Dee's Nutz

new update

2009-03-27T01:33:00.001-07:00

Ok so my quest hasn't exactly gone to plan.

Actually, March has been pretty much the exact fucking opposite of what I planned out to do.

I had some updates up here earlier in the month but took them down when I abandoned my quest mid month in an angry fit of self-loathing embarrassed rage.

If anyone is following along on pokertableratings.com, my month probably looks pathetic. I wouldn't know though since I subscribe to the "ignorance is bliss" frame of mind, and hence, ignore all my results.

All I know is that I'm getting my ass handed to me day after day.

Its actually pretty remarkable, especially considering the content of my last post. I literally haven't posted a losing month in my history of poker playing. I've come close, but never have I actually lost money throughout a month. And up to this point, I hadn't really even tried that hard to avoid it, it just sort of happened naturally.

So of course, the only mother fucking month I actually try to make money - I lose.

So what went wrong?

Well for one, I clearly overestimated my ability to 16 or even 12 table 200NL. This isn't to say that I can't do it profitably, but most likely only marginally. And with marginal wins, comes the increased probability of big losses.

Now these losses were probably a combination of the standard two things that go wrong when any poker player is losing.

1. Bad Luck
2. Bad Play

Its an unavoidable cycle. Eventually you will just run into a sickening run of cards where your aces get cracked 40 times in a row and you begin to lose your mind. In the back of your head you understand math and probability but there is a portion of your mind that is pure instinct and monkey brained that wants to take a shit on everything bad that happens to it and throw it at people. The more you play, the more you can contain this monkey, but every so often (especially when 16 tabling) the beats become unbearable and the instinct monkey appears in all its glory to destroy your remaining bankroll.

Smart players just stop when they see him appear. And to be honest, for the past year I don't remember even seeing him once. But with 16 tables and aces losing 40 times in a row, it was just something my brain wasn't ready to deal with.

Of course this is all theory. In reality I could just be a marginal break even poker player who's finally seeing the other side of variance. I hate to even consider this, especially after my boasting in my last post, but after approximately 100k hands of losing, there aren't that many other conclusions that can be drawn.

So what to do from here?

Well, I need to retool my game and get back to the basics. Really think about every decision (sigh) and actually "work" (fuck). I was in love with the idea of passively winning thousands a day, but I guess nothing is that easy.

I managed to 4 table last night for about 8 hours and actually felt very good about my overall game and really felt in control of every table I was at. Its a slow rebuilding process but its the only way back to glory.

So umm.. April will be different?

Oh and thanks to all the support I got through comments, emails and IM's. Poker is a tough gig sometimes because people generally don't give two shits when you lose, and losing is something you never get used to. Its nice to have support.

I'm back... Ignorance is bliss

2009-02-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

Hey,

I'm not dead.

I've just been lost.

Lost in my own mind.

I've still been playing poker - but it just doesn't do it for me anymore.

I still play, but I don't like it.

I feel sort of trapped because I can still make about 40x more per hour playing poker than I can doing anything else on the planet. At least for now. I'm making efforts (mostly mentally) to switch my focus from poker to more meaningful things. I mean there isn't an activity on earth that has less social value than playing poker.

I'm basically taking money from people who are dumber than me.

What a noble pursuit.

I'm a pretty pessimistic and negative person by nature. I generally strive for perfection in everything I do, and when I inevitably fail due to the difficulty in obtaining it, it only perpetuates my negativity and pessimism. I often rationalize my pessimism by saying its just a realistic point of view, which is true, but that mindset also stunts your growth as a person and inhibits your experiences. There is something to be said for being in tune and realistic with your limitations, but there is also something to be said for being ignorant to them.

Being ignorant to your limitations tends to lead to great things. You can see it everywhere. We all know a friend who is probably in the lowest 10% of intellect yet constantly gets chicks. Ignorant confidence is a gift. From my perspective I can never be confident because I'm always overly aware of all the realistic negative outcomes. It makes sense that if you are too dumb to think about the outcome, you will just act without fear. I think sports are the absolute example of this. Rarely do you find a super intellectual person dominating a sport. They overthink things which ends up taking too long to make a decision. Dumb people act by instinct. They just act and react. No thought necessary.

Lately I've been playing "no thought poker".

I've played so many hands that I really don't have to "think" about 99% of decisions. The 1% are interesting, but in the grand scheme of things I've started to realize that they are too insignificant to worry about. They aren't worth my time.

Part of the reason I don't have to think about 99% of decisions is because I've moved down to 200nl and started to 16 table. After beating 200NL+ for years I have infinite confidence that I will never lose. While it does stunt my growth as a poker player I'm not overly concerned because I don't consider poker being a huge part of my future. And by 16 tabling I can make equal amounts of cash to 6 tabling 400-600nl, without the extra stress, higher variance and more difficult decisions.

While no thought poker is easy and stress free, it is also extremely boring. Its basically data entry with the difference being no data entry worker makes $150/hour. So I think I can manage to rationalize it that way. Whenever I start to think about how boring or unfulfilling my life is, I think about someone doing the equivalent in intellectual stimulation that I am (data entry, call center, etc) for 10% of the pay, and then slap my self in the face. I can't afford to become jaded. I'm lucky to have found poker and lucky that I'm smart enough to win.

I hadn't updated my blog in about 5 months. In my time off I didn't play nearly as much poker as I should have. In fact, some months I didn't play at all. I just had no drive and was consumed by the meaningless of my life and actions. While these feelings haven't exactly gone away, they are curtailed a bit as I've weighed my alternate opportunities. As sad as it is, Poker will always be a part of my life. I mean, I do enjoy it occasionally, especially live and with friends. It can be a fun, challenging, exciting game but in reality I have automated 99% of it in my mind which sort of sucks the fun out of it. But I do need to continue to take advantage of it because it may not be here forever.

So, since I took a shit load of time off, my bankroll started to run dry and its time for a solid refill. I always want to do some sort of monthly challenge but I can never find the motivation to do it. I've said it before, but here we go again:

"This time will be different"

I've recently discovered a site that tracks cash game data.

http://www.pokertableratings.com

For March I want to be the #1 winner on stars 200NL. I really have no idea if I can do this, but at this point I'm going to remain ignorantly confident that I can. I'm not even going to bother figuring out how much I would have to win each day to do it. I'm just going to play a lot every day and see what happens. The thing about pacing yourself is that it leads to discouragement when you fall behind. You set a pace, then if you don't maintain it, you lose confidence, lose drive and quit altogether. Dumb confident people just do things without planning, and yes, sometimes they succeed and sometimes they fail, but they rarely give up. This time I don't want to give up.

I don't know how many people still check this blog (or are still reading this giant post) but I hope that making my results public will drive me to succeed. So I'll be making semi-frequent updates as to my status. I will not give up this time, and frankly I need the cash, so its a two birds with one stone scenario.

I'll be playing on pokerstars with the name "Pushbot1000"

If you are a 200NL player on stars, prepare to be seeing me a lot more.

And to everyone who is struggling with decisions or motivation in life due to lack of confidence, I hope I can inspire some of you that it is possible to achieve with intelligent rationalization of your goals. Ignorant confidence isn't needed.

Sickness Inc.

2008-09-15T22:42:00.001-07:00

These days, poker rarely excites me.

Oh, I get upset still - my anger emotion is still very much in tact. But when I win its like - meh - that was just supposed to happen. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The problem then becomes boredom. I've talked about this before, but a lot of the times to keep myself in the grind and avoiding boredom, I do stupid -EV shit. Shit that I would never recommend doing in a vacuum, but in order to keep my sanity and enthusiasm up I must.

Most of the time it is little things like calling a 2 barrell down with ace high, or calling a 3 bet in position with a suited connector, things that are marginal in the first place. But sometimes I can't help but reaching into my bag of spew, and dump a buyin or two.

Case in point:

Seat 5: tokenblak ( $820.20 USD )
Seat 3: LadySwan_ ( $485.00 USD )
Seat 1: xBORMANx ( $97.90 USD )
Seat 6: spancpot ( $115.82 USD )
Seat 2: Lunixxxx ( $496.00 USD )
Seat 4: adgsfh ( $77.00 USD )
tokenblak posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
spancpot posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 4s 7s ]
xBORMANx folds
Lunixxxx raises [$14.00 USD]
adgsfh folds
tokenblak raises [$50.00 USD]
spancpot folds
Lunixxxx raises [$118.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$768.20 USD]
Lunixxxx calls [$364.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7d, Ah, 3d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ks ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2d ]
Lunixxxx shows [Ad, Ac ]
tokenblak shows [4s, 7s ]
Lunixxxx wins $994.00 USD from main pot

Seat 1: tokenblak ( $412.00 USD )
Seat 5: minraiseking ( $490.50 USD )
Seat 2: vvvvvnh ( $596.10 USD )
Seat 6: SuperTight5 ( $1109.00 USD )
Seat 3: ReteDaPesca ( $406.00 USD )
Seat 4: BluffingNuts ( $400.00 USD )
vvvvvnh posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
ReteDaPesca posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Qs 5s ]
minraiseking folds
SuperTight5 raises [$14.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$42.00 USD]
vvvvvnh folds
ReteDaPesca folds
SuperTight5 raises [$97.00 USD]
tokenblak calls [$69.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Js, 7s, 7c ]
SuperTight5 bets [$122.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$301.00 USD]
SuperTight5 calls [$179.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
SuperTight5 shows [Jd, Jh ]
tokenblak doesn't show [Qs, 5s ]

Seat 5: jaiden2101 ( $387.03 USD )
Seat 6: pdtspa ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 1: tokenblak ( $473.00 USD )
Seat 3: OMGCAPSLOCK ( $448.60 USD )
Seat 2: Lunixxxx ( $394.00 USD )
Seat 4: DoesK27apply ( $400.00 USD )
tokenblak posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
Lunixxxx posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 7c 8c ]
OMGCAPSLOCK folds
DoesK27apply folds
jaiden2101 folds
pdtspa raises [$12.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$50.00 USD]
Lunixxxx folds
pdtspa raises [$98.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$421.00 USD]
pdtspa calls [$290.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, Td, 5d ]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 2h ]
pdtspa shows [Kd, Kc ]
tokenblak shows [7c, 8c ]
pdtspa wins $801.00 USD from main pot

You know, I could probably justify these somehow but, honestly, look at them. No justification ever will explain them. But I will tell you, they are damn fun when you win. And isn't that what poker is all about - fun?

But somedays the fun just comes to you. You could be sitting there, minding your own business, trying to ignore your 6 tables as you surf the latest fantasy football stats, when a donk so supreme joins your tables, you just can't avoid having fun.

Last week such an event happened. Its rare to find a player this bad. I mean we've all seen our fair share of donks, calling down with 2nd pair and never folding preflop, but generally when they get stacked they leave the table. Not this guy. Somehow, someway he had a virtually endless bankroll. Party Poker recently added this feature than when clicked, your stack is automatically reloaded to full once it drops below the maximum buyin. It was amazing to see this guy get stacked again and again just to have his stack auto-rebuy in time for the next hand.

My first big score vs him went something like this:

Seat 6: hrthestrup ( $733.70 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $1307.70 USD )
Seat 3: schmarrer_ ( $1909.40 USD )
Seat 2: LAMANI1 ( $851.70 USD )
Seat 4: Zavadil ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 1: davidross ( $407.40 USD )
davidross posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
LAMANI1 posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ As Ah ]
schmarrer_ folds
Zavadil folds
tokenblak raises [$14.00 USD]
hrthestrup folds
davidross folds
LAMANI1 raises [$40.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$126.00 USD]
LAMANI1 calls [$96.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 8h, 9h, 9c ]
LAMANI1 bets [$250.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$1167.70 USD]
LAMANI1 calls [$461.70 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 8s ]
** Dealing River ** [ 5c ]
LAMANI1 shows [Jh, Td ]
tokenblak shows [As, Ah ]
tokenblak wins $456.00 USD from main pot
tokenblak wins $1702.40 USD from main pot

As soon as he snap called my reraise preflop I knew it could be an epic pot. My poker playing friend was over and I even predicted so. Sure enough, he donks out HUGE on the flop and since I know he probably isn't folding I just push now. I have to admit the turn scared the shit out of me since thats exactly what he would do with like 78 but I manage to dodge a 7 or Q and I win a 2 buyin pot.

After I won this pot I did a small little jig around the room but I kept it pretty subdued.

This set the stage for the most INSANE HAND OF MY POKER CAREER.

The table was playing super fast, with everyone eager to get a piece of this donks endless roll. Notice the stack sizes of all the players at the table for this next hand:

Seat 6: hrthestrup ( $1092.70 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $2174.90 USD )
Seat 3: schmarrer_ ( $2727.20 USD )
Seat 2: LAMANI1 ( $458.00 USD ) <- the donk
Seat 4: Zavadil ( $430.10 USD )
Seat 1: davidross ( $789.40 USD )
davidross posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
LAMANI1 posts big blind [$4.00 USD].

Alright STOP. Just notice that I have over 2k at the table, as does another player. I've never played 5 buyins deep ever in my life.

** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 3c 4c ]
schmarrer_ raises [$14.00 USD]
Zavadil folds
tokenblak calls [$14.00 USD]
hrthestrup folds
davidross folds
LAMANI1 calls [$10.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4d, Jh, 4h ]

Jackpot flop. Now lets call to trap LAMANI1 into doing something stupid.

LAMANI1 checks
schmarrer_ bets [$34.00 USD]
tokenblak calls [$34.00 USD]
LAMANI1 raises [$134.00 USD]

Sweet, another stack for me!

schmarrer_ raises [$2679.20 USD]

WHAT

THE

FUCK?!?!?!?!?!

I mean seriously what the fuck is this guy doing? I've watched this guy take stack after stack off the donk and hes been playing very good. Did he seriously just raise me 5 buyins???? Did he even see me in the hand?? Does he put me on a 4??? Wow I have 15 seconds to make this decision??? Fuck you party!

Now I probably wouldn't have even posted this hand as my "craziest hand ever" if I didn't call right?

***INTERMISSION***

/***INTERMISSION***

tokenblak calls [$2126.90 USD]
LAMANI1 calls [$310.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
LAMANI1 shows [9h, 4s ]
schmarrer_ shows [Ah, Ac ]
tokenblak shows [3c, 4c ]
schmarrer_ wins $552.30 USD from main pot
tokenblak wins $3433.80 USD from main pot
LAMANI1 wins $1373.00 USD from main pot

Wow, sucks to be you buddy. Way to loose 5+ buyins in one hand! Looking back its pretty clear he didn't even consider my stack when he shoved in here. He did it so fast he probably just saw the donks check raise along with my smooth call on the flop (probably also assuming I would never slowplay this deep) and just shoved in for fun with his aces (aka nuts vs the donk). It kind of sucks that the donk woke up with trips here and split some of the pot (sucks even more that we didn't chop it which should happen 40% of the time) but I still walked away with $1250 from one hand. I'm pretty sure I've won more in one hand before but never in this ridiculous of a situation.

Here's to fun in poker - a rare sighting these days!

Edit - Oh and how about those Pats? You like that guaranteed win? They don't come around often so I hope you cashed in like I did +$500!

Back The Truck Up

2008-09-08T13:02:00.001-07:00

Here is a gambling 101 moment for you.

Tom Brady went down for the season last night. Yes, as a Pats fan this is obviously the worst possible thing that could ever happen. However, like poker, in testing times, you must maintain a calm thought process and avoid tilt. You cannot be a winning poker player if you can't bounce back from devastating loses. The same is true in New England.

The Patriots play at the Jets next Sunday. With no Brady injury this line is easily New England -14. Currently, without Brady the line is Jets -1. This is a serious over adjustment. As sick as Brady is, no chance he is worth 15 points. Everyone across North America right now is inexplicably high on the Jets right now. OOOHH BRETT FARVE!!! I agree they are a better team than last year but they were 4-12 last year, it's not hard to improve on that.

I'll say it right here. Put any starting QB in the league in a Jets or GB uniform and you will get the same result Farve gets. Hes washed up (was never that good?). Did anyone even watch the Jets / Dolphins game yesterday? They almost lost! Pennington had that Miami offense unstopably moving down the field on the final drive for the win, threw a bad pass from the 10 yard line and game over. Farve is destined to regress back to his pre 2006 season stats. In the game yesterday, 4th and 13 Farve is chased out of the pocket, and then slings up an air ball to a guy who is triple covered. Miraculously he catches the ball for the TD and Farve looks like a genius. Throw that up vs the Patriots? Int.

Sure Cassell is a complete wildcard, but we still have Belichick and in Belichick I trust. This happened to the Pats in 2001 when Bledsoe got injured for the season and they won the Superbowl. Belichick is the master of the adjustment. And if you don't think the Pats are going to be fired up to beat a division rival with something to prove you are insane. Look what the Pats did with motivation last year - 18-1. This team thrives on motivation. They are a team of solid veterans who want nothing else than to win. I guarantee they now want to prove to the league that they can still win without Brady.

Pats +1 @ Jets. What a joke. Back the truck up on this one. It will be close, but no chance they lose.

Signed,

RikkiDee
Pats Homer

Oh and as a side note, I've started a seperate fantasy football blog since I didn't want to clutter this site up with football shite.

Dee's Fantasy Nuts

Hopefully it is enjoyable.

Dear Party Poker

2008-09-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

Heres my email I just sent to party:

Ok

So I stopped playing at party for a month or so. You guys noticed, thats nice, its nice to feel appreciated. You offered me a sizable deposit bonus. Also nice. I thought, hey, why let a few minor things like the software crashing every hour and lack of any meaningful loyalty program get in the way of a free $500 deposit bonus. So I deposited, and have been getting back to playing a bit on party. Its win win. You guys get my long term rake, I get your bonus.

But then I remembered why I left party in the first place.

I went to join some tables today to play, and in the meantime was checking out my bonus status. $500 bonus still active, party points to clear - 3000, expires SEPT 4, 2008.

If my math is correct, I have to play 5454 "raked" hands at 2/4NL to get to 3000 base party points. Since I fold 80% of my hands this means I have to play in the neighborhood of 25,000 hands in order to clear your bonus. On top of this you put a ridiculous 2 week expiry date on the bonus. Tell me, exactly how many of your customers play in the neighborhood of 50k hands a month? Probably a very small percentage I'd imagine. Not to mention you are trying to "win me back" which should involve some sort of easing me back in. I'm not going to automatically start playing on your site and putting in 25k hands in 2 weeks just to clear a bonus.

Now I've realized what you have done. You basically duped me into joining your horrible site by offering me a bonus that can never be cleared. Congratulations, you've lost me again, probably for good now.

I realize you probably don't care and probably won't even read this email but I really think if there's even a chance that someone there at party is actually listening to their customers, it could go a long way. I mean, there are about 10 things that a monkey could realize is wrong with your site, yet you seem intent on staying the same as you've been since 2004. I mean you don't even properly order the button when heads up. How basic can you get for "the worlds largest poker room"? But I digress, no one is listening. I'm just one semi consistent user who is leaving your site, who cares? My bonus will go uncleared and you will have done your job by getting me to deposit.

I wish you luck in all future endeavors.

Regards,

TokenBlak

I imagine absolutley nothing will come of this. Whoever reads it (if anyone even bothers to) will immediately delete it as if it never happened. Thats the party way. Ignore all problems until everyone leaves your god awful site.

September Goals and Football Gibbrish

2008-09-03T10:01:00.000-07:00

The last 3 months have basically been a write off. I've been playing lower stakes, and playing less which can only lead to failure. I'm not really sure what caused my lack of play but I do know I am back now.

My goals for September are pretty much standard for what a full time poker player should be playing.

