Any poker players?

MichaelJ said:

Love it, haven't played in far too long, though. Don't have the time to commit to playing online. *sigh*

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ski9 said:

What's time consuming about playing online? I love to jump into the hourly freerolls on Pokerstars at 3am...the tournaments have up to 5,000 players and the blinds go up so fast that they are often over in 90 minutes. The downside to free poker, though, is that you have to survive all the early suicide players. If you have pocket queens and want to push all-in from an early position, you often get calls by four people after you, with people just trying to double/triple up holding 9/3 off suit, or whatever. Live tournament poker is a lot more fun, IMO.

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Moe Ghoul said:

Is pokerstars funny money or is there real $$ involved? I used to screw around with the MSN poker games occasionally.

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ski9 said:

Yeah, they have real money tables:

http://www.pokerstars.com/poker/real-money/

The vast majority of players are in the play money area, which is a great way to keep sharp. But it can also throw you off, since there are so many newbies who make goofy plays. Where I can easily bully someone off a hand in a live tournament, a free poker site player often doesn't care if he busts out chasing a gut shot straight draw on the river.

I mostly play in freerolls, which are tournaments with thousands of players and a top finish gets you a seat in a satellite for a WSP event. So, even though you are playing for free, the prize can be a $1000 seat in another event.


The live league I played in is World Tavern Poker:

http://worldtavernpoker.com/

Most regions are set up to have at least three bars playing on separate nights, with 'doubleheader' games---which are back to back tournaments, usually at 7pm and then at 9:30pm. Most games start with 40 players at five tables and it's cool that you end up knowing people and their betting patterns. Tavern champions receive entry into regional events and prizes are seats at WSP events in Las Vegas for big bucks.

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Moe Ghoul said:

Sounds fun. I think the Edelweiss Restaurant in Blakeslee (near JFBB) has poker nites, I remember seeing signs for it a coupla years ago when we still rented a skihouse for the season. Food is decent, but was better when the dad was still alive.

I'll come check out that site Pokerstars after I download it. My only hesitation up to this point is another reason to sit in front of this box.

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ski9 said:

Poker playing as a whole is lousy for your health, especially with the lack of smoking bans. I made a commitment to always get a run in before playing.

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Moe Ghoul said:

All smoking bans did was keep me out of bars, now I drink in KOP because I can lite up a cig or a cigar, despite failing to quit 3 times so far this year and planning to try again tomorrow. If there is ever a statewide ban, my bar days are over, unless I quit smoking. Does that poker site allow you to chat and choose who you play with?

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ski9 said:

You have to quit smoking, Moe. There are some serious rumors saying it's bad for your health.

Which site? At WTP you play at whatever bar you want, but I assume you meant Pokerstars? At Pokerstars, the free money tables are all at your choice. You sign up, then choose to play 5/10 or 100/200 tables. There's a huge list of tables and you simply click on one and start playing. The two main differences in tables are how many people are at a table and whether it's a "fast" table or not. "Slow" tables are for dial-up players. When a dial-up connection player starts playing at a fast table, he keeps getting auto-warned by the dealer and people type "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" alot.

I like to jump into a table with 2 players and hope to play some heads-up hands. But before long, a table will fill up. It's kind of cool that if you are playing at 4am, you usually are playing people from Europe. BTW, there is a chat function, so even in the big tournaments, there's quite a bit of trash talk.

At Pokerstars, you accumulate play money, or are given $1000 (I think), that you can lose three times each hour...you just click and reload. For a while I was trying to accumulate lots of pretend money and I have over $400,000 in my account. But there's a maximum you can take to a table, so it's meaningless except as a personal incentive, just for fun.

There is a player search function, but I've never used it. My screen name is ski999...if you sign up for Pokerstars, definitely give me a shout on here. The tables all have names and are in alphabetical order, so it's easy to find someone.

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Moe Ghoul said:

Yeah, I know, get in the back of the complaint line . Rumor is that addiction can be overcome, but it can be much harder for some. My 1 plan was to give it up in September when we do a 5 day Adirondeck canoe/camp trip, but that's a convenient excuse to kill myself slowly for another few months.

I'll mess around on that poker site, and play a few hands, maybe Sunday nite.

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ski9 said:

I certainly have empathy for nicotine addictions...I smoked for a while in college and quitting was a killer. But, after you've quit, there does come a day when you couldn't imagine you were ever a smoker Just buy a crapload of Nicorette and chew away....

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