Recently, Rush Poker made its debut on Full Tilt Poker. The fast-paced style of cash game allows players to move from one table to another as soon as their action in a hand is finished. As such, players have been able to see upwards of 300 hands per hour. Poker News Daily sat down with Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch to get his take on the new addition to the site’s already impressive lineup, his goals for 2010, and his thoughts on the online poker phenomenon known as Isildur1.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. What were your first impressions of Rush Poker?
Andy Bloch: I think it’s great and it’s had a great reception so far. Sure, there were people who found fault with it at first, but once you get used to it, it’s great. I tried it out a couple of months ago and thought it was amazing. Back when I first started playing, I remember training software that was like this. When you folded, a new hand started right away, so you’re always making decisions. This is how poker really should be.
PND: Some players we’ve talked to critiqued that Rush Poker creates ABC poker players. Is there a different overarching strategy to it?
Andy Bloch: To some degree, it’ll train people more to play ABC poker. You’ll have less of a reason to play speculative hands because you can fold and get a new hand right away, but that creates more opportunities. There will be a lot of people taking advantage of the tight play and playing a lot more hands pre-flop. There’s no need to worry about getting a reckless image.
You can raise every hand on the button, for example, whereas at a regular cash game table, you wouldn’t do that because people would pick up on it. You could also just raise pre-flop in Rush Poker every time the action folds to you. In Rush Poker, therefore, taking notes becomes really important. If you see any unusual play, you’ll want to make a note and tag a player. It might come in handy later on.
PND: How have you fared so far and what stakes did you play?
Andy Bloch: It seems like my opponents have been hitting sets on me after we get the money in, but I don’t know if I’m up or down. I’ve played all of the stakes they offer, including play money. It seems like people play better at the Rush Poker play money tables than at the normal play money tables. They are less likely to play every hand because they know they can just fold, so they’re marginally more selective.
PND: Would you like to see Rush Poker added for MTTs and sit and gos?
Andy Bloch: I’d love to see Rush Poker added for heads-up play, tournaments, sit and gos, and different forms of poker like Stud. You have to pay attention to the up-cards in Stud, so it’s hard to multi-table.
PND: What poker goals do you have for 2010?
Andy Bloch: I’m going to the L.A. Poker Classic and hopefully playing some of the earlier events. They have a HORSE tournament and a Chinese Poker tournament. They also have a heads-up event and an Ironman no-break tournament. I’ll probably play about the same number of tournaments as last year, but I want to play more online. I had a bad year last year. Whenever I have a bad year, I just try to work on my game and go over my strategy. My goal is to win a bracelet on June 1st. That is the end of the $50,000 Player’s Championship and the final day of the first three open events at the World Series of Poker (WSOP).
PND: Are you still planning to be involved with organizations like the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) this year?
Andy Bloch: Absolutely. This year coming up is an important year. It looks like we can finally get a law passed, get rid of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), and get online poker regulated. If we can get that done, it’d be great for everyone in the poker world, from the grinder to the recreational player to someone who has dreams of being sponsored by a site.
PND: Talk about the rise and fall of Isildur1 on Full Tilt’s nosebleed cash game tables.
Andy Bloch: That story is crazy in a lot of ways. It happens from time to time in poker and in other games too. Unless Isildur1 follows it up with another run, you can chalk it up to luck. He’s a good player, but he jumped into the high-stakes games too quickly, not realizing the type of talent that’s out there. He made himself a target and wasn’t willing to back down. It’s a great story and I hope he comes back and shows people that it wasn’t a fluke.
PND: Was there any possibility of Andy Bloch facing off against Isildur1?
Andy Bloch: I don’t have much experience in Pot Limit Omaha. I need to work on that too and that’s another one of my goals for 2010. I need to get into a position where I can feel comfortable sitting down in any limit game.
‘How about you playing Isildur1’
‘Weeeeeeellllllllll, you know, like, I’m really working on like, these other things and like, you know ya’
In other words, “I would get owned. No thank you. That is the same reason you don’t see me at Rail Heaven even though I’m well bankrolled for it.”
At least he is smart enough to recognize when he is outclassed, unlike some other Team Full Tilt members, not going to name any names G or U anything S.
How poker should be?! ROFLMAO WHAT A JOKE – This is not poker. It’s a money machine.
haha.. anybody whos on ftp payroll is guna say amazing things about rush poker, this is damn obvious. roll up roll up.. an unbelievable fast way to take part in the golden rake of a lifetime. nothing is introduced unless it can rinse more money out of people. The serious poker players who have experimented with different format and strategy will clearly have a dim opinion on this but the gamblers, newbies and railtards will be jumping for joy… clearly this is what ftp is aiming at.
Strategy is very easy in this game.
1. If people fold to you – no matter what hand you have no matter what position raise 3x the BB and you will usually take the blinds every time (around 65-70%). Don’t even look at your cards. People are waiting for big hands and fold is the order of the day. If anyone re-raises you pre flop fold. If anyone calls or raises before you – fold.
2. If one person calls you and you hit nothing on the flop – bet a pot size bet – 70% of the time they will fold right there and then.
3. With 2 callers again if your the first to act – bet the pot even if you have nothing. One may call you – play your normal game after that.
4. If any one re raises – fold
5. Because of the number of hands, most people who call you will be on high cards, if you call with crap, and the flop hits you – you will be payed off big time.
As no-one can get a read on you – you can use this every single hand and a you will pick up most of the blinds, and most of the pots after the flop. Any hands that go further than that – even if you any win a minority – you will be in front. Your going to win more than you loose – I know, I’ve been doing this for the last couple of days. it will esp. work in the lower stake games.
Its only a matter of time before everyone figures this out. This simply cracks the Rush Poker as being any game of ‘real poker’ at all. Personally, I’m a hopeless player – So my only claim to fame will be this post – the first to provide a winning system to this new form of poker.
ive played with andy over the years he can play at any level if he doesnt its not for lack of talent. if not for some real bad luck he would have beaten the GREAT CHIP REESE in the 50k event at wsop a few years back. as for rush poker full tilt is a business and its objective is to make more money brilliant from a bussiness standpoint
do you like making money when playing poker? or do you play for pride? If you answered yes to question 1 then rush poker is for you.
Rush Poker was designed to play 3x faster than anyone plays. The reason for that is so FLT can empty your bank account. Even if you get rake back they will eventually clean you out.The longer you play the more you pay. No matter where you play poker weather online or B&M the bottom line is they win you lose.
Anyone who likes to play Rush Poker like I do should play tournaments or play Sit N Go’s. The payoffs are worth it.