Mtt Online Poker Hand Histories
Hand Histories are databases of poker hands played online. When you play at an online poker room, the poker software logs and saves the hands played of a poker player in the form of a hand history locally on the PC of the player. The poker rooms are using different formats to save the hand histories.
When budding poker players ask for advice on how to improve at poker, they are often directed to one of the many online training sites. It is a sign of us living in a digital age. While training sites can, and do, help players to increase their poker knowledge, some will argue there is no substitute for online poker strategy books when it comes to learning about this fantastic game.
Head over to Amazon and you will discover close to 500 poker strategy books available to purchase. A significant number of these probably are not worth the paper that they are written on, and will almost certainly be forgotten. But there have been some superb texts written over the years including the ones listed below, all of which can benefit players of online tournament poker.
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Online Poker Strategy Books: The Theory of Poker by David Sklansky
While not specific to tournament poker, David Sklansky’s The Theory of Poker is right up there with the most important poker strategy books ever written. It contains all the basic strategic fundamentals across its 276 pages, much of which are still relevant decades after it was first published. Read this book because it gives you a solid base on which to stack further knowledge.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Super/System: A Course in Power Poker by Doyle Brunson
Considered by many to be the poker bible, Super/System was truly ground-breaking when it was published in the late 1970s. It’s original cover price was $100 at release, equivalent to more than $400 in today’s climate, yet it sold steadily for the next 30 years. And even though it appeared well before the online age (and also isn't specific to tournaments), it still provides a great deal of insight and knowledge for online tournament players.
At 600 pages, the book is on the larger side, but there is golden information on all of those pages. Super/System was the first book that showed how the most successful poker players approached the game, moving towards loose-aggressive play in hold’em games, plus it gives tips and strategies for several other popular poker variants, with some of those strategies coming from some of Brunson’s peers.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Every Hand Revealed by Gus Hansen
Gus Hansen is one of poker’s most unorthodox players, yet nobody can argue with his tournament results, which include three World Poker Tour titles. While playing in the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event, the Great Dane made notes about every hand that he played, giving his thought process for each. Oh, he also went on to win the tournament for A$1.5 million.
Once you begin reading Hansen’s book, you’ll find it difficult to put down until you have read it cover to cover. While Hansen’s style of play is not for the fainthearted, it does give you an insight into how to play a loose-aggressive style in poker tournaments.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Harrington on Hold’em series by Dan Harrington and Bill Robertie
The 1995 World Series of Poker Main Event champion’s first Harrington on Hold’em volume is the best-selling poker book in history, and it is easy to see why. Much like Brunson’s Super/System, Harrington on Hold’em gave poker tournament players a glimpse into how to approach the different stages of a tournament, the “M” concept (which is still relevant today), tips on bluffing frequencies, and other such nuances.
Harrington on Hold’em: Volume II arrived soon after — this writer believes this is the best of the series — with Volume III completing the tournament series. Some of the information in Harrington on Hold’em may be a little outdated as it advocates a mostly tight-aggressive approach, but it lays great foundations for anyone looking to enter the world of tournament poker.
Online Poker Strategy Books: The Mental Game of Poker I & II by Jared Tendler and Barry Carter
This is another entry that isn’t focused on playing advice, but it is still possibly one of the most useful poker strategy series around.
Often, you will find that the difference between a winning poker player and a losing one is how strong the person’s mental game is. Once you have read both of Jared Tendler and Barry Carter’s books, you will be armed with the tools necessary to understand how the human psyche works, to recognize you are about to tilt, and to employ strategies and thought processes for improving your mental game. You can even apply the concepts to other areas of your life.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em by Jonathan Little and others
One of the more recently written books to make it onto our list is Excelling at No-Limit Hold’em by Jonathan Little and 17 others such as Mike Sexton, Jared Tendler, Phil Hellmuth, Chris Moneymaker, and former PokerNews managing editor Chad Holloway.
Some say the book is like a modern day Super/System, in this case covering several areas of no-limit hold’em, and a title worthy of shelf space for any poker player.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Moorman’s Book of Poker by Chris Moorman and Byron Jacobs
Few books captured the imagination of the poker community before they were launched more than Chris Moorman’s book. The winningest player in online poker tournament history released his book in November 2014 and is essentially Moorman reviewing various hand histories from tournaments played by co-author Byron Jacobs.
