Ok now that is out of the way, and taking into consideration I did not do a mailbag this week, in protest to the gambling legislation being pushed through our government, I bring you the ever so lengthy, lacking flow email response to CheckRayz MVP Bob (BC5457). As a side note, I am posting this today, because I feel it would be helpful to those compelled to play in the CheckRayz heads up poker tournament at Celeb Poker. Registration for the tournament opens tommorrow at 10pm.

Bob writes: Mike I need help in heads up play. I can hang around the final table, but heads up I need help. If you can give any advice or point me in the right direction I would be very thankful.

Thanks Bob

I respond (after taking a deep breath): Playing heads up is more of an “art form” and less of a science. I compare general poker play to telling a story or painting a picture. Heads up play, I look at more so as a puzzle. To piece together a puzzle of how successful heads up play can work, I’ll first talk about play at a full table, and then break down to a short-handed table, then finally to heads up play, as this is a natural progression. At a full (9-10 person table), the tight aggressive player (TAG), who respects “position” has the clear tactical advantage. The TAG player understands his starting hand selection, plays the hand hard, and often wins without showdown – usually, the earlier he acts the more of a monster he has. He of course, slightly relaxes his hand selection as he moves to later positions. He has a clear advantage at a full table simply because he is more selective in the hands he plays, and often when he shows down, he has the best hand at showdown, or clearly had the better hand preflop.

As the table shortens, the semi-loose aggressive player begins to take charge as the most profitable player at the table over time. He too throws chips with a vengeance and respects position. However, he recognizes that as the table shortens, there is less of a chance that people have a hand that is better than his preflop. He is willing to play hands normally suitable for middle position on full tables when first to act, and will often raise with two playable cards from the late positions. He recognizes that the blinds are coming around quicker, so he must see more flops and/or steal more often in order to maintain and grow his chip count. Quite often, you’ll see him raise his connectors, and limp with his monsters when he’s acting late. A successful semi-loose aggressive player completely understands how his hand best plays (heads up, or multi-way) and will often win pots that the flop totally missed him (and everyone else involved in the hand).

This type of player, the semi-loose aggressive types, stands the best chance of converting from short handed play to heads up play in a given tournament. Throughout the average tournament, he’s “tight enough” that he’s not in donk territory, but loose enough that he can relate to the mind of a donk, providing he survives the initial stage of a tournament. Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe the Tight Aggressive Approach is the best overall posture to maintain at the poker tables, but its exactly that… a base posture.

By nature, I am a tight aggressive player. As a tournament gets closer to the end stages, or the end game, I “evolve” into a semi-loose aggressive player. I relax my standards as we approach the bubble (in general, not taking into account chip count or “M calculation”). When we reach heads up play, its safe to assume I am as close to a donk as I can possibly be.

When playing heads up, the “smart” Loose aggressive playing style is best suited to be a successful heads up playa. Every hand you play is heads up here. So this begs a few questions. First, what hands are playable? And as a follow-up, how does one deal with the “problem” of holding a nice multi-way hand, but only having one opponent to play it against.

So, first thing’s first. Heads up, any two “playable” cards are in fact playable. I’ll typically play any hand without a two or three, but containing one high card (i.e. – A4offsuit and above, K-5off and above, Q7off and above, Jack-eight and up). Any two suited cards are playable as well (even the two three suited). Additionally, any pocket pair is playable.

Typically, I mix my play up, making it damn near impossible for a player to get a solid read on me. At the same time, I am trying my best to get a read on my opposition. I’m “keeping score” to understand what the minimal action I can throw to get him to fold is. Often, you’ll find that a combination of a preflop raise, followed by a continuation bet on the flop is sufficient to fold someone up, or a preflop raise, check on the flop, bet out on the turn (the old stop and go play) will entice a fold. I’m always making notes as to what will entice a fold, as well as to how the opponent is responding to my aggression or lack of it. I try to vary this though, so as to not become predictable myself.

Once again, not taking chip count into consideration, I mix up my plays preflop. If I have a playable hand, I’ll randomly limp, raise min., raise two, three, four, five times the blinds. I’ll randomly continue the bet on the flop, or reraise. I keep in mind that I am not only betting my hand, but also betting against his hand.

When in the big blind, I will often raise if he limps, to see how he responds. I’m testing him here as well, to see if he’ll limp/fold. If he does, then I know that I can more often than not push him off the pot with this move. Additionally, I am discouraging him from playing hands he’s not comfortable playing to a raise (limiting his hand range, making it an easier read for me). He’ll end up folding uncontested more often than not, if he feels I am going to raise it, which gives me more chips without a fight, and the insight that he’s only playing hands that have some quality to them. This tells me that when he does limp/call, I might have to improve on the flop to continue, and will definitely need to improve on the turn/river if he calls my continuation bet.

When I am playing out of the small blind, is he raising me? Will he fold to a raise? How small of a raise is likely to fold him up? All these things I am mentally noting. I enjoy having a feel for what the least common denominator is to get someone to fold up and go home. Keep in mind, my “random actions” are very deliberate in purpose — confusing the opposition, encouraging folding, and putting together a puzzle piece by piece, working different areas of the puzzle at once. I’ll work the top left portion of the puzzle for a little bit, then break off and string together a few pieces in the middle, or on the bottom, then move onto the next part where I see two-three pieces that can fit and help me to come closer to the conclusion – putting together the entire thing, making it into a full picture.

As for the next “problem” how does one play hands “correctly” heads up when they fair better multi-way? There’s no easy answer to this question. As a basic rule, you “could” put in a raise with the multi-way hands (7-6offsuit, for example). If called, this will give you better odds to draw. However, the problem becomes, you cannot always raise 7-6offsuit and never raise AA. This also makes you too predictable. I just come to understand what kind of hand I have, how it best plays, and then randomly decide what I am doing (random is the key word). I know that if holding seven six, and the flop misses me, I either have to steal the pot between now and showdown, or will have to improve to win at showdown (even if 2-3-3 hits the board and I’m confident it missed my opposition as well, I KNOW that if I showdown and the board misses us both to the river, I do not have the best hand with 7-6 off). So in this portion, knowing what kind of hand you have, and how it will hold up based on hitting the board, missing the board, or both you and the opponent hitting the board is of paramount importance. People are more likely to call a raise or raise themselves with ace seven, king seven than they are with queen or jack seven. This poses a potential problem if king-seven-two rainbowed hits the board, and less of a problem if jack seven two hits. The board with the king/ace is likely to have hit you both, maybe even giving him two pair. I typically grasp how my hand ranks based on what “story I have told” this hand and the few hands before… or more specifically, what parts of my puzzle have I been working on.

