Why Americas Cardroom is Important

I've talked many times about how it's best for a poker player to have a lot of options.  I started playing on Juicy Stakes Poker with very little money (~40) on the site.  I'm doing the same thing now on Americas Cardroom, but on a smaller scale.

A few days ago I had 85¢ on Americas Cardroom.  They have 55¢ tournaments.that run constantly.  I played one and I cashed/  Now I'm playing them every day.  They take about two hours to finish and there is always another one waiting for players.

I already know that I can build a bankroll from the ground up, but being able to play literally any time that I want is a big deal.  Even if it's for pennies, I'm always working or something or learning something new every time I play.  This month the study and practice topic is continuation betting.  In May I think that it will be playing different types of flush draws.

There is one more big reason that I want to play on Americas Cardroom.  As ridiculous as it sounds while I'm playing 55¢ tournaments, I have the potential to make a lot of money and it could happen quickly.  ACR (the common acronym that players use for the site) has tournaments with a lot of players, several hundred in some tournaments.  That means big prize pools and the chance to make serious money.  I'll give you an example.

I was recently looking at a tournament that had a guaranteed first prize of $430, possibly more depending on the number of players.  The buy-in was $3.30.  Of course I would be going for the top spot, but that tournament paid 81 players, that's 18% of the field cashing.  If I can't regularly be in the top 18% I shouldn't be playing poker.  If you're better than the competition you should be in the top 10% on a regular basis.

So yes, I'm playing for pennies, but those pennies will turn into dollars.  When I have that bankroll up to $330 I will be bankrolled to  play that $3.30  tournament, but even some of the $1 and $2 tournaments offer a lot more to win than does Juicy Stakes poker.

The trade-off is that some ACR tournaments can take a long time to finish, sometimes eight hours or more.  Not only do I have no problem with that, I prefer it.  I'll play as long as it takes to make the big money.  With the 2-4 hour tournaments on JSP (Juicy Stakes Poker) and tournaments of all types and sizes on ACR, I will have be closer to having the range of options that I've wanted for quite a while.  The rest of the year is going to be interesting.