Wow, I didn't realize I had neglected this journal for so long.
Things have been going well with my game - I just took down second place last Monday in Flatline, and last night I took second in a one table sit-n-go without even trying on Full Tilt.
I am reading other players exceptionally well right now - probably better than I ever have in my life. I'm paying people off if they min-value bet me, just to get information; then I'm using that information later to bet correctly and/or to push people off of hands. I've even managed to push off some spectacularly bad calling stations in our league, because my reads have been so precise.
I can truly see for the first time now - and I guess it's only come about because of experience; that if I truly wished to become a professional poker player, I actually could.
The good news is, I would never want to. I love the game to much and have way too much fun when I play.
More importantly, I like taking long breaks away from the game now. I recently went to Vietnam for 10 days for work, and barely thought about cards. It was wonderful. Then I sat down a week after I got back and promptly destroyed my friends online - with nary a good starting hand in my possession throughout the tournament.
Yes, I'm very comfortable now. I feel like I'm just barely scratching beneath the surface of the game, but that surface is so rich with understanding and knowledge of poker, that I'm sated with satisfaction, realizing that my ability has stepped up to the next level.
Good times.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Friday, August 21, 2009
Maybe I won't jump off the cliff just yet...
Monday night I finally cashed in Flatline, playing expertly and taking down third place for a nice little cash that basically wiped out my losses for the last month.
On the same evening I (for some foolish reason) entered the Full Tilt Ferguson, a one dollar tournament that starts every night at 1030pm.
Actually, I'd say I was a fool to enter for two reasons - one, it starts late and typically you can end up playing till 2 or 3 in the morning if you go deep. Two, it was Razz night.
Razz, yikes.
It's not a difficult poker game to play, and I actually have a pretty good grasp on the fundamentals. But razz, perhaps more than any other poker game, illustrates with crystal clarity, the beast that is variance.
You can make every correct decision possible, but when the cards come and you "brick" out, there is very little you can do but suffer.
Razz is a sadists game, in that you can feel so clearly, exquisite pain and anguish as each face card hits. Example; you start with A2 in the hole and a four door card, then you catch a 6 on fourth street, and then a jack, a queen, another jack and finally you pair your ace on the river to finish with a J, 6, 4, 2, A, while the 10,8,6,5,3 gets under you and scoops the chips.
Nasty, nasty game.
Monday night I beat out 464 other players to take down second place and $117.
Sweet, sweet, razz.
In one MTT I wiped out my losses of the last two months.
I played well, but I also got lucky in that my low cards came and I didn't brick out too often. At one point early in the tournament I was down to less than 4 big bets, but I hung in there and just tried to make good decisions, including committing to the hand very early by raising and reraising to get all my chips in quickly.
I think the MTT is the way to go for me - the $1 tourneys seem to really be a good low stress way to occasionally get lucky and basically increase my bankroll substantially in one shot - potentially even doubling it or more if I get very lucky. The Ferguson, when it's NLHE, typically has a first place prize of 1K or more. Who knows, some day.
I'm a bit soured on SNG's, they're very hard to beat consistently. I think part of this is that I'm more experienced with and temperamentally more suited to the marathon of the MTT rather than the sprint of a Sit-n-Go.
The other part is, there are a LOT of people making their living or at least supplimenting their income with SNG's these days by using poker tracking software and elaborate math based formulas. This is so they can multi-table (upwards of 20 tables or more) and really make money based on a very formulaic approach. For a lot of people this works very well, and is hard for someone like me who is more player oriented and really enjoys the single table feel of live poker.
I have neither the aptitude nor the inclination to involve myself in a math-centric and software assisted approach to online poker. And I honestly don't have the ADD to endure a 4 table blitz of images, let alone 20 or more.
I find that if I have a nice starting stack (as in the Full Tilt daily dollar) and a nice gradual blind structure, I can hang with most players. These two factors are absent from most SNG's.
A third factor that just occurred to me, is the rake in SNG's. It's massive, especially in the lower limits. The Ferguson has no rake and the daily dollar has a guaranteed prize pool that effectively negates the rake.
