, $25,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-M: $215 Razz, $75,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 27-H: $2,100 Razz, $150,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 28-L*: $11+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $200,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-M*: $109+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $400,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 28-H*: $1,050+R NL Hold'em (Big Antes), $600,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, 19 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 29-L: $33 8-Game, $50,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-M: $320 8-Game, $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 29-H: $3,150 8-Game, $250,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 30-L: $11 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-M: $109 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $125,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 30-H*: $1,050 PL Omaha Hi/Lo, $250,000 Guaranteed

Friday, 20 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 31-L: $22 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-M: $215 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $500,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 31-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em (1R1A), $800,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 32-L: $55 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $75,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-M: $530 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $150,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 32-H: $5,200 FL Hold'em (6-Max), $250,000 Guaranteed

20:00 ET, Ev 33-L: $22 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $50,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-M: $215 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $100,000 Guaranteed
20:00 ET, Ev 33-H: $2,100 NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10m Levels), $150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, 21 May 2011
14:00 ET, Ev 34-L: $55 PL Omaha [6-Max], $100,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-M: $530 PL Omaha [6-Max], $300,000 Guaranteed
14:00 ET, Ev 34-H: $5,200 PL Omaha [6-Max], $500,000 Guaranteed

15:30 ET, Ev 35-L*: $270 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $300,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-M*: $2,600 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $450,000 Guaranteed
15:30 ET, Ev 35-H*: $25,500 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up Match Play], $600,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 36-L: $22 HORSE, $50,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-M: $215 HORSE, $100,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 36-H: $2,100 HORSE, $150,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, 22 May 2011
13:00 ET, Ev 37-L*: $22 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $300,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-M*: $215 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed
13:00 ET, Ev 37-H*: $2,100 NL Hold'em (6-Max), $1,000,000 Guaranteed

17:00 ET, Ev 38-L*: $109 NLHE Main Event - L, $1,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-M*: $1,050 NLHE Main Event - M, $3,000,000 Guaranteed
17:00 ET, Ev 38-H*: $10,300 NLHE Main Event - H, $5,000,000 Guaranteed
* - 2-Day Event
Satellites are planned to begin on March 14, 2011.
Scheduled events are subject to change at any time before play begins.

Carbon Poker $100K GTD results

$100,000 Guaranteed tournament on Carbon Poker with 2 rebuys and 1 addon.

Click on the picture for better resolution

Congrats to DADuhWEEwah on finishing 3rd for $8960.

Best online poker setups 2011

Chair and Table:


It's very important to feel comfortable while you're playing. The best chair I've ever seen (and probably the most expensive) is Embody by Herman Miller.

Embody chair

It's looks weird and ugly but it's very comfortable and good for your body. If you can afford to pay $1600 for a chair, then it's a must for you. Read more about this thing here.

Well, we have a chair now - what about a table? Another creation of Herman Miller: Envelope Desk.

This beauty costs $1200-$1450 but some sites offer it for $1100. I prefer bigger desks because I need some space but I had to choose the Envelope Desk since health is one of the most important thing in the world.

Click on the picture to read the review

Computer and monitor:

I decided to choose this combo: 12-core Mac Pro ($4999) and a 27" LED Cinema Display ($999). Very powerful PC with one (or two) big monitor with high resolution.

Two 2.66GHz 6-Core Intel Xeon “Westmere” processors
6GB (six 1GB) memory
1TB hard drive
18x double-layer SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB GDDR5
Additional configuration here >>>

/Windows is running on Mac OS X too/

These should be the part of your grinding station :)

If you have any ideas to share, please feel free to comment. 

EDIT: Check out this monitor!

36,4-inch monitor

36,4 inch monitor with 4,096 x 2,160 resolution. 20 full size PokerStars tables can fit on this screen! It's price is $36,000. Read more about it here.

posted by Kackel Dackel on 2+2 forums

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created by l3p

created by l3p

posted by I_Poke_4_Fun on 2+2

Micro stakes poker

I started to play NL4 on Carbon Poker - again. I'm familiar with these tables because I used to play a lot and now I'm back! I requested a $50 Account Add-On on PokerSpace. Check it out, it's pretty cool to have this option.

I decided to play micro stakes ring games because I would like to improve my cash game skills. It's not a challenge, it's an attempt to develop my thinking process and have fun.

Also to get $50 rakeback and reach VIP status on PokerSpace - 18 days left from this month, $2,7 in rakeback/day playing NL4.

I'm going to post a few things about it here too but I'll cover it mostly in my other blog (http://www.juniormontana01.blogspot.com/) which is in hungarian.

Bankroll Management:

Is XBLINK the next Isildur1?

