You can say that it has been one hell of a year for Teamdonkadonk.com and all its “elite” team members. Lets start off by saying thank you to all who did stick with us since the hijacking of our site. As you all see the site is back in its usual fashion and all of us here at TDD are working hard to bring everything back and MORE! Since all our content was lost during the hijacking, we would like to make mention of some of our team winners and highlight their accomplishments!

Since the birth of the team we have seen a great deal of different styles and techniques and none better than “Kidrocknroll” otherwise known as the satellite killer! “Kid” has marked himself quite a few online wins in the last year ranging from winning the 55k guarantee $11 rebuy not once but TWICE to his multiple cashes in the Sunday Million. Kid has also had a few WPT and WSOP satellite bouts ending in hair raising cashes that would of made any man gray! Lets not forget the flamboyant “LDFlex” who has been terrorizing tables online with his aggressive style for years! “Flex” has had an incredible year cashing the Sunday Million and marking a HUGE win taking down the Casinorama Classic for $100,000.00 1st place win! Hey, and what about , “bobvalentin” also known as “The satellite maniac” who has smashed many MTT s with enormous fields including “two” 20k guarantee rebuy wins among many other MTT final tables and not to forget his many cashes in the Sunday Million! “Bob” has been heating things up this year and really has demonstrated what team work can achieve! Then we have The General, “hillbilly06″ whos solid play and determination has brought him to many MTT finals including a few 1st place cashes. “Billy” has also had a reputation of grinding ring games reaping cashes of generous proportions. Of course we have the Canadian sensation himself “Optisol” , who has not only lead the team to victories, but has seen himself to MTT finals including his forever quest to master the sit n go! “Sol” has takin his live game just as serious and marked many 1st place wins “live” increasing his over all ROI into orbit! And of course we have “Jurisdoc23″ whos tight aggressive style and determination has brought him to final table greatness including wins in the 25k guarantee rebuy and multiple cashes in the Sunday Million as well. “Doc” has been known to terrorize a few sit n gos too, always refering to them as his bread and butter! Who can forget “Leafsmaywin” who achieved his final table greatness this year not once but more than a few times also including a debut cash in the Sunday Million! “Kiddonk”has been grindin and bangin ring games as well rocking his ROI through the roof! And of course we have the legendary “IM-Joel” whos flash and aggressive style will TiLt any table favoring Joel for the win! “Joel” has been known to blow out cash tables online cashing thousands in a sitting! His determinations with his cutting edge style has seen him to many FTOP cashes at Fulltilt and many MTT final tables at Pokerstars including cashes in the Sunday Million as well!

Of course these are just some of the highlights that were lost with the hijacking, and there will be many more to follow along with the highlights of 300 members who will make their stake this year and find their way to the final table of some of the largest prizepools available online! Look out for all upcoming updates and always remember, “the team is behind you.”

Posted by TDD

Small Pockets and Big Stacks

I played the World Series of Poker* Main Event for the first time in 2006 and like all rookies, I was involved in endless discussions of “The Hypothetical.” You know, it’s the first hand and you’re in the big blind. Five players move all-in. You look down at pocket Aces. What do you do?

Some first-timers insist they will fold, and plenty more at least entertain the idea. Chances are that no one has to face The Hypothetical, but what about the more plausible nightmares at the beginning of a deep-stack tournament? What if you raise with Aces and get four callers? What if you have Queens in the big blind after a raise and re-raise? The early stages of a big tournament can be mortal terror for a neophyte.

Experienced players make fun of the rookies’ discomfort, but they ignore the underlying issue at their peril: with a giant stack and a lot of action, a premium hand like pocket Aces can quickly lead to trouble.

This is why I think there are a lot of times when pocket 5s are better than pocket Aces. In fact, when I get pocket 5s, I may want to be against pocket Aces. This idea synthesizes advice I received from three of my expert collaborators on The Full Tilt Poker Strategy Guide: Tournament Edition.

Andy Bloch “In his chapter on pre-flop No-Limit Hold ‘em, Andy explains how your goal with A-A is to get all your chips committed when you’re a huge favorite or are playing against a single opponent. The deeper the stacks, the less likely you are to accomplish these objectives.

