Free Poker!

Is there such a thing? Maybe if you are playing with friends in your home. But then again you have to provide some refreshments; you have to entertain your guests.

So I went to Fanatics last night to hit a Badger Poker tournament (see sidebar for links). It had been a long while since I attended Badger, though my name appeared to be recognized by all. I was surprised to find they are no longer providing a last man standing option in which people pay for extra chips and are eligible to win the collection… if they win it all. Chopping, splitting the collection among two or more remaining players, was also an option if all agreed.

But no more with Badger Poker as they desire to promote the free poker aspect of their business. The top three winners now get a bar tab as a prize. But is it really free? As someone who does not go out to enjoy the bar scene unless I am playing poker I have to question that, at least from the perspective of getting in a good game.

Yes, for those who go out to enjoy the night life spending a fist full of money, for which one will receive extra chips, is expected. Respectively they get a goodly stack beyond what someone who literally plays for free would get. You can still tip the tournament director for even more chips, which many are happy to do because the size of your stack does matter. Not to mention that they simply want to support the cause and know that something has to be in it for the directors so all involved can enjoy tournament poker.

I am capable of providing a small tip and to support the establishment by buying a soda, but this still leaves me severely small stacked in comparison to others. Badger also has an aggressive blind structure, not to mention extremely aggressive betting. Which means, for those truly or practically playing for free, if you don’t win a big hand, or several hands, in the first hour you’re going to have a short night.

Still it is an atmosphere, a style of play, I need to confront and master. So as I am now climbing back into economic viability, I still intend to hit Badger Poker on a regular basis. I had been sticking strictly with Tavern Tourney games when finances allowed, but now will start expanding my experiences. Ideally I would like to enjoy one of each (Badger and Tavern) every week. I still have to go to a few Pit Bull Poker tournaments so I can make a detailed comparison of the three tournament options on this blog. But that will have to happen sometime over the Winter. Pit Bull Poker promotes the free poker beyond all others though I believe you still get extra chips for purchases.

So why would I play tournament poker with tight finances? One reason is, as I record all my poker investments, I am break even or better money wise. …Maybe poker is free if you’re good like me. Now without a cash win option at Badger that may suffer a bit. The only opportunity to win back ones investment is now at Badger’s larger tournaments one usually must qualify for in points. Another reason I play, even when I can only afford a small stack, is that  I take everything I decide to invest myself in very seriously, and look to become the best at it. And that wont happen by doing nothing, and that’s what this blog is about.

Still I am not ready to be hitting tournaments twice a week on a regular basis. I am looking for several options for secondary and tertiary income. As Mark Belling has his football picking contest going on he promotes ASAwins.com . This service provides sport betting advice, their best picks available for purchase. So I looked into how one could take advantage of their advice to make some money (they wouldn’t be in business if their advice was bad) but could not find anyway to place sports bets that was clearly legal, so I have dropped that option.

Getting back into the stock market is another option that I feel more confident about after my past experiences. Then there is the nickel and dime returns I have made off of the Internet, through advertising or providing some small service. What I have called in the past Christmas gift money.

Playing poker on the Internet is loosing its allure as you don’t know and can’t see who you are playing, though I still do it to keep myself sharp. As we become financial stronger I am thinking of joining a site that provides training in the ways of poker.

What's Wrong with You?!

I have come to understand that the Milwaukee crowd that frequents Tavern Tourneys, a much more enjoyable, social and holding less chance of running into questionable activities alternative to Badger Poker, is far less drama encrusted than Tavern Tourney's southern crowd. Not that Badger Poker is not a great venue for the serious player, it's just better if you've been around the block at least once first. I still need to visit Pit Bull Poker two or three times to make a detailed comparison of the three.

We are still under the gun financially as home repairs loom large, and our credit reports are extremely slow to arrive allowing for us to resolve our debt. And until recently, I have not been playing any tournaments for a long time. I went last week to an opening of a new Tavern Tourney location to lend my support to the cause. Then Monday I went again, as we didn't go to a movie for my birthday and saved some money. I made the final three and we chopped three ways, somehow in my favor. Then I went again last night and took everything. I came home, told my wife I won again and how much, and she said "Oh my gosh! What's wrong with you?!" The Tavern Tourney director suggested I not tell my wife when I win.

Well, I did have some bonus chips for making it my birthday tournament last night but I took some huge hits and rebounded, being patient; waiting for the right moment. One gentleman came into the game on the cheap with a very small stack. I sent him on tilt after I pushed him off a hand he loved with a large pre-flop raise. Everyone folded. The fore mentioned gentleman went wild and made the final table. When I told him I had a 7, 5 suited on that hand.... he he he.

As far as the Internet goes I catch some tournaments here and there. If we were not financially buried, home repair costs looming large, I would seriously consider the Club WPT membership. not to mention getting cable or satellite to watch some poker channels. But that is a long way off. Maybe we should just move to Las Vegas. And as long as we are mentioning the Internet my latest book is available for Kindle. It is not professionally edited, but still immensely enjoyable if you like the genre. I gave a copy of an early draft to the owner of Tavern Tourneys for his newborn. I told him if I become famous he can auction it off and send his son through college with the money. I printed, numbered and signed only ten copies and have edited it further since. There will be no more like it. I seem to have misplaced one of my copies. I am looking forward to his opinion. Yes, I took the photo for and designed the cover myself.