Finally, from a chip stack standpoint, I’m keeping score of the percentage of chips in my possession and also how much the blinds cut into him per hand. If I have the stack, and the blinds are costly (blinds 100-200, I have 3000 chips, he has 1000 chips), I’m typically raising to 1000 if I’m playing, espcially when I am in the big blind and he’s limped incorrectly. Doing this sends the clear message he has one hand to get it right. Besides, he’s probably allin on the flop anyways, so I might as well make him decide how strong his hand is now, as opposed to letting him make me decide on the flop. If I’m on the other end of the spectrum, and have 1000 chips, with blinds 100-200, I’m in allin or fold mode, being content with stealing, but accepting that I have great implied odds of him either folding or doubling me up.

In conclusion, I relax my hand standards, make my play appear totally random… keeping the pressure on, and all the while, I am putting together my puzzle. I hope this helps you out. I’m planning to blog on heads up on Tuesday on the Poker Pub, including a lot of the above, as well as Harrington’s take on heads up play. Let me know if you have any further questions, concerns or ideas… or if anything above needs further clarified, explained or expanded on. Thanks again for supporting the tour.

Talk to you soon,

Mike

Top four in this beer bash of sorts gain entry to the BPT Grand Final. Oh, I almost forgot to mention, to stir the pot further, this is going to be a short table event (read: six seaters), which is in fact, the Beer Guy’s specialty – hence the bounty on the drunken host. This event will be both fun and highly competative, so don’t leave home without your beer goggles and your “A-game.” The event is open to active bloggers who meet the simple eligibility requirements outlined on the Blogger Poker Tour website. Registration can be accomplished as follows:

1. Download the Poker.com software here if you do not yet have the software and an account,

2. Sign up at the Blogger Poker Tour site, at which time you’ll need to add their link to your blog,

3. Use the password: yourshout for this tournament,

4. Show up and play on Saturday April 29th at 15.30GMT-5 (4.30pm EDT for us east coasters).

While you’re registering for this event, you might also want to refer a friend or two who has a blog and is a blogger to join in. The Blogger Poker Tour, via the BPT Grand Finals are sending one blogger to the WSOP. Don’t miss out!

Weekly recap

In case you didn’t know, read the above, as “I’m sure I haven’t mentioned that I’m hosting the blogger poker tour event this weekend.”

The CheckRayz Rewards held last night, thus closing the books on our highly successful first quarter tour. We’re nearly one month into our second quarter tour, and the Beer Guy is highly satisfied, knowing he has some of the best poker players on the net in this tour. Our events, both freeroll and money added buyins, have been growing smartly. I thank everyone for playing their part in successfully kicking off the hottest little poker tour on the net. Our momentum and excitement shall carry us far in the second quarter and beyond.

This week, I announced that I’ll be making some huge announcements right here on the Poker Pub regarding some of the new and exciting promotions we’re offering our members. Look for those announcements (yes, you read correctly… plural announcements next week). I’m not at liberty to release the details until the deal has been done, but think “free money.”

Also right here on the Poker Pub, the Beer Guy called his home run ball at the “monthly” game. He said he was gonna win it, cold cards and bad beats irrelevant, and win it he did. He then went above and beyond the call of duty and took down the after game, in addition to the main event. See, here at the poker pub, we don’t just sing it… we bring it.

Finally, we got a play by play of the evolution of the Beer Guy’s online poker career. Look for me to expand on this in the weeks to come as I discuss specifics on how specifically I evolved my game and why. I remain committed to educating and informing my readers, helping you along in your journey to become the playa you strive to be. Take notes, study, ask questions, and apply the suggestions I put forth. Use the resources I’ve helped to bring you.

“Mailcall… mailcall”

Ah, the call for mail. The one thing to look forward to while at sea… (pause to thank god that’s behind me).

The first email comes from Vasile and reads:

You gave me a password and it’s not working. Please change my password.

My response:

Hi Vasile,

I have no idea what you mean by “i gave you the password.” Please clarify what specifically you’re talking about. If in fact you mean that you’ve registered for the CheckRayz site and received your welcome letter, I assure you the password does in fact work.

Using the welcome letter as a reference, type in the email address in which you registered to CheckRayz with in the box appropriately marked “email address.” Then, highlight the text on the welcome letter that contains the password. While the text is highlighted, press the ctrl and the c key at the same time to copy the password. Next, click on the “password” box on the log in page. Push the ctrl and the v button at the same time to paste the case sensitive password into the block. Then click the button to log in.

Mike

(mailbag note: some day I will finally get around to pushing out an update to the site which includes a frequently asked questions page. Until then, I guess we have mailbag material…).

Next up, Norman…

Hi, Mike. Read your latest rambling, (lol), and noticed I got a mention. It’s amazing how many doubters there are out there. Of course, maybe he didn’t believe I could win anything! I haven’t even got into the Poker Tracker yet. It’s been a good week for me at Sun Poker, and you know the old saying, “you have to make hay while the sun shines”! I’m up over a “shitload” (Beer Guy edit: deleted the actual dollar amount to protect privacy, insert word “shitload”) for the week, mainly due to players who think they can’t lose! Anyway, I’ll get into it one of these days, and give you a shout if I need any pointers.

By the way, in the “Judith” saga, there was no indication how long she had been at the same table with “villain”, but if she had seen a good amount of his play, she should have added her assessment of his play into her decision making. (Maybe she did, but it wasn’t mentioned). Thanks for your work in keeping the Poker Pub going. I’m a faithful reader, as I’m sure many others are, even if we don’t let you know often enough. Keep up the good work! Take care. Norman

Great post Norman. And congrats on taking down a “shitload” (once again, my word edited into his email) at one of the Beer Guy’s favorite hangouts. I highly doubt that anyone was doubting your ability to take down a tourney, and it should be noted, Norman knocked me out of the tourney, on his quest to the pt program and cashish. It sounded to me that the person was questioning whether or not we actually gave that out as a prize in a free tournament. To which, I say “hell yea we did!” Its straight up on of the perks of playin with the Beer Guy… we, from time to time, give away free stuff to reward the loyalty of our members.

