Well, that was easy! I turned 100$ into 1000$ in about 5 days on Eurolinx (including clearing a 100$ bonus).
There's no question I hit some very lucky hands in my last two sessions and that is what accelerated my journey. Having said that, I also believe I've learned some key lessons about playing against the typical Eurolinx opponent and about myself that will make beating this site on a continual basis a reality for me.

Here are some of the lessons this challenge has taught me.

1. Pride is a Powerful Motivator
Previously on Eurolinx I have let myself go on tilt and play recklessly because the fact that I was losing to players who clearly have no idea what they are doing injured my pride. Now, because of this challenge, and the knowledge that I would have to post my results publicly for all of my friends and poker acquaintances to see, I was able to play better and avoid going on tilt. Having to post that I had failed would do far more damage to my pride than losing to a Eurodonk. So, even when I lost a buy-in because of some moron, I continued to play my best. If I found myself playing badly and unable to focus, I simply left the table and shut down the software.

2. There is a Big Difference Between .25/.50 and .50/1.00 on Eurolinx
I was surprised to find that such a small jump in stakes had such a dramatic effect on the game play. The .50/1.00 players are much more aggressive and are not as easy to run over. I found myself having to play a lot tighter and bluff significantly less at the .50/1.00 level. Having said that, you could still describe my style at .50/1.00 as loose aggressive, but I pick my spots more carefully. At .25/.50 I was raising practically every hand, that simply did not work at .50/1.00.

3. No Limping Unless You Have a Small Pair
The only reason to ever limp in preflop is to go set mining. If you don't have a pair in your hand, you should never limp in to the pot. It's a losing strategy. I don't care how many people have limped before you or how great you think your "odds" are. Preflop, without a pair, you must raise or fold. With a small pair pre-flop, limp or call a standard raise only if you are getting implied odds of 10 to 1 (mathematically this is more than you need, but it helps compensate for the rare situations where you hit a set and still lose).

4. Pot Control is Key
You need to be dictating the size of the pot in every hand. You keep the pot small, unless you have a big hand at which point you make the pot big. If your opponent makes the pot big when you need to keep it small, just fold. This is by no means a revolutionary concept, it has been covered to death everywhere, but it is especially relevant on Eurolinx. The players there seldom make big bets without having what they perceive to be a strong hand. They will call you down with their draws and mid-pairs, etc... But most of the time if you bet or check they are happy to just go along with you and not raise.


That's it for now. I'm tired and I need to work in the A.M. I will try to post some hands and analyse them in light of what I have learned when I get the chance. The hand converter I use is down right now, so it may be a while. In any case, you can expect me to use this blog to set goals and post my progress, hopefully that will keep me focused and improve my results.

Labels: Eurolinx, Eurolinx Challenge, Online Poker

Well, clearing my bonus and turning 100$ into 500$ playing .25/.50 was remarkably easy once I set my mind to it. I deposited 100$ on Saturday the 25th and by Monday the 27th I had cleared my bonus and there was just over 500$ in my account. Here's how I did it:

It turns out that the .25/.50 stake on Eurolinx is generally populated by loose-passive players. Early on, I believed the correct strategy for beating Eurolinx was to engage in "nut peddling". Effectively, this entails playing very tight, betting your hands and never bluffing. I quickly realized that at the tables I was playing, my opponents were making all of their decisions based solely on the perceived strength of their own hand. They never considered what I might have (beyond thinking that any preflop raise means AK). They also paid no attention to table image and did not adjust their game to counteract any particular opponent's style or strategy. This lead me to the conclusion that the proper strategy to beat these games was to simply raise and c-bet as often as possible.

In position, I would make it 4 units to go with any two cards. If I got heads up to the flop, I would c-bet 6 units and usually take it down. If I got to the flop with 2 other players, my c-bet would change to 8 units. If I got involved with more than two opponents on the flop, I would not c-bet unless I had a legitimately strong hand. Generally speaking if and when anyone played back at me, I would fold. This worked well and I found myself winning a whole lot of small pots.

The other major attribute about many Eurolinx opponents is that they tend to perceive strong draws as really valuable hands. This fact, seems to have contributed to my past failures on the site. So I spent a lot of time thinking about and experimenting with good counter strategies for this. What I came up with is one of the keys to beating Eurolinx, at least from my perspective. Here are the basic principles:

• I want to encourage my opponent to draw with bad, yet seemingly attractive pot odds when I feel I have them beat.


• Just because I know my opponent is on a draw and misses the turn, it doesn't mean that I can bet him off his hand. In his mind he still has a shot.


• Sometimes my opponent is not on a draw, even though I may believe s/he is.


• Even when an opponents intended draw misses, they may still hit a card and make a pair that beats you.

These principles lead me to the following conclusion:

It is wrong to bluff into a perceived draw on the turn when your opponent has apparently missed.

It feels weird to check behind on the turn when I think my opponent is on a draw and missed. But if I myself have not made any kind of hand, there is no point in betting since my fold equity is generally non-existent at this point. When my opponent misses the river, I will be in a position to make a reasonably sized bet (relative to the pot) without committing too many chips and since there are no more cards coming, my opponent can not call. If my opponent hits his draw on the river I can simply fold and by not betting on the turn, I've saved some money. Also, when I have position, my opponent will generally bet into me if he stumbled onto a pair on the river by accident at which point I can also fold and lose minimum.

Of course, if I have a strong hand and I believe my opponent is drawing, I MUST bet the turn. This builds the pot for me and creates value for when my opponent misses the river (which he will more often than not).

So, armed with this strategy, I made short work of my first objective and I have started playing .50/1.00. After a good session tonight, my account is up to just over 750$.

Labels: Eurolinx, Eurolinx Challenge, Online Poker, Poker Strategy

A lot of Ottawa players, including myself, play on a Norwegian site called Eurolinx. The main reasons are that their rake back and bonus system is excellent and even more importantly their players are horrible. I mean really, really bad! I first heard about the site after they started sponsoring Marc Karam (aka "Myst") a local pro and friend of mine about 8 months ago. Since then I've played there on and off, and I'd really like to make it my primary site but I can't seem to win consistently on that site.

I've thought about long and hard about why I can't seem to turn a profit on that site and I believe it has to do with a number of factors but the main thing is I am unable to play a straightforward game. I insist on getting fancy against these morons and it burns me every time. There's also an ego factor, losing to bad players puts me on a special kind of tilt and I just blow out. Well, now it's become personal! The players are so awful and yet I let them get the best of me all the time. So, I'm gonna dedicate the next little while to beating Eurolinx. I am starting at .25/.50 with 100$ and I am going to clear another 100$ in bonus (November Reload) money soon. The plan is to play .25/.50 until I am up to 500$ and then move to .50/1.00 until I am at 1000$ at which point I will cash out 300$ and finally, for the first time in my life cash out some profit from that damned site!!

Now, I know it's not a lot of money, but this really isn't about the money for me. Those who know me well, know that I never play for very big money online and they know why, so I'm not gonna explain it here.

In the coming weeks look for hands to be posted here along with my analysis as I strive to improve my game against these Eurodonx. The blog is back!

Labels: Eurolinx Challenge