Shark Vet - Guest Post

Patience is huge in Poker. Especially in large field Freerolls where many are newbies or all in crazy. One of our best Shark players posted this in the forum.

By Howwler

However.. getting back to public freerolls this is my take on playing these things:

Just be careful and patient for the first hour.. you'll see a number of maniacs playing Freerolls because of the simple reason.. they're free AND.. there's another coming along in half hour.

I find that waiting for monster hands the first hour works well for me. Toss small pockets if one or two players are already in (and you'll see a lot of that during the first hour). Also, don't go in the hand if you've got J10 or below in early position.. inevitably, someone will be all in either in middle or late position with either KQos, AJ or A10 and a number of times.. with nothing bigger than A rag.. There be maniacs in Freerolls.. and I can't express this too many times!

If you can't find those monster hands during that first hour.. be patient.. they'll come. In the meantime, play your game so you don't get booted out for inactivity.

Patience - don't have it, get it... Can't get it? Find another hobby.

aggression - be selective with it, don't be aggressive each and every hand - what works for Gus Hanson and Sharky doesn't work all that well with online poker freerolls - too many donks out there playing 2 7os like it was pocket aces!

Patience - don't have it, get it... Cant get it? Find another hobby.

Loosen up a bit during the second hour.. most of the maniacs either quadupled (yeah.. some of 'em get damn lucky, I've seen a 4-7 os pick up a straight with an all in against pocket J's) OUCH - or they're gone! There are dummies out there that will play anything in Freerolls.

If you made it to the third hour your doing well and you should have a healthy chip stack at this time. Now's the time to pick on the smaller stacks and bluff alot on the button or the cutoff. You should be able to feel out your opponents by now. Most of the players that made it this far with the smaller stacks are tightening up. They want to make it to the next hour and they're protecting their chips.

In the fourth hour.. You should be tightening up a bit here.. protect your chips, wait for the premium hands and attack those shorter chip stacks. Premium hands are great for raising those big chip stack players. They're also great for all in plays. Scares the hell out of any player that's made it this far... if they don't have the stone cold nuts, they'll fold and even if your picking up blinds at this stage.. they'll add to your stack considerably.

I don't play Freerolls very often but when I do, it's usually Bobblehead Freerolls in AP. I do enjoy the apparel that AP gives out through these.. although not quite as nice as the swag Shark offers.. but still.. nice enough.

And one more thing...

Patience - don't have it, get it... cant get it? Find another hobby!

It's DAMN important to be patient or give up poker - simple as that - if you think that the 1 or 2 or so hours on TV you see the pro's play is long LOL forget it - some of those tables last days! Hell, the championship heads up match took 15 hours to complete, so get comfy!

__________________ Part 2

I mentioned Patience in an earlier post but I'd like to continue one step further and try and quantify what skills you should possess in poker: (however, I will still discuss more patience - be patient now.. )

What to have and how to use it when playing poker:

We're told that to be successful, we need a profound knowledge of the game of poker and a good working knowledge of our opponents during play but did you know that we can quantify these skills we need so badly?

Unfortunately, we can't quantify any aspects of the game of poker without truly analyzing what you should be putting into it. These should fall under the following categories:

1: Patience
2: Strategy
3: Math
4. Note Taking
5. Emotions and
6. Miscellaneous

First and foremost, the first skill you bring to the table should be Patience, Patience and more Patience.

If you don't have it, find yourself another game that doesn't limit your ability to sit for hours, waiting for a decent hand to play and take up either golf, which in itself is a great cardiovascular activity, or billiards, which relies heavily on knowing angles and the ability to see colors... The only patience you'll need in the above noted games is waiting for your opponent to take a stroke so you can play.

Try waiting out a table full of poker players anxiously awaiting a decent hand, hour after hour, slowly playing what cards they can, constantly deliberating over 2 pocket cards... patience, patience, and more patience!

It should be noted that about among other skills, Patience should represent about 51% of your play. [51%??? You've got to be kidding me.. but in all seriousness, that's what it does come down to].

Strategy (including but not limited to knowing and playing pocket cards by position, slow playing, raising, check raising, aggression, etc.) should represent 20%.

Math (includes pot odd, implied odds, probabilities, etc.) equates to 10% of your game.

Note taking, (whether through poker software, i.e. Poker Tracker, using the respective poker site software services, table selection, ect.) should represent 8% of your game.