So yes, I feel better, about myself and about the game. There is still money to be made, and I think by sticking to the MTT's, I'll have the best chance of really enjoying the game (even when I run bad) and actually showing a profit.
On the same evening I (for some foolish reason) entered the Full Tilt Ferguson, a one dollar tournament that starts every night at 1030pm.
Actually, I'd say I was a fool to enter for two reasons - one, it starts late and typically you can end up playing till 2 or 3 in the morning if you go deep. Two, it was Razz night.
Razz, yikes.
It's not a difficult poker game to play, and I actually have a pretty good grasp on the fundamentals. But razz, perhaps more than any other poker game, illustrates with crystal clarity, the beast that is variance.
You can make every correct decision possible, but when the cards come and you "brick" out, there is very little you can do but suffer.
Razz is a sadists game, in that you can feel so clearly, exquisite pain and anguish as each face card hits. Example; you start with A2 in the hole and a four door card, then you catch a 6 on fourth street, and then a jack, a queen, another jack and finally you pair your ace on the river to finish with a J, 6, 4, 2, A, while the 10,8,6,5,3 gets under you and scoops the chips.
Nasty, nasty game.
Monday night I beat out 464 other players to take down second place and $117.
Sweet, sweet, razz.
In one MTT I wiped out my losses of the last two months.
I played well, but I also got lucky in that my low cards came and I didn't brick out too often. At one point early in the tournament I was down to less than 4 big bets, but I hung in there and just tried to make good decisions, including committing to the hand very early by raising and reraising to get all my chips in quickly.
I think the MTT is the way to go for me - the $1 tourneys seem to really be a good low stress way to occasionally get lucky and basically increase my bankroll substantially in one shot - potentially even doubling it or more if I get very lucky. The Ferguson, when it's NLHE, typically has a first place prize of 1K or more. Who knows, some day.
I'm a bit soured on SNG's, they're very hard to beat consistently. I think part of this is that I'm more experienced with and temperamentally more suited to the marathon of the MTT rather than the sprint of a Sit-n-Go.
The other part is, there are a LOT of people making their living or at least supplimenting their income with SNG's these days by using poker tracking software and elaborate math based formulas. This is so they can multi-table (upwards of 20 tables or more) and really make money based on a very formulaic approach. For a lot of people this works very well, and is hard for someone like me who is more player oriented and really enjoys the single table feel of live poker.
I have neither the aptitude nor the inclination to involve myself in a math-centric and software assisted approach to online poker. And I honestly don't have the ADD to endure a 4 table blitz of images, let alone 20 or more.
I find that if I have a nice starting stack (as in the Full Tilt daily dollar) and a nice gradual blind structure, I can hang with most players. These two factors are absent from most SNG's.
A third factor that just occurred to me, is the rake in SNG's. It's massive, especially in the lower limits. The Ferguson has no rake and the daily dollar has a guaranteed prize pool that effectively negates the rake.
So yes, I feel better, about myself and about the game. There is still money to be made, and I think by sticking to the MTT's, I'll have the best chance of really enjoying the game (even when I run bad) and actually showing a profit.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Lucky in life...
...unlucky at cards I guess.
Get all the money in with AK, fish has AQ. Flop K6J. Turn 2. River 10.
Get all the money in with TPTK and Nut flush draw. Nut flush comes, but fish hits a runner runner for a straight flush.
Flop the wheel. Fish catches a two on the turn to give his six rag a higher straight.
Flop trip jacks. Fish shoves and backdoors a flush.
Lose every race for three weeks.
AK loses to AQ.
Pair of eights loses to AQ on the river.
Pair of fours loses to AK on the river.
Flop the nut flush, fish turns two pair and fills up on the river -after the chips are all in.
Good times.
Every good decision recently it seems is met by the inevitable five outer hitting on the turn. I've gotten to the point where I feel sick to my stomach if I get my money in good. On the infrequent occasion where I make a bad or marginal decision and get in behind, I don't even bother to hope to get lucky.
I used to detest the whiners on the poker forums. Who wants to listen to some results oriented loser bemoan the record number of two outers foisted on them by some cosmic doomswitch in the online realm.