Goal 1: Play 4 hours a day, which equates to 2000 hands each day playing 5 tables on party.
Goal 2: Goes hand in hand with goal 1 - play 40k hands.
Goal 3: Maintain a +5ptbb/100 winrate

These are not lavish unreasonable goals but basically I just need to get back on track. March and April of this year were banner months for me and there was no reason I should have let off. I was days away from taking a shot at 5/10 and now I have barely been playing 2/4. Even if I achieve my goals this month I won't be able to take a shot, but I will be primed to do so if I continue through October. Baby steps here.

In other news, I'm ridiculously psyched for this upcoming NFL season. To be honest I hadn't thought much about football since the disaster that was 18-1, but I'm definitely ready to be hurt again. The Pats look good again this year, although not nearly as good as last year. I still think they are probably Superbowl favorites, but its unlikely they will be nearly as dominant. Last year their defense was a little inflated due to every opponent having to play from behind. This year, their defense will be exposed. Their secondary and linebackers are a joke. With the exception of first round draft Jarod Mayo and Adalius Thomas at LB, they have virtually no unstable positions. Vrabel, Bruschi and Harrison are way past their primes. Rodney Harrison is especially a joke. Last year he spent more time hitting players after the play then during. He also choked hard on the infamous "helmet catch" that basically cost them the superbowl. I'm expecting them to get torched deep a lot. They did just pick up Deltha O'Neil at cb, and guys like Merriweather, Sanders and Andrews have had a year to improve and move up the depth chart, but I'm still not too confident. If the offense starts struggling, you may see some ugly 30 pt games put up on this defense.

But the offense likely won't struggle. They are essentially exactly the same team they were last year. They still have Moss, Welker, Maroney, Watson, Faulk, their entire pro-bowl offensive line and of course Brady. They did lose Stallworth, but he was an extremely small part of what they did last year. Gaffeney can easily fill his shoes. They also got Sammy Moris back, who last year had some dominant games at backup RB before getting injured. The only question mark is health. Welker has had some rib problems, and Brady missed every preseason game with undisclosed "foot" issues, but both say they will be playing the opener vs KC, so I'm not too worried, yet. If Brady goes down you can count on them missing the playoffs.

I also finally got in a meaningful fantasy league, something I had wanted to do for years but most of my friends weren't into football enough to do so. Our league has 12 people in it. I randomed first pick overall and of course picked Brady. In hindsight this was kind of a bad pick even though he is head and shoulders better than any #2 QB you can think of. The problem it left me with was not being able to grab a RB untill last pick of round 2. At this point essentially every decent starting RB was gone and I was left with the decision between Edgerin James, Thomas Jones, and Brandon Jacobs. I really hate James and feel that he is completely washed up and from watching the Giants last year in the playoffs it seems they have too many options at RB to take Jacobs as a starting RB, so I took Thomas Jones. He should have a solid year as the #1 back in the Jets offense. I think the Jets are actually going to be half decent this year, probably ending around 9-7.

My team looks like this:

QB: Brady
WR: Marques Colston
WR: Nate Burleson
WR: Chris Chambers
RB: Thomas Jones
RB: Michael Turner
TE: Benjamin Watson
Flex: Jonathan Stewart
BN: Chris Johnson
BN: Chris Perry
BN: Kurt Warner
BN: Isaac Bruce
BN: Antwaan Randle El
K: Mike Negent
Def: Baltimore

Now on paper there are definitely better teams in the league. But there is no team in the league with more potential for greatness than mine. Marques Colston is a stud and is going to put up huge numbers this year (which is also a contract year for him). Nate Burlesson looks like a wtf pick for #2 WR but if you look at Seattles depth chart, their other WR's Bobby Engram and Deion Branch are out for 5+ weeks each, so Burlesson becomes far and away Hasslebecks #1 option. For #3 WR I have a few interesting choices. I have Chambers penciled in at the moment but I really feel that Isassc Bruce has one last year in him - especially playing for Mike Martz in San Fran. Also Anwaan Randle El is expected to be a strong #2 in Washington behind the aging and small Santana Moss.

My RBs are the position with the most potential. My two starters, Jones and Turner are definitely not the strongest in the league, but with both being starting #1's I think they will get a lot of touches. My three backups, Jonathan Stewart, Chris Johson and Chris Perry all have massive upsides. The first two, Stewart and Johnson will start the year at backup in Carolina and Tennessee, but both are first round draft picks and are expected to get a lot of touches and possibly take over the starting role. No chance I'm trading them. Chris Perry, a guy I had never heard of till last week just got the starting job in Cinicinatti after they cut Rudi Johnson. Now I'm sure he will split carries with Kenny Watson but I'm definitely going to keep my eye out on him to see what develops. The best part is I got Perry and Johnson in the 4th and 3rd last rounds, which are absolute steals.

The last 3, Kurt Warner, "random kicker" and Baltimore defense I'm happy with. I think I picked up Warner in the 5th last round, which is pretty suprising. I know its easy to hate on ol' Kurt but if you look at his numbers last year, 3400 yards, 27 TD 17 INT and considering he didn't even play the whole season, you can't deny he is a solid QB and probably should be a starter in a 12 man leauge. He has 2 pro bowl WR's and the Cardinals have just named him the starting QB for the season over Matt Lienart, who looks like he'll never be starting in the NFL at this point. I imagine some one who drafted a piece of shit like Farve, Hasselbeck or McNabb will be begging me for Warner later on. And for some reason I got Baltimore defense. I originally had Tennesse defense but someone ended up dropping Baltimore to free agents and I snapped them up.

So heres to a great NFL season where the Pats go 14-2 and I win my fantasy league.

Oh and poker, I should get to work on that.

Every decision counts

2008-09-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

Money is won and lost in the microcosms of poker. Making mistakes preflop and on the flop seem small in an absolute sense - after all whats another $3 to see the flop or another $8 to see the turn. But those mistakes not only add up, they also create a multiplier effect which inflate your losses on later streets. This is why a lot of instructors tell new players to the game to learn how to play preflop first. By making correct plays preflop, you eliminate a lot of late street difficulties by virtue of them never existing in the first place. But flop play is a lot harder to teach because there are so many variables. This is why you have so many marginal break even "regulars" at small stakes. They learn what cards to play preflop and get that magical "18/15" ratio. But since postflop can't be bottled and taught, they can't go any further.

Some examples of early round decisions getting bad players into trouble:

Seat 3: OkeyDonKy ( $548.90 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 6: maniac_054 ( $85.00 USD )
Seat 4: robin3596 ( $373.16 USD )
Seat 2: CheckUrNUTZ ( $400.00 USD )
maniac_054 posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
CheckUrNUTZ posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 2s As ]
OkeyDonKy folds
robin3596 calls [$4.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$18.00 USD]
maniac_054 folds
CheckUrNUTZ folds
robin3596 calls [$14.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, 3c, 6s ]
robin3596 checks
tokenblak bets [$29.00 USD]
robin3596 calls [$29.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ad ]
robin3596 checks
tokenblak bets [$65.00 USD]
robin3596 calls [$65.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Tc ]
robin3596 checks
tokenblak bets [$155.00 USD]
robin3596 calls [$155.00 USD]
tokenblak shows [2s, As ]
robin3596 doesn't show [6d, 3d ]

Can you count the mistakes this player "robin3596" made?

First, he limped with 63s, definitely a mistake - easy fold. By even playing this hand, out of position in a raised pot he is destined to lose money in the long run.

Second he hits gin on the flop and decides to slowplay. This is not the time to slowplay a hand like this. From his persepctive it is possible that I have a big hand myself and am ripe to pay him off (not this time but often) with a big pair. He should have raised for value and protection. Instead he got drawn out on and it ended up costing him $270.

Seat 1: turbostanz ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 2: trappedu23 ( $682.90 USD )
Seat 5: FinnStarr ( $989.30 USD )
Seat 6: johnyq4 ( $407.80 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 3: IshootmyWad ( $400.00 USD )
IshootmyWad posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 5s Qc ]
FinnStarr folds
johnyq4 calls [$4.00 USD]
turbostanz folds
trappedu23 folds
IshootmyWad folds
tokenblak checks
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3h, 5c, Qh ]
tokenblak bets [$8.00 USD]
johnyq4 raises [$16.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$58.00 USD]
johnyq4 calls [$50.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ks ]
tokenblak bets [$125.00 USD]
johnyq4 raises [$337.80 USD]
tokenblak calls [$205.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jd ]
tokenblak shows [5s, Qc ]
johnyq4 shows [9h, Th ]
johnyq4 wins $7.80 USD from main pot
johnyq4 wins $799.00 USD from main pot

Aside from the fact this player won this pot, he definitely played it almost as incorrectly as possible, maximizing long term losses.

First he limps with 9hTh from utg+1. Again, I'm not the hugest fan of limping ever, especially from early position with a bunch of agressive players behind him, but I can see why he did it. IMO its still raise/fold here preflop.

Second, he makes a classic fish mistake of minraising a flop with a draw. This almost has no purpose other than to inflate a pot in which you are most likely an underdog in. Remember flush draws, while pretty, are only a 35% shot to win. Now obviously you can't immediately put me on 2 pair when I bet out at this flop, and it is true I will fold every now and then to your min raise, it is still a very innefficient method to achieving what you want me to do - which is fold.

His third mistake was to simply call the rather large reraise I make. For whatever information he was looking for with his minraise here - he got it. I love my hand and realistically most people are never reraising this big from the blinds without a monster. I mean I could have any 2 pair or set combination. Once he calls this bet he is really setting himself up for disaster.

Now on the turn he picks up a gutshot to go along with his flush draw and he decides to push over my bet. I mean my line is so strong that is so unlikely that I'm running a complete bluff, and therefore am very unlikely to be folding. But you see what has happened. By calling my big reraise on the flop he has committed himself to bluffing at this pot if he wants to win it, and since the pot is so big, he is now bluffing his whole stack to do so. Not to mention bluffing into an extremely strong line that is highly unlikely to fold. It worked out for him this time as he had 12 outs and hit, but 75% of the time it will cost him his stack. Had he simply either called on the flop or possibly raised larger he could have saved a lot of money (equity).

One more.

Seat 2: Pipati4Ever ( $637.10 USD )
Seat 3: tokenblak ( $996.50 USD )
Seat 5: dickestoast ( $602.30 USD )
Seat 6: Poh___ ( $80 USD )
Seat 1: KaYiCHi ( $208 USD )
Seat 4: gotshrimp ( $197.70 USD )
gotshrimp posts small blind [$2 USD].
dickestoast posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Tc Qs ]
Poh___ folds
KaYiCHi folds
Pipati4Ever folds
tokenblak raises [$12 USD]
gotshrimp calls [$10 USD]
dickestoast folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Qc, 6c, Td ]
gotshrimp checks
tokenblak bets [$21 USD]
gotshrimp raises [$42 USD]
tokenblak is all-In [$963.50 USD]
gotshrimp is all-In [$143.70 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 3h ]
** Dealing River ** [ 6d ]
gotshrimp shows [ Jc, 4c ]a pair of Sixes.
tokenblak shows [ Tc, Qs ]two pairs, Queens and Tens.

This hand is similar. For whatever reason, this player decides to call my raise out of position with J4s. Then he decides to check min raise his flush draw on the flop. Again, this does have a % chance of working as I won't always have a pair to play back with, but the check min raise has basically the lowest chance of getting your opponent to fold, which is what you definitely want when you are out of position with only a J high flush draw. Here his check min raise got im into big trouble as it compelled him to call my push with his draw, all because he inflated the pot by calling preflop and raising the flop.

And heres one last one that isn't all that similar but there is an important lesson involved.

Seat 1: koomiss ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 2: Pipati4Ever ( $442.00 USD )
Seat 4: onkelpmx ( $274.80 USD )
Seat 5: unexplicable ( $406.00 USD )
Seat 3: tokenblak ( $400.00 USD )
Pipati4Ever posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 6d 3d ]
onkelpmx folds
unexplicable folds
koomiss folds
Pipati4Ever raises [$10.00 USD]
tokenblak calls [$8.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, 4s, 6s ]
Pipati4Ever bets [$16.00 USD]
tokenblak raises [$58.00 USD]
Pipati4Ever calls [$42.00 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jc ]
Pipati4Ever bets [$75.00 USD]
tokenblak calls [$75.00 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 5s ]
Pipati4Ever bets [$255.00 USD]
tokenblak calls [$255.00 USD]
Pipati4Ever shows [7h, 4h ]
tokenblak shows [6d, 3d ]

Shameless brag: this was my first hand at the table, no reads.

The reason I made this call was this. By him calling the flop and betting the turn like he did on a complete blank (no reason for him to have a jack) he is basically representing (or trying to) a pair that is now protecting itself from the draws on board. Once he pushes the river when the flush arrives, what he is representing changes. Not only does he have to be concerned with me having the flush, his line also makes no sense for a flush draw himself. Sure he could have spazzed out with a pair higher than a 6, but more often than not his hand has no showdown value at all, and a pair of 6's is good.

Before making any move in poker, always ask yourself - "Why am I doing this?" And not just to the big decisions. Take time out after every marginal preflop and flop decision and analyze not only why you did your action, but also what other actions were available and what their potential consequences may be.

Back from the dead

2008-08-23T16:37:00.001-07:00

Hey Friends,

I've been really burnt out from poker lately obv haven't been playing much. I've also been working on some side projects that are far more interesting than grinding.

Short post today but I should finally be back in the grind from here on in since I'm running hilariously short on cash. I really need to stay away from 1/2 I think. I can't stand nutpeddling for 4 hours straight - which seems to be only way to play 1/2 since no one ever stacks off light. For some reason at 2/4 tag regs love to stack off with gutshots. I miss their aggression.

In the mean time, if you are bored at work or whatever and are looking for a neat browser / text / NFL based MMORPG, then check Goal Line Blitz out. You start off as a level 1 football player, your choice of position. You join teams along side other real players and team owners. You design your player by picking attributes and skill points. The games are simulated based on what you choose. All in all a pretty neat concept that I feel has massive potential.

P.S.
Love it when this happens.

***** Hand History for Game 7321194132 *****
$400.00 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Saturday, August 23, 07:17:24 ET 2008
Table Table 164481 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Seat 1: kasimir10_1 ( $378.34 USD )
Seat 2: FinnStarr ( $726.40 USD )
Seat 3: FrankyFix ( $400.00 USD )
Seat 5: RiverRatBust ( $937.76 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $445.73 USD )
Seat 6: pushing72o ( $436.00 USD )
kasimir10_1 posts small blind [$2.00 USD].
FinnStarr posts big blind [$4.00 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Jd Td ]
FrankyFix folds
tokenblak raises [$14.00 USD]
RiverRatBust folds
pushing72o raises [$48.00 USD]
kasimir10_1 calls [$46.00 USD]
FinnStarr folds
tokenblak calls [$34.00 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kh, Qs, Ac ]
kasimir10_1 checks
tokenblak checks
pushing72o checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 9s ]
kasimir10_1 bets [$330.34 USD]
tokenblak raises [$397.73 USD]
pushing72o folds
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
kasimir10_1 shows [Ad, Jh ]
tokenblak shows [Jd, Td ]
tokenblak wins $67.39 USD from main pot
tokenblak wins $805.68 USD from main pot

I think I can, I think I can

2008-07-20T17:55:00.001-07:00

You know, as shitty as downswings get, they really do test your character. I'd like to think a lesser man would give completely into his emotions, and while there has been a lot of that for me, I think that I maintained my composure as best I could and kept playing through. Its not over yet and I'm still busto but I think I've at least rationalized my fears about my future. I may have also learned that I simply can't play long sessions without losing my entire mind. All I need is 2 daily 2-4 hour sessions with a solid break inbetween to reflect and unwind - no need to run marathons every day - regardless of how tempting it is when losing.

So to sum up my past 2 weeks, heres a garff. Most of this is $200NL with some $400NL and even $100NL sprinkled in. In fact the reason I even stayed alive here was mostly due to some back to back monster +15 buyin sessions at $100NL.

Hopefully it truly is "over" since 70k breakeven is by far my longest stretch.

A cry for help

2008-07-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

I'm in a really dark place right now, hence the lack of posts.

Since I've gotten back from dropping $325345345134 in Vegas I haven't won a god damn dime online.

I had a sick april and may and now I'm paying for it.

I really don't know what to do to be honest. For almost 3 years I've made easy steady income off poker without even trying or putting in "real" hours. Now I can't get out of this break even stretch and I my bankroll can't sustain my expenses anymore.

I really fucked myself.

Why did I buy a fucking house?

I've been in downswings and breakeven stretches before but none this long. And the longer it goes, the less confident I am in my game.

I played today, won $1200 quickly and wanted to quit - so I did - except for one table where I was deep stacked against a serious fish with a massive stack of his own.

-$2k later I'm writing this post.

I hate taking days off when I'm down a million dollars but I think today has to stop. I'm not anywhere near the right state of mind.

The problem is I don't see myself getting in the right state of mind anytime soon.

Fuck me.

Epic post

2008-06-26T16:11:00.001-07:00

I've been playing a shit ton the past 2 weeks since I've got back from Vegas that I haven't had time to do much else. As a reference point the most hands I've played in a month is something like 30k. In 9 days I've managed to play 38k hands. Its funny how having no money will do that.

But I sort of forgot I left all the readers of this blog at a cliffhanger with my last post - eluding to the best part of my trip.

Here we go.

It was the last day I was in Vegas and I had just busted out of the $2k event as I had described. I was pretty upset and grinding 5/10 for another 10 hours (100 hands) for some reason didn't appeal to me. My friend and I were both feeling the pain of live poker and we decided to give it up and just go out clubbing.

So we shower up (not together) and get dressed to the nines (button up shirt!) and we decide to take advantage of the "free drink" policy at casinos and play some poker until we are mashed - then presumably go to 'da club. I've been to some of the "hot" LV clubs and wasn't impressed - not that I'm ever really impressed by clubs anyways. We decide to head to our old stompin' grounds where a few years ago we spent every waking moment for 3 weeks - MGM grand.

Walking through the casino half buzzed, I feel a rush of energy. There is something about familiarity with a casino that makes you feel good. Now my original plan was to donk it up at 1/2, throwing buyins around like I'm mother-fuckin Hugh Hefner but there was about a 14 person waiting list, so we just sat down at the first available 2/5 game. The stakes of my drunken domination had just doubled+$100.

First few hands I'm 3 betting everyone - taking down a bunch of pots with cbets and shit, throwing all the regular nits off guard. Everyone is pretty nitty and not drunk - so I contrasted well. There were two exceptions however. One being a young kid from LA who was drinking and not that good at the pokers but an all right guy to talk to, and another being an old man with a clear drinking problem - ordering double grand marnier's throughout the night. Old drinking man was directly to my right and was the primary source of the nights entertainment.

You know how they say that even though people expect to lose to the house in a casino but they still play because its entertainment they are paying for? Well thats how I felt tonight for the first time. I wasn't overly concerned with the money I lost because I had already lost a boatload and was just dying to get back online and playing. For the first time in Vegas I was having fun playing poker - imagine that.

When I sat down old drunk man was sitting on about $80. I reraised his open raise with 76s and he pushed. I obviously snap called and hit a flush to take what I assumed to be his last $80. He must have rebought to about $500 though soon after - probably when noticing that I was here to gambool (gambool passes spell check?). I was playing up my image well, slopily stacking chips and haphazardly throwing them into the pot when betting. At this point I wasn't very drunk - only about 4-5 beers but no one had to know.

A few hands later I pick up KK in the blind with 23423 limpers facing me I popped up big to like $50. Obviously almost everyone calls. Flop comes KTx and I obviously cbet. Oldest nittiest man on the planet raises me and I snap move all in. He calls. As soon as he says call I say "I win" lolz. As the dealer deals the turn and river blanks I say "pair of kings" and show one king. He nods to my statement (one pair goot?) but then I flip over the other king. This sends him into a rage. Now it wasn't really my intention to rile him or anything - I was just playing around. In hindsight it was kind of a dick move but I thought everyone was chillin. Little did I realize that I was playing with the worlds biggest life nit of all time. Throughout the night he would constantly complain about any minor "improper" event that happened at the table. I told him to be kind to the fish at the table or they will leave - refering to me.

