tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70123667474923994702024-03-05T11:46:05.038-08:00That's Not PokerThis is a place where the WNP crew and anyone else can come to post questions, thoughts, hands, ideas, crap, gossip,beats, brags, results and whatever else about poker and poker related stuff.Marshallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05026007603250510224noreply@blogger.comBlogger390125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-39814758027630755702013-01-25T23:22:00.000-08:002013-01-25T23:23:19.097-08:00Is this thing on?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7512507/casino_security__5_of_14__large_verge_super_wide.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="680" width="1020" src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/entry_photo_images/7512507/casino_security__5_of_14__large_verge_super_wide.jpg" /></a></div>
Hell, why not post this here. Anybody have a dormant RSS feed that this shows up in?
Read this <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3857842/las-vegas-casino-security-versus-cheating-technology">great little article over on The Verge</a> about how casinos operate against cheaters. Thought it might be fun to share here. Enjoy!
If you actually read this, do let me know. It’s interesting to me to look into the blogging past here and post something new to a seemingly dormant account.
®royalbaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18161270363498369220noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-18965352020529616822011-08-14T09:08:00.000-07:002011-08-14T09:08:25.315-07:00Like the Phoenix…From the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/business/states-study-online-gambling-to-bring-needed-revenue.html">New York Times “Starved State Budgets Inspire New Look at Web Gambling”</a>: <br />
<blockquote>So district officials want residents to gamble closer to home — inside their homes, actually. Or in cafes, restaurants and bars. By year’s end the district hopes to introduce an Internet gambling hub that would allow Washington residents to play blackjack, poker and other casino-style games.</blockquote>Read more <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/14/business/states-study-online-gambling-to-bring-needed-revenue.html">here</a>. royalbaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18161270363498369220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-4120193225763391432011-06-16T09:40:00.000-07:002011-06-16T09:40:23.044-07:00The Beauty of Black FridayMy new fave blog, Bill Simmon’s <a href="http://www.grantland.com/">Grantland</a>, has a <a href="http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6665292/the-beauty-black-friday">great article</a> about the unexpected silver lining to the recent shut down of all the US poker sites, written by one of the writers of <i>Rounders</i>:<br />
<blockquote>Until the online poker boom, card players didn't look for anyone's permission, least of all the government's. They were more likely to flout the law than ask for its grace. Poker players used to take pride in all this, like guys in rock bands, but then they became domesticated, like guys with 401Ks. So even as I hate what the Federal prosecutors did, a small part of me likes that poker players, are, once again, in disrepute. Because that means that, once again, poker players are more Doc Holliday, less Davis Love III.</blockquote><a href="http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6665292/the-beauty-black-friday">Go read it (it’s not too long)!</a>royalbaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18161270363498369220noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-67629861812137085002011-05-20T15:40:00.000-07:002011-05-20T15:40:05.785-07:00The Sahara is no moreFrom the <a href="http://www.lasvegassun.com/blogs/kats-report/2011/may/16/bars-closed-casino-floor-action-winds-down-sahara/">Las Vegas Sun</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>We are live from the Sahara casino floor, which is to close forever at 10 a.m. Moments ago, a man asked no one in particular, “Is Jerry Lewis going to be here? He should be the last one out the door.”</blockquote><br />
Good little article. I recommend reading it.royalbaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18161270363498369220noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-36906672835120479292011-04-24T18:47:00.000-07:002011-04-24T21:20:12.047-07:00Beat the RakeThe experiment that was "Beat the Rake" took place last weekend and I'm not sure that there was really any surprises. I think we all know that in a 1/2 NL game raked at 10% that we pay a LOT in rake in terms of percentage but it's nice to see the numbers to back it up. Here is the number summary first:<br /><br /><pre>Time span Rake Tips Total<br /> 7:30- 8:30 91 18 109<br /> 8:30- 9:30 97 36 133<br /> 9:30-10:30 107 50 157<br />10:30-11:00 45 10 55<br />___________________________<br />3.5 hours 340 114 454<br />Avg/hour 97 33 130</pre><br /><br />My back of the envelope calculation of 100/hour in rake was right in line with the actual numbers. We started six handed and I'm pretty sure we went the whole first hour that way so the $91 for that first hour would be like us playing a home 1/2 game then each of us throwing $15 away of the top of our stacks. Or $18 if you want to count tips too. Later on we ended up 8 handed which brings the hourly rake down to a relatively cheaper ~$12 hour. Still, after a standardish five hour session that would mean taking *three stacks of $1 chips* and flushing them down the toilet and that doesn't include tips.