The Year of The Fish

It was a bumpy ride, this past year...

2010 started pretty awesome with a big night out and great weekend of crushing $60 Sit'n'Go's at Full Tilt. It went all downhill after that.

The trip to Cambodia was a welcome escape from reality. Running away from winter to spend a month with the family-in-law in sunny Sihanoukville... But that trip would be the last shimmering bright spot of 2010...
In Spring I tried to clean up my act. I subscribed to DeucesCracked and started studying poker rigorously. Even quitted smoking for a while, drank a lot less, went to the gym regularly and dabbled with zen buddhism...
It got me nowhere.
Neither my life, my attitude or my poker-winnings chanced during those healthy months. Everything was exactly the same. No break-throughs, no life-changing experiences, no nothing in that sober world. Maybe one can call it 'variance'. I don't know. Maybe the sample size (one Spring) was too small. It just didn't work for me.
During Summer I lost all hope and silly dreams to make serious money playing poker. My bankroll took a big hit and my soul got crushed by better players. The dream was over. In August I was 4tabling 200NL 6max Rush Poker. That's like doing crack cocaine. It gave me the high of a lifetime. Sitting at a Rush table with over $1K and crushing is a baller experience.
Alas, it didn't last.
When the hot streak ended I kept on playing 200NL way too long... Simply couldn't believe that those dudes where better than me. When reality finally caught up I needed to drop down to 50NL to build up my resources again...
In the end I closed the year with just a meager +$2K profit...  It's something. Something like nowhere near enough to get excited about. Not the kind of money that could give me the confidence to escape this sad, cold city for good...
In Autumn I got seriously side-tracked. No more poker for some time to come.
My world got turned up side down when my marriage collapsed. It turned out that love is nothing but a joke. That really romantic happily-for-ever-after-shit only happens in the movies. I really didn't know...
By the time Autumn turned into winter I was living on my own again. Things have been bleak since then. Slowly trying to find my way out of the sinking black hole that my ex-wife left behind...
It has been a tough winter.

2010 was the year of the fish.
A fish in the life. A fish in love. A fish at 200NL Rush poker.
Something's always going on but I never really seem to know what it is.
About break-even in poker.
Broke in love.
Crushed in life.
The edges are too thin.
This world is too solid.

It was a grim, grim year. But I'm still here.
Don't know where it is that I'm going from here.
Still learning, still yearning for the sunshine.

Craving for dusty roads and big open skies.
Nothing holds me back any longer.
No more lame excuses.
No more family future that needs to be secured.
I can do what I want.
I'm alone. I'm free.
Got a big bag of ganja and a fine bottle of whiskey to fight off my demons.
Got a bankroll at Full Tilt to keep on playing, to keep the dream alive.
Got this old, battered backpack to get out into the big, wide world one of these days...
Anything's possible. Anything goes.
Don't need to know the odds,
I just go

Happy New Year!

Christmas Time (A Pack of Gifts Now)

Jingle bells are jingling.
Christmas time is here.
The streets are white with snow.
The hipster dudes are mingling...
A very white and merry christmas indeed.
But when you're on your own
it's just something for other people.
This freezing season is best to be ignored.
As expected, good old Santa only brought me the blues.
So may all your days be merry
but I'll just go and disappear...



Merry Christmas

Monkey Off My Back

Shipped it! Tonight I took down a $12 Rush on Demand tournament on Full Tilt for about $720. Survived a field of 252 players by mostly quick folding my way to decent spots. At the final table a good mixture of balanced aggression and some rungoot helped me along. First place, baby!

Maybe it's not exactly a MiniFTOPS Event but winning is good. Winning a multi-table tournament is always awesome... So, at least now I know I can win. Got this big, fat and ugly monkey off my back. I can win.

Earlier today I had a pretty nice run at 100NL Full Ring Rush as well... $$$

So, maybe it was another cold and lonely Saturday. Way too much snow. Frost broke the water pipes again. But fuck it, tonight I really don't care. I made +$1K today and that feels pretty damn sweet...

Pioneer One "The Man From Mars"

Yesterday the second episode of Pioneer One was released. If you're not yet in the know: it's a community-funded dramatic sci-fi series, available as a free torrent-download on Vodo. The first episode got me all excited for obvious reasons. Well, it is a baller idea to just make your own TV-series, isn't it? The production values were impressive given the low budget, and the scripting, acting and direction were rock solid. So my expectations for Episode 2 "The Man From Mars" were high...

Those expectations were met and then shattered and crushed... In fact, this series blows my mind. An interesting, solid story, good acting and awesome cinematography on a shoe-string budget. It's just amazing, the things these dudes can do. This easily outclasses any of the 'regular' series I saw on TV lately.

So watch it, share it, support it
It's completely free
and it's fucking brilliant!

Download it at Vodo.net

Dispatches from MiniFTOPS XVIII

For a long time I frowned upon tournament poker. It’s just too slow. There’s too much luck involved in making a deep run in a single tournament. It’s a ‘one hit wonder‘-game. Cash games ar so much better, especially Rush: making and losing large amounts of $$$ in a matter of minutes. That’s how I like to roll.

But, alas, there needs to be more in the life than just Rush poker. The search for happiness and fulfillment, for example Tried to solve that one many times. Like by being married or, most recently, online dating... Failed miserably. It's the edges, you know. They are too thin.

Then yet another weekend comes around and there's not much going on. Suddenly playing tournaments doesn't seem so bad. A small investement for hours of poker. Turn a dark, depressing December weekend into something challenging and hopeful. Maybe in these MiniFTOPS I won’t fail. Maybe this time I’ll succeed in something. And maybe I’ll add some cool tunes, cold beers and a relaxing spliff to the mix... Just to make sure I'll at least enjoy the ride.

So I started Friday night with 10 big blinds in MiniFTOPS #6, a Super Turbo tournament. Quick and dirty poker is my cup of tea. Everyone goes crazy here. Shoving all kinds of trash from any position. So I just seriously nit it up and stay cool all the way down to 3 big blinds or so. Shove better hands and don’t get unlucky, that’s my strategy. It all went smooth. Passed the bubble and made my way deeper and deeper into the monies. With only 200 players left I had over 15 big blinds. That’s huge in a super turbo. Hell yeah, on my way to victory!
Smang it, baby!
Then my Aces got cracked.
A few hands later I went busto...



Anyway, finished in 169th for about $120.
First tournament, first cash. Not a bad start.

On Saturday I played Event #10, a Turbo tournament, but never got anything going. Nursing a shortstack for an hour and a half before busting out anonymously somewhere in the middle of the pack. An uneventful night...

Sunday there was Event #11, a very reasonably priced knock-out tournament with a $250K Guarantee. Over 25.000 players registered. In this huge field, I busted somewhere in the middle of the pack once again. No monies here.

