Through and through our on going battles of bad beats inflicted by the famous donkeys of Pokerstars, we will always keep our chins up no matter how bad things get in lieu of things will eventually get better. Since there is no quit in the teams blood, we will keep true to our game realizing that the tides will change and there will be a chance of redemption, always keeping in mind that bad play will catch up to these donkeys in the long run and solid play and consistency will pay. I will say this, Pokerstars delivers some of the worst bad beats and at times seems to reward the bad play sooo much it is chronic and it also becomes ” SIK WIT IT ” which is a perfect slur for these rediculous online hands because it resembles the feeling most players are left with “sick”! My suggestion is we rally team and turn things around on these idiots and give them what they deserve sooo much, The Crackalack and put their asses to the rail! The Captain here to tell ya mates, its time to show the donkeys of Pokerstars who can really get ” SIK WIT IT “hehehe

Donkabulary definition

SIK WIT IT: The frame of mind we need to bring ourselves to in order to deal with donkeys and their terrible play by giving them a taste of their own medicine!

          Recalculating The Average Stack

In a recent World Series of Poker* Circuit event that I played in, the nine-handed final table started with blinds of 10K - 20K, and there were roughly 3.5 million chips in play. Some quick division would tell you that the average stack was more than 350K, or about 18 big blinds. This simple calculation could lead you to some bad conclusions, however, because in fact most stacks were much shorter.

When the final table started, I had a chip stack of about 1.2 million or almost one-third of the chips in play. So the average among the rest of the table was a little over 250K or approximately 13 big blinds.

As the chip leader, I would have played aggressively if most of the stacks had 18 or 20 big blinds. Players with those sorts of stacks can afford to fold and wait for a decent spot, so I’d do well to raise frequently pre-flop while attempting to steal the blinds and antes. Against players who have 13 or fewer big binds, however, that strategy won’t work.

Players with short stacks need to gamble and, if they pick up any kind of decent hand, they’re going to shove all-in and hope to double up. Playing aggressively, I could find myself in some tough spots. For example, if I were to raise to 70K with some marginal stealing hand like A-T or K-J, and then a short stack came over the top for 210K, I’d be getting two-to-one on my money to make the call. It would be tough to fold and I could end up doubling up a short stack with a hand I didn’t love.

At this final table, where the average stack among the other eight players was so short, my best strategy was to play extremely tight. I decided to play only top-quality starting hands while I waited for the short stacks to gamble with one another. Eventually, the stacks would consolidate and we’d be left with five or six players who had decent stacks. At that point, I could get more aggressive and begin stealing from players who could afford to fold.

                                                      Posted by The General

         Building And Maintaining A BankRoll

For most players, the lure of playing in high-stakes ring games or tournaments is a sirens’ song that’s hard to resist. While there’s no doubt that these games can provide huge rewards, the sad truth is that many beginners often leap into the deep end before they look, destroying their self-confidence and leaving their bankrolls scattered on the shore.

My advice to these players is simple; stay in the shallows until you and your bankroll are ready to venture into deeper waters.

Team Full Tilt’s Chris Ferguson recently completed an amazing exercise where he created a bankroll from nothing by playing a combination of tournaments and ring games. His tip on his progress provides some solid fundamentals on how to create and grow a bankroll, and I wouldn’t want to presume that my advice is any better than his. Instead, consider this another point of view drawn from my personal experience and observations.

I started playing professional poker in January 2006 and though I had seen some success at local ring games, I didn’t have a huge bankroll behind me. Looking at the poker landscape, I believed the fastest way to remedy the situation would be to enter – and hopefully – cash in good-sized tournament. For me, that meant entering the WPT Reno event in March 2006.

I bought into the tournament for $5,000 – a significant expenditure – and promptly played my way to second in chips at the end of Day 1. When I busted out of the tournament on Day 2 without making the money, I was pretty devastated. While the outcome of that event wasn’t what I wanted, it taught me a valuable lesson about playing at limits I couldn’t afford and putting too much of my bankroll into play in a single event.