Next is Emotions (which includes self-control, tolerance for stupidity, bad beats as well as a tolerance for being out played as well, etc.,) represents 6% and next is;

Miscellaneous, (which includes a countless number of minor abilities, including behavioral.) which accounts for 3% of your skills.

For those of you that actually counted, youÂ’re probably saying that the above only accounts for 98% so what's the other 2%?

That my friends, is Lady Luck. She dispenses at will, either giving or taking the additional 2%. Possibly 1% for bad luck and the other for good... we each get our fair share of good and bad luck.

But.. whatever the luck she brings, good or bad, it's out of our control. Just make sure that other 98% is completely in your control !

Great Post Hal.Email Me for a Shark Hat or Bad A$$ Tee Hal! Size and street addie please.
_________________

Guest Post - Trip Report

Shark Vet "TheStudent" Joey Wong has survived Day 1 at the Reno WPT Main Event! Nice Start Joe!

Ivey, Negraneau, Lindgren, Seed, and Toto Leonitas are out. After day one Joe is 148th with 13K chippies. 310 have been eliminated (592 started) and 180 remain. Prize pool is 2.85 million. 1st is 1.05 million. Day 2 they will play down to 27 players. 36 make the money and 28-36 pays $14,200.

Keep up the good work, Joe! Updates here: Shark Forum

_________________________________

Excellent Trip Report from "Clayshooter", Shark Vet, World Class Skeet Shooter and Top No Limit Player. Catch more from Clays Blog

Hiya all,

Been shooting in Atlanta for a week and then a business conference in Puerto Rico. I know, life is rough.

I'll update my website about the shooting, I took 9th in the World event in Atlanta. I was third high American. I was in second place after my Thursday-Friday which I thought was good as I was only 4 targets behind 14 time world champion, 133/150 and top 6 went to a shootoff in the stadium. Other shooters could shoot Sat-Sun, so I was not assured of a shootoff berth. We had cold and rainy weather and so my showing was paticularily good. Fate would deal a cruel blow as the weather was perfect Sat-Sun and 5 brits advanced above me to the shootoff. Weather was the main difference as I missed the shootoff by two targets.

Shooting was fun but I have to tell you about the poker, I mean what good is this post in a poker forum without some kind of report, right?

The Conquistidor Hotel in Puerto Rice is a five star hotel and with my broker dealer picking up the tab...I'm living the high life this week. The hotel has a casino and the casino has ONE poker table. Yes, only one. The game starts at 9pm and breaks at 3am. It is a 5/10 limit game, $100 buyin minimum and full of people who make $500K a year so $100 means very lttle to most at this table.

I should start by saying that I have played about 6 times at casinos and stuck to 2/4 and 3/6. I know I can play with most anyone but I specialize in tourney play so both the fact that it is a limit game and it is above my comfort level were concerning. I thought I'd buyin the fisrt night and see how it goes.

My first table was a mix of playboys who thought they needed to show every hand...and so did everyone else. They were trying to get a read on what hole cards people were playing. I start off most tourneies playing loose and showing losers to expand the range of cards opponents will put me on later. This seemed to work as every pot was 4-5 handed. Play was loose and people were going to showdown with third and fourth pair but I just wasn't catching cards. After an three hours I had played three hands lost all and bought in for a total of $200. I had about $60 left and thought I should buyin again in case I get a big hand and want chips to get max value. I bought in for the third $100, swearing it was the last $100 for the night.

Long story short, I had a run where three mid PP in a row caught the flop making a set and two boats winners and I was counting $400 in chips after three hands. One hand alone was a $250 pot as my pocket 8's hit the 578 flop and I drew a boat on the turn. Good thing as the guy that fed my pot flopped a straight and didn't seem to mind capping the bets after the boat was poss.

I cashed out that night +$600. at 2:45am I made all the other progress when the table was short handed from 1:30 on. As the game was comming to an end people were playing crazy and I was catching cards, what a wonderful combination.

Day two saw a signup list with me at 14 and so I didn't get on until about 11:30pm. While I missed the first hour and a half, I sat down with a good feel for who could play as there were 6 new faces at the table. I watched the action from a nearby Roulette table where I kept myself amused and played even for the 1 1/2 hour wait. One of the new guys had his WSOP hat that he spent $10,000 for last year. He continually complimented me on my play and would avoid any pot with me, so I got table cred from the one guy who actually knew how to play!! sweet. Table of fish, pockets of gold. +$500

I'll update ya on the third night after I play tonight...

