In a recent interview with Poker News Daily regarding the new offering from Full Tilt Poker, Rush Poker – Andy Bloch shared his observations regarding the game. Some points were very valid but in some cases, I feel there’s holes in his theory. Let’s break it down:
Dan Cyprus asked several great questions regarding how the market has reacted to Rush Poker as well as some of the perceived negative parts of the game (issues that have been discussed on many forums). Early in the interview, Dan asks:
PND: Some players we’ve talked to critiqued that Rush Poker creates ABC poker players. Is there a different overarching strategy to it?
Andy Bloch: To some degree, it’ll train people more to play ABC poker. You’ll have less of a reason to play speculative hands because you can fold and get a new hand right away, but that creates more opportunities. There will be a lot of people taking advantage of the tight play and playing a lot more hands pre-flop. There’s no need to worry about getting a reckless image.
You can raise every hand on the button, for example, whereas at a regular cash game table, you wouldn’t do that because people would pick up on it. You could also just raise pre-flop in Rush Poker every time the action folds to you. In Rush Poker, therefore, taking notes becomes really important. If you see any unusual play, you’ll want to make a note and tag a player. It might come in handy later on.
Andy, I have to disagree with you on the point about raising every hand on the button because no one will pick up on it. After about five minutes of playing Rush Poker even the average player is going to realize that his or her Button is being raised almost automatically. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the same player, simply that fact that it’s being done on a near constant basis is a general indicator. A decent player will begin defending their Blinds with any Ace – Rag type hand and the more advanced players would be wise to use my own system. I color code Rush Poker players that demonstrate a tendency to practice this move. I use a color that’s reserved for this explicit purpose and that way when they begin doing it to me for the umpteenth time, I aggressively defend. Better than 50% of the time they fold in this situation, if they re-pop (typically it’s an All In by now, clearly my decision is predicated on my hole cards).
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Dan goes on to ask this question:
PND: Would you like to see Rush Poker added for MTTs and sit and gos?
Andy Bloch: I’d love to see Rush Poker added for heads-up play, tournaments, sit and gos, and different forms of poker like Stud. You have to pay attention to the up-cards in Stud, so it’s hard to multi-table.
I feel that Stud would be a great game for Rush Poker because it may actually attract more players to this game. Because of the slow nature of a game like Stud it becomes far more feasible to get newer players that enjoy the fast pace. The additional upside? They are more error-prone than a seasoned Stud player so my bankroll is likely to grow thanks to the infusion of Newbie Stud players – Note to Full Tilt: Release a Rush Poker Stud Game ASAP!
Andy goes on to say that for 2010 he’d like to improve his Pot Limit Omaha game and that he is looking forward to playing in this years WSOP. Of course he adds that he’d love to add another World Series of Poker bracelet to his resume in the $50K Players Championship as well.
And what poker player wouldn’t?
Take a stab at qualifying for this years WSOP at Full Tilt Poker – qualifiers are running all the time!
Article Credit: Dan Cyprus at Poker News Daily
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