Happy Fourth of July

I hope everyone enjoys this holiday weekend and celebrates our Independence Day with true patriotic fervor. They say such activities will make you a conservative. Then I say celebrate, celebrate, celebrate.

And if you are a great tournament poker player this July has more to celebrate; the $100,000 Mid-Summer Classic at the Potawatomi Bingo and Casino here in Milwaukee. Not only that, but they are having smaller tournaments Sundays and Mondays most of the month.

If you are some one who considers himself a proficient player, dangerous to the fortunes of others, these are the kind of events that should excite you. The odd thing is, if we were still deep in dept I feel I would be more likely to enter the tournament. That is, in financial circumstances with little hope the potential of huge windfalls is nearly the only place one could find hope. I never really chased such windfalls, never making the casino's smaller tournaments when they were on a weekly basis, but have been calculating in how much I can truly risk and still make my commitments. So I chased that chance to win an entry into the Chicago Poker Classic.

However, now that we have found relief from our debt, finding ourselves challenged with long overdue maintenance expenses on home and body, I am more frugal as I can see we can meet these expenses through the course of the summer if we truly hunker down. Expenses in the past we simply thought impossible to meet. But who knows? Maybe I will try one of the $100 tournaments and win enough to enter the big event,...if there's room.

You should always evaluate yourself. If you are being rational or are irrationally chasing pipe dreams. But I am good. These are the kind of events I should be challenging myself with if I'm going to take my poker truly serious. It's about what you want to make of yourself. It requires decision making and risk taking, and prioritizing, putting your larger responsibilities first.

Happy Fourth of July! And remember ...Celebrate! Celebrate! Celebrate!

Bowling

I have not been to a poker tournament in some time. I am doing much better playing on the Internet as many of the former money players now must play for free. So I'm not playing carefree hacks any longer. Also there are many more Omaha hi/lo games available.

After being encouraged by a friend of mine most of the Winter to bowl in an individual league on Fridays, I finally took him up on it. He seems to do well at collecting off the many offers to pick up prizes of cash or coupons. He always claimed it did not cost him much to bowl because of the prizes he wins on a regular basis. The prizes are based on strikes with colored head pins, strikes on predetermined frames, drawings, etc.

Not so for me. Though I tried a different ball today, that gave me hope for future improvement, I have not been doing well enough to even come close to making a dent in what it cost me to bowl. It cost about the same as a poker tournament and my returns are much higher with poker.

I will be stepping back from bowling until we get our finances worked out. Getting many bills out of the way, most notably our quarterly tax payments, we are about to get back to the ability to build assets for life and the future. Unfortunately much of that will be going into repairs on our home, and medical bills, for some time. But maybe things will work out better than we expect. I haven't raced my mountain bike in almost two years either and hope to make a few races this year.

So how much will I invest in small social tournaments held in bars and taverns? Even though it is an activity that is far less costly than mountain biking and bowling, considering my ability to win an occasional tournament, and could even bring a return, ...it is just so bright outside right now at 7:00 pm.; the time when poker tournaments generally start. I find it hard not to be busy with something else at the time. I still want to get in some tournaments over the Summer. My mind is more open to walking to a tournament, enjoying the nice weather, than driving or taking the bus. So I will be more likely start going to Badger Poker tournaments again this summer rather than Tavern Tourneys. Of course if the weather is bad...

It looks like Winter will be the primary season for poker. Still have some friends over once in a while for a friendly game. I may try the casino once or twice over the Summer if we get on top of our home repairs. Why go to the casino? Because I have a good chance to come out ahead.

Didn't bet on any horses that Mark Belling picked in the last three big horse races. I really wanted to on that race just before Mother's Day, but we were really busy with our sales. I had a strong urge to run out quick and make a bet but didn't. It would have paid off big. The two big races after that where Mark Belling provided picks I had plenty of time to get to the OTB at the casino, but I just didn't feel any drive to go. I would have lost. This is part of how I do well at poker.

I wrote another book. Not poker related. Available only for Kindle. It is a good read, edited as well as I can myself. So if the occasional over use of commas and sentence fragments trouble you to no end you might not enjoy it. Otherwise I am sure you'll love it. Do I spend hundreds to send out copies to numerous publishers to try to get support as an author, or spend some $5,000, $5,000 I don't have, to self publish; editing, layout/design and marketing all included?

The Six Month and Such

Yes, though I was only able to make it to few Tavern Tourney nightly tournaments, I qualified for the six moth with points. 235 points over six months is sufficient in most cycles to qualify. You earn 50 points for winning a tournament outright, and ten points for finishing 9th; making the final table.

