All play and no work makes Rikki a happy boy

Took a few weeks off due to a few great sessions in a row that I feared would put me on perma-winning tilt. I realize the ridiculousness of taking time off within like 1 week of my new years resolution post where I proclaimed my desire to improve my work ethic and to take more risks. I guess I just wasn't ready for quick success. I had such a good early January that I couldn't physically handle what I had done. Hopefully this is just a stepping stone to greater things.

Of course my computer died once again to end the month so at least I have a legitimate excuse for missing 1-2 days work.

Since I haven't been playing poker, I really haven't had poker on the brain, and hence, no blog updates. But with my leisure time, I have been thinking about other things - namely - leisure time itself.

In economics, all human time is divided into two categories - "leisure" and "work". Its a ridiculous simplification but also quite significant in terms of how humans live their life. With leisure time, humans are able to do "what they want" regardless of what incentives are provided.

However, I've been thinking recently that leisure time is basically non-existent in its true sense. It is so rare that a human being ever gets to experience the pure activity or event that they desire. There are always external factors that fuck up your immaculate plan that you have in mind. Its gotten to the point for me where I've become so desensitized to the loss of my leisure plans that I barely take the time to even think about future leisure activities since I know they are ultimately ruined.

I consider myself somewhat of an expert on leisure activities due to my lack of job and abundance of lazy. I also prefer the company of myself to others in general - mostly due to my disdain for the human race and also my disdain for awkward pointless conversations. And yet I still find myself rarely satisfied with my leisure time activities. I can only imagine what your average 9-5'er goes through.

What bothers me most is that people have genuine hatred for other peoples leisure. I noticed this when I was a kid and I'd spend my nights playing video games or G.I. Joe's which would ultimately be angrily interrupted by my parents dragging me out of my room to join them in their miserable non leisurely life.

To that I say, don't hate the player hate the motherfuckin' game.

If I've structured my life for maximum leisure time rather than an equal balance of work and play, what do you care? What am I missing out on? All around me I see people complaining, unhappy with how their life is turning out, all the while looking down on me for living a life of leisure. Meanwhile the simple fact is that doing what I want whenever I want to makes me happier than you can imagine - even if "doing what I want" means watching old Superbowls and playing Call of Duty 4 for 8 hours straight.

And just to ease the tension of this angry post - here is the reason Peyton Manning is a faggot for life.

Best Day Ever

I didn't play at all today, and was about to goto bed early around 2am when I decided to take a quick peak at the games going on. I decided to sit for a bit and 3 hours later I'm sitting on my personal best cash game day ever. Gotta love it when that happens. Some highlights:


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HAND #1
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Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

BB: $592.15
UTG: $367
Hero (CO): $394
BTN: $846.10
SB: $396

Pre-Flop: 7d 8d dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG raises to $16, Hero calls $16, 2 folds, BB calls $12

Flop: ($50) Kd 5c 6d (3 Players)
BB checks, UTG bets $48, Hero raises to $150, BB raises to $576.15 and is All-In, UTG calls $303 and is All-In, Hero calls $228 and is All-In

Turn: ($1,157) 4s (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($1,157) Qc (3 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $1,157 Pot ($2 Rake)
BB showed 5d 4d (two pairs, Fives and Fours) and LOST (-$394 NET)
UTG mucked Ks Ah (a pair of Kings) and LOST (-$367 NET)
Hero showed 7d 8d (a straight Four to Eight) and WON $1,155 (+$761 NET)

wheeeeeeeeee!!


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HAND #2
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Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $400
CO: $581.77
BTN: $751
SB: $602.40
BB: $1,246.88

Pre-Flop: Jd Js dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $15, 2 folds, SB calls $13, BB raises to $55, Hero calls $40, SB calls $40

Flop: ($165) 3d 9h Jc (3 Players)
SB checks, BB bets $100, Hero calls $100, SB raises to $224, BB folds, Hero raises to $345 and is All-In, SB calls $121

Turn: ($955) Qd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($955) 4d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $955 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed Jd Js (three of a kind, Jacks) and WON $953 (+$553 NET)
SB showed 9d 9c (three of a kind, Nines) and LOST (-$400 NET)

Standard cooler.