Chris Ferguson “Chris’ philosophy is to minimize the number of difficult decisions you have to make during a hand, and maximize the number of difficult decisions your opponents have to make. With enough chips for betting throughout the hand, a player with an over-pair faces decisions that get more difficult on each successive street.

Richard Brodie “In his chapter about online No-Limit Hold ‘em tournaments, Richard explains how tournaments have two phases: the “implied-odds” phase and the “showdown-value” phase. When stacks are deep, you want to accumulate chips with hands that offer the best implied odds ” hands that can make the nuts and/or out-flop an opponent willing to double you up with a “superior” starting hand.

Playing Aces can be dangerous when you and your opponents have deep stacks. In contrast, a small pocket pair like 5-5 can’t get you in much trouble. Given that you’re going to flop a set approximately 1 time in 8, how do you know when it’s worth playing small pairs if you only have a 12% chance of making a strong hand?

For the answer, you should consider the following factors:

Stack size ” If it costs more than 12% of your stack to see the flop, you’re not getting the right implied odds. Adding in the times when you make a set but don’t get a big payoff, you need at least 15 times the size of the raise (probably 50 times the big blind) to achieve the risk/reward ratio that lets you call with small pocket pairs. (In these calculations, the relevant stack size is the smaller of your stack or your opponent’s.)

Pre-flop position ” The best situation is being in late position, calling the raise of a tight player in early position. Ol’ Tighty probably has the kind of hand that will pay you off if you hit. In late position, you can even possibly call a re-raise with a small pocket pair. You need more than 8 times the cost of the call, but not much more ” the re-raise suggests a hand that will pay you off. (You have to consider, however, that anyone left to act may push all-in before the flop.) In early position, there’s a temptation to limp with a small pocket pair so you can call a late-position raise. That’s a mistake for several reasons. You give away information about how you play (both in this hand and in the hands where you don’t open-limp), create a limper-friendly hand that is unlikely to win you a big pot, and make it easy for Mr. Aces in late position to make a giant re-raise to chase you (and other limpers) out.

Post-flop play ” All streets after the flop are Easy Street. If you miss, you have an easy decision to fold. If you hit, you have an easy decision to play fast and get that over-pair or top-pair/top-kicker to try to push you out (especially if the flop suggests you might be moving with a drawing hand). With small pocket pairs, post-flop position isn’t that important, and that’s rare in No-Limit Hold ‘em. If you join me in taking the advice of these outstanding poker pros, you can be causing, rather than suffering from, nightmares in the early stages of a tournament, whether it’s online at Full Tilt Poker or at the WSOP* Main Event.

*World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah’s License Company, LLC (”Harrahs”). Harrah’s does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with Full Tilt Poker or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.

Posted by The General

Although Pokerstars is a favorite place for the team to play, it has been refered to as many different things. “Jokerstars” is probably the most commonly used name. Since we have been playing there over the years we have heard a few more like, “Riverstars” or “Retardville” hehehehe. Well mates, your Captain (as usual) has come up with a name of his own! The stuff I have wittnessed, not only on the poker tables but whats been said in the chatbox as well only makes me think of one thing and one thing only; “Donkey Daycare” which is ALOT like a childrens daycare except it has the sick twist of adding Texas NL Holdem poker into it! There ya go mates another poker slur from your Captain. Just don’t forget to bring a pacifier to your next Pokerstars game!

Donkabulary definition

Donkey Daycare: The name of the largest poker room 0nline. Donkeys love to play at Pokerstars because they are always rewarded with their miracle suckouts and treated well for their bad play!

Let’s say an early position opponent - preferably a loose opponent - raises and gets called by one or more players. Now there’s a lot of money in the pot. More importantly, the players who simply called are unlikely to have a hand that would merit calling a big re-raise. If they had such a hand, they probably would have raised instead of flat calling in the first place. Now it gets to me.

I “sandwich” the callers with a big raise.

If my raise gets the initial raiser to fold, the meat of the chips will very often be coming my way.

