Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Letter from Doke 8th May 2013


Hi All

Doke here. Well it's been a hectic few weeks to say the least. First highlight was the European Nations Cup in Cyprus. The Irish team was myself, Big Mick G, Dermot Blaine, Eoghan O'Dea, Cat O'Neill and last minute substitute Rob Taylor (Cat's husband), with Parky acting as captain and substitute.

First of all, credit to Padraig Parkinson for assembling about as strong a team as he could for this event from those players who made themselves available for selection. Other national captains were not as successful apparently. When I saw the list of names on the French team, I was surprised that I didn't recognise a single name on the list, as I know pretty much all of the top French players. All became clear when Parky shared a bus from the airport with the French team, who informed him that the team was selected on the basis of a live satellite played in Deauville (so essentially they ended up with 6 random players who happened to be in Deauville at the time, entered the satellite, and ran well in it). Other national captains apparently just selected all their mates.

The format (duplicate poker) was a little unusual, and I will have a look at some of the implications of it later in the strategy section of the letter.

Right before kickoff, there were some very mixed views about our chances. Chatting to the Lithuanian captain who I'm friendly with since we shared a livestream commentary gig, he was somewhat dismissive of our chances, feeling that a team of predominantly mtt players could struggle in a format where the blinds never increased and everyone's stack was reset to 200 big blinds at the start of every hand. This was a popular view: that players with experience of deep stacked cash games were what you wanted (this turned out to be more or less completely wrong as it happened, but it was the widespread view. As it turned out, a much more important skill was the ability to pace yourself and know when and how to reduce or increase variance, something all top mtt players understand). The Dutch captain was even more dismissive of our chances when he spoke to Parky. But on the other hand, when we tried to get on a team bet with the UK, Neil Channing turned us down after due consideration, opining that we would be favourites not only to finish ahead of the Brits but in his view to win the whole tournament. Never underestimate the shrewdness of the Channing when it comes to these types of assessments: while we led the way and moved slowly and safely to victory, the Dutch and the Danes (who on paper had the strongest teams, and mostly adopted a hyper aggressive approach) punted their way up down and around the lower half of the field.

We were up with the leaders throughout and went into the fourth and final session with the narrowest of leads imaginable over France in second. As we got into the fourth session, I realised that my seat was the hot seat this time around. So no pressure other than the knowledge that if I got too many big decisions wrong it could cost the entire team (Jesse May told me later that Parky exclaimed "oh Christ that's Doke's seat" on the livestream when it became clear that 5 was the hot seat (by now as a team we were getting used to the idea that most seats were cold and there was generally one hot seat per session that got most of the cards and tricky decisions, so at every break you were keen to find out how your teammate in the hot seat had got on). Luckily I played as well as I felt I could (which I pretty much always do under pressure).

As soon as the session ended I immediately tweeted that my seat had been the hot seat in that last session and I just hoped I hadn't got the big decisions wrong and cost us (for obvious reasons we were not allowed to tweet or use any electronic devices during sessions). So I may not have been the most elated man in the room when it was announced that we had not only won but had actually extended our lead in the last session (that would be either Rob Taylor who literally went ballistic with happiness or a similarly thrilled Big Mick G who had just scooped his seat, Player of the Tourney and team gold) but I'm pretty sure I was the most relieved. Before the announcement, we assembled at a table and waited nervously. Jesse May and Parky arrived and immediately ratcheted up the tension by offering different opinions as to who had won, Parky plumping for France while Jesse felt the UK had done it. Big Mick winning his seat (and then MVP) boosted our hopes, but then as it was announced that not only had the lady on the UK team Daiva won her seat but also captain Barny Boatman his, we started to get a little paranoid that Jesse as livestream supremo might have been told something.

Overall we were pretty thrilled to win (and qualify for the World finals). The feeling in the camp was summed up perfectly by Big Mick G who tweeted:

" I've won a lot of money playin poker over the years but 2day was defo d biggest achievement/most rewarding day of my 7 year professional Carer winning player of the tournament and winning the tournament overall 4 ireland was some buzz. Great feeling. Come on d Irish!".

For those unfamiliar with the duplicate poker concept, the basic idea is that each seat on each table gets dealt the same cards for every hand. So on hand 1, if you look down at K7o, you know that every other player in your seat on other tables is also looking at K7o. Flops turns and rivers are similarly pre-ordained. There are 6 players per team (one of whom must be a female), and each team has one player in each seat at different tables (which are therefore obviously all 6 handed). Each hand is scored by calculating the net amount of chips each team won or lost overall on that hand. The team who won the most chips gets maximum points, the team who won the second most gets one point less, and so on down to the team who lost the most chips who get the minimum points. Every hand counts, so effectively every decision by every player in every hand feeds into the overall result. The cost of a really bad error is to guarantee your team nul points on that hand, which is far more significant than what a well sized thin value bet or a good fold early in a hand stands to gain you, so the performance of each team was more likely to hinge on the weakest link rather than the strongest (a point illustrated by the fact that despite the UK winning two of their seats, they only came fourth overall). So optimal strategy seemed to be to err on the side of caution and take the low variance ABC route when in doubt.