This story is incredible but is true. It's the story about a 20 year old who gors by the name XBLINK, deposits the minimum $20 into UB Poker and plays a $11 tournament. He wins that tournament for $750 and then moves to Omaha and starts playing low-limit ring games.
He plays low-limit Omaha ring games for a day, finishing that day with a bankroll of $4k. The next day he starts playing slightly higher stakes. He plays away for a few days moving from $1/$2 to $5/$10 and his bankroll also moved up from $4k to $16k. For the next 2 days he moved between 20k and 60k before again moving up stakes.
By the 5th day of play he had hit a bankroll of 6 figure's and was playing $25/$50 PLO. A week later and he has a bankroll over $800k and is playing $200/$400 PLO and playing No Limit Holdem at higher stakes as UB Poker don't support PLO higher than $200/$400.
So to sum up.

Day 1 = Wins $11 tournament for $750 and then starts playing low-limit PLO
Day 2 = Starts playing slightly higher stakes and runs $4k upto 16k.
Day 3 & 4 = Moves from playing $1/$2 PLO to $5/$10 PLO and also takes his Bankroll from about $16k to $60k
Day 5 = Breaks the $100k mark and starts playing $25/$50 PLO.
Day 6 and On = Moves from $25/$50 upto $200/$400 PLO and higher NLH stakes and takes his Bankroll to over $800k

So is XBLINK the next Isildur1? Maybe. He might even be better. So the next question everyone will be asking is, Who is XBLINK?
- PokerNewsBoy 3rd January 2010
(According to 89blist's 2+2 post, he cashed out $1,000,000 and will try to rebuild his bankroll)

The article is more than 1 year old but still haven't heard about it from the bigger poker news sites.

17th best poker player blogger in the World (of PokerStars)

WBCOOP Main Event was very good. I finished 17th out of 872 players and won a $215 SCOOP ticket. Here is my last hand:

PokerStars - | 4000/8000 NL (9 max) - Holdem - 8 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: 125,020.00
Hero (UTG+1): 114,280.00
MP: 464,435.00
MP+1: 122,200.00
CO: 87,936.00
BTN: 133,547.00
SB: 185,914.00
BB: 65,762.00

UTG posts ante 800.00, Hero posts ante 800.00, MP posts ante 800.00, MP+1 posts ante 800.00, CO posts ante 800.00, BTN posts ante 800.00, SB posts ante 800.00, BB posts ante 800.00, SB posts SB 4,000.00, BB posts BB 8,000.00

Pre Flop: (18400.00) Hero has Q♣ Q♦

fold, Hero calls 8,000.00, fold, fold, CO raises to 87,136.00 and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 79,136.00

Flop: (192672.00, 2 players) 6♥ 8♠ K♣

Turn: (192672.00, 2 players) T♦

River: (192672.00, 2 players) A♠

Hero shows Q♣ Q♦ (One Pair, Queens) (PreFlop 70%, Flop 86%, Turn 84%)
CO shows A♣ Q♥ (One Pair, Aces) (PreFlop 30%, Flop 14%, Turn 16%)
CO wins 192,672.00

The table was very aggressive. The big stack (MP) raised every hand and if he didn't raise, the CO moved all in.
If I raise, CO moves in, so the money gets in the middle in every scenario.

Click on the picture for better resolution

Sick jump from 10th to 9th place..

I'm going to write more in the near future. Yeah, I was a bit lazy. But look what we have here:

High Stakes Poker Season 7 premieres on 28th February:

The Micros Poker - Episode 2

PokerStars League Main Events' results

It was fun to play in these tournament, especially because they're were free and the players' skill level was under average. I had a nice rush in the beginning of both tourney. I was among the top 10 players until I bluffed away 50% of my stack. I play great anyway.

Facebook Poker League: 797/947
Twitter Poker League: 49/1486 - Step 2 coupon win

I didn't play the first tournament of the new season but I plan to play most of the this year.

Carbon Poker Announcement:

$75,000 Guaranteed tournament on 30th January 2010
buy-in $109, satellites are running now as low as $2.20
More info here >>>

Poker League Main Events

PokerStars Twitter Poker League Main Event:

Hello JrMontana08,

Congratulations on qualifying to the Twitter Poker League– Main event final. This is exclusively for players who cashed in any of the Twitter $1.10 Poker league tourneys in 2010.

Here are the tournament details:

Name: Twitter Poker League - Main Event Final
Date: January 23, 2011
Time: 15:00 ET
Game: NL Hold'em

In order to locate the tournament, click the "Tourney" tab, then "Private".  The tournament id is #350103398.

