Are you giving Blonde royalties for this? ( http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=64608.0 )

Doesn't have to be cash, I'm sure Vinny will accept Nando's.

Ha ha. Tbh this has been a bit of an issue for me when posting about I-Pools/S&L on Blonde. I know there is already a culture of running pools games on the forum, especially by Mere Novice. And I do not want to undermine these. For example, when we ran our fantasy WSOP pool I deliberately did not mention it on Blonde at all until after entry to Mere's pool had already closed (I entered Mere's pool too).

I did make a suggestion that Blonde could use I-Pools (well, S&L as it was then) to host their Blonde pools games, and we would have given a big chunk of the revenue from these to Blonde. But it became clear that most people were happy to continue having them organised and run directly through threads on Blonde. I am guessing that this is still the case, and I can understand that completely. So I do not want to compete with the pools that run on Blonde, and definitely do not want to step on any toes in this thread.

If Blonde members (or anyone) ever do want to run private pools on I-Pools then this is great, and please get in touch. We already run quite a few private pools on our site... you just won't see them in the lobby since they are only visible to those with permission to enter.

In the meantime, I hope that Blondes will enter our pools AS WELL AS rather than instead of the Blonde-run pools.

[Predikta]

Introducing our Predikta game, run in partnership with Predikta.com.

Predict the results of the weekend's PL matches. Choose one match to be your 'banker' and score double points. As with all our games, you don't need to get every result correct... you just need to be more accurate in your predictions that the other entrants. We do not have different entry levels for Predikta, just one £5 entry pool.

Click to see full-size image.

This is one of our more skillful games and obviously having a decent knowledge of football is important (of course there is still plenty of luck involved, so even an ice-cream like me has a chance). Nevertheless, it is extremely simple to enter. And you can end up with a great sweat, especially if you have scored well on the Saturday fixtures and know that if things go well in the Sunday/Monday fixtures you have a big chance of winning.

So I get a £5 signup bonus when I sign up? Is there any code to enter where I can get higher?

Yes that is correct. When you register we give you £5 worth of 'points' that can be used to enter a five £1 pools (or one £5 pool) to try I-Pools out.

There is no code to enter to get more. However, if you make a deposit onto the site we will match it (up to £25). All we ask if that you use the deposit to actually enter some pools. Once you have entered £25 worth of pools we will credit you with £25 worth of points to enter further pools with.

[Fantasy Pools]

Introducing our Fantasy Pools.

We run fantasy-style games on many different sports, not just football. Most of these fantasy pools only last a few days, rather than an entire season (i.e. one game week for the PL pools, the duration of a single tournament for golf etc). Our aim has been to make our fantasy pools much simpler than the traditional fantasy football type of game. For example, in our football pools we do not have transfer budgets and users only choose 5 players (in a 1-1-2-1 five-a-side formation).

Click to see full-size image.

These pools are very quick and easy to enter, but there is obviously a decent amount of strategy involved in making your picks. You get a good sweat for a few days, but your money is not tied up over an entire season.

We believe that peer-to-peer pools betting is the future of punting. Unlike the bookies, we don't turn anyone away... winners are welcome!

Rake on our pools (can be as little as 3%) is very low compared to either over-rounds at the bookies or other pools-based games such as fantasy football sites.

Probably best not to use the exact same marketing strategy that helped put Betfair way behind the other online bookies.

Thanks, interesting point

Tbh, that is not the official I-Pools marketing strategy (I assume for good reason based on what you have said!). Everything I post on this thread is just gonna be my own stuff. Nobody at I-Pools writes (or 'signs off') my posts here. I am a founder and (small) part owner of the site and want to see it succeed obviously. So I appreciate the advice, as I will also appreciate any further ideas/feedback from you or anyone else on I-Pools.

[Last Longest]

Introducing our Last Longest pools.

Pick a team every week to win. If your selection wins then you progress to the next week. If not, you are eliminated. The 'last man standing' scoops the prizepool.

Click to see full-size image.

There is a surprising amount of knowledge and strategy involved in these pools. Obviously it helps to be a reasonable judge so you can pick teams that are likely to win each week. But because you cannot pick the same team twice, it is also very important to think a bit about exactly when you pick each team: simply picking all the best teams in the first few weeks might not be the best strategy. This is especially important in knockout competitions, but also applies to league based ones.

If you do get knocked out in any week then you can still be in action because there will be another Last Longest starting the following week.

This week's Championship Last Longest closes for entry tonight, just before the first games kick off.

This week's Premier League Last Longest closes tomorrow, before kick off. We have put a ridiculous guarantee on the £1 entry PL Last Longest pool - a £250 prize pool! We are fully aware that this pool is likely to overlay chunks, but this is our philosophy with guarantees... we set them at levels where we EXPECT an overlay. It gives our users 'free value' and thus gives them an additional reason to keep returning to our site.

