Magmann Sports Report

Confessions of an internet poker player.

O.K. is poker really a sport? Some say yes and some say no. Of course there those that say race car drivers are not athletes either. Who Cares?

I found internet texas holdem about a year ago. In that time I have massed over a million chips, unfortunately that is all they are is chips.....not real money. But the players are real and most of them are playing for real. The ones that tout "it is only play money" are the ones that play poor and lose a lot.

No matter what, the hook ran deep into me. You can find me playing hours a day. I try to start at a table with 4 players with 5/10 blinds. You open with 2000 chips from your account and begin the games.

I have read a few books on texas holdem which offer some good tips......if you are playing a live game for real money. The internet is is a whole different world on the play chip side. People have nothing to lose. To become pot committed is very easy. So the tips from books is limited.

I start out slow and play tight in order to get a read on the players. Usually you can find the heavy betters right off the bat. with 5/10 blinds they raise to 100 and eliminate half the table at the start. To me, if I have a hand worth 100 opening bet I sit on it and play out my betting. Keeping in more people and getting more value for my bets. But while playing a tight game and being patient I usually butt out those players after about 15 minutes because I pair my ace king and they go all in with a pair of queens.

When I build a decent pot to play with I will loosen way up and play anything I am delt. The "rag cards" if you will. Most of my full houses have come from the rag cards. I don't know where the unwritten rules came from that it "is not right to play low cards" But I don't see the pros giving anybody breaks, why should I? Money is money and pots are pots. How you get them and how I get them are up to us.

So once we get a table that has the same players for an hour or so the real poker begins. The blinds are usually not raised and the true skills are shown after the flop. Chips will circulate around the table until somebody gets on a hot streak and a big shift occurs in the chip count. The largest pot I have won is 43,000 chips. So we are zipping along and the new person enters the table and we all hold our breath......you guessed it.....all in on the opening bet. We call these people lotto players. Usually they lose quickly, but if not they can garner 6 to 8 thousand chips and become a real pain in the ass with opening bets of 500 or more. Two things come to mind here, you reminding me that I said pots are pots and how you get them are up to us and that lotto players quickly fade....they are just a pain in the ass.

I am an agressive player at the right times which have proven to be a good tactic. If I pair any card on the flop I will lead out with at least a 100 chip bet. If you want to clear out the limpers you lead out with 200 chip bet. But with 6 players starting out with a 10 chip blind, 60 chips are not a lot of chips to steal up front. Continuing to bet out hard after the flop has proven to work well for me. but there are always the downfalls. The agressive play can bite you as well. It is not uncommon for me to win 20 to 30 thousand chips a day. But let me lose 50 thousand over the weekend and I am in an eternal funk until I get those chips back.

All in all I have alot of fun especially when I can get into the head of one or more players. Some of the screen names they come up with are invitations for ridicule. I see a screen name like "pimpdaddy" I will crack "your mom must be proud of your name pimpdaddy" or the screen name "JanetRichard" I say "looks like Janet has Richards Man Card" I envision this newlywed couple where the 22 year old wife will only let him play poker if her name is in the game thus preventing screen name "lovergirl" from hitting on Richard at the table!!!!!! Getting into their heads make them want to bet you out of the game, their only way of striking back at you. But playing tight and betting hard with a good hand will cause them to bust out and leave the table. Oh Well....LOL

There are alot of other things to share about online poker but I will save them for later.

Thats it for now. Can you relate? Did you smile?

See you tomorrow......Magmann