In Event #12, the heads-up tournament, I won my first match. 99 versus AK was good for a ticket to round two. There I ran into a big, fishy panda who outflopped me... My AK was no good against his K7 on a KQ7 board. Busto. The end. No big scores. No great moments of glory.

Four MiniFTOPS tournaments, 1 cash. Exactly break even. Right where I started.
Nothing but another mellow weekend. But I learned that tournament poker isn't that bad after all...

I'll just keep on trying
'till I get somewhere.
Any road will do.
Anywhere is fine.

Full Ring Rush Poker Strategy Guide

After playing 6 max Rush poker for a while, I recently switched to full ring Rush poker. It turned out to be a great move. It's still fast and hectic poker but the games are much softer. The regulars are way more weak-passive (no Praz Bansi here) and there are just a lot more fish swimming around...




Play Online Poker

Here are few basic strategy tips:

• Don't try to soul read your opponents. I't a big game with lots of players. Game dynamic rarely exists. Sticking to simple, solid poker is a safer, straighter path to success. 
• Be a nit. Because of the quick fold button and the full table; the ranges tend to be very, very tight. An over pair is definitely not the nuts. In fact, it's not that uncommon to get it in with a pair of kings versus a pair of aces. Ace-king is another hand that should be played more cautiously here. Just nit it up.
• Be a wild pig in late position. Stealing the blinds successfully is a key factor to improve your winrate. Open a wide range in late position. But be aware that the blinds will 3bet a wider range too. So consider increasing your 4betting range... Or, when you play from he blinds, try 5bet shoving light to counter this late-position aggression.
• Variance can be huge. It's less outrages than 6-max Rush but it can still be a bumpy ride... In the long run it's a very profitable game. Just make sure you're bankrolled to play a crazy amount of hands before the money comes rolling in...

This are just a few thoughts on how to beat full ring Rush. Playing a ton of hand and reviewing your own game will be the best way to improve. But following these tips will give you a solid head start.

Good luck at the tables!
Go crush the Rush...

How To Get The Highest Rakeback At Full Tilt

Okay, the rakeback is fixed at 27% at Full Tilt, but a lot of players cost themselves a lot of their rakeback by making unnecessary withdrawals and deposits to their Full Tilt accounts. Every time you make a deposit you get charged. That means that your total rake is reduced and therefore your rakeback is calculated and you end up getting way less than 27% rakeback.

This are a few tips on how to improve your return at Full Tilt Poker:

• Don’t make unnecessary withdrawals from your Full Tilt account. If you don’t need the cash and will probably re-deposit it later then you should leave the money where it is. This will save you about 10-20% of you actual rakeback!
• Play Rush Poker! By playing Rush Poker you can play 3-4 times as many hands per hour and therefore increase your rakeback by 300-400%!
• Try multi-tabling... If Rush Poker isn’t your cup of tea then you should try opening a second or third table. Again depending on how many tables you open you can increase your rake and rakeback by that amount. 2 tables would be 200%, 4 tables 400% etc.
• If you’re brave enough to try multi-tabling Rush Poker then you could increase your rakeback by anything from 800-2400%
• Play during Happy Hour and earn multiple points! Look for daily Happy Hours to begin earning your Full Tilt Points two to three times faster than usual. Your bonus points will automatically appear in your account so all you have to worry about is how to spend them.
• Get player to player transfers instead of depositing. If you need to get cash on to your Full Tilt account, try asking a friend who has excess funds to make a player to player transfer for you and then pay them via their bank account or in cash! This way you both avoid all deposit and withdrawal fees!
• Become a Black Card Member and exchange points for cash! Black Card members earn double points on all their play and you can then buy cash bonuses with your points and boost your rakeback to 40-50% while clearing the bonuses.

Good luck at the tables!

Television 2.0: Pioneer One

The people behind The Lionshare decided to take independent movie-making to the next level... Their new project is an independently produced dramatic series called 'Pioneer One'.
If you enjoyed the fresh creativity of The Lionshare, you might enjoy this one as well...


PIONEER ONE: New Episodes Teaser from Pioneer One on Vimeo.

"An object in the sky spreads radiation over North America. Fearing terrorism, U.S. Homeland Security agents are dispatched to investigate and contain the damage. What they discover will have implications for the entire world."

The pilot episode is now available at Vodo.net.
The next episode will re released somewhere next week.
Good stuff for a cold, dark winter.

MiniFTOPS XVIII Coming up...

Play in the Full Tilt MiniFTOPS this December for a chance to turn a small buy-in into a big win. There is over $6 million in guaranteed prize money...

It all starts tomorrow on Wednesday, December 8th.

You can buy in to any MiniFTOPS event directly or satellite your way in for as little as $0.50 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

Series highlights include:

• The MiniFTOPS Two-Day Event, featuring a $200 + $16 buy-in and $600K guaranteed
• The MiniFTOPS Main Event, with a $70 + $5 buy-in and $1 million in guaranteed prize money
• Seven Rush Poker Tournaments, including Event #9, a $10 + $1 NLH Rush Rebuy with $300K guaranteed.

All these events feature large starting fields and a good tournament structure, giving you a lot of play for a small investment. See the full MiniFTOPS Schedule for more details.

Follow these steps to register for any MiniFTOPS event:

1. If you haven't done so already, download Full Tilt Poker and install the game software on your computer.
2. Create an account.
3. Open the game software and click on the Lobby menu, then select Choose Lobby View > Standard View.
4. In the browse area, click on Tournament and then FTOPS.
5. Find the MiniFTOPS event you'd like to play in, click the Register Now button and get ready to play for your share of the prize money.

Good luck at the tables!

Computer Love

Not so long ago I was a married man. But things have changed. Nowadays I'm just a lonely dude in the big, cold city... Trying to divide my time between the day job, crushing online poker and getting stoned.
It's all cool. It's all good
But nevertheless, being alone gets quite lonely after a while...
So what to do? Where to go?
Get out and mingle is the obvious choice.
Alas, I'm not the most talkative guy and crowds get me all anxious. This can be cured with large amounts of alcoholic beverages... but it's kind of hard to engage in meaningful conversations when raving drunk. So I decided it's better to stay at home and try online dating.

First I needed to create a profile. First problem: it's very hard to come up with clever and/or funny answers to those crappy dating site questions... What are your hobbies? Favorite food? Favorite books, movies, music? Height? Sports? Weight? Children? Education level?
Fuck off! Just leave me alone!
But after smoking a big, fat joint I relaxed and answered it all. Went for the honest approach. I figured a WYSIWYG-style would work out best in the long run. Well, I didn't quite mention anything about drinking, smoking and gambling. But hey, that's not a problem. I have these habits completely under control. I can choose anytime to do them openly or sneaky. No worries there. It's all cool.

