Poker Mom

PokerStars claims to be the largest poker site on the ‘net.  As I logged on right now, there were over 107,000 people playing and almost 5,000 tournaments in progress.  That is a lot of poker players!  One of the hallmarks of poker sites is their non-stop promotions.  Right now PokerStars has some fabulous promotions – if you aren’t a member of PokerStars, now’s the time to join.

World Championship of Online Poker
As I’ve mentioned previously here on PokerMom, the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is coming up and right now satellite tournaments are running night and day.  For as little as $2.20 you can get your chance at one of the tournaments which will have a total payout of $30 million!

$1 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown
An ongoing promotion at PokerStars is the $1 Million PokerStars Turbo Takedown.  The event is played on the last Sunday of every month and players can buy-in directly or get a seat through a FPP or cash satellite.

Battle of the Planets
Sit and Go tournament players will love the Battle of the Planets promotion.  The Sit and Go Tourneys have been broken down into eight planets that are based on the buy-in for the tourney.  This allows sit & go fans to make a tourney leader board whether they play $1 games or a $300 sit and go.  In addition to the separation based on buy-in, there is also a leader board for those that play less frequently than the hardcore sit and go tourney players.

Full Tilt Poker is one of the internet’s most popular poker sites.  The Full Tilt Poker team consists of such big name poker pros like Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Gas Hansen, the hotty Patrik Antonius and more. 

One of the draws of online poker is the nonstop promotions.  Full Tilt Poker is still running the Big Money Sundays promotion which guarantees that over $1 million will be up for grabs spread across The Sunday Brawl, The $750k Guarantee and The Sunday Mulligan.  Satellite qualifiers for these tournaments start at a mere $2 + $0.25.

Players can earn up to triple their Full Tilt Points by playing during the Full Tilt Poker Happy Hour.  Simply look for tables that have a smiley face in the “Players” column.  For those who are looking for a bit more excitement, participate in the Full Tilt Poker European Series 2008 events.  The World Series of Poker Europe event begins on September 19, 2008 and will be running qualifiers for a $25,000 European Series prize package.

These are just a small sampling of the current promotional offers available to Full Tilt Poker players.  Don’t forget that if you are new to Full Tilt, you can receive a 100% deposit bonus for your initial deposit (up to $600). 

The World Series of Poker is over which means it is time for PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) to begin.  The 2008 WCOOP will have a $30 million guaranteed prize pool.  Yes, you saw that right - $30 MILLION.  This is one of the internet’s largest online tournaments and was started in 2002.  In 2007, player ka$ino won almost $1.4 million in the WCOOP.  All this can be had from the comfort of your own home and in your pajamas if you’d like.

The 2008 WCOOP officially starts on September 5 at 14:30 Eastern with a $215 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em six-person max event with a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million.  The WCOOP continues through September 21 where the $5,200 buy-in No-Limit Hold’Em Main Event starts with a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.  The WCOOP Main Event is a two-day event.

If you don’t have $5,200 for the Main Event or even $215 for one of the other WCOOP events, don’t despair – satellite and step tournaments are there to help you get your entry for pennies on the dollar.  Cash qualifiers start at $2.20 and FPP Satellites start at 100 Frequent Player Points.  In addition, step satellites are available with the winner of each step gaining entry to a 9-person sit and go of the next step.

I’ve already started my satellite journey – hope to see you on the virtual felt!

I was watching an online no-limit tourney the other day and watched a hand go down that reminded me why I try not to play rag hands.  I’m not perfect and sometimes I get bored and play ‘em but the majority of the time, the better hand before the flop will hold up.

So the limits are high, down to around 300 out of 2300 players.  Small blind has J4 off suit.  Before the action gets around to the small blind there is a raise, a re-raise and a call.  The small blind calls and the big blind folds.  The flop comes and sure enough there is a J and a 4 so the small blind (she is an acquaintance of mine) has two pair and bets and then two people call.

On the turn, the small blind bets, the pot is raised and called so the small blind goes all-in (only about 10% of her chips left).  Both other pots call.  I don’t remember what one person had but the other player had AJ.  The small blind is looking at a huge pot on the short stack of a big tourney.  Guess what comes on the river? 

Yes, you’ve got it – the small blind got Barry Greenstein’d – Ace on the River.

PokerStars has been running their 2008 WSOP promotion with freerolls nightly.  The first round is capped at 5,000 entrants and the top 50 places receive a ‘ticket’ to the weekly tournament.  I’ve been playing in them and have done moderately well, tonight was my best performance – I went out in 103rd place out of the 3,114 that were registered.

I mixed up my play a bit and wasn’t afraid to be when I wasn’t 100% sure I had the best hand (middle pair, good kicker, etc).  That strategy paid off several times.  As it got down to about 300 players left – the larger stacks got more aggressive and the smaller stacks tightened their play.  I was smack dab in the middle – floating just above the average stack.  I had to kind of roll with the punches and did pretty well all though my cards were just miserable.

