It is a new idea for old games. The poker room at the Stratosphere Casino in Las Vegas has been known to run freerolls for players who log in a certain number of hours at cash games in their rooms, but this is the first time a “retro” freeroll has been offered.
This is a chance for players to compete in regular cash games as they normally would, but then be rewarded with a freeroll tournament played in the style of one of the many nearly forgotten games.
Kicking off the first month is a pineapple tournament. For those who don’t know, pineapple poker is played just like Texas hold’em, except that players are dealt three cards instead of two. At the beginning of each hand, every player must immediately discard one card and continue the hand as if it were hold’em.
Players are given exactly one month to qualify for a seat, worth $110, into the tournament. The freerolls are scheduled for the first Monday of each month, and players must log in at least 40 hours in a cash game before midnight on that day. Not only is the casino putting up the buy-in, but it is also doubling the first-place prize. Players can also buy directly into the tournament for $110.
August 6 at 12:01 a.m. is the time and date of the first retro freeroll, so players still have a few days left to qualify. They can play any of the cash games offered, which mostly include a low-limit no-limit hold’em game with $1-$1 blinds and a $40 minimum and maximum buy-in, and a $1-$2 no-limit hold’em game. An occasional $2-$5 no-limit hold’em and $3-$6 limit hold’em is also played. The Stratosphere poker room is open for any game as long as there is demand.
The next freeroll is scheduled as a crazy pineapple tournament.
For more information about the freerolls or to contact the poker room at the Stratosphere, call 702-944-4915.
Friday, August 17, 2007
Thursday, August 16, 2007
$50,000 Prize Money at the Summer Series of Freerolls Finale at DoylesRoom
www.DoylesRoom.com is giving online poker players the opportunity to face poker legend Doyle Brunson in a big money heads-up online cash game. The top poker site concludes it Summer Series of Freerolls with a no buy-in $25,000 Grand Finale event, where the winner will play poker legend Doyle Brunson for an additional $25,000!
Yes, it’s true - the winner of the Grand Finale will get the opportunity to play heads-up against the great Doyle Brunson, the biggest name in poker. The Grand Finale Freeroll will take place at 8.30pm (7.30pm GMT) on Wednesday September 19th.
To play, simply register at www.DoylesRoom.com, where you will find the $25,000 Finale Freeroll, labelled in green under the Freerolls list option of the multi-table tournaments (MTTs). To get into this fantastic freeroll simply play 25 raked hands (minimum 25 cents in rake) in the ten days before registering for the tourney. The winner of the Finale Freeroll will not only win the first place prize money in that game but will go forward to a heads-up match against Doyle Brunson on September 30th. If he or she can beat Doyle heads-up, in addition to the ultimate bragging rights, they’ll walk away with a further $25,000.
DoylesRoom.com has received numerous industry awards over the years for its innovative tournaments, responsive customer service and the unique opportunity to play against the Godfather of Poker. To become part of this exciting and fast growing online poker community, simply go to Doylesroom.com and register.
Yes, it’s true - the winner of the Grand Finale will get the opportunity to play heads-up against the great Doyle Brunson, the biggest name in poker. The Grand Finale Freeroll will take place at 8.30pm (7.30pm GMT) on Wednesday September 19th.
To play, simply register at www.DoylesRoom.com, where you will find the $25,000 Finale Freeroll, labelled in green under the Freerolls list option of the multi-table tournaments (MTTs). To get into this fantastic freeroll simply play 25 raked hands (minimum 25 cents in rake) in the ten days before registering for the tourney. The winner of the Finale Freeroll will not only win the first place prize money in that game but will go forward to a heads-up match against Doyle Brunson on September 30th. If he or she can beat Doyle heads-up, in addition to the ultimate bragging rights, they’ll walk away with a further $25,000.
DoylesRoom.com has received numerous industry awards over the years for its innovative tournaments, responsive customer service and the unique opportunity to play against the Godfather of Poker. To become part of this exciting and fast growing online poker community, simply go to Doylesroom.com and register.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Online Poker: Interview With Annette 'Annette_15' Obrestad
The screen name Annette_15 has been legendary since the first time it blipped on the radars of big-buy-in Internet poker tournament results. As the story goes, the 19-year-old Norwegian poker prodigy behind the name, Annette Obrestad, started her meteoric rise without ever having deposited a single dollar on a site. She made her way up from freeroll tournaments to small-buy-in sit-and-gos to eventually playing in the biggest tournaments online, and she is now one of the most recognizable names in poker.
