New to the forum

[shortstacked]

Hi everyone, I've recently gotten into playing online and I'm glad I found this forum. So far I've had a bit of success online, but you definitely need to adjust your game. It will take time but I'm getting the hang of it. The first tournament I played in (5+1) I finished 3rd and won like 4 bucks. I played in a few more but finished around 4th or 5th (nothing in the money). I took a break for a week or 2 and just tonight I played another tournament (5+1 again). This time I was short stacked early but won a couple of all-ins (fortunately the river didn't fail me) and managed to grind it out until there were 4 of us left. There was one guy who was literally getting hit with the deck. He'd raise with rags and would pull out a straight or a full house I don't know how many times. I knocked out the 2 other guys and got into heads up. I managed to get the chip lead (about 4500-3500) and I was pretty confident I would win. This guy wasn't all that good and for some reason he was showing his cards after every hand he won (drives me nuts why do people think they are cool doing that?). I'd seen him go all in a few times with garbage pre-flop. I wound up getting a/4s. He goes all-in. Normally I wouldn't call, but having seen him go all in a few other times with Q/8o or some other type of garbage I called. Flop is Q, 5, Q. Turn is 8c, river is garbage. Well, he went all in with 8/4 and pulled 2 pair.

I managed to get to about even (down about 200 chips) and I get pocket Jacks. I'm in the BB. He raises, I go all-in. Flop is Q, 7, 4 rainbow. Turn is rags, river is rags. Well, he had Q,5o and pulled it out. I know pocket Jacks isn't a monster but I just knew he didn't have a big pocket pair.

That's the way it goes. It does feel nice to have won a few bucks, maybe the next one I will win. I've enjoyed reading the posts on this forum so far and I've already bookmarked this site.

[HalfSugar]

Welcome to the site

Sounds like u have a pretty good grasp of things already but where are u playing that it's 20% to the house in a Sit n Go?

[shortstacked]

Thanks for the welcome Geno.

This is at PartyPoker. I signed up with them a month or so ago just because that was the site I'd heard of. Since then I have played free games over at UB & PokerStars but I haven't made any deposit yet. After my post I played another tourney & finished in 3rd, in the money at least.

Which sites would you recommend? From the posts I've read around here it sounds like UB is the site of choice.

BTW, great signature. My all-time favorite movie.

[HalfSugar]

Gr8 movie yeah :D

I play at UB along with most of the guys here I think. UB doesn't have as many players as some websites but it seems to have the 'best' players (eg ones who are prepared to visit places like this to learn). Take that as u will cos u could easily argue that u might get easier pickings at sites with more newbies but personally I think UB is at a reasonable standard to keep things interesting.

I play the $5 and $10 Sit n Go's right now as I'm not prepared to play too many $$$ online since it is such a sterile atmosphere, but I'd recommend them if u want to have fun rather than make a lot of money.

[PuckJunkieNY]

This guy wasn't all that good and for some reason he was showing his cards after every hand he won (drives me nuts why do people think they are cool doing that?).

I love it when people do that, especially when they do it consistently. These are the ones that take some kind of pride when they get you to fold your decent hands and flip over garbage to rub it in your face. You see it alot in online poker rooms for sure. The more they do that, the more you can pick'em apart later. It's tougher in tourney play since you only sit w/him a limited # of hands, but I'd take his name, add him to your "buddy list" or whatever and look for him on the tables. Make him pay if he plays like that consistently. Track him and make him pay over time if he is weak. Conversely I've seen a few players use the flip as a decent deception tool as well in setting up later situations.

[BeerWench13]

Conversely I've seen a few players use the flip as a decent deception tool as well in setting up later situations.

I've seen this quite often myself. It's rare to see someone show on every hand, but I've seen many who will show a blatant bluff and then sit back and wait for you to call them when they have the nuts. I've done it myself on occasion. I'd love it if someone would always show me what they had when I was playing with them. There's no such thing as too much information.

[Dave B]

Last time I was at the casino on a 4/8 table players were repeatedly turning their cards over before the betting was done, often before the river was even dealt.

Eventually, the third dealer or so that witnessed this finally put an end to it.

One guy was short stacked and didnt want to bet anymore w/ top pair and high kicker, so he would show his hand and check. Some others were just being goofy.

At one point in a big pot (4 callers capped preflop) called on the big blind w/ 87 suited. I hit trip 8s on the turn and check raised. Someone asked "I suppose you have the 8". I said "I sure do, but I not going to show it to you until you fold!".

It is illegal to do there, but rules seem to be selectively enforced.

[BeerWench13]

I may be incorrect on this, but I don't think it's technically against the rules to discuss your hand. I know it is definitely frowned upon and it's poor etiquette, but I'm not sure that it's illegal. I could be wrong because I've never done it, but I think that is the case.