By taking my shot in such a large buy-in event, I put a huge dent in my bankroll that took months of hard work to repair. When I finally tried my hand at another large tournament, I hedged the potential damage to my bankroll by playing for my seat at the WPT World Championship in a satellite tournament.

Because I didn’t have as much of my bankroll invested in my tournament entry, I played the event without fear that I would be crippled again if I failed to cash. As it turned out, I took 15th place and walked away from the table with a sizable cushion for my future poker sessions. Limiting my downside by satelliting into the event let me concentrate on the poker and play a more solid and confident game than I could have if I had bought into the event directly.

While satellites are one of the most common and popular ways to secure your entry into a big buy-in event, they aren’t the only option. For players who don’t want to take their chances in satellites, securing backing from a friend, family member or even another player can be a viable way to play in bigger events than they can afford on their own. Before you go down this path, however, be sure to consider all aspects of the deal being offered and determine how much of your potential winning you’re willing to give away.

No matter what path you choose, I fully recommend that you never commit more than 10% of your bankroll to an individual event or ring game. To be truly safe, I’d follow Chris’ advice and limit your investment to between 2% and 5%. Remember, the more of your bankroll you risk at any one time, the bigger the blow you can take if you catch a run of bad cards or bad beats.

Remember, building up a bankroll represents more than just the funds you have at your disposal. It’s a constant reminder of the hours of work it took to build and, as such, it’s something that deserves protection. Treat your bankroll properly and it will pay you back many times over.

                                                          Posted by The General

Hello mates! We have pleasure to tell you all that the store link on the site is now open to take your orders! I have placed an order myself and I am excited to finally get a “team” hat and t-shirt. Go ahead and browse, there is all kinds of apparel and cool merchandise to choose from! Keep an eye out for other site improvements coming soon!

                            Bubble Play in Tournaments

I had just bubbled in the $2,000 Seven-Card Stud Tournament at the World Series of Poker*. I had a drawing hand and I ended up losing all my chips, which was a big mistake. I was embarrassed. I was talking to my Dad – Full Tilt Poker pro, Keith Sexton – and I said, “I can’t believe how unlucky I got.” He disagreed, and said my play was just incredibly stupid in regard to money and chip management, based on where I stood in the tournament. He was right.

People say, “You’re not playing to get into the money – you’re playing to win,” but when you make the money, you go from zero dollars to double your buy-in. The biggest jump in money outside of making it to the final table is getting into the money. I didn’t really understand that. Winning the hand that I busted on wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things.

The next tournament I played was the $1,500 Mixed Limit/No-Limit event. I got so low on chips I had to decide whether to take a chance, with slim odds of winning the tournament, or just try to hang on and make it past the bubble and then call it a day. By staying patient and paying close attention to the field, I managed to cash before I busted.

There are a number of things you need to be aware of in these situations, including the status of everybody else around you. Knowing how many chips you have in relation to the field is crucial in terms of helping you decide at what point you have to make the painful decision that you’re just going to have to fold hands to get into the money. You’re basically sacrificing your tournament, the chance to get to the final table, and your chance to win. But sometimes you have to do it.

You need to know where other players are in the tournament, especially the smaller stacks and what their situation is. How many stacks are below you? Where are they in relation to the blinds? I had a real low stack, three off the money in the mixed event, but I knew there were a couple of short stacks that were going to be forced into the blinds before I was. One player was at a shorter table than I was and another was under-the-gun while I was on the button, so I knew that I could be patient because they were going to have to play a hand before I was. That’s really important because, if you’re sitting there and you know you’re next with a hand like Ace-10, you’re going to have to throw your chips in. But if you have Ace-10 and another guy is going to have to make a decision whether to go all-in or not before you, then you can lay it down. Other players’ situations have a huge bearing on what hands you’re going to play.

