Online with the Cryptologics

Lately have been playing a lot on the Cryptologic sites, PokerPlex and InterPoker primarily. I was a Party-only guy when I first began playing and after quadrupling my initial $100 investment I found myself going cold in both the SnG's and my regular $25NL Hold Em games. After losing a bit I quickly cashed out perhaps a bit hastily, mostly from frustration but in retrospect I'm glad I did it and I regret not doing it earlier when I was up more. It's not so much the money that I lost, it wasn't that much, but more so that the more I think about it, the more that money was really doing me no good there. I should have tried other sites, gotten other bonuses...and that is what I am doing now with the Cryptos. PokerPlex had a sweet offer, play 300 raked hands a month and get $50 each month. Play is pretty soft, there are some manic Europeans that like to throw money around and sometimes they will lay bad beats on you but for the most part they give their money away.

InterPoker also has a nice monthly bonus, 100% matching bonus up to $90 for playing 8x in raked hands or 780 hands. Also choke full of loose Europeans. I deposited the $90 and I've almost quadrupled it. About 1/3 through the raked hands needed. Check out this hand:

Game #635110473: Texas Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2005/05/15 - 19:26:07 (ET)
Table "Lantana" Seat 4 is the button.
Seat 1: Panizzi ($34.25 in chips)
Seat 2: MestariJ ($73.83 in chips)
Seat 3: Ange04023 ($69.47 in chips)
Seat 4: Gsolis31 ($24.25 in chips)
Seat 5: achaean ($53.05 in chips)
Seat 6: bondboy ($129.15 in chips)
Seat 7: dubstars ($24.50 in chips)
Seat 8: lolmtslum ($50 in chips)
Seat 9: ismaskin ($44.50 in chips)
Seat 10: Somatic ($39.80 in chips)
achaean: posts small blind $0.25
bondboy: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gsolis31 [Ac As]
dubstars: raises to $1.50
lolmtslum: folds
ismaskin: folds
Somatic: calls $1.50
Panizzi: folds
MestariJ: folds
Ange04023: calls $1.50
Gsolis31: raises to $10
achaean: folds
bondboy: folds
dubstars: raises to $24.50 and is all-in
Somatic: folds
Ange04023: folds
Gsolis31: is all-in $14.25
Returned uncalled bets $0.25 to dubstars
----- FLOP ----- [5s 2s 6d]
----- TURN ----- [5s 2s 6d][9d]
----- RIVER ----- [5s 2s 6d 9d][Kh]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
dubstars: shows [6h Qh] (A Pair of Sixes, King high)
Gsolis31: shows [Ac As] (A Pair of Aces, King high)
Gsolis31 collected $49.65 from Main pot

But on the flipside, you have ridiculous beats like this one. Given the flop, why this guy thought his top pair with his lousy gut-shot was any good is beyond me.

Game #458695214: Texas Hold'em No Limit ($0.25/$0.50) - 2005/05/10 - 01:11:29 (UK)
Table "Pantomime" Seat 1 is the button.
Seat 1: DixeNorms ($88.60 in chips)
Seat 2: iltempo ($22.25 in chips)
Seat 4: Gsolis ($33.75 in chips)
Seat 5: marshal7 ($49.50 in chips)
Seat 6: Graucho26 ($14.81 in chips)
Seat 8: Piete2911 ($34.09 in chips)
Seat 10: Gazza1606 ($45.02 in chips)
iltempo: posts small blind $0.25
Gsolis: posts big blind $0.50
----- HOLE CARDS -----
dealt to Gsolis [2d 5s]
marshal7: folds
Graucho26: calls $0.50
Piete2911: calls $0.50
Gazza1606: calls $0.50
DixeNorms: calls $0.50
iltempo: calls $0.25
Gsolis: checks
----- FLOP ----- [4d 3c 6c]
iltempo: bets $3
Gsolis: raises to $6
Graucho26: raises to $14.31 and is all-in
Chaser71 joins the table at seat #9
Piete2911: folds
Gazza1606: folds
DixeNorms: folds
iltempo: raises to $21.75 and is all-in (why?!?)
Gsolis: calls $15.75
----- TURN ----- [4d 3c 6c][8h]
----- RIVER ----- [4d 3c 6c 8h][5d]
----- SHOW DOWN -----
iltempo: shows [7d 6h] (A Straight, Eight high)
Gsolis: shows [2d 5s] (A Straight, Six high)
Graucho26: shows [As Ah] (A Pair of Aces, Eight high)
iltempo collected $14.13 from Side pot #1
iltempo collected $43.68 from Main pot

Overall, I like the Cryptos a good deal, variance can be high but I guess you have to know when to give it up. I notice I make most of my money by flopping monsters against people who can't make any sort of laydown. I also make a lot of money by laying it down when I'm on the other side of the flop. It's not my usual 'live game' play, as I tend to be more aggressive but online I've noticed that's how the money goes. Not a whole lot of outplaying being done, just knowing when to lay it down or chasing when the other guy has no idea how to bet properly.