<br /><br />The tips situation is rather noteworthy. The $2 tip per $100 pot is possibly suspect. At the very least I think that a cap would have been reasonable. I would say that a $5 tip is likely sufficient for all but the most monstrous pots in a 1/2 game. $2 per hundred might have even been on the high side but it only kicked in after a pot reaches $100 which mitigates it somewhat. We also did not pay any server tokes out of our stack which could end up being a couple bucks per person over a session. After I noticed that we had to change out racks of greens (tip chips) partway through the night I felt that the tip rate is going to need to be examined. The silver lining to a likely unreasonable no-cap policy on the tips is that we are able to gauge the pot sizes through the night. We got a predictable spike in pot sizes (as indicated by tip total) in the 9:30 to 10:30 hour due to stuck players trying to get even. Would that really add up to $50/hour for a dealer? I think that's on the high side but also not totally unreasonable given the fact that players are dragging multiple red stacks in after some of those hands.<br /><br />There are a couple accounting issues to address here as well. Firstly, I had announced a total of 452 in rake/tips after cash out but careful observers will note that the numbers in the chart add up to 454. What probably happened was that somewhere in the 3200 chips in play last night a couple chips got swept into the rake box that should not have been. I also was ten minute late swapping out the chip drop box for the 9:30-10:30 period because I got sidetracked with Jeh working the end of tourney selection software (btw, I acknowledge that the process for determining the end was hopelessly over-engineered but I prefer a process that would stand up to rigorous auditing). So I took a straight 1/7 cut of both rake and tips and applied it forward to the 10:30-11:30 chip drop. Not as clean as I'd like it to be but the numbers are still plenty representative.<br /><br />As for the structure of the tourney, I think Marsh's suggestion helped to keep action going more than it otherwise would have since there is less incentive to just try to coast with a stack that's above water. That's mitigated slightly by the fact that anyone stuck has even less incentive to try to get even. We ended up not really having a tough decision to make since on one was in the treading water category and stacks ended up getting fairly polarized by the time we called it off.<br /><br />Before the current incarnation the previous structures that I was toying around with were either:<br /><ul><li>Play with the constant blinds but with increasing rake, either a higher percentage and/or higher or unrestricted cap on rake. Players are eliminated when they bust out or after they decide not to rebuy.</li><br /><li>Play with constant blinds but after a given period of time eliminate either the shortest stack or anyone underwater. This brings up the same issue about having a random end time to minimize the effect of desperation (though correct) kamikaze play as a deadline looms.</li></ul><br /><br />I'm sure there are many other options of how to play a pseudo-cash game tournament and I think that the structure from this past weekend is likely not the strongest.<br /><br />In the end, it's pretty clear that in order to beat the rake you are going to need a never-ending supply of fresh money coming in. Basically, if you get one player coming in every hour, donking off a stack or two, then leaving to be replaced by a fresh fish then the rest of the table (in aggregate) can hope to basically break even. Stronger players will be up some but it's going to be hard to crush the game without loose money at the table due to the constant erosion of your stack by the rake.<br /><br />Anyway, there's the brain dump from the tourney. Feel free to comment away and we'll improve the format for next time.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-64944520327794375142011-03-20T09:15:00.000-07:002011-03-20T09:17:35.019-07:00Pass the Trash: Yea or Nea?There is enough chatter to put forth the discussion of whether or not Pass the Trash should be in the Dealer's Choice rotation. If you have an opinion on the matter then comment below.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-8843915670803473752011-03-20T09:09:00.000-07:002011-03-20T09:15:08.650-07:00Structure for Heads Up Championship...discussIf you have input on the structure of the Heads Up Championship, now would be a good time to comment on it. You should *not* expect any changes to the format if the only feedback is crickets (see <a href="http://thatsnotpoker.blogspot.com/2010/04/heads-up-tourney-wrap-up.html">last year's comments</a>). Since the 2011 format is essentially the same as the 2010 format read last year's post if you need any details.<br /><br />Remember, if you don't vote, you don't count!Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-57685934122594287882010-12-12T18:40:00.000-08:002011-01-10T06:48:08.117-08:00Revised Seven-Deuce rulesThese rules supersede the <a href="http://thatsnotpoker.blogspot.com/2010/04/seven-deuce-payoffs.html">previously published rules</a>.<br /><br />* The Seven-Deuce game is on by default for the midweek Hold'em game. It is optional at any other time.<br />* Any player may opt out of playing. They would not owe anything if losing to 7-2 nor would they win anything if they win with 7-2.