That being said, I’m available anytime you have questions. Just give me a holla. I’m confident you’re going to find that your already solid game can… and will be elevated to the next level with the introduction of pokertracker into the equation. I know it did mine wonders, as it helped on my reads, and straight up showed me the error of my donk-like ways (stats, when in the proper context do not lie). One concrete thing pokertracker did for me was to minimize my bad beat stories starting with the ever so famous “so I was in the big blind…” (the place most bad beat stories begin).

Finally, several peeps ask about my ever so famous case sensitive passwords… no, not the login passwords, but the passwords for the actual tourneys:

Beerman, Why doesn’t the pw on your site work for (insert upcoming tourney of choice here)?

or…

BeerGuy, Why you gotta make those passwords so difficult? Can’t you at least allow us to cut and paste the passwords from the site? Or how about emailing the buyin passwords?

My response: The passwords are “exactly” how I wish them to be, short of copyrighting them (coming soon, rest assured). I don’t make it easy to share passwords, as I do not wish for them to be shared with non members. Making it hard in turn makes it easier to protect our vested interest in each and every one of our events.

Have a great weekend peeps,

The infamous Friday Night Mailbag (about ten hours early, as usual)…

First letter comes from Bob:

Mike, know you are busy, but I have only been able to register for one of the three events at River Belle, I know they will get it worked out but they are our main site now and we deserve only there best for all the best poker players around (CheckRayz). You have done an exceptional job the first quarter and the rest of the year looks very good, of course the gloves are off now and I will be the CHAMP, Ha Ha.Thanks again for the best site on the net.

Bob

Bob, first of all, thanks for the very kind words regarding the CheckRayz site and our first quarter. As you and everyone else knows, there have been serious issues with getting registered at River Belle for the three big events. I do not fault them at all. This is the first time I have taken registration via email and screen name (fyi: its a big pain and ten times more work). Additionally, given that it is my first time, its also the first time they have taken registration from me in this manner.

The issues we’re having today and over the past few days will be resolved, and are merely a minor bump in the road… a learning experience for me and for River Belle. Generally speaking, its difficult dealing with someone located half way across the world (my rep, who is in my opinion the best rep in the industry — named Michael Elhoff) lives in Capetown, South Africa. He and I touch base regularly. If it was just he and I doing business one on one, that is one thing. However, I’m acting on behalf of all of CheckRayz, he’s acting on behalf of his company, Referback, and also on behalf of River Belle/Prima. There’s many components to us doing business and we have to trust that those indirectly involved will come through for us flawlessly. However, the more parts involved, the greater chance something will happen to temporarily derail us.

That being said, he is on the job and the issues will be resolved soon. They are our top poker room and the sponsor of the entire leaderboard. We, in turn, are a valued customer base to them, in which many huge things are in the works. Together, we will have everything fixed and ready to go. I predict that the tourney will go off on Saturday as planned, though if it needs pushed back, that is also fine with me, as I will not let it be a black mark in my book if it does not.

Next email is from Gary:

Mike – Not sure what’s going on, but it looks like Chippies is the only one who has gotten into the Rewards tournament for this Saturday. I was able to get into the other 2 tournaments, but it won’t let me in the Rewards tournament for this Saturday.Sorry to bother you – Thanks for any help you can offer

Gary, see my above response to Bob. Additionally, the reason she got in and no one else can is because the list I submitted last second contained only her name. The original list contained the names of everyone else who properly replied, which included yours and mine, among others. If the event doesn’t hold it will be rescheduled. With any luck if this happens, chippy takes down the prize pool uncontested (there is a silver lining to every cloud). We’ll try again to register this afternoon.

Moving on…

Thanks Mike for all your efforts.I am looking forward to this next Leaderboard quarter.

Bonnie

Bonnie, when I said last night in my response that this email made my day, I was dead serious. I mean, I know that what I do is appreciated, and I do not “look” for thanks from anyone, but it is really nice when people such as yourself take time to thank me, especially when things are going wrong. Very much appreciated and for that, I thank YOU!

And moving on to the series of email I received three minutes prior to Bonnie’s (note: I’m not going to name this person, however, I will post the entire series along with commentary at the end):

Them: im have problems getting into the 200 freeroll my screen name is ___________

Me: Hi,

We are having problems with the registration, and it should be resolved by tomorrow. However, in going through my records, I do not have any record of you responding by the specified date on the original invitation. I’ll add you to the list but cannot guarantee entry.

Thanks,

Mike

Them: that’s not true i sent it in 3 days ago as soon as i got the email i also never got credit 4 points how can u not guarantee a seat to something u qualify 4

(note: its probably a safe assumption that my ass is chapped after receiving this response)

Me: To repeat what I said, I will try to get you in. However, I also said I do not have a record of you responding (didn’t say you didn’t respond, I said I don’t have a record of it).

So, the question becomes, would you like me to do what I can to ensure you get in or not? I believe you want me to do what I can, and I am.

You’re welcome,
Mike

Them: yes i would love u to do what u can txu

My official mailbag commentary: For starters… are you f’ing kidding me? Second, are you f’ing kidding me? To follow that up, are you f’ing kidding me?

On the record, I didn’t have a record of this person “properly” responding to my original invitation. I checked my email log, and found nothing in terms of indicating acceptance of this invitation. In fact, the first piece of correspondence I received from this individual was last night. The possibility does exist that this persons email got overlooked. However, I save everything I receive regarding the site.

I can understand that one may be frustrated with the “technical issues we are experiencing” but if you cannot follow my instructions, do not take it out on me. Nuff said there…

Finally, onto the Friday Night Mailbag email of the week…

Norman writes:

Hi, Mike. I just finished reading your blog for April 6 about tight, aggressive play. Please correct me if I’m wrong, but even if you don’t say so in so many words, I get the impression that you frown on calling as a rule, preferring to raise or fold. Obviously, there is a time and place for everything, but I think too many people subscribe to Shark’s mantra of “bet, raise, or get out of the way”.

