We are back this weekend with a a brand new show and a brand new guest. In fact, we have a bunch of cool guests lined up in the near future that poker fans will love. Once everything is 100% confirmed, I will let you know exactly who will be the show. As always, thanks a ton for supporting MPR.
I can’t stay away from Rush Poker. Once you have been exposed to such quick ACTION, it’s almost impossible to go back to playing the regular tables. On top of that, I was playing live in Atlantic City last weekend (lost 2 BI’s) and it was excruciating. The home game will be even worse. Rush Poker has us all jaded. On the results side, I won a few buy-ins last night so I am back to even at the RP tables. I ran super good and was lucky to hit a few draws. Oh, and AA vs KK helped a bit . The players are still really good and it will definitely be a challenge to squeak out a profit.
I have been playing a ton of Rush Poker lately and I have to say that I love it. Check out the video below if you are not familiar with it. I really do think that this is the future of online poker. The days of playing boring poker are over. I’ve been 4 tabling the rush poker tables, trying to figure out the right way to play the game. After 5 hours or so of playing, I’ve basically broken even. The swings can be brutal and (as always) when things are going well, I feel like Phil Ivey. I’m flopping sets, hitting my nut flush draws, picking up dead money, timing my bluffs perfectly, etc. BUT…..when the game isn’t so easy, I’m waking up with KK against AA, having my set run down by an open-ender, etc. Really can be tough to stomach. Tilting is really easy when you are seeing a new hand instantaneously, while still cringing from the beat.
Here are a few rules I’ve been playing by. Let me know if you guys think I’m missing something or totally off on any of these rules. I’m still trying to learn the best way to beat (or not lose, HA) the rush poker tables.
- Tight is right. When seeing so many hands, it’s impossible to be a loose player and win. Unless you are absurdly talented.
- Position is everything. 3-betting will often take down a pot preflop, knowing your opponent can quickly fold and move on to another hand.
- Just muck marginal hands that can get you in trouble. A hands like KQ seem to only win small pots and lose big ones. Just not worth playing, even in a limped pot.
- Suited connectors are tempting to play, but calling preflop- missing- and folding on the flop can overtime cost you a ton of money. I will play a hand Ax suited if I can see a cheap flop.
- Seeing cheap flops with pairs seem to be the way to win the big pots. Flop a set, and hope to cooler someone’s AA or KK, or hope your opponent is overplaying top pair.
- Don’t go crazy with AK preflop. If you 3-bet and someone shoves, just let it go. They almost always have you crushed.
- AQ and AJ off are trap hands. 20 minutes ago I stacked off with AQ on a Q97 board. Donk had KK
- HOPE that you aren’t on the wrong side of AA vs KK- because it happens ALL the time.
After being stranded in Miami because of the snow in the Washington, DC area- we are now back! Look out for more pics from the Super Bowl festivities as well as a brand new Mediocre Poker Radio show!!!
Here is a pic I snapped on my cell of Fergie at the Playboy Party. She was fistpumpin’ the night away….
Here are a few pics from our radio row broadcast earlier today. A ton of players (current and former) were all over the place. I spotted Eli Manning, Deion Sanders, Tiki Barber, Matthew Stafford and a bunch more. Here is Marshall Faulk and Eddie George doing the show….
Hey guys, EB and I are heading to Miami tomorrow morning to broadcast from Radio Row. We have a bunch of SICK guests lined for for the morning show (Joe Montana, Marshall Faulk, Eddie George, Benard Hopkins, and more). Radio row is at the Miami Convention Center and is basically the heart of where everything is going on. NFL Network, ESPN, etc are all broadcasting from there. A ton of athletes and celebs swing by to do interviews with all the radio/TV shows. Should be good times….
Since we’ll be doing Super Bowl stuff, we will probably run a Mediocre Poker Radio best-of show featuring an interview or two that you guys might have forgotten about or have not heard. There are actually a ton of interviews that are not posted in the podcast section of this site, so hopefully you will check out the interview that we select. We’ll be back next week with a fresh new show and interview.
