Sunday, July 19, 2009

Over the last couple months, as a Cake Poker affiliates, we've signed up quite a few players and I'd like to give out some pointers on how to build and maintain a sustainable bankroll and hopefully learn from some of my experience, mistakes, and success.

When I 1st started out I had no clue how difficult it was to judge how good of a player you are and what kinds of swings your bankroll will go through on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It seems to me the great majority of players coming in hoping to make a bunch of money playing poker, think the best way to take their shot is to be the next "Moneymaker" and treating poker like a lottery ticket rather than grind there way up the ranks like about 95% of all the REAL long lasting pro's have done like Ivey, Chan, Doyle...... 

Donate as little as possible to Poker University - The one thing I did know was I wasn't good enough to jump into anything bigger than $2/4 limit cash games and $10-20 sit in goe's or multi table tourneys. Not necessarily because I couldn't afford more, but my skill level was just not there yet. So if I'm going to lose a little money at 1st while trying to get down the basics, I wanted to lose as little as possible while I'm basically paying my poker "Tuition".  So if you're fairly new to poker or online poker, start off playing small until you feel completely comfortable with the game and online site and you actually have a consistant winning record. Each game and online poker site take some time getting used to. I personally spend about a week feeling out a new game before I risk anything substantial.

Track your stats - Almost every good poker player knows exactly what games they are most succesful. Alot of players seem to have a hard time doing anything other than sitting down and playing. Let's be honest, the majority of people who take there shot at being the next wannabe poker pro end up losing money because they don't even want to take the time to think about how, what, or where they play. I am personally a stat freak and love to break down my numbers into every possible category to help me maximize my profitability. Now I know many players aren't looking to turn their favorite hobby into a full-time job, but you at least need to have an honest record on how you're doing.

Do your homework - These days there is so much information on the internet, poker books have tend to be discarded by some as something not worth the time or up to date with the way games are played today. I think this might be true in some cases at very high limit play, but for someone starting out they can give you alot of great advice for usually only $15-40. I figure if any book is able to help me win just 1 pot in my lifetime, then it was worth the purchase. There are also alot of good magazines out there which are good to pull out while doing nothing and killing time.

Find an online poker site that gets rakeback and take advantage of bonuses - Obviously I'm a bit partial to Cake Poker which gives one of the highest rakeback deals at 33% back on all fees and generated rake, but if you do play anywhere else make sure you don't sign up without getting rakeback. For many players that are close to break-even, rakeback can turn some slightly losing players into winners and winners into healthy winners. Many online pro active players get $1,000 to over $10,000 a month in just rakeback alone. I have a link for my rakeback deal at the bottom of the entry and as a link on the left side. As far as bonuses, many sites offer 1st deposit bonus matches.  Cake Poker, in fact, offers a 1st deposit match of 100% up to $600! Just be careful not to play outside your normal comfort zone to get a few extra dollars and in the process lose hundreds or thousands of dollars in the games themself. I recently had 2 major sites institute a limited amount of time to earn the bonus dollars you could be tempted to play way too big to earn a couple hundred dollars. Luckily, Cake Poker had never had a time limit, so be careful anywhere else. 

Avoid becoming a satelite junkie - Ideally I would say to never play a satelite you can't afford to buy directly into without it heavily affecting your bankroll. It really doesn't make sense if you haven't gotten good enough to build your bankroll and buy directly into a tournament which poses much tougher competition than you're normally used to. Many times I've found myself buying into multiple satelites and bubbling out and in the end I could have just bought straight in. Better yet I have no problem winning satelites only to consistently not cash in on that BIG tournament and in the end depleting my bankroll from all the satelites I played.

Impose strict limits on what % of bankroll you risk per game - Especially for newer players who don't understand the time it takes to build a bankroll and how easy it is to lose it all after a few bad games/weeks etc. It can be a bit different for each game but I would say for standard sit-n-goes which payout about 33% of players, I would only risk at most 1-3% of my bankroll or $10 of a $500 bankroll. In a multi table tourney which usually only pays 10% of players closer to 1% or $5-10 of a $500 bankroll. Cash games are a totally different animal. Just to sit down to a $2/4 limit game you need $100 and the swings can be very wide. I would say you would need at least $2,000-3000, so about 20X the buyin seems about right. This can be abit shocking for some players, but if you really are a good player you will move up through the ranks fairly quickly. This also leads to the topic of bad runs.

