Big Edge Poker Blog

The Worst Beat Ever

Poker Farce — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:19:18 GMT

This is a pretty funny story...

The Baddest Bad Beat Poker Story Ever! - video powered by Metacafe

It's a Freeroll Party

Luis — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:30:49 GMT

So I haven't been around lately. I put a few posts up on the site late in the summer and haven't been writing anything since. I'll be honest, I was completely burned out after the summer. I never played that much online poker ever in my life. I was regularly playing in all the daily tourney's on one site from 5 in the afternoon until 2 or 3 in the morning. That's in addition to the sit n go's played simultaneously which actually covered my entry fee's into the tourney's. Let's be honest, cashing in tourney's doesn't come around that often. So sit n go's is what kept me above water while i wasn't cashing in the daily's.

Now I was playing at the low limits, usually anywhere from $5 - $25 entry fees. The thing is, the fields are usually 350 + for the tourney's so it becomes pretty exhausting trying to outlast those kind of fields on a daily basis for hours on end. As the summer started out I was playing mostly hold em and doing fairly well, but one evening I entered an Omaha hi low tourney. I ended up doing fairly well, I final tabled the tourney and finished in the top 3. As the summer progressed I played more and more Omaha and had more success at it. I began to realize what is probably well known now in poker circles. Most people are used to only hold em and the gap between novice and pro has shrunk and continues to shrink, while Omaha is on the rise and still an unknown game to many people.

So what does this mean, if anything at all? Well, for one it actually means that people are looking for something other than no limit hold em. Second, and most important to poker players, is that most people have no clue how to play the game. I don't consider myself a very good Omaha player , in fact I really never liked it before this past summer. However, once I started playing, I realized how bad the OTHER players were. In most cases I could just wait until I had a cinch hand and just bet right out for the max and get more than a few callers to call me down and pay me off. I ended up playing more Omaha than hold em as a result, all be it Omaha high low which is different than pot limit Omaha since you have a chance to play for the low and a high each hand. The high low variety is a bit different in that sense, but I also found out that weaker players' mistakes were compounded even more in the high low variety since they would be likely to chase both ends of the pot only to lose most of the pot anyway.

I'm sure top notch players have noticed this in the past few months or even year, and I'm sure many of them are playing plenty of pot limit Omaha or some form of it and reducing their time at hold em. There's more of an edge for pro's and very skilled poker players right now since Omaha is huge and still played by weak players. After all, isn't getting the edge what it's all about?

p.s.

see you all tonight at the tourney

60 Minutes Poker Story This Sunday

Poker Farce — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:36:51 GMT

I almost gave up on 60 Minutes ever airing this story about the Absolute Poker cheating scandal. But, I just heard this being discussed during today's NFL game and the story is going to air this Sunday at 7 PM EST on CBS.

Omaha

Busted Bullets — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:33:43 GMT

In spirit of the Big Edge Poker Freeroll I thought that I would share some of my thoughts on the game of Omaha. For those of you that don't know, Omaha is a game where each player is dealt 4 hole cards faced down and you have 5 community cards. To have a winning hand you must play 2 of your cards with 3 of the 5 community cards. You cannot play the board and you cannot use more than 2 of your hole cards. The betting rounds are like hold 'em and you can choose from no limit, fixed, or pot limit. Now I'm sure most of you are thinking "wow!" 4 cards!?! That's great! I mean, think of all the hands you can make.........and lose to. Here are some tips to prolong your first game of Omaha:

1) Starting Hands. Very, very, very important! Just because you have 4 cards doesn't mean you play any face card. Starting out I would suggest that you try and start with hole cards that give you multiple possibilities. Meaning, I would play hands like this:
*Ac Kc 10d 9h--- Nut Flush Draw, Nut Straight Flush, Straights
*Kd 9h 8c Qc---- Flush Draw, Multiple Straights
*Jd Jh 7d 5c----- Trips, Full House, Quads, Straights
*Ad Kh Qc 10s--One of my favorites....Straights draws and you can hit a variety of flops to hit your straight
Some weaker hands to avoid:
*Ac Ad 3s 5s----- I would play this with caution...pairs typically don't carry much value post flop...weak straight draws
*9s 8c 2d Ah----- Possible straights...but depending on flop texture..not very strong
*Ad Ks Kc Ah----You can only play one pair and you don't want to overvalue

Obviously you can argue some of these, but you want to try and start with hands that make easy decisions for you post flop and allow you to maximize your profits. Also, depending on your stakes you will find players that play just about anything hoping to hit runner runner draws.