Anyway, with my profile up and running it was time to engage in some online mingling!
In online dating (just like online poker) it's best to start at the bottom, I guessed. So I started out with low standards. Any female who is living in this city, who is of legal age and who has the tiniest bit of profile information I can relate to... something like that. Then I worked very hard to send out cool and clever personal messages to anyone fitting this description.

After about a dozen messages I got myself a few cold beers, leaned back and started refeshing my inbox over and over again...
Out of the dozen only three girls replied.
I replied them all back.
Then only 1 replied again.
I replied her.
When she replied once more I decided to add 'avoid psycho's' to my minimum requirements list...

That was it. Maybe it's variance. Maybe the edges are too thin. Maybe I was just running bad. But most likely,
I'm just a big fish in this dating game.

No more computer love for me.
I'll just play long hours of Rush poker instead...

The Full Tilt Iron Man Year-End Bonus

You've played at Full Tilt Poker this year. You’ve shown your determination. You’ve dedicated your time. Now it's time to reap the rewards with a nice Iron Man Year-End Bonus.

Qualify for any of the four Iron Man status levels in December and receive a bonus at the beginning of January. The bonus is based on the number of months you’ve qualified for the Iron Man Challenge during the second half of 2010 (July through December) and the status levels you achieved each month:

Bronze - $25/Month
Silver - $50/Month
Gold - $75/Month
Iron - $100/Month

For example, if you qualified for one month at Bronze, two months at Silver, one month at Gold and two months at Iron, you’ll receive a bonus of $400. If you’ve committed yourself to earning Iron Man status each month starting in July, you’ll receive a bonus of $600. Even if you haven’t qualified for any Iron Man level during the second half of the year, you can still earn a bonus by participating in the Iron Man Challenge in December.

You need to opt-in to the Iron Man Challenge in December and reach Bronze, Silver, Gold or Iron status to qualify for the bonus. Opt-in and check your bonus status on your personal Iron Man Status page by going to My Promotions in the Cashier at Full Tilt Poker.

Once you’ve qualified for your bonus, you’ll have from January 1st to February 14th to clear your bonus money by earning Full Tilt Points in real-money games.

Don’t miss the opportunity to cash in on all your months of hard work.
Participate in the Iron Man Challenge this December, and then start January with a brand new bonus!

The Backgammon Blues

About ten years ago I spend a couple of months in the Middle East on my own little Magical Mystery Tour. In a kibbutz in the Negev desert I learned how to play backgammon.
Learned it and crushed it.
Many sweet memories about drunken backgammon nights out there in Israel...

Anyway, when Bwin launched online backgammon I was very excited. Almost quit the day job instantly. This should be like printing money for a skillful player like myself...

But it was a short lived dream... It's quit different now then how I remembered it. The combination of sticking to exact rules and serious opponents... I don't know, dude. Maybe I'm getting old or maybe the edges are too thin. I'm not all that sure. But I didn't win like I used to... In fact, I didn't win at all.

Maybe you do have some mad backgammon skills?



(and if you know how to beat this game, please, let me know...)

Movie Night: Snowblind

It's freezing cold outside and there's snow everywhere. In times like these, staying home and watching a movie sounds like a rock solid plan. So I watched Snowblind, a movie made by some German movie enthusiasts dudes who love 70s and 80s grindhouse cinema.

It's a very low-budget western set in a future ice age where cowboys drive motorbikes...

The story goes something like this:
"A lone gunman gets a last-minute pardon from death row, with the mission to deliver a woman of mysterious powers to an evil Governor. Against the backdrop of a frozen, inhospitable earth, Snowblind fires up the classical love triangle with smoking barrels and a ton of red-hot bullets."

Check it out at Vodo. By downloading it you support community-powered film making. Free entertainment and good karma, that's a pretty sweet deal on a cold winter night...

The Return Of Rush Week

Rush Week is back;
Seven days of speed at Full Tilt Poker.
Experience the blistering pace and intensity of Rush Poker, the world’s fastest poker game, to earn up to $250 in cash and win free entry to an exclusive $50K Rush Week Freeroll.

Running from Monday, November 29th to Sunday, December 5th, Rush Week offers even more reasons to play Rush Poker. Accumulate enough Full Tilt Points by playing Rush Poker ring games, Sit & Gos and tournaments during Rush Week and you could earn up to $250 in cash. In addition, all players who make the final table of a Rush Poker Tournament or Sit & Go will receive entry into the exclusive $50K Rush Week Freeroll. Even players with limited time or a limited bankroll can still earn some extra cash; earn 10 Full Tilt Points a day during 4 days of Rush Week and get $5 for free...

All Rush Poker Tournaments with a guarantee will have it doubled for the duration of Rush Week, while Saturday’s $80K Guarantee and the Sunday Brawl will be converted to Rush Poker Tournaments.

Full Tilt Rush Poker Goes Mobile

Full Tilt Poker launches Rush Poker Mobile.
Now there's really no need to ever stop playing the world's fastest poker game.
Stuck in traffic, while shopping with the misses, at school, at work, during family dinners, at parties, funerals, weddings,... Anywhere, anytime is a good time to get that quick gambling fix. All you need is a mobile device that supports Flash v10.1 or higher and you're good to go.



So Rush Poker Mobile lets you play the world’s fastest poker game anywhere, anytime.
Start playing on a web browser by going to http://mobile.fulltiltpoker.com. Android users can download the mobile application there. Make sure to get 27% rakeback on every hand you play by signing up for Full Tilt Rakeback first...

Good luck at the mobile tables!

The Luck Of The Draw

Autumn is in full swing here in Europe, so it's the perfect time to stay at home and play poker all weekend long... Draw games, for example. This is a form of poker where players have the opportunity to replace any of the cards in their hand by drawing new cards from the deck. A great alternative whenever the usual no-limit hold 'em gets boring... Full Tilt Poker offers now five variants: 2-7 Triple Draw, 2-7 Single Draw, A-5 Triple Draw, Badugi and 5-Card Draw.

Pot limit 5-Card Draw (6 max) is my personal favorite.

Although it's really old school, pot limit makes it fresh, exciting and easy to get all the chips in the middle fast...
As with Hold 'em, the goal in 5-Card Draw is to make the best five-card high hand. Once the blinds are posted, players are dealt five pocket cards, followed by the first round of betting. Then players have the chance to discard any or all of the cards in their hand and replace them by drawing new ones. After the draw, a final round of betting takes place, followed by a showdown to determine who wins the pot. That's it! Enjoying a few beers while playing any draw games will enhance the 'old skool' experience and make you appreciate the true beauty of these games even more...

But if you're somehow still reluctant to put money on the line in drawing games, Full Tilt Sit & Go Madness is back this weekend (November 5th 'till November 7th). Super turbo's are now included in the Madness, so you can play a ton of games easily and maximize you're chances to win a fair share of $150K in cash and Madness prizes...

