Monday, June 26: About rakeback, pt. 2, and more
A note about rakeback -- I still get at least one or two emails a week from people who are looking to get rakeback. I think it's because in an old post I wrote that I was an affiliate, and offerred to hook people up with rakeback if they weren't getting it. Anyway, sorry to disappoint, but I've more or less weaned myself out of the rakeback business. I simply found that it wasn't really worth my time. I've still got a stable of around 20 or so players, but as I've moved up in stakes and my hourly winrate has increased, it just doesn't really make much sense for me to continue spending as much time as I do communicating with and paying players, all for the relatively negligible income it provided for me. Also, to address the most common Q's I get: there is no rakeback at either Stars or Party...Stars only pays its affiliates a flat $75 per new signup (e.g. there is NO revenue share option, and hence no possibility for rakeback), and Party simply prohibits affiliates from offering it -- in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that it's still technically possible if you find a Party affiliate willing to bend the rules and some people do go this route. You should also know, though, that there has also been a recent crackdown on affiliates suspected by Party of doing this...and I know of several affiliates who have had their accounts closed by Party because of it, and several others who simply had their trackers turned off (making it a real pain in the ass to figure out which of their players paid how much in rake.)
Anyway, for all other sites you can go with any of the major players in the rakeback business since they all offer essentially the same rates: I'd recommend Rake the Rake (www.raketherake.com) -- I use them myself for a couple sites. They have a very good reputation in an otherwise somewhat shady business, and manage to provide good email support for an operation of their size, and you can track your monthly rake paid online via their website. FWIW, I have no affiliation with them whatsoever, other than using them myself for rakeback for a couple sites.
I do have one request, though: If you do end up going with Rake the Rake, it would be cool if you mentioned that this blog referred you. When you set up your RakeTheRake account, they prompt you via email to tell them if anyone referred you or to give them a 'referral code'; it would be great if you jotted down "LSDPB" (acronym for Law School Dropout's Poker Blog). They give the referrer a small commission, but it doesn't come out of your rakeback %, so it's no-lose from your end. You don't have to...certainly no one here owes me anything, but if you're going to choose them anyway, you're not losing anything by telling them I sent you their way.
Anyway: although some of you know that hand analysis is the absolute last thing I like talking about in this blog (perhaps also the last thing I'm qualified to do, given my recent performance), there have been recent calls for me to post more strategy stuff, so i will take a rare walk through a hand from last night that I particularly like. It's also perhaps because I took a playing line that I don't think I've ever taken, and it worked out nicely.
MP2 and MP3 were the reason I was at the table - both very loose and bad. I thought about raising this from the CO, which I don't think would have been terrible, but QTs' real strength comes from making straights and high flushes, so I didn't mind a little action behind me too.
Flop was obviously great for me, with 5 people in the hand. Open ended straight draw (note that I also have what I call a sucker set-up, since I'm going to take any naked T to the cleaners if the J hits.) This is obviously a very easy bet if it gets around to me, which it looks like it might until MP3 bets. Here's my thought process: I've got the straight draw and two overcards, except my T probably won't be good if it hits either because a 6 will have hung around, or someone with a jack will make a straight, so I thought briefly about raising to drive out a J or 6, both of which probably would have had the odds to stick around for one small bet. There was also the advantage of having the option to take a free card on the turn if I want. So those are the advantages to raising, but I elected to call, because I had such a huge hand, and I didn't want to potentially drive out another Ten, especially since that's who I stood to crush if a Jack hit.
Here's where the hand gets interesting, though -- SB (a decent player) checkraises which could have meant any number of things. I don't think there's any way it was a made straight because there's no way any thinking player with a made straight would check the flop when first to act and take the chance that it might get checked through, with a high likelihood that his made straight could get counterfeited. It probably meant that he had a 9, a strong 8, or possibly two pair, but that's unlikely, because the bottom line is that there isn't anything he could possibly have -- not even TJ that could afford to check the flop and risk it getting checked through. Bottom line is that even without knowing what SB had, I think that checkraising here was a misplay.
