Some of you might be curious about PokerStrategy.com, but would rather want to ask some questions here inside your forum instead of looking for the answers directly at our web site.
To give you this chance, here's a thread with some more info & the chance to ask whatever you want to know. Xantos from PokerStrategy.com will try to answer all your questions.
But first, we try to give basic answers to the most common questions we encounter:
Q: What is PokerStrategy.com?
A: A poker school & community - i.e. a place where you can learn poker from the very basics to advanced levels. This is supported by a community with active forums in 18 different languages - because interaction & collaborative learning plays an important role in becoming a good poker player. On top of that, PokerStrategy.com offers you a way to start your career without risking your own money: on passing a quiz, you can get $50 on a poker room of your choice. And most successful players at PokerStrategy.com built their bankroll on just these initial $50.
Q: How do we teach poker?
A: PokerStrategy.com uses a mixture of articles about strategy, coaching videos (like commented first person VODs), live-coaching & discussions in the forums that are moderated by professionals. The basics are easy to teach - as the players on the micro limits where you should play with your $50 are on average pretty bad. To advance through the limits, you need some dedication & effort - but it's much easier to become a profitable poker player than to win the TSL. A small example for an instructional coaching video about the basics of tournament poker: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/video/5589
Q: Why do they offer $50 for free? Where's the catch?
A: Indeed it seems counter-intuitive how PokerStrategy.com can pay for the education & the services, be free & give you $50 on top of that. But as poker is played by hundreds of thousand of recreational players around the world, chances are that you will play profitable with your $50 with some minor learning effort.
If you do so, you will play long enough that PokerStrategy.com recovers their $50 investment into you by earning their share on the rake that the poker rooms take from players.
Q: I'm already an online poker player - what do they have to offer for me?
A: Even though the offer is most attractive for absolute newcomers, PokerStrategy.com also has some stuff to offer for experienced poker players. 600 coaching videos are released per month throughout the 18 languages. The forums offer professional hand judgments to improve your play. And the best: this comes at no direct or indirect cost to you. PokerStrategy.com offers the best possible rakeback, bonus deals, VIP systems & rake races on their partner poker rooms. To see an overview of their partners, visit: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/online-poker-rooms/ If you have a specific question or issue in mind - just ask here!
Do you teach full stack play @ nlhe cash or is it just all shortstacking like I've heard?
I can't see a point in teaching shortstacking as its boring, not as profitable and the only good thing it does is generate lots of rake (and rakeback).
Oh and as a member of other training sites (dc and cr), would you consider it to be worth it for me to sign-up, do you have something to offer the other sites dont?
edit: thank you for the answer below, I will look in to it more when its the time for me to consider playing on other pokersites than the ones im currently on.
Q: I am in the USA and it is really difficult for me to get involved with international poker websites. In fact I tried to start up on PokerStrategy and I wasn't able to transfer money over. Is this just a brick wall for Americans or is there ways around this?
im not quite sure of it, but afaik non-US gambling institutions are prohibited from offering there services in the US by US law (i could be wrong though but at least that was my impression)
On November 08 2009 22:34 Puosu wrote: Do you teach full stack play @ nlhe cash or is it just all shortstacking like I've heard?
I can't see a point in teaching shortstacking as its boring, not as profitable and the only good thing it does is generate lots of rake (and rakeback).
Oh and as a member of other training sites (dc and cr), would you consider it to be worth it for me to sign-up, do you have something to offer the other sites dont?
Hey Puosu,
Regarding shortstacking: it is true that we also teach shortstacking to beginners, as it is a safe way for a beginner to build his bankroll. But we also offer beginners the option to chose Fixed Limit or SNGs and soon also big stack strategy to start playing with their $50.
For advanced players, we have far less educational content on shortstacking than on the other game types.
Regarding comparison to DC/CR: DC & CR are great coaching sites for sure. The biggest difference lies in the concept, i.e. DC & CR are mainly subscription fee based while PokerStrategy.com is free, but you have to play on a tracked account.
Upsides of PokerStrategy.com: - available in 18 languages, not just English - live-coaching [audio-streaming with interaction] - professionally moderated hand judgement forums - free as long as you play on a tracked account - full rakeback / best bonus offers + rake races [$172k in November e.g.]
Upsides of DC/CR: - considering coaching videos in English language, I admit that DC & CR still have a edge on us. But we work on it - if you already have an account at all sites you like to play at, it's favourable to pay subscription instead of playing tracked to a specific affiliate
So all in all, it's safe to say that we're the by far best option for any beginner - but for advanced players, it needs to fit & you have to compare & think about the tracking possibilities you would have.
On November 08 2009 22:35 {88}iNcontroL wrote: Q: I am in the USA and it is really difficult for me to get involved with international poker websites. In fact I tried to start up on PokerStrategy and I wasn't able to transfer money over. Is this just a brick wall for Americans or is there ways around this?
Hey iNcontroL,
Sadly, we currently cannot allow members from the United States for legal reasons (maybe you heard about the UIGEA legislation). When a great player like you is ruled out by that situation, it makes me feel annoyed by that situation even more ;(
Maybe as a pre-emptive answer towards people that already play poker: the reason why in contrast to other coaching sites we take no subscription fee lies in our principle.
The principle is: It must not be a monetary disadvantage to use PokerStrategy.com.
It leads to the following consequences: 1. The $50 bankroll is free - but you have to pass a quiz & sometimes also an ID check [because we experience a lot of fraud on this offer, naturally] 2. All contents & services are free [but you have to play tracked] 3. Being tracked to PokerStrategy.com must be equal or better in monetary terms than other affiliates [so that even if at some point you do not feel our content & services add value for you, you do not regret of being tracked on us]
I have been curious about Pokerstrategy for a while now, i actually don't know a thing about poker i just heard about it about a year ago when you could play Mondragon or something similar when you signed up.
Anyway, i don't really have a question i just got even more interested now seeing as you're sponsoring TSL2
On November 08 2009 23:50 Stormer wrote: Do I need to make a new account on the poker site if I register to your site or can I just use my existing one for tracking?
In order to gather StrategyPoints & gain access to higher status content & services, you need to create a new account through us - either by getting our $50 offer or by using a self-deposit bonus if you're already an experienced poker player.
Sadly, near to no poker room allows retracking. Some might do it in singular cases, though.
Btw. as you're from Croatia: former Croatian StarCraft National Team player CLF.Wasp is also a member & earns his money with developing poker tools nowadays.
On November 08 2009 23:58 grobo wrote: I have been curious about Pokerstrategy for a while now, i actually don't know a thing about poker i just heard about it about a year ago when you could play Mondragon or something similar when you signed up.
If you don't know anything about poker, but are interested in it, we're the right choice.
Mondragon btw. spent an internship here at Gib this year. I hope he applies after he finishes his studies in 2010
I started playing poker though this site. i had to verify my Id with pictures of passport etc. but that just let me know that these guys were legit enough to actually ask questions when handing out "free" money it's a great resource in my esteem. glad to see you fellows using some of your $$$ for a good cause in supporting TSL.
Thanks for the answer, also, how long does it on average take to pass the quiz? And does this work in the manner that you get 50$ and then can get +100% or +200% from your affiliates? So 100$ or 150$ when registering? EDIT: How does legitimation work? Scan of passport?
On November 08 2009 23:50 Stormer wrote: Do I need to make a new account on the poker site if I register to your site or can I just use my existing one for tracking?
In order to gather StrategyPoints & gain access to higher status content & services, you need to create a new account through us - either by getting our $50 offer or by using a self-deposit bonus if you're already an experienced poker player.
Sadly, near to no poker room allows retracking. Some might do it in singular cases, though.
Btw. as you're from Croatia: former Croatian StarCraft National Team player CLF.Wasp is also a member & earns his money with developing poker tools nowadays.
On November 08 2009 23:58 grobo wrote: I have been curious about Pokerstrategy for a while now, i actually don't know a thing about poker i just heard about it about a year ago when you could play Mondragon or something similar when you signed up.
If you don't know anything about poker, but are interested in it, we're the right choice.
Mondragon btw. spent an internship here at Gib this year. I hope he applies after he finishes his studies in 2010
quiz took 5 minutes reading the guide took 10-15 i did not need to scan my passport but i take it this is not always the case, but i had a previous rudimentary knowledge of poker and it's terms.
i signed up about 6-7 hours ago and my account has now been credited with the $50, well $53 CAD lol exchange rates ftw.
the euro is raping the dollar right now so maybe ftl for quite a few of you.
I read the short staking strat, to sum it up be a nit. an EPIC nit, both in bank roll management and ranges with a heavy raise button. basically it capitalizes on thee simple fact that in micros people somehow get it into their heads that you might be pushing all in with k 4 simply to push them around
one thing I'd like to ask PS guys though; seeing as SSS is simply a structured way that gets people in the game to see hands whilst building a BR. do you guys have a quality method on segueing out of that mentality( short stacker) easily into a deep stack cash game mentality seeing as this is more profitable ( for a competent player) specially at higher stakes?
edit:
On November 09 2009 00:49 Sfydjklm wrote: *snip*
If it was so requested could Strafe provide 10k worth of thai hookers to the winner instead?
On November 09 2009 00:21 Stormer wrote: Thanks for the answer, also, how long does it on average take to pass the quiz? And does this work in the manner that you get 50$ and then can get +100% or +200% from your affiliates? So 100$ or 150$ when registering? EDIT: How does legitimation work? Scan of passport?
Quiz If you take an hour to read through the articles, you already should have a good chance of passing the quiz. Also note that while taking the quiz, you can still browse the articles where the answers are basically included. The goal is not to test whether you're already a great player - but to test if you're willing to invest a little time and crawl through written stuff you need to know to beat poker.
$50 Bonus You get the $50 on conditions that vary slightly from poker room to poker room [you have the choice where to get them]. What you get on top: - first deposit bonus in case you already play poker and deposit own money to play higher limits [this bonus is usually the best available deposit bonus for this poker room] - best rakeback / bonus deals available for that poker room
ID Check / Legitimation You might need to pass an ID check before getting the $50. The type varies - common is to send in an ID card scan (you can anonymize stuff such as the ID card number). The goal is to find out that you do not get the $50 for the 10th time [sadly, some professional fraudsters try to get the $50 for a thousand times].
^ can't you just not use IP tracking to each account and ban repeat accounts, similar to what TL does (on occasion)?
oh and they have a video with a sexy British accent as an alternative to reading the article, although through reading it you have little mini quiz sections which will help crystallize the information.
On November 09 2009 00:52 Etherone wrote: quiz took 5 minutes reading the guide took 10-15 i did not need to scan my passport but i take it this is not always the case, but i had a previous rudimentary knowledge of poker and it's terms.
i signed up about 6-7 hours ago and my account has now been credited with the $50, well $53 CAD lol exchange rates ftw.
uh that's quick
I read the short staking strat, to sum it up be a nit. an EPIC nit, both in bank roll management and ranges with a heavy raise button. basically it capitalizes on thee simple fact that in micros people somehow get it into their heads that you might be pushing all in with k 4 simply to push them around
Yep. In the beginning, it is important to maximise the survival rate of the beginner while still him having an edge over the other players.