Never mind the grey and dull autumn weather,
Full Tilt Poker is the place to be.

True Love, Genocide and Lonesome Nights

(Another lonesome autumn night in Brussels.
The ashtray is nearly full and the bottle of whiskey almost empty....)

Exactly seven years ago I crossed the Lao border into Cambodia.
The first day I spend smoking dope in a sleepy border town.
On the second day I followed the Mekong river all the way to Phnom Penh.
I didn’t know a single soul in this city. All I had was a dirty piece of paper where someone had scribbled a few words on. Top Banana Guesthouse; that was what it said.
That’s where I went...

A moto-taxi dropped me in a dusty street and I climbed the stairs to the Top. Within minutes of arriving at the Banana rooftop terrace everything was all right. My kind of place, my kind of people. Everybody easy-going and relax. Passing around huge spliffs, having beers and chatting with fellow guests and other cool dudes.
Phnom Penh’s answer to heaven on earth, they called it.
Good times, getting high and hanging out with the guys.

But in the far corner of the terrace were two Khmer girls talking to each other. One was a good looking girl, the other one... The other one was something else... Truly the most beautiful girl in the world. I could swear there was a glow surrounding here. She was magical... like an angel, a goddess... So out of place in this crowd of stoners, travellers and crazy people. I couldn’t even look at her, she was just too beautiful. So I focused on getting really high.

The next day I wanted to visit Tuol Sleng, a Khmer Rouge prison turned into a genocide museum. When I left the guesthouse Magical Girl was suddenly standing right in front of me. She asked me where I was going. I was speechless. Nevertheless, she came along.
Tuol Sleng is a nasty place. In the late seventies, the Khmer Rouge regime imprisoned and tortured about 17.000 people here. Only twelve of them survived.
Here we walked around ... At one point, she grabbed my hand and hold it firmly. Maybe it was by chance, maybe it was planned, maybe this place was just too much for her... But for me, it changed my life. I fell in love right there and then, within the walls of the Khmer Rouge prison.

Afterwards, I had the time of my life Cambodia. We got married that summer.

About a year after our visit to the Khmer Rouge prison, we settled as husband and wife in Brussels. For seven years she would be the centre of my universe.

Happily ever after etc.

Then it turned out that she had a different view on the universe.

So we started out in the most unlikely of places
but in the end it didn't matter.

The Khmer Rouge genocide took over one million lives.
That is a devastating, undisputed fact.
While true love is,
to the best of my knowledge,
nothing but a fairy tale.

So I traded my dreams for the love of a girl
but ended up with nothing,
just like a vagabond
in the distance...

Intermission: Born Again

Filthy Rich Fish will return after the break...

Fight For Your Right (To Play Online Poker)

Right2bet is an organisation comprising consumers from across the European Union who believe in a citizen's right to choose. Right2bet's mission is to ensure that the principles of economic freedom in the European Union are applied as fairly to betting and gaming as they are to any other sector.
Ultimately, all EU citizens should be able to bet with whichever EU-licensed betting company they wish, regardless of in which member state that company is based.
The French and the Italian government already blocked out-of-country poker sites like Pokerstars and Full Tilt. Make sure this does not happen in your country!
To sign the petition and support these aims click here.

Cambodia Bound

Where to go? What to see?
The eternal questions driving me insane.
There's an urgent need to run away from this town...
Dreams about India, Tokyo and Macau
I just want to go. I've got no idea where or why.
Well, maybe I do but
I'm really not sure.
Fly away across timezones
to far from here
Perhaps trying to figure it all out
somewhere along the way.
Snap some pictures, smoke a joint, have a beer.
Walk around a strange town.
Eating noodles on my own...
Just another lonely tourist far from home.

But in the end, this is how it really is...
I've travelled down the river and I got to the sea.
My heart is in Sihanoukville at the break of dawn
watching those big clouds slowly drifting by...
Where else could I go?
What else to see?
There's nothing like
another trip to Cambodia.
Cruising down on Highway #4
all the way to the beach....

The Black Card

Full Tilt Poker recently launched The Black Card.
It's the ultimate recognition of baller status.
It takes an average of 500 Full Tilt Points a day over a rolling 100 day period (and you'll need to maintain the average afterwards) but you do get a slick Full Tilt Black Card in the mail.
Black Card holders receive double Full Tilt Points which they can exchange for cash bonuses, luxury gifts and tournament entries. They'll receive VIP treatment at live tournaments, dedicated support from the Black Card support team and much more...
Of course, the good stuff requires serious dedication and lots of hard work.
It will take a big bankroll and the work schedule of an average Indonesian sweat shop worker to get and maintain a 500FTP/day average. There will be little or no time to waste on things like your social life, your wife and your kids. But the real question is "Is it worth it?"
Definitely yes.
Sign up at Full Tilt Poker through our rakeback-program and start the race to Black Card ownership today!

Support Filthy Rich Fish

If you like this blog, help us bringing the good stuff for free. Donate one time, every week or just whenever you feel like it. Our goal is to bring bigger and better posts about a life in poker, gambling and adventure. Every dollars brings us closer to this goal, it keeps the ganja in full supply, the bail fund ready and your beloved blog posts appearing regularly...

On The Road To 200NL

Ever since I crashed and burned at 200NL, I've been struggling to really get into poker again...
A new month, a new start.
Time for some resolutions:

• Play at least 20K hands in cash games (full ring Rush Poker and regular 6max)
• Focus on improving. Making a profit is always nice but monetary goals are nothing but a shortcut to monkey tilt...
• Stick to a tight schedule. Bad beats are a part of poker and life. It's the time spend being upset about them that really hurts. Recover and move on!
• Take up breathing exercises again. I truly enjoyed Tommy Angelo's 'The Eightfold Path To Poker Enlightment' but somewhere along the way I stopped putting it into practice...
• Maintain a healthy lifestyle with lots of workouts and a peaceful mind.
• Try out some pre-session affirmations ('Today Is My Day!')
• Finally, I'll wear a rubber band around my wrist during play. So I can snap myself back into focus every time the mind goes wandering...

These simple steps should help me along on the road to beating 200NL and beyond...

This autumn I'll watch the chestnuts falling down while working on my way up.

Chestnuts Falling

The end of September,
dark and grey...

Summer's gone.
Restlessness comes creeping in.
The eternal questions spinning through my head:

Where to go? What to see?

Maybe start a religion,
commit a murder,
sacrifice a virgin,
win a goddamn poker tournament
or just get out of town...

I'm further than I was before
but nowhere near where I wanted to be.
Still here/ always here.
Feverish thoughts burning in my head.
Have to go. Have to run.
Perhaps Cambodia... sweet Cambodia
or what about Singapore, Tokyo, Macau?

