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Make sure to use signup code jhub for 33% rakeback when signing up for Cake Poker. Make sure you type it in as the SIGNUP CODE, not the promotional code or any other code. There's also a 100% deposit bonus up to $500. Transfers do not count as deposits. However, if you get money transferred into your account you will still be eligible for a deposit bonus once you actually make a deposit. If you need help getting money into Cake I usually have excess money in there & can swap money for money on another site where I have an account. Just post a comment on my blog or email me.
On June 11th I stopped playing Cake super turbos all together. It was a tough decision to make with my high rakeback deal on cake but I think it was the right thing to do. The other week I did some calculations & figured out that over 5,220 cake super turbos I was making less than $1 game after rakeback! Obviously I was running bad during this time but I was also running bad on FTP & Pokerstars during this time. Over the same # of games (although less on FTP cause I haven’t played that many) I was averaging over $4/game after rakeback on Stars & almost $6/game after rakeback on FTP. In 2009 when the games have been tougher I’m not even profitable in super turbos after rakeback. What started off as what seemed to be a dream scenario (Cake adding super turbos) w/ my rakeback deal turned into a nightmare due to the amount of ignorant regs who can’t put their ego aside & table select. Aside from that, super turbos also take away more focus from my other tables. You get about 2-3 super turbos in for every turbo, so if you take 40 minutes of turbos & 40 min of super turbos you’re involved in a much larger % of hands in the 40 min of super turbos. Also, with my multi tabling table selection routine it takes way too much focus away from my other tables while I’m registering & unregistering from all of the super turbos as more games pop up & I bust out of other games. Perhaps Cake will fix the registration process to make it easier when they come out with their new version of software. I’m pretty sure I recommended it to them. The variance of super turbos is also obviously very annoying. I think I can find plenty of games w/ similar profitability & less variance. Lastly, super turbos are very bad for my long run marketability. In super turbos you’re basically just hoping to break-even & make your money from rakeback. This is really bad for my stats when about half of my games were on Cake & probably half to 2/3 of my cake games were super turbos. I currently have a very good deal w/ Cake. However, I don’t want to close out future opportunities. Like most things, there’s also a business side to poker & that should always be a consideration.
Since I stopped playing super turbos I've been crushing so far ($377 hourly over about 100 hours). Obviously it's highly unlikely I will maintain that but it's still nice to see. Once I get in a good sample size I'll probably start posting hourly rate again. I keep calculating new hourlys since I've been experimenting w/ different games so I haven't posted my hourly in a while. Since we finally have nice weather in MN I've been taking advantage of that. I know there was 1 week where I only played 10 hours.
Since no longer playing super turbos I’m super confident in my game. I’m just allowed to focus so much more. I’m only getting in about 15 games per hr now but that’s about what I was getting in when my hourly rate was at its peak. The games have certainly gotten tougher since last year but w/ another site to choose from (FTP) I think I might be able to get close to my 08 hourly (although admittedly I probably ran about $30-$50K above expectation in 08). I might eventually try to play 1 more table at a time on avg. We’ll see how things go.
It’s amazing how ignorant even successful players can be. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard people saying I fell off or that my “luck streak” has ended. Yes I was just that successful over 60,000 SNGs & then suddenly fell off. Yes I was LUCKY over 60,000 SNGs & it’s finally ending. I must be the luckiest guy in the world. When playing multiple buy-ins it’s not tough to lose for extended periods of time. All it takes is losing at your highest buy-ins over a smallish sample. If you exclude super turbos all of my avg. ROIs are still positive on the year other than a -1% on Pokerstars. I can assure you that I'm a better SNG player than I was in 08, despite what my yearly stats are. People just dismiss it as me falling off because they've never gone through a streak like this. Go play 70,000 high stakes SNGs & then get back to me.
I've talked a lot about table selection. I usually center on 6 max SNGs since that's what I play. I've posted some 9 man table selection stats in the comments section of my blog but clearly not everyone reads that since I keep getting asked about this. I highly advise everyone to read the comments on each entry but here is how each player effects your ROI in 9 man SNGs:
Cost of a good regular -2,80%
Cost of an decent regular -1,80%
Cost of a barely winning player 1,20%
Remember, this is how each player effects your BASE ROI. I might as well post the link again to the original table selection entry since most people seem clueless in this area:
http://jhub3000.livejournal.com/200
Maybe I'll just sticky it at the top of my blog.