The weak MP3 calls, and I elect to raise now, for several reasons. Whereas when the betting got to me the first time, there were 3 people left to act behind me, and I didn't at all mind if they came along for the ride, now that only 3 of us were left, I decided to re-take control of the hand, but most importantly, I wanted to get information from the SB -- I knew he was a reasonable player, so if he capped it, it would likely mean a made straight or 2 pair (albeit played poorly), but I also knew that I could probably get him to fold any single pair by representing a made straight myself, and maybe even clean up my Ten as an out if he held a Jack, and my queen if he held Q9 or Q8 or the like. When he had checkraised after a bet came from late-position, it looked like a hand that he thought needed protection (likely a single pair of some kind), which I felt pretty sure I could knock him off of with a 3-bet here. He did indeed fold, leaving only the weak MP3 to contend with.
The Ace isn't actually a terrible card, since it's a scare card that might let me bluff out MP3s single pair (at least that's what I read him for...possibly also a 6 or a T himself.) He wasn't going anywhere though.
The K on the end is also not all that bad a card (given that the poker gods didn't give me a 6, T, J, or Q) , and although I'm not one to fire at any pot when I miss, I felt like betting here was the only option, needing to make MP3 fold only 10% of the time to make it profitable -- the risk of course is that because MP3 was so weak he might even call me down with a 7 or 8, figuring me (correctly, ironically) for a busted straight. All I can hope for is that with all the strength I displayed throughout the hand, that he quietly mucks a single low pair. He does indeed fold, and I let out a relieved breath.
Who knows -- maybe I was actually "bluffing" with the best hand all along, if he held 46 or T2. Also, I acknowledge that this was by no means the only way to play this hand. I guess another creative alternative might have been to just call the SB's flop check-raise and raise any turn scare card (the ace certainly would have been a good candidate.) Note, however, that that plan gives you absolutely zero information about the SB's holding...can you really raise a turn scare card confidently without worrying that the SB's going to cap you? Then you'll have paid 3.5 big bets to see the river instead of 2 (the worst that could happen if the SB caps your flop 3-bet and leads the turn. That's a pretty key conecpt, if you ask me -- when faced with a close decision, adopt the course of action that will give you the most information about your opponents' holding.
Anyway, as I wrote, by no means am I claiming that my line was the only way to play the hand, nor the best way to play the hand. Just thought I'd give people a glimpse into the kinds of things that run through my mind when evaluating a decision. Yes, all of the things I wrote above did enter my thought process during the hand...and that's the answer, I think, to one of the questions I get from people a lot, when they ask what it is that makes me a better player now than I was when I started out: it's that the above thoughts sort of spring effortlessly to my attention, and it's much easier and more natural to cycle through the possible / likely range of my opponents' holdings, and what each potential course of action might lead to on future betting rounds.
Oh -- very lastly, I just enabled something called weblogs.com, which -- from what I can tell -- does something that many people have asked me to enable: it's a free service that lets you know when blogs that you read are updated with new content. People have asked about an RSS feed (I sort of know what that is, but I'm not too clear on it.) I think this weblogs.com thing will do the same thing though. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me.
Anyway, for all other sites you can go with any of the major players in the rakeback business since they all offer essentially the same rates: I'd recommend Rake the Rake (www.raketherake.com) -- I use them myself for a couple sites. They have a very good reputation in an otherwise somewhat shady business, and manage to provide good email support for an operation of their size, and you can track your monthly rake paid online via their website. FWIW, I have no affiliation with them whatsoever, other than using them myself for rakeback for a couple sites.
I do have one request, though: If you do end up going with Rake the Rake, it would be cool if you mentioned that this blog referred you. When you set up your RakeTheRake account, they prompt you via email to tell them if anyone referred you or to give them a 'referral code'; it would be great if you jotted down "LSDPB" (acronym for Law School Dropout's Poker Blog). They give the referrer a small commission, but it doesn't come out of your rakeback %, so it's no-lose from your end. You don't have to...certainly no one here owes me anything, but if you're going to choose them anyway, you're not losing anything by telling them I sent you their way.