<br />* It is not necessary to have unanimous participation for the game to proceed. If there is not unanimous participation it is the individual player's responsibility to know who is or is not playing. In accordance with the "one player per hand" rule no one else may assist a player asking if an opponent is playing 7-2 while in the middle of the hand. If a player asks his opponent directly the opponent may answer with whatever response he wishes regardless of its accuracy.<br />* In order to win the Seven-Deuce game, a player must show hole cards consisting of a Seven and a Deuce (off-suit or suited) and be the sole winner of the main pot.<br />* Any player who played their cards in the same hand that 7-2 was shown owes the bounty to the player holding 7-2.<br />* The bounty for scooping a pot with 7-2 is $2 from each person.<br />* Winning an uncontested pot with 7-2 due to the rest of the table folding qualifies as winning the hand.<br />* The procedure for a 7-2 hand is the following: After all betting action has completed, if a player with 7-2 qualifies for the bounty and shows the hand to the table then every player who is playing the 7-2 game and took action in the hand puts the the $2 bounty in front of them. The dealer will sweep the bounty chips to the winner(s) first then award the pot. Do not throw the chips or splash the pot with the 7-2 bounties.<br /><br />[The rule below is effective as of January 10, 2011]<br />* If a player loses to a 7-2 hand they owe no more than the balance of their stack at the end of the hand. In other words, a player who ends up with .25 to $2.00 after losing to 7-2 just owes the rest of their stack - they will not need to go in to pocket or owe any of a rebuy. If a player completely busts out to 7-2 they owe nothing.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-28328707203188905662010-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:002010-12-09T14:27:31.613-08:00Seven-Deuce game payoff in split potsThis topic has come up multiple times recently so let's hash it out. Given that a person winning a pot outright and showing 7-2 gets $2 from each player, the question is how much a person holding 7-2 should be paid when the pot ends up being split. I believe the amounts and rationales on the table are listed below.<br /><br />$0 - The player did not "win," they tied so they deserve nothing.<br />$1 - The player only won half of the pot (in a two way chop at least) so they should only get half the bounty.<br />$2 - The player did not lose any of the pot so they deserve to get the full bounty amount.<br /><br />There are also fringe cases of two or more players winning with 7-2 and/or chopping with other players not player 7-2.<br /><br />Do we also want to stipulate that at least one of the cards must play? That would prevent 7-2 from collecting a bounty when everyone is playing the board.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-42510993984320259912010-11-14T14:47:00.000-08:002010-11-14T14:54:52.643-08:00Thanksgiving week pokerNext week is Thanksgiving week and that means a bunch of days off i.e. opportunity for some cards. Since most of us won't be working on Thursday we could move TuNP to WNP that week and maybe play a little later and/or change format of the game. We also could play over the weekend if there is enough interest. Some of us might have family in town and wouldn't be available...then again, those with family in town might be itching to get the heck out of the house.<br /><br />Anyway, I wanted to get people's input on poker for the week Thanksgiving week. If you have an opinion on what to play when then leave a comment. If you are interested in playing then leave a comment about that too and make sure to specify what days you could or couldn't make it.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-36190062317145096282010-10-21T17:04:00.000-07:002010-10-21T17:04:10.118-07:00The Pain of Poker<a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/personal_essays/the_high_is_always_the_pain_and_the_pain_is_always_the_high.php">Jay Kang has a gambling problem.</a><br />
<blockquote>Twelve thousand dollars lay wadded up in the glove compartment. I was trying to decide if I had what it took to drive home. To help delay a decision, I remember turning the radio to a Dodgers game. I don't know how long I sat there listening to Vin Scully sing his nasally song of balls and strikes, which, even in the age of digital radio, still sounds as if it is being transmitted through a tin of victory cabbage. I remember thinking some nostalgic, self-pitying thoughts about my younger days. I forced myself to say out loud, "You are a degenerate gambler," but doing so only made me giggle. I opened the glove box, pocketed the cash, and walked back through the sliding doors of the Commerce Casino, back to my table in the Crazy Asian 400 No-Limit Game and to the eight friends at my table who had kindly managed to save my seat.<br />
<br />
