Online Poker

[Docwaukee]

been playing on appeak.  anyone else?  

 

[Brandon]

It's been a long time. I used to play full time. My company was basically running itself and @DerekGMZ got me up in his mix with other players, groups, and introduced me to a top pro that used to be my coach when I felt like I was good enough, knowledgable, and could handle the high level theory and game play. He took me to another level with online play and some of it was adaptable for live play.

I'll never forget Black Friday when I went to log on to Pokerstars and there is just a logo of the FBI and a small statement saying it's been seized. Luckily, I wasn't a big Full Tilt player back then, so I got my money back from Stars.

After the ban I played on a few sites that would do some janky shit like I deposit through a portal, it goes to someone in the Philippines, and they deposit it for me....but I heard the payouts were sketchy. I forget the name but top online pro Chris Moorman was one of the ambassadors. Maybe something like Lock Poker. There was another one called America Poker Room or something like that. Ironically, a friend of the family who used to crush and grew up playing golf and beat some of Tiger Woods amateur records used to rep the site, Dusty Schmidt aka Leatherass online.

I keep hearing that there is a bill in place that went through the House and up to the Senate that would allow CA to approve online poker like they have in NV an NJ, but it feels like it's been forever since I saw the news of it.

Obviously we are in lock down and it feels like an ideal time to play at Hawaiian Gardens, The Bike, or Commerce....but it also feels sketchy to be in public places with degens that I know have bad hygiene. I'd love to get back into online poker and probably start at small stakes SNG's and jump into a weekend major.

I do miss poker and still keep my head in the game, news, and even watch YouTubes of old hands or things like Live At The Bike that they do regularly.

[Slegnaac]

15 hours ago, Brandon said:

It's been a long time. I used to play full time. My company was basically running itself and @DerekGMZ got me up in his mix with other players, groups, and introduced me to a top pro that used to be my coach when I felt like I was good enough, knowledgable, and could handle the high level theory and game play. He took me to another level with online play and some of it was adaptable for live play.

I'll never forget Black Friday when I went to log on to Pokerstars and there is just a logo of the FBI and a small statement saying it's been seized. Luckily, I wasn't a big Full Tilt player back then, so I got my money back from Stars.

After the ban I played on a few sites that would do some janky shit like I deposit through a portal, it goes to someone in the Philippines, and they deposit it for me....but I heard the payouts were sketchy. I forget the name but top online pro Chris Moorman was one of the ambassadors. Maybe something like Lock Poker. There was another one called America Poker Room or something like that. Ironically, a friend of the family who used to crush and grew up playing golf and beat some of Tiger Woods amateur records used to rep the site, Dusty Schmidt aka Leatherass online.

I keep hearing that there is a bill in place that went through the House and up to the Senate that would allow CA to approve online poker like they have in NV an NJ, but it feels like it's been forever since I saw the news of it.

Obviously we are in lock down and it feels like an ideal time to play at Hawaiian Gardens, The Bike, or Commerce....but it also feels sketchy to be in public places with degens that I know have bad hygiene. I'd love to get back into online poker and probably start at small stakes SNG's and jump into a weekend major.

I do miss poker and still keep my head in the game, news, and even watch YouTubes of old hands or things like Live At The Bike that they do regularly.

According to Two Plus Two, all of the casinos / card rooms are shut down

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

According to Two Plus Two, all of the casinos / card rooms are shut down

I had a feeling. The only thing throwing me off is they are still running Live at The Bike on Youtube, but I also understand it's a one off they do in an isolated room there....kind of like Bobby's Room or the Ivey Room.

[Brandon]

3 hours ago, Slegnaac said:

Two Plus Two

Speaking of which, this quarantine and free time might be a good time to jump back on there.

I used to go down so many rabbit holes on that site with game theory, math, probabilities, and just basic strategy as there always seemed to be someone smart coming up with various strategies back then after the poker boom hit.....and this was before GTO (game theory optimal) came out!

The NVG section still takes the cake with the random ass degen stories, person x stole money from person y, etc.

I haven't really gone there the past few years except when the WSOP final table runs and we all kind of watch together and comment/post  

[Slegnaac]

 

21 minutes ago, Brandon said:

Speaking of which, this quarantine and free time might be a good time to jump back on there.

I used to go down so many rabbit holes on that site with game theory, math, probabilities, and just basic strategy as there always seemed to be someone smart coming up with various strategies back then after the poker boom hit.....and this was before GTO (game theory optimal) came out!

The NVG section still takes the cake with the random ass degen stories, person x stole money from person y, etc.

