This blog is a post where I am replying to the comments I got on my last blog. It got longer than expected so I decided to make it as a blog entry to make it more reader friendly. You need to read my last blog and comments to get any meaning from this. You can  find my previous blog by clicking on the link on the lower right hand side.


@Jeans, 

Thanks for your input. First of all this is not targeted towards Omaha. I estimate that of all hands played online Omaha would consist of less than 4%. Most networks don’t even have Omaha tables running. Anyways since my system is not targeted towards Omaha I have not given Omaha any thought that said you still have a point.

In your example my rake system wouldn’t help. The rake system can’t keep “spewdonks” alive and true they would win a ton of hands until they run into a strong hand and get crushed. However you are referring to a marginal group of players so I am not sure if it’s correct to use this group of players as the norm to say if the system would work? 

I think less than 5% of all online players are in the said category when it comes to NLHE. It is rare that you see this type of player. 3-5 years ago it was a different story and back then we had no poker networks giving fines or banning winning players. I think even if you give the “spewdonk” a 200% rakeback deal he wouldn’t stand a chance in the long run. Let me get back to my target group at the end of this post.

 

@DanishWiking,

I disagree with you. A LAG player will in my opinion not lose a lot of small pots but win a lot of small pots. Because of his timidating style of poker he makes his opponents fold in the majority of the hands. He makes people fear him so opponents fold when they miss the flop. 

A good LAG player also know how to stay alert when a Rock, a TP- or TAG player wakes up and fights back with a pot-bet or re-pots. The LAG player wins big when he actually have a strong hand and the entire table is thinking “he is bluffing again” and therefore pays him off with TPTK, 2nd pair or worse. The LAG player also does not hesitate to 3bet or 4bet allin on flop with a draw. Because of the fold-equity they might get odds to do so and other times get away with it without a battle. Surely they risk losing their stack when they get called and miss other times they hit and double up. Long story short: I do not think the winning LAG player is gaining from this rake system.

A reminder to all: In NLHE when a hand is over without seeing a flop there is no rake online. Aggressive winning players take a lot of pots pre-flop which earns nobody rakes. Weak players who tend to call to see if they will hit won’t hit 50%+ of the times hence in majority of the hands the LAG player will take the pot down with a C-bet on flop.

Your last comment is very true however. My system is by no means at the final stage but more food for thought on how to change the rake-system without making it too complicated. It might not be possible to change it in a simple way but I gave it a shot.

 

@tyweezy

You are being self-contradicting in your short silly remark. You tell me to discuss this on our own forum before I post it on my own website. Whether I post this on the forum or on my own blog make no difference. If people think the post is idiotic I am OK with that. My blog will consist of my thoughts, ideas, gossip, my life, the industry, my poker results, funny Malta stories etc. If you think its bullshit and waste of time I recommend not reading it pure and simple.

 

@ALL, 

To all readers who think that I believe that I with my latest blog have re-invented the deep platter think again. This blog is to debate how we can tackle the problem of banning players and fining poker rooms. My next blog in this series will be about how it came to this situation. I have already started working on it...

I don’t have the time or resources to check million of hands and see if my rake system would actually make a difference. It is highly possible it wouldn’t change much but it might be a step in the right direction?

It might be the case that winning players and losing players win and lose an equal amount of hands or that winning players actually wins less hands but more money. I doubt it. Winning players get involved in fewer hands and see fewer flops and when they do they win more often since their starting hands are generally superior. Also often winning players don’t always need to improve their hands to win since they have a made hand already unlike loose players who call with any ace or a high card to see if they get lucky.

Extreme example: Player X sitting at a 10-seated table plays all 10 hands in a round. The rest of the players plays 20% of the hands. How many of the hands do you think Player X wins?

Let me finish this blog with my view on the general description of a losing player. This player would in my rake-system contribute with more rake than they currently do.

  • Losing players have a tendency to pay off with 2nd best hands unable to fold. They are more active and contribute more than the average winning player.
  • Losing players are not good at math so they draw too often and miss hence they lose more hands than they win.
  • Losing players plays too many hands so they most often out-kicked or draw to a lower straight or flush.
  • Losing players overplay their hands and still call with AA despite the board is 8c,7c,6c,5x hence the poker room get max rake.
  • They generally play their own hands and not the opponent so they get involved in more hands pre- and post-flop increasing the rake.
  • My theory is they play more hands than the average player at the table and normally when they are in a hand at a full ring table they are behind and lose more hands than they win.

Please consider the overall losing player profile when you judge the system and not a marginal group of LAG players who wins. Playing LAG successfully is the toughest game to master but that is another story. Most players trying to play LAG successful fail and join the group of losing "action players".

Many thanks for your comments Jeans and DanishWiking!

Good night folks...