Welcome to the BQ digest. We are proud and pleased that since our first issue was published the Digest has been accessed more than 9000 times. We sincerely hope the people using the BQ Digest have found it both informative and entertaining. New readers please note, each issue of the digest contains a link to the previous issue. This provides you an opportunity to read or refer to any and all previous issues.

This month Papapyrite discusses, from experience, the aspects of staking you should consider before you take the leap. Auntie WDWF has some serious thoughts about patience while you grow as a player. Mike writes to his strength as a NLHE player, and discusses the various common leaks he sees at the tables. There is a lot of information in these columns.

Our poster of the month is Green, and we, unanimously think he deserves being poster of the month as well as being green. AlienSpaceBat participates fully and freely in forum discussions and forum games. He is also very helpful to new posters. Please join us in celebrating ASB as our Poster of the Month"



As announced last month, your editors formed a team of warriors named "Legion of Decency" to challenge the BQ moderators to a mixed format, heads up team match. After much discussion and reparte the drums of war have reached crescendo and the match is in progress as this is written. We expect hilarity to ensue and you can follow it in this thread:

Legion of Decency challenge to Moderators

For those of you who do not recognize some of the Mod team as, well, BQ mods it should be noted that several BQ mods declined the challenge and Captain ASB had a big recruiting job to do. We admire the way he managed to load his roster with professional players, ringers from strat forums fill his team roster. It's game on as you read this.


We are pleased to introduce our BQ Digest March poster of the month: AlienSpaceBat. Here, in his own words, ASB introduces himself- Immediately followed by his review of a brand new book. Thanks ASB.




Verneer had two very successful challenge threads on 2+2 in 2010 and 2011, where he moved through the uNL limits from a small bankroll. The first was 6max, the second was FR rush poker.
I think that in many respects the book has its origins in those challenges.
The title ‘Building a Bankroll’ is slightly misleading if anything, as it is in fact a full guide to improving as a player. Although described as the full ring edition, I think that the book is of pretty much the same utility to a 6max player.
It assumes some poker knowledge, but I think that anyone who is already playing poker and keen enough to have made their way to 2+2 will be good to go.
There is a good amount of strategy and tactics. Hand ranges and common situations are explained and developed with hand histories from verneer, some of which he uses as examples of him playing the hand/strategy well, some of which show him getting it wrong and him explaining the mistakes he made.
The book is split down into 7 main sections, each of which address what he considers to be a key aspect of becoming a winning player. Section 5 is the largest section , and covers how to be a solid player. This is the part of the book covering the most ground covered in other books. Verneer breaks down solid play into logical and sequential parts, from preflop hand selection though to river play.
The other sections distinguish the book: Explaining the effects of variance and the importance of bankroll management, knowing your villain and how to develop reads, the importance of playing your A game, recognising tilt and how to adopt strategies to deal with it (including many helpful quotes from Tommy Angelo and Jared Tendler), how volume is important, and the necessity to always be learning and strategies for doing this.
Verneer talks about variance as his very first topic. This is a subject much misunderstood, particularly by beginners. The second, bankroll management is probably the most important topic which is ignored by beginners, and this chapter on its own will help many players to understand and get out of the trap of playing games/stakes that overwhelm their bankroll, and are almost guaranteed to fail. These parts of the book dealing with off the table strategies cover topics less often covered, and which beginners will do well to take on board early.
Overall I found the book to be extremely well laid out, and verneer has an easy writing style. As a complete package I imagine that anyone playing NL through to 100NL at least will find a lot in this book to help them improve as a player, and it definitely gets my recommendation.


Your BQ Digest editors have been taking turns introducing themselves. So I will take this turn. I am a microstakes/nanostakes player, mostly LHE with no desire or intent to "move up". I am older than most, maybe all of you.

At my core, I am a social and an instinct player. I may be informed to some degree by experience, and may also have absorbed some strategy concepts from reading, posting, and digesting the 2+2 forums and books. But, my brain speed limits my capacity and I think I have nearly reached my potential as a poker player at a low level.
Players who can intellectually process their decisions accurately, at game speed, amaze me. I should run from them of course; but I enjoy playing over my head. When I encounter good players, typically those who are "playing down" in stakes, I like playing with them. This is part of the reason I have a mediocre win rate.

