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

Planet Mark's Blog

Back, Books And Poker News!

Alright, back in my study after a relaxing week in Gran Canaria… As I mentioned before I left, beach holidays are not really my kind of thing. However, getting away from computer screens and catching up on some reading was great! Poker was the very last thing on my mind, and I banned myself from checking any of my business statistics too. This post is a mix, I’ll review a couple of stand out books read while away, then catch up on the poker news.

I Am Out – Fishmarket Is In!

Time for a short vacation, I am off for a week in Gran Canaria starting this evening. Not my favorite type of holiday… these beach type breaks are more for my good lady than for me… It is not that I really object or anything, just 2 minutes after sitting on a sunbed I want to get up and do something! Anyway, only for 1 week this time – you will not even notice I have gone! Meanwhile some excellent news, one of my all-time favorite promos has come back – in the form of the ‘Fishmarket’ at OnGame.

2 Big Poker Tournament Events And 1 Smallish Reload

September is always a great month to be an online poker fan. Sites who have been quiet for the summer come up with new promos to get people back to their tables – and the World Championship kicks of at Pokerstars! US Players also have a tournament event coming up, and there are some big events involved too – as Poker Maximus returns at Carbon Poker. Scroll down past the WCOOP part for this. I will start with the ‘WCOOP Reload’ at Pokerstars – Since most of you will already have an account there this is as close to ‘free money’ as you will find in the world of online poker in 2012!

Ken's Hand Of The Week - Turning A Made Hand Into A Bluff

star-smallOften times a player will have a made hand but as the play develops will overplay it to the point where it goes from the made hand to what can best be considered to be a bluff.  While there are certainly some valid situations where doing this is a wise move, often the player will not put enough thought into it and this therefore can turn into a bad move. The main reason why turning your hand into a bluff so often turns out badly is that as the hand develops, you may only be able to beat a bluff from your opponent, meaning that a high percentage of his or her range may be bluffs.

iPoker Network Warning: Withdraw From Smaller Skins *Now*

Well, I’m not usually one to be melodramatic – after 6 years in the poker business you end up kind of jaded to the news! This weekend I have been doing a lot of work on the upcoming iPoker Network split… and one thing has become very clear: A lot of smaller ‘VIP deal’ type skins are about to go broke, and I do not want to see SNG Planet readers (well, anyone really!) lose their bankrolls.

Reasons For Both Poker Players And Webmasters To Look Forward To Autumn 2012

Today is the national day of my adopted home, Hungary… and it’s a 35 degree C scorcher! I am doing the sensible thing and sitting in my air conditioned home office and working on websites. What is spurring me on at the moment is a little more than just the fact that I enjoy my lifestyle and the rewards that owning my sites give me – there is an element of clearing the decks for some big developments which will hit us as the Summer of 2012 draws to a close.

Party Poker Get On The Fast Poker Bandwagon

First there was Rush, then Zoom, then Speed Holdem – and now (drumroll please!) Fast-Forward Poker, the all new ‘pooled’ poker game from Party Poker. I just went for a test-drive at the lower limit tables, and actually liked the games (with a couple of small caveats). Here is an idea of what to expect, some screenshots of the new tables… and at the end my thoughts on how this compares to the other fast games out there.

My Love-Hate Relationship With Pokerstars, Part 38925

Back to one of my ‘pet’ topics for a post to end the week – Pokerstars. I do not often play poker during the week these days, running my websites has me in front of a computer all day, so I need to get away! This Tuesday I was at a loose end, feeling cheerful about the Full Tilt news, and decided to try a few 180 SNGs – what I found at the tables was kind of disturbing.