2)Beware of Top Pair, Two Pair, Trips. I say this because with 4 hole cards and depending on flop texture it is very possible to be outdrawn on. I'm not saying it's not possible to win with these hands, I just want to point out that they don't carry the same value as they would in Hold 'Em. Play them with caution.

3) Analyze your hand in relation to the flop. Try to realize that with hole cards such as *Ah Ad Ks Qc with a flop of 10h 10s 6s, that it may look like two pair but also try and think of what others may have hit on the flop or maybe what they're drawing to with 2 cards to come. That flop can give anyone trips, full house or even a straight flush possibility leaving your two pair in the dust. I would like to point out that it is possible to have many outs to draw to and that your opponets will try and do so. You will save a lot of money in the long run if you can get to a point in your game where you realize you're beaten and let hands go.

4) The most important thing I can share of the game that I've learned thus far is to get your chips in when you're ahead because the next card to come can take you from "way ahead" to "far behind." With a hand or even semi-bluff, I would discourage checking. Make sure if you're opponets want to stay and play, that they're paying to do so. The only way I would slow action down is if I had close to the nuts or had them....and my reasoning would be to give my opponets the chance to hit their draws but they would be lesser hands. Probably a riskier move for the begginer, but as you progress and start to analyze flop texture you will be able to do this and make a little bit more money.

The last tip I can provide is to be patient as the game and decisions involved will become easier for you as you play more often. These are probably the best tips I can give to any beginner, and even in some cases the intermediate player. If you utilize these tips I'm sure that you will run deep in any game you're a part of. If you'd like, you can find me practicing my tips on a regular basis over at Pokerstars or Cake Poker. I look forward to seeing you at the tables and don't forget to sign up for the Big Edge Poker Freeroll, where we will be playing Pot Limit Omaha at 7pm EST this coming Saturday.

Crazy Payout Structure...FTW?

Poker Farce — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 10:13:38 GMT

While I was speaking with some of the support staff at Cake Poker to set up our freeroll, they mentioned a few of the different payout structures that they offer for private tournaments...one of these really stuck out to me.

They call this the "Crazy" Payout structure. This basically randomizes the $ amount that is paid out to each finishing position. This means that the winner doesn't necessarily win the largest amount. The 3rd place finisher can win more than the 2nd place finisher. The 4th place finisher can win more than 3rd place and so on. Below is an example of what the payout structure looks like for one of these tournaments...

As you can imagine, this will have some ridiculous implications as far as strategy is concerned. It would be fair to say that you are no longer playing the same poker game when you change the structure like this.

At certain times, the object is to be the next person knocked out, so your hand strengths are essentially be reversed. Getting knocked out in 5th might be one of the best options because it is better than getting knocked out in 4th or 3rd. However, getting knocked out in 2nd is worth more than 3rd or 4th. So if you have a lot of chips at that point, it might be best to go for second instead of 5th. If you ahve a short stack, you might want to think about trying to get knocked out next.

It would be fair to say, that there are going to be a lot of different strategies utilized in a game like this. I could really beat this blog entry to death talking about strategy for these tournaments, but I won't waste my time. Don't completely forget about this though, because it's possible you will see this kind of prize structure in the future, maybe for one of the Big Edge Poker Freerolls. That would really be something...pot limit Omaha with a crazy payout structure? FTW?