Some time later, I drove home. All the money, of course, was gone. As I drove home through the network of highways that tie up a concrete bow just east of downtown Los Angeles, I felt no compulsion to slam the Outback into a guardrail. In fact, losing almost all the money I had in the world in six hours stirred up only a cold, scraped-out feeling of knowing-the calm that freezes out your brain when you watch someone younger make the same mistakes you made at their age. Staring out at the empty skyscrapers, I tried to figure out what might be the right reaction to losing $12,000. At the 7-Eleven on Venice and Sepulveda, I bought a bottle of Nyquil, drank half of it in the parking lot and drove the rest of the way home in a warm, creeping fog.</blockquote>/via <a href="http://kottke.org/10/10/the-pain-of-poker">kottke.org</a>royalbaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18161270363498369220noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-32392094390841777612010-07-07T09:52:00.000-07:002010-07-07T10:17:17.073-07:00Cake Challenge IIIAdam had posted about how he was targeting the $1000 bankroll figure and that got me interested in targeting that goal as well. He was thinking a challenge like Cake II where there would be a certain deadline. I was proposing a race to $1000 instead since I think it would enforce better bankroll management than having a set date. Case in point, when Adam went for broke (the first time, around June 1) because that was the *only* way he could have a chance to win the Q2 prop bet.<br /><br />There are pluses and minuses to both but I was trying to think of a different mechanism. *Assuming* that the challenges are about bankroll management, then there are many options that could be used to help enforce that notion.<br /><br />* Make it mandatory that certain bankroll management rules are followed like not exceeding x% of your roll on a table at any one time. The first person reaching $1000 without breaking BRM rules would be declared the winner and that would prevent players from taking excessive risk in order to try to win the prop bet.<br /><br />* Lowest negative variance. Not sure how this would be done but I have to think there is a statistical measure which would allow us to determine who had the swingiest chart without penalizing positive upswings from big tourney cashes, RB payouts, bonuses, etc.<br /><br />* Smallest negative downswing. Could just say that the person with the smallest (or smallest 10 or whatever) downswings percentage-wise would be the winner. That would allow for unlimited huge upswings and only measure negative bankroll movements.<br /><br />I'm sure there are many more ways we could structure it to keep BRM as a defining factor in the challenge. Or it could just be a no holds barred race if we don't want to make BRM such a factor.<br /><br />Bottom line is that I know that I do much better when there is a carrot in front of me to chase after. Ever since the April 1 deadline came and went I have lost focus and incentive to play well or manage my bankroll well so I would welcome some sort of competition to get me over the $1K hump.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-19517947429558708222010-07-06T09:15:00.000-07:002010-07-06T23:19:09.167-07:00Death of CakeWell it looks like a good run has more or less ended for me. I plan to cash out most all of my remaining balance on cake after a rough run post WSOP. The final straw was not being able to fire up any O8 tables and then having to multi table $1/$2 PLO with Wind Tunnel at my table. <br /><br />Wind Tunnel is an exceptionally good player who typically plays the highest stakes available on cake. I would typically see him at $5/$10 and $2/4 and even $25/$50 when it used to run. <br /><br />Everyone rousted him for playing so low to which Wind Tunnel responded "Come on guys there is nothing running". I then asked him if he was up for the year. He said he was about even after being down $100K earlier. If a player like Wind Tunnel can't make any money then I had to ask myself what I am doing here. <br /><br />I plan to more or less stop playing on line for the summer and then will evaluate the options available in the fall. I can't beat the game on Poker Stars and am not motivated enough to try to make Supernova this year. The game has clearly evolved from the 9 high callers on the river who thought they had a low in PLO8 to 24 tablers in PLO and PLO8 ( I have now met 3 people who claim to do this profitably). <br /><br />In any case. I am most thankful for an amazing journey and an amazing run. <br /><br />For the stat junkies out there, here are the stats on player traffic at cake and other sites:<br /><a href="http://www.pokerscout.com/news/weekly-traffic-update.aspx?year=2010&week=28"><br />Poker Traffic Article</a>jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17031011372040805515noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-48383278647062426712010-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:002010-05-03T12:37:35.682-07:00Reminder to handle only your own cards and chipsI know that I mentioned this before in the etiquette email but I think it bears repeating that you should only handle your own cards and chips.<br /><br />Last weekend there was a significant error in the size of the pot which was only detected due to the two players being all in and having identical stacks since the session had just started. In that hand a player had made his own change from the pot. Money in the pot no longer belongs to the player and should not be touched except by the dealer. Though it may take longer for a strap to be changed out for stacks of chips it is done to help eliminate pot errors such as the one that happened Saturday.<br /><br />Also, you should not touch another player's cards as <a href="http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/27/brick-mortar/guy-turns-over-another-players-cards-his-hu-opponent-calls-his-bluff-wtf-ruling-771269/">this 2+2 thread</a> so eloquently demonstrates.<br /><br />Just a reminder that the etiquette protocols are there for a reason and not just so I get to play OCD rules nazi. Thanks in advance for everyone's cooperation.