The only big hand I played in the first session was a pretty gross one that illustrates that while duplicate poker is supposed to reduce the luck element, it certainly doesn't come close to eradicating it (it just makes some things like who wins a standard flip unimportant but makes other factors like team selection, table draw and timing much more important). Lars opened the cutoff, I 3 bets queens from the small blind, and he called. I cbet the 864 flop, he raised, and I shoved. Over the next thirty seconds, I went from hoping it hadn't gone all in on other tables and feeling pretty good about myself to praying I wasn't the only table where it did go in, as the board ran out 8647T to make the nines a straight.

So at the break I was eager to find out from my teammates how that particular hand had played out on other tables. I was somewhat relieved to find that it had gone in on most tables (usually on the turn, except on Rob's table where he had the nines and the queens butchered the hand by check raising the river all in), except for one table where the queens had somehow folded the flop (a bizarre fold to say the least) and another where the queens got away more legitimately on the turn. This illustrated how big a part luck could still play: the dubious fold on the turn with the queens probably ended up getting that player's team maximum points since he lost considerably less than the queens did anywhere else, and the nines on that table must have felt great but actually cost his team. Similarly, any player who managed to get away from the nines on the flop would actually have been severely punished by the scoring system. To me, this illustrates that while you often hear the phrase "play normal poker" there's really no such thing. It always depends on the reward or scoring system, and a myriad of other factors.

I was pretty card dead for the first three sessions and the only spot where I got to exercise a bit of creativity was one that had nothing to do with cards or stack sizes or position but everything to do with bladder. The Serb to my immediate left had been requesting a substitute so he could take a toilet break for some time, and was becoming visibly more uncomfortable by the second as it took some time to locate the substitute. The sub finally appeared just after he had opened under the gun, meaning that he was free to go relieve himself once the hand was over. After it was folded to me in the big blind, he muttered "Please fold quickly". So I obviously threebet ridiculously light. After he squirmed and called and we waited 30 seconds for the flop to appear on screen, I started to move chips into the pot. Before I had announced the amount, he had already folded and was sprinting towards the bathroom. Lars Bonding, realising what had just happened, chuckled and tapped the table. He also suggested that my plan if I encountered any resistance had to involve a very long tank while making flowing water noises.

Since I got home, I've been focussing heavily on grinding online. I want to put in as much volume as I can before I take off on my travels again in June, first to Marbella and then to Las Vegas for the WSOP. It's been going well: I won a number of online tournaments in the last week and achieved a PocketFives Triple Crown (awarded for winning three large tournaments with more than 100 runners on three different sites in the same week). Hopefully this form will continue all the way to Vegas and I go there brimming with confidence for this year's bracelet hunt. I'm going for a shorter campaign than in previous this year (three weeks) in the belief that it will be easier to stay at the top of my game and avoid the dreaded Vegas burnout that way.

I am selling some action for my WSOP side events so if you fancy an interest or a sweat in this year's WSOP, full details are at http://www.irishpokerboards.com/forum/showthread.php?p=703981

Irish Eyes have a lot going on at present with the Legends Poker Cup coming up in City West, and ISPT in London, both of which I intend to play. Satellites are currently online on Irish Eyes Poker Ideal.

Below are details of satellites and promotions on Irish Eyes right now, including a nice reload bonus if you need to top up your account. For more details see below:

  • How to get your FREE enteries to the Legends Poker Cup Super Satellites
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  • Get a 150% Irish Eyes Poker Reload Bonus
  • TheFirm - your exclusive opportunity to get staked and coached by some of the best know and successful poker pros in Ireland today

  

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First though Sports Betting. Irish Eyes Bet have launched our new sports book. More sports & events and even better odds than before. And watch for Ken Doherty's weekly sports hot tips on Twitter (@IrishEyesBet ) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IrishEyesBet )

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CASINO & LIVE CASINO 

Irish Eyes Casino has two seperate casino offerings if you fancy a thrill of casino games without having to go to the casino. Classic slots, table games, roulette, video poker and much more.

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ISPT 

Irish Eyes Poker are delighted to announce ISPT satellites where you could win your seat to the ISPT Day2 and go on to walk away with the winners cheque of €1 million!

ISPT is the biggest poker event ever organized, mixing online and live gaming. The main event will take place live from 31st May 2013, in the stadium of Wembley, London. The most innovative poker tournament ever will take place in a prestigious environment, gathering thousands of players and broadcast live in more than 38 countries. 1 million euro is guaranteed for the winner.

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The ISPT Live Event Satellite will be held on Sunday 19th May at 8pm BST (7PM GMT). This satellite has a €300 buy-in (including reg fee) and is a freeze out. One ISPT Package with €3,500 guaranteed (includes ISPT Live event Day2 entry and €500 towards expenses). The winner of the ISPT Satellite will progress to Day2 with a starting stack of 50,000 chips.

