Those of you who have read me for a long time will know that I’m all about the group. Selfless. Community-oriented. Unlike other (read: better) poker players, I am not about to keep a good thing a secret.
Which is why I get my as stuffed in blogger tournaments, because I’ve told everyone how I play. You’re welcome.
Remember the long-lamented Paradise Special $10 Re-Buy? The biggest donkfest in online poker where I turned $70 into $4.5K in two months? I didn’t keep that from you, did I?
Well, there’s a new(-ish) tourney out there that I’ve played a few times recently and it’s the best deal I’ve found in a while.
It’s the Fifty-Fifty on Full Tilt, appearing nightly on your poker machine at 9:30 EDT. It’s a $50+5 buy-in with a guarantee of $50K. The pool usually is very close to the Guarantee and I’ve seen two slight overlays in the last few weeks. Good reward for a tourney with roughtly 1000 players and the structure is unparalleled for regularly scheduled tournaments.
Levels are 12 minutes each, starting at 10/20, which means antes don’t even kick in until the begining of the third hour. Players start with 2K in chips. There is a ton of play in this tournament, which doesn’t mean folks don’t drop at a high rate. You won’t see 60% of the field out in the first hour like the other FT Guarantees, but half is not a stretch.
Unlike the Paradise re-buy, this is not a soft tournament. It’s a step up from the $24+2 contests simply because the structure rewards better players. It’s natural better players would flock to it. You still get your fair share of donks, though, and targeting them early is, as ever, an important strategy.
The structure is good for all playing styles. The tight player can hang around longer before finding themself in push or fold mode, a situation which can come as early as Level 8 with the usual blind structure. And the action player can see even more flops early with those extra 500 starting chips.
The Fifty-Fifty gets the Joe Speaker stamp of approval. Hell, I’d like it even more if I could cash in one.
I suggest doing so sir especially after watching you play Craps