Well, I had been on a real tear there at Ultimatebet, but things started to slow down. I lost some hands where I was a pretty big favorite, misplayed some others, and ran into some tougher games. I was still ahead but well down from the peak, so I decided to change things up for a bit and go back to Bodog.
I hadn't played at Bodog in a while, but the last time I had the games were very good. They still are. In fact, the low buy-in NLHE games there may be even softer than the ones at Full Tilt, which is saying a lot. I've been playing the $10 max buy-in NLHE games, and my win rate so far is better than I'd expect if I was playing a level higher. It's only a few hours of play which doesn't mean much statistically, but the bottom line is that there are some really bad players there who are looking to gamble :) That's fairly common at sites associated with sportsbooks and casinos.
For example, at a game I was in today there was a player who had moved in a couple of times preflop in unraised pots but had gotten no callers. He had made some overbets after the flop, too, and I had laid down a couple of hands to him. Finally he got caught trying to steal a pot on the river. He had second pair with a bad kicker and the other player had top pair. That took him down to about $4 from almost $10 and he started to steam. He moved in preflop again a couple of times and no one called. He moved in a third time with A7o and was called by 99, but he hit an Ace to double up.
The next hand he made a minimum raise to $0.20 from early and I had KK. I had seen that he liked to come over the top of people, so instead of moving in myself I raised to $1.30. He took the bait and moved in with KJ. I busted him.
One lesson I have taken from playing with people like that is that patience is a real virtue at the poker table, especially in cash games. I made some fairly tough laydowns earlier when I did not know much about him, but once I got a better read on him I was able to bust him. Now I have him in my notes, and if I run into him later I won't have to figure out his game again. And if I never see him again, there are plenty of other bad players in my notes.
I've actually increased my stake by over fifty percent in about a week, including bonuses. One nice thing about Bodog is that they give a twenty percent bonus on all deposits, including reloads. You don't need any special codes, the bonus will show up automatically when you deposit. You have to earn three times the amount of bonus dollars in their poker points to clear it, and the deposit is available while you play. So, if you were to deposit $100 you'd get a $20 bonus, and you'd need to earn 60 points to be able to withdraw it. And again, that's every single time you make a deposit. Check their web site for more details on the bonus.
One thing I miss when I play there, though, is using Pokertracker. Bodog has graphical hand histories that do not work with it, but perhaps that's for the best. Pokertracker is great but I think it may be making me lazy, since I watch its data during play instead of learning to observe the game better. Also, if other decent players play elsewhere because Pokertracker doesn't work, that's fine, too :)
Now, I know this probably sounds like I'm shilling for them, and I actually am. I am an affiliate there, but I would not recommend the site unless I thought the games there were good.
If you don't have a Bodog account and would like to try it, I'd appreciate you using my link to sign up:
http://www.bodog.com/welcome/116594/poker/
It would be a big help in supporting this site.
Ted
Posted by Ted Williams at May 8, 2005 05:11 PM