So Mike, Doug, and many others of you who have my number, you should know it isn't ignorance that keeps me coming back, it is the perennial hope that I may temporarily overcome your edge with run good. Isn't that what keeps most of us fish coming back?

Rather than bore you with more, I will let you choose whether to know any more about me. If you want to know more, here is a link to my well from a couple of years ago: and of course I will answer any questions if you post them in the digest thread.

Bona in the Well




Frequent Mistakes at Micro-NL Cash Games

I have been playing full-ring NL holdem for about 8 years and have been coaching micro-stakes players for more than a year. During this time, I have seen a number of common leaks, both in my students and in my opponents. In this article, I will discuss some of these common errors, and link to further material which addresses each topic.

Failing to Study Away from the Tables
With the easy availability of good information about poker, the nature of the games is continually changing, and opponents generally tend to get better with time. In order to continue to do well in tougher games, it extremely helpful to put in some time studying the game away from the tables. Yet many players fail to take the time to study the game. There are many ways to study; and different people learn best in different ways. Some players learn best from watching videos at training sites, others by reading books, and others by getting coaching from a solid winning player. Even something as simple as posting hand histories for discussion on Twoplustwo or playing around with PokerStove or Flopzilla will improve your game. Many of the video training sites have free trial memberships – it certainly can't hurt to at least sign up for the free trial. Here is a huge thread comparing the merits of the various training sites. The thread is almost certainly tl;dr, but you can probably look at the last 200 posts or so to get a good idea of the different sites. For discussion of books, check out the forum devoted to this topic.

Not Stealing Enough
When it folds to us in late position, we should be opening quite liberally, especially if the blinds are nitty, fit-or-fold players. We can make an instant profit when the blinds fold; even if someone calls we can win a lot of pots with a cbet. In case we have to play past the flop, we will have position on our opponent, which gives us an advantage. Nevertheless, I have seen some players at micros who are opening 35% or fewer of the times when it is unopened to them on the button. I believe that these players are passing on a hugely profitable situation, particularly if their winrate is otherwise good and they are better players than their opponents. The only situation wherein one should perhaps steal less than 35% of the time from the button is when the blinds are 3bet monkeys, in which case you will want to tighten up your stealing range and rely upon them to give you value when you have the top of your range. In the cutoff, you can also open wide, but not anywhere near as wide as you can in the button. Occasionally I see villains who open 40%+ in the cutoff, which is a big mistake most of the time, as they set themselves up to be exploited by the button. For more information about stealing, check out this COTW post by HappyPixel.

Failing To Isolate Limpers
When an opponent open-limps, they are announcing that they most likely have a weak hand. Furthermore they have put 1 bb into the pot. Due to the weakness of their range, and the fact that the pot is larger than a normal unopened pot, we should be isolating with a raise a lot of the time, particularly when we are in position. If we only raise premium hands here, we are making a big error. Against multiple limpers, we will want to exercise some discretion with our isolation-raises, because our fold equity is reduced, but against a single limper in front of us, we can really get out of line. The range with which we isolate limpers depends on many things, including how wide the limper's range is, how the remaining players will react to our raise, and what our plan will be for postflop play. For more information about isolating limpers, check out KurtSF's COTW. Also, you can take a look at my article on isolating limpers in last month's BQ Digest.

