Bitcointalk Poker Nights Discussion Thread (private games for btctalk members)

[Steamtyme]

Good luck with series 2 everyone. The structure just doesn't really allow me to take part... no biggie. I might try to come play the odd one but with my work schedule i am working every second weekend, so chasing a series final isn't really in the cards... not that 8 games helped last time 

I'll keep an eye out and will try to join Saturday next week. I have to laugh though as the kids began to assume all dad does is play poker... and badly at that.  After last month it's hard to disagree. "You can be right and still lose" is a concept lost on my 8 year old 

[figmentofmyass]

Good luck with series 2 everyone. The structure just doesn't really allow me to take part... no biggie. I might try to come play the odd one but with my work schedule i am working every second weekend, so chasing a series final isn't really in the cards... not that 8 games helped last time 

I'll keep an eye out and will try to join Saturday next week.

just take down 2 of the qualifiers. piece of cake.

By the way, who were playing in last night's Poker with Steve? I ran out of luck and ended at position 18th I think.

busted out in 20-somethingth place. also came a hair from taking the bounty on steve but he had me slightly out-stacked before the all-in. i'm reserving some run-good for the bitcointalk series, obviously.

see everyone tomorrow for the first game of the series!

[efialtis]

Just in case anyone would like to play some "free poker" tonight - Sportsbet are hosting their 40 mBTC freeroll once again:

POKER with STEVE Wednesday!

Prizes:  40 mbtc Prize pool
Game: No Limit Hold’em
Levels: 10 minutes

Date: Wednesday 13th May!!

Start time: 7pm GMT   (I'll look at an earlier start once or twice in the coming weeks)

Name: Bitcoin Talk Private Tournament

Starting stack: 10,000 points
First level blinds: 25/50

Password protected: stevepoker

no late registrations


Good Luck guys!

There will be a 10mbtc bounty on my head, as well as a10mbtc mystery bounty announced Thursday morning..

Steve!

[efialtis]

Hey there,

I thought I would let you guys know that I have sent a first donation in order to support the community. Special thanks to iv4n for donating some of his prize money right away.

I am not sure we will have a charity tournament going anytime soon, so if anyone would like to help the cause, he/she is of course welcome to do so anyway!

Hey guys,

I have just sent 0.01 BTC to 3Covid19s5zLNzQHGGLBeqkizwApUb19bj. TX: 8cb4a841c2b99d4cac59d60f1b8575e56ce8807241bb46abbbd2840d1ba5d5b6

iv4n, who won our first bitcointalk poker series, generously donated 5 mBTC of his prize money and I have added another 5 mBTC to double it up. I am confident we will raise some more and I will get in touch.

Anything helps, I guess! Keep up the great work!

[efialtis]

Wow, looks like I need to update OP... time goes by so fast!

I am posting here to check in and learn how you have liked the 3rd series so far? I hope you guys are enjoying it! Personally, I couldn't participate in the 2nd half of this series, mostly because I have been extremely busy with work and personal stuff. Would you be up for more poker or enough for now?

I am not 100% sure if/when we will have a 4th edition (communication still tough etc.), so even more important you give your best tonight to qualify for the Grand Finale! I am pretty sure we will play some games one way or another and maybe even continue our series (if there's interest), just not 100% sure for various reasons.

As a conclusion and the most important thing I wanted to say: It's really been a pleasure doing this with you guys all these months, great times at the tables when the world went crazy!

[Steamtyme]

Thanks for checking in buddy.

Honestly I can go either way. I love getting together and playing with my internet friends, whether it's  series or one off games. The series format has been nice so far, can't conclusively say about the third until the Championship plays out and we see how the lottery distributes. We are still slowly growing in core numbers which is awesome.

I'm fine if we have a lul in between the end of this one and the start of the next. I'm playing a ton of poker these last few months so not a big concern if I'm down one game a week for a bit.

I hope everything is going good both work and personal wise. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say I appreciate the effort and time you've put into this for us all.

[figmentofmyass]

I am posting here to check in and learn how you have liked the 3rd series so far? I hope you guys are enjoying it! Personally, I couldn't participate in the 2nd half of this series, mostly because I have been extremely busy with work and personal stuff. Would you be up for more poker or enough for now?

you know i'm always down!

I am not 100% sure if/when we will have a 4th edition (communication still tough etc.), so even more important you give your best tonight to qualify for the Grand Finale! I am pretty sure we will play some games one way or another and maybe even continue our series (if there's interest), just not 100% sure for various reasons.

As a conclusion and the most important thing I wanted to say: It's really been a pleasure doing this with you guys all these months, great times at the tables when the world went crazy!

same, i've had a great time in our games. if we don't get another series going/SwC doesn't wanna sponsor us again, i'm happy to get some casual games running. thanks for all your efforts, dude!

