Planet Mark's Blog. Thoughts, News And Strategy For Poker Tournaments Of All Size

Time Tournaments, Tokens, Updates And To-Do's

Mixed post today, loads going on as usual... Both for me and at the various poker sites. Going to start with my opinion of Time Tournaments at Pokerstars (not all positive, though the free entry deal helps!). After this I have some site update notices. I'm already on the record here as urging readers to follow the newest games and structures provided by online poker sites... What you will find is that new and recreational players are the ones who check out the new offerings (while the grinders might have a look, they are more 'sticky' with their tried and tested games).

This makes new games the softest, and anyone who is smart enough to see what adjustments to make will make a nice profit. This time I'm not going to cheer for the latest game.Time Tournaments are a fun variation, however in my opinion they are not going to keep people interested for long and, since the payout is limited, the big profits are probably not there.

Having said that, all Pokerstars players should be reloading $30 to get their free $5.50c Time Tournament token... this is a 'no brainer' if you have the cash available – a simple freeby. When you redesposit simply use the bonus code TIME and the token is automatically credited. (Quick note in case you do not have an account yet... You can claim your 100% welcome bonus, with bonus code STARS600 (Marketing Code = PSP3108 when you register) and then immediately deposit another $30 with bonus code TIME to get your token... this is valid up until the 28th October '11... Click This Link To Visit Pokerstars Now!)

For me, timed tournaments are too shallow stacked (you start with 1500 chips at BB100 ante 10). While some push-fold poker skills will give you an edge... skill is not the foremost asset here (aggression and being first in the pot will help you far more than hand reading!!). Key to my prediction that the novelty of these games will wear of fast is the payouts – while it is in theory possible to make a big profit from them, most of the wins will be small 2x to 5x your buy-in... one of the key lures of 'normal' tournaments for the average player is to hit that 100+ buy-in win. Timed tournaments probably will stay only with smaller fields and the inevitable set of regulars who will specialize in the new games. Just my 2c!

Party Poker Online Pokerfest

This is the first Party online poker event, and has some great extra prizes alongside a 2 week run of bigger online poker tournaments... This just started on the 23rd. With the loss of the FTOPS and UBOC recently this is a welcome addition – check out my article with the details here.

Site Updates Here At SNG Planet

I'm still plugging away through October trying to get this and several other sites freshened up. Latest to have a revamp was my Best Poker Sites Page, which has a new look based on the SNG Main. I cut the article list down by about 1/3rd – to reflect current changes and archive some of the older pieces. This week I'll do the same job with the MTT Main page, and continue with RU / DE and HU articles too. Lots of plans at the moment both for next year (which projects will it be!!) and for next month, when I will embark on a big update of both Omaha Planet and Rakeback-Planet. Until then – GL at the tables, Mark

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