This is so important as we do not want the average guy needing to deposit own money. The goal is to use those $50 to build your entire bankroll - and that worked quite well for a lot of people (esp. German StarCraft players are overrepresented in our must successful member group ).
But starting with Fixed Limit / SNGs is also possible - and there, the starting strategies are not as defensive.
one thing I'd like to ask PS guys though; seeing as SSS is simply a structured way that gets people in the game to see hands whilst building a BR. do you guys have a quality method on segueing out of that mentality( short stacker) easily into a deep stack cash game mentality seeing as this is more profitable ( for a competent player) specially at higher stakes?
I hope I get your question right, if not, please help
Well, of course it is never too easy to switch strategies. But as our players learn to play the SSS for a specific reason, most of them that are motivated also see that the strategy is just a vehicle to reach your goals. Many even see switching to big stack as a goal on NL25 that motivates them while playing NL10 SSS.
We will also introduce a Big Stack Beginner Strategy soon - we already tested it in the German community and it seems to work quite well not only in theory, but also in practice for the beginner limits.
On November 09 2009 00:49 Sfydjklm wrote: What exactly does Mynock do? How come i never knew we share same first name?
Mynock is currently taking care for our newly launched Japanese Community.
On November 09 2009 00:59 Etherone wrote: ^ can't you just not use IP tracking to each account and ban repeat accounts, similar to what TL does (on occasion)?
We also use IP tracking, cookie tracking etc.pp. - and that works to fend of a lot of people that just went broke on NL50 in 2 hands and want to get a second shot.
But for the professional fraudsters, you need more sophisticated methods - they would probably laugh about IP tracking only.
oh and they have a video with a sexy British accent as an alternative to reading the article, although through reading it you have little mini quiz sections which will help crystallize the information.
I will pass the compliments to Lisa And you're right: both reading + viewing the video are complementary to each other & improve the learning curve.
Apparently 37% of Teamliquid is American. (I got this from the thread where Google gives you information about websites). The fact that despite this you are willing to sponsor the TSL2 warms my heart.
On November 09 2009 01:47 RaGe wrote: If I sign up using one deal (for example free 50 bucks), and you have a rakeback deal on that website later on, is it possible to switch deals?
I am not entirely sure what you mean. The free $50 we offer is not a deal. You should consider it your starting capital. With this money you can learn how to play without a risk. Receiving this will never mean that you don't get the best deal out there, i.e. rakeback.
We offer the maximum rakeback on each affiliate regardless. And we even top it off with free content and lots of bonuses.
If you choose to play on room A, you can always later play on room B. As long as you create your accounts through our website.
Does that answer your question?
On November 09 2009 01:58 538 wrote: Since you seem to be so keen about reaching out to newcomers, could you elaborate on what the terms "tracking" and "tracked account" actually mean?
Having a tracked account is the following: We are an affiliate site. This means that we refer players to rooms where you can play poker. As a return for bringing the poker room traffic, we receive a share of the rake that you and everyone else pays.
Tracking means that the poker room can see it was us that referred you. As soon as it's established that you are a referred player from PokerStrategy.com, you have a tracked account.
On November 09 2009 01:47 RaGe wrote: If I sign up using one deal (for example free 50 bucks), and you have a rakeback deal on that website later on, is it possible to switch deals?
With a $50 account, you have the same advantages like with other accounts. At most poker rooms, you even still have the first deposit bonus besides your free $50.
This means: if there is legal rakeback at a poker room, we offer it for all accounts, including recipients of the $50.
So you do not need to switch deals, but always get the full benefit. It is one of our most important principles that you must never regret having tracked yourself on PokerStrategy.com.
On November 09 2009 01:58 538 wrote: Since you seem to be so keen about reaching out to newcomers, could you elaborate on what the terms "tracking" and "tracked account" actually mean?
Of course!
Tracking means that - by clicking on a link on our homepage and/or entering our bonus code at the poker room - you indicate to the poker operator that PokerStrategy.com referred you to them.
In consequence, we get money from the poker operator. Kind of like Google gets money from the sites it delivers traffic to with the AdWords - or Team Liquid gets money for the servers etc. with banners.
In order to get the $50 and use all other offers on PokerStrategy.com, you need to create an account on one of our partner poker rooms that is 'tracked' on us. That means that if you e.g. already have a real money account at PokerStars, you will not be able to track yourself on PokerStrategy.com there - as this kind of tracking is lifetime & PokerStars does not want to pay us for a customer they already have.
Q: Why is it forbidden for United States users to just take your training course? I thought that online gambling with money held in America was the problem, not poker sites in general?
Q: Judging from your answer to InControl, you don't accept US users... Is it possible to have an account created by someone outside the US and played by a US player? Hypothetically speaking of course (:
On November 09 2009 02:53 fanatacist wrote: Q: Why is it forbidden for United States users to just take your training course? I thought that online gambling with money held in America was the problem, not poker sites in general?
Of course you can read the site and also read through basic articles etc. - but for legal reasons, we do not accept US customers, neither for our free $50 offer nor for self-depositors.
I'd prefer it would be different, too - believe me. But we decided to stay on the 100% white side here.
Q: Judging from your answer to InControl, you don't accept US users... Is it possible to have an account created by someone outside the US and played by a US player? Hypothetically speaking of course (:
If we find out, we must not allow this.
Q: Are there any age requirements?
Yep, you must be 18 to sign-up at PokerStrategy.com. This is the age restriction for most online poker rooms, anyway.
Alright, thanks (: Sadly I can't join then, and I don't want to put you guys in bad legal territory by circumventing your rules. Good luck with the website and thank you for your sponsorship and active feedback!
Are you allowed to withdraw the 50 dollar starting money ? Or do you have to get some kinds of VIP points to set it free ?
Already got a PS account so i intent to open a fulltilt account. I know with pokerstars you have to free the bonus by earing enough FPP's. Basicly im wondering how long youre stuck with the site before you can withdraw.
actually never mind i've read the conditions on the forum. I dont think i will bothering with the 50 dollar. ive been playing PS for about half a year and have only collected 300 points. i will never clear the bonus fast enough without it being removed.
Yeah, but im kidna used to PS now and i'll just go on there for now. If i ever start up on another site i will propably use your service.
Also the small stack and going all in would greatly increase your FPP generation since its easier to get FPP's on a table you just joined.
I do like playing small stack. I however feel that the small stack strategy isnt a good way to start playing. i think every hand should be played based upon the situation. I dont believe just mindlesly following a guide to play hands is a good basic to teach.
however it is most likely quite profitable, you should not stick with it for the long run.
Of course you should not stick with it in the long run - and even the few that continue to play some type of short stack strategy on higher limits need to learn & improve and make educated decisions based on opponents etc.
But as a beginner, it's important that you learn to play disciplined - and short stack strategy allows you to formulate a simple rule set that on micro limits already is profitable. So you gather your experience and build your bankroll while already playing profitably.
While that, you should of course continue to read advanced materials, discuss your hands in the forum, watch videos etc to improve & start to play more 'thinking'
Imagine like the micro limits are StarCraft in 1998 - teach someone how to make a 3gate zealot build & he will win most of his games, even if he's a newbie.
the reason you "should" not stick to it in the long run is that at higher limits it is simply more profitable to be a thinking player and that means extracting thin value.
small stacking is very annoying to encounter because it is so effective, and it gives players the opportunity to see a lot of hands and get a feel for what some tendencies are, that they may later exploit without getting them into marginal situations. IMO
@xantos the core of what i want to know is do you have a guide or method made specifically to make that transition from short stack to deep stack play easier.
also another question. on average how many hours would you expect it would take to clear the bonus at PP playing .. say 4 tables?
edit: i should stop writing reply posts and then wandering off only to click post 10 minutes later when the question has been answered lol
Is the limitation on your site for US people geographically based? For example, someone who lived in the US but is a citizen of some European country is also restricted? (it looks like that's the case, but just confirming that even if someone could provide ID from another country they wouldn't be allowed )
On November 09 2009 04:56 Kyuki wrote: Q: Your site says 50+100$, and I've been trying to figure out what this "+100$" is, and how you actually get it?
It is an additional bonus we give on certain poker rooms and depending on the poker room there are different requirements which need to be met. Please also keep in mind we do not offer it on all poker rooms. More information can be found in the download instructions of the respective poker room http://www.pokerstrategy.com/quiz/platform/
On November 09 2009 04:10 Etherone wrote: @xantos the core of what i want to know is do you have a guide or method made specifically to make that transition from short stack to deep stack play easier.
also another question. on average how many hours would you expect it would take to clear the bonus at PP playing .. say 4 tables?
I cannot give you exact numbers right now, but with 4 tables, it should be easy doable within the period. With 1 tabling, you probably need to continuously play for 1-2 h / day, but that's what you should anyways in the first time (on average) to get some basic training/experience alongside the educational stuff.
On November 09 2009 04:56 Kyuki wrote: Q: Your site says 50+100$, and I've been trying to figure out what this "+100$" is, and how you actually get it?
The "+$100" is a little misleading (that's why we currently remove it from the site), as it is not available on all the poker rooms.
But: on all poker rooms you've got the best bonus system/rakeback that's allowed on top, e.g. 27% rakeback on Full Tilt + rake race etc.pp.
@US issue: This situation is absolutely bad. I'm really sorry for not being able to accept them, because I hate disappointing anyone with our website / offers.
Sorry, as a complete beginner to this, can you maybe explain exactly how rake and rakeback works? I read on wikipedia a bit about rake, in that it is a percentage of each pot that the poker room takes, but how large is this percentage on average, and how does rakeback work?
That said, I've signed up now. My exams end in 10 days, and then I'll have months of free time to learn poker a bit better
About Rake Yes, the poker room takes a share of each pot in cash game. It varies by limit & poker room, but 3-5% is a rule of thumb. On micro stakes, the rake is higher, but the players are also worse.
Beating the Rake To make a profit on playing, you do not just need to beat the other players, but you need to beat them by such a margin you're also profitable after rake. Compare that to having not just 51% winrate at ICCup, but 55%+. As tournament rake is easiest to understand, I give you an example on it: Let's take $1+.20 Sit'n'Goes on some poker room. 10 people pay $1.20, and the prize pool is $10, the poker room earns $2. If you would now have random placements as your results, you would in average lose 20 cents per tourney. But as you play better & try to improve, you will in average win maybe 5 or 10. On higher limits, the rake is much lower (on ultra high stakes, even neglegible), but the opponents are tougher.
What's the Rake used for? Most importantly: do big marketing so that there are enough casual players around that you can win against
Rakeback Rakeback is a scheme that gives you a certain amount of your rake back on a monthly/weekly or some other basis. It can be either very simple, such as on Full Tilt Poker you get 27% back (also through us ), but it also can be more complicated. In the more complicated cases, It's mostly not called 'rakeback' but 'bonus scheme' or 'VIP system', but in essence it's the same: depending on your playing volume, you get money form the poker room back, which helps building your bankroll.
