Haven’t played poker for a year

It’s now been a year since I last played and about 1.5 years since I last played online.
I’m pleased with my decision to stop. My only regret is that it would have been better never to start playing in the first place. I could have learnt so much in that time. One positive is that it helped me recognize my potential which, God willing, I will fulfill and achieve great things.
Good luck overcoming your addictions and finding your purpose in life.

Peter Eastgate wins $9.15 million in WSOP 2008 Main Event

I’ve never heard of the guy before. Hope he spends his money well.

If you sign up to any poker sites through my blog I will donate all the proceeds to charity.

Life update

I haven’t played poker for money for a few months now, but whenever I hear about people winning a lot of money playing poker I get jealous. I know two people that have won a lot and have even appeared on TV. Both are in the year above and I used to play with them. One of them won a $250,000 event, has won a lot online and drives an £80,000 Audi R8.

I’ve realized over the last few months that I enjoyed the respect people gave me for being a big winner, more than the money I was actually making. Both were attractive, but I think I valued the respect more. Yes… I’m a funny guy, most people would enjoy the money a lot more, but not me.

I can understand a bit better now why celebrities are so desperate to stay popular and for people to know who they are. Maybe not… they’re not interested in respect. They just want to be popular.

My Poker Stats

Here are my poker statistics for the last 36,000 hands I played. All stats are for short-handed tables (max. 5 or 6 players per table).

Game Level	Total Hands	Total Won ($)	BB/100 Hands	Total Rake ($)
NL ($10)	15	43.0	14.3	2.0
NL $1000	294	282.0	4.8	44.0
NL ($6)	6	681.0	945.8	3.0
NL $600	10685	1651.7	1.3	1564.7
NL $400	14566	14480.0	12.4	2102.1
NL ($4)	3914	142.2	0.5	683.9
NL ($2)	2453	295.2	3.0	331.2
NL $200	3820	558.2	3.7	397.0
Total	35753	18133.15	6.3	5127.86

Game Level	Total Hands	Vol. Saw Flop %	PF Raise %
NL ($10)	15	40.0	26.7
NL $1000	294	22.8	20.1
NL ($6)	6	16.7	16.7
NL $600	10685	24.8	19.9
NL $400	14566	24.4	19.2
NL ($4)	3914	27.8	21.3
NL ($2)	2453	31.3	24.2
NL $200	3820	24.9	19.7
Total	35753	25.4	20.0

Notes:

“NL ($10)” and “NL $1000″ are the same game but at different poker sites. “NL ($x)” is at TowerGaming. “NL $x” is at PartyPoker.

If the game level is NL $1000, it means that the maximum buy-in for the table is $1000 and the big blind is $10 and the small blind is $5. NL means it’s a no-limit table.

“BB/100 Hands” is the number of big bets I won for every 100 hands I played at that game level. A big bet is equal to 2 big blinds, so 1 BB at a NL $1000 table is equal to $20. If I won 3BB/100hands at the NL $1000 tables, that means I won $60 for every 100 hands I played.

“Rake” is the amount of money the casino takes. It is a huge amount of money. Some sites offer bonuses so you can get some of your rake back. The best site for bonuses is TowerGaming. PartyPoker is terrible for bonuses but have more players at higher stakes and have more fish.

“Vol. Saw Flop %” is the percentage of the time I voluntarily saw the flop. A good player at a short-handed table will see the flop between 15 and 25 percent of the time. The more loose the player is, the more flops he will see.

“PF Raise %” is the percentage of the time I raised preflop. All good players are aggressive. Your PF Raise % should be a bit less than your Vol. Saw Flop %. Basically, whenever you see a flop, you want to be the preflop raiser. If you’re not confident enough to raise then fold.

I turned $20 into $31,000 through online poker and then quit

This is the story of my poker career.