So I'm dubbed up and feelin good despite the negative energy coming from old man nit. I think I end up donking away a few hundred here and there with missed draws and 2nd best hands then I do something actually stupid.

There are a few limpers and old drunken man raises to $15 (3xbb) which is his standard raise for some reason despite the limpers. I try to isolate him by reraising with 88 to about $60. One guy calls the 2 raises cold then old drunk man reraises again to like $200. At this point what I should have done was fold. What I did do was misread the fuck out of the situation. For some reason I thought that old drunk man had limped along with the other players, then after seeing me raise he decided to reraise. If that had actually been the action I would have no problem getting it all in with 88 there since it is highly unlikely he would limp anything that beats 88 after a bunch of people had already limped. But I forgot that he had made a raise. Small details like this matter - but they are hard to remember while drinking apparantly. So I snap go all in and he obviously has KK and I lose.

That hurt. Rebuy.

I'm still in a good mood though despite the loss and now all the table nits are chomping at the bit to get my action. This one nit to my left is a young asian kid who is audibly upset that he can't pick up a hand. I play a neat pot where I raise with 67 hearts, get one caller (the LA kid). The flop is something like KJ8 with 2 clubs. He check calls my flop bet. Turn is like a 2 and it goes check check. River pairs my 6 and he bets. I call pretty quickly and he has nothing. "Its hard to make a pair" I says. LA Kid is not amused.

However LA kid was pretty funny. All night long he had been bragging about hooking up with some strippers last night at the club and was texting one of them all night. He was planning for her to come meet him at the MGM to his hotel room for some out of club fun. He kept asking my friend and I if she should bring some friends for us since he has a suite. He then tells us that its $2500 each. I wasn't ever considering it anyways but $2500 is so lol, and even more lol that he was bragging about it. No strippers ever showed up.

I'm basically seeing the flop with any 2 reasonable cards and trying to outplay people. It generally doesn't work since no one gives me credit, and it starts to annoy me that people are taking turns beating me with superiour cards. At this point old drunk man has ammassed something like a $3k stack courtesty of random donations from me as well as a few other stacks he's taken from others. Its pretty funny since he can barely drink his drink without getting poker chips in it - literally. Since the cupholders are below the table level he kept dropping chips in his drink. I guess eventually he got sick of taking the chips out that he just left them in there while drinking. Wierd dude.

One hand I have T5 of clubs and call a raise - as does everyone else. Flop has 3 cards with 2 of them being clubs, so I bet when checked to me. Nitty young guy calls me and everyone else folds. Turn brings my flush and I decide to check. He checks behind. River is a low card so the board is something like KJ862 with 3 clubs. I quickly check ot him since he probably has a king since he called my flop bet and will probably try to value bet it after I've checked twice. He does and I quickly and sloppily pop it up to $375. He snap calls me with some garbage and I say "I has a frush". I win and he quickly leaves the table. Its funny because he had been waiting a few hours to get in a pot with me and he leaves right after.

Now comes the climax of the night. I had a respectable stack up to this point - somewhere around $800. I've been straddling all night and had done it again this hand. For some reason every single person at the table folds except the big blind (old drunk man) who limps in. I haven't even looked at my cards yet and I raise it to $30. He snap calls obviously and then blindly donks out like $25 before the flop comes. The flop is K82 with 2 spades. It is then I look at my cards and of course I have QQ. I decide to raise the flop since he blind bet it and he snap calls. Once again, before the turn is dealt he donks out like $50 this time. The turn brings my set - Q of spades also bringing the flush. I knew he wouldn't be randomly donking out with a flush draw on the turn so I was sure I had the best hand. Now heres the best part. Simply the best thing I've ever done live. As soon as I said the words "raise" he INSTANTLY says "CALL!". I hadn't even said how much I was raising to or put out any chips yet, but since I said raise and he said call his call is binding to whatever amount I want to bet. Since I had the nuts I lol'd and went all in for like $700 into a $100 pot. He had to call. River is nothing and he shows his K6 or whatever for top pair. I sort of feel bad but hes a dumbass who took my stack earlier from me not paying attention, so were even in my eyes. He still has like $1k at this point but hes pretty upset.

That is by far the funniest stupidest thing anyone has ever done to me in a live poker game.

The night ended on a shitty note though. Simliar situation, old drunk man raises and I reraise him with KTs. Once again he blind bets the flop. Flop comes down A63 rainbow. I raise him a bit since hes going to miss that flop so often, yet he snap calls. The turn brings an 8, and he check calls my big bet of like $200. At this point I really don't know what to put him on. His blind donk bets are fucking with my now pretty drunken mind. All I knew was that he couldn't be that strong, maybe something like AT. River brings a 9 so its A9863 rainbowish. He checks and I snap go all in for a huge overbet. He obviously snap calls me with A3 and now I'm the one who is pissed.

You know how you get irrationaly angry when you are drinking and something shitty happens? Thats what happened to me. I pretty much lost my mind. The next few hands I was so tilted, I was just literally throwing chips into the pot. One pot my friend cbet the flop and I just snap threw my entire stack into the middle like a giant baby. I left shortly therafter.

Bad ending to an other wise awesome and hilarious night. Oh we didn't end up going clubbing since by the time we were done it was like 5am and was too drunk and too pissed off to do anything but sleep and get the fuck out of this shit hole of a city.

So drinking while playing poker - I'd give it a 9/10 especially if you are willing to lose a bit. Your image is hilarious and you can't beat fucking with the minds of local nits.

But next time I'll probably do it at 1/2 so I don't end up dropping a grand needlessly.

Incoming Huge Posts

2008-06-20T14:51:00.001-07:00

Ok so heres the official Vegas Trip Report.

I'll try to do this without crying.

The first day was promising. Within an hour of getting to Vegas we were at the Rio sitting at a 2/5 game. The Rio is where all the WSOP events are being held this year and the place is absolutely packed. There are probably something like 250 tables - all full - with most of them being used for donkaments.

The first few hours I basically dwindle away my stack with a few lost coinflips and some 2 pair vs set hands. Not too much damage though since most of my opponents were short stacked. There was one hand where I had AK and a 70 year old grandma who hadn't made a bet in 3 hours actually reraised me preflop all in. She only had about $100 but I couldn't imagine her doing that with anything AK beat. I obviously call since AK is the nuts online, but she teaches me a thing about live poker - AK is not the nuts. She flips over aces obv and I lose.

I pulled off one sick bluff against a tight nitty older asian woman. She knew what she was doing but she was very straightforward. I raised in early position with 65 of hearts. She calls from the big blind and the flop comes KQ2 rainbow. Great flop for my range and bad for hers. I c-bet the flop, which she quickly calls. Obviously she isn't winning this hand I say to myself. The turn brings a T and a flush draw. She check calls my double barrel rather quickly again. Heres a spot where I double barrel the the sole intention of pushing the river since I know a ton of her range is a shitty pair + a gutshot or flush draw. Without double barreling your river bet will get no credit since you haven't repped strong enough. River brings a meaningless 6 and she checks. Now at this point you are thinking, wow you three barreled a nit - congratulations. But heres the kicker - I only had about a 1/2 pot bet left, usually not enough to get anyone off any pair. But I knew she was decent enough to realize that I'm repping a monster hand here and that its unlikely I would bluff with just a 1/2 pot bet, so I did it and she thought for a bit and folded. Obviously I have to turn my hand over and show the bluff. The table oo's and aah's and from then in I started making money. I later busted her by flopping trips and having her overplay her Queens.

So I made some money there, and winning pots here, and eventually got my stack up to about $1500. Then something really gay happens.

I had pulled a "bluff" on this older russian dude earlier where I 3 barreled him with 77 on a KQ7xx board. After he called the flop and turn I pushed the river and he took hours to finally fold. I showed 1 seven and he got upset. A few hands later he raises and I pick up QQ. I look over at his stack and see like $100 in front of him. I do a mini raise to $45 assuming he will just go all in preflop. He just calls. The flop is 89T and he checks. I bet what I figure to be his remaining chips - $60 and he calls. Then the turn brings an ace and he immediately goes all in. It is then I see that he was playing with 4 - $100 chips under his stack of $5 chips. Very gay. My obvious first instinct is to fold since he just overbet the fuck out of the pot, but for shits and giggles I decide to play with him a bit. Because he was all in I turn over my hand to get his reaction. I'm not even sure if he realized what I was doing. He says "oooh nice". At this point his buddy who had been sort of watching and sitting beside him says to him "oh you still have outs though". Then the guy I was playing with tells his buddy to shut up because the hand is still live. I - being the genius that I am - determine that this leak of information was an actual mistake and figure I have the best hand. I call the stupid overbet and he snaps over AJ for a pair of aces. I lose the pot and am pissed.

To be honest I really don't know what the fuck happened. Was the friend angle shooting me? They were pretty old and seemed clueless so I doubt it. Maybe he was talking to me? Or maybe he was just a retard and his retard talk got me. After that I played a bit more but then left the table when he did.

I moved to another table where I chipped up but didn't do much. I eventually got my stack up to around $2000 which put me back up to about +$1000 for the day. I was fairly happy with that. The new table happened to be beside another table in which Shannon Elizabeth was playing at. That was neat.

There was one other neat hand which was purely a live benefit. I raised a limper in position with QQ. This young kid with an extremely angry persona calls my raise and check calls the flop of J82 with 2 clubs. The turn brings another J and at this point I didn't have much read on him so I just checked behind. The river brings a sick Qc giving me top boat and also completing the flush and he leads huge into me, like $300. I obviously go all in for like $400 more and he eventually folds. I imagine he didn't have much but I did my cool live trick of showing 1 card to him - a queen indicating that I pushed with just 1 pair. He called me a donkey for a while and wouldn't ever fold to me again so I definitely recommend that trick if you are playing live.

The next day I decided to fuck 2/5 since it was boring as fuck and play some 5/10. I had never been to the Wynn so we decided to play there. The Wynn is basically the Bellagio on the inside since it was designed by the same guy - Steve Wynn. The poker room is quite nice, about 30 tables and serviced by the absolute hottest waitresses in Vegas.

So I sit down at one of the two 5/10 games going on. My table seems pretty loose, with some decent younger guys who know whats up but nothing too intimidating. I immediately go on an early rush doubling up without ever even showing down a hand. I had a few bluffs and a few solid hands but I know everyone is definitely suspicious of me. Eventually after winning a pretty nice pot off the biggest fish at the table, its folded to me on the button and I raise to $30 with 64s. The biggest fish at the table is in the big blind and he immediately raises me to $110.

1. I know he is a fish and a pretty aggressive one at that. He constantly turns his hands into bluffs and never really bets what I would consider to be the correct amounts. He also is like Jaime Gold in that he can bluff but can't value bet his semi-strong hands when he actually makes a hand.
2. I just won a $3-400 pot off him.
3. I have position.

So I call.

The flop is 743. I has a pair and a gutshot. He snap fires out $200. I take my time and call. Turn is an 8. Nothing has changed in my mind. He again snap fires out $400. I take more time and call - basically slow playing since I know he has jack shit. Turn pairs the 8 so its 74388. I has the nuts. He snap pushes all in without a thought and I snap call. He mucked his hand - I win. He was super pissed after this.

Now online I do this 3 times an hour, but live its a lot different. If I was wrong I would have looked retarded. Its definitely the best live calldown I've ever made. And definitely helped with my confidence as well as my image.

So at this point I was up $2500 and feeling good. Then I just ended up pissing away my stack with random ill timed bluffs and some bad setups. One hand I lost $1200 on with a set of Queens on a AQ5 all spades flop. He flopped the frush and I couldn't get away. I also tried pulling a 4 bet preflop bluff against a fellow tag. I raised early and for some reason he raises to $200 preflop from the blinds with no one else in the pot. I smell bullshit and repop to $600. We are both still deep so I know hes not going to fuck around with air here. He thinks for a bit then pushes (wtf) for $2000 more. I have 67s and I fold agonizingly. He definitely had AK and I hate him for pushing. Honestly in the 2 days (20 hours of table play) I was there I didn't see anyone 4 bet preflop. I guess he just beat me to the punch. So I end up dwindling back down to the starting spot of $1500 and leave the table.

Later that night we goto Ceasers. Their room is decent but has the worlds ugliest waitresses. I play for about 5 hours and win probably 2 pots. Annoyance starts to set in, especially while playing at the fishiest 5/10 game that would rival a 0.10/0.25 game online. While I was there one horrible southern "good ole boy" dropped at least 8k. I know because when I got there he had at least $8k in bills stacked in front of him and he left with nothing. Obviously I can't get a fucking hand (since he doesn't fold) and the table nits devour him. It is at this point I'm starting to swear off live poker.

I wonder if anyone is still reading this.

The next day I decide to enter the $2k no limit holdem donkament going on at the rio. I figure, why not take a shot? I'm only here once and I hear the fields are super soft.

So the tournament starts at noon. I get there at 11:55 and I'm the first one at the table. You start with 4k in tournament chips and the blinds are 25/50 with 1 hour blind levels. Clearly this tournament structure sucks balls and its going to degenerate into a pushbot fest within 2 hours, but what did I expect. My table starts to fill up and what do you know but 2 of TV's best are sitting at my table. In the 10 seat - former WSOP champ Scotty Nguyen and in the 3 seat, his Vietnamese partner in crime - Men "The Master" Nguyen.

Now I've lost about every ounce of respect for any named TV pro since I started playing cash games and learned the real game, but sitting at their table was still a little intimidating. I'm not even experienced in MTT's, let alone live MTT's and here are 2 guys that play more events than 99% of the field. But I know they are donkament pros, so they can't be that good. It was also wierd since our table was right along the rail and was a main attraction in the room for the railbirds. Tons of media were roaming around taking pictures and video of our table. Was a little unnerving. However I still held my own.

I raised in EP with KQo and "The Master" calls in the big blind.
Flop is JTx with 2 hearts and he check calls my cbet.
Turn brings a low heart that brings the flush.
Check Check.
River brings another heart and he bets out.
I check my hole cards, yep my Q is a heart - I cawl.

"Good call" he sighs. Turning up AQo for nothing.

Yep donkament pro. As much as I thought playing with "pros" wouldn't effect me, calling one of the "worlds best" bluffs did feel pretty good.

I do nothing for the next hour or two because I miss a bunch of flops and am pretty card dead. And since the blinds are moving up my stack goes from 80bb to 40bb, to 20bb pretty fuckin quick. I get moved from table to table as others bust out, biding my time waiting for a hand to play. Even though I'm down to 20bb, I still plan on playing post flop since a lot of other people are in the same spot. I plan on raising to 2.5bb and cbetting, hoping to take down some pots. It works ok, didn't get to do it much though.

I get moved to another table where I meet up with my nemesis from an earlier cash game I played at the Rio (young angry dude). Hes probably the worst player I've ever seen in real life - paying any price to see the flop and calling any bet with any piece of it. I saw him call (just call) off more than half his stack with a gutshot, and obviously hitting on the turn . I mean just bad. I fold and fold for more hours, stealing a few pots here and there but nothing significant. Eventually I'm down to about 15bb and my nemesis once again limps UTG. About 5 more people limp and I'm in the BB. I immediately want to push, and luckily I look down to AK. I push and nemesis snap calls me. He has JQ. Nice call sir. The flop has a Q on it and I want to shit my pants for wasting my time with a fucking skilless donkament. But the river K saves me and I'm back up to 35bb.

Time goes by, I hover around average chips for a few hours (they have tournament info screens all over letting you know blind levels, how many people left and average chip stack). After one break I get back and pick up AKs in early position. I raise, someone calls and then one of the tightest nits reraises me. Now in a cash game I essentially don't fold AKs for even 150bbs so why I considered folding for 25 was a bit puzzling but I did. I thought and thought and then said fuck it, I has AKs with 25bbs. He calls and has TT. Off to the races lol1!

Flop
2
5
KING!~

I slam my fist in triumph. Back up to 50bbs baby!

Turn
Ace

River
Ten

SDLKF:JLK:J@L:JRWLF$RT#()UJIOTjk3 ltearfAWEFAJWEDFJ@#$TRFasdj flkjr2i5rj 34wrtf903asjkdlf;sd fDONKAMENTSaslkdjl;23jr4lk2;35jr dsifjkl34rjsdRF@#$%R#WEQFSDAFVFDSFSDFUCKKKKKKKKKK

What a shitty tease. I ended up in 500th place out of 1400 entrants. 6-7 hours of wasted life and -$2k down the drain. Ah well at least I gave it a shot. I'll live and the final table was minimum $75k or something so it could have been sweet. There just isn't that much skill to be had in these. Learn your hand equities, learn push/fold poker and learn how to run good. The separation between average joe online poker and the "tv pros" is probably zero.

So I go back to my hotel room and cry. Then I watch the Celtics pull off a hilarious comeback in game 4 which I had them on the Moneyline at +280 which cheered me up.

Now this post has become officially too long and there is one more event I have to talk about - the best part of my Vegas trip - so I'll start a new post tomorrow. Hopefully you enjoyed those brave souls who read the entire thing.

Ban live poker imo

2008-06-17T12:39:00.001-07:00

I'm probably never going to attempt to seriously play live poker ever again.

Us online players are spoiled. We see a ridiculous amount of hands per hour. And if you haven't played live poker in a while it will definitely test the limits your patience.

In case you can't tell by the immediate tone of this post - my trip didn't go so good.

The thing about live poker is - even if you have sick patience, it doesn't matter since you will end up not playing a hand for 2-3 hours at a time and when you do eventually lift up your now asleep arm to make a bet, everyone will insta-fold.

The poker that we have come to know and love that we play on-line is simply not the same game as live.

There are few things more annoying on the planet than being card dead in a live poker game. This is especially true if you are like me and have the knowledge and discipline to prevent myself from playing marginal hands out of boredom. You fold 45 hands in a row (1.5 hours real time) finally pick up KQo but old man river has raised for the first time in his life from UTG and you just have to fold. You take solace in the fact that a weaker minded player would call there, but that isn't much of a consolation. You came to Vegas to pwn noobs, not to fold for hours straight.

The problem is a combination of things really. One - every game is full ring. Even I can't handle full ring online, so its not a shock that I don't enjoy it live either. I don't like playing a limited number of hands, I don't like the idea that limping some hands is +EV, I don't like folding KJ UTG.

The second problem is a bit more complex. Because the game is painfully slow, everyone obviously makes their own adjustments. Most adjustments people make include folding less. This makes sense because the game is fucking boring, and so is folding. Most hands get to showdown and because of this, bluffing is much less profitable live than it is online. Online players realize that another hand is quickly coming, so folding isn't the end of the world as it is live. So the proper adjustment a smart player should make here is to play less hands, bluff less, and value bet the fuck out of people when they make good hands. And in theory this will work - if you have patience and a normal run of cards. However it is extremely difficult to maintain patience, especially when faced with a bad run of cards. Even when you get a great hand, something like KK and you finally get involved in a pot - its going to be extremely difficult to lay that hand down if you suspect you are beat.

So after playing a few days I decided that live poker is really not worth my time. I ended up playing about 30-35 hours at the tables, which boiled down to about 750-1000 hands. If I played online that would be in range of 30-35k hands. Not to mention online I don't have to pay for a hotel, I don't have to fly anywhere, and I don't have to shower.

Thats not to say I didn't have some interesting hands and spots to discus, but I've decided to put them in a separate post to keep this one from being 534,234 words long.

'Till next time.

