More than once, Helaine and I have commented how amazing it is that we put money into the poker ‘kitty’ in August and we’re still playing in April. In fact, we’re back to being up around $200 (above our original $250 stake).
Recently, Pokerstars introduced an additional type of no limit Hold’em tournament.
It’s $15 to play with $1 for the house. The structure of the game makes it play much faster – maybe half the time of normal tournaments. I also think it’s brought in more wild players who are often gone quickly and are always very volatile.
A quick explanation of these tournaments for non-poker players. You enter by paying a set fee. All the money (minus the house’s share) is put into a pot and divided by the top players. In these nine player tournaments, it’s the top three who cash out. When I talk about betting in a tournament, it’s ‘tournament dollars’ which aren’t convertible to cash and only go to decide who will collect the pot of entry fees (which is real money).
Have I made it more confusing?
I like this new structure and maybe it’s only because Helaine and I have been very successful in it. Yes, there is lots of luck to poker. But, over the long run skill will win.
I think the lower house percentage will work to our advantage. Now, instead of 9% going to the house, it’s 6.25%, which is a huge difference.
We don’t know anyone else who plays online, but we’re sure these casinos wouldn’t exist if everybody won. There’s always money flowing to the casino. The fact that we’re above water, working against that tide, astounds us. And, we think we’re much better players than we were when we began.