I'm sure most of you have heard by now that Minnesota gave up in their Nazi efforts to block online gambling ISPs. That's obviously a good thing for myself and other online poker players in MN.
http://www.pokerpages.com/poker-news/ne
Cake has signed Lee Jones:
http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/lee-j
http://www.pokernewsdaily.com/lee-j
I was very excited when I heard this. Lee was a big reason for the success Pokerstars has had & I think he'll do a great job helping make Cake 1 of the top sites in terms of volume.
I'm sure most of you also heard about the Nazi seizures by the FED:
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=7808131
A PPA spokesperson does a great job talking about the situation here:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/video/in
Send letters to congress in an effort to bring regulated online poker to the US:
http://capwiz.com/pokerplayersallia
I was very disappointed in the T-Wolves on NBA draft night. Ricky Rubio fell into our laps & I was stoked. I really didn't think we had a chance of drafting him without trading up. Not only were we getting him but we were going to draft Stephen Curry at 6. That young core of Rubio, Curry, Kevin Love, & Al Jefferson was sounding pretty good. Then the commisioner announced the pick. Jonny Flynn. WTF! This pick made absolutely no sense. They just drafted Rubio, about as pure as a PG as there is, then they draft another 5'11" PG when Curry is still on the board. Later they said they believe the 2 can play together. I'll believe it when I see it. It's also believed that Flynn was somewhat of an insurance policy for Ricky Rubio. Stephen Curry can play both the 1 & the 2 so he would have not only served at our starting SG (& a damn good one at that) but could also slide over to PG if Rubio were to continue with his nonsense & not play for us. Sure Curry may not be the pure PG that Flynn is but he serves as more than just an insurance policy & is a better player than Flynn. Flynn was a reach at 6, while Curry probably would have been a steal at 6. Another thing I heard is that Curry didn't workout for us. Guess what? He didn't workout for Golden State either & they happily snagged him at 7. I hope I'm wrong but I think we'll be paying for this for years to come. There was even a rumor before the draft that we were in talks to trade Al Jefferson and the #6 pick for Amare Stoudemire. I wouldn't even trade Jefferson for Stoudemire straight up. It was later reported that the rumor was false but you never know what to believe. For a second I thought Kevin McHale was back in office. I thought the same thing after the #6 pick. Sometimes I think I could run an NBA franchise better than these dopes. Hopefully when Rubio goes through puberty & stops being a whiny little bitch he will actually come and play for the Wolves. If it happens I'm sure he'll spend a couple more years in Spain first. If it doesn't, I guess we'll have to settle for trading him. I'd hope we could get decent value for him. It's ridiculous how players like Rubio, Eli Manning, & John Elway try to choose where they want to play when they come into the league. Be grateful you're able to play professional sports for a living & suck it up. If you don't like where you got drafted you can certainly leave in free agency when your rookie contract is up.
I was happy to see the Cavs added Shaq. He's still 1 of the top centers in the league & will be of huge help against Orlando in the playoffs. They still have work to do though. Both Artest & Ariza decided to sign elsewhere. Now their best bet is to sign Rasheed Wallace & hope he doesn't go to eastern conference rival Boston instead. I think Orlando upgraded its roster w/ the addition of Vince Carter & exit of Turkoglu. Jameer Nelson should also be healthy for the playoffs next year, so they could be even better than this year. I also think the Lakers have upgraded with Artest over Ariza as long as he isn't a distraction. Boston should be healthy again this year so they'll be tough, especially if Sheed signs with them. Either way I think Cleveland will make some more moves this offseason & make another strong push this year. Lebron isn't going anywhere. He's staying in Cleveland beyond next season. Andrew (Voss1313) said he'd bet me $1K on that. At first I said I wanted to wait until after free agency & trades to make the bet official (this was before the Shaq trade) but then I changed my mind. I figured they were almost certainly going to be big players this offseason & after they made those moved Voss might back out. I then offered him the deal again before the Shaq trade was made. I never heard back from him. I then offered it again. I still haven't heard back. It sounds like someone is getting cold feet. Andrew, what do ya think buddy?
