Vegas Trip Report, Founding Club Members Update

 Rick waiting for $110 MTT to start at Binion’s, Downtown Las Vegas

I had an interesting week in Las Vegas last week.  I was there for an industry trade conference (Citrix iForum), but managed to fit a little poker in from time to time 🙂

If you’re headed to Vegas to play in some tournaments, all I can say is you’d better really bone up online and get prepared for some stiff competition when you arrive… (much tougher than in years past, in my opinion)

I found the tournament action to be extremely tough, especially at Binion’s.  I had played at Binion’s a few years ago and made the final table several times.  This time was quite different. 

The level of play was very intense, with lots of highly-skilled poker tournament players, along with the regular Vegas locals (I recognized several of them from many other tournaments over the years).  I guess I’d become spoiled playing at the Hard Rock in Ft. Lauderdale, where the local competition isn’t nearly as strong.

As with most tournaments, you either get the cards and a few breaks when you’re forced to make a stand (along with some well-concealed bluffs and blind-stealing along the way) or you don’t.  When the blinds are up to 600/1200 with 100 antes, you either pick your spots right and survive or you don’t… 

If there’s one thing I could’ve done better, it would’ve been to become a bit more aggressive earlier to maintain an average stack size or better (instead of playing more conservatively and getting pushed around too much by the blinds).  One thing’s for sure, in multi-table tournaments you have to accumulate chips much earlier in the tournament from weaker players and looser players while you still can (before they get knocked out).

I ended up in 10th place in one tourney (out of 41) and 21st in another (with a field of around 125), leaving me out of the money both times.  Grrr.  I hate it when that happens!  But that’s poker . . .

I had much better results at the cash game tables back at Mandalay.  The poker room there is really nice.  Best of all, there’s a good mix of decent poker players and tourists (fish). 

I ended up making several hundred dollars back at the $1/$2 No Limit cash game tables over the week, so overall it was about a wash for me all things considered.  From what a friend told me, there were even more fish swimming around the Luxor poker room (didn’t get chance to play No Limit there).

I’ve played Limit poker a lot in Vegas.  I usually find Limit poker very boring, tedious and somewhat frustrating since you can never push anyone around, since it only takes a few bucks to see the next card.  While I can win reliably at Limit games, I prefer No Limit in order to chip up much faster.

Once piece of advice.  If you’re going to Vegas and intent on making some $$ on poker these days, try the No Limit cash games on the strip, where there’s lots of tourists trying to impress everyone with their bad bluffs, out of position raises with crap hands, etc.  You’ll probably make enough at No Limit (if you just play good, solid poker) to pay for your tournament entry fees (as I did).

As an exmaple of what I mean, at one point I’m sitting next to a couple who were both playing at the same table.  She manages to win a hand with 6-3 offsuit by picking up two pairs vs. pocket kings.  She says “I really like 6-3.  It’s my lucky hand.  Everyone else is playing high cards, so I’m playing low cards…”. 

LMAO. I just had to laugh aloud! 

They both somehow managed to last over an hour (trading their chips back and forth with each other as their stacks ebbed and flowed) and then they finally both busted out.  This is just one of many examples of what you’ll find at many No Limit cash game tables…

I now see why the poker pros love No Limit Hold’em so in Vegas – it’s a great way to make hundreds to thousands of dollars an hour from the regular stream of tourists who are there to drink, gamble and just have fun!  Hey, that’s fine with me.  I generally avoid drinking while playing cards, which keeps my game sharp as an extra edge. 

I find players who’ve been drinking tend to overplay lots of hands, so getting your money into a pot with a good heads-up hand is often all it takes to win; however, you have to remember these players are playing lots of crap hands and can catch something anytime, so it’s always interesting!

Anyway, playing live poker is still the most fun to be had, in my opinion.  The live interactions make the game more interesting and rich.

Oh well, back to Texas and the online poker club scene…

The poker club site is progressing nicely.  I found a way to get the new club site developed much faster than originally expected, so I’m hopeful we’ll have the basic site operational by the Holiday Season and ready to officially launch by February 2008 with some really good content.