Prior to that there will be feeder ISPT Super Satellites running Sunday 14th, 21st, 28th April + 5th and 12th May at 8pm BST (7PM GMT). These Super satellites have a €15 buyin, plus have one €15 rebuy and one €15 add-on allowed. There will be one entry to the ISPT Live Event Satellite for each €300 in the prize-pool.

As Irish Eyes Poker offer multiple poker networks please note that the satellites are available on the Ideal poker network. For more see http://www.irisheyesbet.com/openpage.php?pg=ispt

 

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Would you like to play on someone else's dime while getting coaching from Ireland's most successful players? Maybe you would like to get staked by 'The Firm'?

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For more details see http://www.irisheyesbet.com/openpage.php?pg=thefirm

   

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Every Thursday evening at 8.30pm the Celtic Poker Tour online satellite takes place on Irish Eyes Poker. These satellites have fantastic value as there are 2 x €120 seats guaranteed in each satelllite. The satellites have a €10 buy-in and one rebuy OR addon for an extra €10, and all entries and rebuys/addons go towards the second and subsequent seats. Winners can use their CPT Online Tournament Token to buy into any Celtic Poker Tour Live event with a value of €120.

CPT PLAYER'S CHAMPIONSHIP 

Plus, we are delighted to announce that Irish Eyes Poker in partnership with Celtic Poker Tour see the running again of the CPT Player's Championship in which €20,000 will be added to a free entry live tournament. To be eligible to enter this great tournament, all you need to do is:
  •  Win any Celtic Poker Tour Live Event 
  •  Accumulate 50 player points from Celtic Poker Tour weekly events AND 10 Doubloons Irish Eyes Poker between now and May 2013 
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You can increase your changes of winning the Players Championship live event by building your starting stack at the event by accumulating player points and online VIP points. Play online now and Irish Eyes Poker will give you 'Triple Points' for your CPT Players' Championship starting stack.

For every 1000 Doubloons earned online over the required 500 required to enter, you will receive 3000 extra starting stack chips. Example, you have 2500 Doubloons, then you get 5,000 starting stack plus 4,000 chips extra = 9,000 chip starting stack. Note: the starting stack for the Player's Championship is 5,000 chips, and maximum starting stack for any player having earned increased chips is 25,000 chips.

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If you haven't read about Team Irish Eyes Poker yet, make sure you see how our rewards and rake back program works. The Team Irish Eyes Poker page has been updated to show you the % rake back levels and other rewards for casino and betting play. Visit www.teamirisheyespoker.com for more info.

   

The Irisheyesbet.com Legend's Poker Cup 2013 which will be Europe's largest ever poker tournament in terms of player numbers. With a entry fee €130 (+ €20 Registration Fee Incl Vat) and an expected prize pool of €250,000, this tournament will have 4 day 1's. Player must register and pay for all buy-ins online through Irish Eyes Bet.

 Players have the option to play as many day 1's as they like and can accumulate their total stack from four starting days to progress through to Day 2. It's a unique format that caters for different players, from those who want to take one shot at a big prize pool through those that want more than one chance to make day 2 and players such as myself who think playing all the day 1's gives us a better than ever chance of actually making day 2 with a decent stack. I'm looking forward to the event which takes place in City West Hotel, Dublin, from the 23rd to 26th May. For more information and to buy-in click here 

FREE LEGENDS SUPER SATELLITE ENTRIES 

Irish Eyes Poker want to give you two free entries to any Legernds Poker Cup Super Satellite of your choice.

Online Super Satellites for the Legends Poker Cup are on every Monday to Saturaday at 8pm on Irish Eyes Poker IDEAL with Guaranteed seats to the weekly Legends Poker Cup Qualifier.

To get your free entries, simply email us at crm@irisheyesbet.com with your Irish Eyes Poker Ideal network username and nickname. NOTE: you must download and log into the Irish Eyes IDEAL Poker network before you email us. Please email us your IDEAL username and nickname and the day you want to play the satellite, and give us as much notice as possible, so for instance, email us on Monday to play Tuesday.

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If you'd like to check these or any other tournaments out, use the Irish Eyes 'reload' bonus code 'IERELOAD' which gives a reload bonus (once per player) of 150% up to €500 (t&c's apply). The bonus is cleared in 10 steps, so if you deposit 100 euro, you will get the bonus of 150%, in this case 150euro , the bonus will be credited in 10 steps 150/10 = 15 euro. Make sure to enter the promotional code IERELOAD when you are making a deposit.

SUPPORT 

And if you are having any issues regarding the move from our old site to the new system, you can read about the changes at these pages:

http://irisheyespoker.blogspot.ie/2012/12/accessing-your-irish-eyes-account.html

http://irisheyespoker.blogspot.ie/2012/12/letter-from-doke-with-help-for-players.html 

If you have any issues about your account, email support@irisheyespoker.com or see http://irisheyespoker.blogspot.ie/2012/12/accessing-your-irish-eyes-account.html 

Keep up to date with news, tournament info, and sports bets by joining our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TeamIrishEyesPoker 

Irish Eyes Poker is a Mulit Poker Network site, so you can play on many different poker systems at once, all through Irish Eyes Poker.

Good Luck at the tables......unless I am at the same table :)

 

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