I can't thank my new friends here enough for the confidence and practice to play at the higher levels. I knew the money was more than I felt comfortable with but I knew that no one had my experience playing with a group as tough and cut-throught as the shark army. I know that if I can win here, I can win anywhere.

You can too. Thanks Shark!!

Beer, Chippie, NRG, TXDan, Sweetness, Born, Reel, Shark, Taj, Stewart, Carey Bear, and all my friends at the Shark Army....

I'm having a Bahama Mamma on you all!!


*****************************************************
********************** Posted 3-20*********************
*****************************************************

Great to know everybody was reading my drivil...

OK, you have to hear this....

I'm at this conference I told ya about...living the high life wining on the $5/10 game enough to double my BR the first night. Then I follow that up with another $500+ winner the next night...it couldn't get any better, could it?

The sea, the rum, the string bikinis...oh my!

BUT... None of it compared to my third night.

I have to tell you the long version. If you have ADD - skip to the highlighted part at the end. There's no way you don't come back to here and read the whole thing.

I was kind frustrated that I couldn't get on the top of the list on my second night. The Casino director told me the list to play poker started at 7pm and he had 13 names on the list at 6:55, so i was slightly pissed. I did take comfort in cashing $520 the second night so I wasn't too pissed but I did want to be at the table when the game opened Sat night.

I decided to go the casino early, about noon, and talk to the manager. The Casino manager told me the lists starts when they open, AND they already had 14 names on the list for that nights game!! MOTHER F#@ker!!

I was pissed. I put myself down at 15 and prayed 5 of the guys above me would suffer from heat stroke on the golf course that afternoon, lol.

I was kinda bored and decided to play a little roulette and after running through $100 I had a win to get me to +$25. Note to self: $5 bet on 31 Black pays $175 when the little white marble does its job ;o).

I figured I ran through my luck there and so I watched some people play carribean stud poker. I'd never played and it took about 20 hands of watching before I jumped in to try my luck. About $100 later I figured it was not my game but I tried one last $25 bet and hit a flush that paid $150. Maybe this could be my new game..hmmmm.

I showed up at the poker table at 7pm hoping to get lucky and get a seat. I wasn't. Not only did I not get on the table but I was 4th on the waiting list and there was little hope I'd get on before midnight.

I was kinda pissed but figured it would be worth the wait so I drowned my sorrows on the roulette table. $100 in chips was quickly turned into $250 and I thought it best to quit ahead and try another game. I wondered over to the carribean stud game.

I waited about 30 minutes before a seat opened up. As a nice asian guy tried to politely sit down in front of me I tried to nicely point out that I had been waiting longer...when ...not again...there was a freakn list for this table too! He sits, I wait. Luckily no one else knew about the list and with a little help from the prettiest girl in the casino who I was chatting with, playing in the 6 seat, her dark black hair and flower tied amidts her long curly hair. The lowest cut black dress and .... Wait, Poker; yeah right - Poker. Whew, good thing we were both married...but I digress, she acknowldged I had waited the longest. So, I was first on the list and next in line when a seat opened.

About ten minutes later the seat next my new girl friend opened up when the guy next to her proclaimed, "gotta leave when yer ahead!" and I was happy to see him go. I sat down.

Now a few things you should know about this game; first, you have the option of paying the house $1 in the off chance that you get a flush or better and collect part of the jackpot. Second, you only get 5 cards. No community cards. You are basically playing against the dealer. The dealer basically folds with anything under AK, but plays AK and all hands better. If the dealer folds you get your bet matched, if you fold you lose your bet...you always act first. If you stay and the dealer "qualifies" you go to showdown but must bet twice your primary bet and so you stand to lose 3XB or win multiples of your bet based on hands you make. Royal is 100-1, one pair is 1-1; everthing between has a scheduled payout that is based on the probability you can make that hand.