Also, our 2nd Team Poker Coaching event is now scheduled for November 2nd at 8 p.m. Central (9 eastern).   You can register here.

We now have a core club leadership team beginning to form.  We have 26 volunteers who have offered to help with getting the club up and running and assist me with running it!  This is just incredible.  I’m honored that so many are willing to step up and help out.  I can see this is going to be a worthwhile endeavor – one that everyone can benefit greatly from.   It’s not too late to volunteer – you can register here to join us.

A special thanks to everyone who has volunteered as Founding Members!!  I’m looking forward to working closely with everyone as we build and grow our new club together in 2008.

Until next time, best of luck to you at the tables!

Rick

2nd Team Poker Coaching Event

Our 2nd team poker coaching event is coming soon. Be sure to register for the 2nd Team Poker Coaching event, which takes place on Friday, November 2nd at 8 p.m. CDT (9 p.m. Eastern).

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/477596964 

We have 2 teams of experienced players and coaches lined up this time.  This will be our 2nd live event, where each player and coach team will take turns on the “hot seat”, calling the action in a live tournament.   We learned a lot from our 1st event, so you can expect this one to go a lot smoother.

You’ll have an opportunity to view this event live, and then afterwards we’d like to have a discussion and Question/Answer
session with the audience. 

More details below: 

Team Poker Coaching Event Join us for a Webinar on November 2 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/477596964 2nd team poker coaching event.  In this event, two teams will play in live sit and go tournament, discussing their strategies and methods of play for all to learn from.  This event will be recorded and available afterwards, as well. Title:   Team Poker Coaching Event Date: Friday, November 2, 2007 Time: 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM CDT System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer

AUDIO:

You have two options to get the audio – 1) connect using your regular telephone or 2) use Skype.  

For the best audio reception, connecting with your phone to any of the numbers below is recommended. 

Calling from the US call # 1-605-475-8590  Conference Room Number: 5672971#
(long distance costs apply).

To access the audio in real-time anywhere in the world for free, use the Skype number:  +990008275672971

In Europe, dial:
  Austria 0820 4000 1574
  Belgium 070 35 9989
  France 0826 100 277
  Germany 01805 00 7649
  Ireland 0818 270 034
  Italy 0848 390 175
  Netherlands 0870 001 932
  Spain 0902 886 051
  Switzerland 0848 560 195
  UK 0870 738 0763
The conference is free but national rate charges will apply to these calls.

Your Conference Room Number is : 5672971

From Skype: call to be a participant
  Skype number:+990008275672971

 

Cashed in One, Knocked Around in Another…

Well, it’s been an interesting day in Vegas.  Played in a 2 table sit and go at Luxor, cashed in that one (got knocked out with two pairs Q J vs. a set of Aces).  I don’t feel too bad, got my money in with the best hand I’d seen in a while.

Played the Binion’s 8 p.m. $100 tourney again tonight.  Almost made it to the final table, but out of the money again!  This time, I had pocket 7’s on the dealer button with around 5,000 chips, raised it 5 times the BB to 1,000, and got popped by a guy who’d been playing crap all night long, so I reraised him back all-in, figuring he was on a steal again (and I had him outchipped).

He flips over A 10 unsuited this time.  As suspected, I had the best of it pre-flop.  The flop comes 5 8 J rainbow, strengthening my position to around 70%.  The turn comes and he hits the darned Ace, then the river was a brick. 

At this point, it was just about over.  I had a only about 950 chips left  – chip and a chair?  Well, only for a few more hands.  I shoved with K J offsuit two ahead of the big blind, didn’t connect anything, my opponent caught a seven on the turn, so that was it for me at Binion’s again tonight.

Like Al commented, I’m beginning to think just playing loose/aggressive with any old crap might work better sometimes. 

