I am wondering how many of us enjoy playing poker? Where do you play? Is there a good app you like putting reps in on?

Every Texas holdem poker app I have ever played disappoints me with the ridiculousness of its odds. Big hands way too often every time I would log in (mine or my opponents). Like too many full house hands (37.5 : 1 odds) or a flush hands (32.1 : 1 odds) in a row, or 4 of a kind popping up more than once a day (594 : 1 odds).

I was first a poker player that picked up duels and loved it. I'm sure more of you it's the other way around but poker is something I have been playing since I was a kid and is a game I enjoy. I love to play tight early and real sudden like switch my table persona to a maniac after half the field is eliminated.

Last tournament I played was at the hard rock casino in Biloxi MS, made the final table out of a 100 player Sunday tournament. I learned it's not a good idea to keep drinking the free beer as my play got sloppy and I was eliminated going all in pre flop vs pocket rockets on my left.

I'm always interested in hearing good poker stories so feel free to share.

Glad to hear that you play! Vert and I both play. I play twice a month on average. Usually small stakes tournaments (60-130$ entries) and lots of 1-2$ no limit. i started on 3-6 limit 15 years ago and miss it a bunch. They don't spread limit poker up here in Quebec anywhere. When I'm in the States, i play lots of 2-4. It's weird that I play bigger stakes at home.

Vert plays 2-5 and does pretty well.

What are "putting reps"?

Prominence Poker is on Xbox One and a few guys here play it (Unbeatable and others). It used to crash on me a bunch but I assume they fixed that stuff by now. The loading screens are brutal.

I played in the 2010 WSOP and lasted only 9 hours, playing with Hellmuth and stuff. Seeing Liv Boeree was a treat, seeing Chris Ferguson steal an orange juice from a Starbucks was hilarious and, retrospectively, very in character. I only lasted 9 hours in the event (another Quebecer won it on Day Three) I played, so i went and played in a deep stack at Caesars, which I won (400-something players). That ended up paying for the entire trip and the entry fees in all the events I played which was great. I've won 8-9 tournaments in all but I've been playing since 86 so I don't know if that's good or not.

The level of play in my area isn't very good and I think the way I play is better suited against strong opponents so I'm not extracting as much value as I should against bad players I think.

Love playing though.

I'm a standard lag tard who has been playing since 2002. Typical game is 2/5/10 NLHE straddle game. I'm solid enough and enough people are just actively terribad so it prints money as long as you have the bankroll to handle the swings.

it's a forced straddle to make it $10? standard raise is like 25 I guess? Sounds crazy fast. i'd buy in for like $100 and would be constantly rebuying small until i quadruple up or something. i'd probably cash out at 1,250.

I really need to play a 2-5 game cuz the rake is like half.

LAG is fun

When the straddle is on (usually) then yes it's a mandatory straddle and the typical open is 35. If it's just 2/5, open is around 20.

When the game is soft, I'll occasionally play the 5/10/20 game where the usual open is 70.

The 5/10/20 game has a timed rake of 10 every half hour. Since I play alot of pots, that's actually pretty great. Doesn't have any bad beat jackpot, which is good, too.

i play tons of pots and the rake in my games is killer. I told you once by PM but it's 10% with a a double drop, 1$ for bad beat and another 1$ for high hand jackpot. so it's like a max of 8 or 9, not including the two 1$ drops. ugh. that's for 1-2. The 2-5 game is 15+2 max, 5% rake. yuk.

anyway, i'll probably play next friday evening and I'll see how it goes.

Meanwhile, our rake is 10%, max 7 for full ring, and reduced to 6 if three seats open. Not bad, but worse than 5/10

I like poker also but have never played for "real" money, we just gather and play texas hold´em winner takes all, with friends with a $10-20 bucks entry fee... its fun to go home after some laughs and 80-160 bucks on the wallet.

that's still real money, you're playing real poker don't worry. I play the same stakes when it's just a friendly game at a friend's house. I know lots of people that play for NO MONEY and it's just not the same. If you have nothing to lose, you aren't really playing.

Vert, how did you like Prominence Poker?

I mean, it's fine. It's hard to take seriously, but it gives me something to play on my GPD when the TV is taken and I don't feel like playing Gwent. It's a shove-fest, like all primarily play money poker games. I want to get to higher levels to see if people take it more seriously there.

How do the higher levels work?

I tried Prominence but that's one of the apps I was talking about that seems to get the odds wrong.