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-9221049004000040882010-04-30T08:41:00.000-07:002010-04-30T09:18:37.569-07:00New seating procedureSince the weeknight game has bigger with two tables becoming more and more common there will be a new seating procedure which should speed up and simplify breaking into two tables. This supersedes the <a href="http://thatsnotpoker.blogspot.com/2009/03/how-many-handed-at-table.html">previous seating procedure</a>.<br /><br />* Everyone gets a seat card assigned to them. Players without a personalized seat card use the Guest cards which are assigned alphabetically with Guest 1 going to the person whose first name is earliest in the alphabet.<br /><br />* All cards are randomized so that everyone is equally likely to sit to anyone else's left or right.<br /><br />* The cards are spread to establish the seating order for that session.<br /><br />* The first nine players will start at the main table.<br /><br />* When the tenth person arrives they will take their spot at the table temporarily then every second player, starting from the immediate left of the dealer, will move to the second table. All players moving to the second table will keep their same relative positions to each other.<br /><br />* Tables will be kept balanced to within one player whenever the number of players changes.<br /><br />* The next player to show up sits at the table with fewer players or at the larger table if tables have equal amounts. They will sit in between the two other players as dictated by the original seating order for that session.<br /><br />* If a group of players show up all at once their order will be based on the alphabetical order of their first name.<br /><br />* We will combine tables if we get down to seven or fewer players. If we get down to eight or nine players the floor will decide if we combine depending on how much time is left in the session.<br /><br />This new procedure should streamline the process of handling the larger groups of players we have been experiencing lately so we can spend more time playing and less time managing seating.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-4689185369275650632010-04-26T02:41:00.000-07:002010-04-26T02:57:21.354-07:00Hold'em Derby blinds formatLast weekend's tourney introduced the latest incarnation of the T4000 deep stack blind schedule. In this latest revision I flattened out the curve a little and shortened the blinds slightly to compensate. The tourney had 15 runners across two tables and though the result was a chop between the last two players it still ended sooner than estimated.<br /><br />I have always felt that the deep stack format allows for adequate splashing around early on and permits a miscue or two while still remaining viable and I think the new schedule supports that as well. I don't think anyone felt that they *had* to go with ATC and everyone was pretty much able to exit on their own terms which I think is a trademark of a good structure. The shallower jumps also takes some of the bite out of getting hit by an increased blind since it is not as drastic between blind levels.<br /><br />One factor that I feel contributed was playing 8 players or less at the tables and combining at 7. That allowed for many more hands/hour than a full ring would have and therefore more action for everyone.<br /><br />I think the only change I would make for next time is to bump up the round lengths to their initial lengths of 30 minutes before the first break and 20 minutes after the break.<br /><br />Any input on the format is welcome. For your reference, both the latest blind schedule and the previous one are listed below.<br /><br />Latest blinds schedule:<br />5/10 (first three rounds 25 minutes)<br />10/20<br />15/30<br />15 minute break - color up 5s<br />25/50 (this and all other rounds 18 minutes)<br />50/100<br />75/150<br />100/200<br />150/300<br />10 minute break - color up 25s<br />200/400<br />300/600<br />400/800<br />600/1200<br />800/1600<br />10 minute break - color up 100s<br />1000/2000<br />1500/3000<br />2000/4000<br />2500/5000<br />3000/6000<br />4000/8000<br />5000/10,000<br />6000/12,000<br />8000/16,000<br />10,000/20,000<br /><br />Previous blinds:<br />5/10 (first three rounds 25 minutes)<br />10/20<br />15/30<br />15 minute break - color up 5s<br />25/50 (this and all other rounds 20 minutes)<br />50/100<br />75/150<br />100/200<br />150/300<br />10 minute break - color up 25s<br />200/400<br />300/600<br />500/1000<br />700/1400<br />10 minute break - color up 100s<br />1000/2000<br />1500/3000<br />2500/5000<br />4000/8000<br />7000/14,000<br />10,000/20,000Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-56053320678648646892010-04-18T20:41:00.000-07:002010-04-19T15:06:55.589-07:00HOHA formatSo the topic came up last Saturday about the HOHA format. As you all know it is currently one orbit of Hold'em, one orbit of Omaha hi/lo, another orbit of Hold'em, then finally an orbit of Omaha hi only. Adam had suggested that we go to two orbits of Hold'em in between Omaha rounds. After the table was queried the results ranged from supporting two orbits to indifference to opposition of two orbits. As some of you may recall the original format was AHO with one rotation of each game before repeating until the second rotation of Hold'em was put in.<br /><br />I spoke with Adam afterward and the crux of the issue for him was shifting gears back and forth. And as we all recognize, Hold'em orbits go faster than Omaha and especially Omaha/8 orbits.<br /><br />So I'm opening the floor to discussion about what we want to do. SOME of the options are below:<br /><br />* HOHA - leave it as is.<br />* AHO - switch back to previous.