Don't multi table if you have yet to become a long term consistant winner - I might get some crap for this because like me, alot of players are a bit A.D.D. and waiting 3 seconds to analyze a hand is just way to long so we play 3-4 tables at a time. The problem with this idea is that the great majority of online players struggle with just being profitable while playing 1 game and for every additional game you play your winning % typically drops. So if you're barely a winning player 2 games might push you to barely even and 3 games at a time can make you a loser. Typically the only players who succeed at this have already broken down every game they've ever played and figure out an exact strategy so that decisions are made easier (not necessarily the best play) and they already have very good notes on how all the others opponents play at the table. Playing only 1 table (Or 2 max) leaves you enough time to really evaluate every hand and opponent to make the best possible plays and improves your game the fastest, enabling you to eventually move up to higher limits much easier.   

If you're running bad, regardless of luck, you need to make some changes - This is probably what ruins most poker bankrolls than anything else. Maybe your patience is wearing thin, you're getting tired, distracted by too many things (TV, phone, work, muti-tabling too many games), maybe your opponents are beating you with total junk or maybe you are just not skilled enough yet to play at the limits you are playing. No matter the reason whenever things are going bad dramatic changes need to be made and usually for me it's because I'm playing too aggressively or too many hands or both, taking too many big risks. So tightening up for me works. Maybe that's not everyone's problem, but most athlete's/competetors have some weakness they have to always be on top of. It can be very hard to move down in limits especially after being at a limit for a long time. I remember killing $100+ 6mans on Pokerstars for months until I got a little too confident and my competition started to catch up in skill and I eventually dropped down to $30 sng's for a few months until I found a couple other games and new sites (Cake Poker included) that proved more profitable.

There is much work to be done and there are many skills needed to become a winner in the long run at the tables, however, if you can follow the techniques and rules I just mentioned, you will be far ahead of your competition. I wish you all luck at the tables. If you have any questions or comments feel free to share.

Again, anyone looking to get a great rakeback deal saving at least 33% on all the fees and rake you pay to play. Please give Cake Poker a shot if you haven't already. You must use our signup code to get a rakeback account though! Please contact us if you have any questions or interest in signing up. Cake poker is a great site with active table at all limits and alot of loose players.

to join

1. download cakepoker.com here: Cake Poker
2. open a new real money account (you don't have to deposit to do this at this time) using FRAZ (all caps) in the SIGN UP CODE box...you don't put anything in the promotional code box

For new players, you will get 110% of what you deposit, up to $600 on your first deposit as well...thats free money !!


I can also help you if you have any problems making any deposits if you send me an email and you wish to transfer money from another site.

You can also download using the banner below....if you choose to join...shoot me an email to let me know you did and what your screen name is, so I can invite you to the free roll. For new players, I am always here to answer questions about the site or poker in general, so please ask.

You can email me at Donkeyherder2000@yahoo.com Cake Poker

Monday, June 22, 2009

Our Cake Poker Freeroll is Monday 6/22/09 at 6:15pm pacific time

Hey poker players, we are running our "FRAZ" Freeroll on Cake Poker tomorrow at 6:15pm (pacific time). Last freeroll "Puporunswell" was able to edge out "bigdaddy775" and "Billiamcdn" for 1st place in the NL Holdem tournament! This week's tournament is going to be a Omaha high/low tourney with a special $20 bounty on "Puporunswell" and if your a lady, a extra $20 bonus for the last woman standing!! If you would like to be part of this freeroll just sign up a new account on Cake Poker. You also get a great rakeback deal saving at least 33% on all the fees and rake you pay to play. This tournament is only for players who sign up for accounts that sign up using our signup code. Please don't email me for the password if you already have an existing account on Cake Poker unless you signed up with us.

Please give Cake Poker a shot if you haven't already. You must use our signup code: "FRAZ" (all caps) to get a rakeback account though! Also, make sure you sign up as a "real money" account. Please contact us if you have any questions or interest in signing up. Cake poker is a great site with active table at all limits and alot of loose players.

to join

1. download cakepoker.com here: Cake Poker
2. open a new real money account (you don't have to deposit to do this at this time) using FRAZ (all caps) in the SIGN UP CODE box...you don't put anything in the promotional/bonus code box

For new players, you will get 110% of what you deposit, up to $600 on your first deposit as well...thats free money !!


I can also help you if you have any problems making any deposits if you send me an email and you wish to transfer money from another site.

You can also download using the banner below....if you choose to join...shoot me an email to let me know you did and what your screen name is, so I can invite you to the free roll. For new players, I am always here to answer questions about the site or poker in general, so please ask.

You can email me at Donkeyherder2000@yahoo.com

WSOP2

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

We have a winner!! and I'm off to WSOP!!

