Letter from Doke and Irish Eyes Gaming News 7th Sept 2012

Hi

Since the last letter I've pretty much been grinding solidly online. After a few weeks off for Vegas I was keen to make up for lost time. It's been going pretty well which always makes it easier to put in the long hours.

My only live outing was a brief one in the Fitzwilliam End of Month game. The hand that did the damage was a cooler (or so I thought) where I ran a house into quads. The hand provoked some interesting comments questions and debate about how I played the hand after and whether it actually was a cooler, so I'll look at my reasons for playing the hand as I did in next week's strategy section.

In the last letter I explained the mathematical perspective of what hands can be profitably shoved from different positions when short stacked, and how it depends on what hands will call you. Up to a few years ago it wasn't widely known that optimal strategy when short in a tournament was to shove a wide range of hands. As a result most people called these shoves way too tight, which of course made the range of hands that could be profitably shoved very wide (since the shove got through so often). Then as this strategy became more widely known people started calling a lot wider. This meant that the hands that could be shoved profitably shrunk. As the hands that are being shoved changes, the hands that are profitable calls also changes, which again changes the hands that are profitable shoves, and so on. The end point of this cycle is reached iteratively when the hands being shoved are the optimal ones, and this range of hands is known to the potential callers who can then call correctly. This endpoint is referred to in game theory as Nash Equilibrium. Nash refers to the famous game theory mathematician (the subject of the major film A Beautiful Mind) who pioneered the concept, while Equilibrium refers to the fact that an equilibrium point has been reached where both the shover and the caller know each other ranges and what hands they can profitably shove or call with. Any divergence on either side from Nash Equilibrium will be unprofitable in the long term. As a result the game now as played at the upper levels among top class mtt players online features everyone pretty much sticking to Nash Equilibrium when the stacks shrink relative to the blinds.

On the promotions front, don't miss our fantastic new promotions starting this month. To start the autumn off right, Irish Eyes Poker is offering players a chance to win a MacBook Air or the new iPad in September. Every player has a chance to win! Players can get their hands on this prized notebook by winning the "Sunday Tournamania" or by being a leader in the "Sit & Go Promotion" four times in a row.

As an extra incentive to ante up, Irish Eyes Poker offers five trips to the European Masters of Poker (EMOP) tournament in Dublin in our Iron Man tournaments where players have a chance to win a travel package worth €2,000. See below for details.

SUNDAY TOURNAMANIA

During September, the Sunday Special €10,000 guarantee tournament offers the top three winners a MacBook Air or an iPad 4G in addition to the regular prizes.

2012-09-02 (Sunday) 19:25 CET - Sunday Special €10k (+Extras)
2012-09-09 (Sunday) 19:25 CET - Sunday Special €10k (+Extras)
2012-09-16 (Sunday) 19:25 CET - Sunday Special €10k (+Extras)
2012-09-23 (Sunday) 19:25 CET - Sunday Special €10k (+Extras)
2012-09-30 (Sunday) 19:25 CET - Sunday Special €10k (+Extras)

1. Apple MacBook Air 11" Core i5 1.7 GHz 64 GB SSD
2. New iPad 4G 16GB White
3. New iPad 4G 16GB White

The buy-in is €25 and 6,000 in starting chips.

To claim a prize, send an e-mail with the following information to promo@igt.com no later than Sunday, 30 September:

- Subject: "Sunday Tournamania claim"
- Poker nickname
- Full home address

FOUR THE WIN! - SIT & GO PROMOTION

Win four Super Turbo Sit & Go tournaments in a row on the same level and win an Apple MacBook Air (11" Core i5 1.7 GHz 64 GB SSD) or a cash prize!

Sit & Go's qualifying for this promotion are marked (PROMO) in the lobby.

Super Turbo Sit & Go (PROMO) Hold'em NL €10+1 MacBook AIR 11"

Super Turbo Sit & Go (PROMO) Hold'em NL €2+0.2 €300

Please note that the collation of tournaments is determined by time of registration. To claim a prize, send an e-mail with the following information to promo@igt.com no later than Sunday, 30 September:

- Subject "Four the Win claim"
- Tournament ID of the first Sit & Go in the series (in the poker lobby under Account Information/Last Transactions)
- Poker nickname


IRON MAN DUBLIN PROMOTIONS (€10,000)

Compete in the Iron Man Promotions for your chance to win a travel package to EMOP Dublin worth €2,000.

Each package consists of a tournament buy-in of €1,100, fours nights' accommodation, and a €350 travel bonus, which is credited to the winners' poker account.

VIP points are calculated from 1 September, 00:00 CET until the start of each freeroll. Only one package per person can be won.

Iron Man EMOP Dublin 1 VIP 1 1st September 19.15

Iron Man EMOP Dublin 2 VIP 50 9th September 19.15

Iron Man EMOP Dublin 3 VIP 100 19th September 19.15

Iron Man EMOP Dublin 4 VIP 250 23rd September 19.15

Iron Man EMOP Dublin 5 VIP 500 27th September 19.15


News on Seat Only EMOP Dublin satellites will be published shortly.

Don't forget to 'Like' our Team Irish Eyes Poker page on Facebook and you can get the password to the Weekly Facebook €100 Freeroll every Wednesday night.

Best of luck at the tables - unless I'm at the same table.

Click on the links below for details on all Irish Eyes Poker Promotions, Blogs, and News.

Irish Eyes Poker Promotions - click here
Join Team Irish Eyes Poker on Facebook - click here
Join EMOP Ireland on Facebook -- click here
Keep up to date on Doke's blog - click here
Interview with Per Hildebrand - click here
Play Fast Online Poker on your Mobile or iPad on Terminal Poker. For Signup Offer - click here
Play live poker with the Celtic Poker Tour. For next events and news - click here