I prefer to make this play from the blinds than from the button; if one of the blinds happens to wake up with a great hand, it really doesn’t matter what the initial raiser was betting with - my goose is cooked.

I get maximum value from the sandwich raise when I am down to about 15 big blinds. For instance: I’m in the small blind. A loose player brings it in from early position for three times the big blind. Two players call. There are now 10.5 blinds in the pot. I look down and find 8-7 suited.

I raise all-in.

The initial raiser now has to make the tough decision as to whether to call a significant raise. Even if my timing is off and he has a big hand - let’s say A-K - and decides to call the bet, I’m still in pretty good shape. My 8-7 suited will beat his A-K about 41% of the time. I’ve invested 15 big blinds and stand to win 37 big blinds. I’m getting exactly the right odds on my money here.

I won’t make this play with a hand that can easily be dominated, like a small ace or king. I don’t want to be 25% (or less) to win if I can help it.

And by making the play all-in, I completely negate my positional disadvantage, and make the most of my short stack. With all of my money in the pot, I can’t be outplayed after the flop.

If it’s chips you’re hungry for, try the sandwich. You might just find that it hits the spot.
Posted by TDD

It is very difficult to calculate the exact odds of hitting a drawing hand when you’re sitting at the poker table. Unless you’re a genius with a gift for mathematics like Chris Ferguson, you will not be able to do it. That leaves two options for the rest of us: The first option is to sit at home with a calculator, figure out the odds for every possible combination of draws, and then memorize them. That way, no matter what situation comes up, you always know the odds. But for those of us without a perfect memory, there’s an easier way. Here is a simple trick for estimating those odds.

The first thing you need to do is to figure out how many “outs” you have. An “out” is any card that gives you a made hand. To do this, simply count the number of cards available that give the hand you are drawing to. For example: suppose you hold Ac 8c and the flop comes Qh 9c 4c. You have a flush draw. There are thirteen clubs in the deck and you are looking at four of them — the two in your hand, and the two on the board. That leaves nine clubs left in the deck, and two chances to hit one.

The trick to figuring out the approximate percentage chance of hitting the flush is to multiply your outs times the number of chances to hit it. In this case that would be nine outs multiplied by two chances, or eighteen. Then take that number, multiply times two, and add a percentage sign. The approximate percentage of the time you will make the flush is 36%. (The exact percentage is 34.97%.) Now let’s say that on that same flop you hold the Jd Th. In this case you would have an open ended straight draw with eight outs to hit the straight (four kings and four eights). Eight outs with two cards to come gives you sixteen outs. Multiply times two and you will hit the straight approximately 32% (31.46% exactly) of the time.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the percentage stated is merely the percentage of the time that you will hit the hand you are drawing to, NOT the percentage of time that you will win the pot. You may hit your hand and still lose. In the first example, the Qc will pair the board and may give somearticle a full house. In the second example both the Kc and the 8c will put a possible flush on the board, giving you the straight, but not necessarily the winning hand. Still, knowing the approximate likelihood of making your hand is a good beginning step on the road to better poker.

Posted by TDD

Hello team, how’s it all hangin online? As we see more and more of the notorious Pokerstars badbeats we can’t help to notice the true culprits behind these disaster hands. These guys that are so predictable at what they do its unreal. One of their famous moves is calling allin on a draw. Cough cough, gasp!

Myself and The General were playing a sit n go oneday when we noticed this player chasing down flushes and straights with no pot odds and hitting like a fool. The General says to me, “Look at that lil “Flush Monkey” go!” And away he went playing any 2 suited cards and calling any sized bet chasing cards like a lil monkey! The amazing part is how these guys get away with what they do, showing down their rags with the famous excuse, “but they were sooooted”. The Captain here to tell ya team, if your top pair with top kicker is looking good and there are 2 suits to the flop “BEWARE” because there maybe a “Flush Monkey” sitting right next to you! It’s a safari out there mates, so grab all your weapons and happy hunting!