We are gonna hit up a few cool parties too, so we should have some good pics to post here later in the week. Personally, I am hoping to snap a pic with The Situation! HA! Not kidding actually….
Since some like Tilted Fisher believe very few would would flat call my 4 bet with AA in that spot I found 4 hands in my database in about 5 minutes where it’s happened. These aren’t perfect replications of the previous hand I posted but my point is it’s not that uncommon that AA is flatted pre at the micro stakes.
Big grind today after a few solid days this weekend. Gave everything back as usual. Lost 6 buyins over 4300 hands. My KK ran into AA 3 times tonight. I folded KK one other time tonight too on a 10 hi flop that I’m pretty sure was up against AA as well. Tell me what you think.
He calls my huge 4 bet and then shoves the rest of his stack. I wasn’t willing to lose 200 BBs since we were both deep. I suppose he could have had QQ or JJ but that would have been extremely unusual in that spot. My experience is that is AA 95% of the time. Basically God wanted me to run into AA with KK at least four times tonight IMO. What a monumental waste of my time.
Sit N Go expert Grayson Physioc AKA Spacegravy was our latest guest on Mediocre Poker Radio. He discussed everything relating to Sit N Go’s, including what it takes to 25-table the high stakes games! So sick. Be sure to check out the interview in the PODCAST section of this site. Oh…forgot to mention that he lives on a beach in Costa Rica and the license plate to his Beamer reads EZGAME. How can you not love poker?!?!
If you missed Mediocre Poker Radio on 106.7FM The Fan in Washington, DC on Sunday evening, you can now listen to part 2 of our interview with Nick Rainey. Check it out in the podcast section of this site!
I had been really struggling in the heads-up turbo (not super turbo) sit n go’s on Full Tilt Poker against players who are super aggressive. I found myself calling small raises preflop, not connecting, and folding on the flop. And when I would get sick of doing that, I would try to mix it up and bluff on an A-6-2, just to get called down by a pair of dueces. I would check raise a Q-4-4 flop and get called down by K-high. I’m guessing im not the only one, but I find it very difficult to play against players who consistently put you to the test and refuse to relinquish a pot. Oh, and NO ONE folds to a continuation bet anymore BTW. How many times can I raise preflop with AK, the flops comes out 10-8-3, I continuation bet and am re-raised and forced to fold. It’s so tough to pick up chips against a super aggressive opponent. Very frustrating.
After going through some hands and thinking about how to play these guys, I have decided to try to slow the game down, but at the same time put the pressure on my opponent and force them to make a decision for all their chips. Here’s an example: the blinds are 20-40 and the chips are even at 1500. Opponent raises to 100, and I pick up a good HU hand like KQ, 44, etc. Instead of calling or raising, I just shove in that spot and pick up the 100 chips. No need to play a pot out of position against a player that will likely put me to the test on every street. Hyper aggressive players will fold preflop for all their chips. Their style of plays works because they pick up so many loose chips postflop. I am doing little to no calling out of position.
In position, I am limping with a wide range of hands including my monsters. I will limp with AK or AQ and if raised, I will shove it all in. If my opponent checks back, I will play the hand and not be forced into a huge pot without an actual hand. Plus, my hand is always disguised. Let’s say I limp with AJ and the flop comes A-10-5. I will make a standard bet, which is often bluff-raised by my opponent. I then shove, and he folds. There is almost no play post-flop where I don’t have a strong hand. And if I do have a strong hand, I’m getting it all in. No check/calling and allowing the aggressive player to grind me down or force me to make a bad decision for all my chips.
I THINK this is the best way to play HU sit n go’s against players like this. Obviously, if I’m playing a guy who is not very aggressive or plays super tight, I will change styles and crank up the pressure.
Just a few thoughts….I could actually be totally wrong in my thinking.
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. The players are still really good and it will definitely be a challenge to squeak out a profit.