Three-Betting Poorly
Three-betting is a very important tool in the hands of a skilled player. Unfortunately, it is a difficult tool to use well. Clearly, the very top of your range can be 3bet; however if you are only 3betting QQ+;AK then it will be very difficult to get paid off on your monster hands against observant opponents. So you will have to add additional hands into your 3betting range, besides monsters. The difficult part is deciding which hands to add to your range. This is extremely villain dependent, and is also dependent on whether you are in position or out of position. Against fishy calling stations you might want to 3bet solely with the top x% of hands. Against players who will often fold to a 3bet you will want to polarize your range to consist of monsters and air. Against players who will frequently call your 3bet, you will want to merge your range to contain monsters and hands which will flop good equity often. After you have enough history on a player, you will also want to consider how they react to a cbet on the flop when constructing your 3bet range against that player. Here is a good post by gregGGhehe about what to 3bet and why and whom. It is slightly out of date with respect to the likely tendencies you will find in different categories of player, but is still an excellent (if disjointed and rambling) read. Here is a discussion about 3betting light among samoleus, whitelime and some other high stakes regs from several years ago. The discussion is confusing at times, but shows the way high-level players think about the benefits and drawbacks of 3betting certain types of hands.

Worrying Too Much About Redline
In Beginners Questions, one of the threads which pops up pretty regularly is a thread where OP bemoans the fact that his redline is negative or breakeven, and wonders what he can do to fix it. In most cases, especially in full-ring No Limit, having a low redline in micro-stakes is not necessarily a leak. If you are table-selecting well, most of your winnings will come from showdown winnings, as fish like to call and showdown hands, and you would end up just valuetowning yourself if you try to run sick bluffs against them. Mpethybridge has written an excellent COTW on redline, which is often linked by BQ mods whenever someone starts a thread about redline.

C-betting Too Often
Cbetting is very important, and you do certainly want to cbet most of the hands with which you raise preflop. Nevertheless, I find that a common problem among micro-stakes players is cbetting too often. I think anything above 75-80% is too often. Gone are the days when many opponents will play fit-or-fold and fold to cbet 65% or more of the time. Therefore, you have to exercise caution when the flop comes bad for your hand and good for your opponent's range and your opponent is the type of player who will continue often. Additionally, you should be cautious if the pot is multi-way. Each additional opponent in the hand will decrease your chances of winning the pot immediately with a cbet. Furthermore, there are some times where you flop a good hand, but your cbet will only get called by a better hand, so you are better off checking to induce action. Here is a good COTW post by Cangurino about cbetting. Here is an old post by bilbo-san which talks about many of the same things.

I hope this article has given you guys something to think about. Perhaps you recognize some of these leaks in your own game, in which case I hope that the information I've linked is beneficial to you. It should be noted that many of my links are COTW (Concept of the Week) posts in the Micro Stake Full Ring NL forum. These posts are an invaluable goldmine of information for the beginning player. Here is a full listing of COTW posts.[/QUOTE]

LINKS:

Iowanizer posed a good question in a recent thread;
Resources repository?
Like many good ideas it has been tried but somehow has fallen away in the storm of new posts. Here is a previous thread that was off to a good start.
Beginners resources thread: accumulated resources from poster contributions
We think maybe the digest can help maintain this idea but we need to think it through. Perhaps some discussion of the maintenance problems, with ideas from our readers will help put this project together. In the meantime there is a lot of material available through links in the above thread.

In February your BQ Digest's "Legion of Decency" challenged the BQ moderators to a huhu team match. Most BQ moderators ignored the challenge but AlienSpaceBat has learned no fear. So ASB recruited a team of ringers from throughout multiple strat forums in an attempt to salvage the honor of the mods. Here is a link to the thread:
Link to Legion of Decency" challenge

and a link to the February BQ Digest:
February BQ Digest

STRAT LINKS:

DiamondDog series part 4 with internal links to previous parts
Index of all DiamondDog's Mathenoobics posts
Link to January Digest
Link to December Digest
Link to November Digest
Link to BQ FAQ
Terminology of WA/WB
Transitioning to PLO, antneye, LHE micros
An oldie but classic use of stats post
Best starting hands multiway and HU?
Good discussion on range, stats, and player types
The reason for the forum
Is your table image self adjusting?
Chasing thin edges in NLHE

TRIP REPORTS, CHALLENGES, MILESTONES, WELLS, and FUN STUFF:

Link to Papapyrite's "all in or Fold" challenge thread
First annual bump of Mikes well
This is a fun well, Bellatrix well rises from history
BQ pix thread
Accidental Travelers from BBV4L
Occassionally your editor runs across some old gold while perusing historical files
Obvious.bogus fun 2k draws fire from the LHE nits
TT vs 4 bet by solid player






One of the things I get asked about often is how to go about staking a player or getting staked. As some members here may know, I am a partner in a small staking stable, and I have also done personal staking of tournament players prior to black Friday on UB and AP. So I thought I would devote this month’s column to a basic primer on poker staking, and a quick guide for using the 2p2 marketplace to offer or find a stake.