Chestnuts are falling form the trees,
I'm searching for the exit.
Searching for redemption,
the meaning of life,
love and wisdom.
Searching for banana pancakes,
cheap ganja and booze...
Searching for something.
Anything goes,
anything will do.

Anything but
this hopeless night in the city.
Staring at those chestnuts
falling down and wondering...

Where to go? What to see?

Career Opportunities

I don't wanna be a soldier, mama (I don't wanna die)
I don't wanna be a politician, mama (I don't wanna lie)
I don't wanna be a Catholic priest, mama (I don't wanna make small boys cry)

It's hard to find a satisfying, well-paid profession these days.
A career opportunity, largely overlooked by mainstream media, is being a

Rakeback Whore

Nevertheless, it's a great choice with numerous benefits.
You can work in the comfort of your own home (with your clothes on), you don't need to spend any money on an outstanding training site (like DeucesCracked) and you don't need to be particulary intelligent.
The simple necessaries are a good rakeback deal, a poker client and a basic strategy for past-paced games like Rush Poker or Super Turbo Sit 'n Go's. All these can be found right here, be clicking on the appropriate link.
Now deposit your start-up funds in your poker account and mass-table the game of your choice for as many hours a day as you can handle... Every week you will be rewarded with a nice rakeback-paycheck that will fill your heart with happiness and make all the hours well worth your time ($$$!)...

Happy whoring!

Resurrection

Sometimes you've got to move down to find the way up again...

After watching the intro of terryfan's new DC-series 'Rush it to NL' I decided to take a whole new approach to the game. Dropped all the way down to 50NL and switched to full ring Rush Poker.

5000 hands later I'm up about 10 buy-in's...

It's a whole different game down here. Random fish donate with random holdings. Keeping variance in check with simple, solid fundamentals is all it takes (and some rungoot, of course)... Yes, it is painful to move down in stakes. There are those feelings of failure and the knowledge that there's less to gain. But, you know what they say, 'no pain no game' (no pain, no profit). So moving down is far superior than being stubborn and tilting of all the monies at the higher levels. Sometimes soothing the ego and rebuilding the bankroll at the low-stakes can be the fastest way up...

Variance Surfin'

So how good at poker do you think you really are?

The cool dudes over at Evplusplus.com came up with a variance simulator.

Let's say you're crushing no limit cash games at 3 big blinds/100 hands over 100K hands.

Here are 100 different possibilities how your actual profit graph could turn out:

So, there's one lucky guy that turns +$13K profit at $0.50/$1 no limit hold'em 

(snorting coke off of a model's ass and negotiating sponsorship deals) 

while an equally skilled dude (kicked out by his wife because of his gambling problem and now contemplating suicide) could have lost -$10K over the same sample size...

It's a very, very brutal game.

Next time you feel like the ultimate poker genius or like the dirtiest degenerate gambler, chances are that you're only surfing the waves of variance...

A Simple Guide To Super Turbo Sit 'n Go Strategy

If you like the idea of online poker but find it hard to put up the hours or the brain activity; there's still hope:

The Super Turbo Sit 'n Go
(It's over before you know it)

Multi-tabling these with only a basic strategy and a fine rakeback deal is a sweet way to make some hard-earned cash...

Basic rule: One Mouse Click = One Hand
(push or fold, don't even think about doing anything fancy)

The starting stack is only 10 big blinds. Do not panic! Shoving robust hands (preferably in late position) is all you have to do for now. Let your opponents knock each other out while you keep it tight.
Once you get in spots with effective stacks of about 3 big blinds you can loosen up considerably. Shove about everything (preferably against as few opponents as possible).
Try to keep your own stack above 3 big blinds at all times.
Keep an eye on stack sizes (and, if your into it, player tendencies) to find spots that offer a good risk/reward ratio. Think about what will happen with your (and your opponents) stack size when you choose to push, fold or call a shove. Planning your moves around this idea is the key to winning.
Finally, be more willing to shove around and beyond the money bubble...
That's all you need to know!

Good luck at the tables

MiniFTOPS #26 - Quick Busto

The Full Tilt MiniFTOPS tournament series is well under way.
Last night I played in Event #26, the no limit hold'em 6-max tournament.

Just one of those nights, all prepared for hours of heavy tournament action... All done well before the first break. Nothing left to do but hanging on in idle time, wondering what the hell went wrong once again... Anyway, there's still the $1million guaranteed Main Event on Sunday... Come on, 'One Time'!

Rush Strategy Is A Three Letter Word

STD is the only abbreviation you ever need to know before hitting the Rush tables at Full Tilt Poker. If you're thinking cheap back-alley whores and a scratchy crotch: go see a doctor, dude! This simple STD is a pain-free way to turn yourself into a Rush-crushing money-machine...

Just stick to these three simple rules:

1. Strong hands should be played strong; no need to mess around. It's a fast-paced game, so play it fast. 
2. Tight is right; the quick fold button make's it easy to stay away from tricky spots. In case of doubt, just fold now.
3. Donkeys do donate; mixing it up with the clueless will result in a warm, happy feeling and a fat bankroll.

Now go crush the Rush...
Good luck at the tables!

Up Your Ante

After an early bust-out of  the Full Tilt Poker MiniFTOPS#10
(just another case of flopping the nuts and getting rivered...)
I stumbled upon an amazing poker training site:

Chris Olaafson's Up Your Ante: The Revolutionary Poker Training System

Three words:
Amazing! Sensational! Mind Blowing!

"Chris Olaafson is the man behind some of the greatest poker minds on earth. This is his secret training scheme. Shown only to some of the world’s greatest poker minds Chris has decided to bring his talent, charisma and intimidating poker mind to the world. Introducing Chris Olaafson’s “Up Your Ante – The Revolutionary Poker Training System’  - are you  ready to be trained by God?"

Soul Crushed

Six weeks ago I was considered by many (mainly me) as the illest baller on the Brussels East Side...

Playing 2000+ hands of 200NL Rush Poker a day and winning a steady 4 big blinds/100 hands (aka 'making a shit load of money!')...

4tabling Rush Poker while running good:
Double Rainbow all the way, dude!

High on money.
This is it.
My moment, my time.
Earning my ticket to the sun. Finally I got it all figured out. Poker is easy. So long, fuckers! Rakeback alone is more than enough to cover living expenses in sunny Cambodia...

200NL 6-max Rush Poker is popular with numerous Full Tilt Red Pro's. But I was fearless. I'm better. I'm the best. The pro's are in it for rakeback benefits. Grinding out thousands of hands a day leaves little room for surprising moves. Dudes like Roland Specht play like a Catholic priests wet dream (aka 'ass tight'). No worries, I got it all figured out.

Life is easy,
just cruisin' trough summer while building my bankroll...

