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Sometimes big news happens in the online poker world, and it’s just too good
to wait to share the information! The iPoker Network recently rolled out some
new features and tournaments. If you’re a player at Titan Poker, Noble Poker,
or CD Poker, just to name a few, you might want to check these out. If you’re
not a player there yet, you might just want to take advantage of a first
deposit bonus and give them a whirl. The payoff is potentially huge.
New Tournament Series – Pick Your Tournament (PYT)
The World Poker Tour is a series of televised poker tournaments with non-stop
action and excitement featuring most of the world's professional players.
Winners usually walk away with a purse of $1.5 Million or more. This group of
poker sites is running a series of satellite qualifiers to the winners’
selection from the following five WPT events:
-October 25-29, 2006 - Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort, Niagara Falls, ON
-November 11 - 14, 2006 - Foxwoods Resort Casino, Mashantucket, CT
-January 21 - 25, 2007 - Gold Strike Casino, Tunica, MS
-February 15 - 20, 2007 - L.A. Poker Classic, Commerce Casino, Commerce, CA
-March 5 - 9, 2007 - Shooting Star Bay 101, San Jose, CA
Winners receive a $12,000 value prize package that includes a $10,000 buy-in,
airfare, and hotel accommodations. There a five satellite tournaments in the
upcoming months, beginning with the first on September 24. The buy-in is
$300+15, and one of every forty entrants wins. Extra funds in the prize pool
are distributed as cash to runners-up.
There is an excellent sub-satellite structure of single- and multi-table
tournaments to the monthly qualifier. MTT qualifiers start at $1+.10, and SnGs
are available for as little as $4.25+.40. The regular $31.50+2.50 MTTs award
1/10th of players with a seat in the monthly tournament.
Look for the red “WPT – PYT” choices in the tournament selections.
Software Changes
The easy-to-navigate table graphics at iPoker Network sites haven’t changed.
That’s good news. Even better are the upgrades to the lobby software. All cash
games, sit-and-go tournaments and multi-table tournaments are now presented in
simple menu trees. If you’ve ever used Windows (and who hasn’t), you can
navigate the games with ease.
Players at Party Poker are already familiar with this setup for game
selection. Whether by accident or design, the iPoker offering is now quite
similar. Here’s a look at the lobby upon login:
Note that I used the CDPoker client software to illustrate this article. All
iPoker Network sites are operating in a similar fashion.
Clicking on the “+” box next to cash games in the “Choose Game” menu opens
several categories of cash games.
As you can see, every possible game variation and limit is represented
favorably. The previous tabbed game selection did not always make the choices
entirely clear. Perhaps more players at these sites will elect to play
different variations of poker, rather than the standard fixed limit or
no-limit holdem. This should make those of us who diversify quite happy for a
while.
Finding A Cash Game
Clicking directly on the name of a game shows every table available at all
limits. This should help players find a soft game rather than taking a seat at
whatever table has a seat open at their choice of limit. Playing at a very
soft $1/2 or $2/4 table rather than grinding against a bunch of rocks at a
$3/6 table might very well serve a $3/6 player.
Note the stats offered in the lobby for the $0.02/0.04 games. The “Belfry”
table has a high percentage of players seeing the flop at 75%, but a
relatively low average pot of 27 cents (6.75 BB). This indicates a very loose,
but passive table. Expect your big hands to get cracked regularly here.
Playing well post-flop is the key to winning here. The “Brands Hatch” table
has a smaller (but still insane) 53% seeing the flop, but an average pot of
11BB. This suggests a couple of low-limit maniacs may be populating those
seats (hey, I’ve donked off a couple of bucks at penny limits when tilting;
I’m guessing you have too).
If you absolutely are determined to play at a specific limit, you can open the
Limit Holdem directory tree by clicking the “+” box
to reveal the choices of limits. The lobby will then display only games at
your chosen limit. Users have the option to click the “Hide Full” box in the
upper right corner of the lobby to hide tables without open seats. Think
carefully before doing that. Don’t miss an opportunity at a juicy table just
because you might have to wait five minutes for a seat!
Any selection tree item with a “-“ box next to it can be clicked to close it
up and simplify your lobby.
Tournament Selection
Sit and Go tournaments (SnG) have their own directory. Each type of SnG
(satellite, jackpot, et cetera) can be accessed here. Clicking “All Sit & Go”
opens a selection of traditional cash prize tournament tables. In sit-and-go
selection, it is a good choice to select “Hide Full”, since there is no point
in browsing a tournament that you can’t join anyway!
Multi-table tournaments (MTTs) are a separate category as well, and
subcategories are available here too.
Review
All poker sites have their plusses and minuses. Some have many more of one
than the other. One of the biggest positives for Party Poker, in my humble
opinion, has always been the game selection menu (re-sizeable tables is the
other). Now that we can access a similar setup on the iPoker sites, they have
collectively moved up a notch in my view. The beatable games, great freerolls,
and satellite tournaments don’t hurt either. Easy access to casino games from
the poker client might be of interest for some.
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