Obrestad furthered her legendary status when she accomplished two outstanding feats recently. First, about three weeks ago, she played an entire 180-person sit-and-go without looking at her cards — and she took it down. Then, she went on to win one of the most prestigious tournaments out there, the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee, just last week. She got on the phone with Card Player to talk about her recent achievements and to share some strategy:
Shawn Patrick Green: There was an incredible series of hand replays posted recently on PokerXFactor.com that shows an entire $4 buy-in 180-person sit-and-go that you played in completely blind (covering up your holecards). You took it down, of course. Have you played tournaments blind before?
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad: Yeah, I’ve not looked before. When I used to play $30, $40, or $50 sit-and-gos I did it all the time. I dropped down to lower levels just to practice, but I didn’t take it seriously enough, I think. This was the first time I’d done it in a while. I really just did it for fun, and that’s why I peeked on one hand; I didn’t think I was going to take it seriously enough. But when I got deeper, I wanted to win [without looking] to show everyone that it was possible.
SPG: I had read somewhere that you did peek once in hand No. 47 before calling when an opponent went all in on flop with three spades. So that is true, then?
AO: Yeah, I did. I was getting such good odds that I figured “if I have a spade here I’m just going to call him.”
SPG: So you didn’t peek even once during heads up?
AO: No, I didn’t. I mean, it was really hard because I could never call a bet when he kept shoving all in on me almost every hand. There was nothing I could do about it. If he knew that I was playing blind, he would have shoved all in every hand. [Laughing]
SPG: What did that exercise prove? Or what can people learn from your experience with that?
AO: Just how important it is to play position and to pay attention to the players at the table. Like, if you knew that someone was weak you’d attack him.
SPG: It’s also a testament to how much you should play your instincts rather than your cards.
AO: Yeah, that too, definitely.
SPG: So, you won the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee just last Sunday. Congrats on that. What got you to that final table?
AO: Oh, man, that was such a long tournament. I was doing really well in the beginning, but I screwed up in the middle stages. I think I was down to one big blind at one point. Then I doubled up and I was back in it again. I had very weak tables the entire time and I just kept running them over. And then I was a card rack at the end.
SPG: Speaking of which, you eliminated the final two players in back-to-back hands, the first of which you flopped quad sixes and he was betting aggressively until he was all in on the turn. What were you thinking when you flopped the quads?
AO: That was such a big hand. I knew right away when he reraised [preflop] that he had a huge hand and I was just hoping to nail that flop. When the flop gave me two more sixes I thought, “Oh my God, I’m going to win this tournament.” [Laughing]
SPG: You basically let him dig his own grave in that hand.
AO: Yeah, you know, I really could have just shoved the flop because he had an overpair. It was pretty stupid of me to just call, in case he had jacks or queens and an ace or king came [and scared him off]. But I don’t know, it could have worked either way, I guess.
SPG: How often is it correct to play quads at face value (i.e., very aggressively)?
AO: If you’re playing against an aggressive player, you want him to bluff at you, but if you think he has a big hand you can just shove it in and hope you get a call.
SPG: But if he has a big hand, he’s going to be doing the betting for you, anyway, so is it ever worth the risk to play quads aggressively?
AO: It just looks more suspicious if you just call, basically. It looks like you’re trying to trap him.
SPG: I assume that you’re going to play in the World Series of Poker Europe?
AO: Oh, yeah, definitely. I can’t wait for that.
SPG: How many events do you plan on playing?
AO: I have no idea. Probably just the main event and maybe the pot-limit Omaha event, too. I don’t know, I kind of suck at PLO, but it’s a fun game. I just don’t know if I’m going to spend €10,000 to buy into it.
SPG: Do you change your game up at all when you play live?
AO: Eh, not really. You just have to pay more attention, which isn’t really that hard when you’re only playing at one table, except when you get bored. Just listen to music and pay attention, that’s all you can do.
SPG: There hasn’t been a single final table that you’ve been at where railbirds haven’t asked if you’d marry them and/or bear their children. Are they all just gold diggers?
AO: [Laughs] Oh, I don’t know. I think it’s just become a joke since everyone does it all of the time.
SPG: So, no serious romantic interests from the rail that you’re going to pursue? [Laughing]
AO: No, no, none.