But be cautious not to overvalue the relevance of rakeback. Stupid example: the poker room could double the rakeback and give you 50% rakeback instead of 0%. Makes a difference for you? Not really.
Many players are too focused on rakeback & bonuses - and in the course, they forget that in the end, it is just their skill edge that gives them winnings. Of course rakeback is an important factor - but it's definately not like in any case a poker room with 40% rakeback is better than a poker room with 20% rakeback.
I know this has been asked like four times already, but I'd like to know more about the exclusion of the US. Is there anyone who can provide more information about the US legislation concerning this?
First of all, thanks for doing this for us and the SC community.
I also have a question:
I signed up on PokerStrategy.com like 10 years ago and I don't even remember my username/password. I assume I'm not allowed to sign up with a new account, am I? Because I really enjoyed the articles from what I can remember.
Oh and this goes to Robje:
When are we going to dagon things to oblivion again, man? You so busy :D
@PH: US legislation on the matters are quite complex. The UIGEA is federal I guess, but does only attack payment providers - so players won't have an issue with that. Also state law does not really afflict you as a a player. So basically you can play on the poker rooms that operate on the US without doing something illegal - the question is rather: do these poker rooms do something illegal or not?
All public listed poker rooms got out of the US, such as PartyPoker, iPoker network, 888 etc. - they all do not accept US customers. Still, the US it the biggest market for online poker.
It's a question on how your lawyers advise you. We prefer to stay in the white zone - the poker rooms that operate in the US seem to be okay with the grey zone.
On November 08 2009 23:50 Stormer wrote: Do I need to make a new account on the poker site if I register to your site or can I just use my existing one for tracking?
In order to gather StrategyPoints & gain access to higher status content & services, you need to create a new account through us - either by getting our $50 offer or by using a self-deposit bonus if you're already an experienced poker player.
just thought i'd get a bit more clarification on this. so if i have an account on pokerstars already, its fine if i create another account via your site?
and this is probably more related to the individual poker room/site, but if i were to make another account on pokerstars, will i be able to transfer my current munny to the new account without too much hassle? (ie, will they do ip or identity checks/whatnot to make sure that i'm not some scammer. or maybe they wouldn't be too happy with having to give your site rake now when i was already an existing customer?)
if you already have an account at PokerStars, you will not be able to 'retrack' this account to PokerStrategy.com in order to gather StrategyPoints.
You would have to open a new account on some other poker room through PokerStrategy.com to do that.
PokerStars and other poker rooms do not allow opening up a second account, and I would also not advise to do that 'hidden' - it's against the PokerStars T&C and you risk both your accounts & bankroll with it.
On November 08 2009 23:50 Stormer wrote: Do I need to make a new account on the poker site if I register to your site or can I just use my existing one for tracking?
In order to gather StrategyPoints & gain access to higher status content & services, you need to create a new account through us - either by getting our $50 offer or by using a self-deposit bonus if you're already an experienced poker player.
just thought i'd get a bit more clarification on this. so if i have an account on pokerstars already, its fine if i create another account via your site?
and this is probably more related to the individual poker room/site, but if i were to make another account on pokerstars, will i be able to transfer my current munny to the new account without too much hassle? (ie, will they do ip or identity checks/whatnot to make sure that i'm not some scammer. or maybe they wouldn't be too happy with having to give your site rake now when i was already an existing customer?)
look forward to learning more about poker!
Exactly, they would not be interested in paying us for a customer they already have, thus signing up again on the same poker room (that you already have an account on) is unfortunately not possible. You are however free to take the starting capital or the starting deposit bonus offer on another site that we support.
ah k. also just wondering, is there a certain minimum activity on the tracked account that you require? what's stopping people from just getting the 50$, withdrawing it and not playing anymore?
On November 09 2009 19:21 pangshai wrote: ah k. also just wondering, is there a certain minimum activity on the tracked account that you require? what's stopping people from just getting the 50$, withdrawing it and not playing anymore?
Yes, in order to acquire the right to cash-out the $50, you will have to earn a certain amount of points within a certain amount of time on the room you play. For example, the requirements for the $50 on the site Partypoker would be as follows:
All you have to do is earn 300 PartyPoints* within 90 days and the $50 are all yours. If you fail to earn the 300 PartyPoints in the allotted time, you will lose the $50 bonus, but you can keep what you have won.
I have an account on pokerstars as well, however Ive never deposited any money. I just played in freerolls and play money. A little while back they gave me 2 dollars as a gift and I promptly lost that Could I make a new account with you guys considering that Im yet to deposit anything on my original account? Or would they still consider that multi-accounting?
Also, thanks for sponsering TSL 2, Im really looking forward to it
On November 09 2009 18:53 PH wrote: I know this has been asked like four times already, but I'd like to know more about the exclusion of the US. Is there anyone who can provide more information about the US legislation concerning this?
information is kinda scattered all over the place... theres a few big threads in twoplustwo.com in the poker legislation forums. To sum it up the us government passed a bill called the UIGEA that prohibits banks from dealing transactions with online gambling sites(nothing to do with the legality of playing, just getting money to and from). The sites that support US players jump through hoops using payment processors, while other sites have just stopped accepting US players out of fear and legal troubles to stand up for the game of skill that poker is and clearly say that its a game of skill and theres no more luck involved then golf,bowling,baseball, starcraft,etc... when played properly. The UIGEA goes into full effect on december 1st 2009.
on the bright side there are several groups like the PPA and a few politicians trying to change that. Despite it being an uphill battle that is slowly gaining momentum, they are having victories but are still a long ways off. IE a few court victories with the judge ruling that poker is a game of skill and not gambling thus legal by in that area.
that about sums it up, without giving to much of a wall of text. hope that helps some of the newer US players understand whats going on without to much reading.
Hey what's up, thanks for responding to the other thread.
Yes, I am indeed a poster on the "other site", but I definitely have no "allegiance" to their website and if anything I think the thread Mason Malmuth created was hysterical because all it does is boost your traffic and I don't see why that is even news for the "other site." Anyways:
1) Would you say your site is "unethical?" -You require your users to constantly revisit the site to retake the quiz, when perhaps many are not interested in your content at all but the $100 - $150 promotion. The temp ip restriction demonstrates this. -You omit the fact US players are not allowed, despite being the 10th most popular country visiting your site. -You omit the fact that a $50 bonus requires 500 vpp, which equates to PAYING $240 in rake. $50 is a very small bankroll even with shortstacking. Shortstacking can be high variance. Most players won't be multitabling so they will be grinding for months. -You ruin microstakes poker by mind controlling all european players into shortstacking -You have to "unlock" content, when the content is available for free on many other sites. Example, the platinum level content "Squeeze play." -Playing ABC 123 TAG at 5NL with a $50 bankroll not only has LESS variance, but involves some actual poker skill and will result in a higher win rate. Your site is called pokerstrategy.com right? Shortstacking 10nl is not good for beginners, it won't teach them to be a decent winning player pushing 77+ or whatever, but translates to more revenue for the poker sites which means more money for you.
How is this not a scam? You are purposely misleading the bulk of your traffic. Other than that, I like the rest of your site and its expansive content and features, it definitely beats out the "other site" in terms of basics for beginners, but beyond 50nl I can't really comment.
I found Pokerstrategy very useful despite the fact that i got no bonus from them, didn't even try to, and the only section I am allowed to view currently is beginner, which is all about shortstacking. The point is that most players at the micros and a lot at all limits play shortstacked so getting an insight into their thinking(errr, what they ought to be thinking...) gives me an opportunity to construct a strategy against them.
Shortstacking is viewed as bad and simplistic and short-sighted by the poker communities such as 2+2 and threads are trolled, OPers are looked down upon. I share this view. Playing short we give away post flop play, that's where the edge is! IMO you really need to rewrite the cash game guides, this all belongs to mtt/sng.
On November 09 2009 23:30 50bani wrote: I found Pokerstrategy very useful despite the fact that i got no bonus from them, didn't even try to, and the only section I am allowed to view currently is beginner, which is all about shortstacking. The point is that most players at the micros and a lot at all limits play shortstacked so getting an insight into their thinking(errr, what they ought to be thinking...) gives me an opportunity to construct a strategy against them.
Shortstacking is viewed as bad and simplistic and short-sighted by the poker communities such as 2+2 and threads are trolled, OPers are looked down upon. I share this view. Playing short we give away post flop play, that's where the edge is! IMO you really need to rewrite the cash game guides, this all belongs to mtt/sng.
You couldn't be more right. Poker is about taking money from the fish, if you aren't buying in full stacked, you are only hurting yourself. If you're playing games where the players have an edge on you, then it's fine (Mark Vos playing at nosebleeds).
I've been playing poker as a hobby for some time now, on pokerstars and I have a few bucks there. Would it be possible to combine that and 50$ you're giving for a bigger "deposit" bonus, on full tilt poker for example?
Is it possible to get an existing account tracked to unlocked the strategy articles? Ive recently started poker (around 3 months ago) and have come across pokerstrategy.com before. I've completed the quiz before but was disappointed that you needed to pick a new site in order to gain these benifits.
In before Lutz, although he could explain it a lot better, I will give some simple answers.
On November 09 2009 23:25 PokePill wrote: Hey what's up, thanks for responding to the other thread.
Yes, I am indeed a poster on the "other site", but I definitely have no "allegiance" to their website and if anything I think the thread Mason Malmuth created was hysterical because all it does is boost your traffic and I don't see why that is even news for the "other site." Anyways:
1) Would you say your site is "unethical?" -You require your users to constantly revisit the site to retake the quiz, when perhaps many are not interested in your content at all but the $100 - $150 promotion. The temp ip restriction demonstrates this.
I honestly do not see anything unethical with PS.com. We're pretty upfront and transparent with everything we do, you just have to take the time and look around the site - it's all there. As Lutz already explained, our site is best for absolute beginners, and most of the structure/offers reflect this. If someone is merely interested in a good first deposit bonus, they will find the best possible offers at our site anyway. If you happen to find a better (legitimate) offer anywhere else on the internet, please let us know and we will look into improving ourselves.
-You omit the fact US players are not allowed, despite being the 10th most popular country visiting your site.
The US-restriction is actually stated quite prominently on the site in several places (during the registration, and during the poker-room selection as well), please see example: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/online-poker-rooms/ (top of the page, next to the USA flag)
-You omit the fact that a $50 bonus requires 500 vpp, which equates to PAYING $240 in rake. $50 is a very small bankroll even with shortstacking. Shortstacking can be high variance. Most players won't be multitabling so they will be grinding for months.
The very first thing our site will teach you about poker (apart from the rules) is bankroll management. With proper bankroll management it is rather difficult to lose the starting capital through SSS, not to mention there are also other poker-variants we offer teaching material on (like SnGs and FL, which do not have the SSS), in fact the most prominently promoted and suggested variant for beginners on our site is FL.