But after about 20000 hands, the close encounters with the dark side started. Small missteps and large ill-timed bluffs, while grinding at 500 hands/hour, can have serious consequences...
Losing several $200 buy-ins in less time than you can spell
m-o-t-h-e-r-f-u-c-k-e-r
hurts as hell.
But no time to dwell on the pain just now.
It's all part of the master plan.
Study hard (at DeucesCracked).
Regular work outs at the gym.
Play more hands.
Ride out variance.
Keep calm and carry on at all times.

Still making money.
At little less than before,
but still cruising...

Then along came Praz Bansi...
The first day I met him at the tables I suffered a -$1K loss...
Probably coincidence but, nevertheless, his presence at 200NL Rush freaked me out.

If Praz Bansi plays this game, how many other regulars in here are world class professionals???

The next few days that question kept bouncing 'round my mind.
It's hard to focus while confused and stressed out.
My ego wounded and my bankroll bleeding...
Paranoid and fearful,
I burned trough many more $200 buy-ins...
But still struggling to stay strong.

You know the drill:
Stay positive.
Study more.
Work out harder.
Run faster. Breath. Think. Swim. Recover.
Play more.
Stay calm at all times.
Play perfect.

Keep losing.
(repeat)
Lose some more.
(and repeat)
(and...)

Until there's only misery left.
Is it really possible to suck this hard?
Sick to the stomach,
staring into the abyss.
Tilt and pain lurking in my brain.
Confidence and self-esteem long gone...
Nothing more than a dirty, degenerate gambler.
Recovering gambling losses by gambling more is *not* recommended.

After losing over 15 buy-ins I did the only sensible thing left to do:
I quit poker and drove straight to the first coffeeshop across the Dutch border.

200NL Rush poker took my money and
crushed my soul


And that's the story of my summer...

Silly hopes and dreams shred to pieces,
my soul crushed by bigger and better players.
A little less exercise and less studying
while indulging, with renewed dedication, in
my all-time favorite past time
of smoking weed...

Still, even when writing this,
I keep an eye on the 100NL Rush lobby...
Scrolling trough the player list, looking for weak spots and fresh opportunities.
Maybe, just maybe, I could do it again.
Grinding out 100NL for a while,
building up confidence, sharpening my moves, fattening my bankroll...
Preparing for another shot to mix it up with all the tough dudes at 200NL...

Never mind that ticket to the sun,
fuck the money.

All I want to do is beat the game,
be better,
be the best
and, more than anything,
crush souls!

Fish 2.0:
A fish with a vengeance....

Fish 2.0

Here we go again...

Summer's Here

Just to make things clear; I'm not Pete.
Ever since I joined DeucesCracked my game is improving and my bankroll growing. The more I study about poker the more I feel like I have to study a lot more.

Once you get sucked into a search for knowledge the tendency is to push it as far as possible.

Anyway, there's still time to relax.
Summer (finally) arrived in Brussels.
The sun is shining brightly.
The World Cup is on TV.
The weather is hot.
City parks are filled with sun seeking people.
I heard there's a music festival going on down town.
It's all good. It's all fine.
The best time of the year in this little town.
Let's hope it's a long and hot one....

Six months ago (in sunny Cambodia) I started playing Rush Poker 25NL. Today (in sunny Brussels) I'm well bankrolled for Rush Poker 200NL. Moving up 3 buy-in levels in half a year must count for something... My bankroll is now officially off the bankroll chart I drew up about a year ago.
Good times!

All I need for perfect happiness would be some minor (faked) injury to stay home from work all summer long. So I can neatly divide my time between crushing Rush 200NL, lazy times in the park and studying at DeucesCracked...

Assistance or advice in faking injuries is appreciated.

The Home Game

Meeting people is cool. At least, I thought it was. So I organized a poker night at my place... Filled up the fridge with pizza and beer, spread a green sheet over the table and invited some dudes for a nice, little game of poker...

Here are 5 reasons why I never do it again:

1. People are swine (pissing in the toilet would be nice)
2. You put a zillion beers in the fridge and you can be sure some fucker goes for the single can of Ice Tea (I love my Ice Tea)
3. Spitting out of the window and saying 'don't worry about; it's cool' is not cool.
4. When asking (repeatedly) to not use my computer it would be nice if anyone actually listened and respected the request...
5. We played roughly about 17 hands of poker while the rest of this 'poker night' was spend on bullet points 1 'till 4

I'll stick to Full Tilt Poker from now one...

The Quiet Life

There's less and less to say...
I'm a fish in the life and a fish at the poker table.
Like everyone else I thought I was the greatest (but just running bad).
Like everyone else I am a giant fish (but running hot for a while).
This is the time to turn things around.
Wake up early in the morning, go to bed early at night.
Studying the game and finding peace in the life.
Early morning runs in the park,
studying poker hands and poker videos,
regular work outs at the gym,
stay calm and thoughtful at all times.
Deflating the ego.
No dope, no booze, no silly arguments or pointless stress.
Flushing the fish out of me.
I'm an absolute beginner.
That's all I have to say.

The Way Of The Buddha

Early one morning around Brussels Airport, I’m driving when the typical sound of a police whistle interrupts my morning numbness. Checking the rear-view mirror, I see a frantically gesticulating police officer. Fuck, I got a cellphone pressed against my ear... This might be an expensive morning.
So I back up and open the window. The police officer turns out to be a woman. She immediately starts the usual traffic-police-rant.
I just breathe and listen.
A few weeks back I discovered Zen Buddhism.
I'm still a total fish, of course, but stressed-out police officers are a wonderful exercise in tiltlessness.
When she's looking for my reply, I simply state
‘You are right, I made a mistake’
After that, she goes on for a little bit more.
Then, suddenly, she signals I can drive on.
No traffic fine. No paperwork.
I didn't play my part so she let it slide....
Just breath and stay cool.
It takes two to start an argument.
Make sure you got better things to do...

Spring Online Championship of Poker

The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is back for 2010! It's one of the biggest-ever online poker tournament series, with millions of dollars in guaranteed prize pools up for grabs. There's a low, medium and high level buy-in for every tournament.So everyone can play...

It all starts today!

Check out the schedule or, if you don't have a PokerStars-account yet, you can sign up here...

The Life Of A Poker Pro

Some say it's the hardest way to make an easy living.
I say it's just the hardest way to make a living.
But salvation might be ahead.
One of the true legends of the game was willing to share some of his deep insights and provoking thoughts in this series of YouTube-videos...



Watch & learn!
(All episodes here...)

Epic Failure Approximately

Surprise, surprise... 

It ain't going well. 

About a month ago, NL200 cash games seems almost into reach. Now I'm struggling to maintain a healthy bankroll at NL100. It's not because of me, of course. It's just bad luck, rigged poker rooms, government conspiracies or that devilish doom switch permanently turned on. So I whine and I complain and I struggle just to stay break even...

Maybe the fish is me. 

Like some dude on Two Plus Two put it very poetically 

"You either got it or you don't".