Anyway: although some of you know that hand analysis is the absolute last thing I like talking about in this blog (perhaps also the last thing I'm qualified to do, given my recent performance), there have been recent calls for me to post more strategy stuff, so i will take a rare walk through a hand from last night that I particularly like. It's also perhaps because I took a playing line that I don't think I've ever taken, and it worked out nicely.
MP2 and MP3 were the reason I was at the table - both very loose and bad. I thought about raising this from the CO, which I don't think would have been terrible, but QTs' real strength comes from making straights and high flushes, so I didn't mind a little action behind me too.
Flop was obviously great for me, with 5 people in the hand. Open ended straight draw (note that I also have what I call a sucker set-up, since I'm going to take any naked T to the cleaners if the J hits.) This is obviously a very easy bet if it gets around to me, which it looks like it might until MP3 bets. Here's my thought process: I've got the straight draw and two overcards, except my T probably won't be good if it hits either because a 6 will have hung around, or someone with a jack will make a straight, so I thought briefly about raising to drive out a J or 6, both of which probably would have had the odds to stick around for one small bet. There was also the advantage of having the option to take a free card on the turn if I want. So those are the advantages to raising, but I elected to call, because I had such a huge hand, and I didn't want to potentially drive out another Ten, especially since that's who I stood to crush if a Jack hit.
Here's where the hand gets interesting, though -- SB (a decent player) checkraises which could have meant any number of things. I don't think there's any way it was a made straight because there's no way any thinking player with a made straight would check the flop when first to act and take the chance that it might get checked through, with a high likelihood that his made straight could get counterfeited. It probably meant that he had a 9, a strong 8, or possibly two pair, but that's unlikely, because the bottom line is that there isn't anything he could possibly have -- not even TJ that could afford to check the flop and risk it getting checked through. Bottom line is that even without knowing what SB had, I think that checkraising here was a misplay.
The weak MP3 calls, and I elect to raise now, for several reasons. Whereas when the betting got to me the first time, there were 3 people left to act behind me, and I didn't at all mind if they came along for the ride, now that only 3 of us were left, I decided to re-take control of the hand, but most importantly, I wanted to get information from the SB -- I knew he was a reasonable player, so if he capped it, it would likely mean a made straight or 2 pair (albeit played poorly), but I also knew that I could probably get him to fold any single pair by representing a made straight myself, and maybe even clean up my Ten as an out if he held a Jack, and my queen if he held Q9 or Q8 or the like. When he had checkraised after a bet came from late-position, it looked like a hand that he thought needed protection (likely a single pair of some kind), which I felt pretty sure I could knock him off of with a 3-bet here. He did indeed fold, leaving only the weak MP3 to contend with.
The Ace isn't actually a terrible card, since it's a scare card that might let me bluff out MP3s single pair (at least that's what I read him for...possibly also a 6 or a T himself.) He wasn't going anywhere though.
The K on the end is also not all that bad a card (given that the poker gods didn't give me a 6, T, J, or Q) , and although I'm not one to fire at any pot when I miss, I felt like betting here was the only option, needing to make MP3 fold only 10% of the time to make it profitable -- the risk of course is that because MP3 was so weak he might even call me down with a 7 or 8, figuring me (correctly, ironically) for a busted straight. All I can hope for is that with all the strength I displayed throughout the hand, that he quietly mucks a single low pair. He does indeed fold, and I let out a relieved breath.
Who knows -- maybe I was actually "bluffing" with the best hand all along, if he held 46 or T2. Also, I acknowledge that this was by no means the only way to play this hand. I guess another creative alternative might have been to just call the SB's flop check-raise and raise any turn scare card (the ace certainly would have been a good candidate.) Note, however, that that plan gives you absolutely zero information about the SB's holding...can you really raise a turn scare card confidently without worrying that the SB's going to cap you? Then you'll have paid 3.5 big bets to see the river instead of 2 (the worst that could happen if the SB caps your flop 3-bet and leads the turn. That's a pretty key conecpt, if you ask me -- when faced with a close decision, adopt the course of action that will give you the most information about your opponents' holding.