Moorman has shied away from poker training sites, so this could be the only way you get to delve inside the mind of one of online poker’s legendary tournament players.
Online Poker Strategy Books: Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time by Eric Lynch, Jon Van Fleet, and Jon Turner
Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time is a three-book series that gives the reader a step-by-step guide into decision making across a wide range of different scenarios. The books are packed full of hand examples taken from the hand histories of Eric “Rizen” Lynch, Jon “Pearljammer” Turner, and Jon “Apestyles” Van Fleet, three players who have combined winnings of more than $10 million.
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online pokerbooksDavid SklanskyDoyle BrunsonGus HansenDan HarringtonJared TendlerBarry CarterJonathan LittleChris MoormanJon TurnerJon Van FleetEric LynchRelated Players
Doyle BrunsonEric LynchChris MoormanJonathan LittleJon TurnerDavid Sklansky
On Oct. 21, a TwoPlusTwo forum poster named 'FarseerFinland' posted a thread titled 'Huge collusion ring in High Stakes MTTs at PartyPoker' that unveiled suspected collusion within high-stakes tournaments at partypoker, prompting response and action from the online poker site.
According to the thread, the original poster (OP) has played online poker for 13 years and now plays under the screen name 'DukeOfSuffolk' at partypoker, where they have been 'grinding their highstakes leaderboards' for the past year and a half, playing $109 and higher buy-ins.
The poster detailed two specific situations that came up during play in which collusion was suspected, which then prompted this player to do some investigation of his own. A partypoker spokesperson later confirmed the collusion following an investigation, leading to bans of those involved and repayments to those affected.
First Incident
The first situation explained in the thread referred to a Wednesday Turbo Highroller final table that 'DukeOfSuffolk' played on Oct. 18. The poster explained some suspicious behavior among his opponents, including the fact that in 48 hands 'with somewhat short stacks,' none of his opponents were all in and called by each other, while he busted three players. The poster also gave a specific hand example that seemed curious, and noted that the tournament finished in three minutes once he busted.
Suspecting collusion, 'DukeOfSuffolk' did some investigating and found some suggestive concurrences. These included that six of the top seven started playing on the site this year, mostly in May. They also all play tournaments primarily $109 and higher, and in August, the suspected six players participated almost exclusively in tournaments together which consisted mostly of tournaments called Clubber IIs.
The six suspected players were identified by the screen names 'Sorcian', 'domingo661', 'SciorXxx', 'dimitriax', 'GASSGUSS' and 'PowerCarl'. The poster mentioned alerting 'Party_Rep', the intermediary between the forum and partypoker staff, who assured him on Friday, Oct. 20 that the site's security department was conducting a full investigation.
Part Two
On Oct. 20, two days after the first incident, 'DukeOfSuffolk' noticed four of the aforementioned players enrolled in an early high roller event, with the other two joining before registration closed. He noted that four of the players had not played another tournament since the Wednesday Turbo high roller, while two had played high rollers on Thursday.
'DukeOfSuffolk' discovered eight more players with similar tournament histories as the other six-- playing mostly since May 2017 with some minor variation and having played mostly or only multiple Clubber II tournaments. He added these names to the suspected collusion ring: 'pesnokviv', 'ven.pax.soy', 'fausfalser' (started July 2017), 'diabolicox900' (19 tournaments pre-May 2017 in January and February 2017), 'coccopaga090', 'cheflol' (16 tournaments pre-May 2017 in January and February 2017), 'A10cooming' (started playing July 2017), 'PR3PEzzz' (started playing July 2017).
While 'DukeOfSuffolk' did not notice any specific instances that would hint at collusion, he noted that four of the suspected colluders finished in the top four of the Turbo Highroller.
Proof of Collusion?
The OP provided links to each suspected players' tournament history to show which ones they have played, as well as a text file with hand histories from the Turbo Highroller final table where collusion was suspected. A video from the two-table bubble play from that same tournament was posted in a subsequent post on Oct. 22 within the same thread.
In another thread on Oct. 22, the OP posted an update, saying he found 12 more players likely involved based on players who cashed in Clubber II tournaments in August, which he reported to 'Party_Rep' and posted those screen names the following day.
