Raraulbl

First Idea: anonymous tables... Thoughts?

http://www.runitonce.com/chatter/ideas-on-how-to-improve-online-poker/

A side note; IF Pokerstars is ever going to reopen to the U.S. market I really hope they have their shit together and have figured out a comprehensive and effective business and marketing strategy because it would be a real nightmare if the dream of U.S. legalization finally happened and then fizzled out because of all the problems present in online poker right now.

Maybe we should start a thread to generate ideas about how to improve online poker?

Good post, sad day for online poker :(

What Pokerstars is doing imo is ethically wrong, especially in terms of not honoring SNE commitments.

That being said, what I think the poker community and pro's need to talk about is how do we get the general public excited about online poker again? Fix this issue and all the other problems go away.

I have plenty of friends who use to play online poker every week and have since quit. I have had a lot of discussions with most of them about why they quit and the answer is always something along the lines of "everyone online anymore is a pro", "games are too tough", "how can I beat someone with all their fancy software", "everyone is a nit its not fun". Obviously these statements are not true and debating their validity is pointless the point is how do we convince the general public that online poker is fun again and not full of pro's using mythical software?

I am going to touch on something a bit off topic but maybe something that will help us answer the problem I presented above. The honest truth is that we the pro's killed online poker. We couldn't just win and shut up we had to brag and let our egos run rampant all over the internet and even at casinos. How often do you go play a live game and not see some young arrogant kid blatantly telling (or modestly showing) the table how much better he is than everyone else or how bad they are. We have told and shown the fish that they are fish. Not just have we made it very apparent to them but we have shoved it down their Fing throats.

I do not have a solution to this problem. I do not think Pokerstars has found the solution with their new business and marketing strategies but I can not blame them for seeing the writing on the wall and attempting to fix this mess. If that is actually their intentions, which is obviously up for debate and I am not so sure I believe the story they are telling but that is besides the point.

I understand that this negatively effects a lot of people but the truth is the online poker economy is crashing and we all know it. If you are pissed off because these changes are negatively financially effecting you than sorry but I have no sympathy for you, we have known the volatility of online poker for a very long time. If you are pissed off because you think this is a bad play for the future of online poker than please work to find solutions that you think would stimulate the economy and that Pokerstars or other sites might actually adapt.

Both really great reads! Thanks for sharing

I don't think it is a bad idea to have poker as a job. I think it is a bad idea for someone who is playing NL2-NL5 to consider quitting school to play poker.
Also the statement "As long as you're better than others, it's all good, isn't it?" is not true at all. There are plenty of players who were better than others and profitable winning players in mid-stakes to high-stakes games that have decided to move on from poker because it was not what they wanted to do with their lives. For some people their is more to life than just winning and making $.

I would suggest casting a wide net and then pursuing whatever peaks your interest the most. If you have already tried software engineering and do not like it than try something else, but do not quit education. A degree in something you do not like is worth a hell of a lot more than a degree in nothing. And you have plenty of options. There is an endless amount of things one can do with their life that are not poker and software engineering.

I am not suggesting quitting poker but I would keep it as a personal hobby. It is a great game and can be a very productive hobby. Remember you do not have to do only one thing with your life and putting too many eggs in one basket is usually a bad idea. Diversify and find multiple things you like and pursue them all until one grabs you harder than the others.

Finish your degree in software engineering (or any degree for that matter)!!! Trust me this is not even a close decision. If you think this is even a remotely close decision then you do not have the logical reasoning skills to make it in poker.
The only time I would ever think it is reasonable to forgo an education for poker is if you are crushing 400nl+ and that is even pushing it.
Not to mention the poker economy is declining. Why would you forgo an education to enter a declining market that is capped on potential future income and possibilities? That makes absolutely no sense.

Yeah, I left Merge awhile ago because of the super slow payouts.

Same SN on Merge?
If so I remember you from Merge back in the day when I would dabble in the FR games if 6max was dead. And I remember being glad you stuck to the FR games because I thought you were good.
That's not really experience or advice but maybe its a confidence booster and that usually helps in a downswing.

Looks like a good idea. I will follow and try to help out where I can.

What site do you play on?

From taking a quick glance at your stats it looks like you might be too tight. But that being said I think stats can be misleading and do not tell the entire picture.

This is destructive thought process and a bad way to look at poker results that will only lead to tilt and other issues that do not help your poker game.

If you do not have tracking software how do you know it took 4 days to win 10bis and then you lost it in 5 hours? Sounds like you are tracking your results very closely. This is cancerous for a poker players game.

A common trend I see from a lot of low stakes players that never move up is that they are so focused on making money that it hinders their learning process and they never take the time to actually get good at the game. I have a friend that I set a staking/coaching deal up with and I thought he had the potential to get good at the game and make some money but he was so focused on results all the time that it ruined him. If he had a losing session he would blow of study to get back in and play trying to make his money back. He would half ass study all the time because he was just focused on making money. This is exactly how you do not make $ in poker.

If your sole goal for poker is to make money then you never will. Change your goal to trying to become the best player you can be and if you get close to that then the $ will come in.

The money isn't made at the table, it's made in the lab grinding away in an attempt to figure out this beautiful game.

Why are you playing poker?