After about ten hands I'm behind and not drawing anything. I double my bets hoping to hit something good. Then I pull this hand, I flip over my 5 cards and see a straight 2-6. No jackpot but still good. All cards are red, wait... a closer look reveals they are all diamonds. HOLY SHIT I calmly lay it down, placing my bet on the table. Now I'm praying the dealer qualifies as my hand pays 50-1 and I have $30 on the table. Cmon dealer. Dealer turns over her cards to reveal no qualifier...Damn, $1500 down the drain. BUT, I still have a piece of the jackpot. I know it, but nobody else does because I haven't let on yet. They know I have something cause I'm begging the dealer to qualify. I bump my girlfriend on the arm and interrupt her discussion with a player waiting to get in; I say "watch this" and point to my cards. She keeps talking. I again bump her, obviously interupting. " yer gonna want to watch this," I tell her.

The dealer turns over the 6, then the 5, then the 4. By now everybody is aware they are suited. Next she turns the 2. I left them out of order because you have to belive if someone hit it they would line the hand up...hehe. She says..."NO WAY" as the dealer spreads the cards to find the 3 on the bottom. I don't know who was happier, me or the people at my table. They just went nuts. A straight flush paid 10% of the jackpot which stood at $123,632.70; I'm sitting here admiring my check reciept fo $12,363.27!!

How about them apples?

I did play poker that night. I had this funny chip marker that looked like a check for $12,363, lol. I dropped $200 playing so loose I'd make the working girls in vegas look like nuns and I was loving every minute of it.
I think I'll see you all back on the table mid week. I'm sure I'll get a chance to tell this story a couple more times as I try to come down from my poker high this week. No one better then my shark army buds to keep me in line.

Clayshooter

Shark update: I'm bored silly with Poker right now and taking a little break from the grind of limit Poker. I have a few good guest blogs to post so this is a nice time to use them.

Join my team this week, No Limit Baybee

Omaha password is live. Enter best now to register.

23rd AP $5 Buyin. "Borns Thursday" pass: shark6
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Password good night of 3/23

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If you enter then can't show make sure you "unregister". Players forgetting to unregister may be banned from our Tour. Thank you.

Sharks Newest Sponsor. PokerXFactor! Undisputed #1 Online Tourney player and 2005 WSOP bracelet winner Cliff "JohnnyBax" Josephy and Online Tourney/sit n go killer Eric "Sheets" Haber video their play, describe the action and train you to become a Tourney winner. Check out the free videos. I signed up, this site is the real deal. Highly recommended!

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At sign up "Where did you hear about us?" enter SHARK

Drift On In Roadhouse

Decided to make the easy drive to No Seattle and play the Drift instead of the long drive to Muckleshoot. Got right into the only game in the room, 4/8. I'll post more after I go over a few hands i'd like to post. Right now i'm going to watch our Wa Huskies try to advance to the sweet 16 in NCAA b-ball.

Quick recap: A long 17 hr session where I was clobbered in the first 2 hours. Flopped set of Queens losses to riv flush, flopped set of nines loses to trip KINGS when me new friend hit his 2 outer on the riv. Huge pots and i'm stuck -250 early.

Built my stack back to about even when this lil dandy came up. I flop a Queen hi flush (QJ hearts in me pucket) and its 8/16 (kill) with lotsa action pre flop and 5 players seein the floppage. I'm not gonna slow play this. The pot is already big and I realize anyone with a big heart is gonna see the entire board. Lotsa bettin and raisin and its down to 2 of us at the riv. Turn and riv were blanks w/no hearts. I lose to a flopped ACE hi flush, nh gg, m'fer. HUGE pot. 2 more hrs to work my way outa this new hole. This is what we refer to as a CoLd DeCk boys and grrrrs!

I was successful changing the game to a kill and after starting at 7PM Thursday night I booked a +190 win and limped to the big Chrysler 12:15pm on Friday afternoon. 3-0 (WINS) since I broke my 13-0 win streak last week. Check out my hourly rate on this trip. $11.17 per hour. Even though I had a delicious Prime Rib dip, Mushroom Swiss Burger and choc. cheesecake fully comped, $11 an hour is not going to work. This week I will be focused and the cards will cooperate (ya sure).

I really like the Drift, great food, nice people, good comps on chow.

I will have some hand quizes in the next day or two. Stay tuned.