Contributed Rake Method

Poker Farce — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 09:04:07 GMT

The Contributed Rake Method

Hey guys, as we all know Rake is the method that online poker rooms use for to earn money. Rather than have you play poker against the House, which would by no means guarantee the House a profit, online poker rooms let players fight it out amongst each other. The House simply takes out a percentage of the pot, no matter what happens. The amount is usually five or 10 percent, never more than three or four dollars.

How Does Rakeback Work?

Rakeback is a way for players to get some of that rake money back and increase their win rate. Players sign up with a new site through rakeback affiliates offering a certain percentage of rakeback. Thereafter, the affiliate calculates a player’s rake, applying the designated percentage. The appropriate amount goes in the player’s account at the end of the month.

How Does the Contributed Method for Calculating Rakeback Work?

Since each player does not contribute the full amount of the rake, the site has to figure out a way to determine the player's contribution. One way to do that is through the contributed rake method. The contributed rake method, used by Absolute Poker and Carbon Poker for example, bases your rake on how much you put into the pot. For example, let’s say you play a $60 pot and $3 of that is taken out in rake. The round is four-handed and you put $15 into that pot. Since you put in 25 percent of the pot, you receive 25 percent credit in the form of the rake, in this case, 75 cents. Take note that this is true regardless of whether you win the pot. The rake money is never truly in the pot. Everyone really puts in some money aside for the House whenever they make a bet.

How Does the Contributed Method Benefit You?

If you are a loose player who likes to play a lot of pots, you’re paying a lot of rake and therefore can earn a lot of rake back. Players who play tight and wait for hands won’t get credit with as much rake and won’t benefit from the contributed rake method. Hope everyone finds this useful and helpful and you will hear from me soon.

Making a Run at the Pai Gow Tables

Poker Farce — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:53:24 GMT

I don't usually spend much time at the online casinos. Some of the online poker rooms I play at also offer casino games, but I usually stick to the poker tables. I used to play craps sometimes when American players were still allowed to play on the Ongame Network, but it has been years since that was possible. A few nights ago I decided to take a shot at some of the casino games because I was sure that I was due to get lucky soon.

I'm not even familiar with the rules to most of the casino games. For some reason I thought that I knew how to play Pai Gow Poker, but I have no clue where I came up with that Idea. Within a few minutes of sitting down I had lost 1/4 of my bankroll. I decided to move over to the craps tables, and even I played a little bit of blackjack. All of this without ever even seeing my bankroll get close to where it started.

Ultimately, I wound up heading back to the Pai Gow tables. This game reminds me a little bit of Chinese Poker just because of the way that you need to set up your hands. Maybe this is why I did so poorly...it's really not like Chinese poker at all when you sit down to play it. Keep in mind that you should take my advice on these games at face value. It's obvious that I don't know anything about how to play them properly.

If you are interested in really learning how to play games like this, there are some great resources on the internet. A lot of the websites that provide poker strategy articles will also have articles on Pai Gow, Chinese Poker, Badugi and lots of other games that are rising in popularity.

Ultimately I did get some of my money back, although my bankroll was still nowhere near the amount that it started at. To top it off, I started steaming pretty bad after this, and I blew off most of the money that I had on that network while I was playing poker.

Short Stacked Tournaments

The Online Professor — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:24:19 GMT

Recently I have noticed a trend among poker rooms around the country. The starting chip stacks STINK!!! Will this ever change? I highly doubt it, so I have developed a new approach.

The card room where I play generally has 2 multi-table tourneys, and SNGs. The multi-table tournaments are usually $200 buy-ins and $300 buy-ins, both are 4000 or 8000 starting chips respectively. The latter blind levels are 50-100 start and double from there. The $200 buy-in blinds start at 25-50 and double from there. Personally, I would not play these tournaments, if not for the fact there are few options, so I must. This poker room also runs $50 and $100 SNGs on a regular basis. These chip stacks are HORRID!!! Starting stacks are $500 in chips and blinds at 25-50 and double from there, with 15 minute levels. These I very rarely play, however, I play these well, and have a good ROI.