Short-stacked on the bubble, I’m folding everything, including big pairs. Looking around the room, I knew that one player was going to be all-in in the blinds and that I had four hands before the blinds were going hit me. I had almost nothing in front of me – maybe 1,300 chips - and the average chip stack was around 33,000. Still, I would have folded pocket Kings on that hand because what’s the difference? Even if I triple up, I’m still all–in when the blinds reach me. All I’m doing is risking my money there. That pot is insignificant. I’d rather take my chances and hope that the other player who has to go all-in gets knocked out before me.

It’s sickening to bubble out in a tournament. People talk about it all the time. You go over it with friends. You figure out what you did wrong and if you make an improvement from the last time, that’s great. The cost of my lesson was my $2,000 buy-in in the Stud event. You can make the same mistake at a final table where it costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars, so I got off pretty cheaply. You never want to be forced to fold into the money, or a bigger pay day, but sometimes it’s just smart poker.

                                                        Posted by The general

Hello mates The Captain here with another shit talkin slur for ya! On occasion we get the pleasure of being short stacked at a table where there is a bully that has marked us “the weak” spot! Welll mates, being card dead doesn’t give us much of an option but take the bully’s abuse. WRONG! Choose your spot and SHUV~ all your chips allin not once but every time the bully comes after your blinds! The Captain here to tell ya mates, Texas NL Holdem poker is NOT a passive game and prepare yourselves to SHUV~ your chips into your next table bully! If you don’t put the ole crackalack to his ass, you definately will set the record straight and he will find new blinds to steal! NOT YOURS! Remember mates being passive in this game will only take you so far! Good luck in your next games!

Donkabulary definition

SHUV~ :What we need to do to fend off a table bully that has obviously made us the mark as the weak spot and we decide to take no more of his non-sense!

Types of Poker Players

Most poker players fall into one of four categories, and once you’re experienced enough, you’ll be able to place your opponents into particular groups very quickly. This is a detailed definition of the different types of poker players you’ll find. As you play poker online you should try to pick up as much information about a player to accurately place them into a category.

But remember the boundaries of the different types of poker players are not clearly defined and the best pokers players can change their style of play very quickly to mislead the rest of the table.

Types of Poker Players :

A Fish: The weakest Texas Hold’em player there is. Also the most prevalent, fishes have poor hand selections and will call just about anything (also known as calling stations). This person has very little skill or discipline,investing into too many hands, hoping for a lucky break. Chips are earned mainly from these playes. However, fish players enjoy the bluffing element of poker, so don’t be surprised if a fish tries to make a move with nothing or slow-playing by checking the best hand.

Basically, a fish is just a bad player. You can’t bluff a bad player. When a fish has some kind of hand and is still in the pot, it’s obvious he’s got something. Play straight forward - no tricks or fancy plays against these players.

Weak-Tight: These players understand the fundamentals of winning at poker and have better hand selectionk but with one exception - they’re afraid. They are quite passive and wil often check or call rather than bet or raise. They fear losing a pot with an average hand and get bullied around with raises. This player may seem easy to bully around, but are capable of trapping you later on.

It’s better to lead with a bet if you’re acting before the weak-tight opponent rather than check. When you bet into a wak-tight player, their common reaction would be just calling or folding. If they fold, great, if they call they’re probably holding a decent hand, but are afraid to bet or raise at the pot because they’re skeptical they might lose the pot. So making a strong play at the Turn would scare them away.

Maniac: Also known as a loose aggressive Hold’em player, these players play as many hands as fishes but are inclined to raise and re-raise. It’s quite difficult to tell if they are bluffing or not. They are known to bully players by re-raising them off guard or having a decent hand will scare them away. Play tight against these opponents and trap these players to knock them out.

Play strong hands against these opponents (AK, AQ, KK, etc) or play a hand if you can see the flop for cheap, and if you hit a good hand on the flop, lead off with a bet. The maniac may try to play back and raise, but if you have a considerable hand, then don’t be shy to re-raise to make them second think their move.

The Rock: Super tight Hold’em player who plays premium hands. They play so few hands, that when they do limp in or call a bet, you’ll know exactly what they have (AA, AJ, KK, etc). Also known as the predictable player. So when a rock raises or calls your bet, you should have alarms flashing in your head that you up against a premium hand.

