The 200x Spin

Sorry about the lack of posts, I've honestly been procrastinating hard! I don't really have a schedule or anything with these, but I did plan to do ~1 a week. Using the first tip... start it so you'll have the urge to finish! Wish I used that tip a lot more when I was studying...



One Game for $3000

Last Sunday I got a 200x. I've played about 12k number of games before this one popped up, so I was "due" one so to speak. I was told you should get a top 3 every 10k games or so, but of course since its random it doesn't work like clockwork.

The lure of Spin and Go's is hitting one of the top 3, especially the top one. But as a reg that isn't the priority, its about beating the games outright without relying on the multipliers. Many great players are doing this right now, but its a rough ride because of nature of this format.

Before, in other fast SNG formats, you would be at the mercy of how the cards fall in certain situations of the end game. It could be that you don't hold up or that you run into bigger hands which cant be helped. But with Spins, you have this as well as the prizepool being random, and most of the time a 2x the buy in "losing" format.

The funny thing was that I had just beat DeadInMay in a Heads Up in the direct previous game before the 200x [#Brag]. In clicking the register button and then seeing his username there, I was actually annoyed with myself because I didn't want to be in another game with this regular. It is a good idea to wait a few seconds before regging a new game, to allow the other reg to click first and decrease the chance that you will be in the same game as him again. But sometimes in a session you go on autopilot with clicking that button and its common to be in the same games quite a bit.

The 200x popped up, and the background colour was red. I play hyper simple theme on Pokerstars, so normally 2x's are Blue, 4x's are Turquoise, 6x's are Light Green, 10x's are Dark Green, and 25x's are Purple. Another thing that was also instantly noticeable was at the top of the table it says the prizepool. But since top 3 are paid out, this is significantly bigger because it lists out 3 payouts instead of one.

I saw so many spinning prizepools that it took me a good while before I realised it was $3600!

The Recreational Rides the Momentum

With the reads I had on the other reg, I felt that if I beat him then I would have a great chance vs the other recreational player.

The game started out with DeadInMay and the casual pulling punches. Going back and forth. He was quite stubborn and didn't seem to want to fold much. I soon picked up the chip lead vs DeadInMay who got it in with a straight vs my 2 pair and I filled up to a full house.

A few hands later, he opened I rejammed with A7 and the recreational woke up with 99 and the reg called with KJ. Ace for the win! I did hit it, but TheDirektor also hit a 9 for a set and he trebled up KO'ing the reg. What is funny is that I cover up the community cards and only look when it is over, so I actually had no idea that I had hit the ace til afterwards. The stress isn't worth it, and once your all in, see the cards that are called before it, and whether you win or lose.

I was still going into heads up vs a recreational with the chip lead. A dream scenario for any reg. However, I ran into a lot of awkward spots plus a lacklustre decent starting hands and/or boards post flop vs a stubborn opponent who didn't like to fold. In this fast 3 minute blind level game, things can change quickly.

In the end, my AA was too little too late and my trapping limp with a short stack at t100 (15bbs in play between us!) was coolered when the board made him trips on the turn.

On reflection, I didn't adjust vs him very well. I chose some questionable bluffing spots, and in turn also was too nitty vs his aggression. Then later on, he tightened up and I didn't shove loose enough.

Whats made worse was I had to play some more games after this to keep my pace and those didn't go well. But $300 for 2nd isn't terrible, as 100x, 200x and 10,000x 3rd and 2nd still get 10%.

It has to be said though, that it was well played by him. "GG" as would be said. As poker has aged and players has improved, the edge has decreased and casual player traffic has gone down significantly. Bumhunting (In cash games where a casual plays and regs follow him around for action) like wolves doesn't help bring in more new players. Its an unfriendly place for the recreational player, and only the hardcore stick around.

Spins certainly even things out for recreationals, especially for the short run in situations like this. He may not has had years of studying like me and other regs, but he certainly played to the best of his ability and wasn't scared to call down and play the board. "You cant nit your way to a win", I was told after a review session, being referred to some of the spots I played in the game. Thinking back he certainly didn't, so credit is given where its due, hell he managed to beat two regulars!

Check out Tiltbook.com for a Poker style Facebook!

If anything of this I hope that more recreationals play poker in general. If your reading this and thinking about having a dabble, go ahead and load up some $1 games! We need to put the fun back in these games and somehow make them more inviting somehow. If not they'll die and all the potential players will be playing Hearthstone!

Either way, whatever is said about this format, it was sparked a lot more traffic and casual players back into the single table format, of which was dying since Black Friday. It will be interesting to see what Pokerstars does to try and get new players in, will they introduce more jackpot formats like this?

Anyways, hope you guys run good at the tables, hopefully I wont procratinate so much til my next post!