I used to roll my eyes, I used to think "whatever". I am decision oriented - I am calm cool and collected. I had my aces cracked by A4 at HPC and barely got my heart rate up. I fooled myself into being happy because of such an uber-donk call.
Today, I think I'm starting to sympathize with the pity party jackasses.
Sigh. Not really. I guess.
The good news is, that if I lose my online bankroll (which you may remember started as 0 and was up to over $400) I get to be finished with online poker forever. It's not very likely (I'm still at $200) but it is nice to have a sensible fallback plan.
As for live poker - I final tabled at HPC and had my aces cracked by nines before the money. Then I went back and got six outered on the river - then I was back today and got sucked out (again) on a crucial hand and then for the next hour (with my stack a shell of its former self) found myself about as card dead as can be.
When I finally got around to making a move with the first face card I had seen in 45 minutes (the ripe with potential Jc10c) I ran smack into a snap call with A10 by a guy who didn't have many more chips than me. Well played sir.
I'm trying so hard of late to find my old zen poker self - and I know I'll get there. Yes, I still don't play during the week, but maybe I need a longer hiatus.
In any event, the biggest point really is that I need to re-find the fun. My game always seemed to grow the most when I wasn't concerned with being Phil Ivey - I always did the best when I just played for the love of the game. It seems tougher now, because I truly can see that I'm better than all but 2 or 3 players at the average table. I expect to do better than I have been.
I do still love the game. Thankfully, on Full Tilt I don't have any losses to chase. If I get back down to zero, it will back to play chips.
Flatline is a fixed budget of $150, which I have yet to ever fall under - and I still have $100 left for this season.
As for live, I am actually still up quite a bit - but if I get under zero again, I still plan to stick to my budget, which is one live tourney a month (which I rarely make anyway, it's usually every other month).
And no, I'm not concerned with supplementing my income, and certainly don't see making a living any time soon. Nor would I want to, being a poker pro is a soul sucking grind, of that I'm sure. Playing recreationally is too on occasion I've noticed.
Get all the money in with AK, fish has AQ. Flop K6J. Turn 2. River 10.
Get all the money in with TPTK and Nut flush draw. Nut flush comes, but fish hits a runner runner for a straight flush.
Flop the wheel. Fish catches a two on the turn to give his six rag a higher straight.
Flop trip jacks. Fish shoves and backdoors a flush.
Lose every race for three weeks.
AK loses to AQ.
Pair of eights loses to AQ on the river.
Pair of fours loses to AK on the river.
Flop the nut flush, fish turns two pair and fills up on the river -after the chips are all in.
Good times.
Every good decision recently it seems is met by the inevitable five outer hitting on the turn. I've gotten to the point where I feel sick to my stomach if I get my money in good. On the infrequent occasion where I make a bad or marginal decision and get in behind, I don't even bother to hope to get lucky.
I used to detest the whiners on the poker forums. Who wants to listen to some results oriented loser bemoan the record number of two outers foisted on them by some cosmic doomswitch in the online realm.
I used to roll my eyes, I used to think "whatever". I am decision oriented - I am calm cool and collected. I had my aces cracked by A4 at HPC and barely got my heart rate up. I fooled myself into being happy because of such an uber-donk call.
Today, I think I'm starting to sympathize with the pity party jackasses.
Sigh. Not really. I guess.
The good news is, that if I lose my online bankroll (which you may remember started as 0 and was up to over $400) I get to be finished with online poker forever. It's not very likely (I'm still at $200) but it is nice to have a sensible fallback plan.
As for live poker - I final tabled at HPC and had my aces cracked by nines before the money. Then I went back and got six outered on the river - then I was back today and got sucked out (again) on a crucial hand and then for the next hour (with my stack a shell of its former self) found myself about as card dead as can be.
When I finally got around to making a move with the first face card I had seen in 45 minutes (the ripe with potential Jc10c) I ran smack into a snap call with A10 by a guy who didn't have many more chips than me. Well played sir.
I'm trying so hard of late to find my old zen poker self - and I know I'll get there. Yes, I still don't play during the week, but maybe I need a longer hiatus.
