[philpy]

Never go into any bookies at all now, i get my mate to put an accumlator on for me, and i cant bet online as i dont have a credit card , thank christ. I had a major gambling problem at the start of the year.

[Loki]

I usually just go into the betting shop to do an accumulator. However I have online poker accounts at Betfair and Betfred. I have made just under $480 this week courtesy of Betfred.

[Swampy]

Poker: 888.com, TigerGaming.com
Betting: Betfair, *very* occasional trip to the bookies
Blackjack: 888.com

Down 20 quid on poker and 50 quid on betfair so far

On the other hand I'm up 220 quid on blackjack

Isn't it weird that the game where the odds are against me is where I'm making a profit? And I read about/play poker almost every day, but I'm still making grave mistakes.

This post has been edited by Swampy: 22 September 2006 - 08:34

[Jambo Stu]

Poker:Betfred-Account is staying empty for a while though

Betting:Skybet and bookies for accumulator

[Loki]

Hansa, on Sep 22 2006, 14:31, said:

That's why i don't play Blackjack online, at least there are other novices (including myself) with poker. I don't play cash games online, just the tournaments where i've never won but have had a few decent placings.

I don't like playing cash games, as you can lose all your money because of novices playing you. Yes you can make alot of money by catching out fishes, but you will make a return faster playing multi tables tournaments. And if you do have an amazing bad beat its not costing you $80 its only costing you your entry.

Also Betfred have cheap rebuy tournaments which are very very loose in teh first hour. Just being conservative you can easily quadruple your stack within the hour, and then when the real poker starts you are nicely placed.

Swampy if you feel you are a good player and its just the ocasional error thats costing you, stop playing no limit. Limit is easy to win money at, it just takes ages. Pot Limit is a very under rated game, and if you do make a mistake you can still be in a tournament. Fair enough it might not be as fun as No Limit, but its easier to make a return.

[Loki]

Also Omaha is an easier poker game to play as well. Stud is just as good.

[Judge]

Rarely in the bookies now. Just use Ladbrokes and Blue Square online sites which are ample.

[dave_binos]

Any sites on the net where you can play people at games like pool for money?

[ShakehandsTom - DFC]

Always the bookies. As has been said, an online betting account would probably bankrupt me.

[Swampy]

Hansa, on Sep 22 2006, 14:31, said:

That's why i don't play Blackjack online, at least there are other novices (including myself) with poker. I don't play cash games online, just the tournaments where i've never won but have had a few decent placings.

Perhaps I'm deluding myself, but I don't class myself as a novice. In live games in Vegas I left with a (very) modest profit, I think I'm decent enough in theory, yet in low stakes games (0.25/0.50 blinds) I bleed money, so I can't call myself anywhere near a good player.

A friend tells me that I should be playing higher stakes games with more predictable opposition, but that sounds like a bit of a cop-out to me. No matter how I spin it, surely I can't be losing money because I'm too GOOD at hold 'em?

In terms of blackjack, I've only twice left a "session" with a loss. Hence my profit.

Quote

Also Betfred have cheap rebuy tournaments which are very very loose in teh first hour. Just being conservative you can easily quadruple your stack within the hour, and then when the real poker starts you are nicely placed.

Swampy if you feel you are a good player and its just the ocasional error thats costing you, stop playing no limit. Limit is easy to win money at, it just takes ages. Pot Limit is a very under rated game, and if you do make a mistake you can still be in a tournament. Fair enough it might not be as fun as No Limit, but its easier to make a return.

In tournament play I am generally very tight-aggressive; it's in sit-n-go games where I lose my discipline and where I get hit in the wallet. Even at limit I make stupid mistakes like trying to "scare" people out with a re-raise on fourth or even fifth, even though deep down I know that novices will almost never fold on fifth. I do intend to try more tournaments, though, cheers for the advice with Betfred, might try them out

This post has been edited by Swampy: 23 September 2006 - 00:22

[Loki]

Swampy, on Sep 23 2006, 01:20, said:

Perhaps I'm deluding myself, but I don't class myself as a novice. In live games in Vegas I left with a (very) modest profit, I think I'm decent enough in theory, yet in low stakes games (0.25/0.50 blinds) I bleed money, so I can't call myself anywhere near a good player.