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HAND #3
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Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

CO: $237.82
BTN: $482.30
SB: $458.64
Hero (BB): $394
UTG: $521.50
MP: $604.10

Pre-Flop: Qd Js dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG folds, MP calls $4, CO folds, BTN raises to $20, SB calls $18, Hero raises to $80, 2 folds, SB calls $60

Flop: ($184) Jh 6c Ad (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($184) Jc (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $90, SB calls $90

River: ($364) 3h (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $224 and is All-In, SB calls $224

Results: $812 Pot ($812 Rake)
SB showed Th Ah (two pairs, Aces and Jacks) and LOST (-$394 NET)
Hero showed Qd Js (three of a kind, Jacks) and LOST (-$394 NET)

Not too many better feelings in poker than bluffing then sucking out.


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HAND #4
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Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

UTG: $703.80
MP: $371.86
CO: $428.65
Hero (BTN): $1,156.60
SB: $557.27
BB: $412

Pre-Flop: 7s 4s dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP raises to $8, CO calls $8, Hero calls $8, 2 folds

Flop: ($30) 5d 7c 4c (3 Players)
MP bets $40, CO folds, Hero raises to $120, MP raises to $363.86 and is All-In, Hero calls $243.86

Turn: ($757.72) 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($757.72) Jd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $757.72 Pot ($3.50 Rake)
MP mucked Ac Ah (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$371.86 NET)
Hero showed 7s 4s (two pairs, Sevens and Fours) and WON $754.22 (+$382.36 NET)

Fact: any time a bad player min raises preflop then overbets the flop, they have aces.


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HAND #5
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Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com Hand History Converter

SB: $257.50
BB: $408.70
Hero (UTG): $441
CO: $163
BTN: $189.50

Pre-Flop: Ac Ad dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $15, 3 folds, BB raises to $26, Hero raises to $70, BB raises to $110, Hero raises to $441 and is All-In, BB calls $294.70 and is All-In

Flop: ($819.40) Jc Ah 2d (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($819.40) Kd (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($819.40) Th (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $819.40 Pot ($34.30 Rake)
BB showed 3c As (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$408.70 NET)
Hero showed Ac Ad (three of a kind, Aces) and WON $785.10 (+$376.40 NET)

lol ty?

Good hand, bad hand

Its amazing how little of a difference there is between a well played hand and a terribly played hand. Its like the difference between a genius and an insane person. Here are two hands that can illustrate this point:

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (UTG): $440.50
BTN: $246.50
SB: $374
BB: $1,913

Pre-Flop: T K dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $14, BTN folds, SB calls $12, BB folds

Flop: ($32) A 6 7 (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $22, SB raises to $64, Hero calls $42

Turn: ($160) 4 (2 Players)
SB bets $104, Hero raises to $362.50 and is All-In, SB calls $192 and is All-In

River: ($752) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $752 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed T K (a pair of Fours) and LOST (-$374 NET)
SB showed 6 6 (a full house, Sixes full of Fours) and WON $750 (+$376 NET)

Now, from almost any perspective, this hand looks insane. And it is. But imagine just for a second that my opponent here folded. Now whos insane? Now of course that is a results oriented way of looking at the hand, but it does illustrate the minute differences between brilliance and idiocy nicely.

Anyone interested in why I played it like this? Well clearly I'm an idiot. Lets just get that out of the way. In no universe is this hand genius. Even if he folded this play is -EV because his range is highly polarized between extremely strong hands and air. And most of the time you will see the nuts with this line. However, in this case I thought there was a very good chance that my opponent had air. He is a tight multitabler who I had just taken three pots in a row off him. The situation is just ripe for him to run a bluff as he feels he is "owed" at least one in four pots. At least that was my perspective.

