Case Dismissed

Judge James Nowlin of the United States District Court has just decided last week to dismiss all of the claims made by Deliverance against both Mizrachi and Titlware LLC, the company behind Full Tilt Poker. But before you cry ‘Conspiracy!’, read Judge Nowlin’s statements first.

There were two main points that were central to the case. First, had the contract between Mizrachi and Deliverance actually come into effect? Second, whether Judge Nowlin could actually lawfully hear the case.

The first issue was of utmost importance. Had the contract really come into place? Judge Nowlin does not think so. First and foremost, Deliverance Poker is a company that exists mostly in paper. The venture has not fully taken off yet, since Benavides still needed more money in order to actually get started on his company. To do that, he needed a representative, and that representative was Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi.

Thus, the contract was formed. However, by the time that Mizrachi reached the final table at the WSOP, he got a huge offer from Full Tilt (more than just a simple poker bonus). Mizrachi then informed Deliverance that he would become a Full Tilt Pro instead.

What saved Mizrachi from committing a breach of contract was the fact that the contract itself was not enforceable by law mainly because there was a clause in it saying that if proper capital to actually build Deliverance Poker had not yet been gained by August 2009, then the contract would be terminated.

The next issue mainly centered on the citizenship of Tilware and how it had not yet been fully determined. If Tiltware is not under legal jurisdiction in Texas, Deliverance cannot file a lawsuit against it.

Hope for Deliverance

Of course, Deliverance Poker is still welcome to file another case if they find new evidence, as Judge Nowlin dismissed the case without prejudice. It’s unlikely, however, that this will be the case, because Deliverance Poker itself is pretty much dead. Without a face to represent it and only a nasty lawsuit bringing it to the limelight, it’s highly unlikely that this site will still continue to operate.

About Station Casinos and Full Tilt

As you probably know, legislation concerning online poker in the United States is rapidly becoming a big possibility. However, the direction in which the new law would take is still generally unknown. It could be anyone’s guess, really, and the online casinos as well as the land-based ones are all preparing for any possibility, so that whichever way the law goes, they’ll come out on top. This alliance between Full Tilt and Station Casinos was actually forged way back last year, but it seems that the time is ripe to make it official. Sources say that a statement will be made on Thursday.

Stations Casino isn’t the biggest land-based casino chain out there, but it certainly has its own merits. PokerStars and 888 Holdings both partnered with huge casinos, namely Wynn and Caesar’s, but Full Tilt is certainly going a different direction. Stations isn’t one of those big names on the strip, but it does have 18 casinos around Vegas and is one of the fastest growing casinos today. In fact, Stations is backed by the Fertita Brothers, whose genius took the bankrupt and downtrodden UFC and turned it into the phenomenon that it is today.

The Possibilities

This partnership between Full Tilt and Stations is certainly bringing numerous possibilities to life. Take the Onyx Cup for example. There is little known about it, not even the location. Full Tilt has said that the location is ‘to be announced’. People believe that Stations would be proclaimed as the location the moment the partnership goes official. If this does happen, then Stations would be getting quite a lot of publicity. Full Tilt, in turn, would greatly benefit from the publicity that the UFC also gets. Stations would also really help in allowing Full Tilt to make a smooth transition into the live poker scene.

All in all, it’s not a very obvious partnership, but whoever thought it up certainly had some great ideas up his sleeve.  This is a partnership that will certainly benefit both ends.

What exactly is a HUD?

In short, it is a tool that attaches itself to your poker tables and displays valuable information about your opponents at the table. It includes useful figures such as their 3bet%, Pre-Flop Raising frequency (PFR %), Aggressiveness% and dozens of others.  The figures themselves are based on your opponent’s hand history since you last sat down at the table (you can also buy/import hand histories for better accuracy). You can customise which statistics your HUD displays, however I’ve outlined the most relevant ones below.

Advantages of a HUD

The advantage of using HUD software is that it increases your decision making ability in cash games. It allows you to judge the good players from the fish, identify the LAG players from the TAGs, and most importantly it helps you make more profitable decisions at different streets. For example, if an opponent has a high 3bet frequency (7%), it tells me he is 3betting with a wide range of hands which includes J10 and JK and I will be more likely to call or 4bet such opponents. In contrast, your typical TAG opponent will only 3bet their top 3-5% of hands (AJ+, 1010+).