I just wanted to give congrats to our Freeroll winner in yesterday's FRAZ Freeroll on Cake Poker to "Puporunswell"!! It was a hard fought battle through 26 players and a very tough heads up match against "Bigdaddy775" who took 2nd, followed by our buddy "Billiamcdn" who played well and held the chip lead most of the tournament. For those who missed out or haven't signed up with us to get a 33% Rakeback account on Cake Poker, our next freeroll will most likely be on Thursday, 6/25 6:15 pm. Please contact us if you have any questions or interest in signing up. Cake poker is a great site with active table at all limits and alot of loose players.

to join

1. download cakepoker.com here: Cake Poker
2. open a new real money account (you don't have to deposit to do this at this time) using FRAZ (all caps) in the SIGN UP CODE box...you don't put anything in the promotional code box

For new players, you will get 110% of what you deposit, up to $600 on your first deposit as well...thats free money !!


I can also help you if you have any problems making any deposits if you send me an email and you wish to transfer money from another site.

You can also download using the banner below....if you choose to join...shoot me an email to let me know you did and what your screen name is, so I can invite you to the free roll. For new players, I am always here to answer questions about the site or poker in general, so please ask. I send out info about different aspects of the game to improve all my players games. It is in both MY and YOUR best interest to make you all profitable players.

You can email me at Donkeyherder2000@yahoo.com

WSOP2

Jumping forward to my personal poker playing career, Last month was a little bit disapointing. I had a pretty good run mid month only to donk it off through bad beats and some bad/distracted play. We have really taken to becoming serious Cake Poker Affiliates and now have almost 60 players signed up!! It has definitely become a bit of a distraction and change to my regular playing habits. I made the mistake of playing too many tables while trying to take on too many tasks at once. These days I get/send a ton of emails to interested players looking to join up, which is great, but very time consuming. I can't imagine what customer service issues an entire poker room must deal with.

The good news is my play has come around lately this month. I am actually on a 7 day positive run streak!! As I mentioned above I'm also going to leave this weekend to Vegas to play in 1 or 2 of the events in the World Series of Poker. On Saturday is a $1,500 NL tourney which I hope to cash and see where it takes me. It will also be the 1st time my wife is away from our baby for more than half a day. I'm sure it's gonna be tough for her so wish us both well. I hope my next post is of pictures of a bracelet or at least a few hundos to make up for my time. Take care everyone, Donkeyherder.
 

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Are You Getting 33% Rakeback? I Can Hook You Up!!

Hey Poker players, I have decided to team up with a good friend and successful poker player in becoming a Cake Poker Affiliate!!

I am not sure how many of you play online but I may have an offer and a few good reasons for you to start. I have played at Full Tilt, Party Poker, Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker and now my primary site is on the Cake Poker network. We might all enjoy a good live game, but consider the advantages of online.

1. Play in the comfort of your home
2. No crowds
3. Games readily available at any time and at every limit
4. You DON'T tip (this is huge)
5. No gas expenses
6. play sit n go's in as little as 15 minutes ( and win )

and the biggest reason I would suggest you devote at least some of your time to online is RAKEBACK. Every time you sit at a table you pay rake, whether it is a tournament fee or rake per hand dealt, either way, there is money disappearing from the table. You NEVER get it back ! UNLESS you have rakeback. I can get you 33% back on every tournament fee you pay and / or every raked hand you play in, if you are a cash player. READ THAT AGAIN, it's that important to your profit line. In my opinion, you should NEVER play again without it.

I don't expect many of you will play as much as I do, but I am averaging $1000 back per month. Think about that, if you run a business and can pay 33% less expenses, wouldn't you do that ?

We also run a free roll every other week for $100 and if you join using the instructions I give below, you will be invited. We are having our next one Thursday evening at 6:15 so you have time to get joined and in....

to join

1. download cakepoker.com here: Cake Poker
2. open a new real money account (you don't have to deposit to do this at this time) using FRAZ (all caps) in the SIGN UP CODE box...you don't put anything in the promotional code box

For new players, you will get 110% of what you deposit, up to $600 on your first deposit as well...thats free money !!


I can also help you if you have any problems making any deposits if you send me an email and you wish to transfer money from another site.

You can also download using the banner below....if you choose to join...shoot me an email to let me know you did and what your screen name is, so I can invite you to the free roll. For new players, I am always here to answer questions about the site or poker in general, so please ask. I send out info about different aspects of the game to improve all my players games. It is in both MY and YOUR best interest to make you all profitable players....

hope to talk to you soon...You can email me at Donkeyherder2000@yahoo.com

WSOP2

Sunday, January 11, 2009

How well do you play when you 1st sit down?