We are still slowly growing in core numbers which is awesome.

yeah, i was pleasantly surprised to see a few new faces lately!

[arallmuus]

Wow, looks like I need to update OP... time goes by so fast!

I am posting here to check in and learn how you have liked the 3rd series so far? I hope you guys are enjoying it! Personally, I couldn't participate in the 2nd half of this series, mostly because I have been extremely busy with work and personal stuff. Would you be up for more poker or enough for now?

Too bad though, the game just seems strange sometimes without you joining us . You are the one person that made this happened from the 1st series and yet you cant really join due to various stuff

I am not 100% sure if/when we will have a 4th edition (communication still tough etc.), so even more important you give your best tonight to qualify for the Grand Finale! I am pretty sure we will play some games one way or another and maybe even continue our series (if there's interest), just not 100% sure for various reasons.

Some casual games for a while before we go on the 4th series ( If there will be a 4th series ) would be nice though. Probably after they fix the 500 krills requirements to chat. I feel that it is kinda lame that we cant chat due to the 500 krills requirement. The game was fun with all the chats and some classic trashtalk in between but recently it is just all game without any fun to chat anymore though

As a conclusion and the most important thing I wanted to say: It's really been a pleasure doing this with you guys all these months, great times at the tables when the world went crazy!

You too ! I wish you could join us, it will be so much fun.

[Trofo]

We missed you efi, I get you are super busy working on your super cool page and all that but come and give us a visit here and there

I would like for our series to continue in current format or we can even put one tournament every 2 weeks. Most of us are short on time but I love playing with you guys and I will give my best to be part of it.

If we can't organize a series we have to organize a monthly tournament or something at least.

[Globb0]

Was this the right thread for discussing hands? Let me know if I need to move it.


I want to ask about when to cut on an open ended straight. 1 card to go and I haven't hit it yet. there are a few outs but do I cut here and stop wasting money?


Imaginary hand    10c  9c                Table: Jd 3h 8h    Next: 5s


By now each round is costing money


What do people think?

I mean on a deeper level. Should I even be playing for straights at all? or are they just extra possibilities I should keep as a plan B ? Obv unless it flops.


*edit* 98.1 Krill            */edit*

[figmentofmyass]

Was this the right thread for discussing hands? Let me know if I need to move it.

here's a better one for next time: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5214582.0

it's been dead for a couple weeks so i'm not surprised you didn't see it.

I want to ask about when to cut on an open ended straight. 1 card to go and I haven't hit it yet. there are a few outs but do I cut here and stop wasting money?

Imaginary hand    10c  9c                Table: Jd 3h 8h    Next: 5s

By now each round is costing money

What do people think?

I mean on a deeper level. Should I even be playing for straights at all? or are they just extra possibilities I should keep as a plan B ? Obv unless it flops.

this is a simplified take:

consider the overall odds of hitting your straight---when you flop an open-ended straight draw, the straight will complete something like 34% of the time by the river. after a blank turn, it's more like 17%.

in this situation, you also need to consider whether your opponent is on a heart flush draw. if he is playing the heart draw, your odds drop considerably, since a Qh or 7h could lose you the hand. that leaves you only 6 outs, making your odds to win after the flop about 26% and after the turn 13%. if you put him on the flush draw, pot control is very important.

determine the pot odds required to call. let's say it was a rainbow flop instead of 2 hearts, so your chances of hitting the nuts are around 34%. (it's actually slightly worse because of backdoor flush draw and paired board/full house possibilities but let's ignore that for now) that means if the winning pot will pay better than 2 to 1, you generally have proper odds to call. if you can see a cheap turn (either by checking or calling a small bet 1/3 pot size or less) then it makes sense to stay in the hand.  

a more advanced approach would incorporate fold equity---the chances you can make your opponent fold based on semi-bluffing your draw, rather than passively calling. betting your draws increases your overall equity because the villain may fold, but puts more money at risk if he has a hand.

and also implied odds---the money you'll win if you hit one of your outs. if you hit your straight, you can probably extract more money out of your opponent. that's additional equity not captured by a pure pot odds analysis.

*edit* 98.1 Krill            */edit*

nice!

[Steamtyme]

I mean on a deeper level. Should I even be playing for straights at all? or are they just extra possibilities I should keep as a plan B ? Obv unless it flops.
*edit* 98.1 Krill            */edit*

Just to add to the bang on explanation of odds from FOMA. My short answer to this is yes, yes, yes emphatically yes. That is for open-ended, especially if you flopped that way. These hands also open up a great opportunity to bluff the river if it's a brick; or say the heart flush were to come in on the river. It gets tricky but using the information you gather pre-flop and post flop you can decide whether you think your opponent was drawing to this or will fold believing you hit.
Missed draws make a great bluff, as you might call/bet in a similar fashion to having top/overpairs. Like everything it's not perfect, I've bluffed into the nut straight but that's not the norm once you get a good feel for how these spots play out.
Getting more specific on your example, your options for play will vary on position and pre-flop play. 3-bet pre? Position of opener? Normal betsize? How often do they C-bet?