In any event, the biggest point really is that I need to re-find the fun. My game always seemed to grow the most when I wasn't concerned with being Phil Ivey - I always did the best when I just played for the love of the game. It seems tougher now, because I truly can see that I'm better than all but 2 or 3 players at the average table. I expect to do better than I have been.
I do still love the game. Thankfully, on Full Tilt I don't have any losses to chase. If I get back down to zero, it will back to play chips.
Flatline is a fixed budget of $150, which I have yet to ever fall under - and I still have $100 left for this season.
As for live, I am actually still up quite a bit - but if I get under zero again, I still plan to stick to my budget, which is one live tourney a month (which I rarely make anyway, it's usually every other month).
And no, I'm not concerned with supplementing my income, and certainly don't see making a living any time soon. Nor would I want to, being a poker pro is a soul sucking grind, of that I'm sure. Playing recreationally is too on occasion I've noticed.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Just when you think you're really good...
Poker comes along and humbles you.
The good news is, I haven't been playing terrible or even that bad really. But the shoe has dropped, and I'm 0-3 in flatline, not even making it to the final 20 let alone the final table! I also managed to drop about 10 buy ins on MTT's before cashing on Full Tilt, losing seemingly every race and getting in behind time after time with premium or middling cards.
Everyone loves bad beat stories, so here's mine. (BTW, as Homer Simpson would say, "That's sarcasm in case you didn't know.")
Flatline:
T1 - I wake up with kings in the third hand. Standard raise, one caller behind in the SB. Flop comes rags, he check raises me. Like an idiot (because I happen to be playing an idiot) I shove. He snap calls with a set of sixes. Exit me.
I played that one badly, though I'll concede in our turbo structure that it's pretty hard to get away from cowboys when no over cards hit.
T2 - This one is all on the donkey to my right. Again, about half a dozen hands in, a whole gang of limpers, I look down at Aces and shove. Single caller - with A9. He flops a set of nines, then turns quads. That is what we call a fucking cooler.
I played this one exceptionally well - knowing with a virtual stable of burros behind me, chances are I would get a call. I was ecstatic when he showed his cards, though in the back of my mind I feared a flush (his A9 was sooooted you see).
Be happy. You want that call.
T3 - Last night, about a dozen hands in. I had already stacked donkey number one by slow playing my flopped two pair that turned into a boat - got all of his chips when he had aces in the hole that he played so slowly as to allow himself to be bitch slapped by my Gus Hansen like garbage. Hey, he gave me the right price by just smooth calling my limp.
For the bad beat that saw me exit early for the third straight week I had A9 suited, though I played it correctly by raising from the cutoff. The button called and I flopped two pair. I led out, the button raised. I tanked. There was a flush draw, but I knew this player (Timmy, a guy who is about the best in the league besides me lol) was not likely to get out of line on a draw so early in the tournament and with stacks so deep, nor was he likely to have a set of aces or nines or threes (the third card) he would have re-raised with aces and folded with threes and I already had a nine. I shoved, wanting to give the impression of a bluff. It worked.
He snap called with TPTK - yep, big slick. Big stinking trap hand in this instance that saw him dead to three cards, one of which of course he hit on the river.
GG me.
I won't bore you further with the details of my weekend cold streak over on Full Tilt. Let's just say it was a healthy mixture of brutal cards and my own tilt induced donkage that contributed to the $20 chunk being taken out of my bankroll. The good news is on that front that I've stabilized a bit and gone fairly deep in two huge field dollar tourneys. Still haven't managed to get into the real money though (upwards of $50).
Poker crushes the souls of people on a regular basis. Those of us who are blessed with the awareness of variance and being decision oriented have a much easier time than those who are emotion driven and focused on results. Still, poker is a brutal beast - even for the most detached and zen like hobbyists, one of which I am struggling to be in this current streak.
Still, I will carry on. I've taken to banning myself from Full Tilt during the week except for Monday nights - and I make sure that I don't play late on Sunday night, it can be a real bear to go to work when you've been up until 3am. This makes it alot easier to be enthusiastic about the game when I get to return to it - I'm hoping that enthusiasm will start resulting in better play and a better focus when the bad beats inevitably reoccur.
