I’ve mentioned free promotional poker tournaments here, and had a few requests to post what I know is going in Austin.

Mother Egan’s has periodic zero buyin slot gacor tournaments. Their next one is tomorrow, Thursday April 22, 2004 7-10pm, and after that Wednesday April 28, 2004, 7-10pm. I heard they stop play at 10pm regardless of the state of the tournament.

Fado has a hold’em tournament every Monday night.

G-Cue billiards has a big tournament every few months or so. This Saturday, April 24, 2004, is their next one. Pre-registration is encouraged as I heard they already had 150 entrants.

Crimson Restaurant does a cards night once a month, generally on Tuesday nights. I often post the event notice here.

Sugar’s strip club was having a weekly free tournament for a while, but I don’t believe they still are.

That’s all I know about, if you know of any other free, legal poker events in Austin, feel free to post them here!

buy-in to limit games

It’s advice that I’ve heard many times, but I’ve been asked the question so often recently I thought I’d post my personal answer here.

Q: How much should I buy in with at such and such limit game?

A: I recommend buying in for 20x the big bet, and carry another 20x the big bet in your wallet. 20x is a big enough amount that if you bust out, there is a very good chance that it is not because of natural variance but because you’re a weaker player than the rest of the field. It’s also a big enough amount that even if you’re a fairly weak player it should last you long enough to read the table. If you do lose your first 20x, you need to ask yourself whether you busted because you got unlucky, or because you got outplayed. If you really believe you can beat the table, re-buy with your next 20x. If you don’t believe you can beat the table, find another table. If you’re on tilt, take a break, or go to sleep.

20x is also an amount that if you’re playing at the limit right for you, a 20x BB loss is not highly injurious to your bankroll, but 40x is a loss you can feel. I really think you need to be playing at that level. So if you’re playing $8-16 at the Bellagio, you should be able to roll past a $320 loss, but a $640 loss stings a little. If $320 is too big to endure, you should move down a notch or two. If $640 ain’t no thing, move up to $15-30 or above.

This advice isn’t as scientific as a Sklansky bankroll analysis, but it’s advice that I’ve personally followed for a long time and really think “feels” right. If you have your own tuppence to add, feel free to chime in.

dallas poker bust

Yet another Texas game just got busted, this time in Addison, outside of Dallas. The Scrolldown has the report.