Isildur taking over the power of the Ring?!?!?!?!?

The emergence of the new player Isildur1 has taken the online poker world by storm! He has wrecked and destroyed many top players and is apparently a 19 yr old from Sweden. The news is reporting that he felted Tom "Durrr" Dwan for 3 MILLION!

So this poses a few questions and creates great interest. Can this kid be just that good? He is asking to multi table up to 6 tables at a time with the pro's and is playing nosebleed stakes (heads up). Apparently he has been playing on the european sites like BetFair and dominating there for a couple years. He then moved over to FullTilt and has been smashing some top online pros like Brian Townsend and Cole South.

Here are a few questions for you to ponder:

1. Are the high stakes online players as good as they say or is their image just as daunting and as large a factor as their decent play?

2. Is a slight edge all that is needed to dominate your opponents which have similar skill sets? IE: 6 tabling PLO?

3. How much does ego play in high stakes poker and will it kill the action or destroy their bankrolls?

All these questions will be answered shortly as we watch the development of Isildur1. He has taken a few losses as of late against Patrick Antonius. So is he just a "luck box" who went on an incredible run? Who knows, we don't even have an interview with this kid yet. Maybe he just kicked some ass and took the ring of power for his own use. Hopefully he doesn't have the same fate as that his name represents!

SHODOWN

Skinning the best wool providing SHEEP?!?!?!?!?!?

Lately we have been seeing quite a lot of criticism of players on TV and especially of them in the WSOP ME. Darvin Moon is the prime example. He has been ridiculed and being studded as "undeserving" and mocked for his poker play.

Well you know what! Who the #$%& cares!

The guy paid his entry fee, he played the way he wanted to; and guess what! Only one guy out of the 6400 plus entrants beat him. So he had to be doing something correct. Even "luck boxes" can do some things correctly.

It infuriates us that the poker community is still berating his play. Why would you want to scare off one of the biggest so called "fish" from playing anymore. He has 5 MILLION DOLLARS TO PLAY WITH!!!!

He has already stated that he will play when he feels like it and may never play large tournaments again. If everyone was saying how crap your play was, would you want to play with them again? Probably not, you would take your ball and go home!

So lets start listening to our favorite movie and learn from what "Worm" didn't know. Quit skinning your top providing sheep and eating lamb-chops for a week. Nurture and care for that sheep so that it provides you with dollars for a long time!

SHODOWN

Free Roll problems and Chance?!?!?!?!?

This weekend is the first annual Canadian Poker Expo and looks to be a great event. Many companies have made the trip including Full Tilt, BetFair, and Everest. Shodown will have a booth there as well. There are two MONSTER free rolls with great prizes! There is a heads up event that will give away a trip to Las Vegas to play in next years WSOP in a small NL event and another tournament with great prizes and package's similar.

Now this would be awesome to win, but free rolls are so hard to win, why? Well there are many reasons. Brreak them down like this: Player experience, Pride, Time, and Field.

Player experience:

Free rolls attract many players who never have been to a casino or even played the game. Very difficult to play against someone who doesn't know there hand or it's very easy if your running well. But reads and respect is out the window in most cases.

Pride:

This is the most important factor of all. People will play looser and will not care as much in the earlier parts of a tourney. They say " I busted, but it was a free roll, so who cares!" and don't take a hit to their pride by busting out of the tourney early. No one wants to lose a tournament that they payed money to go in, so busting in a free roll doesn't affect their self confidence or pride, so they may play much better with no risk, or much worse and care free.

Time:

Players may have to be somewhere and have not planned on going deep. So they may play reckless to try to get rid of their chips or to get a large enough stack that they can justify playing for a while.

Field:

Field size can ware on a players mind if they have nothing invested and they know only a couple players will take something home. They may again play reckless and want to go quick. Tons of action!

So the question you must ask yourself is: Is this Freeroll worth the let down?

Well that is something only you can answer. So dig deep and play your best and always be wary of how someone is acting at the table. Ask questions, probe their focus and play accordingly.

Hope to see everyone at the Expo and in the free rolls. Look for Shodown Regional Team members and friends wearing SHODOWN in the tournaments!

SHODOWN