My live game has been fair to middling - I recently had a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at my home which was great fun even though I went out early (busted by a combustible card rack who is typically a passive fish). Up next is Omaha/8, before we return to NLHE for the remainder of the year. I don't expect I'll get that far, unless the poker Gods can see fit to get me off of my current spate of running bad. O8, especially in tournament format, is a pretty card dependent game. I have no doubt if I can by some miracle run half decent I will cash.
The good news is, I haven't been playing terrible or even that bad really. But the shoe has dropped, and I'm 0-3 in flatline, not even making it to the final 20 let alone the final table! I also managed to drop about 10 buy ins on MTT's before cashing on Full Tilt, losing seemingly every race and getting in behind time after time with premium or middling cards.
Everyone loves bad beat stories, so here's mine. (BTW, as Homer Simpson would say, "That's sarcasm in case you didn't know.")
Flatline:
T1 - I wake up with kings in the third hand. Standard raise, one caller behind in the SB. Flop comes rags, he check raises me. Like an idiot (because I happen to be playing an idiot) I shove. He snap calls with a set of sixes. Exit me.
I played that one badly, though I'll concede in our turbo structure that it's pretty hard to get away from cowboys when no over cards hit.
T2 - This one is all on the donkey to my right. Again, about half a dozen hands in, a whole gang of limpers, I look down at Aces and shove. Single caller - with A9. He flops a set of nines, then turns quads. That is what we call a fucking cooler.
I played this one exceptionally well - knowing with a virtual stable of burros behind me, chances are I would get a call. I was ecstatic when he showed his cards, though in the back of my mind I feared a flush (his A9 was sooooted you see).
Be happy. You want that call.
T3 - Last night, about a dozen hands in. I had already stacked donkey number one by slow playing my flopped two pair that turned into a boat - got all of his chips when he had aces in the hole that he played so slowly as to allow himself to be bitch slapped by my Gus Hansen like garbage. Hey, he gave me the right price by just smooth calling my limp.
For the bad beat that saw me exit early for the third straight week I had A9 suited, though I played it correctly by raising from the cutoff. The button called and I flopped two pair. I led out, the button raised. I tanked. There was a flush draw, but I knew this player (Timmy, a guy who is about the best in the league besides me lol) was not likely to get out of line on a draw so early in the tournament and with stacks so deep, nor was he likely to have a set of aces or nines or threes (the third card) he would have re-raised with aces and folded with threes and I already had a nine. I shoved, wanting to give the impression of a bluff. It worked.
He snap called with TPTK - yep, big slick. Big stinking trap hand in this instance that saw him dead to three cards, one of which of course he hit on the river.
GG me.
I won't bore you further with the details of my weekend cold streak over on Full Tilt. Let's just say it was a healthy mixture of brutal cards and my own tilt induced donkage that contributed to the $20 chunk being taken out of my bankroll. The good news is on that front that I've stabilized a bit and gone fairly deep in two huge field dollar tourneys. Still haven't managed to get into the real money though (upwards of $50).
Poker crushes the souls of people on a regular basis. Those of us who are blessed with the awareness of variance and being decision oriented have a much easier time than those who are emotion driven and focused on results. Still, poker is a brutal beast - even for the most detached and zen like hobbyists, one of which I am struggling to be in this current streak.
Still, I will carry on. I've taken to banning myself from Full Tilt during the week except for Monday nights - and I make sure that I don't play late on Sunday night, it can be a real bear to go to work when you've been up until 3am. This makes it alot easier to be enthusiastic about the game when I get to return to it - I'm hoping that enthusiasm will start resulting in better play and a better focus when the bad beats inevitably reoccur.
My live game has been fair to middling - I recently had a H.O.R.S.E. tournament at my home which was great fun even though I went out early (busted by a combustible card rack who is typically a passive fish). Up next is Omaha/8, before we return to NLHE for the remainder of the year. I don't expect I'll get that far, unless the poker Gods can see fit to get me off of my current spate of running bad. O8, especially in tournament format, is a pretty card dependent game. I have no doubt if I can by some miracle run half decent I will cash.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Crush League - Check
Flatline (my friend filled online league) has ended the first season of the year, and yours truly sits at the top of the leader board.