I don’t know if you have seen it, but Full Tilt has a feature called “Tips From The Pros”. On the Full Tilt home page in the lower righthand corner, click on “Tips From The Pros”, and read Lesson No.42, “In Defense of the Call”, written by Gavin Smith. I think he makes some very good points about calling in certain positions. Like any other play, there are many variables to consider, but how many times have you folded only to see the card that would make your hand hit the board, when a call of a small bet would have kept you in the hand, and yet that call would not result in a large loss of chips if someone made a big raise behind you and you had to fold?

I’m not advocating calling every bet, but I just think there are more times when it is appropriate than people realize. Keep on bringing up ideas on your blog. I’m sure there are many people as interested in them as I am. After all, the more we learn about your style of play, the better chance we will have to knock you out in the future! LOL! Only kidding! See you tonight at Poker4Ever.

Take care. Norman

Norman, excellent commentary! And I suspect my posting yesterday requires some clarification. I do agree that calling is appropriate in many situations. I am “in the know” on the “in defense of a call” as well, and agree with it. Generally speaking, my article was written regarding my overall posture, which is in fact tight and aggressive… having “standards” for starting hands, and playing them hard.

That being said, will I limp with 10-9 offsuit from the late position with three callers in front of me and 1 person who plays aggressively behind me? Sure would! Would I call a small bet to draw to a straight with that hand after the flop? Yep, most of the time I would. Would I call a huge bet that would mow my stack in half to draw to that same straight? Nope. Would I continue to play with middle pair on the board to a heavy bet from a strong player? Hell no!

I guess my point of writing that was as follows:

1. Have standards,
2. Play hard, and play well
3. More often than not, be the one laying the odds, not accepting them,
4. Know what the purpose of each and every move you make is, and when to get out

(i.e. – 10-9 offsuit late position is a limping hand for me when the pot has been opened, 2 to three peeps limping in on a full table). If I flop top pair, I’m probably not staying in if it is costly, as the possibility of someone limping before me with 10-j, 10-q is too great. This hand, by my strategerie, is more so a hand in which I’d like to see a straight come from. Given that it is offsuit, I’m not compelled to draw for the flush either. It “might” be a hand I would attempt to steal in an unopened pot with late position and weak blinds, and would be something I’d be comfortable pushing allin with when my M is in the Red zone and the pot is still unopened, as its profitable against random board holdings, given the steal potential of this move via the first in viggorish and corresponding gap concept.

I will no sooner call call call with 10-9 offsuit early in a tournament on a board with jack king ace in a transaction that would potentially cost me 75% of my chips than I would calling down with K2offsuit and a board of AK9 rainbow. So, in conclusion, that is what I am saying regarding my posture. I’m more so reflecting on peeps making calls with hands that are not profitable to call long term, either given the selection of starting hand, their position, or the board in general (needing runner runner and facing heavy betting). I should have more so qualified that in my post yesterday.

Well, back to work… Lots of poker to play today, and needing to touch base with River Belle to get this tourney goin’.

Mike

Stop by River Belle tonight. Deposit, register, and play in the $100 added, $5+.50 buy in tourney. This is your final opportunity to score Leaderboard points, which can potentially make you eligible for two of the three end of the quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard events. Don’t miss the 11pm EST “Last Call” for Leaderboard points tonight at River Belle Poker. Oh, I almost forgot to mention this. In an effort to help out Bob, there will be a twenty dollar bounty on my head tonight. Oust me from the tourney, collect a twenty spot… its that simple.

As for the end of the quarter festivities, marking the end of our inaugural and very successful first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Poker Tour (sponsored by River Belle Poker), we are having three huge tourneys. There is still time to qualify. The tournaments, all held at River Belle Poker, are as follows:

CheckRayz Leaderboard Shootout – CheckRayz Top Ten Shootout to crown the first quarter CheckRayz Leaderboard Champion. Wednesday April 5, 2006 11pm EST $200 Freeroll with an additional $50 to be transferred to the winner, courtesy of imhere4beer. Prize Pool: $200 (courtesy of River Belle Poker)

Note 1: I will send invitations from my personal email account, which I need responses to NO LATER THAN Monday April 3 at 10am EST.

Note 2: The “rain out date” for this tourney is Thursday April 13 at 10pm EST in the event logistics do not work out between River Belle and myself. Note 3: The “top ten” is not yet set in stone. 150 Leaderboard points go to the winner of tonight’s event. The tenth spot is currently occupied by “Belz,” who has 215 points. Those of you who have 65 or more Leaderboard points can still potentially make the top ten with a win tonight at River Belle for the buy in. Take a shot!!! (“hard sell” noted). CheckRayz Leaderboard Rewards – Freeroll for all who have accumulated CheckRayz Leaderboard points in the first quarter of 2006 to reward members for their finishes. Saturday April 8, 2006 6pm EST $200 freeroll – invitation only. Prize Pool: $200 (courtesy of River Belle)

Note 1: Mike will send invitations today. Response is necessary NO LATER THAN 10am EST April 5th, no exceptions!

Note 2: If you do not receive an invitation, but believe you earned Leaderboard points, you must let me know NO LATER THAN Monday April 3rd at 5pm EST.

Additionally, you MUST provide the tourney date, poker room name, your screen name at that poker room, your checkrayz screen name, and where you finished in the tournament. I have all the tournaments on record and will verify this information, letting you know my findings.

CheckRayz Leaderboard Challenge -

Private Freeroll tourney for all who successfully “answered” the challenge. Winner takes all. Friday April 14, 2006 10pm EST Prize Pool: $100 (courtesy of IMHERE4BEER), pokertracker program with activation key (courtesy of IMHERE4BEER) Qualify via one of the three ways:

1. Win either the Shootout, or the Rewards event.

2. Rake 250 hands (any blind level) at River Belle Poker (only applies if you’ve downloaded and registered via a CheckRayz link). If you did not download through me at River Belle, you may register and rake 250 hands (any blind level) at another CheckRayz endorsed poker room. To qualify via another poker room, you must first email me to have the request “approved” and must be “one of mine” at that given poker room. This rake requirement is good for raked hands played between March 1 and April 6.

3. Refer-a-friend. Refer three friends to CheckRayz. Have them sign up via the CheckRayz site, being certain they list you either by name (first and last name), or by your CheckRayz screen name. Additional requirement is that they download one new poker site from the CheckRayz site to “verify” their existence.

