Tony's 'Online Poker' Blog Entries
The Breaks: Bad Beat Psychology
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011
Not much remains to be said about bad beats in poker. Investing emotional capital in results outside one's control is illogical. 'Nuff said - I'm not going to waste hundreds of words flogging that dead horse. However, as one who likes to theorize and generalize, I think it's important to understand bad beat psychology (and the converse, which I creatively call reverse bad beat psychology)...
Appearance on Keep Flopping Aces
Sunday, June 26th, 2011
The 6/23/2011 edition of Keep Flopping Aces is now downloadable. Keep Flopping Aces is a podcast hosted by Lou Krieger and Shari Geller, and I appeared as a guest on the 6/23/2011 show...
Why I’m Now Even Less Inclined to Put Money into Online Poker
Wednesday, May 25th, 2011
The second wave of poker site seizures by the US DoJ makes me even less inclined to put money in an online poker site since I have access to juicy live poker action in Vegas. The decision is tougher for those without access to live poker and for those who enjoyed being able to play for stakes smaller than what live games can reasonably accommodate...
The Kentucky Derby: A Day of Reflection for US Online Poker Players
Saturday, May 7th, 2011
Why the Kentucky Derby should anger online poker players in the US.
US Players Can Exchange PokerStars FPP for Cash
Friday, May 6th, 2011
I know some people who had $1,000s worth of FPP in their accounts. Fortunately for them - and for you - PokerStars is allowing players to exchange their FPPs for cash...
PokerStars is Processing Cashouts for US Players
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Black Friday updated regarding PokerStars cashouts for US players.
Should US Players Hit Merge, Bodog, or Cake Following Black Friday?
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011
Why I'm not currently putting money into Merge, Bodog, or Cake. Why putting money into Merge, Bodog, or Cake doesn't make much sense unless you don't have easy access to live poker.
Black Friday: A Wakeup Call for a Broken Nation
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
My thoughts on Black Friday and how the US should begin thinking about legislation in order to move forward from its current broken state
A Formal Blog Post about Black Friday is Pending
Monday, April 18th, 2011
I just wanted to write something quickly to say that I've been working on a blog entry regarding my thoughts on Black Friday. I'm eschewing random ranting for a well-researched piece. Well-researched pieces take time, but I'm hoping to have something soon...
Lessons from Recent Deal-Declining at The Venetian
Friday, April 1st, 2011
Next time you're at a tournament final table, know when you should make a deal and know how to politely decline a deal that you don't want to take.
Can Registering Late for Tournaments Maximize Your $/Hour?
Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011
Analysis of when you should late register for tournaments based on whether you're +cEV or -cEV during a tournament's late registration period.
Wow…I Actually Need to Think Deeply About my Poker Decisions!
Saturday, February 26th, 2011
My deep-stacked game is much more read-dependent and deep-thinking - and much less auto-pilot - than I had previously thought...
Maximize Profits by Studying Regs Away from the Tables
Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011
Very few regs are really easy to win money from. However, most regs play too many tables for their own good and are likely to be exploitable in some manner...
Buy-in Strategy for Full Tilt’s Multientry Tournaments
Sunday, February 6th, 2011
With multientries now available in many Full Tilt tournaments, should you ever take multiple simultaneous entries or be willing to pay for a reentry?
The Three Keys to Effective Multitabling
Wednesday, January 12th, 2011
Multitabling is essential if you're looking to maximize your profits as an online poker player. Here are the three keys to effective multitabling...
3 Tips for Reviewing Your Play with Poker Tracker 3
Sunday, December 19th, 2010
Here are three tips that will help you get the most out of Poker Tracker 3 when reviewing your own play.
How I Built a High-End Computing Environment for $2,628.50
Friday, November 26th, 2010
Do you feel like your current computing environment is hampering your ability to multitable? Have you priced PCs and Macs and thought that a high-end machine was out of your price range? If so, then you should consider an alternative route: building your own computer.
Don’t Just Look at Your Big Hands
Friday, October 22nd, 2010
One mistake in a big pot can cost more than mistakes made in five (or more) small pots. However, since small pots occur much more frequently than big pots, mistakes that you make in small pots may actually be bigger than those you make in big pots.
Maximize Your Effectiveness (Poker and Beyond)
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Poker strategy is complicated. Measuring your effectiveness at poker isn't. Your effectiveness as a poker player is defined by one number - which we can conveniently call your poker hourly...
Important Strategic Considerations for Cashout Tournaments at Full Tilt
Friday, October 1st, 2010
The most obvious question to ask about cashout tournaments is: "when (if ever) should I consider cashing out." The answer to this question: NEVER.
Don’t Be Timid in the Big Blind when Facing Late Position Shoves!
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Suppose you're in a multitable tournament (MTT), and action is nowhere close to being at the final table (in other words, you're making decisions entirely with respect to maximizing the expected value of your stack). Blinds are T80-T160 with no antes. Action folds to the small blind, who shoves all-in to T1,545. You have 17 hands on the small blind; ...
How to Compare Bonus Offers and Effective Rakeback
Friday, September 3rd, 2010
PokerStars and Full Tilt both have a big tournament series coming up. WCOOP at PokerStars begins this Sunday (9/5/2010) and features events with buy-ins ranging from $109 to $10,300. Meanwhile, MiniFTOPs begins next Wednesday (9/8/2010) and will be catering to players who prefer tournaments with smaller buy-ins: $11 to $216.