<br />* HHOHHA - proposed double Hold'em format.<br />* AHHO - put both Hold'em orbits back to back so there are only three game changes each cycle instead of four.<br />* AHHHO - Compromise between HOHA and HHOHHA.<br />* Timed rotations - 20 minutes of Hold'em, 20 minutes of Omaha, 20 minutes of O/8 (or 30 minutes, whatever)<br />* Blocks of the evening - First third of the evening is Hold'em, second third is Omaha, final third is O/8.<br />* Omaha then Texas - First half of the night is Omaha and O/8, second half is Hold'em.<br />[Edit to add:<br />* HHOOHHAA - two orbits of each per Jeh's suggestion.<br />]<br /><br />I'm sure there are other options as well so feel free to contribute any other ideas you may have.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-71830128511826533412010-04-07T08:58:00.000-07:002010-12-12T18:52:09.795-08:00Seven-Deuce payoffsNOTE: the rules below have been superseded by <a href="http://thatsnotpoker.blogspot.com/2010/12/revised-seven-deuce-rules.html">the revised rules</a>.<br /><br />Now that the Seven-Deuce game has become a fairly regular addition to our cash games I feel the it would benefit us to implement a little order to the process especially after last night where we had chips being thrown off the table. So in order to make sure that no eyes are put out and that all payoffs are properly accounted for, please place the chips owed in front of you as though you were paying an ante and the dealer will handle the rest.<br /><br />So for future reference, here are the house rules for the Seven-Deuce game.<br /><br />* The Seven-Deuce game is on by default for the midweek Hold'em game. It is optional at any other time.<br />* Any player may opt out of playing. They would not owe anything if losing to 7-2 nor would they win anything if they win with 7-2.<br />* It is not necessary to have unanimous participation for the game to proceed. If there is not unanimous participation it is the individual player's responsibility to know who is or is not playing. In accordance with the "one player per hand" rule no one else may assist a player asking if an opponent is playing 7-2 while in the middle of the hand. If a player asks his opponent directly the opponent may answer with whatever response he wishes regardless of its accuracy.<br />* Any player winning any portion of the pot with Seven and a Deuce as hole cards is owed a bounty by everyone else at the table who played cards in that same hand. It does not matter if the Seven and Deuce are suited or off-suit.<br />* The bounty for scooping a pot with 7-2 is $2 from each person.<br />* If a player holding 7-2 chops the pot with anyone else they receive $1 from each person.<br />* Winning an uncontested pot with 7-2 due to the rest of the table folding qualifies as winning the hand.<br />* The procedure for a 7-2 hand is the following: After all betting action has completed, if a player with 7-2 wins any portion of the pot and shows the hand to the table then every player who is playing the 7-2 game and took action in the hand puts the appropriate bounty size ($2 for a scoop, $1 for anything else) in front of them. The dealer will sweep the bounty chips to the winner(s) first then award the pot. Do not throw the chips or splash the pot with the 7-2 bounties.<br /><br />Thanks in advance for everyone's cooperation.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-23146631711275602582010-04-04T08:01:00.000-07:002010-04-04T09:16:50.843-07:00Heads up tourney wrap upAs requested by Marshall, here's the post-morten thread about this year's HU tourney. I made some changes to this year's format and I'll give some background on the rationale since I'm sure it will come up.<br /><br />* Deeper stacks/more blind levels - We started with T5000 instead of T4000 this year and more levels were added before capping. I'm trying to increase the skill factor and made a slower schedule to try to achieve that.<br /><br />* 100/200 > 200/400 jump - This came up more than once and it seems like inserting a 150/300 level in between would smooth out the transition.<br /><br />* Wild card spot - This was new this year. The idea was to offer a spot in the bracket round based on a hybrid of skill and chance. The better that someone did in the preliminaries, the higher chance they will get into the bracket round if they did not qualify. However, everyone still had a chance to get in regardless of their performance. This is intended to provide incentive for everyone to do as best as they can at all times so that players don't tank it in their last couple of games. Previously I tried to achieve this by offering game money but I think a lottery approach is preferable because the game money depleted the bracket prize pool and it offers a shot at something potentially more valuable than a few bucks in game money.<br /><br />* Time limit - This didn't really come into play at all. It was put in this year in order to address last year's issue of some games taking much longer than others and pushing back the entire schedule. So in order to make sure that the bracket round started at a reasonable time I put in a 20 minute cap.<br /><br />* Six person bracket round - Also new this year. I assumed we would get somewhere around 12-14 players for the tourney and felt that sending eight players through would be too many and four would be too small so I settled on six which was actually top five plus wild card. Having six players go through also provided byes to the #1 and #2 seeds which guaranteed them at least 3rd/4th place money as a reward for doing well in the prelims.