SPG: Which online player have you learned the most from, and what was the most valuable lesson that they taught you? You’re going to have to play favorites, here.
AO: Hmm … I think that I haven’t really learned a lot from players, so far. When I started playing, I didn’t know anyone else who was playing, so I just had to do my own work. And now that I can play at higher stakes, I’ve gotten to know the people who know how to play and it’s a lot easier to get in touch with them. It’s only been lately that I’ve started to tear apart hands with other players. I just had to stand by myself before.
But I’ve always been a big fan of JohnnyBax [Cliff Josephy]. He’s just a role model, I think. He’s a really good player and he handles himself really well.
SPG: With all of the lore behind your rise to poker stardom by starting with freeroll tournaments, do you have any strategies for tournaments with freeroll-like blind structures and players?
AO: You just can’t bluff if you’re playing against weak players. Just be patient.
SPG: Well, can you even play position against weak players? Because they aren’t going to be paying attention to or respect position as much.
AO: It depends, really. I mean, if you have three calling stations behind you, you don’t want to be raising with king-deuce. You might, however, raise with seven-six suited and hope to hit a flop. You don’t want to get too tricky, though.
SPG: So in a situation like that where the blinds go up really quickly and your opponents may not be as educated, do you think you depend more on your cards than anything else?
AO: Yeah, I really think that you do. You can’t do too much unless you get cards in that situation. Like, when you get shortstacked and you have 10 big blinds, if you shove queen-deuce you’ll get called with queen-jack. You can’t do much without getting cards because their calling ranges are so huge.
SPG: So, is there an argument to be made that skill plays a smaller factor in tournaments with worse players?
AO: Oh, no. As long as you bet your hands hard enough, you’re going to get paid off when you hit. So, just be patient with them.
SPG: Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Annette.
Obrestad furthered her legendary status when she accomplished two outstanding feats recently. First, about three weeks ago, she played an entire 180-person sit-and-go without looking at her cards — and she took it down. Then, she went on to win one of the most prestigious tournaments out there, the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee, just last week. She got on the phone with Card Player to talk about her recent achievements and to share some strategy:
Shawn Patrick Green: There was an incredible series of hand replays posted recently on PokerXFactor.com that shows an entire $4 buy-in 180-person sit-and-go that you played in completely blind (covering up your holecards). You took it down, of course. Have you played tournaments blind before?
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad: Yeah, I’ve not looked before. When I used to play $30, $40, or $50 sit-and-gos I did it all the time. I dropped down to lower levels just to practice, but I didn’t take it seriously enough, I think. This was the first time I’d done it in a while. I really just did it for fun, and that’s why I peeked on one hand; I didn’t think I was going to take it seriously enough. But when I got deeper, I wanted to win [without looking] to show everyone that it was possible.
SPG: I had read somewhere that you did peek once in hand No. 47 before calling when an opponent went all in on flop with three spades. So that is true, then?
AO: Yeah, I did. I was getting such good odds that I figured “if I have a spade here I’m just going to call him.”
SPG: So you didn’t peek even once during heads up?
AO: No, I didn’t. I mean, it was really hard because I could never call a bet when he kept shoving all in on me almost every hand. There was nothing I could do about it. If he knew that I was playing blind, he would have shoved all in every hand. [Laughing]
SPG: What did that exercise prove? Or what can people learn from your experience with that?
AO: Just how important it is to play position and to pay attention to the players at the table. Like, if you knew that someone was weak you’d attack him.
SPG: It’s also a testament to how much you should play your instincts rather than your cards.
AO: Yeah, that too, definitely.
SPG: So, you won the Full Tilt $500,000 guarantee just last Sunday. Congrats on that. What got you to that final table?
AO: Oh, man, that was such a long tournament. I was doing really well in the beginning, but I screwed up in the middle stages. I think I was down to one big blind at one point. Then I doubled up and I was back in it again. I had very weak tables the entire time and I just kept running them over. And then I was a card rack at the end.
SPG: Speaking of which, you eliminated the final two players in back-to-back hands, the first of which you flopped quad sixes and he was betting aggressively until he was all in on the turn. What were you thinking when you flopped the quads?
AO: That was such a big hand. I knew right away when he reraised [preflop] that he had a huge hand and I was just hoping to nail that flop. When the flop gave me two more sixes I thought, “Oh my God, I’m going to win this tournament.” [Laughing]
SPG: You basically let him dig his own grave in that hand.
