Orford's 12 for '12: February- Timed tournaments. THIS WEEK'S MAIN EVENT SEAT WINNER is POKERTREV!

RICHORFORD

15th February 2012

 

Right, I'm on the site till midnight playing timed tournaments.

Same rules as last week-

whoever posts the biggest Return On Investment (ROI) from a single timed tournament between 7pm and midnight tonight will win free entry into tomorrow night's £33 Sky Sports Bounty Hunter!

It doesn't matter how cheap, or what duration the timed tournament is. It's all about the ROI.

Here's what you need to do-

cut and paste proof that you cashed in a timed tournament and then calculate your ROI below- like this:

Machka705011£17.62
£400 GTD 30 mins

Player name - Machka

Buy-in £5.50

Prize- £17.62

Profit= £12.12  (£17.62 - £5.50)

divided by the buy-in ( £5.50)

= 2.20

 multiplied by 100 to give a percentage=

= 220%

Good luck!

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jan 1st 2012

As regular viewers will know, it's now…

 

2012!

 

Amongst the New Year's Resolutions I have already broken are not eating any more of those leftover chocolates from Xmas. Mmmmm, Thorntons....

 

But fear not, intrepid Sky Poker player. I am about to launch 12 Poker Resolutions which, month by month, I will hopefully attain, or at least die trying.

 

They will be like my Ten (+2) Commandments of Poker and I hope you can either join me on the same Resolution for that month OR come up with your own ones.

 

This will then be the thread to keep us all up-to-date on how our progress is going.

 

OK, so my Resolutions are not set in stone yet, although I have a fair few ideas on the back burner for the months ahead e.g. qualifying for an SPT leg, keeping a Cash for Points diary, winning an 8pm main event, winning the Sky Poker jackpot ( no sniggering at the back please), crushing DYMS, etc. etc.

 

But- first things first- here's my very first resolution for...

 

JANUARY

Become a better Omaha player.

 

 

Shouldn’t be too difficult, considering where level of eptitude I'm starting from! Actually, on a serious note, I've only really played Omaha on Sky once before and only did that for a few cash sessions in which I ended with a profit. I also seem to remember enjoying it- so, having not touched the Omaha tables for at least 18 months it'll be interesting to experience it again.

 

I'll have to remind myself of the various tactics! I'm not kidding- I have been so immersed in Hold'Em that Omaha is like a totally different game to me and I'd be starting out as a rank beginner. With the emphasis on the word 'rank'.

 

Any advice? What should I start out on? MTTs or low-limit cash tables? PLO or PLO8?

 

I'm playing tomorrow night (Wednesday 4th) between 7pm and midnight and would appreciate any support, railing, opponents etc. etc.

 

So, hopefully I’ll see you there. And I’ll bring you all the highs and inevitable lows on this here thread.

 

Meantime, let me know what your genuine poker resolutions are for January and let's see if we can all get a 2012 diary going about our progress.

 

I'll see if I can organise some prizes to be handed out at the end of each month to the players I feel have embodied the spirit of the challenge as successfully/entertainingly/informatively/educationally as possible.

 

Good luck me and good luck you!

 

All that remains for me to say is: “To the Omaha tables, Batman!”

 

RICHORFORD

This just in from Andrews re- Resolutions...

Poker New Year Resolutions posted at 3/1/2012 1:13 PM GMT on SkyPoker.com

bandini Posts: 1668 First: 14/2/2010 Last: 3/1/2012

Made any?

Mine's is to stop being a serial depositor.

I've checked the money I've blasted in the two years I've been playing and it's alarming. Could have taken the wee man to Disneyland with the amount I've gone through. Crazy.

My leak is obvious though. It's playing drunk. Not that I play particularly badly but my BRM doesn't so much fly out the window as hop aboard a spaceship and propel itself into the stratospheres. Sick of building a BR and then blasting it in one night of lunacy. Past insanities including playing Lolufold at a £400 HU STT, playing Gerrard9 HU cash for my whole roll and countless £100 DYMs. Even wander into nl200 at times. You can almost hear the Jaws theme tune as the sharks circle. Unbelievably disheartening to wake up busto for the nth time.

So I'm going to learn cash this year as MTTs drive me nuts at time. Start at the bottom and try to work my way up. Maybe play the DTD to get my MTT fix at times too. And also seriously limit the times I'm drunk at home alone and withdraw my BR anytime I know I'm going to be. Not going to be easy but nothing worthwhile ever is.

Anyhoo, Happy New Year to all at Sky Poker and may the cards fall your way in 2012. Unless, of course, you're in a hand against me. 

bandini

Spooky.

Great minds and all that...

