Online Poker Tournament Rankings

 

I recently was thinking to myself "I wonder if the 1st tournament I sit down and play shows any better or worse results?" I thought I might play tighter, possibly more distracted due to getting things setup, as well as being busy checking emails and working on other work. However, I also thought my mind is fresh and less prone to tilting. So I decided to give it more looking into. Since I actually have a daily running tally on every game I play, I basically went back to last January 2008 and copied my data onto another spreadsheet and deleted out every game except for the 1st sit in go I played each day. Here were my results:

Each SNG not being my 1st game: $10 per hour, per game

Each SNG as my 1st of the day: $7.60 per hour,  per game

It actually is much worse as I separated out the standard sng's from the "double-up" sng's. at $1.60 per hour, per game

(I figure the reason for this might just be because the double ups have no end game and are a bit less complicated to play.)

I will say the data used reflecting 1st sng's is 314 games taking 168 hours of play, which might seem like alot of data, but is still susceptable to random variance swings. I do believe when using common sense, it seems to make sense. In anything we do the 1st time, we are probably not at our best. As any sporting event you have ever been to might show, they all warm up prior to the big game. Why would it be any different for poker?

So how will this information guide my future play? I would probably like to delve deeper into the data and see if I am just playing too cautious or busting out earlier more often. This information, again, is based on how I play, and might not be as useful for somebody else who might be able to sit down with good energy and give 100% of their attention to every game. In my personal case, if I am playing winning sng's, I will keep playing into the night until I lose one or two. So if you look at the last 1 or 2 sng's I play each day it will probably show pretty bad results even though I am playing quite well.

My recommendation for other players out there: In my particular case I am still somewhat profitable my 1st game, however, most players with less experience and skill are probably fighting to keep their heads above water as it is, and starting off the day on a downswing is probably much more damaging and could cause an earlier bout of tilting. I would recommend trying to play smaller than your normal average buyin and if things work out well, than you can move up to a higher level of play feeling confident in your game, and if things do start off poorly you have already minimized your losses and can continue to play small until things work out better. This would be a much better strategy than what I typically hear when I talk with amateur players who get tilted and lose and then try and play bigger to make their money back, which leads to an inevitable crash to their bankrolls.

Lately I've been getting a lot of  questions on where to find a good book devoted strictly to sit'n'go's? Most of the poker books out there have maybe one chapter or a few pages devoted to these tournaments (Typically 6 or 10 player tournaments which pay 2-3 players based on finish.) In general, they will all basically tell you to play tight early and more aggressive late, with a few examples. In most cases I think it's ok advice for smaller buyins $1-30 buyins, but there are so many variables that can make or break you, it would be a good idea to study a little deeper. Check out "Sit 'in Go Strategy", by Collin Moshman.



It was first printed in 2007, so I'm sure at the higher limits, there are some strategies that might be debated, however, the book runs through a number of tough scenarios and specific ways to look at and play a hand based on strictly sit 'n go style tournaments. If you have read any of Dan Harrington's books, it is from the same publisher (2+2 publishing) and it has a very similar style of teaching. It runs for $24.95, which in my mind is probably the cost of what most people to play 1 single sit'n go, and you will probably make that money back hand over fist if you can retain some of it or plug a few leaks.   

I tried to find an applicable quote from the David Apostolico's book based off Sun-Tzu war strategies "Tournament Poker and the Art of War": "We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the country - its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and percipices, its marshes and swamps."

Good luck at the tables. Please keep the feedback coming (email, comments, and questions). Donkeyherder- http://donkeyherder.livejournal.com

Congrats out to Peter Eastgate, the newest, and youngest ever WSOP Main Event Champion!! He broke Phil Hellmuth's (self-proclaimed unbeatable) record being only 22 years old and won over $9 million along with the bracelet and probably numerous sponsorship deals to come. I just finished watching the final table show tonight and it was a very exciting final table. Plenty of suckouts and suprises. In the end, it seemed like the 2 most introspective players seemed to rise above the rest. Ivan Demidov and Peter Eastgate were left to battle it out after fan favorite and chip leader coming in Dennis Phillips, who previously seemed to play pretty solid and straight forward, was KO'd 3rd making a huge bluff with only Ace hi after a jack hi junk flop. 

