I joined back Lucksacks poker this weekend and I have to say it is good to be back. I had a few games of Texas Holdem to settle back into the swing of things. I came 2nd , 3rd and 4th but the win eluded me until last night in a format that I know very little of.
What I find amazing with Lucksacks is that Hive, yes Hive, has its own functioning proper poker platform and there is nothing much said about it. I find that most of the crypto community are into poker. They like to take a little risk, they like a little flutter. So I think there is much more exposure that Lucksacks can get in this community as there is something there for everyone. Also the community are all pretty sound and I think they don't like to blow their own trumpet because they are humble. Salt of the earth.
The other thing is I earned more from the win last night in one game than anytime on Splinterlands or any other play to earn game. Poker is the perfect game for crypto so before anyone tries to invent new games, the traditional games are always the best to start with and there is expansion that could be done in these areas.
And the other great thing about winning last night was it was free to enter. So I won the guts of 20 Hive for free.
Thinking about a few of my network that would enjoy this would be @captainquack22 , @ablaze (if he isn't already) and @cryptoandcoffee (if he would try new things..... remember musings haha.)
I won the 35 Hive Omaha Hi Lo bi monthly last night after an epic 2 hour heads up battle with a good player called Jeff. I began the heads up with around 50k chips so Jeff was on the back foot for the entire time. He worried me a few times as he made his way back up to 30K chips but I think I was too far ahead going into it for him to threaten my big stacks.
It was my first time playing an Omaha competition actually so I was learning on the job so to speak but once you know how to play Texas Holdem them it's pretty easy.
There were 14 players last night which was a nice number for the prize money. I knocked out 6 players (sorry @snook and @thehive) which led to me large stack going into the final two heads up. I had Khrungbin playing on my headphones. My usual poker band so I was enjoying them again after years of poker sabbatical.
Lucksacks has decent players and it's like a little microcosm of a tournament with hundreds of players.
You have your super aggressive that you have to watch like a hawk.
You have your ultra conservative who would call with an AK suited and check until the end on a full house.
You have your angry players who go all in after a large hit.
Then you have your seasoned weathered players who change their game to suit the occasion and their stack size. It's great to see and I really enjoyed it.
My playing style is based on Dan Harrington's I would say. But I am more aggressive than him. I study the other players alot and I have to admit I do like to mess with the other players heads online.
I look for patterns and when an opponent raises ,calls or checks. The most important bit of advice is think about what cards your opponent have and why they are betting the way they are. The dreaded straight always used to catch me out but I have improved in this area.
I remember a few years ago a player complained on Discord because I knocked them out of a competition with weaker cards. I think I went with a 2 7 unsuited which I agree were probably the worst pairs in poker. He called me a fish (person who doesn't know how to play poker)and wanted me banned from the site. But both had a clear tell and I capitalised on it and he went mad.
But poker can't be coached. It's like a great footballer being coached. A great footballer shouldn't have to be coached. They might coach the greatness out of him.
Take poker for example and if you have an AK suited the right thing to do should be this this and this. 3 x big blind, twice the big blind blah blah blah. If everyone is coached into these things in poker, you will soon get to know what cards your opponent has. And this is where the more natural players will prevail.
I am not saying I am a great player but I have won a few tournaments in my day but I never really went further than this or played in any nationals. I prefer online poker than a casino and any winnings from poker goes to crypto so Lucksacks is right up my street.
Anyway I'm delighted this afternoon that I won the competition so I am entering another one later this evening and I would recommend having a go yourself. It's free. What's the worst that can happen?
A link to the Lucksacks is here