It’s best to stay out of the way when these players raise pre-flop. But knowing these players only hold big hands pre-flop, flops with no aces or face cards can be most profitable for you, knowing you rock opponent didn’t hit, unless they hold high pockets. Try to bet a substantial amount ot take the pot down.

Strong-Aggressive: These Hold’em players are at the top of the pyramid: Strategic and tactically sound players with the ability to adapt and change gears in every game. They have control over the tables and are much more eager to bet at the pot rather then call. They change pace at anytime, making them very unpredictable and feared by their opponents.

Posted By The General

Playing a Short Stack in Multi-table Tournaments

The key to succeeding in tournament play is being able to handle the ups and downs, because it’s not always going to go perfectly. Your chip stack is not always going to shoot upwards, which means you’ll often need to make good decisions when you don’t have a lot of chips.

Many players get frustrated when they have a short stack. They look down and see Ace-rag, King-Queen, King-Jack or some similar hand and they just focus on their own cards instead of seeing the whole picture. That kind of short-sightedness can quickly make a short stack even smaller and put the player on the rail.

Successfully playing a short stack takes a lot of determination. I believe it’s like a mental war when you have the short stack because it isn’t fun when you look around and everyone has all those chips. They’re getting to play fun hands like 9-10 suited and Jack-10 suited and you don’t have enough chips to play those hands, so you’re just sitting there watching while everyone else is playing poker.

I was playing in a $1,500 No-Limit tournament at the World Series of Poker* when I raised under the gun with pocket Kings. It was Day Two of the tournament and it was the first hand I’d played after about 90 minutes of folding. Another player went all-in behind me and it was one of those situations where she didn’t take her time to properly evaluate what had transpired so far. After not playing a single hand, I had raised with 40% of my stack in the earliest pre-flop position, which usually signals a monster. She pushed anyway with KJ and I think if she’d taken her time, she might have made a different decision.

You need to have patience when you’re short stacked. You can’t let poor results from previous hands affect you. Instead, I think it’s really good to tighten up after losing a pot so that you can regroup. To recover from being short stacked, you really have to take your time and evaluate every situation. Who cares if you’re taking longer than anyone else at the table?

Before the words “all-in” escape your mouth, take a couple of deep breaths, take 20 seconds and take a look at where the raise is coming from, how much it is for, and how much the person has behind. So many times I see people coming over the top of other players and not realizing their opponent is already committed and that their chips are going in the pot. Before you push all of your chips into the middle on a call with a short stack, look at the person you’re playing, re-evaluate your hand, the raise, and what position it’s coming from at the table. You have to remember that as long as you have chips you have a chance to climb from the bottom of the ladder to the chip lead.

That brings up another key point: I don’t care what anyone else has in the tournament because when I start worrying about how many chips other people have, I’m not focused on the task at hand, which is increasing my chip stack. Short stacked or not, I own my chips until I push them into the middle; it’s up to my best judgment to determine the best time to commit them to a pot.

Being on the short stack demands that you make the right decision every time you play a pot because making the wrong one will bust you. Don’t be in such a hurry to shove those chips in. Find the right spot. Don’t get frustrated by a string of poor starting hands. At some point, you might have to take a gamble and push if you can open the pot, but until that time, you control your own destiny. Effectively reading the table and the situation before you act will help you survive and, quite possibly, even win.

Posted By The General

Hello team, what is new in your game of online poker? Anything new to report to the team? There has been an endless contraversial debate over the question of “Are these donkeys who we want in our hands calling us down to the river with rags?” Well The Captain here to tell ya mates these are exactly the players we are looking for when we are looking to get a lil action on our pocket AA or KK! Of course giving these donkeys “The Crackalack” and railing their asses becomes “Donkalicious” and there is nothing better than a lil donkey for dinner! The Captain here to tell ya mates, make sure you make your next meal at Pokerstars “Donkalicious”!

Donkabulary definition

Donkalicious: The delightful yummy feeling of busting up any donkey who calls off all their chipstack trying to get lucky with their rags!