I recently was thinking to myself "I wonder if the 1st tournament I sit down and play shows any better or worse results?" I thought I might play tighter, possibly more distracted due to getting things setup, as well as being busy checking emails and working on other work. However, I also thought my mind is fresh and less prone to tilting. So I decided to give it more looking into. Since I actually have a daily running tally on every game I play, I basically went back to last January 2008 and copied my data onto another spreadsheet and deleted out every game except for the 1st sit in go I played each day. Here were my results:

Each SNG not being my 1st game: $10 per hour, per game

Each SNG as my 1st of the day: $7.60 per hour,  per game

It actually is much worse as I separated out the standard sng's from the "double-up" sng's. at $1.60 per hour, per game

(I figure the reason for this might just be because the double ups have no end game and are a bit less complicated to play.)

I will say the data used reflecting 1st sng's is 314 games taking 168 hours of play, which might seem like alot of data, but is still susceptable to random variance swings. I do believe when using common sense, it seems to make sense. In anything we do the 1st time, we are probably not at our best. As any sporting event you have ever been to might show, they all warm up prior to the big game. Why would it be any different for poker?

So how will this information guide my future play?
I would probably like to delve deeper into the data and see if I am just playing too cautious or busting out earlier more often. This information, again, is based on how I play, and might not be as useful for somebody else who might be able to sit down with good energy and give 100% of their attention to every game. In my personal case, if I am playing winning sng's, I will keep playing into the night until I lose one or two. So if you look at the last 1 or 2 sng's I play each day it will probably show pretty bad results even though I am playing quite well.

My recommendation for other players out there: In my particular case I am still somewhat profitable my 1st game, however, most players with less experience and skill are probably fighting to keep their heads above water as it is, and starting off the day on a downswing is probably much more damaging and could cause an earlier bout of tilting. I would recommend trying to play smaller than your normal average buyin and if things work out well, than you can move up to a higher level of play feeling confident in your game, and if things do start off poorly you have already minimized your losses and can continue to play small until things work out better. This would be a much better strategy than what I typically hear when I talk with amateur players who get tilted and lose and then try and play bigger to make their money back, which leads to an inevitable crash to their bankrolls.

Lately I've been getting a lot of  questions on where to find a good book devoted strictly to sit'n'go's? Most of the poker books out there have maybe one chapter or a few pages devoted to these tournaments (Typically 6 or 10 player tournaments which pay 2-3 players based on finish.) In general, they will all basically tell you to play tight early and more aggressive late, with a few examples. In most cases I think it's ok advice for smaller buyins $1-30 buyins, but there are so many variables that can make or break you, it would be a good idea to study a little deeper. Check out "Sit 'in Go Strategy", by Collin Moshman.



It was first printed in 2007, so I'm sure at the higher limits, there are some strategies that might be debated, however, the book runs through a number of tough scenarios and specific ways to look at and play a hand based on strictly sit 'n go style tournaments. If you have read any of Dan Harrington's books, it is from the same publisher (2+2 publishing) and it has a very similar style of teaching. It runs for $24.95, which in my mind is probably the cost of what most people to play 1 single sit'n go, and you will probably make that money back hand over fist if you can retain some of it or plug a few leaks.   

I tried to find an applicable quote from the David Apostolico's book based off Sun-Tzu war strategies "Tournament Poker and the Art of War": "We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country - its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and percipices, its marshes and swamps."

Good luck at the tables. Please keep the feedback coming (email, comments, and questions). Donkeyherder

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Year End Review and an Exciting New Year to Looking Forward

Well last year wasn't my most productive year in poker, at least not in the way of dollars made. Between our new baby and moving to a new home, my free time was utterly drained between wife, baby, moving, and "real" work. That being said, still another profitable and productive year.

My poker:
In terms of performance, I ended the year fairly strong. I had a positive finish in 7 out of my last 8 months, included my last 3 in a row. While my games/hours had dropped this year, I am now pretty well settled and expect to gradually put in more time and effort into my games. I also finished the year at my highest average buyin level pretty much ever at $141 average buyin per game/(sit in go). Most of my focus has been $150-200 double up sit in go tournaments in which 5 out of 10 players get double their money back when the first 5 get eliminated. I've been tearing these up pretty well cashing about 57-60%. That might not seem all that great, but I would venture to say it is in the highest ranks for that limit. Going into next year I have got my niche pretty well figured out for now.  I will also probably play 1 or 2 events at the WSOP again this year depending on this success and hopes I should have a renter for my condo.