-You ruin microstakes poker by mind controlling all european players into shortstacking
Again, there are other variants we offer as the starting choice, not to mention the biggest European community - German - already has a choice to begin their poker carrier with our Full Stack Strategy articles, and the other languages are soon to follow.
-You have to "unlock" content, when the content is available for free on many other sites. Example, the platinum level content "Squeeze play."
Of course you can read about poker strategies on many sites, just like you can find a lot of content written about BW everywhere on the internet. Yet, if you are looking for definite quality, you will probably look for sites that you can trust, like TL in regards to BW, and I can only say the same about pokerstrategy.com. In addition to the articles pokerstrategy.com also offers video materials on a wide range of stakes, as well as private coaching, community boards, etc, etc...
-Playing ABC 123 TAG at 5NL with a $50 bankroll not only has LESS variance, but involves some actual poker skill and will result in a higher win rate. Your site is called pokerstrategy.com right? Shortstacking 10nl is not good for beginners, it won't teach them to be a decent winning player pushing 77+ or whatever, but translates to more revenue for the poker sites which means more money for you.
For absolute beginners to poker, who are intimidated by just sitting down to the table with real money, I think it is a very good solution to teach them the ropes without having them to put anything at risk. They will quickly learn to understand what's going on at the table, understand the strengths and weaknesses of some hands, and learn basic discipline that is so important for poker play.The SSS is also a very good way to increase your initial bankroll to a level that is more profitable and simply more entertaining to play.
How is this not a scam? You are purposely misleading the bulk of your traffic. Other than that, I like the rest of your site and its expansive content and features, it definitely beats out the "other site" in terms of basics for beginners, but beyond 50nl I can't really comment.
I don't quite understand where we are misleading anyone, or in fact, are hiding any of the information. The business model can be found quite prominently and readily available on our site: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/businessmodel/.
Well, I hope that cleared up some of your questions, but if you still have the impression that our offers are just "scam", please feel free to point out what I may have missed.
On November 09 2009 23:56 IMlemon wrote: Hello. A question if possible.
I've been playing poker as a hobby for some time now, on pokerstars and I have a few bucks there. Would it be possible to combine that and 50$ you're giving for a bigger "deposit" bonus, on full tilt poker for example?
Thanks.
Hey IMlemon!
Currently, we try to make sure that on all poker rooms, you still have the best possible first deposit bonus even after recieving our $50 bankroll.
Example Mansion Poker (iPoker network): you pass the quiz & get our $50 bonus - but still have the chance to make use of our 200% up to $600 deposit bonus [if you're an experienced poker player].
On November 09 2009 23:58 Rhaegar99 wrote: Is it possible to get an existing account tracked to unlocked the strategy articles? Ive recently started poker (around 3 months ago) and have come across pokerstrategy.com before. I've completed the quiz before but was disappointed that you needed to pick a new site in order to gain these benifits.
Sadly, that's not possible in the utmost majority of cases. You would need to switch to a new site - but as we offer 15 different poker rooms and amongst them the 8 most important ones, this should be doable for most people.
On November 09 2009 23:58 Rhaegar99 wrote: Is it possible to get an existing account tracked to unlocked the strategy articles? Ive recently started poker (around 3 months ago) and have come across pokerstrategy.com before. I've completed the quiz before but was disappointed that you needed to pick a new site in order to gain these benifits.
Sadly, that's not possible in the utmost majority of cases. You would need to switch to a new site - but as we offer 15 different poker rooms and amongst them the 8 most important ones, this should be doable for most people.
Lutz
I have an idle account on FTP which i created just to look around. Is it possible to use that account/poker room? Or must you be unregistered to a new poker room?
On November 09 2009 23:58 Rhaegar99 wrote: Is it possible to get an existing account tracked to unlocked the strategy articles? Ive recently started poker (around 3 months ago) and have come across pokerstrategy.com before. I've completed the quiz before but was disappointed that you needed to pick a new site in order to gain these benifits.
Sadly, that's not possible in the utmost majority of cases. You would need to switch to a new site - but as we offer 15 different poker rooms and amongst them the 8 most important ones, this should be doable for most people.
Lutz
I have an idle account on FTP which i created just to look around. Is it possible to use that account/poker room? Or must you be unregistered to a new poker room?
What you could do in this case is contact the support of Full Tilt Poker and ask them to retrack your account. They still won't allow it in most cases, but sometimes when you haven't used your account in a very long time and you never played with real money, they will.
Send an email to support@fulltiltpoker.com with your registered email on their site and ask them to retrack you to PokerStrategy.com
Why don't you teach PLO8? Despite the game being more difficult to learn I think it has the lowest risk of ruin at this time out of all the games offered on most pokerrooms. I built up a $5 roll to workable proportions on several websites and I'd probably have gone broke over and over if I hadn't been playing PLO8.
PLO8 and other variants may be an option for the future. We started out by just offering fixed limit. When popularity for an other game becomes bigger, we might take it on.
So far we haven't received enough interest to add PLO8 though. PLO8 is fairly limited in traffic compared to the other variants we offer.
I need 300 party points on Partypoker.com to clear the $50. How do I get party points and how long would this take? How much rake to I have do pay? How much money do I have to earn to pay that much rake?
So I signed up and I'm waiting for the $50 to clear. How long does it normally take to get enough points to keep my $50 if I play, say 1 hour a day? I already have a basic knowledge of poker and is considered decent for a random guy I guess lol (when I play with friends)
Do you tell your customers that poker died a year ago and there's no more money left in it? The games are completely dead. the fish all left and now all that's left is break even rb pros who are going to be broke in a couple of years. I would stay the fuck away from poker, it's so brutal and not worth it. Even if you do make it to the levels that compete with a real job you're going to be facing all the people that moved down because of how insanely tough the games have gotten thanks to sites liked pokerstrategy that showed the fish how to play.
I did some searching on the PartyPoker website and I found that to get 10 Party points, I need to play 380 hands at $0.05/$0.10. So to get the 300 points I need to clear the $50, I have to play 11,400 hands.
On November 10 2009 08:48 SearingShadow wrote: I need 300 party points on Partypoker.com to clear the $50. How do I get party points and how long would this take? How much rake to I have do pay? How much money do I have to earn to pay that much rake?
You get party points automatically by playing any game for which you pay rake. How long it takes and how much you have to rake depends on the variant you choose.
Let's say you choose fixed limit. Then assuming you start on the lowest limit $0.02/$0.04, you will get 10 PartyPoints for every 700 hands you are dealt in which rake is collected. I have honestly no idea how much rake in $ that would be, but it does not seem very relevant to me. Your goal is not to unlock that $50. That $50 is just to help you get started to aim much higher.
There is no amount of money you have to earn to pay that much rake. The trick is to beat the rake by beating your opponent a little bit harder. And that on the micro stakes is barely a hard thing to do. Which is what we teach.
On November 10 2009 08:50 infinity21 wrote: So I signed up and I'm waiting for the $50 to clear. How long does it normally take to get enough points to keep my $50 if I play, say 1 hour a day? I already have a basic knowledge of poker and is considered decent for a random guy I guess lol (when I play with friends)
Depending on the amount of tables you play. If you play only two tables you still play about 200 hands per hour. This would mean 6,000 hands per month (which is very little). That then means you get 90 PartyPoker points, so you would need about 3 months to clear it that way.
On November 10 2009 08:53 SanguineToss wrote: So wait.... if ur in canada u can sign up for this?
Definitely. Unfortunately the only restriction is for US citizens.
On November 10 2009 08:57 Audiohelper123 wrote: Do you tell your customers that poker died a year ago and there's no more money left in it? The games are completely dead. the fish all left and now all that's left is break even rb pros who are going to be broke in a couple of years. I would stay the fuck away from poker, it's so brutal and not worth it. Even if you do make it to the levels that compete with a real job you're going to be facing all the people that moved down because of how insanely tough the games have gotten thanks to sites liked pokerstrategy that showed the fish how to play.
We don't tell our customers that. Our more experienced customers would think we are joking. Basically poker isn't dead one bit. If you look closely at the numbers it's still booming. I can provide you plenty of evidence: PokerStars keeps hitting records for most users online and biggest tournaments ever. Recent ones all late 2009. Sites like Full Tilt Poker keep growing and Party Poker is making a terrific rebound. None of their numbers indicate any sign of slowing down the boom. Every European Poker Tournament beats the number of participants from last year, while the buy-ins just keep getting bigger.
Sure the games get tougher. Do you think that Starcraft in 2009 is as easy to beat as Starcraft 1999? It's a natural progress, but there will always be better players than others. Poker is like Starcraft a skill game. It might use different skills, but they relate very closely. If you are better than the rest, you will always be. No matter how much the bad players improve. Besides Darvin Moon is now playing heads-up in the World Series of Poker for $8,500,000. Yes eight and a half million. He doesn't even have a computer and we surely did not taught him how to play. New players will always be around, get lucky and spread the wealth to superior players.
If you say it's not worth it then that's entirely personal. I could give you testimonies of hundreds, maybe thousands of people from just last month that we educated that will disagree.
On November 10 2009 09:39 SearingShadow wrote: I did some searching on the PartyPoker website and I found that to get 10 Party points, I need to play 380 hands at $0.05/$0.10. So to get the 300 points I need to clear the $50, I have to play 11,400 hands.
That is correct, I believe. Just to give you an idea: I'm working full time lately, but I've played on Saturday and Sunday. In those two days I played a combined total of 7,200 hands. Obviously this is not possible for a bigger, but just showing that number isn't very high.
On November 10 2009 10:05 d_so wrote: soo i'm an american living in korea for the next year. can i play?
btw i failed the quiz and am now studying hard... thanks for all this great material!
If you have proof that you live in Korea, I think you can. It's best to wait for Lutz(Xantos) to answer this one in the morning (Euro time) to be entirely sure though.
On November 10 2009 08:50 infinity21 wrote: So I signed up and I'm waiting for the $50 to clear. How long does it normally take to get enough points to keep my $50 if I play, say 1 hour a day? I already have a basic knowledge of poker and is considered decent for a random guy I guess lol (when I play with friends)
Depending on the amount of tables you play. If you play only two tables you still play about 200 hands per hour. This would mean 6,000 hands per month (which is very little). That then means you get 90 PartyPoker points, so you would need about 3 months to clear it that way.
Ok, thanks. I think I can play a lot more hands if I stick to the short stack strategy guide. It seems pretty straight-forward. I'm sure I'll be able to play 4 tables pretty quickly once I get used to how much I should bet and be able to play more than 7 hours per week on average. I'm more concerned about actually improving as a player but I understand I'll need the experience of playing a lot of hands (and smarter opponents) before I can start incorporating higher level thinking into my play.
I would personally always suggest to never play too many tables. I could for example play up to 16 tables, but I wouldn't learn a thing and have a minimal winrate. When I play at 4 tables, which is only 25% of my capacity I leave plenty of room to think and evolve as a player. I will always recommend everyone to do the same.