The odds certainly didn’t pan out in this game tonight.  I watched Aces get cracked twice by small pairs that turned into a set on the flop, and Kings get snuffed by trip 6’s (both on the flop) – all within 30 minutes of each other.  Still, those players got their money in with the best hand, which is all anyone can do in this game.

There’s certainly many others I observed doing quite well with that “Gus Hanson” bully strategy – play aggressively, steal pots constantly and keep everyone guessing when you have a real hand.  I’m beginning to think seriously about using that style more often, especially in the MTT middle game.

Anyway, I’m here all week so the action is just beginning!

Rick

8 p.m. MTT at Binion’s

I ended up in a multi-table tournament ($100 entry) downtown at Binion’s.  It was their standard 8 p.m. tournament, but I arrived about an hour late, so my stack was already blinded down some.

Within a few minutes, I picked up pocket Kings!  I raised 4 times the BB (at the time it was like 75/150, still early).  Amazingly, I had two callers – one to my immediate right.  He repeats my “rasing to 600”, mocking my tone which he felt was somewhat enthusiastic sounding.  This caused me to think “Hmmm.  Did I just give everyone some info on my hand by the tone of my voice?”

 Anyway, he goes ahead and calls my bet – dealer says “3 players, the pot is right”, and tosses the flop over.

  K  5  9  rainbow

Boy, I couldn’t be happier with this flop!  No straight, no flush showing and I flopped top set!!

I’m last to act and the first player checks, my friend to the right says “I’m all-in”, in his own enthusiastic, European sounding tone (he sounded Danish, perhaps).  I insta-called him, very excited!  He says in a low tone “uh-oh”, in response to being called so quickly, which usually means you’re in trouble…

Sure enough, we flipped ’em over and he had pocket 5’s against my Cowboys.  He must have thought I’d picked up a hand like AK or something.  Anyway, I had him covered and the Cowboys held up, almost doubling me up to just over 6,000 chips. 

A old-timer at the other end of the table later says “I couldn’t lay a set of 5’s down either, I’d have made the same play”.  His hat has huge font letters that say “Attack Squadron” on it.  He’s a Vietnam Vet fighter pilot (very nice guy).  In fact, the tone at the table was very friendly overall, always a plus when you’re there to have some fun playing poker.

It’s a good thing I had that initial set of Kings – it proved to be the only really strng hand I’d see for the rest of the night…

So for the next 3 hours, I held on by stealing blinds occasionally, going heads-up against smaller stacks in trouble as the blinds went up, knocking a couple of more players out.  Still, I never managed to build my stack up over around 8,500 the entire tournament.

By around 10:45 p.m., the blinds were 400/800 with 75 antes, and still no cards.  I was stealing occasionally when I got a decent enough heads up hand, but they just weren’t coming fast enough.  I was getting blinded down to around 5,000 chips and the blinds were going up in less than 2 minutes, so I knew I had to make some moves.

A new fellow gets moved to our table, and shows up with one of those clear plastic chip-carrying cases.  I thought, “oh boy, here comes the new chip leader”.  The guy to my left was very aggressive and the chip leader prior to the new guy moving in with us.

I looked at the big blind coming my way (I was first to act), and decided to shove with K6 clubs.  The aggressive opponent to my left calls and flips over pocket 6’s.  The flop comes 4 5 7.  The turn is a 3, giving us both a straight.  The river is a King!  I caught that flop every way possible, but we ended up chopping the straight.

My stack is just over 5,000 chips still.  Now I’m in the big blind, with only around 4,000 chips remaining.  I look down to find K Q unsuited.  I go ahead and push.  The new guys calls me, and flips over A 6.  You can proably guess what happened.  I finished 10th out of 41, just out the money.

I look back thinking about what I might have done differently, and the only thing I can think of is to perhaps have taken a few more risks earlier with some well-placed bluffs.  When you don’t get cards most of the night, that’s about all you have left – be more aggressive and make use of position and any sign of weakness.  I feel like I had done some of that, obviously not enough…

I had fun, so I guess that counts for something.  I’ll be adjusting my aggression level up slightly in the next one.