Donkabulary definition

Flush Monkey; A bad player who plays any 2 suited cards and chases down a flush draw with absolutely no odds to make a call pretty much has the intelligence of a monkey! Or create your own like, “dammn donkey lovin flush monkey” after he hits runner runner, that usually works good for me!

Hello mates, and what is new in your world of online poker? That good? Hehehehe Not that good for The Captain, I’ll tell ya. Its been one of the worse weeks to date. Just when you think you have seen it all “BAM” and some of the worse badbeats you will ever see! Soooo bad that I have come up with another slur for our illustrious team. The beats I have seen and the crap I see played is unreal. JJ and I raise 6X the blinds and get early position callers and hit a J77 flop. I go allin and the donk calls me with 75 and hits his miracle 7 on the turn? The donk makes quads with 75 off? What in the world was that donkey doing in the hand when there was a HUGE preflop raise? Thats soooo rediculous…No… its “Redonkulous!” so bad you can’t even believe your own eyes! There ya go mates, Pokerstars and their badbeat players are most certainly “Redonkulous!”

Donkabulary definition

Redonkulous: The ridiculousness of getting all your chips takin by a donkey calling your allin with 72 offsuit!

Every Hold ‘em strategy guide talks about the importance of positional advantage. The standard thinking is that the player who acts last has more information than his opponents, so he’ll have a better sense of where he stands in a hand and can, therefore, make better decisions. There’s no doubt that this is true, but it’s important to understand that the power that comes with position is often granted to the late-position player by the early-position player.

To see what I mean, consider a pretty typical No-Limit hold ‘em hand. Say that I’m in the big blind with 7s-8s - a nice, flop-worthy hand. The player on the button raises to three times the big blind and I decide to call. Many players would check the flop under almost any circumstances. But, by checking, you give control to the late-position player. He can bet whether or not he has a hand, putting you in a tough spot if you don’t get a piece of the flop.

In a hand like this, I believe it’s best to look at the flop and ask, “Is it likely that these cards helped my opponent?” Once I have an answer to that question, I can decide how to proceed.

If the flop is Ah-Kd-9c, I’d probably just check and fold to a bet, as my opponent was likely raising with big cards and caught a piece of the flop. However, if the flop is 9c-5h-2d, I’d probably be more skeptical. I know that in Hold ‘em, two unpaired hole cards will fail to make a pair on the flop about 66 percent of the time, and this seems to be a flop that the pre-flop raiser might have missed.

If I suspect my opponent didn’t connect, I’m going to take the initiative and bet out about half the size of the pot. Betting here with my gutshot draw offers several advantages. First, I might take the pot down right here, and I’m always happy when a semi-bluff forces a fold. But even if I get a call from my opponent, I’ve forced him to react. That gives me a chance to pick up a read. If my opponent seems uneasy, I might continue with my semi-bluff on the turn and try again to pick up the pot. Or, if I feel my opponent is strong, I can check and fold to any bet on the turn if I fail to make my hand.

Stabbing at pots when out of position can be very lucrative. In tournaments, I’ll open-raise out of position fairly frequently because I think there’s a lot of power in being the first one to fire at the pot on the flop. I pick up a lot of small pots that way.

As you work on your Hold ‘em game, remember that you don’t have to give the advantage in the hand to the player in late position. Look for opportunities to bet out and seize the initiative.

Posted by TDD

Hello mates! What has been happening in your game of online poker? As The Captain ponders some of the largest fields that Pokerstars has to offer, there is nothing worse than some huge chipstack bully landing on your table right next to you! Most players will avoid the bully at all costs and try to race smaller stacks to their own. Not The Captain! I love to go right at the bully chopping his stack down to nothingness and put him to the rail as he so much deserves! This may take a few hands but it will be inevitable he will implode and what other way to earn a little table respect! Thus we have arrived to our next poker slur: “The Crackalack” which is The Captains favorite pass time at Pokerstars, “Crackalack the table bully!” There ya go recruits, and just remember that the team is always behind you!

Donkabulary definition

“The Crackalack”: To crackalack the table bully, or beat him down to the point where hes on the ground with his face in the dirt and you are stomping your foot on the back of his head while asking him; “Who is your donkey daddy?”