Back from England; Off to Vegas

2008-06-09T07:23:00.001-07:00

Got back from England 2 days ago.

Going to Vegas today.

Planning on playing a wide variety of cash games starting with 2-5NL to get my feet wet then moving to 5-10 and maybe even some 10-20 if I run good. I'll probably end up joining a random $500-$1000 buyin donkament for fun as well. I'll be staying for a week so I'll have a lot of time to play.

In London I played at their downtown casino. They had a poker room set up but with limited dealers. This meant that for most tables you had to deal for yourself. This was hilarious to me. Being at a casino, playing a table game, dealing for the table. The net result of no dealer was excruciatingly slow play - much worse than regular live play. I made 50 pounds in 2 hours and called it a night after seeing a total of about 20 hands.

So I'll be back online in a week, again.

In the meantime enjoy some friendly comics courtesy of http://www.electricretard.com

Don't click at work though due to graphic/hilarious depictions of body parts. My favorite is #23

Hold Up

2008-05-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Ok so things didn't go as planned.

Basically the day after I decided to take a shot at 5/10 I opened my credit card bill to see a truly rude number so I decided to hold off on the shot until next month. My inner nit cheers with joy.

Additionally I am going to London, England for a week which is notoriously expensive. No real reason, just for vacation.

In other news I've continued my absolute domination online which is weird since usually when I post about running good I insta-lose for a week straight. I ended up with my best month ever, beating my previous best by $2589 which is definitely sick.

The shot is coming, just perhaps a month later.

In other news, here is Fred Astaire in Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal". Somehow they figured out these dances match perfectly and it looks so sick.

Goal Achieved - Double or Nothing Time?

2008-05-21T20:24:00.000-07:00

So I reached my monetary goal for May.

Pretty much the first time that has ever happened. Probably has something to do with umm playing more? Pretty simple imo.

So I told myself that if I made my monthly goal I'd take a 5 buyin shot at 5/10NL since I won't be devastated now if I lose it. I still want to do it since the potential upside is huge, plus I really feel that I'm playing the best poker of my life. I literally haven't had a losing day since like April 20th.

Pretty sick. Running good is fun.

But running good can also fuck with your confidence. I mean sure I've been doing good but what if the mind and ass-fuck shit storm that jebus has cooked up for me hits me during my 5/10 shot and I never recover. I could totally see myself getting a few KK vs AA situations, brushing it off as variance and proceeding to drop 10-15 buyins at my "new" level and never wake up.

But I think I at least owe it to myself to try. To be honest the competition at 2/4 is pretty weak and I feel that I have my tilt problems under control. I really can't remember the last time I officially "tilted". Other than a few buyins lost throughout the year, 2008 has been essentially tilt free. And at the very least I'll learn something from the better players and about myself as well.

I'm probably the only full time poker player in the past 2-3 years that has literally never taken a big scary shot or even a drunken night of 10/20NL. I've been properly rolled+ for every hand of poker that I've played since I deposited my first $100 and while some people may see that as admirable (people with bankroll management problems) I look at it as a colossal fail. I mean I technically "gamble" for a living, I should start living like a gambler.

And success at 5/10 isn't even out of the question. Hell, bad players win there all the time. I'm sure I'll run into some super sick players but for the beginning I'll try to avoid them as much as possible and just get myself grounded.

And to those that ask, "Hey don't you play 2/4NL? Why not move up to 3/6NL first?" I have this to say.

Fuck you. No one ever got famous playing 3/6NL

Poker Academy Pro

2008-05-20T12:21:00.000-07:00

So I got an email from Poker Academy the other day inviting me to try out their poker training software (Poker Academy Pro 2), evaluate and post my thoughts on it. I remember trying out this program 1.5 years ago coincidentally on recommendation from a comment on the blog as well. I thought it had potential back then but never explored it too much since it was just the trial version.

So what is it?

Well basically its an online poker simulator. The interface looks very similar to your standard online poker site with the action buttons and slider bar at the bottom. And rather than playing against human opponents, this program has set up a bunch of AI bots that play against you with varying degrees of aggression. One of the immediate differences from a regular poker interface that I noticed was a collection of statistics on the right side. Heres a screen shot.

The two most important things to look at are the Hand Evaluator and Advisor windows. They basically tell you your hands strength in an absolute sense (compared to all possible hands) and the advisor uses that information to determine the "correct" move. In this screen shot you see me with air, and the advisor recommends me to check based on my hands absolute strength.

You can play all the different types of Hold'em. Ring games, MTT's, SNG's are all represented as well as the option to play full table, short handed, heads up and even limit poker.

There is also a neat feature that allows you to click your opponents cards allowing you to see them. Or you can go all out and have all your opponents cards exposed. The ability to play vs your opponents with their cards exposed wont necessarily teach you how to play poker, but what it will do is give you a great understanding of what types of hands exist and how infrequently people actually pick up monsters. I ended up playing a whole MTT with my opponents hands exposed and while I obviously won, I really think that it is an important tool in evaluating why you should be betting in certain situations and probably the best feature of the program.

The hand evaluator and advisor do a decent job at recommending certain plays but it is certainly lacking in that "human" aspect of the betting lead and aggression. For example, if you raise KQ and you get one caller and miss the flop, often times it will recommend you to check (since your absolute hand strength is weak) disregarding the fact that you have the betting lead and will take the pot down with a continuation bet very often. Also the AI will tend to lead into you when they connect on the flops when you have the betting lead, making it a misrepresentation of the natural flow of most games.

The problem with ranking your hand based on its absolute hand strength is that it ignores all hand reading ability and just states that if you have x% hand strength facing the bet size you are facing you must do y. This is first level poker and doesn't take into account your opponents hand range at all. For example If the board is 4567 rainbow and your opponent bets big, it doesn't really matter what your hand strength is as long as you can beat a bluff since they are generally representing a straight or nothing. Relative hand strength is what you should be thinking about at all times.

However, this isn't to say there is nothing to be learned from playing the AI. They generally play a very solid, tight game that most beginners should try emulating. They also provide a decent representation of a typical tight/weak abc player (the type that make up the majority of low stakes players) to play against which will help beginners learn how to beat that player type.

Also you can tweak the opponent AI type. From the tightest of tight to aggressive as possible, you can play vs any of your choosing. This is especially useful if you want to experiment with ways to exploit certain player types.

One of my biggest concerns with the program is that it seems to have been designed with tournament play in mind, with ring games as an afterthought. In tournaments it is fairly standard to stack off with top pair or even 2nd pair depending on how deep the stacks are but in cash games it isn't. The AI seems to almost always play for stacks in the cash game when they hit top pair, where this just isn't correct play against most low stakes players. At the low stakes games it is mostly about pot control until you get more familiar with certain player types and their tenancies. The advisor makes the most errors in cash games advising to raise much too often, creating huge pots regardless of position or relative hand strength.

But I'm sort of nitpicking here as overall the software is a great tool for learning especially for players new to the game. Of course there is no substitute for real money play against real players, and obviously the AI is lacking those human qualities that you need to learn how to adjust against - but it is almost definitely a better substitute for learning than playing play money as at least your AI opponents are somewhat responsible with their chips. The ability to see your opponents cards as well as your absolute hand strength are amazing learning tools for beginners. But beyond the low stakes tournaments and cash games I'm not entirely sure how helpful this program would be.

You can download the fully functional demo here and test it out yourself. If you are new to the game or have been struggling to win for a while I highly recommend it as it will surely get you on the right track and at the very least open up your mind to new hold'em experiences.

Bill O'Reilly is calm cool and collected

2008-05-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

There are very few people on TV that actually anger me just watching them. Bill O'Reilly is one of them. He may be the most insincere, self absorbed douchebag in the history of the planet. And its way too easy to hate on him, but in case you don't, enjoy this video of him going insane for no apparent reason. I've never seen someone so tightly wound.

I love TV mishaps.

http://view.break.com/501946 - Watch more free videos

Bonus Vid:

This one makes me laugh on so many levels. I've watched it about 10 times and I still keep finding new things to laugh at. The crowd reaction is 10/10. Notice that he actually slams his groin into the bar somehow.

And what the fuck is this event anyways? Looks like the dumbest event in the history of track and field. Previous worst? Walking "races".

http://view.break.com/501813 - Watch more free videos

In poker news I'm happy to report that I've already reached half my monthly goals, which is a good sign for my progress as a human being on earth.

Cue Doomswitch.

And now for something... completely boner inducing

2008-05-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

So heres a new trailer for "The Dark Knight". This movie looks too sick for words. I absolutely loved the first one. Christopher Nolan is incapable of making bad movies (ok not insomnia). With what has been seen from the trailers Heath Ledger seems to have absolutely nailed the Joker character. Combined with the sympathy from his death I predict he is going to make this studio a billion dollars.

I saw Iron-Man last night, and while it was a great movie with some seriously kick ass scenes, I have no doubt in my mind that this movie will blow Iron-Man's impressive box-office results out of the water.

This dead horse wont die

2008-05-06T12:10:00.001-07:00

Here was my actual response to the comment left on here a week ago.

hey

I just read your comment on my blog.

First, I want to thank you for the criticism. Most people who read my blogs are friends and would never criticize me. Its nice to have an outsiders point of view.

I'm not sure I could ever come up with a satisfactory answer to your queries. I know I have a problem with laziness, and rather than deal with it head on I suppose I just make light of it. I can see how this would be annoying to someone who actually has drive and motivation in life.

But the crux of the matter for me is basically a lack of motivation to improve. I'm pretty happy as is, and if you want to call that complacency then so be it. I'm not entirely convinced that complacency is a negative thing.

I have no visions of grandeur, nor the desires to impress ANYONE that I meet. In fact I generally go out of my way to make everyone feel good about themselves, usually by diminishing my accomplishments, skills, etc.

I'm happy in life. I've come to my own understanding of happiness. This endless search for improvement and increased wealth/status/items I feel doesn't necessarily lead to increased happiness or wellbeing.

Like I said, I'm not in it to impress anyone or to make anyone feel worse about their situation.

And even with my laid back strategy, I'm still improving, moving up in levels and making more money, so even I consider the future in all of this.

Maybe my whole outlook is flawed. Or maybe its just different. I wouldn't worry about anyone else with the same experience/skill set as me going pro as I know they will probably do a lot better than me in the long run naturally.

This is just my explanation. I assume you still won't approve of it but I do thank you for the comment. It obviously struck a cord with me since I ended up writing a blog post on your comment section. I know I need to be more motivated and I think that the more I hear people tell me this the better I can become at it.

Thanks,
RikkiDee

I realize that this is basically the opposite viewpoint of most 20-something intelligent males with a lot of options, but its not one that I've come to without thought or consideration.

Happiness is a funny thing. I don't know a lot of old people but I'm sure if one talked to them there would be a strong consensus that chasing the all mighty dollar led to a lot of wasted life for them. I understand that to most people money and working are just means to an end. But I really feel that many people get lost in their original intentions. They forget what end they are trying to achieve. Yes, money is a means to an end, but if you don't have any "end" in mind, what are you really doing?

I guess what I'm saying is that I really don't understand most peoples insatiable desire to impress other people with their amount of money, job status and other superficial things of such nature. It is the driving force behind all western society. Battling your insecurities by trying to out-do your peers seems to be a colossally inefficient way to live. By this I mean, how efficient you are in achieving your happiness goals. If you derive your happiness from your comparable level of success (as most people seem to do) then you are wasting a lot of resources thinking about other people, when they shouldn't even be in your happiness equation.

I realize its hard to be happy without some sort of basis for comparison. And this is something I am currently struggling with. One side of my brain says, "never be satisfied, always improve" and the other says, "fuck it, be happy". At this point in my life the "fuck it, be happy" side is winning the struggle, and I'm trying to rationalize why. But in all honesty I am worried that it is an elaborate cop-out that will allow me to be lazy.

Or maybe I have it all figured out. Maybe my happiness/work ratio is the most efficient in the history of the world. I'd really like to talk to some old people about this. Because they have had a lot of time to think about what is really important in life. I'm sure when you ask them, money, status, etc will be at the bottom of their list. I suspect family, friends and personal improvement would be at the top of their list. You don't need money for these things but I suspect that some people will never accept that.

And I haven't changed my thoughts on what I said in my previous post. I still need to work a ton more, and I will be, simply because its becoming obvious how inefficient it is not to.

Respond Ambition

2008-05-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

So in case you missed it, a reader of this blog left a comment a week ago criticizing my lack of ambition and drive to succeed. Heres what he put:

i've been reading this blog for almost a year now. and it's fucking weak.

not because of the poker content, but because of how you continually poke fun at your own laziness, and accept it, like it's cool/amusing. i would kill to have the time to put into poker that you do.

and you just write things off and say, "LOL I'M LAZY IZZNT IT FUNNEH". It's not. It's pathetic. I've got friends who are on the verge of leaving their day-time jobs and going pro- / semi-pro, and I ALWAYS direct them to this blog.

"beware this guy's attitude. put yourself on a schedule that keeps your mind, body, and social network strong. don't fall into his trap."

Depressing shit, man. Retardation? You should quit worrying about being snarky and think about COMPLACENCE. Where's your drive? Where are your goals? Where are you trying to be in a year or two years?

wtf?

Can't say that I disagree with him. I responded on his blog about how I basically lack the incentives to continue to work past my monthly expenses since I'm not obsessed with wealth, power and status like 99% of the population is.

A pretty weak argument I think.

Since even if I'm not obsessed with all that stuff, I can still be motivated to work by the simple fact that I am in the position to make a lot of money RIGHT NOW, while the future of poker is somewhat uncertain. I mean, why not mine this shaft for all its worth? And I've been saying shit like this for months (years?) now and while I have increased my skill level a ton as well as my bankroll, I still have slacked hard.

So while I'm not delusional about being able to change my entire outlook and motivations, I am going to be more conscientious about working more in general, just because I need to start respecting how fortunate I am. I mean, without poker I'd be 9-5'ing it, making 1/4th of what I do now with 10x the effort. There is virtually no excuse in the world that I can use that allow me to squander this opportunity.

I imagine if they somehow shut down all of online poker tomorrow I would be damn regretful.

And it wouldn't be the first time I've had regrets about my decisions. My education is a prime example. I coasted through all of high school without even thinking. I was the envy of a lot of the "try hards" as I would get just as good grades as them with 100% less effort. I thought I had it all figured out, but then I went to university. I'm sure there are people who can coast through university as I had in high school but unfortunately my intellect has a ceiling, and first year was it for me. I had gotten myself into such a horrible study pattern that bringing it up to "university level" standards would have taken a complete overhaul of my psyche and thought process. Obviously I just dropped out and gave up on life for a while, only to reenter school and fake my way through a simple econ degree.

I'm basically not proud of anything I've ever done since I know I've never tried for anything in my life. So this month, even though I know I still won't be maximizing my potential, I am at least going to set daily # of hand goals and also a monthly dollar figure goal. If I reach that dollar amount before the month is up, I'm moving up to 5/10 for a shot.

I've been dominating 400NL for months now with a win rate over 6ptbb/100. I actually think one of the biggest reasons for my lack of play is simply boredom. There is virtually no challenge at 400NL for me anymore. Almost all the regulars are a level of thinking below me and it pains me to force myself to think at their level to make a living. I think in my mind I'm ready to move up, I just need a half decent month to support my BR.

So thats that. A mini goal is an improvement at least. I won't be putting in a 100k hand month or bringing in mid 5 figures but I will be improved over last month. And if all goes well, who knows, maybe this is the start of something good for me.

WTF

2008-04-25T01:23:00.000-07:00

Seat 1: hencus ($180.05 in chips)
Seat 2: NutPopper ($39 in chips)
Seat 3: thepredator ($248.40 in chips)
Seat 4: norman19 ($200 in chips)
Seat 5: Pushbot1000 ($248.90 in chips)
Seat 6: crazyal25 ($196.90 in chips)
thepredator: posts small blind $1
norman19: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Th Jh]
Pushbot1000: raises $4.50 to $6.50
crazyal25: calls $6.50
hencus: calls $6.50
NutPopper: folds
thepredator: folds
norman19: folds
*** FLOP *** [5c Js 6h]
Pushbot1000: bets $16
crazyal25: raises $20 to $36
hencus: folds
Pushbot1000: calls $20
*** TURN *** [5c Js 6h] [Ts]
Pushbot1000: checks
crazyal25: bets $54
Pushbot1000: raises $152.40 to $206.40 and is all-in
crazyal25: calls $100.40 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [5c Js 6h Ts] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Th Jh] (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
crazyal25: shows [9s 9d] (three of a kind, Nines)
crazyal25 collected $400.30 from pot

Avoid Retardation

2008-04-23T22:11:00.000-07:00

Still alive - just have had a really uninteresting month sofar. I've grinded here and there, made some bucks but really haven't thought about it too much.

I really feel I'm at the top of my game at the moment. That is to say that I've never been "better" than I am right now and I rarely feel outclassed at the tables. I do see a shot at 5/10 in the near future. But in order to take that shot I need to hit my monthly goals, which rarely happen, due to laziness.

If I did move up to 5/10 and had success, I really could see myself taking off since in theory I will be able to make my monthly expenses very quickly and will have a lot left over to build a bankroll with. Moving up in levels is always difficult but its especially hard when you have to take out so much of your roll each month for expenses. I wish I could have just saved my cash, lived like a bum for a while then balled out when I got to 5/10. But, hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

Lately I've been playing 400NL on party during the day, and 200NL on stars during the night. Party sort of shuts down during the night as a lot of the European customers are in bed and all you have left over are the American pros who somehow hacked onto party. And I don't have the roll to play 400NL on stars yet so I just 12-table autopilot grind 200NL until I get there.

Clarity of thought is an amazing thing in poker. When you have it you are basically unbeatable as you can analyze so many situations perfectly. Obviously clarity is rare in life since there is so much stress and bullshit that you have to deal with but when the stars align and you achieve it, its an amazing thing.

I'll end this post with a pseudo poker tip. Its a basic one that a lot of people learn early but I feel that its necessary to reiterate.

Tip: Don't be concerned with how much you've invested in a pot. Its a sunk cost and doesn't belong to you. The only thing you should be concerned with is how to maximize your return on your current decision. Even if you have a good hand, if it is likely that your opponent has you, think twice before blindly shoving all in "just because". Its very easy to lose a big pot and then say "cooler" but in truth there are usually ways to minimize your losses or even get away from it entirely. This requires insane patience and discipline, but it pays off.

Heres an example:

Seat 1: athan8 ( $486.17 USD )
Seat 2: ravenx777 ( $429.80 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $868.62 USD )
Seat 6: MacauFish ( $989.82 USD )
Seat 3: NothingZen ( $751.93 USD )
Seat 5: sweetUKgirl ( $396 USD )
MacauFish posts small blind [$2 USD].
athan8 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 7h 6h ]
ravenx777 folds.
NothingZen raises [$14 USD]
tokenblak raises [$48 USD]
sweetUKgirl folds.
MacauFish folds.
athan8 folds.
NothingZen calls [$34 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5h, 4h, 6c ]
NothingZen checks.
tokenblak bets [$65 USD]
NothingZen calls [$65 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2c ]
NothingZen bets [$133 USD]
tokenblak raises [$364 USD]
NothingZen is all-In.
tokenblak calls [$274.93 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
tokenblak shows [ 7h, 6h ]a pair of Sixes.
NothingZen shows [ 3s, 3h ]a straight Two to Six.

Everything here is standard up until the turn. Now when he bets out on the turn hes representing a very strong hand. He was a decent player and he knew that I was decent as well. He knew that the turn card would be somewhat scary and that I may not bet an overpair if I had it. By him betting out here it should indicate that he likes his hand. I have to then make a decision. Do I want to risk a lot to possibly push him off a hand like 99-TT-JJ-QQ or do I just call and see a river with my pair+flush draw+open ended straight draw. I knew by raising I was putting the pressure on him to make a decision about the hand (he can only push or fold), but the second I did it I regretted it since he is representing such a small range with his turn bet that its best to just call instead. I just didn't want to give up on the hand since I had reraised preflop and hit a nice flop.

