ON THE BUTTON: Beginner's Luck at Bodog

by Nick Lanteri | Jul 31 2008

I wasn't sure what to think when Bodog switched its nightly 1 a.m. EST (10 p.m. PST) guaranteed poker tournament to an $8 + $0.80, $2,000 Guaranteed Beginner Tournament, which are No Limit Holdem tournaments that pay out twice as many spots.
 
So I gave it a try for the first time on June 23 and finished 10th in a field of 199 players for $23. Hey, that's a good start, right? (I play on Bodog under the name NALDNJ94). Then I gave it another try two nights later on June 25 and final tabled it, finishing fifth in a field of 213 players for $111 bucks. I thought to myself, "Wow, me thinks I like these beginner tournaments."
 
Then, I tried it again two nights later on June 27 and cashed - just barely - when I finished 45th (the first cash spot) in a field of 222 players for $10. Three straight cashes? What the hell is going on here? I'm a freelance writer, not a poker pro. I didn't suddenly get better at No Limit Holdem, so why were the results improving at such a dramatic rate? Was it me or the new format implemented by Bodog? (I think we know the answer to that one).
 
OK, so I came right back the next night, determined to play out the rush. I was going for my first ever fourth straight cash on Bodog, and honestly, I really wanted to cash again, which is not the recommended strategy to make a final table. But what the hell, it looks good when someone pokerdb's your user name (NALDNJ94) and glances at the summary, which shows a player‘s tournament streaks (both good and bad).
 
Pocket Rockets Again? Ship It... D'oh!

My bid for a fourth straight cash was remarkably easy. I got dealt pocket aces at least four or five times and doubled up the first three times with it. "That's sick," as Gus Hansen would say. Naturally, the hand that busted me was pocket aces. Yeah, that's sick, too.
 
With three tables of seven players left and roughly two hours and 15 minutes into the tournament, the button raised my big blind. I reraised with A-A, which had to look as if I was stealing because I was playing a lot of hands. I got what I wanted when he shoved. So all the money went in pre-flop and he showed A-10 offsuit. Beautiful. I would be sitting big-stacked in fifth with 22 players left if my aces would hold up again. No worries, right? D'oh!
 
Flop was 7-8-J rainbow. Turn was a queen, giving my opponent eight outs. He hit his double bellybuster on the river when a brutal king spiked, which gave him runner-runner straight and sent me packing. We both had a lot of chips entering the hand, but he had me covered by a small amount, so I was on the rail.
 
So anyway, I finished 22nd in a field of 252 players for a whopping $15.12. That completed my run of four straight cashes (with one final table) in four tries in Bodog beginner tournaments over the course of six nights.
 
Beginner Tournaments Build Confidence

Hey, I've always been in favor of flatter pay structures in both live and online poker tournaments, and that's the first of many reasons why I highly recommend Bodog beginner tournaments. I'd rather get paid something for finishing in the top 20 percent of a tournament, rather than bubbling out somewhere in between 11-19 percent and having nothing to show for it.
 
However, a bigger reason to play beginner tournaments (which also could be called "one-in-five tournaments" because that's the ratio of cash spots awarded to players entered, one in every five gets paid) is because the more cashes you rack up, the more confidence you will have as you enter more poker tournaments. I am sure that was a big part of why I ran so good that last week of June. The four cashes in four tries were more of a reflection of the confidence I had developed after cashing in back-to-back beginner tournaments, and that made me more aggressive, which is the most important aspect in No Limit Holdem.
 
Bodog Players Weigh In

A few nights ago I got another chance to play in Bodog’s 1 a.m. Beginner Poker Tournament (didn't come close to cashing in that one by the way), and I asked a few players to share their thoughts in the chat field on the "beginner" format. I was a little surprised by all the positive feedback.
 
A Bodog player with the screen name "Checkeater" said, "Regular poker tournaments are too top heavy in payouts and you need to win them to make anything. You can play for too many hours and not win. This is great now that you have an option to play in tournaments where you can make money by finishing in the top 20 percent." His stats reflect the confidence a player can build up by playing the beginner tournaments. "Checkeater" has final tabled the 1 a.m. tourney five times since mid-May and has cashed in it 20 times since late March.
 
Another player with the screen name "Scrubfish" said, "Beginner tournaments offer a better payout structure for those with conservative bankrolls. That's a big plus."
 
Bodog player "Larryblizzy" said, "It's easier to cash in beginner tournaments in my opinion. It's definitely a bankroll-builder type of tournament, but more people are choppin' up the pot."
 
And finally, "Acpitboss," who said he is not an Atlantic City casino pit boss for what it's worth, said, "I love the beginner tournaments but not as much right now because I lost to a one-outer on another table in a $16 beginner tournament Sit and Go."
 
So there you go, even though beginner tournaments pay out twice as many spots, you're not immune to the occasional one-outer (or Bodog-beat, as some like to say). Still, the majority of players believe in this "beginner" format, and so do I.
 
Hope to see you at the tables in the Bodog 1 a.m. nightly Beginner Tournament.

New to poker? Go to school!

Learn how to play poker with Bodog's Gentlemen's Guide to Poker!