What next

Now that the reality of Black Friday has sunk in it is time to figure out what is next. I am lucky. I play on-line for fun and only as a means of small secondary income. I truly feel for those guys that grind out a living on-line or are associated with on-line poker in other ways (coaching, web sites, publishing, etc.). This will decimate them in the short run. However, I have to believe the handwriting was on the wall for some time as I talked about in November when legislation appeared to be gaining momentum. The status quo was simply not viable long-term. I do think on-line poker's future prospects are quite bright. Sure it will look a lot different then it has for the last 4 or 5 years. But a transparent system with easy deposit and withdrawal options will make the games better and ultimately attract more players here in the states. It may take some time but the end result should look pretty good.

For now, I guess I become a live player. You can probably tell from the theme of my previous posts that I don't really love live poker. The games I enjoy (PLO8, SNGs, PLO, mixed games) are not as commonly played live as on-line. Sure at the WSOP you can find all of these games but that is 1 month a year. Also when playing live one has to wait for a seat to open up. And if that seat is a bad one we can't just get up and click on another table. Finally there are costs associated with live play that don't exist playing on-line (gas, tolls, dealer tips, etc.). On the flip side, live players pretty much suck. Within about 5 or 6 hands at a table I know who the best players are and who are the nitty live players. Win rates are generally MUCH higher live than online. Of course, live players can't multi-table so that may reduce the actual hourly win rate.

With this in mind, I am off to Borgata on Tuesday to play the $350 HOSE or maybe the $350 NLHE, haven't decided which yet. Will likely also play the $200 NLHE on Wednesday. I am planning on returning next week for the Main Event and the $500 NLHE 6 max events. I may also go up for the WSOP Circuit Event in Philadelphia in early May. I think the Borgata will have a Deep Stacked event in mid-May that I am sure I will go up for that event. Then it will be June and I am off to the WSOP. So the schedule will be full in addition to my normal home games, etc.

In any event, I actually was looking to have a pretty solid month on-line. I had made up all but about $100 of my EV "losses" since my last post.

This chart represents about a 4big blind/100 win rate and should have been sustainable on Rush. Couple that with the end of tax season and I could put some significant volume in and lock in a pretty good month.

I couldn't really find too many super interesting hands but here is a good one. I probably left some $$$ on the table here but really thought we had the same hand. I mean guy puts in over 100bb after I make the nuts. Hard to figure.

Full Tilt Poker $50.00 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo - 6 players - View hand 1282618
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

CO: $89.75
BTN: $82.70
SB: $63.50
BB: $38.50
UTG: $108.90
Hero (MP): $66.95

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is MP with 5 A K 3
1 fold, Hero raises to $1.75, CO calls $1.75, 2 folds, BB calls $1.25

Flop: ($5.50) 6 K 2 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $5.50, CO calls $5.50, BB calls $5.50

Turn: ($22.00) 4 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $14.50, CO calls $14.50, BB calls $14.50

River: ($65.50) 9 (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $45.20, CO calls $45.20, BB folds

Final Pot: $155.90
CO mucks 4 4 K A
Hero shows 5 A K 3
Hero wins $76.45
(Rake: $3.00)