The new Asher Roth CD is phenomenal. If you like Eminem you'll like Asher & I'd recommend picking it up.
Results:
Month of June:
147.26 hrs played
SNG Profit: $2,587.87
Rakeback/Bonuses: $27,278.46
Staking: $16,506.00
Total Monthly Profit: $46,372.33
Year of 2009:
889.48 hrs played
SNG Profit: $5,005.05
Rakeback/Bonuses: $152,001.75
Staking: $40,956.65
Total Yearly Profit: $197,963.45
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Comments
Been following you blog for a long time and was wondering if there are any other SNG Bloggers that you follow or would recommend?
Thanks
Alan
http://mjcace.blogspot.com/
& voss1313.livejournal.com
Voss is my student & current stakee & MJCACE is my former student & stakee
Neither updates that often.
GL,
Hub
GL,
Hub
Was just wondering what software if any do u use to review urs/others hand histories.
Am currently helping a friend out as he's shipped me his HH's.
Also being a phoenix fan i am a little annoyed with the shaq deal, as we got nothing for him just money a space what a waste. If stoudamire goes i will have lost all faith in the suns managament.
Cavs will b the team to beat next season.
GL
Jason
http://www.universal-replayer.net/
In all honesty I think the Shaq deal was a smart move for Phoenix. They weren't going to win a championship w/ their team, which had 2 aging stars (Shaq & Nash) & they didn't even make the playoffs last year. Generally that's a good time to start rebuilding. The deal will give them future cap space to help in the rebuilding process.
As for Stoudemire, he's still in his prime & would be a good player to build a team around unless they can get a deal w/ a really good young player involved. I think they should trade Nash but his contract is probably up soon anyway so maybe they'll just wait it out & free up cap space.
GL,
Hub (Jared :)
Asher is no Eminem but he's damn good & will probably only get better.
As for the Hawks, I think they're about as sad as the T-Wolves so gl with that.
GL,
Hub
First, what do you use to track your numbers/stats/history on Cake?
Second, through your encouragement, I joined the PPA and sent a letter to my Senator, Dianne Feinstein, who is part of the "poker nazi" crowd. Shockingly, I received a response from one of her flaks rather quickly, which I, in turn responded to. I'm not sure they appreciated me pointing out the "UIGEA was slipped into the SAFE Port Act at the last second like a Congressional pay raise," and that the "U.S. ban the Senator supports on Internet gambling flush with hypocrisy and not in line with international trade policy," and has been sharply criticized by the WTO. Anyway, it's rather enjoyable being passionate about a cause and battling with politicians.
Take care,
Ron
puckpoker1
Thanks for sending the letter.
GL,
Hub
Thanks,
Ron
I'll suggest it to them but I doubt they'll do it. They're against fish finding & whatnot, which is one reason people are able to change their screen names.
GL,
Hub
As for only making $5K profit pre rakeback this year, it's all a part of the high stakes swings. Last year I made $270K pre rakeback.
I make more than $152K per year in rakeback right now. That's just what I've made so far in 2009, which is far from over.
GL,
Hub
I recently started reading your blog and I must say it's one of the more well written blogs I have seen.
Also have a question, I recently got into the 6-max SNGs, after switching from ring games. I used to use Poker Tracker to track stats for my cash games at AP, but I dont think PT works for SnG or maybe I have to do some stuff to make it work. But right now I use excel spreadsheet to track my Profit/ROI etc, but the only thing I can't seem to track is hours played.
I really want to be able to calculate my hourly rate so I need to know how to calculate the hours. I notice you have very accurate numbers on your hours, do you just manually count hours spent? (I'm guessing not lol), if not then what program or how do u do so?
Thank You
As far as calculating my hours I just write down what time I start & stop. Then I input the # of hrs I played each day into my excel spreadsheet & the formula I have in there just calculates total hours. It's pretty easy but I can send you it if you want.
Sorry for the late reply, I was on my honeymoon in Aruba.
GL,
Hub
Yeah I guess that works for counting your hours.
And sure if you could send me it that would be much appreciated (shysquirrel@gmail.com)
GL,
Hub
Right now Im at 40% but only 30 sngs.
6 tabling.
Thx and gl hope ur downswing will end soon
GL,
Hub