I started playing online poker in March 2006, 2 months after my 17th birthday. My 1st deposit was $20. I doubled it up quickly. I then cashed out $20. I then lost the $20 in my account and redeposited $20. I doubled this money up, cashed out $20 and by the end of the week I had $588. $300 of that money came from a 3rd place finish in an MTT (I think it was a $10 buyin event).
I was playing only NLHE, but I played cash games, MTTs and SNGs. There was no structure to the games I was playing. I just chose whatever I felt like on the day.

I knew how to play poker, but I wasn’t great. I had played with friends in the past and played on play money sites. I was clearly very lucky to turn $20 into $600 in a week.

Anyway, $588 was my peak and over the next 4 months I slowly [B]lost all the money in my account[/B]. Back to square one.

It’s now around August 2006. Up till now, I had been playing at poker room. I thought I might have better luck at a different site. I joined ParadisePoker and deposited either $50 or $100 – I don’t remember exactly how much. I focused on 10-man SNGs. I played $11 and $5.5 SNGs to start off with and then moved to $22 SNGs after some success at the lower levels. My bankroll reaches a couple of hundred dollars.

Time goes on and I continue to play. In around November 2006 I run out of money on all my online accounts. I still had a profit in my bank account, but none on the internet. For various reasons I couldn’t redeposit for another week, so I started using the player points that I had amassed to buy tournament tickets. I bought a few $5.50 and $11 tickets and entered into 6-man and 10-man SNGs. In my 4th SNG, I finally cash for $17.50. With this money, I entered into a $11 SNG and lost. With the remaining $6.5 I joined a $0.25/0.15 10-man NLHE cashgame ($.25/.15 was the cheapest table at the site). I played very tight. Got lucky and ended the session with $32 in my account. In Jan 2007 I have managed to turn my $32 into $650. I was 4-tabling every day and I gradually made the switch to the 5-handed cash game tables.

In Feb 2007 I go on a down swing. My bankroll falls to $230. $200 of that I tilted away on $200 cash game. What was I doing playing in that game? No idea. It was tilt.

I then started playing 5 handed $400NL looking for tables with short stacks on them (that I assumed were noobs bankrolled for $15NL $25NL at best and had put there entire in a high stakes game. A bit similar to me.) I ended up turning my BR into $1050 after playing on a few tables short-stacked and doing a hit and run when I made a nice profit. There was no grinding. I made the big profit in about 2 weeks.

At this point I join the $50NL cash games. I grind my way up to a BR of $1700. In March 2007 I take a shot at the $100NL tables. I get to $1900. I then lose and hit $1600. I now start tilting a bit and hit $1200.

I decide I need a change of site. I join TowerGaming. I deposit $100. Lose it. I deposit another $200. I fall down to $20. I double it up with my A7o allin vs TT preflop at $100NL table. I end the session with $80 at TG. $750 at PokerRoom. $200 in my bank account.

I go on PR and again start playing $400 games looking for players buying in for $97.34 (probably their entire BR). I make $300 doing that. I then switch back to TG and play $50 and $100 cash games and turn my $80 into $660 over a period of a few weeks. Total BR of $1900 now.

I do some bonus whoring at online casinos and make a bit of extra cash.

I decide to start playing $200NL instead of $100NL because I just couldn’t beat $100NL. In April 2007 I have a BR of $4k.

Somewhere around now I started watching CardRunners videos. They are incredible. After reading many books and posting on forums, everything suddenly became so simple with CR. It was sort of disappointing to see how easy poker was, and how you could just watch some videos and get years of effort for free.

In May 2007 I have a BR of $8.5. I was killing the $200 games. I was playing well, but also on a great run. In the middle of May I decided to go on a 6 week poker break because I had my final school exams approaching soon. I think the break last about a week or two. I continued playing.

In June 2007 I bought PokerTracker and joined PartyPoker. June 25th I finished my exams. I took a break of about 3 weeks from poker in June. My BR is now $12k and I have a 6 week summer break. My plan was to play 40hours of poker a week and make a lot of money. My unrealistic, but possible, goal for the summer was to reach a BR of $50k.

