A Scandal or Everyday Occurrence?!?!?!?!

In the last few days a very weird occurrence has happened. Brian Townsend has had his FullTilt Poker account suspended for a month. Reason being, is that he violated the terms of Tilt's agreement on play. The rule that he has broken is this:

"Full Tilt Poker defines an unfair advantage as a user accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which the user has personally observed through his or her own game play."

This was taken directly from their website. For full list see this.

Brian Hastings took $4 million off of Isuldir1 and then publicly stated that Brian Townsend helped him with his own Hand Histories. They dissected Isuldir1's play and found his range when he made certain plays. Now obviously the two do not think anything is wrong with what they have done. Otherwise they would have not publicly discussed this. This did lead to the suspension of only Townsend. For one month though? We don't even know the details. Hastings has not been penalized as of yet.

Hand history sharing is no different than information about an opponent in a live game. Many times you see player's taking a break off the table and discuss a "fishes" tendencies and give a heads up about a "rock" at the table. In poker, every edge that you get is key. Switching up your game and not allowing a pattern to be set with your opponents will make you money (if your making correct decisions).

Isuldir1 has not yet made a comment about this situation. This is most likely because he knows he was beat. Anyone who plays online and knows that they are playing against a CardRunner's player should know that they do a lot of hand history teaching. If you don't know your opponent, you deserve to lose your cash. It's just another thing to take into account now when playing poker.

SHODOWN

Holiday Poker Slaughter?!?!?!?!?!?

During the holiday season the temperament of the poker scene changes. It can either be profitable or not. It all depends on game selection and players involved. Now saying this what should you look for? This can be broken down into 4 categories: Time of play, proximity to christmas, strength of players, and motivation.

1. Time of Play:

Choosing when to play in a live game at a Casino is very important this time of year. Playing from midnight to 11am is probably not the best decision. Reason being, the true grinders will be trying to recoup their losses by long sessions and the money is usually tougher to squeeze at this point. Caliber of play is usually higher.

2. Proximity to Christmas:

The average amateur player will not be at the Casino close to the holidays. It is not their desire to be a pro. They enjoy the game and are learning. Family time around the holidays is more important to the "fish".

3. Strength of Players:

When playing start to ask people what they are doing for the holidays and such. You can get a lot of information as to how they may play by their demeanor. This point relates to the prior ones. Feel out the table and maybe make a table change if they are grinders. Go for the easy money.

4. Motivation:

As discussed above in strength of players talking to your opponents is key. Try to find out why they are playing so close to the holidays. Are they trying to make a run and make it a great x-mas? Are they just having some fun on their vacation time because they love poker? Knowing these thought processes in your opponents motivation can help you make your decisions at the table easier to make. Bluffing someone can be easier if you know they are trying to make money as opposed to playing for fun.

So when out playing cards around the holidays take everything into consideration and look at motivation tells so you don't become part of the holiday poker slaughter on the wrong end!

SHODOWN

Isuldur1 falls to fate of the ring?!?!?!?!?

If you haven't heard, then you have been hiding under a rock. The emergence of Isuldur1 took the online world by storm. As shown in the pic above he did some crazy work against some of the best players in the world. Poor Durrr! Why you say? Well because all of his old bankroll which he lost to Isuldir1 has now been distributed to Brain Hastings, Patrick Antonius, Phil Ivey, and Brian Townsend. Durr is now grinding the smaller stakes to get back in the thick of things.

Last night marked the end of Isuldur1's remarkable run. So the answer to the main question asked: Is a slight edge all you need to have? Well at first it looked like his edge was working, but his opponents adapted to his 4 plus multi-tabling edge. Brian Townsend was playing him 4 games heads-up PLO and took what seems to be his last $300k.

We admire what Isuldir1 (who is rumored to be Viktor Blom) has accomplished. But looking at what he had done you can either say that he took the ultimate risk and your proud or he took the dumbest route possible. The SHODOWN regional team members all agree that game selection is key to being a winning player. Ego should not be involved, but in Isuldir1's case, he definitely wanted some sort of recognition and to take some people off of their pedestal. This wasn't the best route to make money in our opinion, but sometimes goals and objectives are different. Only Isuldir1 will know if he has accomplished what he wanted. Hope to see him make a comeback in the next few months to stir up the scene again.

Good article by PokerNews on the subject.

SHODOWN