Beat Rush Poker

IT CAN BE DONE !....Yes Rush Poker can be beat consistantly, if you have the right strategy, and I am going to share mine here. I was on a self imposed hiatus from online poker when they first came out with this format, and decided that I needed to have a look for myself. I did that, and posted a blog about that experience giving my thoughts on the game. As time went on I read everything people posted here, and on other forums about this format, and had some thoughts about how to play the game. I have tried those ideas out for 10 sessions, and have been very profitable overall.

Give this some thought, before you try the format again, it might help you show a profit :

# 1....First and foremost play at a level you can afford, don't get in over you head and bankroll, you can't worry about losing what you sit down with, or you will ! I advise playing only one table at a time also, you only have 8 seconds to act, and that can cost you money if you are in a big hand on another table !

# 2... I first thought you should only play premium starting hands from position, but have found that starting hands are not as important as the position you are in ! Naturally you want to play a hand that has potential, but I have found that suited connectors and small to mid pairs are great starting hands anywhere you might be sitting, even under the gun, you just have to play them right ! Stay away from all in bets, you don't want to play them unless you have the nuts on the river, you damn sure don't want to CALL a bet that will set you all in, unless you have the goods !

# 3... Keep it small pre flop, don't raise big when you have a playable hand in early position, my suggestion is to just bet the pot if you are opening the betting in any hand. If you get reraised you can fold if there aren't enough callers to give you odds to call, however if you have a big hand 4 or 5 times the big blind is usually better. If you have a suited connector you want a lot of people in the hand, but if you have Aces, you only want one opponent, so try to isolate them with bigger bets when you have the goods in early position.

# 4... Position is what you are looking for, and any position from 6th seat on should be considered a place to get into a pot if you have playable cards. ( Any pair, suited connectors 5,6 & up, and suited gappers that can straighten up) Don't be afraid to make a raise if there is someone already in the pot, if they aren't holding top hands they will fold eaiser pre flop than after the flop if they hit some of it you won't get them out , if there is no raise yet, then raise the pot yourself !

# 5... Late position (the button and two seats before it) is where you can make a lot of money ! Raise at least the pot if not more with any playable hand if everyone has folded to you in these seats. If someone comes over the top of you and there were no other callers, then go ahead and fold if you holdings are marginal, you are beat ! If you are not raised and see a flop what you want is for everyone to check to you so you can bet again, a pot sized bet will usually tell you all you want to know. Whether the flop hit you or not isn't as important as being the first one to bet the pot in this situation, again if someone comes over the top of you, fold, but I find this bet runs most people out of the pot, if they haven't alread hit the quick fold button.

# 6... Keep the cursor away from the "quick fold" button, you don't have to be in a hurry to fold ! Wait and see what the people ahead of you do every time you are on the button, or in the blinds NO MATTER what your hand ! If everyone folds to you on the button or small blind, it is worth doubling the blind with almost any two cards ! Many people quick fold the blinds, or will fold to even a min raise if they don't have good cards. If the flop looks like junk a near pot sized continuation bet is automatic, again it doesn't matter what you are holding ! If you get called, then back off and check the turn, use your best judgement if they check the turn also, a river bet might pay off, if the board looks like crap, if you get raised fold, but I have found that more often than not this type of play makes money.

# 6... Manage your money ! I was playing in the "Apollo" dime / quarter game, and started with the minimun $10 each time. When I got up to $30 I would leave the game, and re-enter the game with $10 again, banking the $20 every time ! This way if someone sucks out on you, or slow plays a monster on you, you don't lose all your winnings in one hand ! Plan how much profit you want for a day, and don't get greedy ! If you can bank $20 three times each session then you have your buy in, plus another buy in for free to try the next day, and $50 in the bank. Do this for 5 days a week, and you profit $1,000.00 a month not counting that extra $10 each day that you have to offset the bad sessions with ! Set a loss limit for the day also, after the first night you can easily do 2 buy ins without worry, and as time goes on you could do more. Don't jump up to the next level after a couple of wins, beat the game regularly, and wait to take a little of your profit to the next level when you are on a heater.

# 7...Watch the size of the stacks of the other players you are in a pot with, this is probably the most important thing I am sharing here ! If they have a lot more chips than you do you need a better hand than if they are under your stack size. the ones you want to see in the pot with you for the most part are the ones who have about the same amount as you. They will be concerned that you will felt them and if they don't have premimum cards you can bet them out of the pot most of the time. People who have less money than you are good targets too, as long as they aren't really short stacked, those are the ones who will come over the top all in if you bet very much into them, and they have any hand at all.

# 8... Beware of slow players, it seems there are quite a few of them ! If someone calls you twice on a junk board, don't bet big into them on the turn or river, keep it small in case they raise you more than your holdings can stand to call. Don't be afraid to bet, but don't be afraid to fold when you are probably beat also ! If someone bets a quarter to half his stack then he has a hand, and you need a good one to beat him, the same goes for when you are drawing, look at the percentage of his stack that he bets, if it is a quarter or more be careful, he has a hand !

# 9... Remember there is potential to see over 200 hands an hour in this game, but you are only looking for just enough hands to make your money with in this hour ! Given the blinds and rake I would think that it will cost you $7 to $10 an hour to play at this dime quarter level, but it shouldn't take an hour to make your goal of depositing $20 three times if you catch your fair share of good starting hands, and play your position well stealing some blinds, and small pots !

# 10... One last thing, if you want to see how a hand plays out that you folded, you can hit the sit out next hand button before you fold, and it will keep you there to see what goes down, as soon as the hand is over, you can hit deal me in and continue, and you don't automatically get the Big Blind again.

I hope this helps some of my Railbird friends show a profit playing this new format, I had success with it, and so can you. In summary, keep it small pre flop unless you have a big hand, raise pots that are folded to you from mid position on, if you have a playable hand, watch the size of the stacks you are in a hand with, and most of all, play your position, position, position !

....Topcat.....