PokerStars and Full Tilt aren't just competing head-to-head with ...
Why Open-Limping is Generally a Bad Idea
Friday, July 16th, 2010
It's been quite a week since my last blog post. I've been doing quite a bit of programming for three different things I've been working on. The hours have been long, I haven't played any poker, and I'm a bit tired, but I've really enjoyed this past week. Improving one's skills at something is always a rewarding experience!
Aside ...
Today’s (7/2/2010) Edition of Killer Poker Analysis
Friday, July 2nd, 2010
I'm a bit sick today, but the show must go on! I'm predicting a non-negligible amount of sniffling, nose blowing, throat clearing, and coughing. However, I'm also predicting an overwhelming amount of killer poker analysis. The high quality of today's content should compensate for the low quality of my voice:
1.) The importance of board texture in no-limit hold'em ...
Improve Your 6-max No-Limit Hold’em Cash Game Empirically: Buy nanonoko’s Hand Histories!
Monday, May 31st, 2010
For those of you who don't know what datamining is, it's the practice of getting hand histories from games you haven't played in. Basically, you go to a website, purchase text hand histories, and then import them into Poker Tracker 3 (PT3) or Hold'em Manager (HEM). To my knowledge, some of the top websites providing mined ...
Determining the Conversion Rate of VIP Program Points: The Turbo Takedown at PokerStars
Friday, February 26th, 2010
On last week's edition of Killer Poker Analysis, I covered the following topics:
1.) Open shoving distributions from the small blind in tournament situations when antes are around 12.5% of the big blind
2.) Knowing when to start playing in bigger games
3.) Heads-up play
I also announced that I won't be doing a podcast today. I'll miss ...
How to Employ Turn Check Raises in No-Limit Hold’em Tournaments
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
Another weekend; another Pokerstarsathon! This has been my 3rd consecutive weekend of logging 20+ hours on PokerStars. The past two Mondays, I felt horrible despite pulling in some nice profits. Yesterday, I felt a bit more chipper even though I netted a loss for the weekend. I'm proud of being a bot whose physical and mental states are outcome-independent and ...
Poker Tournament Strategy Made Simple
Monday, February 8th, 2010
First off, if you didn't catch Killer Poker Analysis last Friday, I covered the following topics:
1.) The squeeze play in no-limit hold'em
2.) My opinions on Full Tilt's Rush Poker now that player tracking HUDs work with it (I haven't tried it out, but it seems to be word on the streets)
3.) Implied ...
$530 Tournament Ticket for Only $400 at PokerStars!
Thursday, January 28th, 2010
I woke up today to a pleasant surprise: today's discount item in the PokerStars VIP Store is a $530 tournament ticket for 25,000 FPP (at $.016/FPP, that comes out to only $400). I was disappointed a few days ago when the $285 cash bonus didn't have an exchange rate of at least $.016/FPP, but PokerStars made up for it today. ...
1 6-max No-Limit Hold ‘em Table: 250 Hands Per Hour
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
It's been 6 days since my last blog post, and it's been raining a bunch in Vegas. I miss the sun, but it's stupid to complain about rain here; we need every damn drop of water we can get!
Meanwhile, John Vorhaus (JV) was in town over the weekend. He played in a celebrity charity event for the Heartland ...
Get $1,500 with your PokerStars FPP!
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Before getting into the meat of this post, I have a quick announcement: don't forget to tune into my weekly podcast, Killer Poker Analysis, today at 5:00PM PT at Rounder's Radio!
PokerStars is kicking off 2010 with a bang! Their VIP program has traditionally made them the site of choice for players capable of putting in ridiculous ...
4 Custom Statistics for your Poker Tracker 3 Heads-Up Display
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Good afternoon! It's been a great start to the day. I got in some "relaxing" Gunstar Heroes action.
I got a Wii for Christmas, and one of my favorite things about it is the Virtual Console, which offers hundreds of classic video games. All I can say is that Gunstar Heroes on expert mode is a tough game...they ...
How to Treat Your Poker as a Business: Expected Cash Game Win Rates
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Happy holidays everybody! It's almost Xmas, meaning that I'm in CT visiting my family. It's damn cold here...I miss Vegas!
I've been trying to keep up with work, and I also managed to squeeze in some online poker two nights ago. Topping today's to-do list are the following items:
1.) Work for CEREUS
2.) Analysis for a ...
Interesting No-Limit Hold’em Tourney Spot: MP + FD + Monotone Flop = ?
Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Evelyn and I are still settling into the new place. I finally unpacked my video games, and I introduced Evelyn to Duck Hunt for the original NES. (Yeah, I still own an original NES...and it still works thanks to the replacement 72-pin connector that I installed a few years ago). We also hosted some friends from CA for two fun-filled ...
Reflecting on my 2009 Poker Results: Into the Mirror Black
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009
The strengths of my poker game are my theoretical understanding and my ability to dissect nuanced scenarios. I was chatting on AIM with a friend of mine today. As he put it, "you definitely have the most rigorous understanding of the game out of anyone i know/or even read about...except maybe sklansky. haha"
These strengths have made me ...
