Bayou Poker Classic in New Orleans

I don't normally make post concerning poker at brick and mortar casinos but I must let everyone know that the Bayou Poker Classic is coming soon. Starting May 8th this WSOP circuit event will last till May 18th and take place at Harrah's in New Orleans. If you live anywhere near the Gulf South and like to play poker you should definitely play in this tournament. The Schedule is as follows...

The Bayou Poker Classic schedule of events:

5-8-2009 12:00 PM Event #1 - No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340
5-8-2009 5:00 PM Event #2 - Limit Omaha Hi-Low (8/B) (2-Day Event ) $340
5-9-2009 12:00 PM Event #3 - No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550
5-9-2009 5:00 PM Event #4 - Pot Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340
5-10-2009 12:00 PM Event #5 - No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550

5-10-2009 5:00 PM Event #6 - Pot Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340
5-11-2009 12:00 PM Event #7 - No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550
5-11-2009 5:00 PM Event #8 - Pot-Limit Omaha (2-Day Event) $550
5-12-2009 12:00 PM Event #9 - No-Limit Hold'em (6 Handed) (2-Day Event) $550
5-12-2009 5:00 PM Event #10 -No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340

5-13-2009 12:00 PM Event #11- No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340
5-13-2009 5:00 PM Event #12-Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha (2-Day Event) $550
5-14-2009 12:00 PM Event #13- No-Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $1,070
5-14-2009 5:00 PM Event #14- Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low (8/B) (2-Day Event) $340
5-15-2009 12:00 PM Event #15-No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $340

5-15-2009 5:00 PM Event #16 -Pot-Limit Omaha/Rebuys (2-Day Event) $235
5-16-2009 12:00 PM Event #17- No Limit Hold'em (2-Day Event) $550
5-16-2009 5:00 PM Event #18 - Pot Limit Omaha (2-Day Event) $1,070
5-17-2009 11:00 AM Event #19 - Ladies Championship No Limit (1-Day Event) $340
5-18-2009 12:00 PM Event #20 - Circuit Championship Event (3-Day Event) $5,150

Thanks, Chris - LuckyStacks

Mardi Gras/Poker - Life is Good

I have to say that I am sorry for the lack of new post this month but it has been Mardi Gras here in New Orleans. I have been going to lots of parades and parties over the last few weeks and havent had much time to make new post to this blog. I havent even had much time to play any poker which is a real disappointment. I like to play poker at least 2 hours per day everyday of the week. I enjoy playing poker online although I find playing poker at brick and mortar casinos to be much more profitable. I see a lot more bad river beats when playing online and the online poker sites like to claim this is due to the fact that you see a lot more hands. This is one of the biggest lies ever told. I see a lot more bad beats online percentage wise meaning that these 4 or less outers hit the river more times per 100 hands when playing online than they do when playing with real cards. This makes the number of hands played irrelevant when discussing bad beats. For instance if I play 10,000 hands online with a bad beat percentage of somewhere close to 17%, I will lose 1700 hands by getting sucked out on. Now if I play 10,000 hands at a brick and mortar casino with a bad beat percentage of somewhere close to 5-7%, I will lose 500-700 hands. Online poker sites can't fool me, you will see more bad beats online not because you are playing more hands but because they occur more frequentlly. This more frequent occurance makes online poker more of a gamble than playing at brick and mortar casinos and thus much less profitable.

Thanks, Chris - LuckyStacks

Instant eChecks - Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt

For all those players currently grinding it out on PokerStars because they accept U.S.A. players and offer the Instant eCheck option good news is here. I logged into Full Tilt and Ultimate Bet today to discover that they have both started offering Instant eChecks as a deposit option to U.S.A. players. I had already known that Full Tilt started using this option a few months ago and they have been working on this for a year or more. The surprise came when I saw that Ultimate Bet is also now offering this option. This is great news for anyone who lives in the U.S.A. as you no longer have to suffer at PokerStars because your credit card is not accepted by poker sites and you have to use the Instant eChecks option. We all are aware that many credit cards from players living in the U.S.A. are not accepted. Since Ultimate Bet and Full Tilt are offering Instant eChecks to U.S.A. players you now have other options for your real money play. The PokerStars monopoly on U.S.A. players is over and it has come at the perfect time for me. I have been looking for alternatives for a long time now.