If it is to make money then I would say it is probably time to quit. If you have been playing and working hard on your game for 4-5 years and still cant beat nl10 I would think there are better ways for you to achieve the goal of making money.

If you are playing poker because you enjoy playing poker then there is nothing wrong with it being a fun hobby and you should continue to do so as long as you can afford to lose the $ you play with.

I would try not to get too caught up in the rakeback and bonuses trap. It is helpful but the ultimate goal is to get good enough at poker to get to stakes high enough where the rake is not so devastating.
I spent a lot of time early in my career analyzing all that stuff on different sites and honestly it was a waste of time. Just work on getting good enough to beat mid-stakes or higher.

This is spot on!

Poker software is useful if you use it correctly, and can make study easier and more effective/efficient. BUT Poker software or anything for that matter (coaching videos, books, ect.) are not going to just hand you the keys to the castle. There is no magic formula or secret sauce that turns someone into a great poker player.

"How stupid is our government? Pretty damn stupid. All presumably to save ourselves from ourselves. Land of the free, except we need a nanny telling us what we're allowed to do and not do. But people ignore the nanny anyway and just do it illegally. Unregulated. Untaxed. Yep, our government is pretty damn stupid."

My thoughts exactly!

Thanks for all the info

So looks like option #1

I agree I think it is heading in the right direction faster than it was before. I still wouldn't call it a sure thing though because politicians constantly reminds us that they don't give 2 fucks about being hypocrites.

Im with you on this one. I find it extremely tilting to watch sports and have DFS shoved down my throat while I sit here and have to decide between grinding in a grey market, moving out of the county, or dealing with the most annoying humans in the world (live poker players).
It was even more tilting when they allowed people to buy lottery tickets online. That one was a real middle finger to the poker community.

I really hope option 2 is the case. NJ did open up to PS and FT so that is a huge first step and if they get Cali it could go the way of option #2..... BUT I have a feeling it is going to be 1 or 3. I hope I am wrong.

CREV. I would assume most pro's have spent a decent amount of time working in CREV.

"Can we transpose the concept of donk betting turns to 3-bet pots ?"

Yes, the fact that it is a 3bet pot doesn't change how the turn card effects ranges. If the turn gives the oop player a range advantage and you want to use a leading strategy on those turn cards then it doesn't really matter if it was in a 3bet pot or a single raised pot it just matters that the turn gave you a range advantage.

Pretty sure this is a scam. Look at the description it sounds like a joke and has numerous typos.
Also one of the things listed under what the course will help you with is "4.Understanding Pokerstove". It's comical to even consider that would be a section in a $399 poker book.

Based on your comments I think you are going to crush for sure. Please tell your parents how good you are and borrow $ from them and play the 5/10 or 10/20 games on Bovada or ACR. Cash games are super soft and that's where the real money is. Plus low limits are a joke so you definitely want to be in the higher stakes game.
Hope to see you at the tables. GL

I would choose a sizing that puts the BB to a decision where he fees like he is playing for his entire stack if he calls the first bet. I think something like 225-300$ does that.
On a board that smashes your range so hard and you block the A high flush draws I wouldn't expect to be called or played back at too light here on the flop. I think most people are going to play pretty honest in this spot. Especially the BB who has to worry about the BTN. Also the BTN's range is pretty weak and capped here to his best hand probably being 88 and maybe KJs. If he is any good he should know that as well and can't really make a move on you credibly. So even if the BTN does decide to raise flop its not the worst spot to attempt a rebluff 250bb deep where he can really only be happy about getting in 88 and Qh10h, 10h9h. Maybe that's a bit spewy but I feel like our range advantage and blocking the A high flush draw is pretty significant here that I would be putting some pressure on.

Bet fold 13$ feels like what I would do.

He has 6 combos KK and you want to bet smaller to get those to call. Also might have JJ or 1010 that will call a small bet. He has 6 combos of AA/QQ so it really depends if he calls with KK or not, or if he has AK, AQ in his range.

Way too tight! Never folding here. If you say he leads all sets and 2pair combos here (which is doubtful but we can go with worse case scenario) he has 9 combos of sets and 4 combos of 86s J8s for 13 combos total. There are 12 combos of AJ alone. You are getting 2:1 so even vs that range it's an easy call. That doesn't add in KJ,QJ,J10,QQ,109,79s and all the other stuff he could be leading here.

His value range is capped to a maximum of 36 combos if you give him J8o 86o J6s and J6o which is really pushing it so you only need him to have 18 combos of leads you beat and there are 12 AJ alone. So you would have to have a really really really solid read that he leads all his nut combos and never over values Jx or leads as a semi bluff to ever consider folding here. And I am pretty sure thats a read that is impossible to get in 77 hands.

I think you should factor in the fact that the BTN is still left to act but with so little hands on him and no real idea how he plays I would not put too much weight behind him being left to act. I would tighten my calling range in this spot with the BTN left to act but not even close to the point where I am folding KK here.

Side Note:
BB's range is probably not as tight as his HUD stats here. He is getting a great price pre and closes the action so I would assume his range is wider than normal in this spot.
You only have 15 hands on the BTN so you do not have even close enough info to call him a NIT and make an adjustment.

Yeah good discussion and hand

I think another factor that might lead to folding is that if you call and are wrong here it might cause tilt which cost you $ in other hands.