Now, for some breakfast! (at 11:30 a.m., I was up late playing online!)

Rick

In Las Vegas for Next Week!

Howdy,

 Well, it’s off to Vegas for a week.  I’m really looking forward to playing some poker a every poker room I can muster.

I often do pretty well in multi-table tourneys in Vegas (lots of fishies), usually making the final table in 8 to 10 table events.  You gotta love it!!  There’s no better (or fun) way to make $$ than playing poker, at least for me.  Of course, I do it more for the fun and learning experiences, not just the money…

Hey – write me and let me know if you’ll be out there by chance… what happens in Vegas… stays on this blog 🙂

I’ll provide updates while I’m there.

Have a great week!

Rick

An Amazing Hand of Poker!

Hey!  How’s it going?

I sometimes receive interesting poker stories, like the one I’m
about to share with you, from my customers and poker students.

This one is especially interesting since it shows that once you
master sit and go tournament fundamentals for online play, these
same techniques can be used very successfully in offline venues.

In fact, I’d say the level of competition online typically far
exceeds what you’ll find in many offline casino games today. Based
on my recent Peak Poker Results survey, most online players rarely
play offline – an opportunity for you to massively boost your poker
earnings!

Of course, it always helps to hold out for a monster hand, then
make the absolute most of it, as you’ll soon see in this email
exchange I had with a customer today.

———— Email excerpt follows ———
 
Rick,

I almost forgot the Russian story, which happened recently at the
Seminole Hard Rock casino (this is the first time I have played at
the Hard Rock and my first MTT tournament)

The blinds were 100-200 and I was first to act (seat 6) next to the
big blind.  I was dealt a pair of Aces, hesitated, looked at my
cards a few times, and then called the 200.  I normally would make
a statement with a substantial raise but being first to bet
I wanted a bigger pot (risky I know). 

About half of the players called and then came the flop Ad, As, 7c
(trying not to show excitement with four Aces in your hand is
extremely difficult). 

There was a check from the first player (small Blind), a bet of 200
from the big blind (seat 5), again I looked at my cards a few times
and then I called, and several folded up to seat two (the Russian).

The Russian (who has a very nice chip stack and has been a chip
bully) raised 500, seat 5 called (nice chip stack as well), and
I hesitated for 15 seconds or so fumbling with my chips and then
called (I have less chips than both.) 

Now came the turn, 10c.  Seat 5 checked, I checked, and the Russian
said 500. Seat 5 called and then I  asked the dealer, “What is the
minimum raise?” (loud enough for the Russian to hear). The dealer
said “1000”, so I raised it to 1000. 

The Russian did not like me re-raising so he look over his shoulder
and started speaking Russian to his buddy leaning on the rail, the
dealer immediately reprimanded him “English only sir at the table”.

Now the Russian is not very happy and calls, seat 5 called as well.

Now came the river, 4c.  Seat 5 checked, I bet 200, and the Russian
raised it to 500.  Seat 5 took a few seconds and called, and then I
hesitated for a few seconds, look at my cards a few times and
re-raised to 1000. 

With no hesitation the Russian immediately said those words I was
patiently waiting to hear “all-in”, he thought he trapped me. Seat
5 called (which put him all-in) and then I called (which of course
put me all-in as well). 

The Russian proudly said with confidence “Queen high flush”,
seat 5 said “King high flush”, and Ihesitated for a few seconds
flipped over one Ace and then the other and said:

  “Four of a kind Aces”

Everyone at the table could not believe what just happened, frankly
neither could I.  I have never had four of any kind especially
Aces. 

I did not take the Russian out nor seat 5, but now I was the chip
leader.  That night I almost made it to the very end.  When I was
finally out I stood up and the house told me I was number 20 in
the money for $240.  He asked me to stand next to the cash drawer
and wait a few minutes. 

When he finally returned he apologized and told me I was the 21st
player and did not make it in the money, I now know what the
bubble means…

It still was a spectacular night for me and especially my
brother, he chopped two ways at the last table and walked out with
$5,700.