Weak/Passives and a little Fan Mail

Tonight! 9PM EST Absolute Poker $5 buyin with your host Shark "cleaner" Bornsupreme. $20 launch on Bornholio and $100 added! Click here to go to Absolute Special this week for new depositors at Absolute, Titan, PokerTime or Poker.com info here clik Password is shark5

Pounded away at the computer most of yesterday (Shark emails, forum posts) and was able to clear all the Stacks banners off our 5 sites. Stacks went under 3 weeks ago without even giving affiliates/reps the courtesy of an email or phone call. The Shark Tour was the #1 affiliate in the world for Stacks (#1 idiot for working with them also) with almost 1000 players registered. They had promised $1000 freerolls (2)and massive swag (polo shirts) for our depositing players.

I don't fault people for failing in business. It's happened to me and millions of others. However, I have no respect for Stacks or their affiliate rep Kevin Jennings. It would have taken 1 hour to notify all affiliates what was going on 3 weeks ago. Instead they lock the doors and sneak off with their tails between their legs. Losers.

Sorry to all Shark members that anxiously awaited the new site that I was so excited about. I'll try to find another one that actually has the backing to make it happen. Someone took a huge bath on the shitty, Stacks Poker. I like that part.

My back was about to lock up about 4PM yesterday so I headed out for some 1/2 price mussels and blackened ahi tuna, oh boy. Ivars at the Mukilteo Ferry landing has great cheap appetizers and killer full sail pale ale and Knob Creek whiskey. YES. Happy hours twice a day 3-6 and 9-close. I can eat about 6 orders of mussels a week. A lite red curry broth is the nuts fer dippin'.

Then its off to Tulalip for sum POKER. I had hopes of making this a short session since I have been averaging about 15 hours the last 5 sessions or so. Got seated about 5PM in an extremely weak/passive 4/8 game which is my personal favorite. No pre flop raisin', scared bettors and very little raisin post flop or even guys raisin with draws. Oh boy.

I start out hot and looked for a spot to do my favorite early "image" trick. I won 3 hands after aggressive betting led to folds at the turn and the river with no showdown. You can always see the look they give ya when this happens. DID YOU HAVE IT? I don't show or tell so they can give me the puppy dog look all they want.

Heres my fav trick. After a few strong wins with no showdown, pre raise with crap. Bet aggressively and if you feel you can take the hand down without a showdown do it(if this spot doesnt feel good after the turn, do it a hand or two later). Then you show the 2 6 off or 9 2o that completely missed everything. This is fun. Some guys will tILT (fun/good) some will chase you to riv with nuttin for the next 2 hours (vn) and others will call your pre flop raises everytime then fold when you bet the flop (nh,gg).

The set-up for my image trick was perfect tonight and I posted a sweet +290 win in 4.25 hours. You can do this trick at anytime during a session but it works best if you have just recently sat down and win 2-4 hands without showing your hand.

Headed home early to surprise my lil bride and she even offered an adult beverage and snugglin. ya baybeee (yes baby).

Today i'm heading to Muckelshoot Casino in Auburn. Its a crap drive (1 hour) but they spread higher games so i'll have a report in a day or 2.


Shark Fan Mail Received 3/16:

In regards to my request of depositors for this weeks events:

Shark,

I bet you do need more depositors..Thats Funny and I hope your sight crumbles because of the lack of money...Your sight does nothing but take unknowingly persons money...
Your sight sets the hands up and determines who wins and the odds of the person winning and its as simple as, IF A PERSON DOESNT DEPO THEY DONT WIN and even a depositor these sights will take their money... There is no LUCK to any of this FUCK SHIT and there damn sure isnt any skill involved...Sure Ill come to your sight and I will campaign to everyone in that sight to STOP DEPOSITING MONEY.....WHAT WILL ALL OF YOU DO THEN??? YEA RIGHT???SINK..
GOODBY AND FUCK YOU AND ALL THESE SIGHTS

ATTACHMENT: My Last fukkin Shark Freeroll Video Here:



Shark responds:

Dear Shark Member;

Man, I about fell off my chair. This is too funny.

You sound like you have lost a lil cashish? I'm not going to even start explaining all the errors in your thinking, grammar and spelling.

Many skilled players make a very good living off Poker. You don't have the temperment for it. Go back to video games. Oh ya, OPT OUT
of our Membership at the bottom of the email. You sound like you may have changed your mind regarding playing in our FREE Tourneys? ha!

Cheers, Sharkmasta

Note: I obviously added the video clip but the letter is a real member.