After seeing the show 1 time I haven't fully been able to collect my thoughts on the plays shown, however, it was clear that ESPN was determined only to show the biggest most exciting pots, so I had a hard time figuring out were everyone stood, what the blinds were, etc. In the end I really did like the final table being filmed at a later date in a theatre that was filled with the fans of each player and numerous big name pros looking on. It gave you a feeling like you were watching 9 different teams fighting it out, each with there own cheering section. It seemed more exciting than the random collection of fans who don't have much of a personal interest in the competitors and are just there for the spectacle or it all. 

On the bad side, when it got to heads-up, which sould be the most exciting point of the tourney, apparently ESPN cut 103 out of the 105 hands played and on TV it plays out in only 2 big hands. the final of which both players make big hands and are pretty much committed to get all the chips all-in. I didn't know this after watching it, and figured they must have just happened that way, but after looking into it online, I am now dissapointed to know they just cut out all the heads-up hands I guess due to time constraints. I really felt a bit ripped off after learning this. I feel like they could have at least showed 10-15 hands to show a little back and forth warfare. I do know they claim this was the longest final table ever, but if I was them add an extra half an hour or cut out something less critical. I also wish Peter Eastgate would show the least bit excitement about winning. He reminds me of a you Barry Greenstein. Can you say Parrrrrtttyyy!!! Maybe not. lol. At least I feel he won't do anything too stupid to bring a bad rep to poker, but he is only 22, so I guess you never know?

Overall, I like the direction the WSOP went this year. Ratings are up and many exciting events took place. Here is a link to "Cardplayer's" final table time-line of how it played out.

http://www.cardplayer.com/tournaments/live_updates/14422/20824 
I'd like to get some feedback on what others think. Did you like the delayed Final table?, the way it was aired?, was it interesting and exciting? What changes would you like to see?
Here's this weeks dose of Chinese war master "Sun-Tzu" : "If he is taking ease, give no rest. If his forces are united, separate them."

Better luck next year for the rest of us common folk. Donkeyherder.

If you'd like to contact me feel free at my website: http://donkeyherder.livejournal.com

 

If you are interested in how much (or against) your representaive is on "Poker Rights", the PPA has each representative rated by state. Please click the PPA Congressional Ratings link on my blog: http://donkeyherder.livejournal.com/2008/11/02/

I routinely hear the same questions when I talk to friends and family about my online poker career.
Is playing poker online legal? Answer: Yes, in most states and countries it is legal to play, however recent U.S. legislation has put pressure on banks to not process illegal gambling transactions, which is very difficult to discern. You can usually find a variety of options to deposit funds and withdrawl. I've been playing online for 5 years and the longest it took to get my money on was a few days and the longest it took to get off was a few weeks by standard check. Typically you can deposit same-day and cashout in 1-3 weeks.

How do you know the site or the other players aren't cheating? Answer: The same would just as well apply in a live casino except online every hand and detail is databased and can be analyzed and if there is some funny business the perps can't just grab the money and run like in a casino. I'm not gonna say it doesn't happen, but the online sites make boat loads of money just running a straight game and the entire industry's success is based upon this trust. Typically the extent on cheating is a couple people who  are playing on the same table and know each other's cards, which can be an advantage, but if exploited on a regular basis would be easy to figure out after a while.  Most of the controversy spurs from a recent situation at Ultimatebet and Absolute Poker (Which are now the same company) in which a top level employee was able to exploit a software weakness and access the hole cards of the other players. This player eventually was caught after getting reported by other observant players and showing an excessive profit margin playing in high limit games. The website got most of the blame for trying to keep the incident quite, but eventually apoligized and like most sites offered to reimburse all affected players. 