Note: Invitations will be sent as people qualify. If you qualify… or believe you qualify via the refer a friend path or at a poker room other than River Belle (approval required first), send me an email alerting me of such facts. Deadline for qualification is April 6th at 11.59pm EST. RSVP no later than April 11th for this event. I reserve the right of final say on qualifications.

Mailbag

With the announcement seemingly out of the way, we move to the mailbag. With our first letter coming from Clay in Minnesota:

Beer, JEEZ!! Now you’ve called me out on the carpet!! I haven’t played a leaderboard event in like a month…but I can still whoop you and Bob if I house it and you donks don’t get points. Looks like I’ll have to sign up and defend my honor tonight. lol. P.S. – Someone from Minnesota wins the leaderboard shootout event and then houses the winner take all Challenge. 4 of the top ten currently on the Checkrayz Leaderboard are from Minnesota!! So I got good odds here, hehe

I respond: Clay, I “eyeballed” the leaderboard numbers and failed to carry the one. My bad. The above announcement and email that it was “copied” from should read “three horse race for bragging rights of first quarter champion between Bob, Clay, and Beer.” No disrespect intended in the oversight, just a non-math major semi-bluffin his way through math class. Good call, teach!

That being said… Gary is the hottest player on the tour right now and I see him housing any event he gets his arms around until he chooses not to. If he’s from MN, then my money is with you. Though I will give my formal predictions as the field unfolds.

From no fewer than 16 people: Where do I find the password for (insert CheckRayz tourney of choice here)? Log onto the CheckRayz site, once logged in, go to the tourney schedule page. “Click here to play!” Look up, top center of screen… get a visual lock on the password. Go to corresponding poker room, find tourney, click register, type password exactly as it appears. From no fewer than seven people: Can you please email me the password to (insert CheckRayz tourney of choice here)?

Its my policy to not send passwords via email or messenger, except under rare, extreme circumstances. I’ll gladly educate on how to obtain password, sending instructions that I really should pre-script via a FAQ, but send a password I will not. Hand delivered to me on the poker tables:

Beer, I don’t mind the later starts, but the late finishes are killin me. Can you help yo brothaz and sistaz out?

I got your back. We’ll begin starting, for the most part, our freerolls and larger tourneys at 10pm EST, while I like the buyins starting at 11 more often than not. This gives somewhat of a time lapse between the shark events and the checkrayz events so that the start times do not conflict. I’ll be making adjustments as appropriate, so keep me posted as to who is wanting what, and when.

Finally, I’m going to end the mailbag with a link to what the author describes simply as “Bad play of the day” — nuff said there. No blogging tommorrow and probably not Sunday either, as the Beer Guy has a wedding to attend this weekend. We’ll be back Monday with the State of the CheckRayz address and some freeroll & money added poker tourneys to announce.

Mailbag

First letter comes from Bonnie, who writes: I placed in one of your events at Hollywood Poker, but I’m not on the leaderboard, can you help me out?

Ask and you shall receive, Bonnie. For future reference… when one makes the final table, I highly suggest that if I am present you tell me what your CheckRayz name is, so that I can give you credit for leaderboard points. Additionally, if I am not there, or I don’t say for example “I got ya…” I’d send me an email through the rayz site to ensure that I have the screen name association goin on.

Bonnie did her homework, saw that she was overlooked and brought it to my attention, thus she gets rewarded. By policy, I do not go out of my way to track peeps down. That being said, if I owe ya points, it would be wise to email me immediately to let me know who you are on CheckRayz, what tourney I owe ya for, and what your screen name was in the tourney. I’d also not wait til March 31st either. I’d check and email me this weekend. Once the quarter ends, its gonna do ya no good to email me, cuz I cannot help.

Next, we move to my favorite of all emails, which I think is going into the CheckRayz mailbag hall of fame.

Beer, I can’t find the password to (insert tourney of choice here. Can you send me the password?).

Beer responds: I “can” send the password, but I “won’t” send it. An educated CheckRayz member makes for a happy beer guy. I send ya the pw, I am doing nothing to help, as I’ll get messages from the same peeps every event, and eventually I’ll get sick of it and just ban a brotha for asking. However, if I teach you how to find it, you’ll never be without a password.

That being said, here are the instructions on how to find passwords for our poker tourneys.

Speaking of passwords (note the smooth segue), Beer Dude, you’re out of your skull with these passwords for the tourneys. What the hell you trying to do, make us have doctorates in passwordology to enter your tournaments?

If you read my user’s manual, you’d clearly see that being “out of my skull” on certain things is a “known issue.” That being said, I like to make sure that people have to put SOME sort of effort to enter the events. You’ll never see pw’s such as cat, dog, 1234, or (insert mindless pw of choice here) out of me. I figure there’s entirely too much unauthorized password sharing going on industry wide, so I’d prefer to make sharing said passwords just a bit more difficult (also the reason why I don’t just “give” passwords out via email).

Next item comes from… wait a minute, did I read this correctly…? Wow. Next email comes from “SuperDonk” himself.

He chimes in: Mike (we’re on a first name basis… I’m “Mike”… he’s either “Superdonk,” “tool,” “that guy,” or “shithead”): That tourney we were in Monday night (at the pub) had by far THE WORST play I have ever witnessed.

(I think we all know how I am gonna respond to this… but, oh well…) Hey tool, you ever watch yourself play? Nuff said there…

From horrible play to awesome play we go… Though, this is more commentary than mailbag material; but is a great way to close the mailbag for the week…

Last night, I was talking to a friend… who we’ll call “Michelle.” Now to fill in the blanks here, Michelle was going through a bad run of cards over the last few days. I slightly suspect she often has a hard time seeing herself as the player I objectively see her as.

She is, in my opinion, the strongest, most consistent tourney player on either the shark tour, and/or within the CheckRayz organization. Bad run of cards happen to all of us, even the best of us as “Michelle” proves.

So everyone understands, a bad run of cards does not mean that one has to tweak or adjust their game… or “lay low” for that matter. Sometimes bad cards just happen. There’s three types of flops, flops that help us, flops that do nothing for anyone one way or the other, and the flops that hurt us. Sometimes it just takes the cards not working against us to break out of this “funk.”

