My story
Well, it's that time again. Time to embark upon a long, fruitful blogging career with the great Benjamen Starkweather. Perhaps this time it'll last longer than a month? We shall see.
I'm guessing it will, because this time we're talking about poker, and since both of us are addicts as far as this despicable little game goes, we probably won't be able to stop writing.
Anyway, Ben is the no-limit tournament specialist of our duo. I started playing poker before the big TV craze started, which means I first learned the ropes by playing limit games. This may sound strange to people who have picked the game up in the past couple of years, but I still prefer limit poker. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a humongous math nerd, so this really shouldn't be all that surprising. Let me explain.
Any form of poker can be considered a science, one that can be constantly examined, studied, and theorized upon. But the science of no-limit poker is psychology. You've all heard it before; the best no-limit players "play the player, not the cards." No-limit is all about making the perfect reads, and outsmarting the opponent. Limit poker is a science too: statistics. It's a completely different game. Rather than agonize over every last decision (because, after all, it could be your last) a limit player takes a different approach. He can consider a range of possible reads, and use this range to calculate the most likely correct decision.
On one hand, the game is better for a player's sanity because no one decision can "make you or break you." However, the common complaint about limit is that it's impossible to protect a hand, because everyone tries to draw out on you when it only costs them one bet. So you can't lose all your money in one hand, but you can definitely find some strange, infuriating new ways to lose pots. It's a frustrating game, but it's one that can be mastered if you go about it the right ways.
I first started playing online when I was 17, and boy, was that a mistake. Without any legal means of depositing money as a minor, I got a $10 free gift from 7Sultans Poker (part of the Prima network, which is as close as online poker has to a terrorist regime), and tried to build a bankroll. In a way, my plan worked. I played limit seven-card stud, starting at the .05/.10 stakes, and quickly moving up. Within a couple of months I was playing 1/2 on a $300 bankroll.
I signed up for a FirePay account within minutes of turning 18, and was shocked to discover that my money was stuck in my account; there was no possible way to withdraw it. Rather than simply quit, I had a better idea. I went to a 2/4 no-limit table and bluffed it all away with 6-4 offsuit. (I didn't want that money staying in my account; that would mean letting those Prima bastards keep it forever. So instead I gave it away to a very lucky holder of pocket kings. I hope I meet the guy someday, he owes me a nice dinner or something.)
When I started playing for real money, it was on DoylesRoom, Doyle Brunson's online venture. He was offering a free leatherbound hardcover advance copy of Super System 2 to anyone who collected 10,000 Action Points, which are earned by playing ungodly amounts of hands and being paid for each raked pot.
It was love at first sight for me and DoylesRoom. I had my book within weeks, and to date I've earned almost 50,000 AP. The players are fairly weak, the software is fairly good, and depositing and cashing out are both easy. I made about $200 between November and January, then stopped playing for a few months, opting to spend both the added time and money on having a life.
Then I got back into it over the summer. I had a lot of trouble finding steady work for the first month or so of this summer, and decided to become a semi-pro poker player of sorts, putting in a few hours a day multi-tabling the limit hold'em tables. June 2005 was a +$600 month of playing mostly 1/2 limit.
I've tried tons of other poker sites too, but at most of those, I came out about even, eventually got bored with them, and quit. DoylesRoom has been good to me, so it's where I do most of my playing these days. I just finished a two-week stint on PartyPoker up $26, and gave up on that. Unless I feel a sudden urge to make a change, I'll be on DoylesRoom for a long while.
Enjoy my ranting about tales from my online play, the occasional commentary on the rest of the poker world, and maybe even some recommendations on poker literature. This should be fun.
I'm guessing it will, because this time we're talking about poker, and since both of us are addicts as far as this despicable little game goes, we probably won't be able to stop writing.
Anyway, Ben is the no-limit tournament specialist of our duo. I started playing poker before the big TV craze started, which means I first learned the ropes by playing limit games. This may sound strange to people who have picked the game up in the past couple of years, but I still prefer limit poker. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a humongous math nerd, so this really shouldn't be all that surprising. Let me explain.
Any form of poker can be considered a science, one that can be constantly examined, studied, and theorized upon. But the science of no-limit poker is psychology. You've all heard it before; the best no-limit players "play the player, not the cards." No-limit is all about making the perfect reads, and outsmarting the opponent. Limit poker is a science too: statistics. It's a completely different game. Rather than agonize over every last decision (because, after all, it could be your last) a limit player takes a different approach. He can consider a range of possible reads, and use this range to calculate the most likely correct decision.
On one hand, the game is better for a player's sanity because no one decision can "make you or break you." However, the common complaint about limit is that it's impossible to protect a hand, because everyone tries to draw out on you when it only costs them one bet. So you can't lose all your money in one hand, but you can definitely find some strange, infuriating new ways to lose pots. It's a frustrating game, but it's one that can be mastered if you go about it the right ways.
I first started playing online when I was 17, and boy, was that a mistake. Without any legal means of depositing money as a minor, I got a $10 free gift from 7Sultans Poker (part of the Prima network, which is as close as online poker has to a terrorist regime), and tried to build a bankroll. In a way, my plan worked. I played limit seven-card stud, starting at the .05/.10 stakes, and quickly moving up. Within a couple of months I was playing 1/2 on a $300 bankroll.
I signed up for a FirePay account within minutes of turning 18, and was shocked to discover that my money was stuck in my account; there was no possible way to withdraw it. Rather than simply quit, I had a better idea. I went to a 2/4 no-limit table and bluffed it all away with 6-4 offsuit. (I didn't want that money staying in my account; that would mean letting those Prima bastards keep it forever. So instead I gave it away to a very lucky holder of pocket kings. I hope I meet the guy someday, he owes me a nice dinner or something.)
When I started playing for real money, it was on DoylesRoom, Doyle Brunson's online venture. He was offering a free leatherbound hardcover advance copy of Super System 2 to anyone who collected 10,000 Action Points, which are earned by playing ungodly amounts of hands and being paid for each raked pot.
It was love at first sight for me and DoylesRoom. I had my book within weeks, and to date I've earned almost 50,000 AP. The players are fairly weak, the software is fairly good, and depositing and cashing out are both easy. I made about $200 between November and January, then stopped playing for a few months, opting to spend both the added time and money on having a life.
Then I got back into it over the summer. I had a lot of trouble finding steady work for the first month or so of this summer, and decided to become a semi-pro poker player of sorts, putting in a few hours a day multi-tabling the limit hold'em tables. June 2005 was a +$600 month of playing mostly 1/2 limit.
I've tried tons of other poker sites too, but at most of those, I came out about even, eventually got bored with them, and quit. DoylesRoom has been good to me, so it's where I do most of my playing these days. I just finished a two-week stint on PartyPoker up $26, and gave up on that. Unless I feel a sudden urge to make a change, I'll be on DoylesRoom for a long while.
Enjoy my ranting about tales from my online play, the occasional commentary on the rest of the poker world, and maybe even some recommendations on poker literature. This should be fun.
posted by eclinchy at 9:10 PM
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