WCPC 2010 - BCPC 2010 - Vancouver Poker Blog - Vancouver Freerolls - Vancouver Casinos

Hi again,

While researching different inexpensive ways of winning myself into the BC Poker Championship, I came across a freeroll tournament coming up which has some potential. LuckyAcePoker.com is running an online freeroll and has invited players from Vancouver to attend. My contact with the company assures me that they are doing everything they can to cater to us Vancouverrites.

I’ve received this message from my friend at LuckyAcePoker.com regarding the freeroll:
LuckyAcePoker.com is happy to present this freeroll tournament to our loyal clients. We are even happier to be able to make this available to Canadian poker players in Vancouver. It should be an exciting event and we look very forward to giving away the guaranteed $5000 prize poll.

What a classy guy I can assure you I’m less that entheusiastic about giving away my money at poker tourneys.
Full details for this online freeroll are available here:
http://www.pokervancouver.com/5000-freeroll-for-poker-players-from-vancouver/

Cheers and good luck,
~Addict

Ok, so it doesn’t quite have the same catchiness as HNIC, but still it’s what I’m up to tonight.

The World Pub Poker Tour is in town and they are running a freeroll tournament at my local pub. This local tour is operated locally and sponsored by the good folks over at Sun Poker.

The beauty of these tournaments is that, as the name implies, they are free and excellent practice for players of beginner to intermediate skill levels.

For those new to the game, it offers a cheap introduction to poker in a real tournament setting. This means you can take your time if you are still figuring out game structure, strong starting hands, and even the winning hand order. You can ease into the game and even get help from the other players at the tables.

Intermediate players attending these freerolls should keep in mind that they are playing with beginners and well… other people who really don’t have anything to lose here so expect loose and unorthodox plays. My advice is to try to open up your range a bit, really utilise your position, and remember that beginner players will often check things down when they have a strong hand, not knowing the most profitable way to play it. I only say this because I’ve been called down on all streets w/ no bets or raises, when a beginner at these freerolls flopped a set (Yes, they just called on the river after I’d bet as well). Figuring out who these players are is easy and very important, be sure to be slightly less aggressive against them once identified.

Aside from strategy, the only other recommendation I have for those attending these freeroll tournaments is to be sure to buy from the bar and encourage others to buy as well. They will certainly appreciate the extra business the freerolls bring in if everyone is buying… if no one is buying, then not so much and the freeroll tournament could easily dry up.

So the incentive for playing these Vancouver freeroll poker tournaments is that if you can make it to their bi-monthly “winners tournament” and place in the top-9, you can actually win some pretty nice prizes. With WSOP season quickly approaching, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were putting up a trip to Vegas w/ entry to the main event as they have done in the past.

You do of course have to do fairly well at these freerolls to get to the winners tournaments, then hopefully you run good while you’re there. Expect roughly 100 or so players if you can make it to the winners tournament.

Anyways, if you have time and are looking for a cheap way to learn how to play poker, you might want to check them out. Their schedule can be found here:http://poker.meetup.com/114/

Stay tuned for more news and information on Poker in Vancouver and Vancouver Freerolls.

Cheers,
~Teh Addict

As anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m a rather avid no-limit texas holdem player, both live and online. I’ve played in local casinos, such as the River Rock Casino Resort or the Edgewater Casino in Vancouver, and have hit up private tournaments such as Sun Poker‘s local Vancouver Freerolls, and participate regularly in the private “Ghetto Poker Tour”.

Recently though, I started tracking how much I was making in tournament winnings vs playing in cash tables. While many will agree that tournament and no-limit play will offer more burst income, over the long run I’ve discovered that cash tables, limit cash tables specifically, have netted me the most money overall. I believe the reasons why can be summed up in two points (Especially Number 2):

1) The swings are lower
2) Lots of donks call trash down to the river

Seriously people, I’ve never seen people call so much with so little. It’s quite ridiculous how far they will take it. Very regularly I will be able to take down a $40-$60 pot at a 4-8 limit table with only a high pair. I think my best example of this was at an online table where I took down a pot with two pair. Not a bad hand, I know, however the fool raised and re-raised me several times all the way down to the river with only a high card king. A bit of an exception, but he makes for a good example =)

It’s amazing really. I’ve seen people get mad at having someone else bet/re-raise them down to the river with absolutely nothing, but I can’t understand why they would do this. Someone who is willing to go that far with nothing is easier to take money from. I say, let them call it, I’ll be taking their money and investing it in a much needed case of beer (or cases of beer if the pot is a good size). So if you see someone being a donk and playing garbage, let them. Make a note of their play and take their money. Choosing your oppourtunities and making your moves at the right time will assure that their buy-in will be your cash-out.

With just how far people will call things down, bluffing is almost non-existent and not recommended unless you know advanced techniques, such as semi-bluffing or determining the necessary odds for a good bluff. This means that you’ll more often than not be forced to play only winning hands, however this also means that you should net more money. Winning only one hand is usually enough to keep you playing for a good hour if you fold every hand.

While I said bluffing is almost non-existent, it still does exist to an extent (almost is the keyword here); it still isn’t recommended though. Most people will call you down to the river with just a high card king or ace which makes it particularly difficult, and if they don’t, then they’ve folded early netting you a very small pot. For the amount of times bluffing has actually worked for me it’s failed tenfold. Fortunately in situations like this, I’m able to pick my spots and only have to win once out of every 9 times or so for the move to be profitable (again, one of the more advanced techniques)

Playing a mid-pair is often play that I see regular limit players do, simply because it sometimes works (Over the long run I’d say probably 50/50, but I guess that’s enough for some people). While it does work half the time, counting exactly how many bets and raises there have been in the hand should give you a good idea as to just how strong your hand is. If you’re finding someone betting/raising pre-flop and on every subsequent round, there’s a good chance they have a high pocket pair, or ended up hitting their flush/house/straight.

No matter what though, if you know what you’re doing and play it smart and figure out profitable moves, you will walk away with money at a limit table more times than not. I’ve found recently that by getting good at limit my no-limit cash and tournament play has gotten tremendously better.

Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll be hitting the tables and funding my alcoholism. If you need me, I’ll either be at the Edgwater Casino or playing on Full Tilt Poker.

Cheers, and good luck.
~Teh Addict