RICHORFORD

Lol- indeed.

As for your post, I totally know where you're coming from. You, like me, through playing poker for years and years will feel that you MUST be at least in the top 25% of online poker players- especially when you consider the multitude of newbies and recreational players out there.

And yet, we finish the year more often than not, having spent more on the game than we've made. How? Because we're not disciplined enough when it comes to bankroll management.

Take me for example- having not played with my own money for ages on Sky, I decided to get stuck right back in on the cash tables last month with some pleasant results.

I ended with a profit of £400.

That's the headline- now let's look at the context.

I stuck £100 down and immediately lumped the lot on to a 50p/£1 6 max table. Yes, I was playing with 100% of my BR.

Luckily I doubled up.

From then on, I would always start a table with £100. So, although I managed to hit the giddy heights of £600 at one point I was still playing with 17% of my roll at any given time and exposing it to a good old fashioned unavoidable-no-matter-how-brilliant-you-are-at-poker-cold-deck.

In other words, madness.

The only thing I'll say in my defence is, that I had no intention of either moving up a level OR changing my buy-in. So, the theory was, the better I did (i.e. the more my bankroll grew) the smaller a percentage of that BR my £100 would be. So, within a short space of time, my BR would be £2,000 and my £100 buy-in would be the more digestible and universally accepted 5%. Not 100%!!!!

And so, that is how I will play- for the moment. Maybe I need to lose the lot to learn that BR management lesson once more. Yes, ultimately it will 'only' be a £100 that I've actually lost, but you and I both know that in reality it'll be at least £500 because that's the actual money I could withdraw right now if I chose to. And yes, it will hurt. Again.

On a brighter note- my actual poker playing has improved beyond measure since I first started on Sky Poker. it's unrecognisable now. I'm not saying I'm the world's greatest-obv. And I still have much to learn, but I've definitely improved. Just that **** management business now! Lol.

Good luck Andrew- I hope you manage to finish the year profitably. And remember- HU v Lolufold = bad idea.

You're welcome.

bandini

Great post Rich, I concur entirely. I'm sure we're not alone either.

Going to do it the hard way this year. Going to swallow my pride and start at nl4. Could well drive me mad if TheDon90's diary is anything to go by but such is my penance.

And yes, I'll grudgingly admit that playing Lolu heads-up probably isn't a great idea. lol.

Slykllist

Quick and easy New Years Resolutions from me:

1, Do not deposit at all during 2012
2, Cash in an SPT
3, Win an 8pm ME

Not disimilar to some of yours Rich, you fancy a contest?

Sky_Poker

Good luck Mr Orford!

adz777

GL

EvilPingu

In Response to Orford's 12 for '12!:

JANUARY Become a better Omaha player.     Shouldn’t be too difficult, considering where level of eptitude I'm starting from! Actually, on a serious note, I've only really played Omaha on Sky once before and only did that for a few cash sessions in which I ended with a profit. I also seem to remember enjoying it- so, having not touched the Omaha tables for at least 18 months it'll be interesting to experience it again.   I'll have to remind myself of the various tactics! I'm not kidding- I have been so immersed in Hold'Em that Omaha is like a totally different game to me and I'd be starting out as a rank beginner. With the emphasis on the word 'rank'.   Any advice? What should I start out on? MTTs or low-limit cash tables? PLO or PLO8?  
Posted by RICHORFORD

Don't know how good you are at Omaha or how much you know about the game already, so if there's anything which is really, really obvious, then it's not meant to be offensive or anything.

If you're an absolute beginner, the PLO Freeroll on weekends @ 2pm is great value - 10 Poker Points and £100 GTD, plus a lot of people play and don't really know what they're doing, and will happily go all in with any 4, or commit their entire stack if they hit top pair, basically playing like it's Hold'em which is the worst thing you can do. Get past this, and usually you'll get some decent Omaha in the later stages and a couple of quid, to boot. The low stakes DYM's are another good place to start - You'll probably get people, myself included, showing you how not to play Omaha in both of them, lol.

My top Omaha tip: In Hold'em, if you've got Nut Flush vs. Full House, usually the money goes in and the guy with the flush is unlucky and goes broke. In Omaha, once the board pairs, a nut flush, especially vs. multiple opponents, probably isn't any good as there is likely to be a full house out there. Same with straights on a flushing board, etc.

-----

PLO8 - I don't play much Omaha but I do play PLO8. Also, there's a PLO8 guide somewhere in the Poker Clinic so definitely give that a read if you plan to play PLO8 and haven't before. 