Thanks, Chris - LuckyStacks

How LuckyStacks Came To Be

I began playing poker online at PokerStars shortly after Chris Moneymaker won the WSOP main event in 2003. I like many others started playing at PokerStars because that is where Moneymaker’s fantastic journey began. This rapid increase in players is now known as the "Moneymaker Effect" by many in the poker world. Shortly after I started playing I gave it up for a while as I was discouraged. I would get the 1,000 free chips 3 times per hour and that seemingly endless cycle lasted for a few months. Three months of this nonsense lead me to quit playing online poker for about 1 year. Then one day I started playing again and once again the endless cycle of 1,000 chips 3 times per hour. I began my search for ways to get more chips. I found a few play chip dealers but not many of them accepted credit cards so I didn’t ever buy any. Well after a few weeks of getting 3,000 chips per hour I started to build a bankroll of PokerStars play chips. I then played off and on for a few years until one day I hit a terrible streak of bad beats as many people often do on PokerStars. I then went searching for chip dealers again because I couldn’t go back to the endless cycle of 3,000 chips an hour. I found a few dealers who were now accepting PayPal which meant I could use my credit card. I bought some chips and kept on playing. After a few months of buying chips I got ripped off by some site operator and I was furious. I tried to get my money back to no avail. I then thought, "Why can't I be a site operator?" I then found a site, www.pokerbonuscity.net, where I could be an operator. I was an operator at this site for a few months then was told by the owner that he was getting rid of all operators and he removed my access and never refunded my money. A few months later I began being an operator at this site again only this time the site owner removed my access because he stated I broke a rule. This was of course a lie and this made the 2nd time he disabled my access about 2 weeks before it should have ran out. He never gave me any partial refund so I opened a dispute at PayPal and froze his money. He wrote me an email stating if I lifted the dispute I could have 1 more month of site access. I lifted the dispute and he then told me that he would never allow me access again. This was a nice little trick by a nice little scammer by the name of Karl - karlb187@msn.com - I then went on the offensive. I said no worries he can beat me out of 40 measly dollars and I will open my own site. I then began the process of opening LuckyStacks. I decided I would become his competition and would get my money back tenfold. I opened LuckyStacks with the sole purpose of providing people, both buyers and sellers, with a place they could trust to send their chips when they paid for them and vice versa. I have visited Scammer Karl’s Scam Site a.k.a www.pokerbonuscity.net several times since I have opened only to find that about 90% of the time there is no operator online. I think this is a direct result of me opening LuckyStacks and taking all my loyal customers with me. I have a good reputation in this business and will always have a good reputation as I am here to provide an honest place to buy or sell PokerStars play money chips and hopefully prevent any present or future scam operations.

Thanks, Chris - LuckyStacks

Online Poker Strategy II

Have you ever heard of Poker Edge? This site tracks the playing styles and strategies of every player online. I have been listed on this site as a Calling Station, Green Fish, Red Fish, Bomb, and Warning Sign. The changes in my strategy and style are clearly tracked by this software. This does not mean I have become and better player or a weaker player it simply means that my style has changed. This is exactlly what I want to happen since I don't want people to be able to hone in own my style or strategy and be able to use that information to read me easier. If I am considered to be a Calling Station and my opponents see this they will assume that I will call big bets no matter what. When they make this assumption they open themselves up for me to take advantage of them when I am holding the nuts. I of course may have to bluff off some chips early on in the tournament but those initial investments will pay off later. If the Poker Edge tracker shows me as being a Bomb my opponents will slightly fear my big bets which will allow me to win a lot of pots while holding nothing. Winning pots on bluffs is always a nice way to grow your chip stack even when your card dead. I could go on and on about the benefits of each style and strategy but I won't, I just wanted to show you a few examples of how changing your strategy is always a good thing. Poker is a game of cat and mouse in order to win you must keep your opponent guessing. Do you want to be the cat or the mouse?

Hint: Winning poker players are the cat.

Thanks, Chris - LuckyStacks