Anyway, as I wrote, by no means am I claiming that my line was the only way to play the hand, nor the best way to play the hand. Just thought I'd give people a glimpse into the kinds of things that run through my mind when evaluating a decision. Yes, all of the things I wrote above did enter my thought process during the hand...and that's the answer, I think, to one of the questions I get from people a lot, when they ask what it is that makes me a better player now than I was when I started out: it's that the above thoughts sort of spring effortlessly to my attention, and it's much easier and more natural to cycle through the possible / likely range of my opponents' holdings, and what each potential course of action might lead to on future betting rounds.
Oh -- very lastly, I just enabled something called weblogs.com, which -- from what I can tell -- does something that many people have asked me to enable: it's a free service that lets you know when blogs that you read are updated with new content. People have asked about an RSS feed (I sort of know what that is, but I'm not too clear on it.) I think this weblogs.com thing will do the same thing though. If I'm wrong about this, feel free to correct me.
posted by Blog Administrator at 10:32 PM
8 Comments:
You are a machine.
Maybe MP3 thought you had made a flush.
Off topic, but should be right up your alley given your post about excelling at beer pong on your last vegas trip.
The World Series of Beer Pong
http://www.bpong.com
I for one would love to see you take down that tournament...
Yes, I am well aware of that tournament, and given that I was in Vegas during this past year's Bpong tourney, i was clamoring for a friend to drive over to Mesquite to play with me -- but they just wanted to gamble. I was very, very pissed off. I must have approached at LEAST 8 different people to be my partner, but no one wanted to do it. Freakin' lame. I would have done it in a heartbeat, come back with some kickass stories, and who knows...maybe even done quite well. In fact, it was BECAUSE the 2 friends I was in Vegas with wouldn't come to that tourney with me that I made them come to the shitty little 'locals' tournament in the local bar, which I wrote about in that previous blog post (reminder: went 8-0, won it, threatened to get my ass kicked by the bar bouncers, returned to the Bellagio and threw up in at least 5 different bathrooms.) Anyway, in that local bar, there were some kids who had just come back from the Bpong tourney and said that the teams who had won the thing were absolutely sick. Like would hit 80% of their shots. I'm pretty damn good, but even on my best days, there's no way I'm above 60-70...nonetheless, I've got to believe I was as good as anyone that could have entered...maybe next year...
Wow, 8 people turned you down? How do these things work? Can you have one fulltime shooter or do you have to rotate? I used to play a lot with my fraternity in college (at an ivy league school too), but after a promising freshman season while a pledge, I became only an average shooter over the next three years. I currently live in Vegas and I think I am only one year older than you (i'm 27) so if you need a partner I'll be happy to be the full time drinker (that is something I excel at). Or, if you think there are some coachable tips to shooting, you could come out a early and we could do some training.
So basically if you want to compete this year and can't find anyone, I'm in. logan(at)lindsell.org
(PS we used to play a little 15.30 together, I was sluttysmurf)
Logan
Oh, i remember sluttysmurf -- i think i remember thinking that you were pretty good. You were extremely aggressive if I remember correctly -- something like 17/12 but your post-flop aggression numbers were off the chart. I think....could be mistaking you w/ someone else.
Yeah, you have me confused with someone else. I only played limit poker consistently for a couple of months late last summer, I'm primarily a tournament player. I was pretty consistent at 25/10 with about a 1.9 post flop. I live in Vegas, but poker is just a hobby. I own a small internet company that pays the bills.
Logan
poker is one of the most popular online game nowadays. online poker hits a very wide market specially those people who loved to play it online and it really profits a lot. well, it is a gambling but i don't think that the government have enough power to stop it.
Prime
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