I've noticed your post about BRM, in PLO8 this is still important, but the variance in something like a PLO8 DYM is much lower than Hold'em DYM's, for instance, so while bad BRM is still bad, you'll probably be more likely to get away with, still not recommended though.

The best tips I can give for PLO8 is while a hand like 6-7-8-9 double suited in PLO is great, in PLO8, if you hit, you'll usually only be winning half the pot at best, as to make your straight, there will need to be either low cards, giving someone a low hand, or higher cards, giving better straight possibilities and you'll just get yourself into trouble more often than not - And if you hit a flush, that's probably no good either as there'll almost always be a higher flush out there. 6789ds might be nice in Omaha, but in PLO8, it's usually a fold pre.

Another rule is never go to war without an ace. This isn't always true, sometimes you'll play hands which don't have an ace in, but it's a good guideline to begin with - Other hands you might play, for example, include KKxx, especially with 2 low cards as well, and/or double suited, as it gives nut flushes if the ace of that suit is on the board, plus you have a pair of kings and can still hit a set or full house which might be good, and sometimes the second nut flush will actually be the best high hand, just don't go OTT with it. Other playable hands without an ace in include 23xx, which gives nut low if there's an ace on the board and the 2 or 3 doesn't pair, but like in Hold'em, or any form of Poker for that matter, you want to play marginal hands in position, really.

Also, if you've been on any PLO8 threads or in any PLO8 discussions, you've probably seen the word "Quartering" pop up. This is usually where one person wins the high pot (half the pot), and then the low pot is chopped between 2 or more people, usually happens with 2 players who have the nut low, end up chopping the low and getting a quarter each, hence the name. It can also happen where 2 people have the same high hand - usually a nut straight with a low hand possible.

Quartering is bad, and why you shouldn't usually call or get too erratic when you can only win half the pot, especially when that half is the low half. Quartering will send you broke if you keep doing it. With the high pot, it's sometimes okay to call when you can only win half the pot - For example, nut flush on an unpaired board - Nobody else can have the same nut flush, you're guaranteed to win the whole high pot, and as you're getting half the pot, you're effectively on a freeroll, might as well try to fold out the low hands so you can take the whole pot, or get a call from 2nd/3rd nut high hand.

Despite the name, PLO and PLO8 are totally different games, with totally different starting hands, and should be treated as such.

Good luck

PS: Do I have to be a regular viewer to know it's 2012? :P

wynne1938

Resolution 1   
 To Lose weight,currently 15 stone.
I have bought an X-Box 360 Kinect and Ea Active 2 with a Heart Monitor.
I have done 2 sessions of exercise(Cardio) this week. Aim to do 4 sessions a week!

Resolution 2. To become a better poker player(by being patient) and pick up one of the main 8 pm MTTs.(i have all year to do this!

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

In Response to  Orford's 12 for '12! : Don't know how good you are at Omaha or how much you know about the game already, so if there's anything which is really, really obvious, then it's not meant to be offensive or anything. If you're an absolute beginner, the PLO Freeroll on weekends @ 2pm is great value - 10 Poker Points and £100 GTD, plus a lot of people play and don't really know what they're doing, and will happily go all in with any 4, or commit their entire stack if they hit top pair, basically playing like it's Hold'em which is the worst thing you can do. Get past this, and usually you'll get some decent Omaha in the later stages and a couple of quid, to boot. The low stakes DYM's are another good place to start - You'll probably get people, myself included, showing you how not to play Omaha in both of them, lol. My top Omaha tip: In Hold'em, if you've got Nut Flush vs. Full House, usually the money goes in and the guy with the flush is unlucky and goes broke. In Omaha, once the board pairs, a nut flush, especially vs. multiple opponents, probably isn't any good as there is likely to be a full house out there. Same with straights on a flushing board, etc. ----- PLO8 - I don't play much Omaha but I do play PLO8. Also, there's a PLO8 guide somewhere in the Poker Clinic so definitely give that a read if you plan to play PLO8 and haven't before.  I've noticed your post about BRM, in PLO8 this is still important, but the variance in something like a PLO8 DYM is much lower than Hold'em DYM's, for instance, so while bad BRM is still bad, you'll probably be more likely to get away with, still not recommended though. The best tips I can give for PLO8 is while a hand like 6-7-8-9 double suited in PLO is great, in PLO8, if you hit, you'll usually only be winning half the pot at best, as to make your straight, there will need to be either low cards, giving someone a low hand, or higher cards, giving better straight possibilities and you'll just get yourself into trouble more often than not - And if you hit a flush, that's probably no good either as there'll almost always be a higher flush out there. 6789ds might be nice in Omaha, but in PLO8, it's usually a fold pre. Another rule is never go to war without an ace. This isn't always true, sometimes you'll play hands which don't have an ace in, but it's a good guideline to begin with - Other hands you might play, for example, include KKxx, especially with 2 low cards as well, and/or double suited, as it gives nut flushes if the ace of that suit is on the board, plus you have a pair of kings and can still hit a set or full house which might be good, and sometimes the second nut flush will actually be the best high hand, just don't go OTT with it. Other playable hands without an ace in include 23xx, which gives nut low if there's an ace on the board and the 2 or 3 doesn't pair, but like in Hold'em, or any form of Poker for that matter, you want to play marginal hands in position, really. Also, if you've been on any PLO8 threads or in any PLO8 discussions, you've probably seen the word "Quartering" pop up. This is usually where one person wins the high pot (half the pot), and then the low pot is chopped between 2 or more people, usually happens with 2 players who have the nut low, end up chopping the low and getting a quarter each, hence the name. It can also happen where 2 people have the same high hand - usually a nut straight with a low hand possible. Quartering is bad, and why you shouldn't usually call or get too erratic when you can only win half the pot, especially when that half is the low half. Quartering will send you broke if you keep doing it. With the high pot, it's sometimes okay to call when you can only win half the pot - For example, nut flush on an unpaired board - Nobody else can have the same nut flush, you're guaranteed to win the whole high pot, and as you're getting half the pot, you're effectively on a freeroll, might as well try to fold out the low hands so you can take the whole pot, or get a call from 2nd/3rd nut high hand. Despite the name, PLO and PLO8 are totally different games, with totally different starting hands, and should be treated as such. Good luck PS: Do I have to be a regular viewer to know it's 2012? :P
Posted by EvilPingu