Other times, it might be something technical in our game that is helping the cards work against us. With “Michelle” its simply that the cards are working against her through the period of time in question… nothing more. She is as “technically sound” as they come, and does a phenominal job of reading her opposition and can lay down a hand when appropriate. She is more than capable of great things in the poker world, and I am convinced she will accomplish them.

So to you, “Michelle”… ride this one out, and don’t change a thing. You’re as awesome in tourneys as I aspire to be and will do just fine, cards willing.

Update: at the time of this writing, “michelle” just mowed down her competition in a blaze of glory and won her satellite seat, proving me right once again (as if there was any doubt). WTG “Michelle!!!”

Tomorrow, my intentions are to add a special strategy discussion on “tilting” and “bad beats.”

Twelve things I think I think (cuz ten just isn’t enough)…

1. The race for the CheckRayz Poker Leaderboard Championship is really heating up.

2. I could have went off a dozen more forevers addressing the proposed online gambling legislation and probably will do so a dozen more times until the Bill is killed.

3. This post, by poker blogger FeliciaLee is by far one of the better commentaries regarding poker fourms and blogging I have EVER read.

4. Then again, her poker blog is a great read as a whole, with compelling commentary, strategy, and talk of real life in general. So really, I shouldn’t have expected anything less than to find top notch postings! I found her blog through “MissT74′s” poker blog, which is also on my top reads listings. These two keep it real and compelling, causing me to “tune in” regularly… Thanks for consistantly bringing it!

5. Speaking of MissT74, she’s putting together some great private events, which I have all intentions of participating in.

6. And yet another great post by Sharky, this one regarding improving your poker game.

7. Speaking of great things, I spoke extensively with the rep from River Belle Poker, and suspect there are great things to come courtesy of CheckRayz and River Belle.

8. When surfing around for new poker bloggage, I discovered I won an award for poker blogger of the week in the end of February?

9. Dude would have surely got a link-back, had he made me aware I was in the running or that I was selected.

10. He still can if he sends me an email.

11. Little brother and I are going to be busy pushing updates through the Rayz site.

12. I’m really going to get around to adding a topic archive to this poker blog of mine, honest!

Going from the mind of the drunken madman, to the mailbag of the drunken mad man. No better way to get to know someone other than listening to them ramble then going through their mail, right?

Friday Night Mailbag… *Morning edition (I was up earlier than usual today)

Beer Guy – I really enjoyed reading about the continuing adventures of “SuperDonk.” When are you gonna write more about me… errrr I mean him? Signed, “That Guy.”

Dear “That Guy” errrr, I mean “SuperDonk”… First of all, your delete key works, if you were trying to be sneaky in attempting to get more press anonymously, wouldn’t you have used it, as opposed to changing from first person to third person acting like it was a mistake?

Wait a minute, silly question on my part… you’re “SuperDonk” and surely know no better. You probably think that by pressing the delete key, you type the word “delete,” which to you, deleting something is about as difficult as laying a sorry-ass hand down preflop to a raise, isn’t that right ya Donk?

Beer – When we play a hand “the right play,” it is not such a great consolation when you lose anyway. The other day I was in a sng BB at 300, 5 people in the game and I have second largest stack (and was steady all along). I get a KK, I raised, we are in to see the flop, JJ9, I raise 900, the big stack (fairly loose player) re-raises me – I go all in. He had AT, I am worried about the ace and the Ten is no good for him in my mind, only an A, so I feel pretty good. Next card is a Q. And of course, the river brings a K giving this guy the straight. Now if he got an Ace, “ I would have just cursed, but to get the unlikely runner runner straight, that is just too much!By the way, I guess it is intentional that there is no Bad Beats section on the sharks forum, maybe sharks do not wine and cry, but it does feel good to do so. It takes a load off. Judith

Judith,

Great email! First, there is indeed a bad beat thread in the Shark Forum. If you click on Born!, you’ll see his bad beat thread is listed first. Second, the trick of poker, in my opinion is to take satisfaction in knowing you played a hand perfectly, and the cards through some sick miracle came around to beating you. You raised with KK, the big stack should not have got involved with you, being the second stack, while holding A-10. The flop of JJ9 should have been where he’d have made his graceful exit to your flop raise, as his A10 could not possibly be the best hand… Then again, he probably wasn’t even aware the world outside his hand exists. When he raised, and you came overtop and pushed allin, once again, you made the correct play.

The difference between a good and great poker player, among a few other things, is that a great player can see that he or she played a hand to perfection and still lost, and won’t make adjustments (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it). Your read was on, your hand was best, and he won via a miracle, period… nothing to fix. A good player will be inclined to change his or her play because of this “bad beat.” Don’t do it! Stay the course. That hand plays out from the flop on, you win about 76% of the time, so stick with what you’ve done.

Other letters:

Beer Dude, Where can I find a good odds chart?

I just came across one, as a matter of fact as I was reading from the pokerstars blog. Here’s your odds chart.

Beer, First I wish to say I enjoyed your pokertracker talk. Are you going to talk more on this? Also, doesn’t this worry you, breaking down your play for everyone to see?

Thanks for the commentary on my pokertracker commentary. I have to say… I am not the least bit worried about discussing my ring game stats nor tourney strategery on this blog. I feel that my game is strong enough that breaking it down for the world to see isn’t going to statistically impact my overall results in a negative manner at all. Additionally, I’ve found that by talking strategy, I’ve not only helped other people to make adjustments to their game, but I also make myself a better poker player because I force myself to reflect on my game… Reflection on one’s actions and strategy is definitely a good thing.

And finally…

Beer, Why’s your tourney listed as “C-Rayz” on Titan?

Simple, Titan’s new policy is to make it difficult for private tourney hoppers to hop poker league sites, which in turn puts them on to different poker rooms, which results in Titan giving business away… Or, at least that’s how I interpret it. Personally, I’d prefer the poker tourney to be listed as CheckRayz. C-Rayz, however, works… for now.

Mike

Bonus section:

In comments, Sirfwalgman asks:

Do you really like that move with KK? Guy could have easily had Jx, especially if he is a donkey. I think I would have found a better spot.

To which, I retort:

I like that move for the following reasons (keeping in mind that I did not have the complete context of the hand or tourney, other than that the loose big stack called the second largest stack preflop or the actual amounts bet or the true details, for that matter).