Closing Offender Accounts
On Oct. 22, 'FarseerFinland' wrote a post saying that while he was told by 'Poker_Rep' that 'accounts mentioned in the OP were suspended and under investigation,' he provided a screenshot that showed 'PowerCarl' in a $215 multi-phase tournament.
In an Oct. 24 post on the thread, 'Party_Rep' provided a response, saying the information is being investigated by the relevant teams. Also, 'The OP and myself have been in discussion and all details have been shared with the Risk team management for review. We treat the accusations of collusion very seriously and will ensure relevant action is taken pending investigation.'
partypoker Managing Director Tom Waters talked to CalvinAyre.com about the collusion case and he confirmed, 'A group of accounts were found to be playing in teams in order to collude against other players.'
Waters also explained the process for investigating collusion accusations and the account blocking process that ensued after the TwoPlusTwo Forum post.
'It depends on the case, every case is different. In this case, the security department reviewed the initial complaint from the player and began a full investigation to 1) Verify that collusion was taking place and 2) That ensure all accounts involved were successfully identified and blocked.'
While he admitted to CalvinAyre that some accounts may have remained active for a time by mistake, Waters assured that all accounts identified with the collusion ring have been shut down. He added the importance of conducting detailed investigation before closing accounts due to a high rate of false accusations when it comes to collusion.
'It's also important to note that 99% of collusion accusations are proved to be false. A lot of people get suspicious based on the emotion of losing pots, running under EV in general and against specific players. It is important that our security team is as informed as possible to be able to quickly identify if it is indeed collusion or not. We cannot simply close every account that is emailed to us as being suspicious of collusion.'
Fraud Protection at partypoker
While partypoker and other online poker sites have fraud protection mechanisms in place, this collusion ring seemed to go undetected until it was brought to light by 'FarseerFinland'.
Waters explained, 'We always welcome proactive feedback from our players as it often helps us to identify issues faster.
'Sometimes players are able to identify suspicious activity faster, depending on what they have experienced at the tables.'
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'BOT and collusion detection techniques can require a large number of hands in order to accurately analyse the information and identify rogue accounts. Therefore sometimes players are able to identify suspicious activity faster, depending on what they have experienced at the tables. We have sophisticated fraud control mechanisms in place that are continually being updated to counter new and more advanced fraudulent techniques.'
In addition to the fraud control already in place, Waters described further efforts going into effect to deal with the current group of offenders and moving forward to help detect instances of cheating and collusion like this one.
'We have set up a new email address, [email protected], where players can send their suspicions directly to an expert team who will review the case immediately. We have also formed a player panel of elite online players who will review hand histories in difficult cases and make a fair and impartial decision.
'We are already working closely with a number of players for certain matters. Over the coming months we will be rolling out some highly advanced detection techniques that we are building with the help of some of our players.'
Punishment and Reparations
While the exact number of offenders and affected players in the collusion case in question is yet unclear, Waters assures that partypoker will do what it can to reimburse players who were victims of the collusion, saying, 'All seized funds will be redistributed to the affected players.'
Though in an ideal world, partypoker would be able to share these online perpetrators' real identities with both the poker community and with other online poker sites to prevent further occurrences, Waters explained that it's not so easy in practice.
'Although, in concept, this is a good idea, in reality, it's very difficult due to the Data Protection Act amongst other issues.
'We cannot comment on legal matters, although all players will be permanently banned from playing on our site.'
Protect Yourself
For the time being, the online poker playing community may have to settle with that, and hope that the online poker sites we entrust our money to and the authorities that regulate online gaming put practices in place to help protect innocent players. But all players can also follow the example set by the proactive 'FarseerFinland', who brought this issue to partypoker's attention, prompted action and also urged fellow players to remain vigilant.
In the thread, he tells readers, 'If you've been playing small field $22-$55 MTTs I would keep my eyes open. If you see anything that looks like probable collusion (not just in tables but their game history etc.) you should contact Party_Rep imo.'
He also provided a link to Official Poker Rankings where players can check to see which tournaments other players have registered in case of suspected collusion.
It seems that if the great many parties who seek to make online poker safe for innocent players work together for that common cause, these instances will become more sparse. Or at least we can hope.
Finding a trustworthy room to play online poker can be a monumental burden. That's all the more true if you're just looking for a place to play poker for free. We've listed five of the best play-money poker sites to enjoy and help hone your skills.
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