I am so far ahead in fact, that I was able to miss our last tournament last night, and still be untouchable. It's been a good year so far for me in the company of these fine fellas - especially the calling stations and tilt monkeys.
I am up close to $600 profit, $100 of which I was able to parlay into a WSOP satellite in our group (where I finished a close second to the winner) and transfer some other funds to a player in need of reloading.
In the realm of live poker, I recently busted out early of an HPC event in which I played fairly poorly. But I also bubbled in the fantastic Venetian noon deepstack last Friday. I was 25th out of 200 players. I played pretty well. I will make that tournament my game of choice when I return to Vegas - the starting stack and structure are par excellence.
My brother, of whose recently found poker playing prowess and overall pimpness I am very proud, actually made the money, finishing 13th!
On the opposite side of the tournament realms, last Sunday I played in a super-turbo at the Aliante Station casino; a grand fun time where I was able to outplay everyone at the table - only to bubble again in fourth place when my opponent hit a gut wrenching 3 outer on the river. Still, in hindsight, it was a whole hell of a lot of fun.
I truly rose to the occasion, without a single premium starting hand, and outplayed and outmaneuvered just about everyone in a pretty silly shovefest of two tables and 2500 starting chips.
My poker game, when I pay attention and apply myself, is pretty damn good right now. However, facing the cold hard reality, that supplementing my income through micro-stakes online or a from a live poker tournament or two every other month, is not bloody likely, has cooled my devotion to the game a bit.
This is fine. I think I'm much happier with poker as a hobby of fun, rather than a soul-sucking win at all costs pursuit.
Can't wait for next months H.O.R.S.E. at my house. My home game has been thriving and evolving rapidly - my own play therein has been good as well, I'm near the top of the leader-board and have cashed several times this year. Very much looking forward to a fun filled year on that front.
I am so far ahead in fact, that I was able to miss our last tournament last night, and still be untouchable. It's been a good year so far for me in the company of these fine fellas - especially the calling stations and tilt monkeys.
I am up close to $600 profit, $100 of which I was able to parlay into a WSOP satellite in our group (where I finished a close second to the winner) and transfer some other funds to a player in need of reloading.
In the realm of live poker, I recently busted out early of an HPC event in which I played fairly poorly. But I also bubbled in the fantastic Venetian noon deepstack last Friday. I was 25th out of 200 players. I played pretty well. I will make that tournament my game of choice when I return to Vegas - the starting stack and structure are par excellence.
My brother, of whose recently found poker playing prowess and overall pimpness I am very proud, actually made the money, finishing 13th!
On the opposite side of the tournament realms, last Sunday I played in a super-turbo at the Aliante Station casino; a grand fun time where I was able to outplay everyone at the table - only to bubble again in fourth place when my opponent hit a gut wrenching 3 outer on the river. Still, in hindsight, it was a whole hell of a lot of fun.
I truly rose to the occasion, without a single premium starting hand, and outplayed and outmaneuvered just about everyone in a pretty silly shovefest of two tables and 2500 starting chips.
My poker game, when I pay attention and apply myself, is pretty damn good right now. However, facing the cold hard reality, that supplementing my income through micro-stakes online or a from a live poker tournament or two every other month, is not bloody likely, has cooled my devotion to the game a bit.
This is fine. I think I'm much happier with poker as a hobby of fun, rather than a soul-sucking win at all costs pursuit.
Can't wait for next months H.O.R.S.E. at my house. My home game has been thriving and evolving rapidly - my own play therein has been good as well, I'm near the top of the leader-board and have cashed several times this year. Very much looking forward to a fun filled year on that front.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Plugging Away
Just took down a record 25 player tournament last Monday night in Flatline.
I have to say I played well - but honestly I can't remember the last tournament where I placed so highly and at the same time found myself getting my money in bad the majority of the time.
Every time I used my aggression and/or position correctly, I would get coolered. My Jacks ran headlong into Aces - a life-support short stack woke up with queens after my A7 suited shove. And countless times my kicker would either be smaller or simply out flopped.