24 Hour Live Session, Blues and Din Din!

Arrived at the Tulalip Poker room and got into a good 4/8 game about 6PM Friday night. Me and another guy succeeded in turning it into a KILL game since again the choices were 4/8 or 40/80 with a kill if you like a limit game. Hows that for a spread? No 3/6 or 10/20, just 4/8 or 40/80. The 100 buyin (200 max) or 300 buyin (500 max) No Limit continue to be the most popular games. Even the old farts are starting to jump into the hi variance donk filled no limit arena.

I just can't get excited about live no limit. Maybe i'm goofy but playin less hands per hour then I do in limit (about 25% less I figure) doesnt sound like much fun. Also, I have noticed many of the no limit guys are pretty rough around the edges. Its hard to explain but some look very dirty and are really loud and obnoxious. I also see some asking the older successful players for "loans".

I think many have what I call "poker crack". They get stuck and play until its all gone. "All" to me means they use the car payment money and the kids food money to play. I just don't wanna hang with these guys for 15 hours or more.

I was playing with a guy last week that bragged about his HUGE rush where he won $1600 in one day. The brag turned into a sad story when he admitted that his truck payment was 3 months behind and so was the rent. I see him often and he just can't leave with a win. He gets up $500 all the time but its never enough. I would never feel bad taking these guys to the felt, however. If I didnt do it someone else would and I didnt invite them to sit at my game.

You get some of these poker crack guys in limit but many more in No Limit in my Casino. I can't wait till I actually have a selection of Casinos to play next June (move to Vegas).

If I don't like the quality of people i'm hangin with all day I can go to the next room. Grumpy floor mgr or bad dealers? See ya! Bad selection of games spread? Buh bye....

I hear the Poker room boom is still in full force in Vegas. The Venetian is building their room now. The MGM and Wynn rooms are rockin I hear. Ceasars Palace 40 min. blind structure tourneys are doing very well. Can't wait to play those in May when we have our Shark Convention.

At least the Poker crack guys have a better chance of winning than the millions of people that feed slot machines all day.

Slot drones amaze me. I will never understand why people feed these -EV machines. I understand the play for an hour or three for some fun but so many are hooked and just can't stop feeding the bandits until they are broke. And do they ever stop smoking? Do they light the new one before the old one goes out? Our state just banned smoking in all public places. Of course the indian tribes are exempt so now all the smokers have a place to hang and smoke. Business is very good in slotland in Marysville, Washington. The Poker room is non smoking and enclosed or I wouldn't be able to play here.

Back to the 4/8 kill game. I started out strong and never had to rebuy which is unusual. Hovering around a 300 to 500 profit all night I was never able to get a sustained rush or even a good run of cards. The usual AA cracked by 10 2 off or miracle back door flushes were the usual suspects. Had a lil fun with this hand about 20 hours into the 24 hr session.

I have 10 10 blk in mid position. Flop comes 10 10 (red, ha!) 8. I'm thinking how the hell do I get action here after my pre flop raise. Poor bastard in seat 7 has 2 EIGHTS! ha!

We bet a whole bunch (he was slow playin at first, I usually just bet out and did).

And he raised me on river. ooops. Shark wins.

Recruited 2 new players for our Shark team. Martin a software guy from Seattle and John a yung longshoreman from Seattle. Both showed strong skills and Martin uses Pokertracker and showed impressive skills in a few hands we played against each other. Next time you tell me I have 2 nines Martin, lay it down. ha!

My lil Raisin showed up with 3 hours left in my session and got seated at another 4/8 table. She has been on a tough run and needed a WIN badly. She got it posting a 120 WIN and a $60 bonus for her first live Royal flushie.

Final tally when she said I needed sum sleep and a bath.

Shark 24 hrs, +350 net after all food and several Maker Marks whiskeys (rocks). They don't have my fav (knob creek or bookers). Tough hourly rate but a WIN. Mrs Sharkee was +180 for 3 hrs. and enjoyed rubbin that in. I just look at the bottom line and +520 plus gettin me outa the house is a good day. $500 is our Costco bill for the next 2 months so thats where we will be this week.

Honeybunny......do we really need 400 bars of ivory soap? Can the girls buy their own tampons? I feel weird needing one cart just for feminine hygiene. Why do the ladies that make all the free samples at Costco look so fuckin scary? I'd love a free wiener wrapped in pastry but I want someone semi attractive handing it to me. If you look like Tammy Faye Baker in a hairnet work at Value Village or Toys r Us, please.