A “stake” in poker terms is simply a trade of bankroll money or entry into tournaments in exchange for a percentage of the staked player’s winnings. We generally refer to the person providing the bankroll as the “backer”, and the player is commonly referred to as the “horse”. A backer or team that has multiple players is usually called a “stable”.


Staking a Player
There are many ways to set up staking arrangements, and numerous things for us to consider before entering into any sort of staking agreement. The terms and conditions of a particular agreement are really only limited by your imagination, and what needs and resources the parties in the stake agreement have. The two most common forms of staking players involve providing the bankroll for a specific period of time for a percentage of future winnings. The first type is a deal for a portion of tournament winnings in exchange for a buy-in for a tournament or a series of tournaments. The second type is providing a bankroll for cash game play in exchange for a percentage of winnings over a set time interval.

Most poker tournament stakes are for a series of games or a set time interval in which the backer will provide 100% of the buy-ins and receive an agreed upon percentage of the total cashed. For example, if I put up 100% of a player’s buy-in, I receive 50% of their winnings. It is important to make an agreement in advance with pre-set cash out terms and make up contingencies. Make up and cash out systems are set up so that no money is taken from the bankroll until all financial commitments have been met. This way, if the player has a losing series of tournaments, they have to “make up” the losses before cashing out any winnings on subsequent tournaments.

Cash game stakes are slightly different from tournament stakes. Generally a cash stake is for a period of months and a minimum volume of play. The game limits are usually predetermined and monitored by the backer, and these deals may include bonuses for certain volume of play achieved. There is often coaching or review sessions included as part of these deals. For online cash staking there may also be a split of the rakeback or site bonus a staked player earns during the term of agreement. A typical cash stake would be for the backer to provide a sufficient bankroll for playing ring games, and every 30 days the player pays backer 50% of any winnings. The agreement will typically be for a fixed number of months, and the player must play a minimum number of hands per month. At the end of the agreement the player must buy out his stake for the amount of the original bankroll provided.

There are several important things to consider before entering into a staking arrangement. Only stake players who you completely trust, and who have a strong and consistent winning record! Make sure that both you and the player have covered everything in detail before starting. The details in your agreement will usually prevent misunderstanding and hard feelings if things do not work out as planned and possible disputes later. Many backers end up losing money. In order to reduce the risks of losing money, try to avoid staking players with desperate financial situations. Also, make sure to find out as much as possible about the player before staking. Try to obtain as much personal information and past history as possible, including many references. I would also recommend regular monitoring, review, and account/bankroll auditing to insure the player is following the guidelines in the agreement.


Finding a Backer
If you are looking for a backer to provide a poker bankroll, it is important that you have a few parameters or goals set before talking with potential backers. Know what period of time, or series of tournaments, you will be able to commit yourself. Be realistic about what games you are prepared to play, and which tournaments you have a positive expectation. Don’t look for a WSOP stake if you have never played large field events and your live resume includes only some local casino $50 weekend events. If you have played nothing but micro cash games, you probably should not be searching for a mid-stakes backer unless the backer is offering to provide a great many hours of coaching and move up terms in the agreement.

Keep accurate and detailed records of your play. Potential backers will want to see proof that you are a good investment. The way to do this is with records of your past play. Most backers play poker themselves and are aware that even the best players have losing months, but you should be able to show some long term positive results.

Be open and honest with potential backers. They will want to know why you want a stake, and what your goals are for the stake. Prepare some overview or summary of your experience, and what you have done to improve the level of your game, so you will have the details ready when asked by potential backers. If you are looking for a stake to play at higher limits, backers will ask you how you know that you can win at those higher stakes, so be prepared to offer some thoughtful and logical reasons.