A friend tells me that I should be playing higher stakes games with more predictable opposition, but that sounds like a bit of a cop-out to me. No matter how I spin it, surely I can't be losing money because I'm too GOOD at hold 'em?

In terms of blackjack, I've only twice left a "session" with a loss. Hence my profit.
In tournament play I am generally very tight-aggressive; it's in sit-n-go games where I lose my discipline and where I get hit in the wallet. Even at limit I make stupid mistakes like trying to "scare" people out with a re-raise on fourth or even fifth, even though deep down I know that novices will almost never fold on fifth. I do intend to try more tournaments, though, cheers for the advice with Betfred, might try them out

Well for a start if you were too good at Hold Em you would be winning money. If you are losing money at .25/.50c level, if you stepped up you would be nothing more than a sucker. Only once you can consistently win at that level should you ever think about stepping up. At a higher level, you will still get people raising with rags, knowing that if they hit a low flop it will be very profitable. Its far easier to win consistently at low stakes tables than higher stakes. And even at $50 games you still get boired businessmen that don't know what they are doing. The rich are equally as stupid.

Its entirely possible that you are a better live player than you are online. Online there is very little tells you can pick up on. You really have to pay attention to betting patterns, and even if you think you are beat, its cool to call if its cheap just to see what he would call with. The Hand History is your best friend. Even if they muck their hand at the end, as long as they have called you can go into teh hand history and see what they were calling with.

In short handed games lower your starting expectations, be a little bit looser, certainly don't piss away your chips though.

Limit poker you CAN NOT BLUFF. It's not worth it. Pot odds sis all you need for Limit poker. If you can play perfect poker using odds and percentages you can not lose long term playing limit.

Lastly if you wnat to try Betfred PM me and I`ll refer you, you`ll get a better starters bonus and I`ll get free money.

[Swampy]

Carlos, on Sep 23 2006, 03:15, said:

Well for a start if you were too good at Hold Em you would be winning money. If you are losing money at .25/.50c level, if you stepped up you would be nothing more than a sucker. Only once you can consistently win at that level should you ever think about stepping up. At a higher level, you will still get people raising with rags, knowing that if they hit a low flop it will be very profitable. Its far easier to win consistently at low stakes tables than higher stakes. And even at $50 games you still get boired businessmen that don't know what they are doing. The rich are equally as stupid.

Its entirely possible that you are a better live player than you are online. Online there is very little tells you can pick up on. You really have to pay attention to betting patterns, and even if you think you are beat, its cool to call if its cheap just to see what he would call with. The Hand History is your best friend. Even if they muck their hand at the end, as long as they have called you can go into teh hand history and see what they were calling with.

In short handed games lower your starting expectations, be a little bit looser, certainly don't piss away your chips though.

Limit poker you CAN NOT BLUFF. It's not worth it. Pot odds sis all you need for Limit poker. If you can play perfect poker using odds and percentages you can not lose long term playing limit.

Lastly if you wnat to try Betfred PM me and I`ll refer you, you`ll get a better starters bonus and I`ll get free money.

Exactly, if I was too good, I wouldn't be losing

The sites I play on have very poor hand history utilities; which site would you say is the best for that out of the ones you play on? Being able to see even mucked hands after the fact is bloody amazing, TBH. Whichever site offers that is definitley getting my business So if it's Betfred, I'll PM you.

I occasionally call with a poor hand in late position but generally I have high expectations online (because people don't tend to watch very closely, as you said, you can get away with only coming in once every 10+ hands, and people won't immediatley get scared and fold.) I am very aggressive once in, though, which might be costing me.

Hansa, on Sep 23 2006, 03:27, said:

Card-counter!

You can't card count on online casinos (as far as I know, anyway - I'm sure if they only used 6 decks or 8 decks people could write programs or excel scripts to card count for them and the casinos would lose money), I just stick to optimum strategy and never take insurance. One day the odds will catch up with me, but until then...