Judith was first to open, which she showed strength. Flop comes JJ9. Judith continues her bet, which is a somewhat logical play whether or not the board hits. Loose bully boy comes over top of her. Could this be a steal attempt? Did the flop help him? If so, how much did it help?
That being said, let’s think about what makes most sense here. We know what Judith has preflop. Big donk calls cleanly. To me, this suggests small pp or Ax as the MOST logical reason to call. I’m not worried about A-big at this point, nor am I worried about big pp’s.
Flop comes, board is paired with jacks. I’m not AS worried about A-J, KJ. While these two hands are possible, I don’t think the clean call preflop makes sense, I think loosey-goosey reraises with those hands, though we’ll consider it a possibility no less.

Rounding out the logical hands that could both call a preflop raise AND come over top of her, being a steal move or not… we’ll look at AA (would have most likely reraised), KK (highly unlikely), QQ (possible but wouldn’t he have reraised?), JJ (also unlikely), 1010, 99, maybe 88. Also, AK s/u (would have likely reraised), AQ s/u, AJ s/u, A10 s/u, A9s, KQs/u. If he is a huge donk, he could even be making this move with 77-22, though moreso unlikely.

Reads he has on her, and likely or unlikely hands aside, let’s compile the “logical hands” he could have and how we fair against them. As for pp’s, we’re behind to AA, 99 but on the redraw. We’re dead to JJ. We’re ahead of QQ, 1010, 88-22, though they’re subject to redraw with two cards to come. Queen ten suited is highly unlikely, but we’ll consider it.

We’re pretty much well ahead of AKs, AKu, AQs, AQu, A10s, A10o, each needing two cards to come, and ahead of KQs. We’re also leading against A9s, though he’s thinking he’s ahead if this is the case, I’m sure, cuz that is how a donk would think (call with A-mid, bet out or raise up if the board hits him in the kicker).

So quick count, she’s ahead against about 17 logical hands, and subject to redraw with two or more outs if the tables turn. Drawing dead to one hand JJ. Behind with 99 or AA as her opposition. And against an unfavorable draw if against Q10s, though it could be worse and you’re not holding two of the four outs he’s counting (your KK) if he even considers that you have cards in your hand. That being said, there are three hands that are beating her right now, one of which drawing dead, two of which she’s subject to redraw.

With a very quick count of 17 ahead, three behind (this is a rough count, by the way, just going through my progression here — not an exact count or an exact science for that matter, so please pardon any math errors or hands I missed — unless we find thirty hands she’s behind in, of course).

He comes over top of her raise. She really has two choices, reraise to allin or fold. My guess is that the pot odds, combined with the odds above (17 ahead, three behind, one drawing dead), make the allin an overwhelming favorite of a move for me… I personally do not see myself folding there, especially considering the hand I give him the most probability of holding is Ace nine suited, cuz that makes most sense given his weak call preflop.

Just my thought though. And I’m thinking that if I’m at the table, putting in a preflop raise, which is called, and then I bet out, he comes over top of me, coming over top of him and will win this hand to showdown much more often than not.

Just my opinion though.

Ten Things I Think I Think…

1. TexasDan owns me. Actually, his Aces own me. Twice I was launched from CheckRayz poker tournaments by acting first, low M, pushing allin by Dan. Both times, I held KJo, he held aces.

2. What are the odds of that happening twice in one week?

3. The combined schedule of CheckRayz poker events and Shark poker events is an impressive sight.

4. I have a feeling that the number of events for March is still growing.

5. Can you imagine what April’s poker tourney schedule is gonna look like?

6. I really like the feel and blinds structure of River Belle’s poker tourneys.

7. I’m looking forward to a great summer of reading, with Sklansky, Harrington and Miller all coming out with books in May.

8. I’m really enjoying reading Tanya’s Poker Blog.

9. I’m looking forward to playing in… and winning one of her sweet wsop events.

10. Its mailbag time.

Mailbag

First bit of mail comes from just about everyone who received a newsletter and clicked on touchstone’s link.

Beer,

I can’t get signed up for the tourney… Help.

I updated the FAQ – twice actually on the freeroll poker blog. The event ended up being a disaster. I pulled the plug on it, but it still held. All I have to say is that it was a learning experience… A frustrating lesson. Future tourneys will not be this difficult… ever.

Beer Guy,

When will the money added from River Belle Poker and Hollywood Poker transfer?

The money added will transfer three business days tops from the respective tourney dates. RB and I weren’t able to get the $$$ added prior, I expect it to credit to ya by Monday. Hollywood’s standard protocol with us is three days after. I’ll be following up with each of them.

Hi Beer Man,

You ever gonna leave the top of your leaderboard?

You gonna knock me off of it? Don’t just sing it… Bring it!

speaking of knocking me off…

Hi – what’s a launch bonus?

The money collected, that I add, out of my own pocket (my beer money), to knock me out of one of our poker tournaments. Trying to give the peeps incentive to knock the donk off the top of the checkrayz poker tour leaderboard.

Finally, we’ll conclude with the email of the week…

Beer,

Is that a Heads up poker tourney you have listed on your poker tournament calendar at Celeb Poker?

Sure is! $50 added to the prize pool, and the day after the freeroll poker tourney we’re holding at Celeb Poker.

Quick Tourney Thoughts

The River Belle tourney went off without a hitch. We had a new group of final table-ists last night. Despite their first appearance at a CheckRayz final table, they upheld the tight aggressive play that our tourneys are noted for. Great job from everyone. Yours truly was bounced out early. I showed up along the rail, homeless… to watch the action at the finals table.

Mailbag

Amir writes:
Beer Dude,

I still cannot log in. I’d love to play River Belle tonight, but can’t seem to log in to the site. Can you please help? Thank you.

Amir, if only everyone else having issues was as pleasant as you. Not often do I get both a please AND a thank you in the same email. I know we covered our bases, but here are the following main reasons why people cannot log into the site. You and I will go over why you cannot through email and/or messenger. But for others, listen up.

1. Did you register with checkrayz? Be aware that in the shark network, there are three seperate databases. Often, you’ll receive shark network email. However, it does not mean you’ve subscribed to all three databases. Before emailing for help, type in your email address into the “forgot password” box.

2. Do you have the registration confirmation handy? If not, type your email address in the “forgot password” box on the checkrayz site.