First, Lets start with the multi-table. When playing poker at any level, patience is always a factor. When you are in a tournament with a short stack right out of the gate, patience is all but important. Generally, if you wait too long, you have nothing to bargan with as far as a stack goes. Therefore, 2 things must happen in the early stages. You must get all the value out of your big hands, and secondly, you must be able to make things happen. This usually means using aggression and reads as a means to take pots. This also means gambling a bit with medium hands when you know you can get in cheap. Most of what I find in these type of games is that almost any raise is a pot committed raise. Very much so after a few levels. This is an extreme factor in how and when you play a hand, or how you play a hand. I have played the same tournament for 5 years now and have repeated only 4 times. Why??? Chip stacks are too small to play poker. I know, its all poker, but i refer to these tournaments as push fests. With push fests, you need some luck, to win.

Now that we know what we are up against, lets get down to business.

Limping..... only in the first round, or at a table with an extremely aggressive person, in which case you will re-push with a monster and try to get him committed. Keeping in mind that if you miss the flop with a limping hand, bluffing is not much of an option. That is why limping is a bad idea. My personal view is that I don't ever play a hand without a raise, and I usually always over raise. By this I generally make it 5-8 times the BB. If you have a wired pair of 2s and you raise, you just don't have enough chips to play a lot of hands. A good rule for 1st stage limping is to keep a small percentage in chips to limp with, when its gone you change gears.

Hand Ranking....I know you think I'm going to say play the top 10% of hands, and you're right! If you are one of the lucky ones early, then you can loosen up and try to KO a few short stacks, but the best way to advance is to play tight and aggressive with you starting hands. I will generally fold pp 8 or below, unless I'm in push mode in which case, its all going in.

Value Betting.......most of the players in the early rounds(mostly beginners) never know how to value bet the hand. As a seasoned pro , this is a monster mistake, which can easily cost you a cashing spot. Find the value in the opposing player. I have found sometimes after flopping a monster, a minimum bet provokes action later. Remember poker is about odds. If you can get a player to call out of odds, over time you will win.

Stay tuned for parts II &III

$100 Freeroll for Blog Readers and Authors

Poker Farce — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:35:08 GMT

Registration has opened for our freeroll on Cake Poker - November 29th at 7PM EST. This is a freeroll, so there is no cost to get in. You just need to make sure to enter soon and reserve your spot before the tournament fills up.

You will find our tournament in the private tournament lobby on Cake Poker. Here are the final tournament details:

Tournament Name: Big Edge Poker Freeroll
Password: BIGEDGEP
$100 Freeroll
Max. 50 entrants
Pot Limit Omaha
5,000 starting chips, starting with 15/30 blinds
10 minutes blind levels

This should be a great tournament with lots of play. Here is the payout structure. This structure is formatted to remain the same regardless of whether there are 10 entrants (min.) or 50 entrants (max.).

$30
$20
$13
$9.40
$6.60
$5.80
$4.80
$4.00
$3.40
$3.00

You can download the software to play in the tournament right here for free: Cake Poker

Good luck to everyone who is coming out to play. My screen name is BigEdgePoker and I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the tables.

Heroes and Zeroes of November

Poker Farce — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:35:59 GMT

I'm gonna seize this opportunity to take another cheap shot at Norman Chad, Lon Mcheron and the folks at ESPN. Congrats guys, you earned the #1 spot on top of my zeroes list for November.

Other notable zeroes for October and November include Tiffany Michelle and the State of Kentucky.

Now for the heroes...

Not a lot of heroes come to mind right now. I'm gonna add Tom Dwan (Durrrr) to this month's list of heroes. He appears to have no regard for money, and he has provided many of us with some great entertainment recently at the high stakes tables on Full Tilt. The high stakes games have calmed down the last few weeks, but I have no doubt that there is more action to come.

There's also a few people who I think have earned their places on this month's list of heroes. I'm not sure what has become of these guys below, but they certainly have earned their spots on my list. I wish you guys the best, wherever you are.