So there I should have just called the turn and probably folded on the river since it is so unlikely he is ever bluffing with his wierd line that he took. Its possible he was bluffing the turn but never the river since he has to assume I like my hand and will call.

The point is, regardless of what has happened, always take a second and reconsider doing something retarded. Retardation is the number one cause of poker losses. Avoid it imo.

And this has had me cracking up all week. I love how at the end after looking like a complete idiot he has to let us know that it "actually may in fact be a moth" like hes just completely redeemed himself.

The Nightly Rival

2008-04-08T00:12:00.001-07:00

Poker can be a fun game. But it can also be a really boring game, especially if you mindlessly multitable for hours on end. This boredom can lead to bad play, or at the very least, uninspired play. Sure there are a lot of players who can go on "autopilot" and beat the games for a marginal winrate by just waiting for hands, but that doesn't do it for me. One way I avoid going on autopilot is to find a rival.

Now most players, even so called "regulars" are not worthy of being my rival for the night. It is rare to find an active, smart, sophisticated player who isn't afraid to gamble. I like to think of myself as a playful nit - one who doesn't mind splashing around and trying to annoy the other regulars, but who also usually has the best of it when the money goes in. I'll take a few -EV spots just to see if I can get someone to fold a strong hand, or to try to outflop them once in a while. I do this just to keep the session interesting and maybe put someone on tilt or to help my "crazy" image.

Most players wont play my game with me unless they have a strong hand, so I rarely reap the fruits of my labor vs them. However, there are a select few smart players who not only will play back at me with air, they relish the opportunity to do so. They keep my sessions interesting and my brain active and creative. I may lose to them due to retarded overly tricky plays on my part, but the mere fact that I'm intently thinking during hands with them makes my overall game on other tables improve.

I mean, grinding isn't fun, and I like fun things. This is the only way for me to survive.

Tonight I had a great rival. He wasn't so much as good as he was just very aggressive. Every hand he played vs me he played it as if it were his last. Some examples:

Up to this hand we hadn't done much to each other. A 3 bet here, a cbet there, but no multistreet action. From watching him play I knew he was very active and the hands he was showing down vs other players were indicative of him being a laggy thinking player.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players

Hero (BTN): $611.80
Rival: $429.60
BB: $255.63
UTG: $426.60

Pre-Flop: 9c 7d dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, Rival raises to $52, BB folds, Hero calls $38

Flop: ($108) 5s Td 5h (2 Players)
Rival bets $56, Hero calls $56

Turn: ($220) 6s (2 Players)
Rival checks, Hero checks

River: ($220) Qh (2 Players)
Rival checks, Hero bets $175, Rival calls $175

Results: $570 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed 9c 7d (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$283 NET)
Rival showed 7c 6c (two pairs, Sixes and Fives) and WON $568 (+$285 NET)

So after that hand there was no doubt in my mind that he was up for a game. A brief explanation of that hand would be that he had been 3 betting me a lot and I figured I could bluff him off a good flop. But since I can't represent much on a T55 rainbow flop, I figured I'd float him and represent a mid pocket pair. I checked the turn since thats what I would do with a mid pair and I "value bet" the river when he checks again with his "obvious" ace king. The Queen river was a pretty bad card since without history it is hard for him to imagine me value betting like pocket eights. The problem for him there is that he has to put me on exactly a float that checked the turn - not a common move whatsoever. But he called, good for you, the game is on.

After the hand was over he typed in the chat "I'm too good for this game imo" something I had typed verbatim on another table to another player earlier. He obviously has been paying attention to me too. I love it. Next hand.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 4 Players

SB: $392
BB: $834.50
Rival: $506.50
Hero (BTN): $508.27

Pre-Flop: Jh 9s dealt to Hero (BTN)
Rival raises to $14, Hero calls $14, SB calls $12, BB calls $10

Flop: ($56) Ts 4s 8h (4 Players)
SB checks, BB checks, Rival bets $46, Hero raises to $156, 2 folds, Rival raises to $492.50 and is All-In, Hero calls $336.50

Turn: ($1,041) 7s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($1,041) 4h (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $1,041 Pot ($2 Rake)
Rival mucked Qc Qh (two pairs, Queens and Fours) and LOST (-$506.50 NET)
Hero showed Jh 9s (a straight Seven to Jack) and WON $1,039 (+$532.50 NET)

On the surface this looks like a suicidal play on my part - and it essentially is against most opponents. But the fact is my raise looks ridiculously strong here. I'm raising the preflop raiser with 2 opponents still active in the hand. He knows I'm never raise/folding here since I'll have 2 pair or better so often. He instantly moved all in with queens after it got back to him which really is an overextension since my range here (regardless of history due to other opponents in hand) crushes 1 pair. I sucked out and I'm sure he isn't happy about it. My image couldn't be better.

After this hand he started challenging me to heads up since thats what all tough internet poker players do when they lose a pot. A few hands later this happens:

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

UTG: $384.50
MP: $380
CO: $804.60
Rival: $388
Hero (SB): $1,048.77
BB: $421

Pre-Flop: Jh Jd dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, Rival raises to $14, Hero raises to $54, BB folds, Rival raises to $112, Hero raises to $1,046.77 and is All-In, Rival calls $276 and is All-In

Flop: ($780) Ac 7c 8s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($780) 9c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($780) 2c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $780 Pot ($3 Rake)
Rival showed Ad 9s (two pairs, Aces and Nines) and WON $777 (+$389 NET)
Hero showed Jh Jd (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$388 NET)

The fact that he called my all in with A9o rather than moved in himself really shows a lot about his game (and his current mindset). After the hand he berated me for not respecting his "first 4-bet yet". Yea, clearly you are the type to only 4-bet aces and kings. A few hands later on a different table...

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 3 Players

Hero (BB): $449
Rival: $956.40
SB: $82

Pre-Flop: 5s 6d dealt to Hero (BB)
Rival raises to $14, SB folds, Hero raises to $54, Rival calls $40

Flop: ($110) 6h 7d 8h (2 Players)
Hero bets $75, Rival calls $75

Turn: ($260) 5d (2 Players)
Hero bets $320 and is All-In, Rival calls $320

River: ($900) Jh (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $900 Pot ($1 Rake)
Hero showed 5s 6d (two pairs, Sixes and Fives) and WON $899 (+$450 NET)
Rival showed 3d 3h (a pair of Threes) and LOST (-$449 NET)

At this point I'm really toying with him since I know he is tilting. In hindsight since I know he is never folding to me ever again I should probably just wait for premium hands to 3-bet with but I just can't help myself. Sometimes in poker you just know you have someone in a mindset where they are going to make such large mistakes that your preflop hand strength barely matters. I insta-pushed the turn as well, not fearing a straight at all since I KNOW he is raising the flop with all his pair/gutshot type hands. I mean at best he has a better 2 pair but there are just way too many hands I'm beating. When I pushed the turn he tanked (obviously, look at his hand lol) and I said in chat "sick value bet imo" since I knew at that point I had the best hand. I guess he took that comment to mean that I was value pushing a flush draw or something since he called with one of the worst hands anyone could have given the action.

About 10 minutes later, I had been 3 betting him a ton and he had been folding to me, until this happened.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

BB: $80
Rival: $458
Hero (MP): $400
CO: $731.20
BTN: $236.40
SB: $897.20

Pre-Flop: Kc Ks dealt to Hero (MP)
Rival raises to $14, Hero raises to $48, 4 folds, Rival calls $34

Flop: ($102) 5c 6s 8d (2 Players)
Rival checks, Hero bets $75, Rival calls $75

Turn: ($252) 5s (2 Players)
Rival checks, Hero bets $168, Rival raises to $335 and is All-In, Hero calls $109 and is All-In

River: ($806) Th (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $806 Pot ($61.50 Rake)
Rival showed 6h 6c (a full house, Sixes full of Fives) and WON $744.50 (+$344.50 NET)
Hero showed Kc Ks (two pairs, Kings and Fives) and LOST (-$400 NET)

Important lesson here - when you have someone on the ropes, never slowplay. His call with 66 here out of position is pretty horrible since he is rarely going to win anything without flopping a set. Anyways he hits his set and I guess his slowplay makes sense because if you are calling with 66 preflop you really can't just be putting me on a premium hand and therefor will check to induce further bluffs. Standard cooler, even more so with the dynamic.

Literally 3-4 hands later this happens.

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

BTN: $80
Rival: $814.50
Hero (BB): $444.50
UTG: $725.20
MP: $236.40
CO: $895.20

Pre-Flop: Td Ts dealt to Hero (BB)
4 folds, Rival raises to $14, Hero raises to $48, Rival raises to $110, Hero raises to $440.50 and is All-In, Rival calls $332.50

Flop: ($889) 5s Tc 2s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($889) 6s (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($889) 5c (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $889 Pot ($3.50 Rake)
Rival showed Jc Ad (a pair of Fives) and LOST (-$444.50 NET)
Hero showed Td Ts (a full house, Tens full of Fives) and WON $885.50 (+$441 NET)

Sure he had a coinflip but just the fact that I can get him to stack off with AJo preflop after he has just won a big pot off me really speaks to his instability. If he is stacking off with AJo pre he is doing it with a lot of other hands TT crushes. I mean, in this dynamic TT is the fuckin nuts. I prayed he raised my blind when I saw TT.

After that hand he continued to berate me and told me that I need to "run better", completely forgetting all the ridiculous calls and suckouts he has made as well. Oh and the heads up challenged never stopped. "Any stakes" he says. I mean I know I have an edge on him (especially at this point) but its not going to be that big. Additionally the match would involve a ton of coinflipping which would just lead to unwanted variance. Also I already know what he wants to prove since I've outplayed him in almost every pot.

Some smaller pots followed in which I just kept up the same aggression even though I had super strong hands.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

SB: $76
Rival: $400
Hero (UTG): $889.50
MP: $746
CO: $220.40
BTN: $887.20

Pre-Flop: 4h 4c dealt to Hero (UTG)
Hero raises to $15, MP folds, CO calls $15, 2 folds, Rival calls $11

Flop: ($47) Jc 4d 6h (3 Players)
Rival bets $37, Hero raises to $124, 2 folds

Results: $121 Pot

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players

UTG: $74
Rival: $420
Hero (CO): $963
BTN: $740
SB: $191.40
BB: $875.20

Pre-Flop: 9d Ad dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Rival raises to $14, Hero calls $14, BTN folds, SB calls $12, BB folds

Flop: ($46) 2d 7d 5s (3 Players)
SB checks, Rival bets $31, Hero raises to $96, 2 folds

Results: $108 Pot

He managed to get away from his trash, but I can only imagine what he would have done had he had top pair or better in either. I left shortly after since I had been playing for about 4 hours which is approximately 3.3 hours past my limit, but thanks to my rival providing me with stimulation and entertainment, I was able to stretch out the session to a respectable time.

I ended up $448.34 against him in total, which in all honesty doesn't matter. I mean sometimes I'll win, sometimes I'll lose but in the long run what matters is his contribution to my overall success as a player. He probably hates me now and would hate me even more if he know how he actually helps me to win and stay afloat in the poker world.

My life in a blogshell

2008-04-02T00:38:00.000-07:00

I really have been slacking lately. Have you noticed?

I took like 3 weeks off in March for no real reason other than I was just bored of poker. However I still need to pay d bills and luckily since I've moved up I can work even less for the same amount of money I am used to making. Someday I know I will be motivated to get money get money but today is not that day.

Its weird to think about my income potential. If I was working as much in poker as I would in a standard 9-5 job (which I would undoubtedly be in without poker) I would be balling so horribly out of control that Robin Leach would get jealous. I sometimes sit back and reflect on how many people would absolutely kill for the opportunity to be able to make a few hundred here and there whenever they wanted to. I think about how angry people would be if they only knew how effortless it is to me to make a living. And not only that, how angry they would be when they realize how much I've wasted my potential due to laziness.

Its hard for me to really grasp how lucky I've really been sometimes since I've been removed from the real world for about 3 years now. And I say lucky in the grandiose sense that I'm lucky to have my brain and lucky to have discovered poker - not lucky in poker. I know without poker I'd be very depressed, but on the other hand I would be working a lot harder in life, and would probably be an overall "better" person because of it. Without poker I would definitely be poorer and have less time for video games, but I'm sure I'd be in better shape, have stronger relationships with people I like, and would probably be working towards some life goals - at least a lot more than I am now.

But this is not to say that I don't prefer my life now - I do. But I still do see some greener grasses on my neighbors lawns occasionally. Such is what being a human is all about - always wanting more. Its what has got us to the top of the food chain and conversely is our biggest restraint when it comes to true happiness. No one with a capitalist mind will ever be happy. Ever. Seriously never. I'm probably the least ruthless and aggressive "capitalist" that I know and yet I still strive for improvement in all my life pursuits.

I had a conversation with a close friend over the weekend about this. He asked me how I could ever be lacking confidence or unsure of myself in life when I have so much going for me. I didn't really have much of an answer for him. I then quickly thought back to high school (when I got good grades) and would routinely get angry when I got less than 100% on tests. Some people would scoff at me wondering why I would ever care. Its just human nature to be disappointed when you know you are capable of better. Combine this with a negative and pessimistic attitude (I call it realist, but whatever) and you have a recipe for not only someone who is never satisfied with what they do, but also someone who lacks the confidence to ever attempt anything that they are truly capable of.

Trust me, I want to be happy with myself. But most of the time I only see any attempts I make at anything as failures, which leads to me not trying in the first place (the root of all laziness). Sure in theory I am capable of a lot, and should be the most confident, arrogant piece of shit on the block, but the reality of the situation is that I just don't have the makeup to be that person. I only have one half of the equation.

But I'm working on it. I rarely compare myself to others in life, but I do think I need to realize how fortunate I am to be living my life. I need to take advantage of it and be happy that I'm alive.

Sorry for the emo post, hope that wasn't too dry a read. I'll be back to playing and posting about the pokers this week for sure as I plan on (lol) putting in a huge april month.

Losing that loving feeling

2008-03-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, it takes something very significant in poker to get my attention these days. I'm confident in my longterm winrate and my brain has become (relatively) desensitized to the natural swings that poker brings. This relegates my brain to just "mindlessly" play through the variance to achieve said winrate. Obviously big wins and losses still affect me, but the scales have changed dramatically since I first started.

Take for instance this week. I played solid all week and brought in an above average haul. Friday night I get drunk and play and drop $1.5k. And to be honest, I could really care less. Sure I'll have to put in an extra few hours at the table to make up for it but thats it. I know its coming back, its just a matter of time. While this confidence is helpful in playing the game of poker, it also could have dangerous side effects.

Since my emotions have become increasingly less of a factor when playing I tend to play a much more robotic game. This style is a winning style (for now) but I'm positive I'm not challenging myself to improve. And if you lose the desire to improve and adapt in poker, you lose the desire to win.

All this can also been seen in the microcosm of my life as well. When I read back on this blog throughout the years, I can see myself giving less and less attention to individual hands. I can go on stretches of 10-20k hands where I don't really feel the need to post a single hand. Most of the time when I am reflecting on the hands I played that day I can quickly assign the net result into a few categories that I've already "dealt with" in my psyche. For example if I lost a pot with Kings vs Aces preflop it doesn't even hit my radar since it was an inevitability and just part of variance - therefore I can quickly stash that away in the the variance drawer. If another hand I overplay my hand and lose my stack, I can put that in the "I'm a retard" drawer. Trust me that one is overflowing.

But rare is the hand where I can identify a unique problem that actually makes me question my entire game. This type of hand used to be a daily occurrence. Obviously this makes sense due to the fact that if I play more hands I'm going to become more familiar with situations that become common. But the fact that I rarely get riled up over an individual hand still scares me. I need that emotion to keep my brain active. I need it to continue to become a better poker player.

Its interesting, this phenomenon. It is often said that emotion and poker must be separated for success to occur. And while I believe this to be true on a basic level, it starts to lose its merits once your game becomes stale and dormant due to the loss of total life emotion in general.

What it comes down to for me I think is that I need to continuously be challenged to keep the passion alive. However the only real way to do this in poker is to move up in stakes, which is always a scary proposition, but is something I really must always keep in mind for my long term goals. At the levels I'm at right now I can make a very comfortable income and its easy to become comfortable doing so. However for the sake of my long term overall game, its a necessity.

The Great Shortstacking Experiment

2008-03-05T11:58:00.000-08:00

I've been really sick lately, and playing with a headache and sore throat isn't fun or profitable. I'm actually having troubles even writing this as my head just isn't in the right place. But I still have needed to work, so I've been experimenting with shortstacking cash games for the past week.

"Shortstacking" is basically buying in to a table for the minimum and mostly going all in preflop facing raises. I can do this without paying much attention at all, and my sit&go background helps out immensely as its mostly about math and ranges. I can also play 12 tables with ease, which technically has the potential for more income than 4-5 tabling 400NL full stack assuming a similar win rate. Whats interesting is I can actually achieve a similar win rate shortstacking compared to fullstacking. It's not quite that high, but for no real effort or thought, its a decent substitute.

Whats also interesting is that its despised throughout the poker world - especially if you are good at it. Poker players hate it because it pretty much ruins the "game" meaning that too many pots become about preflop decisions, and not about the multistreet ones. It also has an effect of shutting out the fish as if a tag raises and I push fish will just fold, and tags have to play vs my perfect pushing range preflop instead of bad fish postflop. But, fuck em, I'm sick.

Like sit&go's, variance is a huge factor, and 100% beyond your control. Because you are going all in preflop hundreds of times you are completely at the mercy of the cards, and sometimes the runs can get real ugly. However, only the long run is important, and thats all that I'm concerned with. But, just to show you how stupid things can get, heres a graff.

Another poker EV graph. The red line is what I should have won in my all ins, and the blue line is what I did win. The chart below identifies the exact numbers. The important number is the "Net Run (All-Ins)" where is states that I've lost -$1587.07 in equity. To put that in perspective, I buy in for $40 at a time. Being down $1587 that means I'm down a ridiculous 39.7 buyins JUST IN EQUITY. So in the long run I'll win lots of monies, but right now I just gotta take it up the ass.

and thats it for now, I need to go back to bed

EVEN

2008-02-26T13:31:00.000-08:00

The repeated nut stomping is over (temporarily). I has climbed out of my downswing, maybe my bills will be paid this month after all.

The total freefall damage done was -$7392, 18.5 buyins which ties the most "buyins" lost downswing but since that was at 200NL, this was doubly bad.

It was a tough road crawling back but I had evidence that most of my losses were due to ridiculously bad luck and not bad play. Ok some bad play, fuck off, I dropped $5k in one day, give me a break.

There was also a point where I crawled back a decent amount (3-4kish) then obviously dropped right back down to ground zero. It was super disheartening and actually pushed my frail psyche into a new dimension of pain. But I didn't have much choice other than to keep playing and forgetting the past.

And now, here I stand, victorious.

The graph:

Coming back from downswings definitely makes you a better player as you are forced to reevaluate your game. Its unlikely that I was doing something wrong, but its very hard to keep thinking that when the losses keep coming. Recovery from it is one of the best feelings in poker.

And on a different note, I've been wanting to make a bunch of small changes in my life for a long time. Things like eating better, getting more exercise, standard shit. Most of the time these thoughts enter and leave my mind within the timespan of a 1 poker hand, but I think I've done something that will hopefully be a bit more effective.

I decided to make a list with a point system of all the things I want to improve on in my life. Every time I do something on the list, I get a "point". At the end of the week I tally up all the points and record them in a spreadsheet. I will be able to track my progress from week to week and eventually be able to make a uber l33t graph.

