Recently
I was one of several (it seems) bloggers who were asked to review a copy of
Internet
Texas Hold-Em by poker pro Matthew
Hilger. I was happy to oblige, not only for the receipt of a free book (always
love free stuff), but because a friend of mine is contemplating entering the
world of online poker. My friend is one of our home game players and chiefly
plays for recreation (precisely my situation up until the WPT began its broadcasts
and I began my journey to becoming a serious student of the game). I've cautioned
him that if he decides to venture into online poker, he will not survive unless
he broadens his knowledge about this game.
So it was timely that this offer to review the book came along. I approached it from the point of view of someone like my friend - someone who likes to play, but wants to know more and join the fray online.
The chapter layout of Internet Texas Hold-Em takes the reader through the basic concepts as well as introduces some advanced concepts. Hilger highlights tips specific to playing online, pointing out the differences of online play to live play along the way. You are also able to Test Your Skills with quizzes at the end of the chapters. My only criticism of the chapter layout is regarding placing Bluffing, Raising/Check Raising, and Deceptive Tactics before the basics on starting hands, Flop, Turn and River play. I believe you have to have a solid understanding of the basics before you attempt the next level tactics of the aforementioned strategies.
I give Hilger kudos, though, for delving right into Probability and Odds right off the bat. I've argued with my friend over this concept, unable to successfully convince him that odds matter when playing this game. Having this right up front in the book is exactly where it should be. It is written in a way that is easy to understand and not laden with algebraic formulas and math-speak. This is a chapter that should be lingered on before moving on to the rest of the book.
The sections on starting hands, position, flop, turn and river play are strait forward and include those "it depends" situations. Hilger includes starting hand charts with what to do with the hand based on position and pot (raised or unraised). Charts, such as these, are extremely helpful to a beginning player - I used more than one myself, propped up in front of me while at the computer, until it became rote. It's also one big advantage of playing online - you can surround yourself with visual aids and no-one at the table will care. Try that in a live game and I suspect the Floor would boot you from the casino.
Hilger follows-up with Playing Your Opponent - tips on playing loose vs. tight players, etc.; Bankroll Management - discussion of bankroll, earn rates, standard deviation, etc. He presents a sample bankroll building strategy advocating the new player start at the low limits and build from there, moving up when the bankroll warrants. This is sound advice. Where some of us strike gold is with those new players online who have more money than good sense and dive right into the higher limits without a clue as to what they are doing. The book concludes with tips on site selection, online tells, multi-tabling, analysis, record keeping and more.
Overall, Internet Texas Hold-Em is a very good book for a beginning player and I will definitely be passing it along to my friend to read. Hilger presents the concepts in an easy to follow format with chapter summaries and the 'quizzes' give the reader the opportunity to see them put to practice. I highly recommend it for your poker library.
I
finally got some time to check out Check-n-Raise
Poker. I got a 30% bonus on my $61 I deposited (scraps from a Party
Poker cashout). Bonuses are released in $25 increments after accumulating
x-amount of Checkpoints which can be accumulated fairly quickly if,
and that's a fairly big if, you can find the games to play. More on that in
a sec.
The major distinctive feature of this site is that it's java based and runs through your browser. That's good news for those players who want to play on their Mac or are not using a Windows operating system (or those wanting to play at work without downloading programs). Aesthetically, it's classy, sporting muted tans and browns - a nice departure from the cartoon gaudiness of many of the major online sites. The site is still in Beta, so not all modules are active, but you can customize accordingly with various modules available. One nice little feature is the "table rotation" button. Don't like where you are positioned? Click that button and the table will rotate you to where you want to be. You will also be able to upload images for your own icon in the same way Poker Stars allows.
The downside is that there are no games to be had. It may be due to it still being in Beta, but the times I played there were only 100 people on, give or take a few and table selection was dismal. Hold-Em, Omaha and Omaha8 are available for play. I found one Hold-Em table at $3/6 and one at $2/4. The lowest limit you can play is .25/.50 and the highest is $100/$200. Pot Limit and No Limit are offered, as well, of course.
I suffered from the variance factor and gave my bankroll and bonus to some bad suckouts and short-handed play at $3/$6 and $2/$4. The lower limits were no better than play-money tables and not worth playing. A decent bankroll and good player could do well there if s/he is not in a hurry for a game.
Several tournaments are scheduled ranging from $1+0 buy in up to $50 + 5, plus numerous freeroll and Check Point buy ins. I haven't played in any of these so I can't comment on structure, etc. But I can comment that, again, not many people are playing these at present.
A drawback to the browser based technology (which I hope is being solved during this Beta period) is that it can get jerky and intermittent. At one time the dealer button disappeared for a couple of hands and another the browser froze for a few seconds. You can't mute the sounds, unless you mute your speakers.
Time will tell whether CnR will become a popular site to play. Check it out if for no other reason than the bonus and WSOP promotion they have going now. I plan to visit from time to time to see how they're doing - I hope to see more players sign up and the table selection get better.