All in all, the threat is currently small especially at the lower limits where it would not be a worthwhile venture. There are also thousand of very observant players in the poker community who keep an eye out and report any unsual incidents. In my best estimate I would guess 95% of the time everybody is playing straight which is probably better than the games in the casino or at home.

I've been looking forward to doing a post reviewing the different online poker sites.  Many of the top players play on many different sites in order to take advantage of what each poker site has to offer. Some site have worse players, better bonuses, better rakeback, unique tournaments, special promotions, etc. Not to mention just having a larger selection of tables/games to find what is most fun or profitable for you.  I personally play on 5 of the largest "U.S. friendly" sites: Pokerstars, FullTilt Poker, UltimateBet, Absolute Poker, and Cake Poker. If you are interested in checking them out I have sign-up bonus links on the left side of my blog. I used to play on Party Poker (Until they kicked the U.S. players to the curb. I look forward to getting feedback on Bodog and Doyle's Room, which I have been interested in joining, however, neither at this time offer any kind of rakeback program, which is very important to me. So here's my personal rundown on these sites:

Pokerstars -
Volume - By far the largest poker site in the world!! Volume ranges from 50,000-almost 200,000 players playing!! This makes the variety of games and limits very easy to fill.
Tournaments - Again very numerous at all limits. From freerolls to regular $Million guaranteed tournaments.
Sit in Go's - From $1 - $2,000 and they are all full even up to $1,000, HU, 6man, and 9mans, Turbos, etc.
Cash Games - From 2cent/4cent up to $1000/2000 - They all fill well - Typically 20,000+ cash game players
Customer Service/Software - Very good, usually quick customer service. Software rarely has issues
Bonuses - They usually match $50-100 at 100% for 1st deposits 
Rakeback/Player Rewards - They have a player VIP rewards system and SNG leaderboard rewards.
Promotions - Very big multi-table tournament promotions (Including WSOP, WPT, EPT,etc.) and a ton of different satelites. They also showcase a number of Pro players sponsored to play on their site.

Overall - I'd give them a Donkeyherding 8.5/10. I think it's almost a must to have an account on Pokerstars with so many options available at any time. You can always get a game and great support. My only concerns are that you can get better Deposit/Reload bonuses and easier competition elsewhere and they currently don't offer rakeback. They do on occasion have overlay (Free money added) on some tournaments and is a good site for me if I want to play during non-peak hours 

Full Tilt Poker -
Volume - The 2nd largest poker site in the world. Volume ranges from 30,000-almost 80,000 players playing! Not quite as large as Pokerstars but still very big. This also makes the variety of games and limits very easy to fill.
Tournaments - Very numerous at all limits. From freerolls to some $Million guaranteed tournaments.
Sit in Go's - From $1 - $2,000 and they are all full even up to $1,000, HU, 6man, and 9mans, Turbos, etc.
Cash Games - From 25cents/50cent to $2000/4000, Typically they have about 10,000 cash game players going at it, so it is pretty easy to get any size game to fill
Customer Service - Very good, usually quick customer service
Bonuses - 100% $600 max 1st deposit bonus (Which plays off reasonbly quickly)
Rakeback/Player Rewards - You can get rakeback if a new account. Also, leaderboard rewards
Promotions - Fulltilt seems to be a little more creative in trying out new tournaments and structures. They recently introduced a "Matrix" tournament in which you play 4 SNG's at the same time against the same players and you are payed based on finish as well as an overall performance placement score. I like it, very interesting, but can be tough on your eyeballs if you're not used to playing 4 at a time!! 

Overall - I'll give them a 9/10. I really like FullTilt Poker. It is a great site all-around. Plenty of volume, promotions, variety, and good customer service. A nice deposit bonus and you can get rakeback. They usually have good customer service. My only beef might be lack of reload bonuses, a bit tougher competition, and occasionally I get disconnected from only their site, but I'm not sure if that is just me?