And in order to keep the incentive strong my girlfriend along with some other friends of mine decided to do the same, and make a weekly competition out of it. If nothing else, just having other people aware of the things I want to improve will give me a bit more motivation to do them.

Heres my list:

Lift Weights
Elliptical > 20 minutes
Clean a room thoroughly
Take a shower
Goto bed before 1am
Eat daily breakfast
No chocolate during week (5 points)
Eat 1 piece of fruit
Read a book (5 points)
Tidy all used dishes in a day
Do an outdoor activity (5 points)
Do something creative (5 points)
Drink 4 cups of water / day
Work over 6 hours
Eat a daily salad
Take vitamins
Talk to Christine for an hour without distraction
Improve the house in someway (5 points)
Don't eat after 9pm
Sleep no more than 8 hours
Find a new musical artist that you enjoy
Lose 2 pounds (5 points)
Try a new food
Clean an unusual item
Eat at a fast food restaurant (negative points)

I'm still working out the point system for achieving each item. Ultimately I would like to have each item on the list rewarded equally to its inherent difficulty and personal reward for doing it. I wouldn't want something as trivial as taking a shower to be worth the same amount of points as working out daily because then I would just cheat and only shower to get mad points. Yes, I'm that pathetic.

This system will start next week, and if it works for me, my life will forever be changed. Heres hoping.

Well it had to happen someday

2008-02-18T22:23:00.001-08:00

Monday February 18th is now officially my worst day ever.

I lost $5.5k in 4k hands

fun times

Not gonna post much about it since I'm obviously pissed off, but one thing I will say is that I do believe I played as good as could be expected given the insane amount of ridiculousness I had to deal with today.

Now I'm going to post 15 hands. These are 15 sets I hit today. Notice how much action I got with them. Don't worry it won't take too long to read and it is actually pretty comical. Keep in mind all these hands happened in ONE day.

------------------
HAND #1
------------------

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

CO: $383.50
BTN: $512.80
Hero (SB): $396
BB: $268
UTG: $403.50
MP: $432

Pre-Flop: 2h 2d dealt to Hero (SB)
4 folds, Hero raises to $14, BB calls $10

Flop: ($28) 9c Tc 2c (2 Players)
Hero bets $22, BB folds

Results: $28 Pot

------------------
HAND #2
------------------

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

CO: $287.08
BTN: $452.90
SB: $300.30
Hero (BB): $400
UTG: $421

Pre-Flop: 2s 2h dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, SB raises to $16, Hero calls $12

Flop: ($32) Ac 2c Tc (2 Players)
SB bets $12, Hero raises to $38, SB folds

Results: $56 Pot

------------------
HAND #3
------------------

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

UTG: $600.80
MP: $632.70
CO: $468.40
Hero (BTN): $376.10
SB: $406.01
BB: $378

Pre-Flop: 3d 3h dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, CO raises to $16, Hero calls $16, 2 folds

Flop: ($38) 3s 8c Ts (2 Players)
CO bets $36, Hero raises to $109, CO folds

Results: $110 Pot

------------------
HAND #4
------------------

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

UTG: $595.12
MP: $504.70
CO: $80
Hero (BTN): $394
SB: $436.70
BB: $400

Pre-Flop: 4d 4c dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP raises to $14, CO folds, Hero calls $14, 2 folds

Flop: ($34) Tc 4h Js (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $24, MP folds

Results: $34 Pot

------------------
HAND #5
------------------

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

UTG: $505
Hero (CO): $515
BTN: $388
SB: $384
BB: $742.49

Pre-Flop: 5s 5d dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG raises to $14, Hero calls $14, 3 folds

Flop: ($34) 3h 5h 6h (2 Players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $32, UTG calls $32

Turn: ($98) Tc (2 Players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $96, UTG folds

Results: $98 Pot
Hero mucked 5s 5d and WON $192 (+$146 NET)

------------------
HAND #6
------------------

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

Hero (BTN): $475
SB: $168.17
BB: $1,097.95
UTG: $766.90
CO: $367.20

Pre-Flop: 5d 5s dealt to Hero (BTN)
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, SB calls $12, BB folds

Flop: ($32) 5c 7s 6d (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $23, SB folds

Results: $32 Pot

------------------
HAND #7
------------------

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

UTG: $717
Hero (BTN): $418
SB: $673.04
BB: $373

Pre-Flop: 5c 5s dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, SB folds, BB calls $10

Flop: ($30) 5d Jd Qs (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $24, BB folds

Results: $30 Pot

------------------
HAND #8
------------------

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

Hero (SB): $390.40
BB: $166.27
UTG: $1,023.95
MP: $384
CO: $890.60
BTN: $404.20

Pre-Flop: 7h 7s dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, BTN raises to $15, Hero calls $13, BB calls $11

Flop: ($45) 7d Ks 4d (3 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, BTN checks

Turn: ($45) 4h (3 Players)
Hero bets $32, 2 folds

Results: $45 Pot
Hero mucked 7h 7s and WON $74.75 (+$59.75 NET)

------------------
HAND #9
------------------

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

BTN: $388
Hero (SB): $549
BB: $500
UTG: $403.50
MP: $445.09
CO: $423.90

Pre-Flop: 2h 2d dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG folds, MP raises to $8, CO folds, BTN calls $8, Hero calls $6, BB calls $4

Flop: ($32) Kd 2s Ac (4 Players)
Hero checks, BB checks, MP bets $44, BTN calls $44, Hero raises to $88, 3 folds

Results: $164 Pot

------------------
HAND #10
------------------

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

Hero (BTN): $398
SB: $329.57
BB: $212.90
UTG: $400
MP: $400
CO: $428.50

Pre-Flop: 8s 8d dealt to Hero (BTN)
UTG folds, MP raises to $16, CO folds, Hero calls $16, 2 folds

Flop: ($38) 2d 5c 8h (2 Players)
MP bets $24, Hero calls $24

Turn: ($86) Js (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $65, MP folds

Results: $86 Pot
Hero mucked 8s 8d and WON $148 (+$108 NET)

------------------
HAND #11
------------------

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

UTG: $586.60
Hero (MP): $1,014.10
CO: $400
BTN: $398
SB: $420
BB: $204.76

Pre-Flop: Th Td dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $15, CO folds, BTN raises to $44, 2 folds, Hero calls $29

Flop: ($94) As Kd Ts (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN bets $65, Hero calls $65

Turn: ($224) 7d (2 Players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: ($224) 5c (2 Players)
Hero bets $155, BTN folds

Results: $224 Pot
Hero mucked Th Td and WON $375.50 (+$266.50 NET)

------------------
HAND #12
------------------

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

CO: $837.70
BTN: $780.20
SB: $400
Hero (BB): $573.90
UTG: $241.50
MP: $423.40

Pre-Flop: Jh Js dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, BTN raises to $15, SB raises to $50, Hero calls $46, BTN calls $35

Flop: ($150) Th Jd 2c (3 Players)
SB bets $80, Hero raises to $220, 2 folds

Results: $310 Pot

------------------
HAND #13
------------------

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

MP: $1,209.81
Hero (CO): $394
BTN: $454
SB: $400
BB: $283.50
UTG: $396

Pre-Flop: Jc Jh dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, 2 folds, BB calls $10

Flop: ($30) 6d Jd Ah (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $21, BB folds

Results: $30 Pot

------------------
HAND #14
------------------

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

Hero (SB): $472.70
BB: $159.50
UTG: $83
CO: $440.30
BTN: $763.80

Pre-Flop: Jc Js dealt to Hero (SB)
3 folds, Hero raises to $15, BB calls $11

Flop: ($30) As Kd Jd (2 Players)
Hero bets $21, BB folds

Results: $30 Pot

------------------
HAND #15
------------------

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

Hero (SB): $594
BB: $1,065
UTG: $735.55
MP: $770.83
CO: $151.84
BTN: $388

Pre-Flop: Qc Qs dealt to Hero (SB)
4 folds, Hero raises to $14, BB calls $10

Flop: ($28) 8d Jh 5c (2 Players)
Hero bets $22, BB calls $22

Turn: ($72) Qd (2 Players)
Hero bets $55, BB folds

Results: $72 Pot
Hero mucked Qc Qs and WON $124 (+$88 NET)

And here is my pokerEV graph. This analyzes all the hands I went all in with and determines my equity in them. For example if I got all in with AA vs someones KK preflop I will have 80% equity (0.80x$400=$320 in equity). So it looks at all the hands I went all in with and calculates the total equity I had which is represented by the red line. The blue line is what actually happened. As you can see I ran $3,750 below equity or what I will run in the long run.

Pretty sick.

Thursday: Lost $1000

2008-02-14T23:20:00.000-08:00

In 25 hands

fuck you bastards

heres the video equivalent of how bad i played today

Wednesday: Avoiding Tilt

2008-02-13T19:50:00.000-08:00

I managed to play a decent amount in one sitting today - 1,655 hands. My brain was fried so I had to stop and I'm not sure if I'll play more tonight but for now I'll write this.

In case you are wondering, 1600 hands takes me about 3 hours to play. It may not seem like a lot but concentrating to your fullest capacity for that long is a huge strain on the mind. At least my lazy mind.

My high water mark today was around $1k. My low water mark was -$550, so it was a fun swingy day. I ended up at $610.04, a respectable amount considering the beats I took.

Updated stats:
4184 Hands @ 400NL: $1470.48
2243 Hands @ 100NL: $333.50
6427 Hands: $1803.98

I don't think I'll get my 10k goal since I forgot that valentines day was this week and I obviously can't work much that day. Oh and I'm lazy.

I lost two massive pots that should have set me off the deep end but somehow I serenity now'd myself and kept on keepin' on. Here are the two pots in question:

Seat 1: KarinaVig ( $727.75 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $898.90 USD )
Seat 2: s0dfyr12 ( $657.35 USD )
Seat 3: igetjokes1 ( $400 USD )
Seat 6: vetal777111 ( $400 USD )
s0dfyr12 posts small blind [$2 USD].
igetjokes1 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 2c 2s ]
tokenblak raises [$15 USD]
vetal777111 folds.
KarinaVig calls [$15 USD]
s0dfyr12 folds.
igetjokes1 folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9h, Jh, 2d ]
tokenblak bets [$28 USD]
KarinaVig raises [$56 USD]
tokenblak raises [$192 USD]
KarinaVig calls [$164 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Qd ]
tokenblak bets [$352 USD]
KarinaVig is all-In.
tokenblak calls [$140.75 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4h ]
tokenblak shows [ 2c, 2s ]three of a kind, Twos.
KarinaVig shows [ Th, Kh ]a flush, King high.
KarinaVig wins $1,459.50 USD from the main pot with a flush, King high.

Seat 5: BreakMeAgain ( $774.47 USD )
Seat 2: tokenblak ( $733.40 USD )
Seat 1: vetal777111 ( $380 USD )
Seat 3: Tolbuhina ( $109 USD )
Seat 4: feibei ( $93.60 USD )
Seat 6: madcow446 ( $300 USD )
feibei posts small blind [$2 USD].
BreakMeAgain posts big blind [$4 USD].
madcow446 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Qs Qh ]
madcow446 checks.
vetal777111 raises [$22 USD]
tokenblak raises [$68 USD]
Tolbuhina folds.
feibei folds.
BreakMeAgain raises [$146 USD]
madcow446 folds.
vetal777111 folds.
tokenblak calls [$82 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 6h, 8d ]
BreakMeAgain bets [$220 USD]
tokenblak is all-In.
BreakMeAgain calls [$363.40 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
** Dealing River ** [ Kc ]
BreakMeAgain shows [ Ks, Ah ]two pairs, Kings and Sixes.
tokenblak doesn't show [ Qs, Qh ]two pairs, Queens and Sixes.
BreakMeAgain wins $1,491.80 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Kings and Sixes.

That 2nd pot was fucking ridiculous. Who calls with AK there? What could I possibly have that AK beats? And up to this point this dude had been tight as a mother fucker, and I almost considered folding the flop (lol).

But it didn't send me off. And not even QQ vs AA and KK vs AA all in preflop with both losing tilted me. Huge swings but standard gay shit that can't be avoided. At least thats what I keep telling myself.

I also played two sick hands where I value bet super thin and I got called. Pretty proud of myself for these.

Seat 1: KarinaVig ( $543.90 USD )
Seat 6: KURTTHEFROG ( $437.30 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $411 USD )
Seat 3: MightyMelon ( $448 USD )
Seat 2: Incubus422 ( $388 USD )
Seat 4: Overdrink ( $402 USD )
Overdrink posts small blind [$2 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 6c Ac ]
KURTTHEFROG folds.
KarinaVig folds.
Incubus422 folds.
MightyMelon folds.
Overdrink raises [$12 USD]
tokenblak calls [$10 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 3c, 4d ]
Overdrink bets [$18 USD]
tokenblak raises [$48 USD]
Overdrink raises [$82 USD]
tokenblak calls [$52 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Th ]
Overdrink checks.
tokenblak checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 7c ]
Overdrink checks.
tokenblak bets [$180 USD]
Overdrink calls [$180 USD]
tokenblak shows [ 6c, Ac ]a pair of Aces.
Overdrink doesn't show [ Tc, Jd ]a pair of Tens.
tokenblak wins $585 USD from the main pot with a pair of Aces.

Seat 1: KarinaVig ( $1,222.30 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $400 USD )
Seat 2: s0dfyr12 ( $1,132.95 USD )
Seat 6: vetal777111 ( $819.40 USD )
Seat 3: davidross ( $433 USD )
Seat 4: Flegmatik ( $70 USD )
vetal777111 posts small blind [$2 USD].
KarinaVig posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ As Qc ]
s0dfyr12 folds.
davidross raises [$12 USD]
Flegmatik folds.
tokenblak calls [$12 USD]
vetal777111 folds.
KarinaVig folds.
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5c, Qs, 2h ]
davidross bets [$20 USD]
tokenblak calls [$20 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ts ]
davidross checks.
tokenblak bets [$45 USD]
davidross calls [$45 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Kh ]
davidross checks.
tokenblak bets [$125 USD]
davidross calls [$125 USD]
tokenblak shows [ As, Qc ]a pair of Queens.
davidross doesn't show [ Jd, Qd ]a pair of Queens.

So crispy.

And heres a video of some chick named Sara Varone. Tres bella

more videos because... well, yea

Tuesday: Business as Usual

2008-02-13T00:36:00.000-08:00

I managed to play only 1,280 hands today. Obviously I suck at life.

Coinciding with my poker goals this week, I also had a goal to get back on track sleep wise. For the past few weeks I had been going to bed progressively later, until it reached a head where I woke up at 6pm last week. Something had to be done.

So I decided that I would goto bed 1.5 hours earlier each night, and in turn wake up 1.5 hours earlier in the day. Sofar its worked out ok, as I've got my wakeup time down to 3pm from 6pm, but I still have a long way to go. Ultimately I want to be getting up at 8am so I can live a normal regular life, and also so I can work during the day and do stuff with the wife at night and not feel guilty about working (or not working).

So needless to say I've been tired in doing this, as its not real easy for me to force myself to goto sleep, especially when the internets exist. And when I'm tired, I play bad, and hence, 1,280 hands today.

I still managed to pocket $784.01 which isn't half bad considering I played like a retarded donkey. Thank god for running good.

SO the totals sofar are:
2604 Hands @ 400NL: $860.44
2243 Hands @ 100NL: $333.50
4847 Hands: $1193.94

Heres a hand I played like a complete asshole:

Seat 3: ghostfase ( $255.30 USD )
Seat 4: natzz88 ( $649.10 USD )
Seat 5: kaimachek ( $181.90 USD )
Seat 2: tokenblak ( $478.40 USD )
Seat 1: chrstakar ( $420.80 USD )
Seat 6: booolochka ( $84 USD )
ghostfase posts small blind [$2 USD].
natzz88 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Kd Qs ]
kaimachek folds.
booolochka folds.
chrstakar folds.
tokenblak raises [$14 USD]
ghostfase folds.
natzz88 raises [$46 USD]
tokenblak calls [$36 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 5d, 8c, Jd ]
natzz88 bets [$75 USD]
tokenblak calls [$75 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kc ]
natzz88 bets [$195 USD]
tokenblak is all-In.
natzz88 calls [$158.40 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jc ]
natzz88 shows [ Kh, Ac ]two pairs, Kings and Jacks.
tokenblak doesn't show [ Kd, Qs ]two pairs, Kings and Jacks.

I'm so good at poker sometimes it scares me.

I had recently taken a lot of pots away from this guy and I figured he would be apt to bluff me, so I obviously go into "cant fold" mode even though he is probably ripe to try and make a big call versus me. Regardless I make a "stand" with my KQo in position preflop, and decide rather than raise the flop as a bluff, I'd call and bet any turn when he obviously gives up. Once I hit my K things completely changed. I no longer needed to "bluff", but he kept betting. Now what? Would he really double barrel AK or is he just representing it? I mean, he can't expect me to call since I clearly don't have a king the way the action went.

I'm all in

SNAP CALL LOLZ AK OWNZ U

gg poker.

I swear to god if I don't play 3k hands tommorow I'll eat someones shit - 1 guy 1 cup.

Heres my new office chair, best of both worlds imo:

Monday: The unbeatable fish

2008-02-12T02:14:00.000-08:00

Holy shit today was insane.

I ended up playing about 1.4k hands at 400NL, and won a pitiful $75. Then the games dried up and I decided to try my hand at some 100NL heads up on stars.

Worst.

Decision.

Ever.

Out of all the forms of poker in existence, heads-up is by far my least experienced game. I'm not aggressive by nature and its taken me a long time to learn how to be aggressive enough to beat the 6-max games, but heads up is a completely different bitch.

So I load up 3 tables, and of course, they are all insta-filled by retarded short stacking donks with $20 each, just looking to double up. So I take their collective $60 and move on to full stacked opponents. Here it got fun.

So I get matched up with a bevy of terrible players and proceed to take their monies with ease. Within an hour I'm up like $400 (4 buyins!) and feeling good about my game. Then disaster strikes.

A random player named "bigdaddynab" sits down at my table with a full stack. I proceed to pwn the shit out of him and get him down to around $20 within 10 minutes. "The end is near" I think as I continue to pound his ass into the ground. This hand looked to be the end.

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($24.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($186.60 in chips)
Pushbot1000: posts small blind $0.50
bigdaddynab: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Ah Th]
Pushbot1000: raises $2 to $3
bigdaddynab: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [9c Ts Qd]
bigdaddynab: checks
Pushbot1000: bets $4
bigdaddynab: raises $6 to $10
Pushbot1000: raises $19 to $29
bigdaddynab: calls $11.90 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [9c Ts Qd] [2c]
*** RIVER *** [9c Ts Qd 2c] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdaddynab: shows [8s Jc] (a straight, Eight to Queen)
Pushbot1000: mucks hand

Innocent enough right? Pretty standard double up, hes still toast.

If you've ever played a prolonged heads up session you know what is next.

eat 1: bigdaddynab ($73 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($135.80 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Jh Jd]
bigdaddynab: calls $0.50
Pushbot1000: raises $3 to $4
bigdaddynab: raises $7 to $11
Pushbot1000: raises $57 to $68
bigdaddynab: raises $5 to $73 and is all-in
Pushbot1000: calls $5
*** FLOP *** [Th Tc 7s]
*** TURN *** [Th Tc 7s] [Qd]
*** RIVER *** [Th Tc 7s Qd] [7d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Jh Jd] (two pair, Jacks and Tens)
bigdaddynab: shows [Kd Kc] (two pair, Kings and Tens)
bigdaddynab collected $145.50 from pot

And den...