AO: Yeah, you know, I really could have just shoved the flop because he had an overpair. It was pretty stupid of me to just call, in case he had jacks or queens and an ace or king came [and scared him off]. But I don’t know, it could have worked either way, I guess.
SPG: How often is it correct to play quads at face value (i.e., very aggressively)?
AO: If you’re playing against an aggressive player, you want him to bluff at you, but if you think he has a big hand you can just shove it in and hope you get a call.
SPG: But if he has a big hand, he’s going to be doing the betting for you, anyway, so is it ever worth the risk to play quads aggressively?
AO: It just looks more suspicious if you just call, basically. It looks like you’re trying to trap him.
SPG: I assume that you’re going to play in the World Series of Poker Europe?
AO: Oh, yeah, definitely. I can’t wait for that.
SPG: How many events do you plan on playing?
AO: I have no idea. Probably just the main event and maybe the pot-limit Omaha event, too. I don’t know, I kind of suck at PLO, but it’s a fun game. I just don’t know if I’m going to spend €10,000 to buy into it.
SPG: Do you change your game up at all when you play live?
AO: Eh, not really. You just have to pay more attention, which isn’t really that hard when you’re only playing at one table, except when you get bored. Just listen to music and pay attention, that’s all you can do.
SPG: There hasn’t been a single final table that you’ve been at where railbirds haven’t asked if you’d marry them and/or bear their children. Are they all just gold diggers?
AO: [Laughs] Oh, I don’t know. I think it’s just become a joke since everyone does it all of the time.
SPG: So, no serious romantic interests from the rail that you’re going to pursue? [Laughing]
AO: No, no, none.
SPG: Which online player have you learned the most from, and what was the most valuable lesson that they taught you? You’re going to have to play favorites, here.
AO: Hmm … I think that I haven’t really learned a lot from players, so far. When I started playing, I didn’t know anyone else who was playing, so I just had to do my own work. And now that I can play at higher stakes, I’ve gotten to know the people who know how to play and it’s a lot easier to get in touch with them. It’s only been lately that I’ve started to tear apart hands with other players. I just had to stand by myself before.
But I’ve always been a big fan of JohnnyBax [Cliff Josephy]. He’s just a role model, I think. He’s a really good player and he handles himself really well.
SPG: With all of the lore behind your rise to poker stardom by starting with freeroll tournaments, do you have any strategies for tournaments with freeroll-like blind structures and players?
AO: You just can’t bluff if you’re playing against weak players. Just be patient.
SPG: Well, can you even play position against weak players? Because they aren’t going to be paying attention to or respect position as much.
AO: It depends, really. I mean, if you have three calling stations behind you, you don’t want to be raising with king-deuce. You might, however, raise with seven-six suited and hope to hit a flop. You don’t want to get too tricky, though.
SPG: So in a situation like that where the blinds go up really quickly and your opponents may not be as educated, do you think you depend more on your cards than anything else?
AO: Yeah, I really think that you do. You can’t do too much unless you get cards in that situation. Like, when you get shortstacked and you have 10 big blinds, if you shove queen-deuce you’ll get called with queen-jack. You can’t do much without getting cards because their calling ranges are so huge.
SPG: So, is there an argument to be made that skill plays a smaller factor in tournaments with worse players?
AO: Oh, no. As long as you bet your hands hard enough, you’re going to get paid off when you hit. So, just be patient with them.
SPG: Thanks for taking the time for this interview, Annette.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Table image
In high limit/high stakes poker, displaying the right table image is a very important part of the play. While at lower limits you may consider it unimportant, at higher ones, you will need to learn to learn how to go out there and generate value for yourself by misleading your opponents.
By and large, there are three basic types of images you can project: maniac, tight, and crazy (impossible to read).
Which type of image you want to show off, depends on the texture of the table you play at. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at giving your opponents the “maniac” treatment.
Looking like a maniac may seem extremely easy at first glance, but remember one thing: you don’t want to lose all your stack while doing it. On the contrary, your aim is to make money, so how simple does it look now?
In order to look like a maniac and hold on to most of your bankroll in the same time, you have to understand the following thing: it is fairly easy to appear like an action-hungry lunatic to the other players if you raise a lot pre-flop. Just be careful not to take it too far, and fold lots of hands on the flop. People will have you cataloged as a loose-aggressive player if you raise preflop about 5-6 times in a row, no need to prove your point beyond that.