Loving it, Pingu.  Great advice. I will re-read and digest this properly whilst playing this evening. I like the idea of starting out on PLO DYM tables. I'll have a little look at those at 7pm.

Cheers!

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

Quick and easy New Years Resolutions from me: 1, Do not deposit at all during 2012 2, Cash in an SPT 3, Win an 8pm ME Not disimilar to some of yours Rich, you fancy a contest?
Posted by Slykllist

Good resolutions mate. 

(1) Is achievable for me- haven't deposited so far! LOL! But challenging 

(2) I've never done before but feel it's within me and I'm due one soon and 

(3) I've actually managed once (get me!) but that was about 2 years ago and it's high-time I gave it another go.

I like the list a lot and will be aiming to do all 3. So, yes, let's compare notes as we go along. Keep me up-to-dae on this thread and I will reply with hgow I'm progressing.

Good luck mate.

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

Good luck Mr Orford!
Posted by Sky_Poker

Ty Sky Poker, whoever you are!

:-)

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

GL
Posted by adz777

Thanks Adz, let me know how you get on too :-)

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

Great post Rich, I concur entirely. I'm sure we're not alone either. Going to do it the hard way this year. Going to swallow my pride and start at nl4. Could well drive me mad if TheDon90's diary is anything to go by but such is my penance. And yes, I'll grudgingly admit that playing Lolu heads-up probably isn't a great idea. lol.
Posted by bandini

GL with NL4 mate, let me know how you get on. I love BR challenges, even if I usually fail miserably at them!

RICHORFORD

In Response to Re: Orford's 12 for '12!:

Resolution 1     To Lose weight,currently 15 stone. I have bought an X-Box 360 Kinect and Ea Active 2 with a Heart Monitor. I have done 2 sessions of exercise(Cardio) this week. Aim to do 4 sessions a week! Resolution 2. To become a better poker player(by being patient) and pick up one of the main 8 pm MTTs.(i have all year to do this!
Posted by wynne1938

Good luck Wynne- see my post under the 'Bulkroll Challenge' thread for my tips on how to lose weight, if you're interested.

As for the poker- patience goes hand-in-hand with bankroll discipline. Patience for hands whilst playing and patience at going up levels only when your bankroll supports it.

I wish you the very best of luck in both ventures!

RICHORFORD

Hi ho, hi ho, (or should that be 'Hi Lo' 'Hi Lo'?) it's off to work I go!

Yep- time for some Omaha.

I've opened up a DYM PLO SNG for £5.50 and will play my first hand of Omaha for about a year and a half in just a few minutes!

See you there!

RICHORFORD

OK, sit and go is sitting and going.

6 players still in.

From now on I'm going to highlight the headlines of what I learn from first-hand experience in bold.

Immediate impressions- there's a lot more pre-flop limping and family pots.

I remember a little about the starting hands I need to immediately junk- 3 of the same suit, not so good. Double suited cards which connect up-good.

But just lot a ton with this hand...

