Technolo-babble

Nerdy stuff here.

Kuraudo

none

My libraries

ListSort

Signals

hostlib

libpathfinder

libquicklink

libregex

Return to Technolo-babble

Poker, anyone?

I recently had an amazing thing happen: I was presented with a paycheck for which I had spending money after paying my bills!¹ And, thanks to my successes at local Saturday gatherings with friends (one of which plays on PokerStars), I decided to invest some of that in some online poker.

I looked into 3 online poker rooms: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker. Unfortunately, due to some unjust legislation in the US, it is particularly difficult to transfer money to these online poker rooms from the United States. In fact, attempts to use my Credit or Debit cards on any of these 3 sites all got declined. Ultimately, PokerStars is the only one I could deposit to (using the Instant eCheck option, which has a $10 minimum deposit). Some bank wire options looked decent enough on the other two, but then their minimum deposits ranged from $50 to hundreds of dollars and, starting out, I wasn't looking to invest quite that much.

Anyways, I've been playing on PokerStars a fair amount over the past week. I've become pretty good I think (I wasn't bad off when I started, as noted to being why I started playing online poker), and am in the process of reading a couple of books by Harrington and Sklansky.

I was curious if anyone here plays online poker as well?

¹ Really, there are several other things that money ought to have gone to, but I like to invest in entertainment sometimes if I can.

Posted by Kuraudo on Sunday, November 01, 2009 09:03PM - 40 comments (link) / Members say: yea +1, nay -0
Keywords: gamblingaddiction, poker
(Edited on Saturday, November 07, 2009 10:20PM)

« Oh! Humanity · Sharpen Up »

#40 Bootyboy:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
> Sign up with the "BYOND" code if you do.
> >
>
> Im in. My name is "Teengoku1988"

Great! I think I need three more to create a freeroll.

Friday, November 20, 2009 10:01AM

#39 Teen Goku 17:

Bootyboy wrote:
> Teen Goku 17 wrote:
> I will sign up for FullTiltPoker but I still am in love with Poker Stars.
>
> Sign up with the "BYOND" code if you do.
>

Im in. My name is "Teengoku1988"

Friday, November 20, 2009 09:33AM

#38 Bootyboy:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
I will sign up for FullTiltPoker but I still am in love with Poker Stars.

Sign up with the "BYOND" code if you do.

Friday, November 20, 2009 08:17AM

#37 Teen Goku 17:

I will sign up for FullTiltPoker but I still am in love with Poker Stars.

Friday, November 20, 2009 08:15AM

#36 Bootyboy:

Schnitzelnagler wrote:
I wonder, what exactly are you looking for (as requirement and what would be neat additional benefits) when you're going for an on-line poker software?

Here's how I prioritize:
1) Credibility
2) Quality of competition
3) Number of players
4) Friends on a site
5) Rewards program

I think you're outside the US which gives you access to a lot of very credible rooms/networks. PartyPoker, PacificPoker, and LadBrokes are probably the best networks that are unavailable to US players. To be absolutely honest, I wish PartyPoker were still available in the US as I had my highest win rate on that site.

Oh, TSfreaks and Kuraudo signed up to FullTiltPoker, and I'm going to make a freeroll tournament for BYONDers if there are enough signups.

Friday, November 20, 2009 08:04AM

#35 Kuraudo:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
> 1 guy went all in with 2-3 suited. I had A-A, but I won that one.

Any pocket pair is a decent favorite over suited connectors, especially extremely small ones like 2-3. Anyone going all-in pre-flop with 2-3s has a death wish.

Schnitzelnagler wrote:
> I wonder, what exactly are you looking for (as requirement and what would be neat additional benefits) when you're going for an on-line poker software?

Well, I personally play for real money, so I guess two things I look for are a large userbase, so as to always have a cash game to play, and credibility, so I know I'm not getting scammed out of my money.

As for neat benefits, VIP programs which offer you to spend points, which you earn as the room collects rake, on items. For example, the PokerStars VIP Store.

Friday, November 20, 2009 07:47AM

#34 Schnitzelnagler:

I wonder, what exactly are you looking for (as requirement and what would be neat additional benefits) when you're going for an on-line poker software?

Friday, November 20, 2009 06:04AM

#33 Teen Goku 17:

1 guy went all in with 2-3 suited. I had A-A, but I won that one.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 02:15PM

#32 Kuraudo:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
> I like playing no limit hold em. I am actually playing right now. I hate them people that go all-in every hand. It annoying as hell!