Poker is a cheap hobby at worst. 

At best, I'm a marginal winner.

Game Over/ The End?

Well, almost but not just yet...

In a final attempt to become the greatest poker player in the history of the world (or just make some fucking money with it) I did some tweaking here and there. So I started swimming (like a fish, you see) and going to the gym regularly. A healthier and happier lifestyle. Then I cancelled my PokerVT-subscription. I learned a lot there. But clearly not enough. Blame the teacher. Time to move on. 

Yesterday I signed up for six months with DeucesCracked. Their videos are super-advanced and high-level. It's the final frontier. If I fail to improve my game significantly by the time autumn comes around, I'll quiet. Spend my bankroll on my one and only great talent: 

take the money and run.

Dreams about the beaches of Goa or the streets of Tokyo are never that far away.

(pic credits: someone at Two Plus Two,

have a look at Deuces Cracked here)

Why Full Tilt Is The Best Online Poker Room

Full Tilt Poker always had the smoothest poker client available. They were also the first to release a Mac client. Even if rakeback and Rush Poker cash games weren't enough reasons to choose for Full Tilt, they just got even better...

Full Tilt Poker introduced a few great new features:

• Rush Poker tournaments, now you can play tournaments even if you don't have all night. It's the fastest tournament action available anywhere. Join a large player pool and face a different table of opponents every hand. When you fold your hand, you'll immediately move to a new table for your next hand. As players are eliminated from the tournament, tables will become short-handed to keep up the pace, culminating in "standard" tournament mode at the final table. In theory, you could finish the complete World Series of Poker Main Event (with the same blind levels and stack sizes) in just 8 hours in a Rush Poker format.
• Steps Sit 'n Go's, starting for as little as $3.30, you can play your way through the steps to win a wide range of tournament entries and prizes.  
• The Full Tilt Store got a lot better. When you get tired of ordering Full Tilt hats and t-shirt you can use your Full Tilt Points to purchase Tournament Tickets for every available buy-in and tournament... Grinding out all those Double Points Happy Hours just got meaningful again.

So, playing at Full Tilt is definitely the most Ev+ activity you can find online. 

Play Online Poker Without A Visa Card

I hear it all the time:

"I would love to play poker online but I don't have a Visa card and/or I don't want to use my Visa card online"

Well, if you live in France or Belgium there's a simple and neat solution to this problem: Ticket Premium. This is a prepaid voucher or card that provides a fast, easy and secure method to fund your Full Tilt Poker or PokerStars account. You can purchase TICKET PREMIUM vouchers or cards from over 22,000 locations in France and 5,000 locations in Belgium. It's available at many places like supermarkets and gas stations. Check out their website for a location near to you. The cheapest card sells at only 25€. So really everyone can play online poker...

Mac Poker Software

Everything you need to know about playing poker on Mac Os X.
All the basic info in one place at macpokersoftware.com
It's the perfect starting place if you're new in the world of online poker and/or Mac...
Highly recommended!

From Busto To Robusto

'From Busto To Robusto' is a series of documentaries about online poker. It's a must see for everyone interested in online poker and/or grassroots filmmaking.

From the Robustothemovie.com website:

In 2003, an unknown amateur named Chris Moneymaker won $2.5M in the World Series of Poker Main Event: the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Suddenly poker was everywhere. Moneymaker’s rags-to-riches victory quickly became the new American Dream. Overnight, the struggling online poker market exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry as millions of hopefuls around the world began logging on and anteing up with dreams of winning the next online poker fortune. These are their stories.

Episode 2 (about online poker pro good2cu) is online now.
Watch it at Robustothemovie.com

Full Tilt Poker in April

There will be another Take 2 promotion this month, running from April 3rd to April 11th. Play at least 2 ring games at the same time or any Rush Poker game and you'll earn double Full Tilt Points and up to $25 in cold, hard cash.
On April 23d FTOPS XVI will start with $18 million guaranteed prize money. This is a series of big buy-in tournaments. Splash around or try winning a qualifier to get in cheap.
Satellites are running all month.
Lastly, there's the Iron Man Challenge. You can already qualify by collecting as little as 100 Full Tilt Points a day and be on your way to cash bonuses and lucrative freerolls...

Make sure to register for all these promotions by clicking the 'My Promotions'-button in the cashier window of the Full Tilt Poker lobby.

Good luck at the tables!

Sign up for a Full Tilt Poker account here and get 27% rakeback every week...
Already have a Full Tilt account but still playing without rakeback? 
Now is a good time to do something about it.

Sunday Recovery

Yesterday was a disaster..
Just like I couldn't win a single hand.

Variance can be brutal.
That's easy enough to understand.
Shit happens; especially if you're willing to wager mood-affecting amounts of money on the turn of a few cards... Staying emotionally unaffected while rapidly sliding downhill on the profit-graph, that's the hard part.
To make matters worse; I had promised to attend a party somewhere deep in the Flemish country side. Nothing like looking for directions on a dark, rainy night while still on tilt.
Hey, at least, it got me out of the house and mixing with the party people.

Today's an all new and improved day.

After a good, long run I reviewed my game extensively (rock solid, as expected...) and spend a lot of time watching PokerVT-videos. No Rush Poker just yet. I made it to the highest level of the Iron Man Challenge this month. There's no real need to put in any more volume.

Just a couple of big multi-table tournaments tonight to finish of the weekend in style...

Rush Poker Strategy Continued

This is a follow up to the previous Rush Poker Strategy post.
Here are a few more tips and tricks on how to beat Full Tilt Rush Poker:

• Make sure you have rakeback on your Full Tilt account. You'll be seeing a lot of hands, even in a short period of time. Every single hand counts towards your rake, even when you hit the 'Quick Fold'-button... Getting 27% of that rake back every week will have a huge impact on your profit. (If you already have a Full Tilt account, you can still get rakeback here)
• Don't outplay yourself. The action is fast-paced. Even when you're used to multi-tabling your regular games, start out with just 1 or 2 tables of Rush Poker and take it from there...
• Player pools tend to be rather small beyond  NL50. Keeping notes on your opponents can make you a lot of money.
• When things go bad: walk away! The nature of Rush Poker is fast and brutal (especially when multi-tabling). The time you need to recover from a nasty bad beat can multiply your losses. Blowing a few buy-ins is just a matter of minutes. Going on tilt while playing Rush Poker is to be avoided at all costs.

Rush Poker is the most innovating and exciting (aka 'addictive') form of online poker. Try it for yourself and stay on the lookout for more Rush Poker strategy in the near future...

Good luck at the tables!