So come and get involved, snap up the value and see if you can outlast the competition!

Stakesandladders, the UK's pools betting network, has changed its name to I-Pools (www.i-pools.co.uk).

To celebrate this we are offering the following:

1. £10 referral bonus if you refer a friend to our site.
2. £25 matched deposit bonus for existing users.
3. Big guarantees on pools for the start of the PL Football season (there will likely be huge overlays to take advantage of).

We believe that peer-to-peer pools betting is the future of punting. Unlike the bookies, we don't turn anyone away... winners are welcome!

Rake on our pools (can be as little as 3%) is very low compared to either over-rounds at the bookies or other pools-based games such as fantasy football sites.

We have a huge variety of different pools games to play - I will be introducing many of these games in this thread. All our pools games have a few things in common though:

• They have a balance of skill and luck. Knowledge of sport and out-thinking the other entrants is important, but there is also plenty of luck involved which means everyone has a chance to win any pool, and those who enter just for a fun punt are not heavily penalised.
• All our pools offer a great sweat. It is exciting and fun to be watching a sporting event whilst seeing your pool entry move up and down the leaderboard in real-time as the action unfolds, and comparing your answers to other users (with our easy to use interface) to know what you need to happen to win the pool.
• Users are not betting against 'the house' - they are playing a game vs other users, backing their judgement against the other entrants.

I hope those Blonde members who have been playing on S&L over the last 18 months will continue to support I-Pools, and that those who have not had a go yet will give us a try and see what we have to offer. It is a different form of punting to what most people are used to, but the pools are very easy to enter and a lot of fun.

thanks for your thoughtw btw don't have a diary but I commented on someone's plo in the rail which u might be thinking off

Ha, sorry. I thought for some weird reason that the OP of this thread was stacksaa. He posted a hand in his Beginner PLO Advice 'diary' (http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=65785.0) and this is what I was referring to. My mistake.

[checking back]

Thoughts on checking back the flop?

FYP. Hero is IP.

@ OP: Checking back the flop should be strongly considered IMO. Betting (for value and protection/equity denial) is good vs a loose passive player who will usually check-call with his FDs and two pair/trips type hands. Versus competent/non-passive players it is often better to check this back and call most non-heart turns (and bet blank turns if checked to). The beauty of being in position is that you can check-back a hand like this, pot controlling with a non-nutted hand that has no redraws, and still get to protect your equity on the turn (when, btw, your equity against something like two pair plus a FD is way better than it was on the flop) since you can bet the turn when checked to.

As played, folding to the c/r seems essential.

3betting preflop is... errr... highly optional.

Based on this HH and the other HH you posted in your diary I would make a tentative inference that you are perhaps overplaying hands in certain spots, believing this is 'standard'.

What would be the reason behind a turn call? I've really been struggling to put people on hands since playing as they all seem to play so loose. I saw him over playing over pairs previously and also sets on the turn i put him on KK/QQ/JJ hands and maybe two pair? Is there an argument for 3betting pre? I flat called as I was in position and could disguise the strength of my hand?

Sorry if I'm being stupid just starting to learn the game so any comments are appreciated. Thought this was a standard spot / bad beat but maybe I'm wrong!!

SPR on the flop is 12.5 or so, which is too deep to plan get in the second nut straight with no redraws. That's why raise/calling the turn here is not 'standard' - it is an adjustment. If you have a strong read that villain will stack off with all sets/two pair here then that could be a valid reason to make such an adjustment.

Isn't this just a turn call rather than a turn raise?

Never played fantasy football before but am going to be doing it this season cos my two boys want to do it (we're going to do a league between the 3 of us). What site are you using please? Site we are going to use is www.fantasy.premierleague.com. If it is the same as yours then I will enter the £10 league too.

Great turnout for our overall & Day 1 pools!

Day 2 pools will be open from 9pm.

If you fancy a different type of punt on the golf, you have 14 hours left to get in the pools for tomorrow's Open Championship. We have both classic and fantasy pools available, and each one has guaranteed prize pools.

Also, pools open for the Ashes and the Darts World Matchplay.

[You need to make villain's EV = 0 when he has the worst hand in his range at the point at which the river card is dealt - i.e. BEFORE you bet or check.]

Yeah there is. Work it out. Hint: You need to make villain's EV = 0 when he has the worst hand in his range at the point at which the river card is dealt - i.e. BEFORE you bet or check.

Ha! I got this ^^ very wrong. And the reason I got it wrong was because I conceptualised it incorrectly lol. Which is ironic ofc, but also sort of pleasing because it proves the wider point of my previous post.