Tilt is a common problem for many poker players. It is one thing to tilt in a full ring or 6-Max game, but it can be deadly if you tilt in a heads up game. When tilting in a standard ring game, you are going to force enough folds and generally minimize risk enough that you are not going to get punished.
The exact opposite is true when it comes to tilting in heads up games. This holds true for both cash games and sit n gos. When you are facing just one opponent, it is incredibly easy for the other player to exploit your anger. They know that you are frustrated and want to take advantage of you whenever they can. Since you are playing heads up, the odds are increased that you have the best hand in play.
This is true for your opponent as well. Because of this, your opponent might stack off pre flop with ace high if they know that you are tilting. In a ring game, this won’t happen too often. Normally when someone is tilting in a 6-Max or full ring game, you still need a decent hand in order to make a call. The odds are just too great that someone else at the table could have you beat. This variable is completely removed in heads up play, because you only need to beat one hand.
Definition of a Staker: A person who puts up the money for a player (known as a horse) to play in exchange for a share of the profits (if any); also called a financial backer.
Backing poker players has been around almost as long as the game itself. So it is really no surprise that investors would want to cash in on the online poker scene. Backing allows players to not have to risk all of their own money when entering an event, which reduces variance in returns.
Many players tend to become less risk averse when being staked, as the pressure of needing to finish in the money in order to make a living is also reduced. On the other hand though, when playing with someone else’s money, some players tend to play more tightly with the pressure of earning a return for their staker is higher. This practice also allows the casual poker fan to play with some of the industry’s most successful stars.
Almost every online poker player prefers to play multiple tables at a time. It can increase your win rate, and it generally makes the play less boring. While this is perfectly acceptable in cash games, it can be a challenge in tournaments. There is an exception to the rule, however, so even multi tabling tournaments can be an acceptable practice.
The differences between cash games and tournaments are usually quite obvious. The strategy needed for success in each game varies greatly. Because of this, you need to have a thorough understanding of each game (and their differences), if you want to be profitable. The differences between the two games lead into why it is so easy to multi table cash games, but so tough to multi table tournaments. You wouldn’t think it makes any sense, but once you dig past the surface, the problems with multi tabling tournament are quite clear. As mentioned above, there is an exception, so it isn’t all bad news for tournament players who want to multi table.
The Exception
Before going any further, it is important to note that there is a glaring exception to multi tabling tournaments. If you are playing the same type of tournament on many tables (a 180 man turbo on PokerStars, for example), it is perfectly acceptable to multi table. Since each game that you start is going to be the same, you won’t need to account for different variables. If you play a mix of tourneys, however, you are going to need to pay attention to many different situations and unforeseen elements that change from game to game.
JRR Tolkein’s character Isildur was a king of Middle Earth. In a battle with the Dark Lord he cuts off the finger of his opponent and claims the Ring as his prize. Isildur was later described as being over 7 feet tall.
Anyone who follows online poker probably knows the name “Isildur1.” Like the Tolkein character, this online poker super player’s true identity remains a mystery. He has lorded over his competition at the highest stakes available anywhere, and there has been story after story published about him in the online poker community since he first came on the scene in October of 2009. All we really know for sure, though there are many theories about this guy, is that the Isildur1 account is registered to a Swedish player.
Isildur1 made a big splash when he dropped a staggering $989,484.75 in online poker bets, right off the bat, with $686,983 of that coming from just 4,509 hands of No Limit Hold ‘em. In November of 2009, he squared off heads-up against players like World Series of Poker November Nine member Phil Ivey, Tom ‘durrrr” Dwan, and Durrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius, to become the next big name in online high-stakes poker. Isildur1 has challenged the very best that the Full Tilt Poker stable has to offer.
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