Ultimatebet -
Volume - Ranks probably 4th largest "U.S. friendly" poker site in the world. Volume ranges from 10,000-20,000 players. A bit of a step down from Pokerstars and Fulltilt in size, but depending on the limits you play still quite active. Over the next year they expect to merge traffic with similarly sized Absolute Poker which will make them the 3rd largest U.S. accepted site.
Tournaments - During the morning and mid-day you can find lo-mid stake tournament, while large buy-in tourneys will run during hi traffic times and on weekends. They run a 200K tourney weekly and an annual large tournament event series called UBOC, I think twice a year. You can also come across occasional overlay (free money added) tournaments especially in some satelites.
Sit in Go's - From $0.20 - $1,000, however, typically they fill well up to $100 buy-ins
Cash Games - From 1cent/2cent to $300/600, Typically they have about 1,300 cash game players. I would say 10/20 15/30 is the highest limit that fills reasonably well unless heads up.
Customer Service - I will definately say customer service is not their strong suit. Maybe with their merger with Absolute might improve. Don't get me wrong, they will respond to your needs, however, not necessarily within 24hrs. They many times run satelites which if you win more than once are credited with tournament dollars and occasionally it is not automatically creditted to your account and I had to send a number of emails to make sure it got fixed.
Bonuses - up to 111% $1500 max 1st deposit bonus!! (Luckily with no deadline to play it off. If you're a cash game player it will be earned quicker, I mostly play tourneys so for me it takes much longer) Reload bonuses are also available
Rakeback/Player Rewards - You can get rakeback if a new account, however, only for cash game play not until after any bonus payouts. I believe they also have leaderboard rewards.
Promotions - Even though UB is not as big a FT and PS, they do run a number of satelites for bigger events including WPT and WSOP. Phil Helmuth and Annie Duke are also popular site backers. I have been part of a couple of their live events in which they put on a nice party.
Overall - I'll give them a 7.5/10. Currently, most of the time I like UB. It is a solid site all-around. Good volume during peak times, fun promotions, reliable software and variety. A nice deposit bonus and you can get rakeback. I actually like the fact I can play a $50 multi with around 100-300 players vs 1000+ like some of the bigger sites. They caught alot of crap over the earlier cheating scandal and I have the impression they are trying to go out of their way gain trust. If their customer service improves with the merge I will probably re-rate them between 8.0-8.5.

Absolute Poker -
Volume - Ranks probably 5th largest "U.S. friendly" poker site in the world. Volume ranges from 10,000-20,000 players. A bit of a step down from Pokerstars and Fulltilt in size, but depending on the limits you play still quite active.
Tournaments - They run weekly 100K and 150K tourneys alnog with some satelites to some bigger live tournaments. Typically mostly small to medium tourneys during non-peak times and larger tounreys during peak times and weekends.
Sit in Go's - From $0.50 - $1,000, however, typically they fill well up to $100 and occasional $200 and $300 6 handers fill ok.
Cash Games - From 2cent/4cent to $300/600, Typically they have about 1,500 cash game players. I would say 15/30 sometimes 30/60, is the highest limit that fills reasonably well unless heads up.
Customer Service - Their email is no better than UB's, however, they do offer a live telephone # available, which has been helpful in the past. Rarely do they have any software glitches, and I don't have the additional entry tournament dollar problem here because they don't currently let you play a satelite if you already have won an entry.
Bonuses - up to 100% $600 max 1st deposit bonus!! Very nice reload bonuses are also available up to 100%!!
Rakeback/Player Rewards - You can get rakeback if a new account and it apllies to all games/tourneys and bonuses are not subtracted. I also believe they also have leaderboard rewards.
Promotions - This site is currently a lo frills UB with better support, they do run a number of satelites for bigger events including WPT and WSOP. Currently poker pro Mark Seif is their front man. 
Overall - I'll give them a 8.0/10. Within the next year UB is expected to merge traffic with Absolute Poker (Their sister site) which is almost the same size and will propel them to being the 3rd largest U.S. accepted site, which will hopefully make them even better. Currently most of the time I like AP. It is a solid site all-around. Good volume during peak times, reliable software and variety. A nice deposit and reload bonuses, and you can get full rakeback. I actually like the fact I can play a $50 multi with around 100-300 players vs 1000+ like some of the bigger sites. They caught alot of crap over the earlier cheating scandal and I have the impression they are trying to go out of their way gain trust. Once their traffic improves with the merge and hopefully they can be a little more aggressive with promotions and new games, I will probably re-rate them 8.5+.

