Absolute Poker

Yesterday was a good poker day, getting back on +EV track. It was slightly odd (in a good way), but I think I had positive sessions on every table I sat at. None were huge wins, but they all added up to a decent day. I finished off the InterPoker monthly bonus and cashed out, +$200 or so overall. If you're a bonus whore and not hitting up InterPoker, you're missing out. It's a 100% match bonus each month, up to $100, with only 450 hands to clear the bonus. The software is a bit chunky so you can't burn through hands as fast as on Party/Empire, but it's decent enough. The games are pretty soft, too, as they get a lot of spill over traffic to the poker room from their casino.



I'm still a little baffled by AbsolutePoker. Steadily grinding through the initial sign-up bonus there (35%, max of $210 on a $600 deposit) with no bumps in the road. I'm up about $150 so far, not counting the bonus. On the negative side, I don't care for their software interface too much, the bonuses are relatively slow to clear, and it's hard to find a game sometimes, as they don't have a ton of players. On the bright side, I'm still not finding it a total rock garden, as assorted people and sites claim. If anything, the opposite, as I've found more truly horrible, fishy players at Absolute the last few days than at Empire or InterPoker. So I'm still not sure why Absolute gets the bad reputation it does in bonus whore circles. It'd definitely be lower on my list of bonuses to clear, but it ain't that bad, when nothing juicier is out there.

I haven't played in a MTT in over a week, and very few for the last month or so. My bankroll has grown more healthily in the last months or so than at any other time in the last year. Coincidence? I think not.

That said, I like playing MTTs, probably more than anything else. There's just no other rush like doing well in one, moving closer and closer to the final table, eyes full not of stars but of big fat juicy payouts. But I also know myself too well, especially my tendencies to take too many shots at too many MTTs. My reasoning is always that while slow, steady winning at lower limits is nice, it will never make a noticeable difference in my normal standard of living, whereas winning a $100,000 guaranteed, well, that would. The logical, rational side of me knows that's bullshit, and that slow and steady is the way to go, but, well, everyone has to say screw logic sometime in order to stay happy and sane.

In an attempt to get the best of both worlds, here's my new plan. At the end of each month I'll earmark 20% of my profit from the previous month for a MTT fund. Anything I win stays in the MTT fund. Initially I'll likely be playing cheaper satellite qualifiers and what-not, as 20% of my monthly poker profits isn't a huge sum of money at all. Hopefully that'll help scratch the MTT itch and, as a nice side effect, help me focus more on the daily ring game grind, giving myself a "reward" for some of the less than fun grinding. All without hurting the bottom line too much, as has been the case in the past.

I have absolutely no reason to believe this, but I think Texas will finally beat OU this weekend. That is all I have to say about that.