POKER ROOM REVIEW ARTICLE

Fish Haven

3/28/2006 12:00:00 AM

Okay, I’m no Ivey, alright? Let me say that upfront. Not quite a pro yet, but I make my living playing online. I’m more like a prospector.

The net is crowded with sharks gobbling up the fishies on all the big sites you’ve all heard of. But me, I look for something entirely different. If you are a small fish, what do you do if you are going to survive? You hide from the bigger fish, right? So where would you hide? That’s where I go looking.

Small, overlooked poker rooms or rooms that have just opened. Out in the tide pools on the edge of the web. Aside from the prop players--and you can spot them right away, most of these rooms are filled with timid players who I coax into becoming bold.

I was playing last night at a place called Pitbull poker. The name kind of appealed to me and kind of reminded me of my style. Flash version, no download. Quick. Anyway, I sat down at a $0.25 NL Hold’em table.

A school of nine, comfortably hiding away, is feeling safe. They were wary of me at first; I laid back and made them comfortable. Then after about 20 minutes, they got restless. Chasing a flush when I already had one. Betting wildly. I opened another table. Same thing happened. In an hour, I was up $150 bucks.

Don’t believe it? Try it for yourself. The trick is to find a suitable room, play until you’ve drained their rolls, and move on. Glamorous, no. Profitable, yes.

It takes all kinds to make up an online poker community. I know what I am, what kind are you?