You guys play way more than I ever have. I am more on Cucho's level.

I still enjoy playing and I kind of agree something needs to be on the line, but I don't think it has to be money. Playing for a trophy is fun too.

Playing for achievements is probably fun on Prominence but I haven't really tried

Vert, i need advice. I'm in a 55 player 75$ tournament with a rebuy. 50 players left

Cash game has two 1-2 tables going with a 1,250$ high hand jackpot where all you need is AAAKK or better to hit it

If i get knocked out, do I rebuy or play cash game?

Not worth it to play for a jackpot. Stick with the tourney if you want to play and there isn't a massive rake

K that's what I did and what my friend suggested

I end up getting knocked out and sit at the cash anyway right after this woman I was playing with hit quad ducks and took the 1250. I immediately get quad nines and they have to hold up for 40 minutes to win 250 but some fatso at the other table hits quad aces

My friends and I used to play the Texas Hold'em game on 360 so much that I'd dream of poker hands.

the 360 hold'em game used to put me to sleep so well with that stupid guitar riff that would play over and over. It was the perfect game to play before bed.


Vert, i got a hand I'd like your input on.

I'm in the tournament. We're 90 minutes into it. 20 minute blinds. another 30 minutes for rebuys. Playing at a full ring table (we might be 8 at this point). I got about 20k, starting stacks at 25k. Blinds are 200/400 so i'm doing fine still. I raise middle position with 85d (i'm bored). This woman calls on the button. She's one of Canada's top female players (she's retired and plays full time), she's flown into Montreal from Alberta for the World Cup of Cards going on at Playground. They had a 2.2k event going on that day (Day Two I think) with a 2 millino guarantee. I guess she got knocked out cuz she was playing at this other poker place I play. Anyway, she calls on the button. Flop is 876 rainbow. I decide to check to her cuz I'm OOP. She bets, i call. Turn is 2. Check-check. River is T. I check and she goes all-in. This screams bluff to me. BUT, her all-in is huge compared to the pot. Pot is 6-7k, her all-in is 13k. I have her covered but I am crippled if I lose this pot.

I don't see her betting 2xpot all-in on a busted draw. I just don't. SHe could have the 9, she could have 2-pair or better. I end up folding but I think it was a mistake. I had top pair on the flop with crap kicker and a busted draw. I dunno. Cash game I call there but in a tournament, i think i fold?

1. Check-Calling the flop is terribad. That's a raise spot all day. I mean, it's greedy to ask for more contact with the board given the flop. If you are checking, it's gotta be a check/raise spot.

2. Checking turn is even worse. I mean, your hand is both well-disguised and underrepresented and you have backdoor draws if you are behind. You gain nothing checking here. I mean, what was the thought? Check-call again? That's gross.

3. River, you've put yourself in an awful spot, but without any more information, your hand is now a bad bluff-catcher and she isn't going to be bluffing often, especially early in a rebuy tourney. She's most likely hoping for a hero-call from a hand like yours and you're likely behind. Just fold river. She probably had something like 7-9 or something along those lines. Doubt she's shoving that board without a straight unless she really wants to value-town herself, but who knows, because you played your hand so passively.

Folding the river there is fine, but getting there required you to play the hand really ****'ty.

Hey thanks for the feedback

I'll explain my reasoning and we can figure out if I should tweak my strategy at all. So on the flip I'm ahead, we can be comfortable with that. I'm OOP so I absolutely need to develop and protect my checking my range. You know this already, otherwise I get run over every time I check.

Now when you protect your check range you can't just check raise or check fold, you need a check call range too or you get led into the turn when you check call with nothing. So I want to fully balance my check range with a reasonable mix of check raise, check call and check fold

Now top pair with garbage kicker and straight draw on a coordinated board struck me as a check call but you could be right that it might be check raise. If I had top pair and flush draw, I would check raise or bet for SURE. So I think the sequence of 876 scares me that I might be check raising into a straight

Ok so that's the flop. Now you saw I should bet the turn where is a fair observation but don't forget she bet the flop so I'm planning on check calling here again but it goes check check what's ch is fine since I don't have a monster or anything

It's the huge bet on the river where ch screwed me up and I'm glad you agree that my fold is okay but I'm still not convinced

Interesting hand that shows how brutal it is to be OOP

I'm not rejecting my your advice btw, I just want to have a discussion so you understand what my passive looking play is doing