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
Twilliams1	Small blind		15.00	15.00	2605.00
Wetbac	Big blind		30.00	45.00	2065.00
	Your hole cards	J 2 9 10
RICHORFORD	Raise		90.00	135.00	1850.00
63284	Call		90.00	225.00	1445.00
terry1959	Call		90.00	315.00	1780.00
eekamouze	Fold
Twilliams1	Call		75.00	390.00	2530.00
Wetbac	Fold
Flop
		8 3 A
Twilliams1	Bet		195.00	585.00	2335.00
RICHORFORD	Call		195.00	780.00	1655.00
63284	Call		195.00	975.00	1250.00
terry1959	Call		195.00	1170.00	1585.00
Turn
		9
Twilliams1	Bet		585.00	1755.00	1750.00
RICHORFORD	Call		585.00	2340.00	1070.00
63284	Fold
terry1959	Call		585.00	2925.00	1000.00
River
		Q
Twilliams1	Bet		540.00	3465.00	1210.00
RICHORFORD	Call		540.00	4005.00	530.00
terry1959	Call		540.00	4545.00	460.00
Twilliams1	Show	5 3 A 2
RICHORFORD	Muck	J 2 9 10
terry1959	Muck	K K 10 J
Twilliams1	Win	Flush to the Ace	4545.00		5755.00

Thought I played it ok pre-flop and post-flop, but maybe I should have given it up on the turn as I wasn't drawing to the nut flush?
Maybe I should have let it go earlier?

Well, at least I didn't re-raise all-in on the river. Tell you what, if you're a hold'em player you have to seriously re-calibrate your idea of a winning hand when you come to Omaha!

RICHORFORD

Was the first out in my DYM!  LOL.

Brilliant start!  In fact, I'm really happy. Seriouslty. It means the only way is up.

Here's the exit hand... I'm much happier with this hand than the last one, but it still boils down to me drawing to a flush which isn't the nuts. Time for a rethink for the next game.

I've signed up for another £5.50 DYM and also the 8.10pm MTT- come and play me!

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
eekamouze	Small blind		25.00	25.00	1075.00
Twilliams1	Big blind		50.00	75.00	5705.00
	Your hole cards	9 4 9 A
Wetbac	Fold
RICHORFORD	Raise		175.00	250.00	295.00
63284	Fold
terry1959	Fold
eekamouze	Call		150.00	400.00	925.00
Twilliams1	Fold
Flop
		Q 5 2
eekamouze	Check
RICHORFORD	All-in		295.00	695.00	0.00
eekamouze	Call		295.00	990.00	630.00
eekamouze	Show	Q 9 10 7
RICHORFORD	Show	9 4 9 A
Turn
		9
River
		K
eekamouze	Win	Flush to the King	990.00		1620.00

RICHORFORD

2nd game. Happy days!

Player	Action	Cards	Amount	Pot	Balance
nash7tx14	Small blind		25.00	25.00	3060.00
RICHORFORD	Big blind		50.00	75.00	1637.50
	Your hole cards	7 9 Q A
jays46	Fold
MadBiscuit	Fold
Marsh447	Call		50.00	125.00	400.00
TREMAYNE	Raise		225.00	350.00	1795.00
nash7tx14	Fold
RICHORFORD	Call		175.00	525.00	1462.50
Marsh447	All-in		400.00	925.00	0.00
TREMAYNE	Call		225.00	1150.00	1570.00
RICHORFORD	Call		225.00	1375.00	1237.50
Flop
		9 9 A
RICHORFORD	Check
TREMAYNE	Bet		687.50	2062.50	882.50
RICHORFORD	Call		687.50	2750.00	550.00
Turn
		3
RICHORFORD	All-in		550.00	3300.00	0.00
TREMAYNE	Call		550.00	3850.00	332.50
RICHORFORD	Show	7 9 Q A
Marsh447	Show	J 4 6 5
TREMAYNE	Show	Q A K 10
River
		3
RICHORFORD	Win	Full House, 9s and Aces	3850.00		3850.00

RICHORFORD

Just did my first PLO MTT and finished 2 off the money.

Ok, ok so I finished 5th..out of 10. But it was still a pretty reasonable performance.

Another thing I've picked up quickly- hitting two pair on the flop is pretty tasty- if you see the turn and the river fairly cheaply you have an excellent chance of hitting your house and almost certainly having the best hand.

Interestingly, all of my big pots tonight so far have come from full houses. I guess you just have to wary of being beaten by a bigger house.

Right, signed up for the next PLO MTT at 10.10pm. got the bug now!

Will probably play some NLHE cash after that to wind down!