So, in short, I got lucky. More than several times.
I have to look back and see how often I have bemoaned my bad luck - playing "perfect" (or at least decent) and simply getting unlucky. This is the first time the reverse was true. I played far from perfect (though as I said, I don't think I was horrible) but the poker Gods saw fit to bless me with just enough suck-outs to take this one down.
To be fair to me, I managed to accumulate chips (after being crippled more than a couple times) and climb back up simply by the grace of poor play by my opponents. As many times as I got lucky in this tournament, there were ten times as many times where I woke up with a marginal flop connection and it held up, as I was priced in by a terrible turn bet and a frequently absent river bet.
Truly, truly terrible. And yet, wonderful.
Also managed to finish 3rd in my 16 player live home game tournament last weekend. The last hand was a killer, as I got it all in as a tiny favorite in a three way pot. I was crushing the chip leader with 4's over 2's, I was racing against my brother who spiked an ace to go with his big slick on the turn. Then the chip leader hit his two outer on the river to take down the entire tournament with trips.
Ah well, it was a great ride - and I really felt I played well throughout.
Recently I've been studying online via' www.proplaylive.com, a training sight headed up by Greg Raymer and Annie Duke. Raymer has had a few gems that have helped me on perspective, but Duke is simply amazing in her instruction - and I feel has significantly raised my tournament game after only watching 2 of her videos. Say what you want about her as a player and a person, but she is an amazing instructor - very articulate and an expert communicator who holds my attention and gets the information to sink in.
My poker future looks bright indeed - next week I hope to lock down my seat in the WSOP with the penultimate satellite tournament in my online group. Wish me luck!
I have to say I played well - but honestly I can't remember the last tournament where I placed so highly and at the same time found myself getting my money in bad the majority of the time.
Every time I used my aggression and/or position correctly, I would get coolered. My Jacks ran headlong into Aces - a life-support short stack woke up with queens after my A7 suited shove. And countless times my kicker would either be smaller or simply out flopped.
So, in short, I got lucky. More than several times.
I have to look back and see how often I have bemoaned my bad luck - playing "perfect" (or at least decent) and simply getting unlucky. This is the first time the reverse was true. I played far from perfect (though as I said, I don't think I was horrible) but the poker Gods saw fit to bless me with just enough suck-outs to take this one down.
To be fair to me, I managed to accumulate chips (after being crippled more than a couple times) and climb back up simply by the grace of poor play by my opponents. As many times as I got lucky in this tournament, there were ten times as many times where I woke up with a marginal flop connection and it held up, as I was priced in by a terrible turn bet and a frequently absent river bet.
Truly, truly terrible. And yet, wonderful.
Also managed to finish 3rd in my 16 player live home game tournament last weekend. The last hand was a killer, as I got it all in as a tiny favorite in a three way pot. I was crushing the chip leader with 4's over 2's, I was racing against my brother who spiked an ace to go with his big slick on the turn. Then the chip leader hit his two outer on the river to take down the entire tournament with trips.
Ah well, it was a great ride - and I really felt I played well throughout.
Recently I've been studying online via' www.proplaylive.com, a training sight headed up by Greg Raymer and Annie Duke. Raymer has had a few gems that have helped me on perspective, but Duke is simply amazing in her instruction - and I feel has significantly raised my tournament game after only watching 2 of her videos. Say what you want about her as a player and a person, but she is an amazing instructor - very articulate and an expert communicator who holds my attention and gets the information to sink in.
My poker future looks bright indeed - next week I hope to lock down my seat in the WSOP with the penultimate satellite tournament in my online group. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Don't tap the tank!
Somewhere along the line, in my ongoing poker journey, I learned a valuable lesson. Two valuable lessons actually.
Don't try to educate inferior players and don't tap the tank.
Speaking to the first lesson- I was the absolute worst offender. When I wasn't berating fish for shitty play, I was actually and sincerely trying to have a poker clinic at the table. Usually online, but occasionally live as well.
I wasn't just misguided - I was an idiot.
Why would I ever want a donkey to see the light and play "correctly" when clearly, playing poorly is big time +EV?