I only managed to play 20 hours of poker a week in my holiday. I made $18k in the 6 weeks. My peak BR was $34.5k. My final BR was $29.5k. I was playing $1000NL and $600NL at the end of the summer.

I then went to Jewish seminary in Israel for a year. I played a bit in Israel but barely. I finished with a profit of $31k from my poker career. I decided to give up poker at seminary due to religious reasons.

I did also play some live poker. I finished with back to back victories in tournaments at a poker room for profits of around $1300.

I made $400 from my poker blog from affiliate links.

I gave about 15% of my total poker winnings to charity.

It was extremely hard to give up the game. I wish I could have gone pro. I did very well in my exams and I’m studying Maths at a top English University.

I was incredibly lucky throughout my entire poker career. I didn’t ever realize how lucky I was. I was never the one sucking out on everyone, I had my fair share of bad beats and lucky hits. Over the long run though I see that I was extremely lucky to last so long in the poker world. I was never at a loss at any point in my poker career.

Good bye

WSOP Update: World Series Of Poker 2008 Final Table: We’re down to 9!

It’s disappointing that there are no superstars left in the event, nonetheless it should be a great final table.

The most notable name at the table is David “Chino” Rheem. Rheem had many professionals supporting him on his way to the final table including J.C. Tran, Nam and Tommy Le, Greg Mueller, Quinn Do, Tommy Hang, Michael and Robert Mizrachi, and Mark Newhouse. This had to do with the fact that many of them had traded for percentages with Rheem or bought a piece of him in the tournament to diversify their chances of making some money, but they were also there to cheer on one of their own. Rheem had a very up and down day. He started off short-stacked. He then went on to become one of the chip leaders and finished the day short-stacked again.

Tiffany Michelle, the last woman in the tournament was knocked out in 17th place for a win of $334,535.

Here is the final table line-up:

Seat 1: Dennis Phillips — 26,295,000 (St, Louis, Missouri) — Account Manager
Seat 2: Craig Marquis — 10,210,000 (Arlington, Texas) — College Student
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz — 12,525,000 (Brooklyn, NY) — Professional Poker Player
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery — 19,690,000 (Perth, Ontario) — Professional Poker Player
Seat 5: Darus Suharto — 12,520,000 (Toronto, Ontario) — Accountant
Seat 6: David “Chino” Rheem — 10,230,000 (Los Angeles, California) — Professional Poker Player
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov — 24,400,000 (Moscow, Russia) — Professional Poker Player
Seat 8: Kelly Kim — 2,620,000 (Whittier, California) — Professional Poker Player
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate — 18,375,000 (Odense, Denmark) — Professional Poker Player

It’s very surprising to see how many professional poker players are at the final table. None of the players are famous though.

Here is the prize structure:

1st: $9,119,338
2nd: $5,790,024
3rd: $4,503,352
4th: $3,763,516
5th: $3,088,013
6th: $2,412,510
7th: $1,769,177
8th: $1,286,672
9th: $900,670

Read more at Full Tilt Poker.

How to Win at Poker and at Business

I just read an interesting article at BusinessWeek entilted How to Win at Poker and at Business. The title is much better than the actual article. Hopefully, I’ll do a better job of the article.

The main point BusinessWeek addresses is that you improve people skills while playing poker.

Acting persuasively, reading opponents’ motives, and handling the subtleties of a monetary transaction are skills the poker greats work tirelessly to hone. These same skills are essential for negotiating a business deal.

I agree, but seeing as I was mainly an online player, I wouldn’t say that people skills are the only similarity between poker and business.

I read a great post by David Sklansky (pro player and author) a few months ago called Poker Is Good For You.