Keep thinking about your game. Going in to robotic mode is very dangerous for your progress as a player.
Fair enough. It's just that the SSS outlined on the site is pretty darn strict and the only gripe I have about this is that it always says "oh, I'm sure you're tempted to do X but in the long run, Y will pay out better". I'm sure it's true but it doesn't really explain why -- which is what I'm interested in so I can vary my play if I think there's a good reason to. I guess I'll just have to wait until the $50 clears so I can start reading the bronze level articles. Basic is really... basic
On November 10 2009 11:56 {ToT}Strafe wrote: I guess we don't lie about that Usually players will find their own pace. But we start off conservative for good reasons.
Hey Rob, you screwed me over. Thanks, bye!
Other than that, I will see you soon. 60% make it 55% and it's a deal!
On November 10 2009 08:57 Audiohelper123 wrote: the fish how to play.
Ahhh. Is that what made it fun for you? Playing off people who watched it on tv and got suckered. Too bad buddy
The people who got "suckered" vastly underestimated the skill required in poker. It's their own fault they gave money to the players who actually knew how to play.
so if i don't accumulate enough partypoints, you'll take the 50$ back. how does this happen and what if i've lost all of it, or a portion of it already?
On November 10 2009 08:57 Audiohelper123 wrote: Do you tell your customers that poker died a year ago and there's no more money left in it? The games are completely dead. the fish all left and now all that's left is break even rb pros who are going to be broke in a couple of years. I would stay the fuck away from poker, it's so brutal and not worth it. Even if you do make it to the levels that compete with a real job you're going to be facing all the people that moved down because of how insanely tough the games have gotten thanks to sites liked pokerstrategy that showed the fish how to play.
Guys, can we please keep the questions in this thread civil? So far, I think Xantos and the other guys have answered all the questions well, but this thread is really not the place to make veiled attacks at poker in general or pokerstrategy specifically. If you do have a concern regarding pokerstrategy.com, then I see no problem with you asking them about it (perhaps like PokePill did, but with fewer leading questions). However, don't come here asking rhetorical questions to try an make a point.
On November 10 2009 10:52 {ToT}Strafe wrote: Your goal is not to unlock that $50. That $50 is just to help you get started to aim much higher.
I must say, I was also thinking that it seemed like a lot of hands you need to play to unlock the $50, but like you said, the purpose of the 50$ is not for you to be able to take money, it is to give you some money to start you off with. Even if you weren't allowed to cash it out for the first year, it would still be good, because it means that I can try playing at the micro stakes before deciding if I really want to invest my own money into it.
I have a question regarding the SSS. Is there a particular strategy covered on your page for beating SSS? I know that SSS is basically a hyper conservative way of playing in which you only play the best hands, but if it's true that most of the people in the lower hands play SSS, then is there a way to beat it (other than spending hours trying to find a table that meets the requirements of SSS)?
@pangshai: If you lose the money, nothing happens. No obligations for you at all. That's why we also try to impose limit restrictions, i.e. that you cannot go with your $50 to an NL50 table straight and lose it all in one hand - because that is a big money drain for us.
If you climb to lets say $75 & miss the conditions, you still have $25. If you dropped to $20 in the first days and are annoyed and stop, you account will just be at $0 after 90 or 120 days. No problem at all.
@Daigomi: Yep, we also teach how to play against short stacks. On the one hand, reading through our short stack articles makes you know how a winning short stack ticks (there's plenty plenty of losing short stacks btw.), but we also have specific articles on the issue, such as: http://www.pokerstrategy.com/strategy/no-limit/1415/
And of course, our big stack discussions forums also cover that topic a lot
On November 10 2009 11:47 infinity21 wrote: Fair enough. It's just that the SSS outlined on the site is pretty darn strict and the only gripe I have about this is that it always says "oh, I'm sure you're tempted to do X but in the long run, Y will pay out better". I'm sure it's true but it doesn't really explain why -- which is what I'm interested in so I can vary my play if I think there's a good reason to. I guess I'll just have to wait until the $50 clears so I can start reading the bronze level articles. Basic is really... basic
On November 10 2009 08:57 Audiohelper123 wrote: Do you tell your customers that poker died a year ago and there's no more money left in it? The games are completely dead. the fish all left and now all that's left is break even rb pros who are going to be broke in a couple of years. I would stay the fuck away from poker, it's so brutal and not worth it. Even if you do make it to the levels that compete with a real job you're going to be facing all the people that moved down because of how insanely tough the games have gotten thanks to sites liked pokerstrategy that showed the fish how to play.
Sounds like someone is a losing player!
The games have gotten tougher obviously, its not the same money printing machine it was a few years back, but to say that the games aren't hugely profitable anymore is a joke.
@ZhenMiChan: The time delay for the $50 depends, but normally it should be within 24-48 hours. Sometimes, it's much quicker.
The Tell-A-Friend system is our way to grow. We prefer in collaborating with our members instead of spending the money on big marketing campaigns. So stuff like this TSL here is rather an exception
With the Tell-A-Friend programme, you can bring your friends to PokerStrategy.com, let them get their $50 bankroll and earn a little money with it [e.g. to faster climb the limits].
You can get up to $100 per referred friend in the following steps: Step 1: gathering 15 StrategyPoints - $10 Step 2: gathering 100 StrategyPoints - another $25 Step 3: gathering 5,000 StrategyPoints - another $75
You can cash out the earnings as soon as you reach $50. Cash-out options are currently PartyPoker, Titan Poker & Mansion Poker - but we're currently working on implementing Moneybookers.
You gather StrategyPoints by playing poker on your tracked accounts. For a $ of rake, you get 2 - 4 StrategyPoints. So the 15 and even the 100 SP are gathered quickly - we did not even closely recover the $50 when a player ticks 100 SP
5,000 SP are tougher, you basically need to survive really, while basically everyone can gather 100 SP. But still, thousands of PokerStrategists broke that number easily. Our 130 Black Members all got more than 500,000 SP lifetime.
I heard that certain poker rooms are easier or have more fish than other poker rooms.
I know you want to support all your partners, but can you give your opinion on this matter, and if there are any poker rooms where it's better to start out? I heard that pokerstars generally has a higher average skill level than some other, less well known rooms.
Once you go to the high limits it's going to be tough everywhere of course.
On November 10 2009 22:48 ruXxar wrote: I have a question about rooms.
I heard that certain poker rooms are easier or have more fish than other poker rooms.
I know you want to support all your partners, but can you give your opinion on this matter, and if there are any poker rooms where it's better to start out? I heard that pokerstars generally has a higher average skill level than some other, less well known rooms.
Once you go to the high limits it's going to be tough everywhere of course.
Yes, the poker rooms are different of course. The dynamics change all the time however, especially when a particular room is offering a promotion that makes people from other rooms to migrate over. You can find sites which rate the various poker-rooms according to different criteria on the internet, and when you sign up on our site, you will also get a top-list of suggested poker-rooms which is updated regularly.
lol omg I somehow missed the email asking for id verification. Gonna send that tonight when I get home. Are there any other sites (or even specific articles) that you guys recommend?
Their system is to unlock articles as you play more and accumulate more of their points (it will be how much you got in the last 4 weeks) so if you can't sign up for their promotional offers, you can't get points and you can't read any higher level articles (except the really basic ones which are not very useful if you already know how to play poker and understand some basic thoughts behind people's play).
Although I do wish that I can read higher level articles just to learn the theory behind it. I guess that's what subscription sites and books are for?
We offer that as well. You'll see that as soon as you hit diamond you have access to very advanced material. We are currently working with pretty good video producers and are even releasing videos with stakes up to NLHE $5,000.
The way we offer it is that you have to be a bit more advanced before you can read and watch it. We want to protect our new players. You can imagine what happens when someone who knows very little about poker watches a video on the highest stakes and makes the same fancy play without knowing why.
Of course it's also a bit of a promotion. If you play a lot we want to reward you with the best material possible. So as soon as you get things going you'll find there is more than you can read or watch on the site.
If you do not reside in the USA, then there is no problem with you using PokerStrategy.com.
However, please don't try to find a "work-around" if you do live in the USA, as we will (have to) do some checks and also might ask you for ID/proof of address at some stage. It's not great, and we don't like it, but unfortunately that's the legal situation at the moment.
Well since the US has fucked me, I guess I can just thank you guys for sponsoring.
The apparent law causing problems
Wikipedia wrote: Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (or UIGEA). This title (found at 31 U.S.C. § 5361–5367) prohibits the transfer of funds from a financial institution to an Internet gambling site, with the notable exceptions of fantasy sports, online lotteries, and horse/harness racing.
Also, iNc, you might want to be careful - apparently the state of Washington is the only state that has made online poker illegal.
i signed up for that too, also i dont have rakeback and i play lots of poker, and i hear people are making alot of money off rakebacks. How do you get one?!
2. What type of personal identification is usually required for the $50 start-up capital? Also what will this information be used for/can be used for (terms and conditions of use)?
3. What are the conditions (on my part) regarding the use of this bonus-$50 account?
I don't really want to go though all the reading and quizzing just to find out that I don't agree with the terms and conditions of use, so thanks in advance.
I just created an account on Pokerstrategy, pass all steps untill i had to choose where to play, chose cakepoker since i dont have an account there, made one, used ps150 as signupcode, went to cashier made real money account, when i pressed in what my screen/nickname is on the pokerstrategy site i got this
"Cake Poker: The account has already been entered by another user. Please contact support if you are sure that it is yours. Please give us the account name which you wanted to fill in, as well as the corresponding poker room" hmm??
On November 12 2009 09:13 ShaperofDreams wrote: Hi anybody want to be my referral?
Might as well fill in that space, I'm pretty sure you get points for it.
Are you talking about our Tell-A-Friend system? In fact you don't get points for that. You get a real money for it. All you have to do is give your unique referal link to your friends on MSN for example and they can sign up. As soon as they start collecting Strategy Points your account will be credited with real money.
On November 12 2009 15:52 Stuyvesant wrote: i signed up for that too, also i dont have rakeback and i play lots of poker, and i hear people are making alot of money off rakebacks. How do you get one?!
If you don't have rakeback and you play a lot, it might be useful to change sites. Simply start playing on another site and create your account through us.
On November 12 2009 15:31 Ftrunkz wrote: i signed up for pokerstrategy, like, 2 years ago, am i alligable to enter(the raffle) on that account?
I will answer that question soon.
On November 12 2009 16:45 blue_arrow wrote: Regarding the new Trip to the OSL Finals Contest:
1. When's the deadline for entries?
2. What type of personal identification is usually required for the $50 start-up capital? Also what will this information be used for/can be used for (terms and conditions of use)?
3. What are the conditions (on my part) regarding the use of this bonus-$50 account?
I don't really want to go though all the reading and quizzing just to find out that I don't agree with the terms and conditions of use, so thanks in advance.
1: Probably until the 30th. Will get back to you to confirm this
2: Anything like a driver's license, ID card, passport will do. Any official government issued document that contains your address is sufficient.