If you consider approaching someone about potential backing that does not play poker, the detailed records will be very important. If you choose to approach friends or family, records are the best way to assure them that a stake can be profitable. Before accepting any stake from friends or family, make sure you consider what may happen if the deal does not work out. Poker can be risky, and busting a stake could lead to losing a friend or creating a problem between family members.


Using the Marketplace
One of the best ways to find a backer, or to find players that want a stake, is to search and post in the marketplace on 2p2. However, it seems nothing will get a member in trouble here faster than violating the marketplace rules, so it is vital that you learn the rules and requirements of the marketplace. It is up to you to fully read and understand all the rules for posting and using those forums, but I will highlight some of the more important things to remember. Please follow the links provided below to learn the marketplace rules.

First, in order to start a new thread anywhere in the Marketplace Group you must:

1) Have a non-dormant 2+2 account in good standing, which has been registered on twoplustwo for no less than six full months and activated private messaging.
[Note: You need to have all three - NO EXCEPTIONS. PERIOD.]

2) READ THE RULES, especially the part regarding Prohibited Items.

3) Go to your user CONTROL PANEL and request access to the Marketplace forum. If you've done this you are expected to have done Step 2.

You may reply in threads, and PM the member who started a thread, without needing to be marketplace approved. Read the specific rules for each forum and be aware of what things may be prohibited, as well as what the requirements are for posting in a thread.

The staking forum can be a very good resource if used properly, but you should not rely on the forum staff to relieve you of your responsibility for due diligence before making any staking arrangements. Use caution when dealing with members who you contact there, or those that make contact with you.

There is a special thread for members with less than 6 months on 2p2 to post seeking stakes, so make sure to use the link below and read all the rules in that forum.

Some important things to remember when using the staking forum:

All stake requests must be accompanied by your poker site screen name(s) in each post you seek a stake. And yes, this includes simple "PM Sent" posts as well. This also includes links to OPR/PTR etc - you must type out your screennames!

It is recommended (not required) that you also provide graphs or links to your results, provide references, and be specific as to your staking needs.

Do NOT send backers unsolicted PMs for stakes. In other words, if they didn't specifically request you contact them directly by PM, do not do so. [Backers: You are free to allow this if you like, however if you do you lose the benefit of having a scammer's screen name spotted by other members. Please consider specifying that "interested stakees must respond in the thread only."]


Staking subforum rules

Members with less than 6 months seeking stakes

Guide to staking cash games

Marketplace questions thread

Quote:

A HARE one day ridiculed the short feet and slow pace of the Tortoise, who replied, laughing: 'Though you be swift as the wind, I will beat you in a race.' The Hare, believing her assertion to be simply impossible, assented to the proposal; and they agreed that the Fox should choose the course and fix the goal. On the day appointed for the race the two started together. The Tortoise never for a moment stopped, but went on with a slow but steady pace straight to the end of the course. The Hare, lying down by the wayside, fell fast asleep. At last waking up, and moving as fast as he could, he saw the Tortoise had reached the goal, and was comfortably dozing after her fatigue. Slow but steady wins the race. George Fyler Townsend’s version of Aesop’s Fable: The Tortoise and The Hare

Bankroll management is an issue that a lot of beginning players understand in theory, but not in practice. And really, why should they follow bankroll management when x, y, or z online player was able to skyrocket through the levels in a month due to taking, essentially, one continuous shot?

Because first, we’re not all poker prodigies. Every player has the potential to be the next big thing, but some players start with more potential than others due to various background or educational factors; a player with an analytical, game theory based mind will pick up on game flow and leveling faster than someone who has no experience in those areas, even if they are learning the fundamentals of the game at the same pace. A student of higher level math would have a step up on someone with an education in language arts, simply because they would be used to working with numbers and the mathematical theories would make more fundamental sense. So when you see that a new player is crushing the games and skipping up levels, don’t assume that because you’re a new player as well that you can do the same. The person could have never player a hand of poker before that moment, but could tell you the math behind each of his plays and how the opponent should react in a way you couldn’t even imagine without thousands of hands of ‘doh!’ moments behind you.

