Ok, so the company I work for has finally got their website up and running, and I'm listed as a blogger, linked from the site. Guess it's time to update this damn thing.
My last online experience ended about a month ago when Full-Tilt poker introduced a new concept, called Rush-Poker. Basically, the concept is that as soon as you fold your hand, at any point in the hand, you are immediately brought to another table with new players, and another hand starts. As impatience has long been my biggest weakness, I was immediately intrigued, so I checked it out.
Pros: You don't have to waste time while waiting for someone else to fold a hand, especially if you folded rags preflop. This is likely the reason for the invention of Rush-Poker. You can also avoid playing weaker hands out of boredom, knowing that if you laying down your K-10 preflop to a raise, you can just fold 5 times in the next 10 seconds and find a much better hand to play with.
Cons: As always, strengths can be made into weaknesses, and this is also the case with Rush Poker. As you are immediately taken to another table the very moment you fold any hand, any time, you don't have the opportunity to watch the rest of the hand play out. Yes, preflop folds with nothing are easy to walk away from, but if you've been forced to fold a strong hand on the turn, it's often nice to see how the rest of the hand would have played out.
Also, because you can be more picky about starting hands, so too can your opponents. This means most people are playing only premium starting hands. I suggest taking an opposite approach, play weaker hands preflop, try to see some cheap flops and bust people who just can't lay down their great starting hand.
My personal experience was pretty interesting. With my Freeroll winnings up to almost $100, I bought in for $40 with a 25/50 cent blind level. Within 3 sessions lasting about 2.5 hours, seeing at least 500 hands in that time, my bankroll had gone from just under $100 to well over $375. I was feeling pretty good, playing very well and avoiding the "bad beat".
Again, strength can be weaknesses. Much more quickly then that money came my way, it disappeared in an astonishingly quick fashion. Several bad beats and bad plays on my part, and the money was all but gone. I haven't played on-line since, but I'm sure eventually I'll get the itch.