After you have done the preflop raising several times, just sit back, tighten up and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The table will usually become much looser, due to your pre-flop antics, and you’ll be able to fully benefit from it, having exposed yourself minimally, during your brief preflop-raising period.
Besides managing to sink your loose aggressive image in with the other players, you might also get lucky during that time, and catch someone on an all-in.
One more thing you should keep in mind when you’re trying to convey this image is the following: it’s only lucrative in a cash game. By their nature, tournaments are about survival. Not only will being recognized as a maniac provide you with less value, it’ll be much more difficult to make the others loosen up, too. In this respect, I wouldn’t recommend you try to push this image in tourneys. Stick to cash games, do it right and you’ll be all right.
Now for the big question: just how exactly will you benefit from the fact that the others see you as a maniac? For one thing, you’ll get many more calls than before, however, that is not necessarily a good thing, or a bad one for that matter… All that means, is that your bankroll will take wilder swings, but doesn’t give you any good value in the long-run. On the other hand, your opponents will make more faulty assumptions about your play than before, and that is where you’ll get your long-term value.
Again, come in strong preflop, raise about three times the BB, that alone will provide you some value already. I bet you’ve read and/or heard how poker was supposed to be a post-flop game. Well, it is, and that’s exactly why you have to raise preflop. Not only will it pass you as a maniac, it’ll make some opponents fold and others leave dead money in the pot for you, instantly increasing your odds.
The real key to successfully pulling the whole outfit off, is to play it extremely tight on the flop. Whenever you get re-raised on the flop, or you suspect that someone has the nuts, muck’em. If the flop misses you completely, muck’em.
Finding the best online poker rooms is not easy. We are here to help ! Visit best-poker-rakeback.net for more info.
By and large, there are three basic types of images you can project: maniac, tight, and crazy (impossible to read).
Which type of image you want to show off, depends on the texture of the table you play at. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at giving your opponents the “maniac” treatment.
Looking like a maniac may seem extremely easy at first glance, but remember one thing: you don’t want to lose all your stack while doing it. On the contrary, your aim is to make money, so how simple does it look now?
In order to look like a maniac and hold on to most of your bankroll in the same time, you have to understand the following thing: it is fairly easy to appear like an action-hungry lunatic to the other players if you raise a lot pre-flop. Just be careful not to take it too far, and fold lots of hands on the flop. People will have you cataloged as a loose-aggressive player if you raise preflop about 5-6 times in a row, no need to prove your point beyond that.
After you have done the preflop raising several times, just sit back, tighten up and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The table will usually become much looser, due to your pre-flop antics, and you’ll be able to fully benefit from it, having exposed yourself minimally, during your brief preflop-raising period.
Besides managing to sink your loose aggressive image in with the other players, you might also get lucky during that time, and catch someone on an all-in.
One more thing you should keep in mind when you’re trying to convey this image is the following: it’s only lucrative in a cash game. By their nature, tournaments are about survival. Not only will being recognized as a maniac provide you with less value, it’ll be much more difficult to make the others loosen up, too. In this respect, I wouldn’t recommend you try to push this image in tourneys. Stick to cash games, do it right and you’ll be all right.
Now for the big question: just how exactly will you benefit from the fact that the others see you as a maniac? For one thing, you’ll get many more calls than before, however, that is not necessarily a good thing, or a bad one for that matter… All that means, is that your bankroll will take wilder swings, but doesn’t give you any good value in the long-run. On the other hand, your opponents will make more faulty assumptions about your play than before, and that is where you’ll get your long-term value.
Again, come in strong preflop, raise about three times the BB, that alone will provide you some value already. I bet you’ve read and/or heard how poker was supposed to be a post-flop game. Well, it is, and that’s exactly why you have to raise preflop. Not only will it pass you as a maniac, it’ll make some opponents fold and others leave dead money in the pot for you, instantly increasing your odds.
The real key to successfully pulling the whole outfit off, is to play it extremely tight on the flop. Whenever you get re-raised on the flop, or you suspect that someone has the nuts, muck’em. If the flop misses you completely, muck’em.
Finding the best online poker rooms is not easy. We are here to help ! Visit best-poker-rakeback.net for more info.
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