Secondly, and most importantly, we’re not all really lucky. Yes, poker is a game of skill, but that element of luck is still present. You may get the money in with the best hand, but if the cards fall wrong (something completely outside of your control), you will still lose the pot. When taking extreme, bankroll-on-the-table shots, you have to account for the time when you’ll get sucked out on. And even if that player was the best (unknown) player in the world and played in a way that would make the poker gods themselves weep in awe, there is still that time that they lose it all and have to start again. The same can be said in reverse as well: any lighting fast shot taking rampage requires luck. You’ll need the cards to be in your favor. You’ll need the cards to be in your opponent’s favor too, but just slightly less than yours. You’ll need the cards to come how you want after the money’s all in.

When you are told, “20 buyins for that level”, we’re not telling you that to daunt you. The frank truth is that @#$* happens. A bad, prolonged downswing can easily take you for ten, twenty, thirty buyins over thousands of hands. A bad, short shot can easily take you for ten, twenty, thirty buyins at your usual stake over a hundred hands.

By creating a buffer for yourself of many buyins, you will feel more secure in your play. Playing 10NL with $200 will make losing that $10 a lot less painful, which will mean you will make those good plays more often, even if you could be sucked out on in the end. If you have that $200 at 50NL, that one buyin represents so much more of your roll. You will be more afraid to lose that buyin, and you will be playing scared money. Scared money means passing up on opportunities that could be extremely +EV but that you don’t have the metal balls to go through with.

We’ve seen so many people filter through beginner’s questions asking why they should waste their time at the micros with their micros-sized bankrolls, and it’s nearly always someone who is overly confident in their abilities. If they used that over confidence at stakes they were rolled for, they could be creating interesting, aggressive strategies that would benefit them in the long run instead of worried about calling that shove with kings pre if they have their whole roll riding on one hand.

If money is of no worry to you, and if you can easily replenish the roll that you’ve lost (or more), then feel free to take shots. If you have an inherent edge and you catch a good run of cards, shots could be a very short, effective way to get you to the stakes you want. But every action has a consequence; if you drop that roll at 1000NL, you really have no one but yourself to blame for the outcome of that hand for being there, no matter what your opponent had and ‘sucked out so bad’ with.




Well, I've been asked to write a quick blog on my life in the poker media, such as it is. It's probably a good start to give you a quick history to the so called career.

After Black Friday, I was listening to an upstart internet radio programme, which was discussing the breaking news after the biggest legal issue top hit online poker in it's history. I conversed in chat, and read around the subject as I listened and with my knowledge and experience from my real life job, I gained some insight into the situation.

In one of the slow periods, when the hosts had reached the end of their endurance, a request went out for people to come on air, to discuss their take on the situation. I volunteered, and 8 hours later, at 7am, my 1st stint on Quadjacks Radio finished.

I became a QJ regular, and spent a load of my nights online, talking on the air, giving my opinions on the news of the day, dipping into my finance experience, and trying to offer a rational insight into these scary situations.

When the Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC) held it's non-hearing into the actions of Full Tilt Poker, I was there, representing Quadjacks, giving live reports through Skype back to QJ Towers in Las Vegas, on the inactions taken that day. I met a lot of people that day, who had a lot more experience in the poker media. I learnt a lot that day about how the industry worked, most of which has helped me advance my career.

I kept on "tinkering" with poker media until early October last year, when I got talking to Jesse May, the God Father of European Poker Television, and the guy who commentated on the show (Late Night Poker) that got me into No Limit Hold 'Em. He offered me money to write for the Poker Farm, a staking and Poker Media site, that was looking to change direction.

I started to write for him, getting paid a small amount of money per article, and I got talking to a few other sites as well, and I've been writing on a freelance basis ever since.

In December, I got talking to one of the guys who run Quadjacks about doing a radio segment about poker strategy. Obviously I wasn't going to be discussing strategy from a position of confidence, have you seen my graph? But I was working with another QJ insider, Tragedy83 who had been giving me some coaching on my MTT game.