3: What exactly do you mean by that? The $50 bonus is free for you to use. You will never have to pay us back that money when you lose it. The only restrictions to it are that you can't bring all your money at the table at once(too high risk). And if you do not clear the $50 after 3 months, the $50 will be subtracted from your balance.
You will always keep your winnings though. Does that answer your questions properly?
On November 13 2009 01:45 SwedishHero wrote: I just created an account on Pokerstrategy, pass all steps untill i had to choose where to play, chose cakepoker since i dont have an account there, made one, used ps150 as signupcode, went to cashier made real money account, when i pressed in what my screen/nickname is on the pokerstrategy site i got this
"Cake Poker: The account has already been entered by another user. Please contact support if you are sure that it is yours. Please give us the account name which you wanted to fill in, as well as the corresponding poker room" hmm??
That seems very strange. And frankly I'm puzzled by it. However, our support is probably able to sort that out. If you click here you can send them this question and I'm sure they will help you properly. If not don't hesitate to post here again so I can help you further.
Btw, what's up with asking me to take a picture of myself with my id? I didn't think you guys would be asking for more than just my drivers license -_-
one question regarding the raffle: i may be in a different country when the time comes for the finals OSL, should i win the trip, will that be a problem?
On November 13 2009 08:49 Etherone wrote: one question regarding the raffle: i may be in a different country when the time comes for the finals OSL, should i win the trip, will that be a problem?
don't worry it won't be the US.
No it won't be.
On November 13 2009 10:06 St3MoR wrote: Q. I passed the Quiz but i'm not interested in joining a Poker Room atm, will I still be able to participate in TSL Raffle?
Yes. Although we would like it if you give poker a try
On November 13 2009 21:19 Divinek wrote: Are you just s.o.l. if you don't happen to have a digital camera or something if they ask you to take a picture with your ID?
And when you do get your deposit, are you notified by email or something?
Most pictures taken with phones will provide sufficient quality as well. And yes, you will get an e-mail, but you can just keep checking your selected poker room to see when it arrives.
Q: Will you be able to enter the raffle when you already had an account on PokerStrategy.com before?
A: Yes you are able to enter. We made the requirements to join the raffle really low. As a result some members on teamliquid.net have already met them. We do not want to punish people for having been to our site before. We also feel it's fair to those who already have an account, since they couldn't change that even when they have the best of intentions.
Highly unlikely that anyone would choose me, as I'm not too buddy-buddy with any TL users outside of the US, but since the prize is for the winner and a friend, could the winner of the raffle choose someone from the US as their friend to go? I'd assume they'd have to be geographically close, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
In practice, we have not so many means of controlling the specific relation between a TL account and a PokerStrategy.com. But wouldn't your friend then go to Korea for himself?
9.4 To share your Personal Information and all other information you have provided to us by registering and using our Services to potential and subsequent business and merger partners, in the case we become insolvent, be taken over by or merge with a third party, or file for bankruptcy, sell all or substantial parts of our assets, or transfer all or parts of our relevant assets to a third party.
10. Exemptions concerning third parties PokerStrategy cannot ensure the privacy and protection of your Personal Information submitted/provided by you to a third party or collected by a third party which includes, but is not limited to, for instance third-party websites, third-party services, third-party forums, via instant messenger services or via affiliate websites. All of these third-party mediums are not owned, controlled or operated by us. Therefore, any Personal Information collected by third parties or transferred to third parties is not governed by this Privacy Policy and we are not responsible and/or liable for the use of this Personal Information by a third party.
This is kind of lame. So this means we're all gonna be harassed and bombarded with advertisements by whatever poker networks you share our privacy details with? Sites usually don't word their privacy agreements like this unless they are already in the habit of selling/sharing their information for monetary gains.
Q. How much time do I have before my $50 starting capital expires? I've already passed the starting quiz and made an account at PartyPoker but I don't want to convert my account into a real money account and activate my $50 yet). How long can I delay claiming my $50?
I have a lot of things going on in my life right now and I don't want to start playing poker seriously right now. I'm probably going to wait for school to end (about a year from now) before I convert my account and claim my $50. Is this possible?
lalush: you're required to give the poker site your email when you sign up and they're the ones who usually send out a lot of emails.
most big sites (pokerstars/partypoker/fulltilt) don't exactly "spam" you by giving out your email address to like mailing lists, but they do send out a lot of news/promotion/offer emails that does kinda clutter up the inbox
On November 13 2009 08:49 Etherone wrote: one question regarding the raffle: i may be in a different country when the time comes for the finals OSL, should i win the trip, will that be a problem?
On November 13 2009 10:06 St3MoR wrote: Q. I passed the Quiz but i'm not interested in joining a Poker Room atm, will I still be able to participate in TSL Raffle?
Yes. Although we would like it if you give poker a try
What time do you guys update your strategy points? I got 16 party points last night (well, it went well into the night;; ) and I only have 11 strategy points.
On November 15 2009 00:07 LaLuSh wrote: This is kind of lame. So this means we're all gonna be harassed and bombarded with advertisements by whatever poker networks you share our privacy details with? Sites usually don't word their privacy agreements like this unless they are already in the habit of selling/sharing their information for monetary gains.
This means that you will get the standard mail communication by the poker rooms - but that we are not responsible for them if they are wrong-doing. But normally, that's not actually 'spam'
On November 15 2009 01:07 madnessman wrote: Q. How much time do I have before my $50 starting capital expires? I've already passed the starting quiz and made an account at PartyPoker but I don't want to convert my account into a real money account and activate my $50 yet). How long can I delay claiming my $50?
I have a lot of things going on in my life right now and I don't want to start playing poker seriously right now. I'm probably going to wait for school to end (about a year from now) before I convert my account and claim my $50. Is this possible?
1. The amount of time you have depends on the poker room, normally 90-120 days. But anyways, you can keep all winnings.
2. There is no time limit between quiz success & getting the $50 - so yes, you can wait.
On November 15 2009 07:28 infinity21 wrote: What time do you guys update your strategy points? I got 16 party points last night (well, it went well into the night;; ) and I only have 11 strategy points.
Daily at around 12 am GMT. But sometimes, single poker rooms lag behind a day or two.
Is there any way to read the articles from the US? I'm not that interested in the $50 dollars but I would definitely like to read the non-basic articles. Or do I have to wait until I get back to Canada
Q. Regarding the OSL raffle, I already have an account at PokerStars, do not have an account at PokerStrategy.com, is it still possible for me to enter?
On November 15 2009 23:36 no_re wrote: Q. Regarding the OSL raffle, I already have an account at PokerStars, do not have an account at PokerStrategy.com, is it still possible for me to enter?
yeah, there's plenty of poker rooms to choose from
On November 15 2009 22:28 starfries wrote: Is there any way to read the articles from the US? I'm not that interested in the $50 dollars but I would definitely like to read the non-basic articles. Or do I have to wait until I get back to Canada
In case you're from Canada, there's no problem with signing up. While playing on tracked accounts (either by getting the $50 or by depositing own money), you gather StrategyPoints that determine your status - and with the status, you gain access to higher content.
On November 15 2009 23:33 pR0gR4m3R wrote: I´ve done the registration, but all I got is the spanish version website, and no signs of the quiz, where is it??
After the registration & validation, you should have the choice between "Free Starting Capital" & "Select Bonus". The first choice leads you to the quiz.
You can switch the language at any time with the language selecter in the header.
On November 15 2009 23:36 no_re wrote: Q. Regarding the OSL raffle, I already have an account at PokerStars, do not have an account at PokerStrategy.com, is it still possible for me to enter?
Absolutely!
First of all, you do not even get a poker room account to participate in the raffle. You just need to pass the quiz. But of course we'd be happy if you decided to also play poker through us - which you can do on a wide selection of poker rooms.
Currently, you can select between 7 different poker rooms where you can get the free $50 (http://www.pokerstrategy.com/quiz/platform/) - and 15 different poker rooms to use a deposit bonus (http://www.pokerstrategy.com/online-poker-rooms/).
On November 16 2009 00:29 nttea wrote: they wanted me to send a damn pic of my ID! i'm never going to get around to that bye bye free money
On a part of our customers, we have to conduct identity checks. The reason is simple: if you give away $50 for free, it's not long before you have a big problem with fraud. Thus we have to prevent fraudsters from getting the $50 multiple times. Sadly, this results in also annoying honest customers from time to time.
I already asked this in a ticket but a got a broken english response so I'd like to double check.
When you're doing the ID check you're simply proving residency to your country correct? Because the address I have on my PS account is my current mailing address while I'm at uni, but because I don't pay any bills for this place I can't prove I live at this particular place.
When I sent in stuff I showed my drivers license and a check, and those both have the address of my house back where I came from and live in the summers, naturally they're both in canada. Is this good enough?
@avius: When your account gets deactivated, there usually is a reason. If you feel otherwise, could you provide me with your username at PokerStrategy.com? Ideally to lutz@pokerstrategy.com
@Divinek: The main reason for the ID check is to prevent people from getting the $50 10 times. So you need to proove your residence and not just your country.
I'd be happy if you could provide me with your username at PokerStrategy.com (lutz@pokerstrategy.com) so I can have a look at things.
Also, to add to Xantos statement above, if anybody here at TeamLiquid has problems with our identity verification, please get in touch with Xantos at Lutz@PokerStrategy.com. Please also tell us your username here at Teamliquid. If you are a regular at Teamliquid and pass our quiz, but get problems at the ID-checking stage, we'll be happy to help you.
On November 18 2009 15:12 infinity21 wrote: If you guys made it so that we had to clear our $50 at whatever poker room to qualify for the raffle, I think my chances of winning will greatly go up
Start playing for me too, but umm dont suck for me?
On November 18 2009 18:38 Xantos wrote: Yep, as Robbie / Strafe wrote in the contest thread, we do not want to punish TLers who signed up at PokerStrategy.com before.
You guys have a a very good site for learning poker. Unfortunately I am from the US and I can't participate so I have only watched the basic videos and articles. Even then I still have learned a lot.
i was getting ready to sign up for fulltiltpoker via your site, but i noticed that there's some discrepancy in the signup codes. on the main page it says PSVIP, but on another page it says PS150. am i right to assume that the PS150 is an error and the code is supposed to be psvip?
On November 20 2009 21:46 pangshai wrote: i was getting ready to sign up for fulltiltpoker via your site, but i noticed that there's some discrepancy in the signup codes. on the main page it says PSVIP, but on another page it says PS150. am i right to assume that the PS150 is an error and the code is supposed to be psvip?
if you read carefully ps150 is for an additional 50 dollar bonus on top of the 50 starting capitol.
yeah i did read that, but i don't see why anyone would not sign up for the bonus if it is also a tracked account and also allows all the benefits of a nonbonused account.
at party poker, you get rakeback automatically, according to how many party points you have earned, for example silver is 5% rakeback, the highest level is palladium elite, and that is 40% from memory.