Don't be surprised if people put you in a tough position on the turn with a larger betsizing.

Nice that krill is climbing good.

[efialtis]

4th Series announced - posting here, too, to make sure everybody gets the news: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5271735

Nb. Yeah, I still need to edit this thread's OP... 

[efialtis]

Time flies, doesn't it - 4th series' Finals (Grand & Runners-Up Finals) taking place next weekend. How does everybody feel about the series?

Personally, my motivation went down a bit recently but I would like to know what you guys think.

Of course best of luck to everyone fighting for the last spots for the upcoming Grand Finale tonight!

[Trofo]

Personally, my motivation went down a bit recently but I would like to know what you guys think.

I have grown to like our series and it would be hard for me to imagine Sunday evening without poker with you guys. I know I am not super serious player like most of our bunch has become but it is a way to hang out with some "cool" guys from the forum so....

I would like for our series to continue and grow over time. If not in players then at least in features, something like how Globb0 added his twitch stream for this one. I feel like it is worth to continue with the series as long as we have 2 full tables on average. If we get below 15 players then it would maybe be better to scrap it and organize a tournament here and there.

If you need help to run stuff or somebody else to communicate with SwC I can probably take some of the responsibilities and I am sure others are willing to help as well. I know GOSU page is taking a lot of your energy so maybe learn to delegate

[Globb0]

Efialtis,

On that still waiting to talk to you bro, I have some ideas in mind.

And now I am signed off sick for at least 2 months it is something I can take on.

And maybe more. Lets see what you thing when we can chat.

[iv4n]

Personally, my motivation went down a bit recently but I would like to know what you guys think.

I have grown to like our series and it would be hard for me to imagine Sunday evening without poker with you guys. I know I am not super serious player like most of our bunch has become but it is a way to hang out with some "cool" guys from the forum so....

I would like for our series to continue and grow over time. If not in players then at least in features, something like how Globb0 added his twitch stream for this one. I feel like it is worth to continue with the series as long as we have 2 full tables on average. If we get below 15 players then it would maybe be better to scrap it and organize a tournament here and there.

If you need help to run stuff or somebody else to communicate with SwC I can probably take some of the responsibilities and I am sure others are willing to help as well. I know GOSU page is taking a lot of your energy so maybe learn to delegate

I can't agree more! From word to word!
Efi man you started something amazing here! Anyone can check our first games and where are we now! From simple tournaments to series with big btc prizes, lottery, tickets for nice tournaments... with incredible comments and stats from some members (special honor to tyK!)!
Well I  hope we will play many more series! As Trofo said, it would be hard to imagine Sunday evenings without bitcointalk private tournament and all of you guys!

[Steamtyme]

I am still definitely down with trying to keep the series alive. I have already mentioned to tyk that I have no problem continuing to do the Spreedsheet, as I think they are still goin go to be occupied irl.

It would be nice to continue to grow, but that just comes with time. Personally I wouldn't be opposed to a 1 or 2 week cool down in between series. That's more personal but will still make every attempt to play that I can.

Reach out anytime you need anything.

[arallmuus]

Personally, my motivation went down a bit recently but I would like to know what you guys think.

Of course best of luck to everyone fighting for the last spots for the upcoming Grand Finale tonight!

You now got alot more on your plate especially now that you are handling btcgosu so I guess its understandable from your point of view that you might be having lower motivation but Im totally down for it if we have the 5th series

Personally I wouldn't be opposed to a 1 or 2 week cool down in between series. That's more personal but will still make every attempt to play that I can.

1 week cooling down period would be nice though


This might not be the right thread but If people are tired with the same format for 4 series so far, should we try something else like bounty KO tournament instead to hype it up? Probably it will be hard for efi to communicate with swc about this if they still want to sponsor us for the 5th series

[Globb0]

That will give some time to get things sorted and publicise things.

Efi is a bit busy at the moment but we will speak soon I hope.

Lets see what we can do. I want to make it as good as I can so I wont be going anywhere.



Im also thinking of running a bigger 1 off free roll or low stakes forum game, perhaps monthly?


I also had a mind about a few prizes but that is the type of tbc stuff.

Might depend if people are prepared to chip in for or donate prizes. (ths is in the bigger game I am talking we have our structure)

And of course potential partners or sponsorship for our games (aside obv of SWC who already do us well I would like us to maintain this relationship - pokerstars that I wanted to consider using isn't accessible from some players so not doing it I suppose *shame)


Together Everyone Achieves More

Lets do this