We both made an agreement before we started, should one of us
makes it to the end we would split 60/40.  The following week after 
I made it to the last table and chopped $5,500 and split that 60/40
with my brother as well. 

When I got home that night (3:00am) I placed the money in the
microwave.  When my wife opened it in the morning it was quite a
surprise, more like a SCREAM!!!  Unfortunate for me my wife
reminded me about the 50/50 rule and shopping she went.

This was about four weeks back and I was still studying the
information I purchased from you.  I have since been in the
money a few times and no longer playing out of my pocket.  The
money spent for your products was well worth every penny. 

Your literature has also taught me patience and discipline.  Win a
hand or lose a hand I still enjoy the game and have a great time
in the money or not.

Thanks for everything,

Wayne, Miami Florida

————– end of email excerpt with Wayne ———

All I can say is WOW!  Way to go, Wayne.  It always helps to pick
up a monster hand, but it’s impressive to see how well you played
that hand to maximize its value.

Sometime when we pick up strong hands, we give away our true hand
strength and end up with little to no value.  Wayne provides us with
a great example of trapping here with the top hand.

I’m posting this story here on the blog so we can discuss it.  Please
post your Comments to Wayne here on this blog entry (click on
Comments link just down the page) 

It always makes me feel good inside when I get emails like this
one from Wayne.  You know, I don’t make a lot of money with my
poker products, but I do feel like I’m making a positive difference
in people’s lives, as evidenced by Wayne’s note.

Stories like this one are what fuel me and keep me going, working
to improve our poker community.  If you have a poker success story
you’d like to share, you can post it in the Comments section here.

Until next time, best of luck to you at the tables!

Yours for poker profits,

Rick

http://www.RoyalFlushClub.com/

http://www.PokerTester.com/

1st Team Poker Coaching Session, Available for Download

Howdy!

Note:  In case you just discovered this blog and are interested in the new poker club site that’s under development and keeping up with what’s happening, below is a link where you can register to be notified about what’s going on via our email list.  When you Register using the following link, you’ll be provided with early access to the club’s private content library (including this recorded team poker coaching session).

 http://www.royalflushclub.com/NewPokerClub.html

Well, we completed our first team coaching event today.  

The first half of the session was a bit rough, especially the audio portion.  I eventually learned to mute everyone except the Player and Coach who were up, which worked a whole lot better.

Based upon lots of prior coaching experience, during coaching sessions it’s often tough to concentrate sufficiently to actually win these events – it’s a lot easier when you can simply focus yourself on all aspects of the game; however, the purpose of the coaching sessions is *not* just to win – it’s to LEARN.

I feel that the mission of learning was accomplished during this session on multiple levels.  First, we learned what works and some areas for improving the event overall.  Secondly, there were a number of good poker situations that results in good discussion, reflection by the group and advice given by both players and coaches.

After checking out the video, please post your Comments here on this blog entry. 

Thansks for everyone’s time who attended live today, including our audience.  The players and coaches invested several hours earlier in the week and this morning in preparation for the event.  Thank you all for making this event possible.

Looking forward to the next one!

Rick

P.S.  Remember – only registered users have early access to Club content – Register here:

 http://www.royalflushclub.com/NewPokerClub.html

Team Poker Coaching Event, Saturday Oct. 13th at 2 p.m. CDT (3 Eastern)

Be sure to register for the 1st Team Poker Coaching ™ Event, which takes place on Saturday, October 13th at 2 p.m. CDT (3 p.m. Eastern).

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/948035453

We have 3 experienced poker coaches lined up, along with 5 experienced
poker players. 

This will be our first live event, where each player will take turns on the “hot seat”, calling the action in a live tournament.
The coaches will also rotate each time the blinds go up, giving both players and coaches an opportunity to work together.

You’ll have an opportunity to view this event live, and then afterwards we’d like to have a discussion and Question/Answer
session with the audience. 

It should be very interesting, and to my knowledge, may be the first time this has been done in poker history.  We’d love for you to be with us as we begin a new journey in interactive poker together tomorrow. 