Good luck at the tables,
PokerStars Support

Main Event prizes:

Place	Prize
1	$2,100 Step Ticket
2-9	$700 Step Ticket
10-36	$82 Step Ticket
37-63	$7.50 Step Ticket

Player of the Year:

1st Place - $2,100 Step Ticket
2nd & 3rd Place - $1,050 Step Ticket

Best Live Tweeter of the Year:

1st Place - $1,500 Step Ticket
2nd,  3rd & 4th  Place - $215 Step Ticket

PokerStars Facebook Poker League Main Event:

Hello JrMontana08,

Congratulations on qualifying to the Facebook Poker League– Main event final. This is exclusively for players who cashed in any of the Facebook $1.10 Poker league tourneys in 2010.

Here are the tournament details:

Name: Facebook Poker League - Main Event Final
Date: January 23, 2011
Time: 15:00 ET
Game: NL Hold'em

In order to locate the tournament, click the "Tourney" tab, then "Private".  The tournament id is #350100589.

Good luck at the tables,
PokerStars Support

Place	Prize
1	$2,100 Step Ticket
2 – 9	$700 Step Ticket
10 - 36	$82 Step Ticket
37-63	$27 Step Ticket
64 -100	$7.5 Step Ticket

WBCOOP 2011

THE WORLD BLOGGER CHAMPIONSHIP OF ONLINE POKER IS HERE AGAIN!

WBCOOP Returns with $58,000 in SCOOP Tickets!

It’s time for all poker-playing bloggers to put down the keyboard and mouse and get ready for action, because the annual PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker (WBCOOP) is back. This time round the seven-day event includes six preliminary tournaments, running January 24-29, 2011, before the action culminates with the Main Event on January 30. There’s an incredible $58,000 in Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP*) tickets up for grabs, and WBCOOP is completely free-to-enter for all verified bloggers.
How to Qualify

Simply register as a verified blogger to take part. For your blog to be eligible, it needs to have been online for at least two months and updated on a regular basis. Blogs created specifically for this promotion, or that only have a few posts, will not be granted entry to WBCOOP. If you have been eligible in the past for WBCCOP but have not updated your blog on a regular basis since the last event, you will not be eligible to play. All decisions about eligibility rest with WBCOOP management and are final.

Visit the WBCOOP registration page to find out how to submit your blog for verification. Once you are registered, you can play in any or all of the free WBCOOP preliminary events and qualify for the Main Event.

Preliminary Events

The preliminary tournaments are free-to-enter and run daily from January 24-29, in a range of different games at the times listed below. You can find them listed in the PokerStars lobby, under ‘Tourney’ & ‘All’.

Game	Date	Time
Pot Limit Omaha	Jan-24	14:00 ET
No Limit Hold’em	Jan-25	19:00 ET
Pot Limit Omaha HI/Lo	Jan-26	22:00 ET
No Limit Hold’em	Jan-27	14:00 ET
8-Game Mix	Jan-28	17:00 ET
No Limit Hold’em	Jan-29	19:00 ET

Prizes

Each preliminary tournament will award the following prizes.

Place	Prize
1	2x $215 SCOOP Tickets + 2x Sunday Million Tickets + WBCOOP Main Event Ticket
2-9	$215 SCOOP Ticket + WBCOOP ME Ticket
10-36	$33 SCOOP Ticket + WBCOOP ME Ticket
37-63	$16.50 SCOOP Ticket + WBCOOP ME Ticket
64-153	$11 SCOOP Ticket + WBCOOP ME Ticket
154-200	WBCOOP ME Ticket

Main Event

The 2010 WBCOOP Main Event takes place January 30 at 15:00 ET. Find it in the PokerStars lobby under ‘Tourney’ & ‘All’.

Place	Name
1	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $2,760
02-10	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $2,010
11-36	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $215
37-63	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $55
64-153	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $22
154-200	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $11
201-250	SCOOP Tickets to Value of $7.50

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! The WBCOOP is a free online Poker tournament open to all Bloggers, so register on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: XXXXXX 984333

GOOD LUCK & HAVE FUN AT THE TABLES!

Rodeo Poker

Rodeo Poker is also known as Cowboy Poker. It has nothing to do with real poker. They got cards at the table and the word of poker is involved.

A few cowboys are sitting at a table with cards in their hands. A raging bull is running towards the players. The last person to throw down their cards and run from the table is declared the winner of the game.

Viewer Discretion Advised - more blood, more action:

I'm not a fan of rodeos but I've never heard about rodeo poker before. Interesting but it's just another way to "entertain" people.

Well, I wouldn't play a hand there.. or check/raise the bull on the turn..

Moved up in stakes [Poker770 challenge]

I'm doing well in the Poker770 challenge, can't complain. I started with a $7,70 bankroll and currently I have ~$25. Thanks to PokerSpace for the opportunity.

I moved up a few stakes because I won a PokerSpace tournament for $18. I'm going to play $1 Short-handed (6-max) SnGs.

I hope I'll reach the $2 stakes soon, so I can play the $2 Jackpot SnGs. Those games are great! Win a 4 "Dirty Dozen" Jackpot SnGs in a row and get $2000.