On November 21 2009 19:52 jfazz wrote: at party poker, you get rakeback automatically, according to how many party points you have earned, for example silver is 5% rakeback, the highest level is palladium elite, and that is 40% from memory.
yup, the same for PokerStars where instead of rb you get vip program which, if you play enough, rewards better than stnd rakeback deals.
On November 20 2009 14:45 madnessman wrote: Q. I signed up for partypoker under you guys. do i automatically get the pokerstrategy rakeback?
There is no rakeback at PartyPoker - but you can see the bonus system / VIP system they have as a very similar thing. And yes, you get the best possible rakeback through us at PartyPoker.
On November 20 2009 21:46 pangshai wrote: i was getting ready to sign up for fulltiltpoker via your site, but i noticed that there's some discrepancy in the signup codes. on the main page it says PSVIP, but on another page it says PS150. am i right to assume that the PS150 is an error and the code is supposed to be psvip?
PSVIP is if you want to deposit own money - PS150 is if you want to get the $50 for free.
The reason why we also have the PSVIP bonus is easy: You are only allowed to get the $50 for free on one poker room. So say you got it at PokerStars, and then want to move your bankroll to FullTilt & play there, but still gather StrategyPoints on PokerStrategy.com - then you do your own deposit with the bonus code PSVIP.
And yes, you also get the full 27% Rakeback on Full Tilt Poker if you sign up on us.
To receive the $50, while creating the money account on partypoker, you have to close the screen with the deposit options right? The one with the different card logos and stuff.
I signed up to PS the other day - completed the quiz successfully, and sent in a scanned copy of my drivers licence when prompted. However I recieved an e-mail back requesting additional documentation. The e-mail gave me the options of either a national ID card or a passport. My country do not have national ID cards, and I do not own a passport as I have never traveled via airline (and have had no other needs for a passport), I replied to that e-mail stating my situation and have not yet recieved a response.
@DREAM-JOY: Sorry for answering so late - I was quite busy recent days. Please drop me a mail to lutz@pokerstrategy.com with your username at PokerStrategy.com & I'll help out here. In general, these ID checks are sadly necessary due to massive attempts to get our $50 a thousand times ;(
@no_re: Short stacking is a solid & simple strategy to learn for beginners. For the people we give the $50 gift, surviving the first few thousand hands where they gather experience is a key. Big stack play is more complicated & harder to teach for beginners.
Later on, most players move on to Big stack game (we even have specific strategy articles on how to switch) - and on advanced levels, we show you how to play against Short stacks.
Currently, we're testing a Big stack strategy for beginners to further move away from Short stacking. But we're also convinced that short stacking does not "destroy" poker - as fish do not care at all. As short stacking is a powerful strategy, it might kill other people's win rates - but thats the case no matter what (good) strategy you teach to people
i'll add that learning short stacking is a great way to know exactly what to do against a short stacker, you know their ranges and what they are and aren't inclined to do.
Just wanted to say thank you to pokerstrategy.com for the initial $$$. It has been a big boost to my "bankroll" and together with that first deposit thingy helped me to move up the limits much quicker. Hope you guys made back whatever you invested in me.
I've been playing for just more than a week now for one to two hours every day. I've gone up from my starting $50 to $75.80 in that time, which I am quite chuffed with. Also, there's been only one day so far where I lost money at the end of the day, and that was like 0.30$ after an hour of play.
To everyone complaining, as a complete beginner I really find the short stack strategy useful, and not just because it gives me a "starting hands" chart. Most beginners tend to just limp into each hand and hope to hit something. Sometimes this works, but when you hit something and then someone else bets, it turns 100% into a guessing game where you try to "read" the other player to see if he has better cards than you, which is completely useless. Using short stack strategy, I am much more comfortable after the flop. If I have an overpair I'm likely to bet (unless someone else bets completely over the top before me). If I don't hit anything, and some else bets, I'll fold even if I have KA or something like that. Basically, the strategy taught me way more than just what hands to play and how much to play with, it's taught me the basics of the game and have actually allowed me to play with at least some confidence. Obviously other strategies could teach me the same basics, but when you combine it with the low-risk nature of the strategy, it really is good for a beginner.
Also, while it simplifies the betting for you, you can focus your thinking on other things like learning to understand position and calculating odds. Instead of trying to figure out if I should call or raise, I can spend my time trying to figure out what the odds are, or looking at the position of other players on the table.
Another nice thing about SSS is that I can't lose that much money on any single hand. The other day I was playing live poker, and I had about 90 big blinds in my stack. I got involved in a hand where I bet quite hard after the flop, and someone (who was playing extremely aggresively, and had a stack three times larger than mine) reraised me to all-in. As a beginner, situations like these are almost impossible for me. The guy had been playing aggressively all night, playing basically anything, and I had a good hand, so I thought I had him beat. On the other hand, the stakes were very high for me (I had like $140 in hand) so it's very difficult for me to make the call. If I only had 20 big blinds on me, I would have comfortably called the hand and if I had lost it, it would have been too bad. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I should have called him in the hand I was playing. I played JK and hit J overpair on the flop. In the end, I called and lost to a JA. Point is, I suck and I'm likely to make sucky calls. It's better if my sucky calls can at most cost me 1/30th of my bankroll rather than 1/5th of it or something.
So seriously, stop complaining about it. If you're a good player it should be fairly easy to take advantage of players playing SSS, or if that's too difficult, just don't play on full tables.
A question to Xantos: Your verification requires proof of residence. However, no South African ID contains a form of proof of residence, and for many students who don't own their own place yet, there is no other form of proof of residence available. My one friend registered and did the quiz more than 2 weeks ago, and he is still waiting for his starting money because of this problem. Is there anything you can do about this?
On December 02 2009 22:42 Daigomi wrote: I've been playing for just more than a week now for one to two hours every day. I've gone up from my starting $50 to $75.80 in that time, which I am quite chuffed with. Also, there's been only one day so far where I lost money at the end of the day, and that was like 0.30$ after an hour of play.
To everyone complaining, as a complete beginner I really find the short stack strategy useful, and not just because it gives me a "starting hands" chart. Most beginners tend to just limp into each hand and hope to hit something. Sometimes this works, but when you hit something and then someone else bets, it turns 100% into a guessing game where you try to "read" the other player to see if he has better cards than you, which is completely useless. Using short stack strategy, I am much more comfortable after the flop. If I have an overpair I'm likely to bet (unless someone else bets completely over the top before me). If I don't hit anything, and some else bets, I'll fold even if I have KA or something like that. Basically, the strategy taught me way more than just what hands to play and how much to play with, it's taught me the basics of the game and have actually allowed me to play with at least some confidence. Obviously other strategies could teach me the same basics, but when you combine it with the low-risk nature of the strategy, it really is good for a beginner.
Also, while it simplifies the betting for you, you can focus your thinking on other things like learning to understand position and calculating odds. Instead of trying to figure out if I should call or raise, I can spend my time trying to figure out what the odds are, or looking at the position of other players on the table.
Another nice thing about SSS is that I can't lose that much money on any single hand. The other day I was playing live poker, and I had about 90 big blinds in my stack. I got involved in a hand where I bet quite hard after the flop, and someone (who was playing extremely aggresively, and had a stack three times larger than mine) reraised me to all-in. As a beginner, situations like these are almost impossible for me. The guy had been playing aggressively all night, playing basically anything, and I had a good hand, so I thought I had him beat. On the other hand, the stakes were very high for me (I had like $140 in hand) so it's very difficult for me to make the call. If I only had 20 big blinds on me, I would have comfortably called the hand and if I had lost it, it would have been too bad. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I should have called him in the hand I was playing. I played JK and hit J overpair on the flop. In the end, I called and lost to a JA. Point is, I suck and I'm likely to make sucky calls. It's better if my sucky calls can at most cost me 1/30th of my bankroll rather than 1/5th of it or something.
So seriously, stop complaining about it. If you're a good player it should be fairly easy to take advantage of players playing SSS, or if that's too difficult, just don't play on full tables.
A question to Xantos: Your verification requires proof of residence. However, no South African ID contains a form of proof of residence, and for many students who don't own their own place yet, there is no other form of proof of residence available. My one friend registered and did the quiz more than 2 weeks ago, and he is still waiting for his starting money because of this problem. Is there anything you can do about this?
Incorrect. Short stacks have an actual built-in advantage. If everyone is equal skill level at a table with half full stacks and half short stacks, the short stacks will be +EV and the large stacks -EV.
thanks for your nice post & sorry for spotting your question so late!
On December 02 2009 22:42 Daigomi wrote: A question to Xantos: Your verification requires proof of residence. However, no South African ID contains a form of proof of residence, and for many students who don't own their own place yet, there is no other form of proof of residence available. My one friend registered and did the quiz more than 2 weeks ago, and he is still waiting for his starting money because of this problem. Is there anything you can do about this?
If that's the case for all ZA IDs, we may need to adjust our process for South Africa. For that matter & for your friend's username: could you drop me a mail to lutz@pokerstrategy.com? Many thanks!
hey xantos, when i try to login on pokerstrategy, it says my account has been deactivated. i think its possibly cause i first registered in australia, but have flown back to singapore. can anything be done about it?
On November 09 2009 00:53 Xantos wrote: ID Check / Legitimation You might need to pass an ID check before getting the $50. The type varies - common is to send in an ID card scan (you can anonymize stuff such as the ID card number). The goal is to find out that you do not get the $50 for the 10th time [sadly, some professional fraudsters try to get the $50 for a thousand times].
I tried to send in my identification, a drivers license, which shows my address and country. I blanked out the card number (and barcode, since that shows the number as well). I also blanked out my signature, don't want to be giving that out. Other than that the ID is full, shows my date of birth, address, picture.
I was denied by support, they said I wasn't allowed to blank out the ID card number, only the signature. I'm also gogokodo on pokerstrategy
I brought up both your cases with our customer service internally & I hope you both will have a solution (i.e. no problems in getting the $50) soon! Thanks for your patience & sorry for the inconvenience - sadly, our fraud prevention processes are not perfect - and probably never will be, as there is always a grey zone where you either accept fraudsters or deny honest customers.
i must say, your customer service has been very patient with all my questions and was also very speedy with answering them. the deactivation of my account, though abrupt, is completely understandable given the sheer amount of fraudsters you must encounter. i look forward to reading more articles on the site now that i've been re-enabled, and will definitely recommend friends should they ever want to entire a career in poker.
your issues should be resolved & the customer service now knows about your issues.
If there are any problems, ideally drop me a mail to improve quickness of reply: lutz@pokerstrategy.com.
Thanks, Lutz
PS: just to make sure - you noticed that we also have a flourishing Chinese community? Maybe you speak perfect English - but some of your friends might prefer our Chinese website
I was wondering how much your No Limit articles translate to playing against people in real life. The only people I really ever play with are scrubs so a lot of the stuff I've learned reading the limit and no limit beginner articles have taught me a lot. That being said something like going all in when the pot is two times the size of my stack (that might be me butchering that rule sorry) doesn't seem to translate to playing with people at a table with my friends.
