There's that little guilt pushing on the mebranes of my noodle. It slips in when I let my mind think about nothing, and then I think about something I don't really want to think about.
I think about how I've been unfaithful.
Lord, I never thought I would write such a thing.
After so much time, building a relationship, nay, building true love, I've been unfaithful...
...to my online poker site.
I started playing on Ultimate Bet one year this month. It's been good to me. It's given me other people's money and allowed me to play on it for 365 days.
And I like the site. It's simple and has all the qualities that I like in an online poker room. It allows me to play multiple tables at once. It has a wide variety of games and tables. It has a wide variety of tournaments.
And then came the World Poker Blogger Tournament II. That wild and motley crew of poker writers sucked my into their vortex of beer, poker, and weblogging.
And so I downloaded True Poker. And so I won the tournament and ended up with $196 in True Poker chips. I could've just deposited it all into online money site and transferred it over to Ultimate Bet. But I didn't.
I decided to stick around True Poker. What harm could I do with $196 that wasn't really mine anyway? I set two rules for myself.
#1--Don't lose the $196.
#2--Don't play a limit too high for a $196 bankroll.
At True Poker, that means playing $1/$2 limit Hold'em. That also means washing the fish scales off your chips when you rake them in. Or, at least, that's how it seems right now.
In two short sessions I've turned $196 into $400 playing only $1/$2 limit Hold'em.
Sure, that's not exceptional, but it's been easier than play at UB recently.
The ease in which I've doubled my bankroll can be chalked up to one of two things:
#1--A lot of new, fishy players at True Poker.
#2--A grand conspiracy to make new players at the site believe it's a great site by feeding them winning cards.
I'd much prefer to believe the former is more correct than the latter.
But here is eveidence that both may be correct: Just yesterday, I raised UTG with pocket nines. The table had grown to respect my UTG raises and everybody but the big blind folded.
The flop: 9QQ
Internally, my pancreas celebrated (that seems to be all it does these days, celebrate good flops). The BB bet. I raised, he called. I put him on a Queen and danced around a little bit.
Turn: 9QQJ
Bet. Raise. Call. Hmmmm. Why's he betitng into me now? I figured him now for maybe KT, but I'm afraid of QJ.
You're thinking, I know, why would a guy call a UTG raise with KT or QJ? And then bet and call raises on a draw? That True Poker, baby.
River: 9QQJJ.
I actually did this: I typed "Damn it" in the chat bar. I was sure now that he had a Q and my flopped boat just sank. I was so sure of it that I wanted to complain to the table before he even bet. Was that pride getting the better of me? Yes. Yes, it was.
He bet and I just called, waiting to see his Q2 or whatever other tripe hand he called my UTG raise with.
The table had been needling this guy for a while about being a calling station and I actually saw the chorus of "lol" chat before I saw his cards.
Ace-four.
I flipped up my pocket nines to reveal the boat for the win.
That's True Poker, at least in the $1/$2 limit hold'em rooms.
So here's a quick review based on two ring game sessions (see previous entry for the tournament play review):
WHAT I LIKE:
*My favorite feature that differs from UB is the ability to see when other players are reviewing their cards. True Poker actually makes you remember your hand or be seen looking at it. While good players will use this to their advantage, it's a way to spot tells in the ubiquitous poor players.
* The graphics are pretty cool. You never know what the room atmosphere will look like. Sometimes it looks like the back of a bar. Sometimes it looks like a vast atrium. Sometimes it looks like a country club meeting room.
*The avatars are pretty neat, although the selection is pretty slim. I didn't really want to be a cowboy, but I didn't feel like being a 70s disco king, gang banger, martini drinking playboy, or woman.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE:
* The avatars' constant talking can get on your nerves if you don't turn it off. So, turn it off.
* The chat bubbles make the screen really, really busy.
* You're only allowed to play one table at once. Why? No clue.
* Play moves much slower than UB.
* Fewer tables.
* While I don't like micro-limit games for limit play, I should point out that True Poker has no micro-limit games (in fact, nothing below $1/$2) and that could turn away some players. The good side to this is that people who buy in hoping for microlimit are playing above their skill level and are calling, calling, calling.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to consult my therapist about the longer-lasting psychological ramifications of my poker infidelity.