Holdem Dog’s

I’m a little late with this entry, but it’s been a hectic week.  ePassporte’s pullout has really messed things up for the short term.  I’m sure another processor will step up soon, but until then our money remains captive.  The one thing ePassporte and Neteller allowed you to do easily was move your money between the rooms.  Poker Stars and Full Tilt offer an Instant eChecks option, which works great for both deposits and withdrawals, but the other rooms will have to come up with something similiar if they want to continue attracting U.S. depositors.  eWallet Express is one I’ve seen in a few cashiers, but their fees are ridiculous, so they’re not really a viable option for the smaller stakes players.

I decided to stay with the sit-n-goes for the time being and so far I’ve been mildly rewarded.  I continue to win on Absolute, and the past week on Poker Stars has been positive as well.  I’ve decided to give Poker Stars a few weeks since they have this new Battle of the Planets promotion geared towards sit-n-go players.  I figure if I can get back on track I could have a chance at ranking in their low orbit category.  That would be a cool first for me.

I also decided to try another training site last week.  I had been a CardRunners member for about 6 months before leaving last month.  In the beginning I picked up some great ideas about bet sizing and position, but then the videos all seemed to run together.  Most of the big name pros on the site seemed more interested in heads up or PLO than regular NL Holdem.  So, after going through the archives, the newer videos didn’t have the same quality (IMHO).  I would still recommend early Taylor Caby videos for anyone interested in improving their cash game play.  However with my newfound interest in sit-n-goes, I decided to join PokerXFactor.  They are the other big player in the training arena, and while CardRunners‘ focus is cash games theirs is primarily tournament play.  So far, the sit-n-go videos I’ve watched from Eric “Sheets” Haber have been great.  An ActionJeff video I saw back on CardRunners had given me some basic strategy, but Sheets is really explaining the end game in much more detail.  One thing they do differently is use a replayer rather than live play to discuss the techniques.  This allows them to pause and focus on the hands that matter and fast forward through the ones that don’t.  So far I’m impressed with the content.  They’ve got me thinking a lot more about my moves at the end of tournaments.  If you’re a tournament player, and not getting the results you’d like, they are definitely worth a look.