Cake Poker -
Volume - Ranks probably 6th largest "U.S. friendly" poker site in the world. Volume ranges from 3,000-10,000 players. Suprisingly even some higher limit games fill quite well, especially during peak hours.  You can almost always find low to medium limit games running.  
Tournaments - You can find plenty of $1-30 multi's. Besides the weekly guaranteed multi's, most are around 100-300 players and below $50. They do have satelites to WPT and WSOP events and many of the players can play pretty bad.
Sit in Go's - From $0.50 - $1,000, however, typically they fill well up to $100 and occasional $200 and $300 6 handers fill ok.
Cash Games - From 2cent/4cent to $300/600, Typically they have about 1,500 cash game players. I would say 15/30 sometimes 30/60, is the highest limit that fills reasonably well unless heads up.
Customer Service - I usually get a reply within 24 hrs. from them, but no phone number is available
Bonuses - up to 100% $600 max 1st deposit bonus!! Very nice reload bonuses are also available up to 100%!!
Rakeback/Player Rewards - You can get 33% rakeback if a new account and it apllies to all games/tourneys.
Promotions - They run the typical WSOP and WPT satelites and run a couple larger $100-200 multis
Overall - I'll give them a 7.8/10. They're definately not the greatest site around yet, but they have probably the most fishy players vs. the others' I've mentioned so far, they also have the highest rakeback at 33%, and have good bonuses. They definately need more reliable software and better deposit methods (I had to transfer money in through another player) I grew my bankroll faster on this site than any other makes me overlook some of its downfalls and I can only assume it's gonna get bigger and better.

Party Poker - (No longer U.S. friendly)They used to be the #1 poker site around until they made the unpopular decision to dump all of their U.S. customers, which hurried over to Pokerstars, due to U.S. regulations. Very similar to Pokerstars in nature, however now about the size of Ultimatebet. Still they big tournaments and good support. At least that is until they decided to send me emails charging my account for the few dollars I had left due to  "inactivity"?! Can you believe the nerve? Needless to say I told them where to stick it and they closed my account. lol.

Bodog - Similar in size to Cake Poker, however, their traffic has been declining, while Cake's is growing. They also, currently don't offer rakeback, however, I hear there's alot of fish there and overlay in some tournaments. It might be somewhere I play in the future if I hear some good things and/or they start giving rakeback, but for now I've never played there so I won't offer my opinion.

Doyle's Room - Again, similar in size to Cake Poker, but no rakeback. I also don't personally know anyone who plays there so I have no opinion other than if the site grows or offers rakeback I will give it another look. Anyone else with feedback please let me know.

My other recomendation is to try not to split up your bankroll too thin by moving funds into a new site, while at the same time you want to take full advantage of the 1st deposit bonuses which typically offer 100% up to $500-600. Basically if you only have $1000 or less on 1 site, maybe try and save up $300-600 so you don't cripple your bankroll on another site in case of a bad run. I unfortunately have learned this the hard way. I was doing quite well on Pokerstars and decided to sign-up for UB and AP and it spread out my bankroll too thin taking me months to build each account back up to sufficient levels in order to play larger games. Also, try to break the new site in slowly at a lower limit than you're used to in case you get confused by the software and have time to get comfortable. Usually it takes me about 2-3 weeks to have a new site dialed in. Also remember you probably don't have any feedback on your new opponents, so best play small and slowly move up.

For more info or suggestions, please check me out at http://donkeyherder.livejournal.com Gl, Donkeyherder.