Similarly, a RFI 30% (Raises First In) tells me that an opponent is open-raising pots with his top 30% of hands, when given the opportunity to do so. This means he is playing loose aggressive and probably stealing a lot of pots with weak hands. I’ll often 3bet such players when I’m playing from the blinds.

Standard Set-Up for Your HUD

Every player has his own preferences, but the most popular set-up I’ve found is as follows:

On the top line, I have VPIP % (Voluntarily Put Money In The Pot), PFR % (Pre-Flop Raise) and AF% (Aggression Factor). I will also have the number of hands played (to understand what sample size I’m looking at).

On the bottom line I will have c-bet%, Fold to c-bet%, 3-Bet%, Fold to 3Bet% and CR% (Check-Raise).

Together these figures can give me a complete insight into my opponent’s playing style. For instance, I can identify a TAG and LAG from their VPIP% figure alone. It shows what range of starting hands my opponent is opening or calling flops with. Anything below 20% indicates a tight player, and anything above 40% is a LAG.

Final Remarks on Using a HUD

Hopefully I’ll have identified the major advantages to using a HUD at the table and how it can help your game. In terms advocating its use I’d recommend anyone playing long term or NL50+ to use one. At NL100+ at least, I can guarantee you that the most successful players will be using a HUD.

If you would like to try one, HUD’s usually come with any decent poker tracking software. The two most popular ones are Poker Tracker and Holdem Manager.

Visa poker deposits are one of the easiest ways to make a deposit but most poker sites limit the amount you can deposit at one time. If you make one successful deposit, though, and wish to increase your limits, you can do so by sending an e-mail to your poker site. In most cases they’ll give you a significant increase in deposit limits.

How to Make a Visa Poker Deposit

The easiest way to make a Visa poker deposit is to visit an online poker site, download the software and create an account. Once you have an account at a poker site, you can then make a deposit by logging in and visiting the cashier. Most poker sites also have a no-download option if you don’t want to download the software.

In either case, you’ll need to log in and then visit the cashier. Inside the cashier, you can then choose to make a credit card deposit. The cashier will lead you through the entire way with simple and easy-to-follow instructions. Making a Visa deposit at an online poker room is as easy as making any other online purchase.

All poker sites have a player support system you can use if you get stuck at any point. Just call them or send an e-mail and describe the problem you’re having. Depending on the poker site, you’ll get an answer back sometime soon with instructions to help get you on your way.

USA Visa Poker Deposits

Poker players from the United States are welcome to use their Visa cards to deposit at US-friendly poker rooms. Some US players have problems depositing with Visa deposits being rejected. In most cases that’s due to US banking regulations. Unfortunately, some banks have controls in place that automatically block deposits to online poker sites.

The good news is that even if your Visa card is rejected, there are still other ways to make a deposit online. Some players just switch cards and are able to make a poker deposit using some other credit card. Other players switch to a different deposit method such as an e-check or cash transfer.

Visa Poker Sites

The following poker sites all accept Visa credit / debit cards for deposits. If it’s your first time depositing at any site, remember to use the bonus code below to get a deposit bonus. Online poker sites offer players large money bonuses for signing up and playing real money poker.

Poker Site	Bonus	Bonus Code	USA Friendly?	Visit
1. Full Tilt Poker	100% up to $600	HOOKMEUP	Yes	Play at Full Tilt
2. Party Poker	100% up to $500	EASYMONEY	No	Play at Party Poker
3. PokerStars	100% up to $600	Stars600	Yes	Play at PokerStars
4. Aced Poker	100% up to $1000	ACED100	Yes	Play at Aced Poker
5. Sun Poker	100% up to $600	FirstBonus	No	Play at Sun Poker
6. Carbon Poker	100% up to $600	BNL600	Yes	Play at Carbon Poker
7. Doyle's Room	110% up to $550	BeatNoLimit	Yes	Play at Doyle's Room
8. Bodog Poker	110% up to $550	No Code Necessary	Yes	Play at Bodog

The ICM concept (Independent Chip Modeling) is an extremely important tool for playing sit and goes at the $50 level. In essence, it’s a way of calculating your SNG equity during any part of the game, taking into account your stack size, the stack size of the remaining players, and the payoff structure.