Farewell to Sit 'n Go's

This week's episode of the 'Deuce plays' podcast finally made me decide to abandon online sit n' go's completely... The show features an interview with DeucesCracked-instructor Casey 'Bones' Diener about the current state of online sit 'n go's.
There's no more money in those games,
everyone's sort of solid.
Well, most players have a least a few vague but correct ideas about push/folding these days. Figuring out when to go all-in and when to fold is about all it takes (besides running good, of course).
The edges are getting thinner. Even the fish have heard about ICM.
A Return On Investment of about 3% on mid- and high-stakes games is the best one can expect. Making good money this way becomes a long and hard grind. Multi-tabling up to 12 tables, playing at least 100 games a day and having a good rakeback deal are bare necessity's to get some cash out of sit n' go's.
Playing poker is all about easy money.
Grinding sit 'n go's turns it into just another day job.
No more of this for me.
Cash games are the way to go...

Dry Season Ahead?

The first day of spring.
Temperature's on the rise.
I think I even saw the sun today.
Speeding down the highway
with the window rolled down.
Finally freed from cold and darkness.
Enjoying spring and
still beating NL100 Rush Poker
at about 12 big blinds won/ 100 hands.
Good times.
Winning money is always fun.
Although the dry season might be ahead...
I despise the winter more than anything
but it does keep the fish inside.
When the sun comes out
the pool dries up.
Less fish in the sea.
Bad poker players tend to have a life away from poker.
Sunny days make them want to spend their money elsewhere.
Like offline or something...
Only degen gamblers and nerdy poker geniuses stay behind.
Redistributing each others money until rain or storm drives the fish back online.
So I do wish for lots of hot and sunny days in Brussels,
as for the rest of Europe and North America:
let it be rainy and miserable all summer long!
The way to filthy richness is long and hard.
Every fish counts.

Full Tilt Rakeback On An Existing Account

To celebrate the launch of Filthy Rich Fish Rakeback we offer rakeback on existing Full Tilt accounts...
Everyone deserves a little extra, not only those who were already in the know when they started playing.  So even if you signed up a long, long time ago you can still get Full Tilt rakeback today...

It doesn't matter if you play high-stakes daily or try to start up a bankroll by playing micro-stakes. Get 27% rakeback for the rest of your life on any raked hand you play, paid out every Friday directly to your Full Tilt account...

Simply complete this form and allow between 2 to 5 working days to process your file.

Welcome to the - all new and improved - Filthy Rich Fish Rakeback!

Bad Beat for Belgian Poker Players

I was just reading this article at Gambling911:

"Belgium to Allow Online Gambling Operators in 2011"

The title might seem promising but actually it's bad news.
When the officials show up, the party's over.

Too many rules in this little place.
Just wanna drink when I drive,
eat when I'm hungry
play poker wherever I want
pay some bribes if necessary
and quietly go my way...

Rakeback Explained

Online poker rooms make their money by automatically taking a cut of the players' stake money; this is called the 'rake'. Typically the rake is 5% of every pot. Playing a few hundred hands a month soon accumulates a large amount of rake, and you could be paying tens of thousands of $$$ a year in rake. Most players don't realise they can get up to 60% of their rake money back with a rakeback professional...
Earning your rakeback is quiet easy.
Simply select a poker room trough a professional rakeback site and follow the sign up instructions.
Start playing poker and start earning rakeback.
It's that simple; like getting payed for playing poker!
You'll receive your rakeback money promptly every month by your chosen payment option. You can even sign up to many different rooms and get rakeback on all of them!
In some cases (for example Full Tilt Poker) you can even get rakeback on an existing account.
So stay tuned,
Filthy Rich Fish is working hard to offer you the best rakeback deals available any time soon... (or check out the beta here)

The Rush

There's nothing but the rush.
Everything else is irrelevant.
Playing NL100 6-max Rush Poker for about two weeks now.
Deep into the rush..
The highlight of my day.
Reason of that smile on my face.
Loggin' in and cashing in.
Playing at least 500 hands a day.
Winning heavily and steadily.
(18 big blinds won/ 100 hands, according Copilot)
Most likely I'm just a giant luckbox
but maybe, possibly - finally - conceivably, this might be it...
At the very least I'm winning.
Never mind the reasons why.
Time will tell if this is just another lucky run.
For now
it's all about, and nothing but, the rush.
Beating the game hour after hour,
night after night.
Can't stop. Can't resist.
Forget about tomorrow.
Just a few more hands...
Totally addicted
to the rush
It sweet, it's profitable,
it' the nuts.


Play Online Poker

Winter's almost gone

Winter's almost gone.
The snow went away.
The grey skies and rainy days remain.
Lots of time to play poker again...
In the Cambodian sunshine, a few big leaks sneaked into my game. Luckily, PokerVT helped me find and fix them quickly. Jon Ettinger's video series on six-max cash games improved my game tremendously.
Even made a nice, little three-figure profit for the month of February. Supposedly, it was going to be a month without poker so I'm happy I earned some cash nevertheless.
The future is looking bright.
Never mind the weather.
My bankroll is back up to a solid level (after a disastrous January).
Tomorrow I'll move up to the $0.50/$1 Rush Poker games on Full Tilt.
I feel ready.
The sunshine's gone.
Nothing left to do but poker.
Building up my my stash of cash for another run
to sweet, seedy Sihanoukville
somewhere in the far and distant future...

No Money Heads Up (Everyone's Solid)

Things are going well (+$$$!).
In Cambodia, I struggled a bit to get used to Rush Poker. Back in Brussels, my profit graph is going up again. Nice and steady, just the way I like it.

The Casino Clandestino Heads Up Challenge, on the other hand, is annoying me tremendously...
Small-stakes live poker should be irrelevant. But getting owned by that same villain, time after time, is not fun at all...
First I thought my heads up game was getting sloppy.
Then I found out:

There's no money heads up.
Everyone's solid.

(Check out the hilarious Two Plus Two-thread or listen to the song...)

Walled World

Living on the green side of the wall is just like a winning lottery ticket...
(picture credits: the very cool 'Information is Beautiful'-website)

After The Sunshine

Arriving in Brussels, early one morning.
Outside temperature: -4°C. Snow everywhere.
Fuck, everything exactly as it was.
No more perfect sunsets. No more tropical beaches.
Back to the dayjob.
Life in the big, grey city continued...
It will take a miracle to get out of here anytime soon.
Alas, I don’t believe in miracles.
So return to the daily grind it is
wake up/ work/ poker/ chill out/ sleep (repeat indefinitely)
At least, there’s still Rush Poker at Full Tilt.
Playing a billion, zillion, trillion hands until this fucking winter finally goes away.

The Long Way Home

Someway Outta Here

Originally uploaded by VagabondBXL

Only a few days left...

I almost forgot all about that cold, dark city far, far away.

Alas, time to leave sweet Sihanoukville behind...

Filthy Rich Fish got a huge boost in visitor numbers over the past month.

Thanks to all of you for stopping by and reading my daily ramblings!

Running out of time

Running out of words

Nothing left but

The long way home...