Earlier in the week I played for 12 hours and took a small loss. I don't remember much (still groggy from the 24 hr session), except I broke a string of 13 consecutive wins live. -70 was the end of an all nighter where donkey boys and grrrs hit big and won. Good for them. More reason to come back and try to do it again.

So last night starts a new string. I don't think this 13 session string is that impressive. To be honest many of the 4/8 players are newbies or unskilled. If I struggle early I can be patient and eventually beat the game easily at some point in a long session. The -70 loss session only ended because it was 6am and no one would play me shorthanded.

WINS will become more important when I start playing 10/20 to 20/40 and up. Right now a win pays a few bills and gets me closer to the limits I should already be playing (if I had a day job).

I have a new goal of being in the 40/80 game by summer. It will be tough but I like tough goals and that game looks soft to me. I'm watching it closely and the players sumtymes eyeball me when i'm eye ballin them. I'll have a good feel for the game when I am bankrolled for it. They have started asking me questions about online play and that allows me to watch them while we chat.

Its a friendly game and I think the few pros in it are cleaning up. More research to do while I save and improve though. I'm also going to quiz my online friend "Seattle Jon" (great blog) he plays those limits and lives in Seattle. He may have some ideas and tips for that game. I wouldn't be surprised if he has picked up a few racks from that game. I'll email him and get a report.

My friend Netsurfer John fixed our Forum today with the help of my pals Chip Trix and Beer Man Mike from checkrayz.co. Thx kids!!

Soon I will be joining my friend Shark Member and guitar playin' madman Charles Wheal for a night of blues/harmonica, dancin' and booze. Check out his band on Tour if you get a chance. You might see him sportin the Shark tee. Great band here. They are on a west coast run right now. Check out the calendar. I will be seeing Charles and Band in late March in either Anacortes or Seattle. Let me know if anyone wants to meet up and maybe I can score extra tickets from Charles. Either way i'll buy sum adult beverages fer sure. How bout you Stewie in Portland? Anyone else?

Heres a great review of the Mark Hummel Band which mentions Charles strong vocals.

Our newest Shark member is Comedian Steve Eblin. He's a strong supporter of our military and has performed all over the world entertaining our troops. Follow his web site and maybe you can catch him on the road sumtyme. It appears hes on a long Cruise ship tour right now. Check out the cool photos of his travels. The 6 hours of internet time for freerolls are spendy on cruise ships I bet....

Raisin and I have never been on a cruise ship. Maybe we can get a deal thru Stevo. Poker cruises are huge right now. I'm guessin the donk factor is huge on a big boat. Cha ching...

Sharkees invade Lost Wages May 23rd! More info here... click ya ATM All Members are encouraged to JOIN yer Hero (me)and Mrs Shark for sum fun in da sun. I will be hosting all to a fine dinner (International House of Pancakes) and a FREE Vegas show (Mirage Volcano Show). World class Sleight of Hand Pro Doug "Connjure" will be there (we will get sum free shows) and also Shark Personal Bouncer and Limo Driver Matt "Bornsupreme".

My favorite thing about Vegas is the food. This is my planned itinery for this trip. If we torture sum tourists at the Poker tables early in the week we will stop at these five eateries.

Circa or Olives, Bellagio. Window seat at night with Bellagio Fountains blasting

Seafood Buffet, Rio (I never miss this stop). Monster Buffet, King Crab, Lobster enchiladas...

Delmonico, Venetian. Most Vegas locals say this is the best steak house.
Bone in Ribeye please

Wynn Buffet, Lamb t-bone

Nobu, Sashimi @ the Hard Rock (trip to pool to see newest swim attire also)

I'm gettin hungry....Post in the forum if you can go to Vegas or have any questions!!

What Are You Doing To Improve Your Game?

Heres what I suggest:

1) State specific questions in our Shark Forum Strategy area. Help us out and register to become part of our great Forum group.

What game are you working on? Limit ring, Sit n gos, tourneys, No limit ring?

2) I think the best game to learn first is limit ring holdem. Here's how I suggest new players start.

