Michael Craig's Journal

As I write this, I’m playing the 11 PM $50 + $5 tournament on Full Tilt Poker. In fact, as I’m writing the FULL TILT book, I’m often playing while I write. Sometimes, it’s for research. Sometimes, A.D.D. Mostly, it’s just because I’m a card player and, if I have to spend 12-16 hours a day in front of my computer, I should be playing cards while I do it.

I bring this up for several reasons:

1. I think it’s a great site. It’s in my economic interest to say that, because I’m writing a book with their pros, but I really mean it. I exclusively play tournaments and they have a great variety of tournaments and an excellent structure. I could make an argument that you get more play in the Sunday afternoon $200 + $15 tournament than in the $1,500 buy-in World Series events. The levels go up very gradually. I don’t claim to know what every other site does but it would be hard for me to believe they generally structure the tournaments BETTER. I also play the sit-n-gos, both hold ‘em and HORSE. (I also like that Full Tilt has made a commitment to other forms of poker in cash games and tournaments, focusing on HORSE even before the World Series did.) I also like a lot of their pros and admire the work they have done building the site.

2. Please stop by and say hello to me on the site. I used to play under the name Accordian but I was able to switch to my own name. This is the first step to the REAL news: FULL TILT IS GIVING ME MY OWN AVATAR! I’d like to tell you it’s because of my playing skill, but it’s because my higher profile on the site will help in connection with the release of the FULL TILT TOURNAMENT EDITION next spring.

But still, how cool is that? I can stop telling people that I actually look like the hipster with the goatee and the pompadour.

3. Some bizarro stuff is happening in the big cash games that is worth checking out. Mike Matusow has been making a fortune in the $1000-$2000 Omaha HL games and playing in some of the PLO, too. These are, to use his terminology, the sickest games on earth. I think the swings in these games are bigger than in the $4000-$8000 game at the Bellagio. They play 3 times the hands per hour, often more short handed, and many of these guys are playing 2-3 games at a time. The PLO game could be one of the biggest games going on anywhere in the world. The blinds are $200-$400 and guys are routinely winning or losing $50,000 to $100,000 in the game. Matusow, who has less regard for money than anyone I’ve ever met, says the game is too big and usually passes or tries to get a smaller PLO game going.

I remember watching Mike play a year or so ago on Ultimate Bet. He was playing $25-$50 no-limit or $50-$100. I would see him play with $10,000 or so and win or lose $10,000-$20,000. These games they are playing every night on Full Tilt are giant compared with those.

Because Full Tilt has so many name pros, there are a lot of familiar names. In addition to Mike, I’ve seen John Juanda, John D’Agostino, Allen Cunningham, Erik Seidel, Phil Ivey, Gus Hanson, and Jennifer Harman in the game. There are also several big names who aren’t affiliated with Full Tilt playing anonymously. It’s an open secret that David Benyamine and Chip Reese are regulars, along with a bunch of other high-rolling pros.

As I said, I’m usually playing some of the later evening tournaments, the big weekend tournaments when I get a chance, and late night SnGs. Please stop by and say hello. There’s plenty to play and plenty to watch.

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 at 1:31 am and is filed under My favourites:.