I haven't really gone there the past few years except when the WSOP final table runs and we all kind of watch together and comment/post  

NVG blew up when the Mike P story broke.  If you want to go down a rabbit hole read that one from the beginning.

[Brandon]

1 hour ago, Slegnaac said:

 

NVG blew up when the Mike P story broke.  If you want to go down a rabbit hole read that one from the beginning.

I bet and now that you mention it I did check into the site for that as I saw a ton of videos on it it from guys like Joey Ingram and Doug Polk.

[Brandon]

Another side note, @Slegnaac and @Dochalo might appreciate this. I go through rabbit holes with videos and YouTubes algorithms keep track and add recommendations. I came across this channel yesterday and it's pretty mind blowing for poker, analytics, and essentially GTO play. The dude goes through hands and breaks out the charts and statistics, but on a next level break down.

It's a bit nerdy math heavy and even a little too advanced for me since I'm not an active player anymore and GTO has evolved with advanced metrics. But figured I'd share the knowledge wealth if you or anyone else is interested.

 

[Slegnaac]

I follow Jaman Burton's vlog, The Drawing Dead. It isn't really heavy poker, but interesting to see his hands and life stuff.  Really good content.

[well_red]

I definitely miss playing online poker.  I got into the math and strategy etc and read up a lot and looked up a lot of stuff on two plus two, got decent but definitely a rookie.  My bank roll was constantly grind away for a while, turn 100 into 1000 or whatever, then back down to 50 in a night drinking or on tilt.  Rinse and repeat.  Probably don't have the mentality for the grind, especially since I was playing far below what I could afford so the winnings were meaningless.  The low stakes tables get boring after a while and I never wanted to invest more since I was just doing it for fun.  Started out on sit-n-go's but the cash games were more fun.  I pretty much just played PLO for the last year they were still running online and that was super fun but the variance can be brutal.  I'll jump back on if/when it is legalized.

[Brandon]

Yeah, keeping it real I am a solid player when consistently playing, but one of the most undisciplined players I know that never let me get to the next level. When my company was running itself I did cut out a daily schedule and tried to make a run as a full time poker player. But the discipline was tough, both with game selection and bankroll management. One week I wanted to be a tourney player, the next a cash game player, the next a SNG specialist. Just too erratic and undisciplined to make it to the big leagues. I got close after the online poker ban, it's the site I mentioned above and was in the running for tourney player of the year as far as their rankings and stats.......but.....I would win all day or be profitable then would like to drink and start playing $100 heads up games and would just get eaten alive by pros. They knew it too and would line up because they saw really bad post flop play when the booze kicked in.

That's why I admire guys like my poker coach/mentor (Ari Engel) who can consistently win, but still manages the discipline to play certain stakes/buy-ins.

Some of it was also that my income wasn't derived from poker and I, too, would get bored, especially at lower stakes. I knew dudes that could bring out $5 SNG's and made a killing while also getting PokerStars platinum perks for their volume, but it takes a level of discipline that I lack. Winning $20 at a time was just boring to me and I would start disciplined and start to fuck off and play loose or would read 2+2 while playing instead of keeping focused. I wonder if Shark Scope is still around for SNG data. There was one guy with a name like Migrid or something close that was just a fucking machine and played multi table small stakes and kill it. I got up to 4-6 tables at a time as small stake SNGs are pretty ABC basic if you are solid pre-flop. I would see this dude at every single table I was at and then some. Just wild and almost played like a bot (actually this wouldn't surprise me for the times in the early/mid 00's).

I miss the game, but would be curious to see how the game would play when legalized. Even after Black Friday and a bunch of us going to off shore/ off market sites it was just a bunch of sharks all eating each other unlike the poker boom when no one knew how to play and if you had some knowledge you could be profitable. The game is beatable now and all the education and GTO theorems are out there to where even grandpa can master the game and be a tough hand to play against. But I guess you will still always have the wanna be kid in the hoodie with glasses that saw a few Doug Polk videos and thinks he can run over a table or OMC (old man coffee) that plays beyond ABC and if he raises its only QQ+, maybe that will help balance the poker economy when it comes back. I know a bunch of middle aged dudes that just liked to play for fun and that's where the money was at.

[notherhalo]

Is it possible to do an online poker game here?   I will paypal/venmo someone and am OK with the honor system

Id guess we would have to find an app where we can have a private room

[Lou]

I like that Brandon said: "keeping it real"

[Brandon]

2 hours ago, Lou said:

I like that Brandon said: "keeping it real"

 

[notherhalo]

I'm hosting a poker tournament on the PokerBros app, it's been a cool way to play with friends. you can Google clubs to join or anyone can DM if you want in the small donkey cash games I have   club id 73326