Ride the Donkey

The last few nights I've been doing work on a spreadsheet for activities outside of poker. While I've been working I've constantly had a couple of satellite poker tourneys going on my second screen. I never realized how weak the competition is in these things. One of the weakest I've found is the $8 turbo satellites on Full Tilt to win $26 tokens. My simple strategy is to only play AA,KK,QQ, AK, AQ, and low pairs cheaply, unless my stack gets low, and if the flop comes out good get all my chip in the centre. By using this simple method so far each $26 dollar token costs about $15.50 on average. Since I only play them when I'm busy doing something else on the computer I use very little of my time. I've also won a few $75 tokens doing pretty much the same thing (they are tougher though). The thing to remember with satellites is that you are not playing to win the thing, just to get enough chips with the least risk to get into a prize place. If you don't have a big bankroll satellites are the perfect thing to play.

Today's Topic: Donkey Stacking

If you are having trouble beating the low level online NL Holdem cash games, then a strategy you might want to try is one called "Donkey Stacking". "Donkey Stacking" is a system where you play only the best hands and if you flop a huge hand try and get all the money into the centre. Hopefully a donkey (bad player) will call off his entire stack with either top pair top kicker or some sort of draw (hence the name donkey stacking). It's a low variance system ideal for NL10 or NL25. The system works as follows:

• Preflop: The hands you raise are AA,KK,QQ, AK, AQs. The hands you call are any pocket pair. This will mean that you end up playing about 11% of all hands.
  
• AA KK: Always reraise AA, KK before the flop. Reraise at least 15% of your stack so you are not giving people the correct odds to call with their small pairs and hit a set on the flop. A lot of the time everyone will fold to you but it will pay off in the long run
  
• Pocket pair: To call a raise with a pocket pair you need to make sure when calling that both you and your opponent have at least 10 times the amount of the raise remaining in your stacks. In NL25 you don't usually want to call a raise of more than $1.50 with a pocket pair.
  
• AK AQs: Only call raises of a maximum of 4 times the big blind before the flop with these two hands.
  

  
  

• On the flop:
  
  
• AA KK: If you raise 15% of your stack preflop with these 2 hands and the flop comes out low, then bet the pot size on the flop, and get all-in on the turn. If you have KK and an Ace flops bet ¾ of the pot, and if called or raised check or fold on the turn. If you have AA and a king or queen comes on the flop then play the hand a lot slower. Often the only hands that will call 15% of your stack preflop are KK, or QQ.
  
• Pocket pair: On the flop your aim is to flop a set from your pocket pair. This will occur about 8% of the time on average. Even if on the flop your pair is an overpair to the board, still fold to a bet. If you do flop a set the goal is obviously to try and get as much money into the pot as possible. If you are against an aggressive opponent this can sometimes mean letting him do the betting for you. If against a calling station you obviously want to do the betting yourself. If you are unsure, always play the hand aggressively even though people will often fold to you, you will get a better payoff in the long run. If there are any sort of flush or straight draws on board also play the hand aggressively. Often when you make an oversized bet on the flop a lot of people think you are weak and will reraise.
  
• AK AQs: Play both theses hands slower on the flop, even if you hit an Ace you don't often want to get your entire stack into the centre with just top pair, top kicker.
  
• Big Blind: If you get to play any hands from the big blind then try not to get too much money into pot unless you have a minimum of 2 pair. If you drawing to a flush or high end of an open ended straight draw then never call a bet of more than 2/3's of the pot size to see the next card.
  

The real art to "Donkey Stacking" is extracting the most profit out of your opponents when you hit a set. This can take a while to master, but always remember to play your sets an AA aggressively most of the time. A lot of the time you will fold a hand that you know is the best hand, don't worry that is just part of "Donkey Stacking". Because you are playing so few hands and have a fixed strategy for these hands, then "Donkey Stacking" allows you to Multi-table a lot easier. Try to build up to at least 6 tables at once when "Donkey Stacking". While "Donkey Stacking" can work well up to NL50, at NL100 and beyond it is a lot harder to get opponents to commit their stack with just Top Pair, Top kicker. At this level you have to play a more pure form of poker to win. The idea behind "Donkey Stacking" is that once you are winning with this method then you slowly increase the range of hands that you play, and change your playing style to become a top player with a good solid base.

• Profit's from donkey stacking: A good "Donkey Stacker" would expect to make at least 2BB/100 at NL25. If you are playing 6 tables then you will play about 400 hands per hour. This works out to a profit of around $4 per hour. If you add in bonus clearing of about $4 per hour as well, then you will average about $8 - $10 per hour. Yes, you are never going to get rich with this method, but if you are currently a losing low limit player, then it will give you the basis to improve your game while making some money at the same time.
  

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