[choirbairn]

idlewild, on Sep 21 2006, 22:31, said:

I personally do most mine online as I hate smelling like an ashtray when I go to my local bookmakers

I don't go into bookies nearly as much as I used to, but when I do it is brilliant to go into a smoke-free environment now. The shop nearest me seemed to be a meeting place for all the guys who were retired or on disability benefit (never seen so many walking sticks) and I always came out stinking of smoke.
Personal circumstances have changed - baby arrived earlier this year - so now I mostly bet online, although I usually pop into a shop to get a football coupon anyway.
I have accounts with Hill, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet Direct and Betfair. The thing that annoys me is that Coral and Paddy Power especially treat the SPL with contempt in that they only do a whole range of bets for games involving Celtic and Rangers.
I always back three Falkirk players to score first in each game and it pisses me off that I can't do it online with those two, although I will be able to this weekend. I have emailed to complain, but they clearly couldn't give a f**k.
That does have its benefits though.
Coral had the best price on Kenny Milne (33/1) against Hibs at the weekend, so I backed him in the shop.
And as others have said, there is nothing quite like the thrill of walking into the bookies, handing over your slip, and walking back out with their cash.

[DJP]

choirbairn, on Sep 26 2006, 09:41, said:

I don't go into bookies nearly as much as I used to, but when I do it is brilliant to go into a smoke-free environment now. The shop nearest me seemed to be a meeting place for all the guys who were retired or on disability benefit (never seen so many walking sticks) and I always came out stinking of smoke.
Personal circumstances have changed - baby arrived earlier this year - so now I mostly bet online, although I usually pop into a shop to get a football coupon anyway.
I have accounts with Hill, Coral, Ladbrokes, Paddy Power, Bet Direct and Betfair. The thing that annoys me is that Coral and Paddy Power especially treat the SPL with contempt in that they only do a whole range of bets for games involving Celtic and Rangers.
I always back three Falkirk players to score first in each game and it pisses me off that I can't do it online with those two, although I will be able to this weekend. I have emailed to complain, but they clearly couldn't give a f**k.
That does have its benefits though.
Coral had the best price on Kenny Milne (33/1) against Hibs at the weekend, so I backed him in the shop.
And as others have said, there is nothing quite like the thrill of walking into the bookies, handing over your slip, and walking back out with their cash.

In England people can still smoke in the bookies, so still stinks.

That is the problem with sites like Paddy Power, limited options. On another site I go on, quite a few people seem to hate corals and warn people off them

[bairnPunter]

Sporting events, I'll use Betfair, so I can lay them later in the tournament, i.e. in tennis before they play Federer.

For football, I prefer just betting single matches, so I'll do a lot of research online for team news, form guide, and the best price available. Then I'll either find the local bookie or use one of many online accounts I have. Thankfully I'm quite disciplined, and don't chase the big bucks, although the stake can increase if I'm on a roll! Which I'm on at at the moment. Not had a loser yet season from half a dozen bets. I will never bet if I don't fancy something strongly enough.

This post has been edited by bairnPunter: 26 September 2006 - 16:33

[choirbairn]

idlewild, on Sep 26 2006, 14:31, said:

In England people can still smoke in the bookies, so still stinks.

I noticed that you were in England - that's really why I mentioned it. Is there not a smoking ban on the way down there as well, though?

idlewild, on Sep 26 2006, 14:31, said:

That is the problem with sites like Paddy Power, limited options. On another site I go on, quite a few people seem to hate corals and warn people off them

I quite like Coral because I like to back HT and HT/FT as well as FT. All the online firms usually have the HT/FT option for all games, and Hills have the HT market at the weekend, but I've found Coral is the only one who offers HT and HT/FT on all midweek games, even the Challenge Cup.

[clyde til we die]

choirbairn, on Sep 28 2006, 00:41, said:

I noticed that you were in England - that's really why I mentioned it. Is there not a smoking ban on the way down there as well, though?

I think the smoking ban comes in next March