A. Read Lee Jones "low limit holdem"

B. Set up neteller and start playing .10/.20 or ,05/.10 (play chips are bad for your game)

C. Subscribe to Cardrunners.com In referral box clik Shark Poker. Study the videos there. You will learn sit n gos, ring, tourneys,low limit, hi limit, all the games. This is the most fun you will have learning the game.

D. Read Ed Millers "Small Stakes Holdem"

E. Continue asking questions in our Forum.

F. Move up in levels as you start to crush the players that are not reading and learning the game. Most never take the time to read or learn strategy. You should be up to $1/2 in about a month. Then move up as you have 300-400 BB (big bets) in your BR (bankroll). So to play 2/4 you should have at least $1200.

G. Add more tables for add'l. profit as you move up. If you are playing 3 tables of 1/2 go with the 400 BB rule since you will have down weeks (variance) even if you are better then your opponents.

H. Read more books. My favs are posted here down the right side of this column.

I. Subscribe to Real Poker Training. Continue to use profits from your play to learn different styles and ideas. Watch pro Tourney player Todd Arnold play and describe the action.

J. Get a Personal Coach. There are many good ones out there. Email me for suggestions.

K. This kinda looks like i'm shooting my own foot but don't play too many freerolls. Its not the best thing for your game. Sure, ours are better then most but the money is in ring. I play 6 man (or less) ring limit. I play many more hands then tourney players and 4 tables are no problem. Thats 400-500 hands per hour of which I play about 100 hands each hr. Thats a ton of experience each hr. In a 6 hour tourney I will play about 45 hands. Tourneys are not a good way to gain experience. They also are much higher variance for your BR when you start playing tourneys with buyins.

A new 1 tabling, 6 man ring player will play more hands in 75 minutes then they would play in the 6 hour tourney. Who is going to improve faster? Who is going to get in more tough situations?

When I suggest the above to my friends they often say "hey, I don't want to spend a bunch of money!" "Why do that when I can play for FREE!" Yes, there are a ton of freerolls and play chips available.

You will not become a great player playing freerolls and play chips. Play free long enough and you may never become a good player. It's not real poker until you (and your opponents) cash is in the middle. Thats when you start becoming a player.

After a month or 3 purchase Pokertracker software. Do this before too many bad habits have set in. You can dissect your game and fix leaks with PT. Get it here. Free to try (1000 hands) but don't mess around. Spend $55 and get the full version. We discuss PT often here. Check out some of the old articles and ask questions as they come up.

Great Strategy Thread going on in our Forum here "Tournament Strategy: Play to win or fold for $?"

Online Coach Todd Arnold Interview Part 1

Todd Part 2

#1 Online Tourney Player in World JohnnyBax Interview

The Circuit Podcasts. Interviews with many top pros

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Big Freeroll Weekend Upcoming!

3 Freerolls, $300 added PLUS 7 Satellite Seats are up for grabs! Here is the Calendar Go Here Shark Tour or here Online Shark Satellite Tour for PASSWORDS

We have 25 Events scheduled this month including Omaha 8/b on 3/26, Ladies Only Nite 3/29, and our road game every Thursday at Absolute Poker 9PM EST.

More Freerolls here at our partner Mike "The Beer Man" site Checkrayz Calendar

Register for Checkrayz Events here

Support your Tour and enter a low buyin event this weekend also.

What are you doing to improve your game? Do you have a plan? Post in our Forum for help and ideas.

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Played live last week. 2 Long sessions 14 hours and 16 hours. Mostly 4/8 with a KILL at Tulalip. +540 or 2.25 BB per hour. All food, drinks, tips are included so +540 is net profit. Unable to get a 10/20 game going but had fun watching the 40/80 game next to us. Hopefully I will be able to step up and play that game by summer. The game looks good. Pretty loose aggressive with plenty of river chasers it appeared.

My second long session appeared to be "i'm a young asian feller with lots of money and no skilz nite". I saw at least 5 go broke after several rebuys. They all seemed to be Gus Hansen clones. See every flop then try to bet hard and steal the pot.

Steal the pot in 4/8? hahahhawoothaha. I waited patiently then pummeled them with my better kickers and made hands. Watch for this player. Usually they bet all draws hard so don't always fold your 2nd (or 3rd) pair. Ace high can beat these action junkies. In a big pot be very careful folding to these guys.

If they catch their draw (even a blind squirrel gets a nut sumtymes)don't worry. They will be in the next ten pots dispersing their chippies.