This problem stemmed from the second lesson - my anger at inferior players who sucked me out. I deluded myself into thinking that I was being a good person by channeling this anger into something constructive - helping a player.
Why would I ever want to help "fix" a potential human ATM? It seems really obvious now, but in my more naive poker playing days I actually believed it was a good thing to show a horrible player the errors of his ways.
Thankfully, I'm in a much healthier place today - when I can get beat with junk on the river and smile; knowing that I want that terrible call EVERY time.
Numbers don't lie, and I've more than doubled my buy-in this season, and I'm far and away the points leader as well. I attribute this to being DECISION oriented - and ignoring short term RESULTS.
Focusing on the immediate outcome of a hand is a recipe for a mental breakdown, and it's unfortunately afflicted one of my good friends in the league. Or perhaps I should say fortunately - his irrational tilt fueled tirades against the fish in the league (the aforementioned tapping of the tank) makes him play badly.
I tried briefly to convince him to not be results oriented, he completely didn't get it. I then realized, that though I'm fond of him as a person, I shouldn't be trying to educate him. I was falling into my old misguided habit, without even realizing it.
The next time he rants and raves at the utter futility of playing correctly against a card rack, I'll only be able to smile. It's what I want him to think. But the other side of the coin is, I hope he doesn't make the mega-fish uncomfortable.
I wish he, and a few others (both bad and decent players alike) would refrain from berating the uber-donks for the inevitable suck outs.
I fear that they will make the environment less than desirable for these juicy customers.
One player in particular is spectacularly bad, and she recently took down a tournament. I myself was ecstatic, now she really believes she is at least half way decent. Likewise, there is a veteran of 2 seasons in the group who is pretty much beyond terrible who took down the tournament last night. Again, I'm elated - it insures my long term profit. Others in the league seem hell bent on bitching, moaning, and complaining in e-mails.
Fellas, please, don't tap the tank.
Don't try to educate inferior players and don't tap the tank.
Speaking to the first lesson- I was the absolute worst offender. When I wasn't berating fish for shitty play, I was actually and sincerely trying to have a poker clinic at the table. Usually online, but occasionally live as well.
I wasn't just misguided - I was an idiot.
Why would I ever want a donkey to see the light and play "correctly" when clearly, playing poorly is big time +EV?
This problem stemmed from the second lesson - my anger at inferior players who sucked me out. I deluded myself into thinking that I was being a good person by channeling this anger into something constructive - helping a player.
Why would I ever want to help "fix" a potential human ATM? It seems really obvious now, but in my more naive poker playing days I actually believed it was a good thing to show a horrible player the errors of his ways.
Thankfully, I'm in a much healthier place today - when I can get beat with junk on the river and smile; knowing that I want that terrible call EVERY time.
Numbers don't lie, and I've more than doubled my buy-in this season, and I'm far and away the points leader as well. I attribute this to being DECISION oriented - and ignoring short term RESULTS.
Focusing on the immediate outcome of a hand is a recipe for a mental breakdown, and it's unfortunately afflicted one of my good friends in the league. Or perhaps I should say fortunately - his irrational tilt fueled tirades against the fish in the league (the aforementioned tapping of the tank) makes him play badly.
I tried briefly to convince him to not be results oriented, he completely didn't get it. I then realized, that though I'm fond of him as a person, I shouldn't be trying to educate him. I was falling into my old misguided habit, without even realizing it.
The next time he rants and raves at the utter futility of playing correctly against a card rack, I'll only be able to smile. It's what I want him to think. But the other side of the coin is, I hope he doesn't make the mega-fish uncomfortable.
I wish he, and a few others (both bad and decent players alike) would refrain from berating the uber-donks for the inevitable suck outs.
I fear that they will make the environment less than desirable for these juicy customers.
One player in particular is spectacularly bad, and she recently took down a tournament. I myself was ecstatic, now she really believes she is at least half way decent. Likewise, there is a veteran of 2 seasons in the group who is pretty much beyond terrible who took down the tournament last night. Again, I'm elated - it insures my long term profit. Others in the league seem hell bent on bitching, moaning, and complaining in e-mails.
Fellas, please, don't tap the tank.
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