Weekend Warrior

Weekend Warrior

Sometime after 1pm on a Friday afternoon, online poker begins a transformation. It changes from a challenging game of skill and small edges played mostly by pros and experienced amateurs to a bewildering game of draws and hopes played mostly by people with only a distant familiarity with the rules and how to play, and whose sobriety seems only to deteriorate as the weekend progresses. All the rookies and amateurs come flooding to the tables every Friday afternoon, eager and willing to part with their cash - I mean play - and are usually abundant on most sites until Sunday afternoon. In short, for a decent player the arrival of the weekend can turn poker from a profitable pastime to a veritable goldmine.

Any pro who doesn't take advantage of this fact would need very good reason not to. All of my biggest winning sessions have been posted on a Friday night or on a Saturday, and I can't imagine that the weekend=profit situation is likely to change anytime soon. I heard that there are only about 15% of poker players who are actually long-term winners, and if that is roughly true then an increase in the amount of people playing is far more likely to decrease the average skill level than increase it. And given that weekend-only players are only getting 1 or 2 sessions of practice in a week, they are not ideal candidates for improving their play.

All of this is academic though really; if you sit down at a low/mid-limit table on a Friday night, you will see irrefutable proof. Within but an hour you will surely witness several allin plays which leave you completely baffled as to how the so called-player expects to win: think calling allin with top pair Ten kicker on a paired board with 3 to a flush and 3 to a straight! On top of these, you will see scores of people calling pot-size bets or even allins with flush-draws, OESDs, gutshots, bottom-pairs, overcards and even underpairs!

It really is incredible to watch, and the bad beats rain down thick and fast. Providing you can handle the swings, the weekends should undoubtedly be your most profitable period. Read on for an example of weekend play for your amusement, where my opponent had all of 3.5% chance of winning when the money went in. I had to laugh then, and I'm still smiling even now!

($1/2 No Limit Hold'em)
Started at 16/Nov/07 13:00:07

Player1 is at seat 0 with $185.90.
Villain is at seat 3 with $88.80.
Player4 is at seat 4 with $196.
Hero is at seat 5 with $272.50.
The button is at seat 4.

Hero posts the small blind of $1.
Player1 posts the big blind of $2.
Player1: -- --
Villain: -- -- <--- plays anything from any position for any amount
Player4: -- --
Hero: Ah As <--- don't mind this hand against a total guppy
Pre-flop:
Villain calls. Player4 folds. Hero
raises to $11. Player1 folds. Villain calls.

Flop (board: 8s 9d Ad): <--- quite happy with flop
Hero checks. Villain goes all-in for $77.80.
Hero calls. <--- not the toughest of calls ;- )
Turn (board: 8s 9d Ad 7d):
(no action in this round)

River (board: 8s 9d Ad 7d 5d):
(no action in this round)

Showdown:

Villain shows 3d Ac. <--- was totally dominated
Villain has 3d 9d Ad 7d 5d: flush, ace high.
Hero mucks cards.
(Hero has Ah As.)

Hand Summary:
$2 is raked from a pot of $179.60.
$.50 jackpot contribution is raked.
Villain wins $177.10 with flush, ace high. <--- APART from runner-runner flush!!!