The Bonus Hunter, Vol. 9 – Mansion Poker

I recently played in the Mansion PokerDome Tournament (televised on FSN every Saturday night), in which 216 players play for almost $2 million in prize money. I didn't make it through to the 2nd stage, but it was great fun to finally make it to my first TV table.
Mansion Poker are still running satellites for this event every day, and absolutely anyone can win their way to Las Vegas to play on TV in the Mansion PokerDome series – and, who knows, you might pick up $1 million for your efforts!

I qualified on Mansion Poker and, believe me when I tell you this; absolutely anyone can qualify for this incredibly fun show.

The Mansion Poker initial

signup bonus:

If you use the deposit bonus code POKERNEWS, you'll get a 100% deposit bonus, up to a max of $1000. You can clear this bonus on all poker games, but it's a difficult bonus to clear at low/micro limits.

Clearing Rates:

To clear the Mansion Poker bonus, you need to accrue 6 Mansion Club points for each $1 in bonus money. The bonus is released into your account in $10 increments but the bonus expires after 30 days.

NL players should clear the bonus on the 1/2 and 2/4 limits. You'll clear the Mansion Poker bonus at a rate of around $4/hour/table at 1/2 NL and $6/hour/table at 2/4 NL.

Limit players should clear the Mansion Poker initial deposit bonus by playing 2/4. You'll clear the bonus at a rate of around $4/hour/table at 2/4 Limit.

Tournament players will find they receive a third of their fees refunded via the bonus if they play tournaments whilst clearing the bonus.

Quality of Games:

Mansion Poker is still a fairly new site, so it does not have thousands of players like the big sites yet – but you will find the games are fairly soft.

Other Important Information about Mansion Poker:

Extra value that Mansion Poker has to offer:

• Daily 1c satellites to win a seat to the Mansion PokerDome $2 million series televised on FSN


• $30,000 in "bonus-rolls" with 1c buyins

Mansion Poker customer support is very fast and of a high quality. Use the LiveHelp feature on their website when contacting support.

Cashout times are very fast. NETeller cashouts are processed in 3-4 hours.

Strategy Tip 6 – Betting the river in NL

A friend of mine named Mark Vos recently won a WSOP bracelet and was also signed by Full Tilt. He's obviously an excellent player and I've been able to learn a lot from watching him play and discussing hands with him. The most valuable single lesson I've learned from Mark's play deals with betting on the river in NL.

The river street is often the hardest street to play in No Limit Hold'em. You will often face very tricky situations if you don't have the nut hand, and your poker win/loss records will largely be influenced by how you play your hand on the river.

There are two points I'll quickly discuss in regards to river betting:

• Value-betting marginal hands with position


• Making a blocking bet with marginal hands out of position

Value-betting marginal hands with position:

When you've hit your hand with position, you'll likely take control of the pot and bet every street. If you're called down by an opponent, and a scare-card hits the river, it's very tempting to check behind last to speak and see a showdown. The reason why this play is so tempting is we are all afraid of being check-raised, even though we may well still have the best hand. Mark Vos explained to me one day that I was missing out on a lot of value by checking behind river scare-cards, just because there was a chance my opponent needed that card to make the winning hand.

Here's an example: You raise on the button with 88 and are called by the player in the big blind. The flop is Kh-Th-8d. He checks, you bet pot, and he calls. The turn is 7c. He checks, you bet three-quarters of the pot and he calls. The river is 4h. This is an ugly card for you, as it completes the flush. Your opponent checks and, fearing a check-raise, you check behind for a showdown. Safe play? Yes. Good play? No way!

Unless you have a brilliant read that your opponent was calling for the flush, you simply can't check behind in this spot. Sure, you are beaten by the flush, but there are dozens of other hands your opponent is likely to be calling with that you beat. You should value-bet this river. If your opponent check-raises you, you can comfortably fold, knowing you're likely beat.

Mark explained to me that, due to my Fixed Limit background, I always assumed players bluff incessantly. In reality, this is rarely the case in NL. Check-raise bluffing this river scare card would be a very courageous, risky, high-level play from your opponent – and these plays are very rare in low/mid limit NL. You can safely value-bet this river and fold to a check-raise.

Likely result: You bet half-pot on the river and your opponent calls. You flip your set of 8's and he folds his KQ. You win the pot.

Summary: Scare cards will hit the river often when you have strong hands. It's too weak to always check behind, just because there is a *chance* your opponent hit his drawing hand. Remember, you can always fold your big hand if your opponent check-raises you and, if he/she does check-raise you in a spot like this, you are likely beat.

Making a blocking bet with marginal hands out of position:

Playing winning NL is largely about controlling the betting and pot size. It's easy to control the betting when you have position, but it can be very hard to do out of position. Whether you're betting your hand out of position, or calling an opponent down out of position, and a scare-card hits the river, you are often better off making a blocking bet into your opponent rather than check-calling. The general rule is: If you think your hand is good enough to call with, you should consider betting into your opponent on the river.

Here's an example: You open-raise in the cutoff with QsJs. The button calls and both blinds fold. The flop is Jh-9c-4h. You lead out at the pot and your opponent calls. The turn is 5s. You decide you don't want to play a big pot out of position so you check and your opponent bets half-pot – you call. The river is 2h, a scary card for you. It's tempting to check again, but betting out here has some real advantages over checking and then making a tough decision if your opponent fires at the pot.

Here are the advantages:

• You get to control the size of the bet – as opposed to check-calling your opponent's bet. You get to see a cheaper showdown. This is called a blocking bet.


• You are likely still ahead and your blocking bet is now a value-bet as your opponent likely checks behind.


• You might be behind, yet you can pick up the pot if your opponent thinks he's beat. Your blocking bet becomes a stealing bet.


Possible result: You make a half-pot blocking bet on the river and your opponent thinks for awhile, and then folds his (winning) AcJc as he thinks you have hit your flush. You win the pot.

Summary: The primary reason to make blocking bets is when you think you are probably ahead, and your opponent has a hand he may call with, but won't bet with (if you check). You get to see a cheap showdown and you don't miss any value. You can also, occasionally, move your opponent off his winning hand.

Try making some river value-bets and blocking-bets and watch your win-rate shoot up!
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