<br /><br />* Stopping the prelim games after the blinds cap - The idea here was to add a skill/strategy element. In a winner take all affair the short stack has nothing to lose by shoving with ATC as the blinds near the end of the schedule. Crediting a player based on chip count at the end of the schedule was intended to prevent kamikaze play by short stacks since they would be jeopardizing getting at least partial credit for the game. The secondary benefit of this was to create a tie breaking criteria since people would likely end up with an odd chip count along the way.<br /><br />* Blind schedule escalation - Bumping up the blinds each orbit instead of by time has been a staple of the HU format. It is designed to allow for many more games than timed blinds would while also allowing games to happen at start independently of each other instead of using a mutual clock for everyone. I feel that having everyone go through eight games of low/middle/high blind escalation in the prelims is a better indicator of HU performance than a standard single elimination bracket format where someone could get knocked out in a cooler.<br /><br />* Diversity exception - Any player who could not start at the beginning of the tourney was given a modified schedule of playing only six players instead of all eight. The two player he would have played ended up playing each other instead so that everyone else still played eight games in the prelims. This was also why the format was changed to average scores instead of point totals so that six game and eight game scores could be compared on an equal footing. However, the high score of the six game schedule was dropped and the remaining five scores were added together in order to not allow someone playing fewer games to benefit from not being in attendance for the while event. Dropping the high score dings the player but is nowhere nearly as severe as forcing them to take losses for two games. Having the two opponents play each other prevents them from benefiting from a forfeit and throwing their numbers off too much.<br /><br />* Payouts - I bumped spread the 1st/2nd place money out a little more this year from 40/30 to 45/25. As it turns out they last two players chopped it up so it didn't matter but I made the payouts a little steeper this year to put a little more on the line. Generally though I favor flatter payouts and perhaps the chop is indicative that the difference between 1st and 2nd was too great.<br /><br />* Antes - In order to continue adding pressure to the blinds in the bracket portion of the tourney I added in antes after the blinds capped. The antes started off small but they would eventually force an end to the game since they would ultimately end up equaling the BB. I felt that adding in antes would be a softer hammer than having the blinds continue to escalate. If people don't like the blinds capping in the prelims then maybe adding antes would address that.<br /><br />I think that's all of the news for this year. If anyone has opinions on any of the aspects of the format then chime in and I'll incorporate feedback into the next HU championship.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-75448029405225119092010-04-01T17:29:00.000-07:002010-04-01T17:40:55.203-07:00Sushi Book update for April 2010With the information that is available it appears that Martin finished with the largest bankroll as of April 1. I don't have exact numbers on everyone but the numbers below reflect the best numbers I could muster. If anyone has any numbers which change the order of the list below please let me know.<br /><br />$239.55 - Martin<br />$158.76 - Adam<br />$150 (est) - Marshall<br />$ 80 (est) - Chuck<br />$ 62.90 - Royal<br />$ 50 (est) - Drew<br />$ 0 (est) Ryan<br />$ 0 (est) Woody<br /><br />If anyone is interested in participating in a Q2 milestone based on percentage increase and/or wagering then just send me email and I'll get it set up.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-60644960350710499992010-03-28T17:03:00.000-07:002010-03-28T17:12:40.592-07:00Baduci/BadaceyWho is in favor of adding this to the Dealer's Choice rotation? Personally I liked it and as stated before I prefer the Ace being high in 2-7 though I'm a little disappointed that we didn't try it that way. Seems like the key is to get a great Ace-less Badugi then draw to get a good 2-7 hand to go with it. Since the Ace only helps in Badugi it is a one way card and not part of a scoop hand. I still think that making it a declare game would be a real interesting variation.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-49210348411109410282010-03-02T21:27:00.000-08:002010-03-02T21:30:47.511-08:00Dealer's Choice game selectionWe've been playing Dealer's Choice for a while now. We started with the qualification that the game needed to be a WSOP game with Pass The Trash and Badugi grandfathered in. We also discussed the possibility of working in a new game each time on a trial basis which we have strayed away from. So I'm here to put it out to the group to discuss whether we should change the lineup of games available on Dealer's Choice nights. If you have any input go ahead and speak up now.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-20022803560548043122010-02-26T00:33:00.000-08:002010-02-26T00:35:50.764-08:00FBI contacting Washington state FTP playersCue Dragnet music...<a href="http://www.pokernewstoday.com/fullnews/3707/">http://www.pokernewstoday.com/fullnews/3707/</a>Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-21226594972935027522010-02-02T17:35:00.000-08:002010-02-02T17:38:30.053-08:00Bankroll Management vs. Expected ValueLet’s say you start with $100 in you’re account and you can play one of three games.