We have been running the show since January, although we have had a few weeks where we haven't been able to get together due to Trag's live poker commitments. To give the cliff notes for the show, I make a stupid move in a poker game, and Trag rips my moves apart, and tells me where I was stupid, why I was stupid, and what I should have been doing not to be stupid.

If you want to listen to these shows, and they are fun, please go here: http://www.quadjacks.net/?cat=1042

While we do cover strategy in a serious way, we do also have fun on the show, and try to entertain as much as we educate.

I'm still trying to break into the better paying gigs in the poker media, but I'm working hard, and doing my best. If you want to help me in that goal, I need all the votes I can get in the WBCOOP "Best Blogger" Competition. You can do that here:

http://blogs.pokernews.com/WBCOOP_en/the-wbcoop-is-here-and-maybe-a-5000-prize.htm

The Top 10 blogs will be judged by a panel, and I'm hoping to walk away with the $5000 prize, which I will be using (apart from $100 added to a Shanoobigans event) to advance my career in poker media. I'll be travelling too get interviews with up and coming players, and selling on these articles as a freelancer.

So, that's me, I'm still writing about poker, and have a new day job starting on the 1st, so it's going to be an interesting 6 months. I'm either going to do this full time, or I'm just going to have a great time trying. Whatever happens I'm going to be working very hard!

You can follow me on Twitter @Hippy1980, I try and keep up to date with Poker Industry News, and also tweet interesting stuff from my life, and occasional hands when I actually get time to play poker!






Fish Fry tournaments have been a tradition in BQ forum for a few years now. It's basically a series of various games such as 2-7 TD, HORSE, PLO, LHE and NL that are played all in one afternoon (or evening depending on your time zone). They are a lot of fun and have in the past attracted a wide range of players from absolute beginners to future EPT champion. The buy-in is priced so that almost anyone can afford it, and hopefully we will be able to get one of our friendly mods to award a custom undertile or may be even a color title to the winner.

In previous years we played on real money private tournaments on PokerStars, but obviously that is not possible post BF. The plan I'm proposing is that we create a Home Game at PokerStars and everyone who wants to play will pay an entrance fee to one or more trusted BQ regulars via a cash transfer on one of the remaining US facing sites of on PokerStars for those outside the US (or other online payment methods for longstanding 2+2 members). Then those that have paid the entrance fee will be accepted in the Home Game where the games will be played.

The total buy-ins for the last Fish-Fry was $9 (4X $1 events and a $5 Main-Event) so $10 seems a good amount to use this time, but it could be higher, or lower if people prefer. The main thing I think is that it be priced for maximum participation.

There will be prizes for the winner of each game (and 2nd and 3rd place depending of the number of entrants) and the grand prize will be awarded to the winner of an "ironman" points system where finish higher gets more points and the person with the most points is the winner.

Last time there also was a "High Roller" tournament where those who wanted a higher buy-in ($10 or more) played an 8-game tournament, and if the demand is there, then this could also be played as a separate event with an additional buy-in outside the "ironman" events. (It would be in the same Home Game as the other events, so everyone would have to be honor bound not to enter the High Roller without paying the extra entry, but since anyone doing so would be disqualified from the "ironman" events I trust this wouldn't be an issue)

Watch out for the discussion thread to be posted in BQ any day now.

SHENANIGANS and SHANOOBIGANS

These Forum Games are friendly low buy-in games ($1-$3) for all readers of Beginners Questions forum. They can be found on RPMPoker (merge network) in the Tournaments > Private > League tab. They are password protected, but the passwords are posted here in BQ in the SHENANIGANS and SHANOOBIGANS threads, usually posted on Thursday and Saturday mornings.

SHANOOBIGANS February winners ...

SHANOOBIGANS ...Shanomaha ...... and no it's not rigged !!!

The full SHANOOBIGANS scoreboard is here -> scoreboard

SHENANIGANS has a scoreboard that runs for the full year. Current leaders are ...

... but its still early in the year so plenty of time to catch these fish.

