Started New Promo: Dream Poker

I started an eCasinoDeals (ECD) promo for a 300 pc Tiki Kings chip set at Dream Poker today. I wanted one more set of poker chips for cash games, as my Nevada Jacks are being customized for tournament games only. Dream Poker is on the Prima network, and the requirements for the promo are 30 Dream Points. Dream Points are accumulated at various rates depending on what level tables you play at. I will be playing $0.50/$1 NL, so I will need 390 contributed raked hands to clear the requirements. Since I will need to contribute to the pot for the hand to be counted as raked, I estimate that I will need to play about 1600 hands to finish the promo (I usually contribute to about 25% of the hands, including blinds). I made a deposit for a $100 bonus which will clear shortly before the promo requirements are met.

Played At UltimateBet To Get Some Rakeback

I'm short about 600 PSO points to do the 500 pc. upgrade for my Poker Share Nevada Jacks promo, so I played some $100 NL at UB to earn some rakeback, which gets paid out in PSO points. I did surprisingly well, making $209 at the tables, earning $7 in bonus money, for a net profit of $216.

Biggest hand of the night was when I held AhAs and there was heavy action preflop from two other players, with the short stack going all-in. After the flop of 9c4hQh, I go all-in and the other stack calls. Short stack shows 2h2c, other stack shows ThTc, and my aces hold up to net $114.

Earnings-to-date: $3035

Started New Promo: PokerShare

I signed up for another Nevada Jacks chip set promo at PokerShare today. PokerShare was recently added to the list of PSO promos, replacing Gaming Club. It requires 500 Frequent Player Points (FPP) to clear. FPP are awarded for each hand where the rake exceeds $0.25, with the amount varying depending on the size of the rake. I think this promo might take a while to complete playing anything less than $1/$2 NL, due to the points payout structure. I made a deposit for a $50 bonus which will clear at the same time as the PSO promo.

Finished Titan Poker

I lost $162 at the tables, earned $20 in deposit bonus and an additional $20 just for logging on the first time, and earned a NJ ceramic poker chip set which I upgraded to 500 pieces for 10,000 PSO points (which I've saved up already), for a net profit of $128 (I valued the poker chips at $250).

Most of the loss was due to one hand where I put all my money in with the best of it, and lost to a two outer. UTG calls, I call in UTG+1 with 77, MP min-raises, UTG and I call. Flop comes up 297, UTG bets $2 into $7.50 pot, I raise to $6, MP re-raises to $10, UTG folds, I re-re-raise to $20, MP goes all-in to $83.50, I call. Turn is an A, river a T, opponent turns up AA, and I lose $96 in this one hand.

Besides the terrible performance at the tables, I actually enjoyed the site. The software is pretty nice, and the play is pretty soft, although the traffic is a bit light. The only real complaints I had were that the site is not compatible with Poker Tracker (but support is coming soon), and that there is no 4-colour deck option. In a 4-color deck, the spades are black, clubs green, hearts red, and diamonds blue. I always try to play with a 4-colour deck (even in home games, where I use 4-colour plastic Copag cards), since it makes identifying flush draws so much easier.

Earnings-to-date: $2819

Started New Promo: Titan Poker

There's a couple of interesting promotions at PSO this month. First off, they have removed the one set per household limit for the Nevada Jacks poker chips promotion. Secondly, for Titan this month, in addition to the regular free-gift promo, anyone who signs up for Titan will have a stake in MikeJ's (one of the PSO founders) WSOP tournaments in July. This means if Mike finishes in the money at the WSOP, he will distribute 50% of his winnings as PSO points to the members who sign up for Titan this month. They had a similar promo last year, and Mike managed to finish in the money back then.

I decided to sign up for Titan and do the NJ promo, which I will upgrade to a 500 pc set for 10,000 PSO points. I figure any serious poker player needs a nice set of poker chips, and besides, I'm kind of tired of playing just for money to pay the bills. This month is also the perfect time to start the Titan promo, as PSO have recently cut the requirements from 3500 Titan Points, to 3000, and now to only 1500. Titan points can be earned at cash games, the amount varying according to the rake, with a maximum of 11 Points per hand. I estimate that I will earn an average of 2.5 Points per hand, so it will take me about 600 hands to complete this promo.

Finished Golden Palace Poker

I made $122 at the tables, earned an $80 bonus, and earned 6000 PSO points (which I'm saving up for poker chips), for a net profit of $202. Overall, I really enjoyed playing at Golden Palace. The software is nice (I especially like the unique sound effects and animation), and the players are pretty fishy.