All long-term SNG players should take the time to learn ICM, as it increases your expected value by helping you decide when to call, fold or shove against opponents, along with the hand ranges required for doing so.

Calculating Your Equity

Example: You’re playing in a 10 man sit and go, where the top 3 players get payoffs of 50%, 30% and 20%. There are five players left and you have 70% of the chips. What this means is that in a normal SNG where everyone is the same skill, you’d have about 43% equity.

This long term calculation is based on the amount of chips you have, the payoff structure, and the chips of others. Although you have 70% of the chips, you’re still not guaranteed to come first, which is why your average equity is only 43%.

To put this idea in contrast, if the same situation happened in a winner takes all tournament, your 70% of chips on the table would directly represent 70% equity of the prize pool (since that is your chance of winning in the long term if everyone were exactly the same skill).

Importance of ICM in the Bubble

The concept of ICM probably seems confusing at the moment, so I’ll show you how it can be used in your game.  Basically, knowing your ICM allows you to make calculated decisions risking your stack that takes into account the rewards/risks of making a move with complete respect to your equity.  If you risk your stack during an SNG, you need to know whether the rewards in expected equity from a move outweighs the risk taken.

For example, imagine there are 4 players left (including yourself), and the top 3 places get paid.  One of the players has a 1BB stack.  You hold a great hand like AK or AQ and a player with double your chip stack shoves in front of you.  Even if you know you have him beat, ICM will virtually always tell you to fold.

This is because folding here will keep you on a higher equity than calling and risking your stack in the long term. If you fold, the chances are the player on 1BB will go out soon and you’ll be in the money. ICM states that calling would be wrong because even if you were, say, a 60/40 favorite, you are still risking your tournament life. If you lose the hand, you would drop to zero equity.

How to Calculate Your ICM

The best way to calculate your ICM is to use SNG software such as SNG Wizard.  The best way to improve your ICM game is to look through your history and see where the software suggests you played the hand badly.  By scrolling through your hands, you might see you’re calling too often, or not folding enough, not pushing when you should do, or something else – with regards to risk/reward equity decisions.

How ICM Affects Your Decisions

Using ICM affects your SNG play in three main ways.  Firstly, it makes you call with far fewer hands, especially when you’re approaching the bubble.  This is because the negative equity of losing chips is usually greater than the positive equity of gaining the same amount of chips (if that makes sense).

Secondly, because it makes your play much more mathematical, players aware of ICM will be tighter overall, and only call all-ins with stronger hands then they normally would.

Thirdly, ICM makes it much more advantageous to call a player’s all in if you have him stacked, rather than someone with 5 times your stack.  Calling the former means if you win, you eliminate him and significantly increase your equity. When you call the former however, even if you win, your opponent is still in a healthy position (thus your expected equity would be greater if you folded, than if you took the risk of losing you entire stack).

This article was written by MTT Strategy

How Rush Poker Works

As soon as you push the fold button, Full Tilt Poker instantly transfers you to a new table and deals you in instantly. There’s no more waiting in between hands. In fact, you don’t even have to wait during hands. If you start out with a junk hand, you don’t even have to wait for it to be your turn. Just hit the quick-fold button and Full Tilt will move you on to the next table.

To get started, click on the “Rush Poker” tab inside the poker lobby. You’ll then be able to choose from the different games available. Individual tables aren’t listed like in normal ring games. Instead, the rush poker lobby tells you how many people are playing in total and gives you the option to join in.

Once you join, you’ll catch on to what’s going on pretty quickly. You’ll be dealt in to tables just like normal until you fold. As soon as you fold or hit the “quick fold” button, you’ll be taken to a new table. Don’t like the crappy hand you have? No worries – just fold and move on to the next hand.

Rush Poker Strategy

Rush Poker is a different beast than any other type of poker. You can get away with playing tighter in Rush Poker because the other players can’t keep as close track of you. On top of that, you can play tight and still make a decent hourly return because as soon as you fold, you are taken to a new hand.