3. Got it now? Copy (ctrl+c) and paste (ctrl+v) your email address and the password provided from the registration/forgot password into the appropriate sign in boxes.

4. Clear your cookies and repeat above.

5. Email mike through the checkrayz site. Wait for his response, which will generally occur within the same day. DO NOT EMAIL THREE TIMES IN THREE HOURS CITING YOU’VE BEEN ASKING AND ASKING WITH NO RESPONSE. You’ll get not much more than sarcastic commentary from me and will end up on my shitlist. Nuff said. NEXT!

Some random person asks Beer Guy, where did you get your poker screenname from?

Haha, great question. My imjusthere4thebeer is not a random screen name. It does, in fact have history. Back in my more youthful days, I was dating this chic. And she “found” me at this party, which consisted of 6 girls and myself. We’re all hammered. She comes stormin in acting all irritated, pulling out the classic lines such as “what do you think you’re doing with all these girls?” The girls are all worried, thinking that there’s gonna be a fight or something. Being one to think on my feet, I look at her (with my totally serious drunk guy look) and tell her “Don’t worry hun, I’m just here for the beer.” This totally shatters the ice and prompts laughter from my party “friends.” However, it pisses her off. I was dumped, she left frustrated, calling me some new and innovative names. A”friend” felt sorry for me, being dumped and all, the victim in the scenerio, and helped me out… The phrase, and later the screenname has been entact ever since.

OK, enough with the mailbag. Poker Tracker and more tourney talk tommorrow. Maybe even a formal poker room review or two.

Fired up the Ultimate buddy this evening, looking to see if sharky was on tonight, as he has some heads up action on the schedule. Didn’t find sharky yet, however, there sits the Mouth on a $50/100 NL table all by his lonesome. No, I did not sit with him. However, a few others did. Some dude with the SN No job raised him up, mouth raised to allin, nojob calls… JJ v. Mike’s AK. $10G gone, mike reloads. One of the randoms at the table talks about wanting to be a millionaire like “you guys.” Mouth responds with “play nojob for a bit, you’ll be one easily, callin with J’s prayin for a flip.” Someone else on the table is a pro as well, sn LFISGD. Not sure who it is though. Phil’s sitting at a triple draw table as we speak. Gus Hanson’s logged on but not seated. Big night at UB, it seems.

As I sit here goin through the mailbag, I am talking with CheckRayz player Vanessa, also from my home town. She mowed down her competition in a multitable sit n go. Way to Go V!!!

From the mailbag…

Themis from Greece asks,

Any chance of getting tourneys going to accomidate both the American and European rayz’rs?

Great question, Themis. My weekend events will be at such a time that will accomidate all timezones. By the way, liking the rayz’rs name… Thanx

“SuperDonk” from PA asks,

Is A3 playable to your 6x raise with 1 caller utg, me in the bb and you in the SB?

I say emphatically NO. Unless you’re wanting your right eye to match the left. Nuff said.

“Blondie” in Ontario asks:

Dear Beer Guy,
Being a single parent, what do you look for in a woman?

Did I say I was looking? Ha… Actually, Face of an angel, mind of the devil, and one who’s attorney advises her to sign MY version of the pre-nup… Manditory that she plays poker, understands there’s beer to drink, places to go and peeps to see. Must understand the game of football (both american and english). Other than that, I’m not really asking much… Answer your question?

Jon writes,

You really think your Steelers are gonna get their fifth this Sunday? (he goes on to tell me how crazy I am).

No Jon, I don’t think, I know… 31-24 Steelers. Good luck in the draft, your cowboys still ain’t there.

Closing Thoughts

Lots of good poker goin on tonight. Watchin’ Mattasow for a few hours, coaching Vanessa to victory on a sit n go, playing another sit n go with her (we finished 1 and 2 – 27 entries). Shark Poker Tour/Checkrayz standout reelcrazy burstin the bubble on AP $4K guaranteed. Another sng with clay and carey. Poker talk with the gang. It doesn’t get much better than that folks…

And I am outie…

Mike

Our first letter comes from Norman,

Deer Beerman,
What’s the deal is with the advertised Hollywood Poker Tourney? I see three tourneys listed, none of them have the guaranteed $$$ you speak of. Please advise.

Well Norman, thanks for asking. I was trying to get CheckRayz to be the name of the tourney. However, my imhere4beer name is all I could manage. As for the three tourneys, one of them are listed as registering, the other two are canceled. Sam from Hollywood informed me that H-wood poker is not yet able to accommodate formal private tourneys like many of the other sites we play. Thus, he cannot add money in advance. There is still $200 in the prize pool. This pays out in addition to the entry fee. The entry fee pays immediately, the $200 will follow within 24-48 hours, manually credited by Hollywood Poker. And finally, the free bonus $10 will be credited to everyone who is eligible (downloaded software from CheckRayz, made first time deposit, and played in the tourney). The bonus will be credited at the same time the $200 pays out.

Next question comes from Carey in Michigan. Carey writes,

Beer,
What the hell is a NZ Super Satellite Qualifier?

Carey, the NZ Super Satellite Qualifier is simply a private qualifier we’re holding at Kiwi Poker, in which we will be sending someone to the NZ Super Satellite, which is $200+15 to buy in. We will have 1 seat to award per twenty players who enter. Plus, the monster to launch my donk ass from the tourney will also be awarded a Super Satellite seat. Should one of these individuals go on to win the NZ Super Satellite, they will be on their way to Christchurch, NZ to play in the NZ Poker Championships. I read somewhere that you’ll also be eligible to win a WSOP Seat while in NZ.

Joe writes – Does that Shark dude really think the Hawks stand a chance against the Steelers in the Super Bowl?

HaHaHa, Joe. The Beer Man thinks the shark broke into my beer stash.

And finally, several people wrote in asking why they cannot log into the Rayz site.

To that I answer this way.

1. Did you register for the CheckRayz site? (sharkpokertour, onlineshark, and checkrayz; while all part of the shark powered network, operate on different databases, and require different registration). If not, please register and try to log in again.

2. Did you put your email address, the one you registered with, in the email address field? Or did you incorrectly put your leaderboard screen name?

3. Did you know that passwords are case sensitive? I suggest copying and pasting your password from the registration email.

4. If you REALLY did all the above. Then and only then do I suggest reregistering.

More from the Mailbag next week. Keep the emails coming!!!