Earnings-to-date: $2691

Started New Promo: Golden Palace Poker

I started a new PSO promo for 6000 PSO points at Golden Palace Poker today. It requires 10,000 Action Points to clear, and I made a deposit to get an $80 bonus which will clear at the same time. One action point is awarded for every $0.01 of rake that you contribute. So, to get 10,000 AP you will need to contribute $100 in rake. I would guess that I contribute to the pot about 25% of the time, including blinds, with an average contribution of about $0.25. Therefore, I would have to play about 1600 hands of poker to reach 10,000 AP ($100 / $0.25 / 0.25).

Finished Reload At Bet365 Poker

I made $138 at the tables, and earned $100 in bonus money, for a net profit of $238. This kind of makes up for my poor performance at Gaming Club.

Earnings-to-date: $2489

Finished Gaming Club Poker

This was my most disappointing finish so far. I lost $210 at the tables, earned a $50 bonus, and earned 6000 PSO points (which I'm saving up for poker chips), for a net loss of -$160.

There were about three key hands that were responsible for most of my loss. One hand I played very poorly, another I got rivered by a straight draw, and another I lost with my JJ overpair to a slow-played set of sevens.

For the hand I misplayed, I had 83o in the BB with six limpers. Flop comes up 893 rainbow, I check, UTG bets $2 into $7.50 pot, everyone else folds, I call. Turn is a 5, I check, UTG bet $2, I call. River is a J, I check, UTG bets $10, I raise to $25, UTG goes all-in to $74, I call. Opponent turns up QTo for the straight, and I lose $89. Lesson learned: bottom two pair can be a decent hand, but is way too weak to slow-play! And calling a re-raise all-in on the river with just middle and bottom two pair, and a possible straight on the board - not a good idea!

The other hand I have QJo in MP+1, it's folded to me so I raised 3x, BB calls. Flop comes up Js9c5s, BB checks, I bet $6 into $6.50 pot, BB min-raises to $12, I call. Turn is 6c, BB bets $18, I call. River is Qs, BB goes all-in, I called for my remaining $28. BB turns up Ts8c for the straight, and I lose $61. Looking back, I'm sure I misplayed this one as well. Top pair with Q kicker is not that great of a hand. I probably should have folded after being check-raised at the flop, or after being bet into on the turn. Even though it turned out he was on an open-ended straight draw, his most likely holding would be something like AJs so I shouldn't have called to the end like that.

The last hand I basically had no chance. With JJ and a board of 67349, the opponent just check-calls me to the river with his flopped set of 7's, so I end up losing $48 in this hand.

Earnings-to-date: $2251

Started Reload At Bet365 Poker

Bet365 has a 5x reload going on, so I decided to do a deposit to clear the $100 bonus after 1000 raked hands ($0.25 minimum).

Finished Poker Rewards

I made $178 at the tables, earned a $75 bonus, and earned 6000 PSO points (which I'm saving up for poker chips later), for a net profit of $253.

Someone on the PSO forums had recommended playing at the Bad Beat tables instead of the regular tables, because the players there tend to be gamblers and play a lot looser. I think I ended up doing pretty well in this promo because of the action at these tables.

Two consecutive hands accounted for practically all my profit at the tables. First one, I have 76o in middle position, and with one limper ahead of me I decided to limp in. Person behind me min-raises, three people call, and I close the betting by calling. Flop comes up 777! Of course, I check to slow-play it, person behind me bets, button calls, I call. Turn is a 5, I check, person behind bets, button calls, I call. River is a K, I check, person behind goes all-in, button folds, I call. Opponent turns up KK for the nut full-house, and I net $96 for my quads.

The very next hand, I pick up AA. UTG and UTG+1 limp in, I raise to 5xBB and get 3 callers including the 2 original limpers. Flop comes up 36Q rainbow. UTG bets, UTG+1 folds, I call, person behind calls. Turn is an 8, UTG bets, I call, person behind calls. River is another 8, UTG goes all-in, I call, person behind folds. Opponent turns up QT suited, and apparently thought his top-pair-medium-kicker with another pair on the board was good for his entire stack! I netted $83 from this hand.

Earnings-to-date: $2411

Reloads At UltimateBet

UltimateBet has fairly frequent reload bonuses that come about once a month. Bonus money at UB never expires, so I like to take advantage of the reload offers by making a deposit and loading up on the bonus money for the time in the future when I might be playing at UB more often (probably when I've done all the PSO promos). You need to play a few hands after making a deposit for the reload, otherwise they may take away your bonus dollars. After several reloads over the past few months, I'm up about $116 including earned bonus money.

Earnings-to-date: $2158