At the same time, you can also get away with stealing more. The other players aren’t as tempted to defend their blinds or play crappy hands because they know they can always fold and move on to a new hand. In Rush Poker, there are a lot of blinds up for the taking.

One thing I would suggest you do is invest in Holdem Manager so you can keep stats on your opponents. The games move so fast that you’ll see familiar names but not remember anything about those players. With the aid of Holdem Manager, you’ll eventually get a basic idea of how some of your opponents are playing.

Rush Poker and Bonuses

Players who don’t already have an account at Full Tilt can sign up for a $600 deposit bonus. The bonus was already easy to clear but it’s now even easier thanks to Rush Poker. You can play many more hands per hour in Rush Poker and earn Full Tilt Points much faster than normal.

When you sign up and make a deposit at Full Tilt Poker, you’ll be asked for your Full Tilt Poker Bonus code. Use the code BeatNoLimit and you’ll be tracked to receive a 100% bonus on your first deposit there. There’s no easier or faster way to double your money than by getting a bonus and clearing it with Rush Poker.

Visit Full Tilt Poker Now

Hundreds of tournaments run every day at PokerStars and they come in a wide range of buyins and tournament types. There are the usual freezeout tournaments, satellite tournaments, freerolls, step tournaments, guaranteed prize pools, deep stack events, turbos, hyper turbos and many more.

The two areas in which PokerStars excels, in my opinion, are in guaranteed prize pool tournaments and satellites to major live events. Guaranteed prize pool tournaments such as the Sunday Million (with its $1,500,000 prize pool) run every week. On top of that, no other poker site has sent more players to the World Series of Poker than PokerStars.

Step satellite tournaments are another cool feature at PokerStars. These are 9 person tournaments that start out at just a few dollars. Instead of receiving cash, the players who do well in step tournaments get to move up to the next step. At the top step, the player who finishes first place receives a complete prize package to a major live poker tournament.

You can check out the PokerStars tournament scene for yourself by visiting the PokerStars website and downloading the software. If you sign up for an account, you can even check out some of the freeroll tournaments PokerStars hosts every day. Remember to use the marketing code PSP11467 when you sign up and the bonus code Stars600if you decide to make a deposit.

Notable PokerStars Tournaments

The Sunday Million

The biggest regular tournament at PokerStars is the weekly Sunday Million. This tournament has a guaranteed prize pool of $1,500,000 with a first place prize of about $225,000 every week. Think about that – someone wins $225,000 every single week in this one tournament alone. That is some seriously life changing money.

More about the Sunday Million

Super Tuesday

The PokerStars Super Tuesday has a guaranteed prize pool of $250,000 but it regularly blows that prize pool away. Not as many players participate in this tournament so the buyin is a hefty $1050. Only about 400 players play this tournament so the high buyin fee is countered by the smaller fields. You can always win your way in for cheaper with satellite tournaments.

Wednesday Quarter Million

The Wednesday Quarter Million tournament is held every Wednesday and guarantees a prize pool of at least $250,000. About 1000 players join this tournament each week so the tournament can last late into the night. Of course, if you stay up late closing this thing down, the tournament’s average $50,000 payday for first place will make it easy to get up for work the next morning.

More about the Wednesday Quarter Million

World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP)

This is a series of poker tournaments that PokerStars holds every year, sort of like the internet’s World Series of Poker. Last year’s WCOOP guaranteed $40 million in prize money and ended up handing out over $50,000,000 after everything was said and done. The winner of the main event took home $1,715,200. Yes, that’s right – someone won nearly $2 million in an online poker tournament.

When you first make the switch to live poker, you’ll notice a few differences that might trip you up. I can still remember the first time I played live. I was a mess. I was nervous, I acted out of turn, knocked my chips all over the place, lost track of the size of the pot and more. The funny thing is that I was used to having $8,000 or more on the table at a time online but as soon as I bought in for $200 in a live game, I became a nervous wreck.

Once you get used to the way live poker flows, you’ll improve dramatically. In fact, you’ll find live games to be ten times easier than online games. The general quality of play online has improved greatly in recent years. Live games are still extremely soft, though, so it’s worth getting used to live play and checking out the live poker games every once in a while.