More details below: 

1st Team Poker Coaching Event Join us for a Webinar on October 13 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/948035453 1st Team Poker Coaching Event for Royal Flush Club’s new poker club (this one is free to attend) Title: 1st Team Poker Coaching Event Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007 Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer We will be using Skype and High-Speed Teleconferencing. You can connect from anywhere in the world toll-free using Skype, or use the following local phone numbers in your country (note: long distance charges may apply in your particular area if you use a regular phone instead of Skype) From Skype: call to be a participant   Skype number:+990008275672971 Calling from the US call # 1-605-475-8590 (long distance costs apply). In Europe, call:   Austria 0820 4000 1574   Belgium 070 35 9989   France 0826 100 277   Germany 01805 00 7649   Ireland 0818 270 034   Italy 0848 390 175   Netherlands 0870 001 932   Spain 0902 886 051   Switzerland 0848 560 195   UK 0870 738 0763 The conference is free but national rate charges will apply to these calls. Your Conference Room Number is : 5672971 (you’ll need to enter the above number to access the conference)

I hope to see you there!

Rick

P.S. The event will be recorded, if all goes well 🙂 and made available afterwards to all registered users (via an email sent to you afterwards).

Team Poker Coaching(tm) is a trademark of Royal Flush Club, Inc.

Preparing for next Saturday’s team poker coaching event

Howdy,

Well, we are all set for next weekend’s 1st Team Coaching Event.  We have a great lineup of Coaches and Players.  I’ll introduce them to you when we begin the event.

Just as a reminder, be sure to use this link to Register in the prior post, if you haven’t already done so.  You must register to access the event, which will be broadcast live as a Webinar.

Also, be sure to download Skype and make sure your PC speakers are working so you can hear the audio.

We’re going to be playing at Poker Stars.  Please go ahead and download Poker Stars and get yourself a free account registered ahead of time (in case we have to go directly to the poker table due to technical difficulties of some sort

As of the moment of this post, we have 69 registered attendees for the event.  I’m guessing it’ll go up some by the weekend.  Nevertheless, it should be very interesting (and perhaps entertaining, as this will be our first one of these and something is bound to become kooky or go wrong… Murphy’s Law and all 🙂

I hope to see you there!

Rick

P.S.  See the earlier post here in the blog for Skype dial-in details and the link to Register.

Register for the 1st Team Poker Coaching Event – It’s free

It’s now official – the 1st Team Poker Coaching(tm) Event is available for Registration!  Be sure to register (below)

Also, we still need more Players and Coaches and an Event Coordinator for the event, so please volunteer by dropping me a note per the email I sent you earlier. 

1st Team Poker Coaching Event   Join us for a Webinar on October 13 Space is limited. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/948035453 1st Team Poker Coaching Event for Royal Flush Club’s new poker club (this one is free to attend) Title: 1st Team Poker Coaching Event Date: Saturday, October 13, 2007 Time: 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM CDT System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server, Vista Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.3.9 (Panther®) or newer We will be using Skype and High-Speed Teleconferencing.  You can connect from anywhere in the world toll-free using Skype, or use the following local phone numbers in your country (note: long distance charges may apply in your particular area if you use a regular phone instead of Skype) From Skype: call to be a participant                               Skype number:+990008275672971 Calling from the US call # 1-605-475-8590 (long distance costs apply). In Europe, call:     Austria         0820 4000 1574     Belgium        070 35 9989     France         0826 100 277     Germany      01805 00 7649     Ireland          0818 270 034     Italy              0848 390 175     Netherlands        0870 001 932     Spain           0902 886 051     Switzerland   0848 560 195     UK                0870 738 0763 The conference is free but national rate charges will apply to these calls. Your Conference Room Number is : 5672971 (you’ll need to enter the above number to access the conference)

I hope to see you there!

Rick

P.S.  The event will be recorded, if all goes well 🙂 and made available afterwards to all registered users (via an email sent to you afterwards).