<br /><br />You can flip a dime 20 times per hour. The dime is weighted so that you win 502 times out of 1000 flips.<br /><br />You can flip a 50 cent piece 20 times per hour. The 50 cent piece is weighted so that you win 550 times out of 1000 flips.<br /><br />You can flip a $20 bill. The bill is weighted so you win on Andrew Franklin, which comes up 565 times out of 1000 flips. <br /><br />If you bust out, something relatively bad happens like you get a wart on your nose and a hangnail for a month. <br /><br />If you get to $500 playing this game, you have a 60 percent chance of getting to a meaningful dollar amount in your bankroll, say $5,000 or greater over the next 12 months.<br /><br />Which game would you choose?<br /><br />I think most gamers would flip the 50 cent piece. It has a pretty high expected value and your chance of busting out, despite the higher variance vs. the dime game, is probably lower given the higher expected value on each flip. The $20 bill game is cool, but you have a relatively high chance of having a wart and a hangnail for a month.<br /><br />My point is this: The charts, graphs, and hand analysis on each blog are fascinating reading, but where are the graphs, charts, analysis, or at a minimum, intuitive thinking on which game am I constantly beating and where is my expected value the highest?<br /><br />Examples:<br /><br />Marsh, are you a better 4 tabler, 8 tabler, 9 tabler or 2 tabler. Do you know?<br />Chuck, is your expected value higher at playing .02/.04 NLHE or .02/.04 PLO?<br />Adam, is your expected value higher from playing .02/.04 NLHE or MTT?<br />Martin, is your expected value higher from playing micro stakes NLHE, or stud games?<br />Royal, have you tried low stakes MTT as you enjoy them in person, if not, why not?<br /><br />The challenge is still early so the stats may not be statistically significant. What I would recommend is that serious challengers at least keep the stats and then play more games at higher expected values.<br /><br />For the record, the current leader in bankroll as of yesterday is Mike Thomas, who is up about $60 without receiving 10 cents in rakeback money. I know there was some controversy as to whether or not Mike should be allowed to compete as his starting bankroll exceeded $100.00. Mike is completely aware that if he loses the $100 of challenge money he is out. He also has zero $ on himself so he can’t cheat for his own benefit. Martin’s book took Mike out with his parlay auto adjustments but in an odds maker’s book the only fair thing to do was disqualify him with no refunds, or let him play. I decided to let him play and if he wins, Chuck and Jeh will both get good payouts as the odds on Mike were relatively long. <br /><br />Mike only plays one game. Equal pay sit and goes for the top 5 finishers. He does not play PLO, NLHE ring games or anything else. On Bodog, the stakes are only $7 buyins with a double up to $14 and $14 buyins with a double up to $28. Though these stakes may seem high, the variance is not that bad as an average player will win half the time, eventually losing money to rake. <br /><br />I would guess that Mike has played 200-300 of these sit and goes and has been very successful, even before the challenge started.<br /><br />On Cake, they have $2 double up tourneys, $5 ones, and $10 ones. The $10 one runs often, the $5 less often, and the $2 one rarely.<br /><br />I played in all 3 last night and won 6 out of 9 times. I will say that I ran really good so I am unsure if they are profitable on cake, especially with such a small sample size. The $10 one is probably a bit high in stakes for the challengers’ current bankrolls but the $5 one sure seems manageable. <br /><br />My only claim to fame with on line poker is that I found a game where the villains sucked and I was better than they. PLO8 was really easy to beat 2 years ago but now my EV is just slightly positive, the players have significantly improved. PLO players have improved as well. Perhaps these double up sit and goes are the new PLO8. We shall see?jasonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17031011372040805515noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7012366747492399470.post-42183943299022854242010-01-19T06:02:00.000-08:002010-01-19T06:14:08.779-08:00"Rush Poker" for die hard action junkiesFTP has just introduced <a href="http://www.fulltiltpoker.com/rush-poker">Rush Poker</a>. It is a ring game where you can play a whole lot of hands per hour because you are moved from one table to the next as soon as you fold so there is not waiting for the rest of hand to play out. And if you are really in a rush you can click the auto-fold button and leave *before* it even gets to you though your cards will look the same to the rest of the table. Stakes are .05/.10 to .25/.50 currently. Tables are averaging about 300 hands/hour! Perhaps ironically, the 6 max tables average fewer hands/hour than the full ring tables.<br /><br />Not sure how exploitable this is. Is it EV+ enough to basically fold anything but AA, KK, or AK and then shove with a min-buy? Or how about squeezing from the BB pre=flop on any limped pot? Since players will likely be dumping any junk hands does that just make it an arms race between premium hands? I tried to sit down and watch but it is not allowed so I don't know how it plays.Sushi Cowboyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00753872848839415763noreply@blogger.com2