For economic reason I could not play more often. Also it kept me from going to the Pit Bull tournaments as they are not near and the gas prices are high. So I do not have a review written for the three most available league play organizations in the area. I can give you the most dominant consideration one should have when considering taking up poker as a hobby, or amateur pursuit (I think poker is an amateur profession, there are no professionals in poker surviving singularly on table winnings in my view), and are trying to decide which league one should commit to. Location, location, location. Whatever is nearest you is the best place to start. The leagues that cost little or nothing will cost one no more, and possibly less if you are good, than most hobbies people have. After you get the feel of tournament play, recognize what is going on at the tables, other considerations may take precedent as to which league you find most enjoyable.

I finished 29th out of over 120 in the six month. Some odd things were going on at the table that may just be coincidence or signs of something more ominous, but I don't have the experience to tell which. Anyway I went in with a suited King when I wasn't on a blind with a small stack. Probably not wise as people were dropping quickly and it meant that this would most likely be the hand I would have to commit my whole stack to. I was still a few hands from being on the blinds. A gentleman bet big pre-flop and I called, as did several others before me. I had my flush draw and decided to go all-in. The big pre-flop raiser had a 7, 3 off suit and hit a full house, 7's full of 3's. After going all-in I showed my club flush draw to a gentleman next to me, he was out of the hand, and it must have been seen by the guy next to the big winner as he said "No clubs" to his friend before the river was dealt. A 3 came on the river. These kinds of things make one wonder.

Black Friday struck. That is what the Poker Players Alliance called it when the FBI shut down Internet poker sites where people were playing for money. No concern of mine as I do not play for money on the Internet. Ultimate Bet put money into my account as a promotion years back and I played a few sit and go tournaments with their money, as I thought they were allowed as I read the law, but stopped doing that also.

But even the free play is suspect. The free tournaments are very different in feel now as many of the money players are now at the tables. Still the patterns I see make me doubt the integrity of Internet play. How many times can I go all-in with the best hand, be called, and lose on the river. What are the odds that I never win in that circumstance, over and over and over again. And then I was on the small blind with Jacks. Great hand, but problematic when a high flop comes. But I had only the big blind to deal with. Everyone folded. I went all-in and he folded but then suddenly one of the chip leaders had a call in front of him, like poof. He called. Had an Ace 10. He hit an Ace on the river, the last card, and took me out.

Glitches in the software? It seems no matter what the environment, no matter how honest and good a tournament director may be, cheating will always be something one has to deal with when playing poker. In many ways life is the same.

One of the things that have kept me from posting was finishing my most recent book. Available for Kindle only. I hope you enjoy it.

Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, and St. Patrick's Day

The casino is celebrating twenty years in March. They are having some meal specials at their dining facilities. Many are related to the more traditional holidays of March. They have a few prize promotions, and are holding a heads up poker tournament, with several satellites leading up to the main event.

I have not gotten to a local tournament in a few weeks. Weather and trying to save a little cash. I still need to make some appearances as not to drop out of qualification for the Tavern Tourney six month event.

The Tavern Tourney January monthly was nothing outstanding for myself. The hands weren't there, and trying to steal a pot before the first break almost worked. Almost being the key word. Then I went all-in with pocket tens, and lost to pocket fours hitting a set. Yes, if I go all-in many will be there to encourage you to call, as it increases the chances of me being beat. Those four's were going to fold. I am feared. Hahaha.

The outstanding thing about Tavern Tourney's monthly for January was the turnout. The largest turnout ever, I heard. People enjoy the game. They enjoy the Tavern Tourney venue.

Still I need to get to a couple of Pit Bull Poker's tournaments, so I can write about the three major poker venues in Southeastern Wisconsin. Maybe when the Winter utility bills have passed.

In the Black

I didn't win that entry into the Chicago Poker Classic. But I did finish second and collected a $100 prize. This keeps me clearly in the black for 2011.

I worked slowly and built up a dominant stack. As the blinds went to 1500 - 3000 and only 45,000 on the table many blinds went unchallenged. With good but not great hands I took the blinds on several hands with a min raise (3000). And then there were two of us. I had well over half the chips on the table and the blinds were now 3000 - 6000. I went all-in with Q, J. The other gentleman took a long time to decide and then called. He had a J, 8. I was dominant but he hit his 8 on the river.

The only thing I could have done different, that may have been beneficial was to show a card or both my cards. I thought he was taking so long because he held an A. If I had shown my Q or even both cards he most likely would have folded. Showing cards is something I have not done before. If one shows a card or cards one's hand is generally dead. That means you cannot bet or raise any longer throughout the hand. You can only call a bet.

Now I have the monthly as my next chance to grow my winnings for 2011. I do not think I will be going to any local tournaments until then... OK ...maybe one. I need to catch some more points for the six month and am thinking of picking a weekly location to play Badger Poker. Perhaps something I can walk to.

The monthly is the 13th. A Sunday for once which works well for me. The local casino is also having a tournament, a $340 buy-in. They have tournaments few and far between these days. I will take my chances and mad skills to the free Tavern Tourney monthly.

I have not played much Internet poker. Play money games are all we can play in Wisconsin as I understand it. Which is probably best. I thought of trying to get an Internet home game set up. Where you play with people you know. Set up a club, approve membership, and set up your own games and tournaments.