The full SHENANIGANS scoreboard is here -> scoreboard

And as always, watch for the *SHANOOBIGANS* and *SHENANIGANS* threads in BQ each week and come play with us !!





Some poker-players pass through 3 phases in their career:
1. They believe in a gutshot straight draw
2. They do not believe in a gutshot straight draw
3. They represent a gutshot straight draw


A blond girl playing in a freeroll was taking her time and playing very slow. The timer was started and she still could not take a decision how to play the hand. Her friend asked her with surprise, “What is going on? Why aren’t you playing?”
The blond girl replied, “I am playing! I am just slow-playing aces!”



A donk was sitting when suddenly he heard some noise in his head. The donk asked, “Who’s there?”
“I am a brain-eating worm!”
“And what are you doing there?”
“I’m starving!!!”

First! now to read it

great biog AlienSpaceBat, really enjoyed it. I definitely want to learn mroe poker variants. Brag eh? LoL, I used to play 3 card, 4 card and 7 card brag with my family for my pocket money as a kid Didx you ever play "Shoot" ? some mad gamej where the dealer puts his money in teh middle as the pot and then every one gets dealt oen card then - something hapens, cant remember what.

I read Verneers guide months ago but have played a lot since then so i think I might return to it and re read it now that I am more likely to get more out of it. Definitely a good groundwork book for cash. Might be a little dated now but with rush coming to stars those parts might be ultra relevant.

Can we remove the whole of Mikes section please? he's giving away the keys to the kingdom!

I like wdwf's bankroll piece. its a great way to explain it.

good cartoons any chance of a crossword/quiz with a piratey poker feel in the next issue?

and horoscopes!

Haha lol horoscopes

The review is of Verneer's new book, which was released in the last few days. I was really making the point that the idea for his book probably came out of his challenges, particularly the first one.

Thanks to the digest editors for choosing me as the poster of the month !

:blush:

PSA:

Thanks for the review! Yeah - to underline ASB's point, the BaBR book is probably the most up-to-date take on the online games. It was published in Feb 2012 and reviewed & updated right up to that point.

The thing that chad0x00 is referring to is my 2010 guide, which is still good, but kinda amateurish compared to the BaBR book.

Is your book available through 2+2, if not will it be soon?

It's not - it made the most sense for me to self-publish it. You can check out a 40-page preview on my website:

http://mtmicropoker.com/

There is also a chapter available on the MIT poker course page (on the right side bar):

http://web.mit.edu/willma/www/mit15s50.html

That should give you a sense for the content + writing style.

Nice read!

I'm definitely participating in this Fish Fry thing if you accept PS or Moneybookers transfers!

Looks like a solid read, will give this a check in the morning

I read these every month. Great information. Thank you!

Great job as always Bona

Readers, if you enjoy the BQ Digest, please take a moment to rate this thread so others will see the gold stars in the forum list, Then hopefully they will find something informative or entertaining here as well!

Also, I highly recommend getting verneer's new book - it has a wealth of insight, strat, advice and even mindset info that any micros player will find useful.

Awesome thread +1

Thanks Bona - for the link (I used to play with you guys in the private Shenanigan games on PS btw...good times!)

Hi Misti,

I remember playing with u on Stars, my screenname was StarMike2006. We are still running SHENANIGANS games, but they are on RPM Poker on the merge network now. Feel free to join in one of these days!

Excellent stuff, as always.

For me, the articles from Mike and PP were particularly good. Thanks, guys.

Hi Mike,

Thanks for invite, but I don't have an RPM account yet - and not sure if I want one. I am Canadian so still have my Stars n' Party account which are plenty. But as I said to Bona, will think about it.

Good luck in your games today!

Another awesome digest. Solid strat as always Mike.

Excellent as usual. Really useful articles and links.

I also loved the joke about gutshots.

Calling Iowanizer: I wanted to discuss your suggestion about a "Repository" but when I tried to PM you I find you unavailable. If you want to discuss thism PM me or Skype, or email me please.

Calling Chad: Be sure and check out the April 1st issue of the digest. And thanks for your suggestions.