Thanks again for the advice and Q&A and the TSL thing
EDIT I guess the further question is what's a good place to learn at on PokerStrategy if we live in the States?
the articles do definately translate into real life. The only danger is that you might get bored as the best strategy for friendly life games is to be really tight and patient. In a live-setting, expect to play 30 hands per hour. 80% will get folded pre-flop, which leaves you with 6 hands. About a third of them you can expect to go to showdown, which comes out at 2 showdowns per hour. In about 2 cases you'll fold before showdown and in another 2 cases, your opponent will fold before showdown.
Not much action, but in the long term a very nice profit.
Finally, note that we do have some special content for live games, you can find it in our strategy section.
If you live in the US, you could check out cardrunners .com or deucescracked .com. They don't have much written content or coachings, but good videos.
I'm interested in playing on a play for fake money site (poker stars) but at the same time want to continue reading articles on poker strategy. Your system for credits to read the higher level articles requires play on "real" poker clients. Is there any way for people in the US to unlock the higher level articles?
currently, there is no other way to unlock our content & services for higher status levels - and sadly, even then we could not allow US customers at our site. I know that sounds stupid, but in our industry you have to be cautious if you want to stay legally 100% clean.
Shortstacking is like teaching a new iccup player how to play protoss and do only 1 or 2 cheese builds. They're probably going to crush most of the noobs, and they will reach a decent win % pretty fast. But as soon as they fight people who have figured out their plan it's all over.
On December 09 2009 21:57 Zurles wrote: Shortstacking is like teaching a new iccup player how to play protoss and do only 1 or 2 cheese builds. They're probably going to crush most of the noobs, and they will reach a decent win % pretty fast. But as soon as they fight people who have figured out their plan it's all over.
Nice comparison - but it needs some refinement:
1. In StarCraft, you do not lose money / go broke (and thus cannot continue playing) if you have a winrate below 50%. 2. I would not compare it to cheese strats, but to zealot rush + maybe some cannons => you can already gain experience and train micro etc. in a lot of the games you play - which is better than knowing *nothing* and dying against all strats in your first 4 minutes.
Short Stack Strategy can be played on all limits - but it certainly becomes less effective the more good players there are. There are some winning players with Shortstacking on NL $5,000
Short stacking basically is just a strategy that reduces risks, but also rewards - and also complexity. Thus it is easier to learn than other strategies & especially a beginner has less chance of going broke randomly.
But we are moving into teaching beginners Big Stack Play as well right now
On December 07 2009 18:41 Xantos wrote: Hey pangshai & gogokodo,
I brought up both your cases with our customer service internally & I hope you both will have a solution (i.e. no problems in getting the $50) soon! Thanks for your patience & sorry for the inconvenience - sadly, our fraud prevention processes are not perfect - and probably never will be, as there is always a grey zone where you either accept fraudsters or deny honest customers.
Regards, Lutz
Thanks Xantos, just wanted to say that my account looks to be all good now.
Refer a friend to PokerStrategy.com in December & you both have the chance to win a common trip to Las Vegas - and Vegas is for poker what Seoul is for StarCraft!
I have a question about the raffle. In the OP you wrote that US citizens/residents cannot participate, so I have a question if I am eligible:
I have never lived in the US but I have a US passport. I live in Switzerland and am in the process of becoming Swiss aka. not only American. Am I still allowed to participate?
You guys didn't say that the forced shortstacking for beginners is almost purely to protect your investment (You get higher rake faster when people aren't actually trying to beat the game from where they should -NL$2)
I would like to seriously discourage any Starcraft player to start up with shortstacking, its boring and you never learn how to destroy other players as good as at NL$2 with full stack.
Its like starting playing ICCup from D+ directly only memorised with <5 minute rushes. Easy to learn, it will bring short term results but you will suffer long term.
@LemOn: Whatever is in the long-term interest of the player also suits our long-term interest. A completely new poker player needs to maximise his chance of survival with the initial $50 investement. So if you really want to risk needing own deposits - you can also chose higher limits / other styles. But if you want to try out with the $50 and no own money - we encourage you to chose one of our four different beginner strategies - of which SSS is just one.
All I can say is thank you so much for sponsoring the TSL It takes a company with balls to take a leap and sponsor a sport which many would consider an underground phenomenon. E sports has the potential to be huge, and your early sponsorship of E sports will not go unnoticed.
I just received the mail from TL and decided to post
First of all thanks A LOT for what you did to the community. The tournament so far is going great and I doubt many of the "big" names would put that much effort into practicing without the good money you guys are offering.
Next I would really like comment on how good PS.com really is for total beginners. I'll actually do that with a short story: + Show Spoiler [short story] +
Until TSL I had no idea what poker is. When it came, naturally I regged myself @ PS for the raffle, because who doesnt want to watch OSL live for free? But after that I totally forgot about it for a bit. But soon after I read some very inspirational biographies of successful poker players, and being the naive guy I am I decided that I can also do that and tried out some poker with the 50$ that PS gave me. Naturally I just watched the very basic tutorials and rushed to playing, which led to me bringing my capital to a close to scary number (25$ with the lowest tables starting from 4NL), so I got annoyed and stopped again. Recently I started a new job, night shifts at a cyber cafe, which basically gives me a lot of free time on a computer with internet access, and there I saw quite some people playing micro stakes and play money. Seeing the level of the competition, I asked myself - can I really not beat this guys? So I went back and just like a sponge, soaked up every bit of information for the micro stakes that I possibly could (a lot from PS.com, but some other sites too; tho I really want to say here that PS's tutorials are the best organized and easiest to understand from beginners from all sites that I visited), then started playing again. Well after doing that I can safely tell you that right now I absolutely crush the low stakes. And I don't even play that much, usually no more than 2 hours on 2-3 tables. Right now I've climbed my way to 70$ (all from the 25 I had left from PS money) and growing with $4 to $10 per day!
Anyway, the moral of this story is that as long as you have some patience and the will to learn, poker can and most probably will be a profitable thing to do. So if you're a total beginner looking for a starting point, I can safely say that pokerstrategy.com is the best place for you.
So again a big THANKS for everything Poker Strategy, you guys are awesome
On February 01 2010 20:05 Vic.nQQ wrote: I just received the mail from TL and decided to post
First of all thanks A LOT for what you did to the community. The tournament so far is going great and I doubt many of the "big" names would put that much effort into practicing without the good money you guys are offering.
Next I would really like comment on how good PS.com really is for total beginners. I'll actually do that with a short story: + Show Spoiler [short story] +
Until TSL I had no idea what poker is. When it came, naturally I regged myself @ PS for the raffle, because who doesnt want to watch OSL live for free? But after that I totally forgot about it for a bit. But soon after I read some very inspirational biographies of successful poker players, and being the naive guy I am I decided that I can also do that and tried out some poker with the 50$ that PS gave me. Naturally I just watched the very basic tutorials and rushed to playing, which led to me bringing my capital to a close to scary number (25$ with the lowest tables starting from 4NL), so I got annoyed and stopped again. Recently I started a new job, night shifts at a cyber cafe, which basically gives me a lot of free time on a computer with internet access, and there I saw quite some people playing micro stakes and play money. Seeing the level of the competition, I asked myself - can I really not beat this guys? So I went back and just like a sponge, soaked up every bit of information for the micro stakes that I possibly could (a lot from PS.com, but some other sites too; tho I really want to say here that PS's tutorials are the best organized and easiest to understand from beginners from all sites that I visited), then started playing again. Well after doing that I can safely tell you that right now I absolutely crush the low stakes. And I don't even play that much, usually no more than 2 hours on 2-3 tables. Right now I've climbed my way to 70$ (all from the 25 I had left from PS money) and growing with $4 to $10 per day!
Anyway, the moral of this story is that as long as you have some patience and the will to learn, poker can and most probably will be a profitable thing to do. So if you're a total beginner looking for a starting point, I can safely say that pokerstrategy.com is the best place for you.
So again a big THANKS for everything Poker Strategy, you guys are awesome
You really make me wish I wasn't from the US so I could join this awesome site.
I would like to ask you something considering a friend of mine. I said to him that not to worry about sending a photo ID with an address. Now that he is ready to send one he worries about something else. The address he wrote in pokerstrategy is the same as in the Photo ID with the difference that in the ps registration in the first place he wrote the street (without the home quarter) and on the Photo ID the address includes the home quarter without the street. : ) Other parts are the same (block, entrance, apartament etc.). It is basically the same address but they do to match perfectly but like 95%. Is that aproblem?
First of all, sorry for the slow response - as the thread's activity diminished, we don't notice things quickly enough.
TechnicS: I have asked our CSR guys, and they told me it should probably be OK - but also it depends on the person who checks the ID. Your friend should send it (unless he did already), and if there is a problem you can contact me directly, and I will try to help.
Vic.nQQ: Thanks for the story . Just as you said, it's a rather fool-proof way to learn if you do everything right from the beginning, and once you get a little bit into it and start acting more on your own, you will also have increased your capital to a more comfortable level by that time.
Just want to confirm, the 50USD registration bonus only requires the passing of a test? I've signed up for other sites which have such bonuses but they later slap on a condition that you have to play a certain number of hours in 3 months. I'm only a casual player so it seemed extremely underhanded.
On February 10 2010 23:47 theSAiNT wrote: Just want to confirm, the 50USD registration bonus only requires the passing of a test? I've signed up for other sites which have such bonuses but they later slap on a condition that you have to play a certain number of hours in 3 months. I'm only a casual player so it seemed extremely underhanded.
You need to play a certain amount in order to keep the $50 but if you don't, then you simply lose the $50 (after something like 90 days)
Just a question about clearing the initial 50$ : So basically, instead of getting the +100% deposit bonus that people normaly get when depositing their own $50 for the first time, so they can make an easy 100$, it's pretty much like we gotta clear your own bonus with burrowed money so we can each get our share at the end?
On February 12 2010 20:32 lepape wrote: Just a question about clearing the initial 50$ : So basically, instead of getting the +100% deposit bonus that people normaly get when depositing their own $50 for the first time, so they can make an easy 100$, it's pretty much like we gotta clear your own bonus with burrowed money so we can each get our share at the end?
Sorry, been a long time and I thought the thread went inactive already before your question.
On top, you will always have the option to use the deposit bonus - but the $50 do not count as a deposit in that sense.
But you will of course get all bonuses etc. as if you would not be a free $50 player.
By the way, some months later now: What were your experiences with our offer? Some of you still playing with your initial $50? Or all went back because of the gorgeous SC2 beta timing?
EPT
![[image loading]](http://confidential.pokerstrategy.com/gallery/11/test.gif)
i've read the conditions on the forum. I dont think i will bothering with the 50 dollar. ive been playing PS for about half a year and have only collected 300 points. i will never clear the bonus fast enough without it being removed. 
![[image loading]](http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/exaltedsky/last2months.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://confidential.pokerstrategy.com/gallery/11/what-happens-with-your-rake.jpg)
