Over the past 6 months there has been a noticeable change in how online tournament poker is being played. No longer are the standard raise 3 - 4x’s the big blind. Those days are now gone forever. In some ways this is a good thing but in other ways it is very bad. The standard online tournament raise is now simply a minimum raise from any position. Maybe this is because I rarely play above the $30 tournament level but it is a tactic that is extremely annoying despite my being able to take advantage of it time after time again.

I know I have written about this phenomenon previously and how to defend against it but it still shocks me why anyone would want to raise the minimum in a full ring with pocket Aces from under the gun. I just do not understand that kind of thinking. Over and over again I saw hand after hand get cracked and then the player that minimum raise ask the question, “How could you call me with that crap?”, not realizing that a minimum raise prices in almost any hand you can be dealt.

Another strange change to online poker is the advent of the minimum raise after having made your hand on the flop. Probe bets are now being met with minimum raises and causing the min raiser to be sent to the rail more often due to the fact that the min raise, once again, prices in your opponent to make the call to see fourth street.

Bam!!!!

Another min raiser throws a fit wondering how his Ace King could get cracked by a set of Two’s when the board showed [A][K][X][2]. The idea of players not folding is fine with me. I understand in low stakes tournaments players are not going to fold and the variance can get pretty crazy because of this fact. However, when I got called pre-flop for 5k by [7][6]os and my Ace King goes up in flames because the flop came down [3][4][5] it really makes me wonder if I am playing poker or bingo. The concepts of playing poker no longer hold true in the online tournament world. It is a very difficult adjustment to make if you can call it an adjustment at all.

Yes, I ran good for a while and I continue to play good poker and cash but the game has changed again and not for the better. Players no longer use logic or even math in their thinking. It’s all about the excitement of getting your chips in the middle even with the worst hand.

That’s a scary thought indeed.

David “Chino” Rheem continues his run after final tabling the 2008 WSOP. He is now the 2008 Five Diamond Classic winner and took down a cool $1.2 Million in the wee hours of the morning. Chino has had a whirlwind of a year with making a run in the WSOP NL Championship and now the Five Diamond Classic.

Who knows what’s next for this guy?

Congratulations David!

Yes! I finally went out and bought this book after hearing so much about it two years ago when it was released. I just got started on the first 20 pages or so but the book is a very interesting read. It explores the biggest cash game of all time between Texas billionaire Andy Beal and the Las Vegas high stakes pros. I will post a full review of the book as soon as I am done.

I figure I will complete it over the holidays so it won’t be long.

With just 18 players left in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic there are plenty of familiar faces still in the hunt. Here is a break down of the final 18 players still in contention for the title.

1st: Benjamin Straate (Milwaukee, Wisconsin), $3,197,000
2nd: Brett Richey (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), $2,164,000
3rd: Justin Young (Morehead City, North Carolina), $1,807,000
4th: Evan McNiff (San Diego, California), $1,532,000
5th: Mike Matusow (Las Vegas, Nevada), $1,435,000
6th: Jack Wu (Palo Alto, California), $1,412,000
7th: Amnon Filippi (New York, New York), $1,374,000
8th: Steve Sung (Torrance, California), $1,359,000
9th: Robert Mizrachi (Las Vegas, Nevada), $1,266,000
10th: Hoyt Corkins (Glenwood, Alabama), $1,251,000
11th: Chino Rheem (Las Vegas, Nevada), $1,200,000
12th: Clonie Gowen (Dallas, Texas), $1,049,000
13th: Tom Pniak (Las Vegas, Nevada), $1,041,000
14th: Bill Klein (Laguna Hills, California), $999,000
15th: Ben Tollerene (Lubbock, Texas), $492,000
16th: Nick Schulman (Las Vegas, Nevada), $480,000
17th: Joe McGowan (Las Vegas, Nevada), $420,000
18th: Martin Deknijff (Las Vegas, Nevada), $298,000

Play resumes at 12:00 Noon local time on Thursday.