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($150 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($110.45 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Td As]
bigdaddynab: raises $2 to $3
Pushbot1000: raises $8 to $11
bigdaddynab: calls $8
*** FLOP *** [5h Js 8s]
Pushbot1000: bets $15
bigdaddynab: calls $15
*** TURN *** [5h Js 8s] [9s]
Pushbot1000: bets $45
bigdaddynab: raises $79 to $124 and is all-in
Pushbot1000: calls $39.45 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [5h Js 8s 9s] [9h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Td As] (a pair of Nines)
bigdaddynab: shows [Jd Jh] (a full house, Jacks full of Nines)
bigdaddynab collected $220.40 from pot

Then I try to tilt bluff him, obviously he has the nuts

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($265.05 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($91.70 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [3c 6c]
bigdaddynab: raises $2 to $3
Pushbot1000: calls $2
*** FLOP *** [Qd 4s 2s]
Pushbot1000: checks
bigdaddynab: bets $4
Pushbot1000: raises $8 to $12
bigdaddynab: calls $8
*** TURN *** [Qd 4s 2s] [7s]
Pushbot1000: bets $22
bigdaddynab: calls $22
*** RIVER *** [Qd 4s 2s 7s] [Ac]
Pushbot1000: bets $54.70 and is all-in
bigdaddynab: calls $54.70
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [3c 6c] (high card Ace)
bigdaddynab: shows [3s Js] (a flush, Jack high)
bigdaddynab collected $182.90 from pot

Now its:
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($416.50 in chips)

Jesus tittyfucking christ.

What made matters worse was this player was fucking horrible. Obviously. I mean one of the worst players I've ever seen. Super passive, never bluffs, and NEVER STOPS FLOPPING THE NUTS.

I started playing him at midnight and because im a phycho spaz who needs to win this match I continued to play him until 5am - a total of 1200+ hands with just him alone. I knew it was just a matter of time where his check calling ass wouldn't let go of 2nd pair and I'd get his stack but it just wasn't happening. Whats worse is he would check / fold the flop for like 500 hands in a row, then the hand I finally get 2 pair or something, he obviously has a better 2 pair. And since I had been so super aggressive and making him fold so often, I just couldn't give his actions any credit since he could easily have been just getting annoyed.

But no.

Every... single... fucking... time... he has the nuts.

Miraculously, I get him down to $30 again, thanks largely to this:

POKERSTARS GAME #15230062383: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/02/12 - 02:32:56 (ET)
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($326.35 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($186.55 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Ac Js]
bigdaddynab: raises $1 to $2
Pushbot1000: raises $8 to $10
bigdaddynab: raises $8 to $18
Pushbot1000: calls $8
*** FLOP *** [Jc Jd 3c]
Pushbot1000: checks
bigdaddynab: bets $10
Pushbot1000: raises $35 to $45
bigdaddynab: calls $35
*** TURN *** [Jc Jd 3c] [8h]
Pushbot1000: bets $65
bigdaddynab: calls $65
*** RIVER *** [Jc Jd 3c 8h] [Ad]
Pushbot1000: bets $58.55 and is all-in
bigdaddynab: calls $58.55
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Ac Js] (a full house, Jacks full of Aces)
bigdaddynab: mucks hand
Pushbot1000 collected $372.60 from pot

And now its:
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($35.65 in chips)

Once again I sense the end is near, but because this is happening at like 2:30am and I continue playing him until 5am you know its not the fucking end. No, not even fucking close.

A million little shitty hands go by and he gets his gay stack up again and then this happens.

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($148.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($337 in chips)
Pushbot1000: posts small blind $0.50
bigdaddynab: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [6c 3c]
Pushbot1000: raises $3 to $4
bigdaddynab: calls $3
*** FLOP *** [6h 4c 3d]
bigdaddynab: checks
Pushbot1000: bets $7
bigdaddynab: calls $7
*** TURN *** [6h 4c 3d] [Jc]
bigdaddynab: checks
Pushbot1000: bets $20
bigdaddynab: raises $30 to $50
Pushbot1000: raises $267 to $317
bigdaddynab: calls $87.90 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [6h 4c 3d Jc] [2h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdaddynab: shows [4s Js] (two pair, Jacks and Fours)
Pushbot1000: mucks hand
bigdaddynab collected $297.30 from pot

And now its:
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($297.30 in chips)

are you fucking CHERIOS???

I had this fucker dead twice and he is back up to 3 buyins?? ARE YOU A TILT ANGEL SENT FROM HEAVEN??

This is like a martingale system gone horribly wrong. I have nothing to gain from him but my pride since he has been playing with my money the entire fucking match. If I bust him I basically break even. But I can't quit. Fuck him I says.

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($311.80 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($171.60 in chips)
Pushbot1000: posts small blind $0.50
bigdaddynab: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [7d 7h]
Pushbot1000: raises $3 to $4
bigdaddynab: raises $6 to $10
Pushbot1000: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [Td 8s 7s]
bigdaddynab: bets $15
Pushbot1000: raises $35 to $50
bigdaddynab: raises $251.80 to $301.80 and is all-in
Pushbot1000: calls $111.60 and is all-in
*** TURN *** [Td 8s 7s] [9h]
*** RIVER *** [Td 8s 7s 9h] [Ah]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdaddynab: shows [Kc Ks] (a pair of Kings)
Pushbot1000: shows [7d 7h] (three of a kind, Sevens)
Pushbot1000 collected $342.70 from pot

BOOM. Suck it you mother fucker.

And now we are at:
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($72.20 in chips)

But obviously, this succubus isn't ever going away, and he manages to chip up to 200 again threw divine intervention. And then this happens.

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($212.80 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($260.95 in chips)
Pushbot1000: posts small blind $0.50
bigdaddynab: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [9c 6s]
Pushbot1000: raises $3 to $4
bigdaddynab: raises $6 to $10
Pushbot1000: calls $6
*** FLOP *** [Th 7c 9s]
bigdaddynab: bets $15
Pushbot1000: calls $15
*** TURN *** [Th 7c 9s] [8h]
bigdaddynab: bets $25
Pushbot1000: calls $25
*** RIVER *** [Th 7c 9s 8h] [2c]
bigdaddynab: bets $75
Pushbot1000: calls $75
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdaddynab: shows [Jd Jc] (a straight, Seven to Jack)
Pushbot1000: mucks hand

Terrible call.. I hate my life. FUCK OFF.

And now we are at:
Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($337.30 in chips)

But I continue on. This time I just grind the fuck out of him, never winning a pot more than $50 - I guess he stopped flopping the nizzles every hand. Hours of grinding later we have him down to:

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($40.85 in chips)

The end?

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($57.95 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($447.25 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Ad Qd]
bigdaddynab: raises $2 to $3
Pushbot1000: raises $8 to $11
bigdaddynab: calls $8
*** FLOP *** [4c 3d Jd]
Pushbot1000: bets $18
bigdaddynab: raises $28.95 to $46.95 and is all-in
Pushbot1000: calls $28.95
*** TURN *** [4c 3d Jd] [8s]
*** RIVER *** [4c 3d Jd 8s] [Kc]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Ad Qd] (high card Ace)
bigdaddynab: shows [7c 8c] (a pair of Eights)
bigdaddynab collected $115.40 from pot

Well, it should have been.

More:

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($104.80 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($399.05 in chips)
Pushbot1000: posts small blind $0.50
bigdaddynab: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [9h 9d]
Pushbot1000: raises $3 to $4
bigdaddynab: calls $3
*** FLOP *** [8d 4h 9s]
bigdaddynab: checks
Pushbot1000: bets $5
bigdaddynab: calls $5
*** TURN *** [8d 4h 9s] [5h]
bigdaddynab: checks
Pushbot1000: bets $15
bigdaddynab: calls $15
*** RIVER *** [8d 4h 9s 5h] [6h]
bigdaddynab: bets $25
Pushbot1000: calls $25
*** SHOW DOWN ***
bigdaddynab: shows [2h Kh] (a flush, King high)
Pushbot1000: mucks hand

Pain.

Depression.

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($153.30 in chips)

I can NOT FUCKING KILL THIS FISH.

But wait, whats this... top set?????

Seat 1: bigdaddynab ($99.90 in chips)
Seat 2: Pushbot1000 ($396.95 in chips)
bigdaddynab: posts small blind $0.50
Pushbot1000: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Pushbot1000 [Qs Qh]
bigdaddynab: raises $2 to $3
Pushbot1000: raises $9 to $12
bigdaddynab: calls $9
*** FLOP *** [Qd 5c 7h]
Pushbot1000: checks
bigdaddynab: checks
*** TURN *** [Qd 5c 7h] [3d]
Pushbot1000: bets $17
bigdaddynab: raises $23 to $40
Pushbot1000: raises $344.95 to $384.95 and is all-in
bigdaddynab: calls $47.90 and is all-in
*** RIVER *** [Qd 5c 7h 3d] [Td]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Pushbot1000: shows [Qs Qh] (three of a kind, Queens)
bigdaddynab: mucks hand

OMFG

OMG OMG OMG GOM GOMSDFKLSF:SDFJ:KSDJ!!!!!!

DONE

DRAGON SLAYEDED!!

I BREAK EVEN!!!

What a huge waste of time. Fuck heads up.

Here is my poker EV graph for the entire session

TO those unfamiliar, the green line are my total winnings. The blue line are my winnings when I went to showdown, and the red line represents what I should have won at showdown. If you understand that then you can realize that I bluffed a LOT to get my green line way way way above my blue line. What it also shows you is that I ran very badly - obviously.

At the end of the day (and this ridiculously long post) my totals are:

1324 hands of 400NL played: $76.43 won
2243 hands of 100NL (HU) played: $333.50 won

3567 total hands played: $409.93 won

Aka a marathon by my standards. I'm off to bed.

Back on the wagon

2008-02-11T02:53:00.001-08:00

I'm just posting to get me back in the game.

I've played for a grand total of like 10 hours in the past 2 weeks and that is ridiculous. So this upcoming week my goal is 10k hands - nothing unreasonable but also more than my usual average. Also included in this goal is winning and not losing.

I wonder what is more likely, me playing 10k hands and winning, or me playing less than 10k hands and losing. I'd say the former but its definitely pretty close.

I think one of the biggest fears I have when taking a week+ long break is not being able to get back in the groove easily and losing a lot within the first few hours. When I've been playing for a long time I loosen up a lot and make a lot of risky yet profitable plays. Playing a tight nitty game is just not that profitable, and its also boring. One thing about playing a little reckless is that it definitely keeps the game interesting and your mind active, and in turn leads to more play and more profits.

I think I may even keep a daily log of each long session talking about a few key hands. Stay tuned!

Or not, fuck you.

And heres a vid to pass the time - it made my hands sweat just watching it

Fuck Eli Manning

2008-02-04T15:48:00.000-08:00

When the Pats picked up Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Adalius Thomas, Dante Stallworth, Sammy Morris and resigned Asante Samuel in the offseason last year, I knew something special was about to happen in Boston.

When they won their first game 38-14 against the Jets - a game that was a lot closer on paper than it was if you watched it - the first thing I thought of was "holy shit they are going to go 19-0". They kept rolling on and each Sunday became the highlight of my week - with the anticipation of each game increasing exponentially as they approached perfection.

But then last night happened.

By far the biggest game I've ever witnessed, and conversely - the biggest upset of my lifetime.

What I can't help but thinking is that if they had to do it all over again, would I rather they lose somewhere in the regular season and win the Superbowl or go out like they did last night? I mean to go 18-0 and lose the bowl is almost identical to final tabling a MTT as the chip leader the whole way and losing heads up (to Eli fucking Manning).

But regardless of the outcome, the 2007 season is one I'll never forget. If they had lost to the Colts, Eagles, Baltimore, etc during the regular season then went on to win the Superbowl, it would have been great, but thats been done before. Thats the 2004 Pats, where they played well throughout the season then dominated the playoffs. I've been through that. Its fun; but this was better.

And knowing that it is ridiculously unlikely that any team ever again will approach perfection, I guess I have to take solace in the fact that I was apart of something special, even including the loss last night.

There were many things that went awry in last nights game, but probably the most disappointing thing is that the Pats beat themselves. I would probably be more willing to accept the loss if Eli went 28/34 345 yards 4 td's 0 int's but that wasn't the case. Neither team played that great and the game came down to who made less mistakes. I don't know who was playing QB for the Pats last night but it wasn't the God among men that had played the whole season. Although I do have to admit that the Giants pass rush was off the charts last night, probably knocking Brady down more than he had been knocked down all season accumulatively. And yet, I was never even considering that they would actually lose the game. With 36 seconds and 3 time outs on their own 15 I was still confident they were winning. Not until Brady threw the final pass on 4th and 20 did I think it was over. If you watched them play this year you know what I mean. During every close game you almost felt that they had it all under control, almost toying with their opponents at times.

So while Eli's ridiculous 3rd and 5 scramble and toss up will probably go down as the best play in Superbowl history, I'll always remember it as the only sports moment that truly broke my heart.

And while I'm depressed now, I guess thats why we watch sports, since there are very few things on earth that can make us feel such euphoric highs and lows. I just hope I'll be on the opposite side of the emotion scale in the future since this was an all time low.

All play and no work makes Rikki a happy boy

2008-01-31T17:55:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-11T02:06:00.000-08:00

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:

------------------
HAND #1
------------------

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!!

------------------
HAND #2
------------------

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.

------------------
HAND #3
------------------

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.

------------------
HAND #4
------------------

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.

------------------
HAND #5
------------------

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

2008-01-10T00:11:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

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.

Whats in a blog title?

2007-12-19T20:57:00.000-08:00

I've definitely been craving some live poker action lately, especially since my confidence is at an all time high. I would get an unimaginably large boner from check raising some douche bag WPT fanboi with sunglasses and an ipod. Conversely - losing to said fanboi may cause me to descend into an insurmountable depression. Such are the risks inherent with poker. I here there is a live game that regularly goes on above a head shop (obv). Methinks I'll be hitting that up before the New Years.

Also I'm hosting a cash poker game over the holidays with my close friends that will involve copious amounts of swearing, drinking and naked ladies. Unfortunately they are all sold out of naked ladies so I had to replace them with mushrooms. Equally entertaining, although in a much different way. I've never played poker on mushrooms before and I'm actually pretty excited. I've always felt that while on them I have a heightened sense of, well, everything and that I could read people with diamond cut precision. This feeling is probably bullshit and will be put to the test. What will also be interesting is that everyone (well the guys who still have their nuts attached) will be doing shrooms as well. This will probably lead to the slowest game in the history of poker, but damn it if its not the most entertaining one.

I've always been pretty fearless when it comes to most of my opponents in poker. In the past I ignorantly attributed this to my innate awesomeness and never thought twice about it. However, lately I've realized that my risk-averse ways probably have lead to this phenomenon as I basically never move up out of my comfort zone and hence have always felt confident. I know the truly great players all have played out of their comfort zone many times in order to move up the ranks. Surely they occasionally paid the price for their risks but in the long run it clearly has paid off for them. Playing against better players, for higher stakes will undoubtedly improve your game, as well as keep you focussed on the game itself. I honestly doubt I will ever be in the upper echelon of players as, while I am a competitive person, I just don't have the amount of "gamble" needed to succeed at high levels (and to move up aggressively in stakes).

Take me out of my comfort zone and I'll crash and burn. Keep me in it and I'll slowly succeed.

In other news, tomorrow I'll be taking the final steps towards getting my own radio show. My friend and I (who will be co-hosting the show with me) have been volunteering occasionally at the local university radio station and tomorrow we will be running our first "mock" show for the producer. We haven't finalized what our show will be about yet but we have some ideas that we hope will lead to an evolution of sorts to a unique, consistent show. Its only an hour long each week, so the time commitment isn't large but it will provide me with great experience in radio and will definitely be a lot of fun.

And heres a video of two chicks having an extended slap fight. I'm really impressed as to how long they go for.

Heres my current favorite commercial on TV.

I Love the Smell of Fish in the Morning

2007-12-17T08:18:00.001-08:00

I had an early doctors appointment today and therefore was up before noon for the first time in 2 years. Had my first adult physical in my life since my girlfriend is paranoid I have AIDS or something and made me go. As tired as I was from 4 hours sleep, nothing gets you up like a strangers cold finger up your ass.

I got home early and had an hour or so to kill so I decided to fire up some poker to see if anyone was even online. I mean honestly, who is even awake let alone plays poker at 10am?

Donks apparently. Donks-a-plenty.

Played for less than an hour and won over 4 buyins through no skill of my own other than just reading my hand and the flop. Honestly people were just handing their money over for no good reason. I mean I could see if I had been playing with them for a few hours and had bluffed them or something, but these donks were stacking off to me after literally 2 hands. Here are the highlights (and 1 lowlight).

------------------
HAND #1
------------------

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

UTG: $642.10
CO: $311.70
BTN: $398
SB: $1,037.10
Hero (BB): $418.10

Pre-Flop: K K dealt to Hero (BB)
3 folds, SB calls $2, Hero raises to $16, SB raises to $38, Hero raises to $124, SB calls $88

Flop: ($256) 7 4 Q (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $155, SB raises to $408, Hero calls $135.10 and is All-In

Turn: ($836.20) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($836.20) 9 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $836.20 Pot ($2 Rake)
SB showed 8 8 (two pairs, Eights and Sevens) and LOST (-$418.10 NET)
Hero showed K K (two pairs, Kings and Sevens) and WON $834.20 (+$416.10 NET)

------------------
HAND #2
------------------

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

UTG: $456
MP: $809.60
Hero (CO): $394
BTN: $374.80
SB: $484.60
BB: $604.66

Pre-Flop: J 9 dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, 2 folds, BB calls $10

Flop: ($30) Q K T (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $22, BB raises to $66, Hero raises to $168, BB raises to $590.66 and is All-In, Hero calls $212 and is All-In

Turn: ($790) 7 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($790) 5 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $790 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed J 9 (a straight Nine to King) and WON $787 (+$393 NET)
BB showed Q T (two pairs, Queens and Tens) and LOST (-$394 NET)

------------------
HAND #3
------------------

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

BB: $400
UTG: $81.50
MP: $413.10
Hero (CO): $399.50
BTN: $328.50
SB: $396

Pre-Flop: 6 5 dealt to Hero (CO)
2 folds, Hero raises to $14, BTN calls $14, 2 folds

Flop: ($34) 5 8 6 (2 Players)
Hero bets $25, BTN raises to $60, Hero raises to $324, BTN calls $254.50 and is All-In

Turn: ($663) 6 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($663) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $663 Pot ($13 Rake)
Hero showed 6 5 (a full house, Sixes full of Fives) and WON $650 (+$321.50 NET)
BTN mucked T T (two pairs, Tens and Sixes) and LOST (-$328.50 NET)

------------------
HAND #4
------------------

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

Hero (MP): $394
CO: $726.20
BTN: $96.50
SB: $97.40
BB: $175.80
UTG: $362.40

Pre-Flop: J Q dealt to Hero (MP)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $16, CO calls $16, 3 folds

Flop: ($38) 8 K A (2 Players)
Hero bets $28, CO calls $28

Turn: ($94) 7 (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO checks

River: ($94) T (2 Players)
Hero bets $40, CO raises to $100, Hero raises to $250, CO calls $150

Results: $594 Pot ($3.50 Rake)
Hero showed J Q (a straight Ten to Ace) and WON $590.50 (+$296.50 NET)
CO mucked J A (a pair of Aces) and LOST (-$294 NET)

------------------
HAND #5
------------------

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

UTG: $411.35
MP: $111.50
CO: $459.55
Hero (BTN): $649.60
SB: $173.10
BB: $406

Pre-Flop: J J dealt to Hero (BTN)
3 folds, Hero raises to $14, SB raises to $173.10 and is All-In, BB folds, Hero calls $159.10

Flop: ($350.20) 3 5 K (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Turn: ($350.20) T (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

River: ($350.20) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $350.20 Pot ($3.50 Rake)
Hero showed J J (a pair of Jacks) and WON $346.70 (+$173.60 NET)
SB mucked 8 6 (high card King) and LOST (-$173.10 NET)

------------------
HAND #6
------------------

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

BTN: $712.60
Hero (SB): $833.70
BB: $406.90
UTG: $590.60
CO: $52.50

Pre-Flop: A K dealt to Hero (SB)
UTG calls $4, 2 folds, Hero raises to $22, BB folds, UTG calls $18

Flop: ($48) T 4 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $38, UTG calls $38

Turn: ($124) 2 (2 Players)
Hero bets $75, UTG raises to $150, Hero raises to $773.70 and is All-In, UTG folds

Results: $424 Pot
Hero mucked A K and WON $1,045.70 (+$835.70 NET)

------------------
HAND #7
------------------
This hand was super gay in every way. I obviously can't fold 65s here because my opponent is fellow multitabler who I know is trying to just push me around. I absolutely hate his stupid faggity ass way of playing this hand too. I mean come on, just push the flop you retard, I'm obviously calling. Meanwhile he pushes the turn for no good reason when the flush card hits basically turning his hand into a bluff since I'm not calling him unless he is beat. These are the types of hands that I have to play every fucking day against other multitablers who are hell bent on out playing me. Its real fun.