Next

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

Hero (CO): $808.70
BTN: $1,043.50
SB: $339.56
BB: $1,353.61
UTG: $246.22

Pre-Flop: 6 5 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, BTN raises to $48, SB folds, BB calls $44, Hero calls $34

Flop: ($146) 8 2 5 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($146) 3 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $100, BTN folds, BB calls $100

River: ($346) 2 (2 Players)
BB bets $300, Hero calls $300

Results: $946 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed 6 5 (two pairs, Fives and Twos) and WON $944 (+$496 NET)
BB showed 6 9 (a pair of Twos) and LOST (-$448 NET)

And here is the genius play. Well, obviously its genius because I won right? Well in this case it is more true, regardless of the outcome. To the untrained eye, this hand looks borderline insane. Its hard for me to even describe the table dynamics here, but lets just say that this player who I called was very very bad. I had been playing with him for about 3 hours and had noticed that every single time he had caught any piece of any flop he would bet out regardless of who the preflop raiser was. He would bet out with bottom pair, and he would bet out with the nut straight. The fact that didn't bet the flop or turn made this river call very easy.

He left immediately after.

2007 Reflections

After a few weeks off I return to poker in 2008 with an optimistic mindset and lofty goals.

I ended off the year with a nice December, finishing the year up about 20% more than I finished 2006 with. Now there are 2 ways I’ve looked at this. One being the obvious – a 20% increase in pay no matter what you do is always welcomed. But I also think of what could have been. I hate looking back and regretting anything I do, but my lazy lifestyle and mindset consistently puts me in spots in life where I look back with deep regret.

2007 was a fine year. I made the move from full time sit&go player to full time cash game player. I made this move because I felt the edge one has or is able to have in sit&go’s is capped by the inherent limitations of the chip structures in them. Once you get past the first few levels, no amount of “thinking” will really separate you from your average donkament player. And since basic donkament strategy is so easily learned, the opponent skill level ever increases while yours is forced to stagnate. So I moved to cash games full time - despite having admittedly little solid cash game experience. Regardless, I found success early and never really had any big gaping leaks. The money was about the same as SNG’s, but the limitations were gone. I fell in love with poker all over again. I was able to think analytically about hands and out think opponents. Winning in this way is much more satisfying then memorizing a bunch of push/fold charts and mindlessly pressing buttons.

Early in the year I had grand visions. I saw the potential of unlimited growth in my game and bankroll. However it would be my innate risk aversion and laziness that would be my ultimate limitation. Each month I posted solid winning numbers and each month I just stayed at the same level, content on stagnating. Now that isn’t to say that I didn’t improve my game throughout the year – I did greatly – but I certainly didn’t challenge myself to achieve my full potential - story of my life. This takes us to today, the beginning of 2008. I did manage to move up one level throughout the year, but it still is a disappointment for me. I mean, I’ve never even really failed at poker at any level. Shouldn’t that tell me something? Sure I’ve had bad days, weeks and months, but I’ve always bounced back. My stats are among the best of all online players at my level of play, yet I remain playing them, not moving up.

I suppose this is just another example of poker being a microcosm of my life. I hate risk. I love a sure thing. And since I know I can beat 200NL for a decent amount of cash each month with absolutely zero risk I figure that it is probably the most optimal outcome. But it obviously isn’t. And herein lies the limitations of most human beings (myself included). Taking risks in life are always easy to see and talk about, but the executions of risks are what hold most people back. We know these risks are what can lead us to the life we want, yet 99% of people hold back and go the safe route. The interesting thing I’ve always thought about regarding risks is that you can almost always reset back to your default, easy path if the risk fails. I mean if one day I decided to take a shot and play 2000NL, and I failed, clearly I can go back to 200NL and succeed with my default life. But if that shot works and I never look back, well damn, that’s a sweet ass life.

So to anyone who is still with me, make 2008 the year of risks. I know I will be playing a lot more, and being a lot more aggressive with my decisions.

Let’s see how this all works out next January.