Here is my latest qoute from the David Apostolico's book based off Sun-Tzu war strategies "Tournament Poker and the Art of War": "Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple before the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory and few calculations lead to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can forsee who is likely to win or lose".

This year I also rarely had time to research my and my opponents play hand-by-hand. This year I hope to work out a few more leaks with my increasing spare time.

My buddy "dawgonu" has had a great year as well, cashing in some big tournaments and improved the leaks in his game all around. He has already won a trip to play in the Aussie Millions in a couple weeks and I expect us both to have another great year.

My poker related investments:
I plan on buying another 37"+ TV to use as a 4th monitor and get a Verizon hi-speed internet plugin as a backup internet connection. I'd also like to get a heavy duty power backup "UPS" that could endure any long lasting power outages. Typically it's not a problem here in sunny CA, but it has happened before and if I'm playing 3 $200 tournaments and registered in 2 more and I lose power, I could potentially easily lose $1,000 and my short term sanity!! Too me it's worth the investments.

My financial investments:
I pretty much cashed out all my stocks last year so I could take off 3 months of work to support my wife during her pregnancy. This was a very good decision, obviously for the time spent with my wife and coincidentally the stock market has plunged over 30% since then. I hope this years' success will give me an opportunity to rebuild that account and hopefully by then the markets have turned around.

My real job:
As with most people, my real job is not something I love with all my heart, but it pays the bills in a time where people are getting laid off, so I can't complain. I'd love to quit and play full-time, but it makes sense to keep doing what I'm doing. To me it's like paid exercise during a time in the day when my favorite game doesn't fill well anyways. I actually like doing my job which has me talking to alot people I've known quite a while and I get to drive around and do things on my own schedule in my company car. The only real downside is dealing with increasing administrative work and catching heat from management, especially over things you don't have much control and rarely getting any kind of compliments for a job well done the other 99% of the time. So I'll keep on for now until I am able to line up a better scenario.

My family:
Despite my desire to play poker 24/7 365 days a year, I realize if I want to at least maintain my current routine I will continue to try to be a good dad and helper around the house. While it makes obvious sense based on my results $ per hour etc., my wife still has a hard time seeing my time playing poker as equal to time working my real job or helping around the house. She says she understands, but when I'm sitting in a tournament with hundreds or thousands of dollars at stake and the baby is crying or the house is a mess, etc., you can tell it goes right out the window. In a way I can understand and unless I am asking for a divorce, I have just got to deal with it. I am young and already have more than most people twice my age and am very grateful to have a nice home, good family, good wife and blessed with a healthy child.

My Poker blog:
I started this blog less than a year ago with no experience or expectations what so ever. I didn't really expect to make much money off of this, but I'm glad I am able have my experiences documented and at least do something positive for others with all the experience I have in this way of life. I expect to do more reviews on mostly poker related stuff and continue to network myself around and get to know more people in the industry. I do enjoy writing but since it is something I don't really get paid for, I prefer to use my valuable free time to play. I do hope to continue to improve my content and have gotten some good comments and advice this year.

All in all I think I'm in a great spot to have a good year. The only obstacle I really see is my playing time is still at a part-time level, which should at least continue to improve with time and set me up to have a spectacular year hopefully by 2010.  Time will tell my fate I guess. Good luck at the tables. Please keep the feedback coming (email, comments, and questions). Donkeyherder


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Sunday, December 21, 2008

Just posting some pics of my current setup


I finally got some things put together so I can get back to work herding up some donks.  I'd like to add a 37-42" LCD above the current three monitors.






I got 2 power back-up/surge protectors and one of the most major necessities....the office FRIDGE Baby!!



I'm hangin a little poker wear to maintain that poker vibe and a Donkey Herder shirt to represent!!



Here's a little bit of some of the literature I've read on my way to graduating from Poker School with a Masters in Donkeyherding!! Hee-Hawwww.

After having the friendly donkeys on my screen saver for a while, I really didn't even think about it when the cable company guys came by to fix my internet and phone. One of them asked me wtf is with the donkeys? Was I really into donkeys or something? He probably thought I was a donkey fornicating freak. I tried to explain the poker reference, but I guarantee those guys were about to call Chris Hanson's Catch a Predator show looking for a reward.

There's still a few more things I'd like to do later, but I bought my own digital camera today at Costco (I could live there if I had to!!) so I wanted to post some pics before the holidays. Gl all, Donkeyherder.


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