I like those people. Wait for a good hand and then you can make a nice profit.

If they're holding something weak like J-6 and you have Q-Q, and the person flops into something like J-J-6...well, that's poker. That specific result has happened to me, and I'm pretty positive I actually facepalmed very aggressively in response.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 02:13PM

#31 Teen Goku 17:

I like playing no limit hold em. I am actually playing right now. I hate them people that go all-in every hand. It annoying as hell!

Thursday, November 05, 2009 01:58PM

#30 Kuraudo:

Bootyboy wrote:
> Sorry for not updating earlier. I tried to transfer you money on Tuesday. Apparently, I cannot transfer money to a user who hasn't made a real money deposit... go figure. Sorry about that.

No problem, it's a strange requirement. I'll look around next time I'm out at the store for one of those all-access prepaid Visas and try that. Till then I'll just play on PokerStars. :]

> > PokerStars seems to crawl with decently strong players at all levels, but in the two FullTilt SnG rounds I played, there wasn't as much competition. [...] I wonder if there's a steep increase in player skill at a certain point on FullTilt?

> It really depends on the types of games you play.

I really only play no-limit Hold'em.

> In general, you'll find more tight aggressive play at PokerStars and more loose/opportunistic aggressive play at Full Tilt.

In the last SnG I played, I noticed beyond-aggressive behavior. People were going all-in with sub-par hands (and sizeable chip stacks compared to the blinds) and, worse, were getting called by terrible hands (well, I wouldn't call all-in with 7-2 offsuit pre-flop).

Thursday, November 05, 2009 01:56PM

#29 Bootyboy:

Kuraudo wrote:
I'd like to frequent both, and rack up some of their clothing items available for FPP purchase. :]

Yeah, poker swag is pretty awesome.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 08:40AM

#28 Bootyboy:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
I haven't tried fulltilt. Which is better fulltilt or pokerstars?

For US players, they are the best and most credible sites. PokerStars has a great selection of games and sometimes can have over 100,000 people online at a time. FullTilt also has a great selection, and you can play with some well known poker pros (highlighted in red) which can be fun as well.

There are only three other sites I recommend if you're in the United States: Bodog, CakePoker and Doylesroom. They have about 25% of the big guys, but they're very credible and are still thriving despite the current economic crisis.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 08:39AM

#27 Bootyboy:

Kuraudo wrote:
I wanted to check back on this. I logged in to FullTilt, but do not see any funds there, so I wanted to see if it was processing or you'd changed your mind on the offer. Going into the weekend (and, hence, payday) I wasn't sure if I should still be looking to shell out [$18?] for a BYOND membership.

Sorry for not updating earlier. I tried to transfer you money on Tuesday. Apparently, I cannot transfer money to a user who hasn't made a real money deposit... go figure. Sorry about that.

I'll still transfer you $20 on my word, but you're gonna have to deposit before FTP will let me.

On another note, I've played two games on Fulltilt---2 Sit&Go tournaments on (the 250 Play Money variant is the only one I was able to afford) and won both. PokerStars seems to crawl with decently strong players at all levels, but in the two FullTilt SnG rounds I played, there wasn't as much competition. Granted, it was the cheapest buy-in SnG with Play Money, but I wonder if there's a steep increase in player skill at a certain point on FullTilt?

It really depends on the types of games you play.

In general, you'll find more tight aggressive play at PokerStars and more loose/opportunistic aggressive play at Full Tilt. You just have to make a good read of your opponent's tendencies. You will see the same kinds of personalities from the micro limits to the 200/400 tables, and this goes for both PokerStars and FullTilt. I would say though that the higher limits of PokerStars and FullTilt look nearly identical in terms of styles.

As far as play money to real money... there's no comparison. There are too many people in play money who just don't care.

Thursday, November 05, 2009 08:31AM

#26 Kuraudo:

Teen Goku 17 wrote:
> I haven't tried fulltilt. Which is better fulltilt or pokerstars?

So far, I think I might prefer PokerStars. It might help that that's the only one I've been able to play for real money (using the Instant eCheck option for deposit). I've heard good things about FullTilt but I haven't been able to use it much, so I can't comment.

I'd like to frequent both, and rack up some of their clothing items available for FPP purchase. :]

Thursday, November 05, 2009 12:17AM