Last hand, because there is always a last hand, I was dealt A9 of spades.  Due to all of the all-ins that had been happening I didn’t raise.  The person to my left called along with the small blind and the big blind checked.  The flop came Ad, 5d, 10h.  I bet double the big blind, the player to my left min-raised and the two blinds folded.  Due to the min raise, I decided to go all in (as calling would have left me with only ¼ of my original stack) and the player to my left called.  I figured I was up against a diamond flush draw or perhaps an A5 which left me with outs.  Oh no, I was up against A10…yeah, now the odds were really stacked against me.  I didn’t suck out and was out of the tourney.

I’ve mentioned previously that I am focusing solely on tourney play.  The Arizona State Ladies Poker Championship is scheduled for 9/13 and I want to be playing my best tournament game by the time September rolls around.  I don’t have the luxury of heading over to the casino on a whim (I am a PokerMOM, remember? Hehe) so online tourneys is where I’ll be.

I’m taking a break from the WSOP updates today to post a bit about my latest online tournament play.  I played a few multi-table tournaments yesterday and did quite well.  The first was a 45 player turbo sit and go, I placed ninth (top seven places paid).  The second was a 360 player turbo sit and go, top 36 places played.  I went out in eighth place.  Not too bad.

The first sit and go I had crap for cards and just had to play what the deck gave me.  I ended up playing more middle suited connectors than anything else.  If I got a face card, it was paired with an off suit rag.  So my dad consisted of 7/8C, 9/10H, etc.  I managed to work well with it, although I didn’t quite make the money.

The second tournament I got great hole cards.  I had pocket Jacks five times, pocket Aces twice, pocket Queens twice and several other pocket pairs.  I also saw lots of AK suited and no AQ of anything.  I hate AQ, hate it.  In my final hand I was on the second short stack sitting on $30k in chips with the blinds at $3k/$6k.  I was under the gun and was dealt pocket fours.  No brainer, all-in. 

The button raised all in and the blinds folded.  I felt good that the button did the raising hoping for two overs.  Nope, he had an over pair.  My race situation quickly turned into a big dog on my end.  The best hand pre-flop held up and I was out in eighth place making 9x my entry fee.

David Singer, who played in his first WSOP in 1983, has finally captured his first WSOP bracelet.  Singer won the coveted bracelet as well as a $214,122 prize in the $1,500 buy-in Pot-limit Hold’em Event 3.  Singer has cashed 18 times in WSOP events with over $1 million in total WSOP earnings.

Singer disappeared from the poker scene in the 1990s but reappeared in the 2003 WSOP where he cashed three times.  Singer’s most recent claim to fame is as the winner of the Full Tilt Poker’s $25,000 Heads-up Poker Championship. 

Congratulations David on your first, and very well-deserved, WSOP bracelet!

For those of us who aren’t able to make it to Las Vegas for the 2008 World Series of Poker, Bodog is hosting a Mini-SOP tournament.  According to a May 26, 2008 press release by Bodog:

“Bodog today announced that it is launching a new online poker tournament series this summer that will mirror all 25 Holdem events of the 2008 World Series of Poker* in Las Vegas at just a fraction of the buy-in. The Bodog Poker Mini-SOP will run from May 30-July 3, with each tournament held on the same date as its counterpart in Las Vegas but with buy-ins equal to just 1 percent of the actual buy-in of the WSOP* Event.”

One percent, that’s a price tag I can afford!  I can play in the Main Event of the Mini-SOP for a $100 buy-in, much better than the $10,000 buy-in for the World Series of Poker.  Plus I can play from the comfort of my own home.  Of course playing in the Bodog Mini-SOP will be nothing like playing in the WSOP but it is a fun and cheap alternative.  Bodog plans to cap off their event with a tournament which will award three seats to the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.  Nothing like planning ahead for next year!

See you on Bodog!

The Full Tilt Poker $25,000 Heads-up Poker Championship was played online on 5/24.  Poker pro David Singer outlasted the field of 64 players to take home the $560,000 first place prize.  This was the first time Full Tilt has sponsored a Heads-up Championship and big name players Phil Ivey, Andy Bloch, Howard Lederer and 2008 National Heads-up Poker Champion Chris Ferguson took part in the event. 

According to the Full Tilt Poker News: “Singer claimed victory after defeating Emil “whitelime” Patel in the event’s final heads-up match when his pocket 8s stood up against whitelime’s 10-3 off-suit.”  Due to the success of this event, The Fabulous Poker King is predicting that this will become an annual event.

As more celebrities enter the big name poker events, their being signed by online poker sites.  Shannon Elizabeth is the newest celebrity to ink a deal having signed with Doyle Brunson’s DoylesRoom.com.  In a May 22, 2008 press release:

“In recent years, Shannon Elizabeth has quickly proven that poker prowess and stunning looks can easily go hand in hand. As a near-fixture at the tables in Vegas, Shannon has already competed in the legendary World Series of Poker and was the first woman to advance to a semi-final round in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship.”

Shannon Elizabeth became every male’s fantasy girl after appearing in the smash comedy American Pie.  Players on DoylesRoom.com will have the ability to play against Shannon in the site’s popular celebrity bounty tournaments as well as in live poker games.