1. Learn how to play live at lower stakes

You’ll do a lot better live if you start out playing lower stakes than what you’re used to. You can consider the first couple times playing live as learning sessions. Use these first sessions to learn how to keep track of the pot size and how to avoid acting out of turn. If you’re used to four color decks online, these first few sessions will be good for you getting used to two-color decks.

With all the new things going on, starting out at lower stakes is a smart idea. Your goal in the beginning isn’t to make $400 an hour. All you need to worry about is getting to understand the general structure and etiquette of live games.

2. Don’t overemphasize tells

Tells aren’t as big a deal in live poker games as the movies like to make them out to be. Tells are fine and all, but they aren’t good for basing entire decisions on. Like all other sources of information, tells are just one piece of the overall puzzle. When making decisions, don’t forget the basics: position, table image, stack sizes, betting patterns, notes and recent history.

Now that we have that out of the way, here are a couple basic tells that weak live players often exhibit:

• Shaking Hands – When a player’s hands shake after making a big bet, it’s not because that player is bluffing. It’s because that player has a big hand and is nervous/excited at the same time. You’ll know what I mean the first time you get a big hand in a live game.

• Strong Means Weak – If a player makes a big bet and then stares you down as if challenging you to call that bet, it means that player is weak. If that person really had a strong hand, he wouldn’t try to stare you down and intimidate you out of calling.

• Weak Means Strong – When players go to exaggerated lengths to appear weak, it’s usually because they have strong hands. Some players will sigh loudly and then place a big bet. Others will place a big bet and then look down at the flop with big, scared puppy-dog eyes.

Just remember that no tell is a 100% thing. The above tells are common among new players but that doesn’t mean they are correct very often. You have to note what kinds of hands your opponent show down and then look for patterns in their mannerisms. Even when you do pick up a tell, remember that it’s just one piece of the puzzle.

3. Don’t give off tells

The easiest way to avoid giving off tells is to practice turning into stone after betting. Choose a point somewhere in front of you and stare at that point every time you make a big bet. Concentrate on keeping your breathing in control so that you breathe the same way whether you have a monster or a complete bluff.

Some players will try to talk to you or ask questions after you make a large bet. You don’t have to answer those players or acknowledge them in any way. Just practice your stone face and let them decide. Witty little responses won’t help you any more than remaining completely still and unreadable.

4. Remember that live players are fishier than online players

For the most part, live games are way softer than online games. You don’t have to be very tricky in live games to make a profit. A simple, straightforward strategy will take you a long ways in most live games. Fold your weak hands, bet your strong hands and stay away from weak draws.

If you play an extra tight game and are worried people will notice, try talking to the table. A little table conversation will make you look like a fun, possibly loose player. When you talk, don’t draw attention to the fact that you play tight with comments like “I’m not getting anything tonight!” Just stick with whatever you consider normal conversation.

Live players tend to play with an extremely passive style. If they catch something strong, they won’t always bet it right off the bat. Sometimes they’ll catch a hand like top pair and just call all the way down. You have to be careful with your marginal hands against these players because they will occasionally surprise you with something stronger than you expect.

Don’t even think about bluffing live players unless you know for sure that it’s against a person who knows how to fold. Most live players are so passive that bluffs are a –EV play. You’ll just end up losing money trying to bluff complete fish.

Value bets will take you a long ways in live games. Every time you catch a decent hand, use value bets to make the most money possible. Live players make big calls more often than online players so go ahead and bet with every good hand you get. Just be careful when betting with marginal hands – those live players will sometimes call down with very strong hands and let you hang yourself.

5. Keep a healthy bankroll

Live play requires a huge bankroll because the games are fishier (which means higher variance for you) and because you play fewer hands per hour. A 10,000 hand downswing online might only translate to two weeks of poor earnings. A 10,000 hand downswing in live poker will last for 42 days, assuming you play 8 hours a day.

The fishy players in live poker will also put more stress on your bankroll because they’ll hit you with more bad beats. You’ll make a lot of money off these players, but your earnings will fluctuate widely in the short term. A larger bankroll will provide you with plenty of cushioning to deal with the days/weeks where things don’t go your way.

Practice online first at my favorite poker site: PokerStars

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• The Fish Are Not Your Enemy
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