Here’s a summary:

• Poker improves your study habits.
• Poker develops your maths skills.
• Poker develops your logical thinking.
• Poker develops your concentration.
• Poker develops your patience.
• Poker develops your discipline.
• Poker teaches you to focus on the long term.
• Poker teaches you that forgoing a profit equals taking a loss (and vice versa).
• Poker develops your realism.
• Poker teaches you how to adjust to changing situations.
• Poker teaches you to adjust to diverse people.
• Poker teaches you to avoid racial, sexual and other prejudices.
• Poker teaches you to handle losses.
• Poker teaches you to depersonalize conflict.
• Poker teaches you how to plan.
• Poker teaches you how to handle deceptive people.
• Poker teaches you how to choose the “best” games.
• Poker teaches you the benefits of acting last.
• Poker teaches you how to concentrate on the important subjects.
• Poker teaches you how to apply probability theory.
• Poker teaches you how to conduct risk-reward analyses.
• Poker teaches you how to put things in context and evaluate all variables.
• Poker teaches you “how to get into people’s heads”.

I think I gained many of these skills in my poker career. However, many people don’t. Only successful players will gain many of these skills and many of these skills you would have gained at some point in life anyway if you gain them at poker.

Beware! There are many downsides to poker. That’s why I quit although I was making a lot of money.

TowerGaming add massive sign-up bonuses!

TowerGaming is one of my personal favourites. I have played thousands of hands there and they have payed me thousands of dollars in bonuses.

They are currently offering a 500% signup bonus up to $12,500!

That means that if you deposit $2,500 with TowerGaming and play enough hands you they will give you $12,500 in your account for free which you can cash-out immediately.

Beware. It is very difficult to unlock the bonus $12,500. You need 8 player points to release each bonus dollar, which means you need 100,000 player points. I estimate that you one would have to play 50,000 hands of $2/4 to unlock this massive bonus.

If you’re not such a high roller, don’t worry. You can choose one of TowerGaming’s smaller bonuses. There’s a bonus out there for everyone.

Why are TowerGaming giving away so much free money?

TowerGaming are still making a profit here. Every hand, a rake is taken from the table. The rake is small, but it definitely adds up. Once you’ve played 50,000 hands at $2/4, they’ve earned more than $12,500 in rake from you.

TowerGaming may also be relying on the fact that many people do not complete their bonuses. When you obtain enough points for one-quarter of your bonus, a quarter of your bonus is released. For the $12,500 bonus, you have a time limit of 90 days to complete the bonus.

If you’re smart and don’t take too big of a bonus than you can handle, you won’t have to worry about not completing the bonus within the time limit.

All poker sites take a rake. Some take offer rakeback of maybe 20, 30 or 40 percent of your money back. Tower is essentially offering you rakeback, but offers a much higher percentage of your rake back. I don’t know the exact figure, but I estimate that Tower is giving you over 70% of the money they take from you, back to you. That extra money is a massive boost to any poker player’s bankroll.

TowerGaming is part of the PokerRoom network, so has a large player base and plenty of fish. The software is easy to use and they offer a non-download Mac version. Support at Tower is also good. The site is an all-round great site and I would recommend it to anyone.

Tower offer Texas Holdem, Omaha, 7 Card Stud and 5 Card Draw games in No-Limit, Pot-Limit and  Limit formats. They also offer WSOP qualifiers.

More WSOP 2008 Main Event Updates. Hellmuth and Matusow out

Day 6 is over and we’re down to the last 3 tables with only 27 players left.

All the big names left in the tournament were knocked out today. Here are the eliminations:

• 64th place: Victor Ramdin — $96,500
• 45th place: Phil Hellmuth — $154,401
• 30th place: Mike “The Mouth” Matusow — $193,000

I really wanted to see either Hellmuth or Matusow make the final table. Sadly, it isn’t too be.

Phil Hellmuth caused some controversy at the tables today. In the last hand of play last night, he was given a one-orbit ban for losing his temper. He lost his temper in a hand with Christian Dragomir when Dragomir cracked Phil’s Ace-King with Ten-Four suited.

This morning when play continued, Phil was at the tables playing his cards. The ban had been overruled. “Warnings and penalties are intended to correct inappropriate behavior and our rulings should be as fair as possible, given the circumstances,” said Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the WSOP. “In this instance, the punishment did not fit the crime.”

It is a bit harsh to give a player a ban for the next day of play, seeing as he would definitely have calmed down for the next day’s play. However, I wonder if the ban would have been lifted had it been an unknown player. Did Phil get special treatment for being an 11 time WSOP bracelet winner?

Phil got knocked out when his Ace-Queen offsuit lost to Andrew Rosskamm’s pocket Jacks. The two players were allin preflop. Hellmuth earned $154,400 for his 45th-place finish, bringing his WSOP career total earnings to $6,008,145. After politely shaking the hands of his tablemates, Hellmuth exited the tournament area with a storm of obscenities, cursing his inability to “catch a break.”

Matusow Takes a Wrong Turn, Eliminated in 30th Place ($193,000)

Right before the players went on break, Paul Snead raised to 200,000 and Mike Matusow repopped it to 660,000 from the big blind. Snead made the call and the flop came A A 5. Both players checked and the turn brought the 9, the card of death as far as Matusow was concerned. He bet 500,000 and Snead shoved all in. Matusow made the call and showed down A J for a set. Unfortunately for “The Mouth,” Snead turned over A 9 for a full house on the turn. Matusow needed a jack to survive, but the K fell on the river and the biggest name left in the main event took a sick beat and made his exit in 30th place.

Bad luck Mike, better luck next year.

Here are the remaining players in the event:

Table 1

Seat 1: Joe Bishop — 4,855,000
Seat 2: Peter Eastgate — 9,325,000
Seat 3: Gert Andersen — 6,740,000
Seat 4: Kelly Kim — 8,840,000
Seat 5: Brandon Cantu — 4,740,000
Seat 6: Dean Hamrick — 2,375,000
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov — 4,965,000
Seat 8: Niklas Flisberg — 1,330,000
Seat 9: Michael Carroll — 1,015,000

Table 2

Seat 1: Scott Montgomery — 4,320,000
Seat 2: Tim Loecke — 2,280,000
Seat 3: Anthony Scherer — 2,385,000
Seat 4: Owen Crowe — 3,800,000
Seat 5: Craig Marquis — 11,460,000
Seat 6: Ylon Schwartz — 3,655,000
Seat 7: Paul Snead — 6,600,000
Seat 8: Tiffany Michelle — 9,755,000
Seat 9: Phi Nguyen — 1,020,000

Table 3

Seat 1: Jason Riesenberg — 3,405,000
Seat 2: Darus Suharto — 4,510,000
Seat 3: Chris Klodnicki — 6,245,000
Seat 4: Toni Judet — 5,000,000
Seat 5: Nicholas Sliwinski — 4,925,000
Seat 6: David Rheem — 8,280,000
Seat 7: Dennis Phillips — 11,910,000
Seat 8: Albert Kim — 3,675,000
Seat 9: Aaron Gordon — 1,790,000

Read more at Full Tilt Poker and CardPlayer.

WSOP 2008 Main Event Update

The $10,000 WSOP Main Event started off with 6,844 players, a prize pool of $64,333,600 and a first place prize of $9,119,338.

We’re now down to the final 79 players. Play has finished for the day.

Some of the notable players still left in the event are: Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Victor Ramdin and Matt Matros.

Here are the current chip leaders:

1. Mark Ketteringham: 5,700,000
2. Andrew Brokos: 4,100,000
3. Tiffany Michelle: 3,800,000
4. Jamal Kunbuz: 3,500,000
5. Albert Kim: 3,400,000
6. Nikolay Losev: 3,400,000
7. Alfred Fernandez: 3,100,000
8. Steve Lade: 3,000,000
9. Judet Cristian: 2,900,000
10. Aaron Gordon: 2,900,000

Mark Vos, Gus Hansen and Alexander Kostritsyn are among the big players to have been knocked out in today’s play.

Visit Full Tilt Poker for more news on the WSOP.