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (CO): $542.80
BTN: $402.57
SB: $123.80
BB: $400
UTG: $583

Pre-Flop: 6 5 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $14, 2 folds, BB raises to $48, Hero calls $34

Flop: ($98) T K K (2 Players)
BB bets $68, Hero raises to $198, BB calls $130

Turn: ($494) J (2 Players)
BB bets $154 and is All-In, Hero calls $154

River: ($802) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In)

Results: $802 Pot ($2 Rake)
Hero showed 6 5 (a flush, King high) and LOST (-$400 NET)
BB showed 7 K (a full house, Kings full of Jacks) and WON $800 (+$400 NET)

I'm so crispy

2007-12-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

Was in a wierd mood tonight, ended up down $1k obviously. I'm still crispy tho

***** Hand History for Game 6584558012 *****
$400 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 12, 02:05:41 ET 2007
Table Table 125491 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: zubilo111 ( $882.95 USD )
Seat 2: AbuDhabi222 ( $598.40 USD )
Seat 3: Blaze_82 ( $184.50 USD )
Seat 4: afghan_balla ( $427.80 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $474.10 USD )
Seat 6: xBORMANx ( $74 USD )
zubilo111 posts small blind [$2 USD].
AbuDhabi222 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 4c As ]
Blaze_82 folds
afghan_balla folds
tokenblak raises [$14 USD]
zubilo111 calls [$12 USD]
AbuDhabi222 folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, 2d, 5h ]
zubilo111 checks
tokenblak checks
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7c ]
zubilo111 bets [$15 USD]
tokenblak raises [$45 USD]
zubilo111 raises [$75 USD]
tokenblak raises [$135 USD]
zubilo111 folds
tokenblak shows [ 4c, As ]a pair of Twos.
tokenblak wins $300 USD from the main pot with a pair of Twos.

***** Hand History for Game 6584589080 *****
$400 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 12, 02:44:16 ET 2007
Table Jackpot #1304434 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 6: Logoped83 ( $717.01 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $416 USD )
Seat 2: hasuprobe ( $542.30 USD )
Seat 1: FISH3N3O ( $305.90 USD )
Seat 4: PLAYER_BAD ( $400 USD )
Seat 3: kosco77 ( $504.50 USD )
Logoped83 posts small blind [$2 USD].
kosco77 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Td 5d ]
PLAYER_BAD folds.
tokenblak raises [$14 USD]
Logoped83 raises [$42 USD]
kosco77 folds.
tokenblak calls [$30 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4h, 6h, Qc ]
Logoped83 bets [$70 USD]
tokenblak raises [$160 USD]
Logoped83 folds.
tokenblak does not show cards.
tokenblak wins $319.50 USD

***** Hand History for Game 6584564837 *****
$400 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Wednesday, December 12, 02:14:14 ET 2007
Table Table 125491 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: zubilo111 ( $804.95 USD )
Seat 2: AbuDhabi222 ( $190.60 USD )
Seat 3: Blaze_82 ( $258.50 USD )
Seat 4: afghan_balla ( $940 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $586.10 USD )
Seat 6: xBORMANx ( $82 USD )
xBORMANx posts small blind [$2 USD].
zubilo111 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 6d 3d ]
AbuDhabi222 folds.
Blaze_82 folds.
afghan_balla raises [$14 USD]
tokenblak raises [$52 USD]
xBORMANx folds.
zubilo111 folds.
afghan_balla raises [$128 USD]
tokenblak calls [$90 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Ad, 7d, 6s ]
afghan_balla checks.
tokenblak bets [$180 USD]
afghan_balla folds.
tokenblak does not show cards.
tokenblak wins $467 USD from the main pot with a pair of Sixes.

Look up, look up, look waaaay up

2007-12-10T23:12:00.001-08:00

Had a killer night tonight -must be those "Killer Poker" books I read 2 years ago finally paying off.

I got up almost 5 buyins within 2 hours at 400NL and had to stop obviously because my brain still can't handle quick wins without going into ultra spew mode. Took a few hours off, watched the Saints kill the Falcons, and jumped back online for some more action. At this point it was about midnight and for some reason the 400NL games were dryer than my grandmothers bush so I started looking up at the 600NL and 1000NL games. Low and behold there were a sea of fish there, with only a few good players. I thought hell, I'm already up a good amount today, lets give this a shot.

This is my first time ever playing anything higher than 400NL, so I cautiously loaded up 4 tables. 1 table of 5/10 and 3 of 3/6. My hands were actually shaking as I made any bets and raises. It was the first time in a long ass time that I actually was 100% focussed on what I was doing at the poker table. However, I was definitely playing a little scared. One hand in particular I played like a total fishstick:

Seat 3: gaynlespride ( $1,006.71 USD )
Seat 6: tokenblak ( $1,198.50 USD )
Seat 2: Umka7 ( $197.36 USD )
Seat 1: happymonday ( $1,122.03 USD )
tokenblak posts small blind [$5 USD].
happymonday posts big blind [$10 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Jh Jc ]
gaynlespride folds.
tokenblak raises [$30 USD]
happymonday calls [$25 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7c, 3c, 5h ]
araujo122 has joined the table.
tokenblak bets [$50 USD]
happymonday raises [$130 USD]
tokenblak calls [$80 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
tokenblak checks.
happymonday checks.
** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]
tokenblak checks.
happymonday bets [$165 USD]
tokenblak folds.

Weak all around. While I stand by my river check / fold, I definitely should have re-raised the flop and gotten it all in if need be. I had been playing fairly aggressively at this table since it was very passive and I know the player in the BB is a regular and probably would have stacked off light vs me since I had been so aggressive. But of course, as soon as he raises the flop I freeze up and go into pussy mode.

The reason I think the river is a check / fold is that I think he has to put me on at least top pair / overpair since I called his reraise on the flop, but didn't bet ever once the flush / straight came. If he wasn't drawing on the flop then his hand probably has some showdown value and won't bet the river so small since he should be somewhat concerned with what I was calling with on the flop. Of course he could be 3 levels above me knowing I have an overpair and his pair of 7s are no good so he makes a small bet hoping I'll fold. Since scenario 2 extremely unlikely with no history between him and I, I fold.

Anyways, I sat at 5/10 for about an hour, not really getting much done, eventually ending up down like $50 or something. But my other 3 tables - the 3/6 ones - were pretty profitable and I ended up a buyin after 2 hours of play. Nothing spectacular but definitely nice to get my feet wet. I think a mix of 400NL t0 1000NL can be profitable with my skill level in the long run as long as I'm not tilted and table select wisely.

In other news, I went 3-2 this week in football. I think I'll try to keep the number of games down to 2 or 3 since I generally am not overly confident with any more than that. Sofar this week I have the over in the Patriots / Jets game at 51. I know the Pats are good for at least 40 here and they could easily cover the over on their own given the history. I'm not sure about the spread though. Currently its sitting at Pats -24 which is pretty ridiculous. I mean they've only beaten 2 teams this year by more than 24. The last time we saw a 24 point spread it was vs the Eagles which went down to the last possession. I dunno, its so hard to bet on these ridiculously high spreads because they have never existed before. I mean before this season I hated betting on 14 point favorites just out of principle. Now its 24 points. I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the game this week.

How about that Pats game this week though against the Stillers? Domination. Number 1 defense my ass. At this point the Pats are like pocket aces. They are going to win most hands no matter what they are up against. Sure there is a chance they could lose, but there is no reason to think they won't go 19-0. So sick.

What I don't understand is the apparent country wide hatred for them. People are comparing them to the Yankees. WTF is up with that? I hate the Yankees because they ruin the balance of the game by just overpaying for every talented player. The Pats have the same payroll and the same limitations as every other NFL team. They just play the game better than the rest. And watching them play is a thing of god damn beauty. How can you not love watching a team call passing plays 80% of the time? I mean who the fuck likes to watch a running team. New England is revolutionizing the game this season. In 10 years a strong running game will be an afterthought. There is really no defense for what the Pats do, as long as Brady is completing 70%+ of his passes. The reason the rest of the league doesn't do it is because they don't have the talent. That, and football dinosaur "purists" still run a lot of teams and refuse to give up on running the ball.

Anyways, enough of my armchair quarterback analysis. I'll just say that if you want to be entertained each week by watching football, make sure not to miss the Pats play.

Late night ramblins

2007-12-05T02:11:00.000-08:00

This past weekend my Cal Ripken like streak of winning football betting weekends came to an end with a dismal 3-5 record. Not the end of the world obviously but when you have picked 80% of winners against the spread all year your expectation becomes a little skewed. As much as I joke I always knew that I was just running well above expectation and variance was coming around the bend to destroy my bankroll eventually. So at this point I'll just take my winnings and pocket them. Maybe bet on a few games here and there, but no more 8 games a week at $100 a pop.

Retarded I am.

In poker news, I've finally moved back up to 2/4 after a disastrous early November that started with a nice "cashout curse", onto a sickening break even stretch and then ended with a nice heater to get me back to normality. I avoided another cashout curse this month by keeping my winnings in my account and just paying the bills with credit for now. I looked at all the successful businesses running month to month with great amounts debt, and thought to myself why haven't I been doing this all along?

The increased expectation when moving up a level extremely significant to me in regards to my bankroll and my monthly expenses. Since I've bought this house my expenses have increased (obv) which is actually a good thing for my poker game since it sort of forces me to play more but even still I've just barely been increasing my roll. I know I can beat 2/4 for at least a similar winrate as 1/2 but my roll hasn't allowed me to move up and stay up. Hopefully this month will be the final one with any 1/2 play in it.

I've thought a lot about motivation and ambition lately and I've come to the conclusion that I don't understand the majority of the planets ever-increasing desire for "more". Sure, I like new things, but I know I can survive without them. Hell if it wasn't for Mrs.Dee I probably would be living in a 400 square foot basement apartment with $500 in monthly living expenses. I really could care less about contentiously improving my wealth and status in life. This is evident in my work ethic as I generally only work when I need money. I goto the computer and ask for my bills to be paid by other people, and they eventually oblige. A month goes by and I do it again. My expenses define my ambition.

But most others are different. Most want endless money, endless power, endless everything. Philosophically I don't understand this desire. Why do people consistently - regardless of income - want more? I realize that without this innate desire we wouldn't have the evolution of western civilization that we've all come to love, but that doesn't mean I understand it. Most of us have been "poor" at one time or another in our life. Aside from trust fund millionaires and the like, we've all been young adults with little assets and yet we survived. Hell, those are the years that many consider to be the best of their lives. Yet we strive on, in an endless search for something that can never be obtained - like a stupid dog chasing his tail.

I mean, I know the science behind the evolution of this, but have we not evolved enough intellectually to realize the utter stupidity of it all? Obviously not. I suppose if you have the mindset of procreation being the purpose of life, it all makes sense. I mean, in order to procreate you need mate. Obviously you want the best mate so you go out and get an education, a impressive job, a gym membership and cologne to find one. I mean your whole life is basically one long job interview, trying to impress someone in order to make more of you - so they can go on and do the same thing. If you were the only person on the planet, would you have the same ambition in life? Is it really just competition that drives the entire human species? I hate to think that we are that petty, but I don't see any other rationale behind it.

Enjoy life day to day, fuck the future and go out and start making yourself happy.

Hero plays and not tilting - a suprise correlation!

2007-11-27T02:41:00.000-08:00

Over my poker playing career I've seen a lot of shitty play - we all have. We all hate losing obviously but there are definitely different levels of losing, and losing to shitty play may be the worst.

Sure getting it all in with KK vs AA preflop hurts a bit but really, who cares? Its just a setup that you can't avoid going broke in - easily shrugged off. Even when a fish sucks out on you after calling bet after bet to hit his gutshot to crack your set of aces, you can take solace in the fact that you will make money vs him and his kind in the long run. But the third type of loss for me is the worst.

Its closely related to tilting, but doesn't necessarily require tilt as a prerequisite. Tilt is merely a catalyst for this type of loss, and usually a result of it as well. When a fish makes a strange play, like overbetting the river or just open pushing the flop, without the nuts you always have to take a moment to try to figure out their puzzle. You go through all the hands he could have and all the hands he may think you have. You run the possibilities through your mind over and over and do super awesome poker player calculations to come up with the right answer - call! You are a hero! Clearly this fish is just overbetting the river with a missed flush draw, ace high must be good! Then the truth sets in - hes got you beat. This fish just "outplayed" you for your whole stack.

Depression...
Anxiety...
Anger...
Regret...
Monkey tilt...

They set in. Your hero call failed. You lose. Good day sir.

Its the worst feeling in poker because you've expended every amount of poker brain energy to make this call, and you were way off. And not only that, you lost to the worst player at the table who made a level 1 - "I can only consider my own cards" play.

For me, doing a play like this, even if its not for my entire stack, really sets the tilt train in motion. Even if my reasoning was sound, and I was being offered sufficient pot odds, it doesn't matter because my chips are in XxPOKERPROxX's stack. It's also applicable when a decent player does it because they've probably gone one level above you and tricked you into calling.

But its all part of the learning process of poker. Its important to not let these types of plays bother you. Use the information you've gained from your terrible call and adjust appropriately. The fish who took your stack has no clue how hard you thought to make that call. Hes basically a button pushing monkey on a typewriter, and we know what they can accomplish given enough time. I'm probably the worst person on earth to be even saying this type of advice as I tend to take poker losses personally, but I can occasionally rise above my ego and recognize what I'm doing. Before making a hero play, always take a second to consider the likely hood of you being right in regards to the odds that you are being offered. Poker 101.

And as I say this, there is still money to be made from hero calls, so don't ignore them.

Seat 1: DBOBBARKER ( $282.08 USD )
Seat 2: Canuckguy88 ( $374.56 USD )
Seat 6: CuteGirly18 ( $204.30 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $338.35 USD )
Seat 3: tk1505 ( $202 USD )
Seat 5: Gan777 ( $100 USD )
tk1505 posts small blind [$1 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Ks Ad ]
CuteGirly18 folds.
DBOBBARKER folds.
Canuckguy88 raises [$9 USD]
tk1505 folds.
tokenblak raises [$29 USD]
Canuckguy88 calls [$22 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 4s, 4h, Qd ]
tokenblak checks.
Canuckguy88 bets [$20 USD]
tokenblak calls [$20 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6h ]
tokenblak checks.
Canuckguy88 bets [$50 USD]
tokenblak calls [$50 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Qc ]
tokenblak checks.
Canuckguy88 is all-In.
tokenblak is all-In.
tokenblak shows [ Ks, Ad ]two pairs, Queens and Fours.
Canuckguy88 shows [ 8s, Ts ]two pairs, Queens and Fours.
tokenblak wins $675.70 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Queens and Fours with Ace kicker.

Seat 1: Th4niR ( $1,702.60 USD )
Seat 2: Emmico55 ( $972.41 USD )
Seat 3: tokenblak ( $1,269.73 USD )
Seat 4: RystyRyan ( $394 USD )
Seat 5: x_Megatron_x ( $394 USD )
Seat 6: celusi ( $121.40 USD )
Th4niR posts small blind [$2 USD].
Emmico55 posts big blind [$4 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Kd As ]
tokenblak raises [$16 USD]
RystyRyan folds.
x_Megatron_x folds.
celusi folds.
Th4niR folds.
Emmico55 calls [$12 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Kc, 2c, Qs ]
Emmico55 bets [$8 USD]
tokenblak raises [$32 USD]
Emmico55 raises [$48 USD]
tokenblak calls [$24 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 7s ]
Emmico55 bets [$132 USD]
tokenblak calls [$132 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 2s ]
Emmico55 is all-In.
tokenblak calls [$768.41 USD]
Emmico55 shows [ Qc, 8c ]two pairs, Queens and Twos.
tokenblak shows [ Kd, As ]two pairs, Kings and Twos.
tokenblak wins $1,943.32 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Kings and Twos.

Seat 1: TwistedEcho ($332.05 in chips)
Seat 2: djj6835 ($398 in chips)
Seat 3: dest- ($348.60 in chips)
Seat 4: billyzzz ($547.70 in chips)
Seat 5: RikkiDee ($196 in chips)
Seat 6: TheLife ($422.70 in chips)
TheLife: posts small blind $1
TwistedEcho: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Ac Kc]
djj6835: folds
dest-: folds
billyzzz: calls $2
RikkiDee: raises $8 to $10
TheLife: folds
TwistedEcho: folds
billyzzz: calls $8
*** FLOP *** [Qh Jd Qd]
billyzzz: checks
RikkiDee: checks
*** TURN *** [Qh Jd Qd] [8c]
billyzzz: bets $14
RikkiDee: calls $14
*** RIVER *** [Qh Jd Qd 8c] [2c]
billyzzz: bets $246
RikkiDee: calls $172 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
billyzzz: shows [Kd 4c] (a pair of Queens)
RikkiDee: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Queens - Ace kicker)
RikkiDee collected $392 from pot

Just some hands

2007-11-21T00:13:00.000-08:00

Just when you thought online poker was dead...

***** Hand History for Game 6517721446 *****
$200 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, November 19, 20:51:39 ET 2007
Table Table 125893 (Real Money)
Seat 6 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 2: tokenblak ( $294.92 USD )
Seat 3: fluffy67 ( $465.32 USD )
Seat 6: MrDr0v3r ( $407 USD )
Seat 1: Jacdaw ( $186 USD )
Seat 4: GermackXX ( $228 USD )
Seat 5: ceilalti ( $50 USD )
Jacdaw posts small blind [$1 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$2 USD].
ceilalti posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Kd Kc ]
fluffy67 raises [$4 USD]
GermackXX folds
ceilalti calls [$2 USD]
MrDr0v3r folds
Jacdaw folds
tokenblak raises [$28 USD]
fluffy67 raises [$52 USD]
ceilalti folds
tokenblak raises [$108 USD]
fluffy67 calls [$82 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7h, 9h, 7s ]
tokenblak is all-In [$156.92 USD]
fluffy67 calls [$156.92 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
** Dealing River ** [ 7d ]
tokenblak shows [ Kd, Kc ]a full house, Sevens full of Kings.
fluffy67 shows [ Qs, Js ]three of a kind, Sevens.
tokenblak wins $591.84 USD from the main pot with a full house, Sevens full of Kings.

***** Hand History for Game 6517805209 *****
$200 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Monday, November 19, 21:54:30 ET 2007
Table Table 126786 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 5
Seat 1: Tankalanka ( $198.15 USD )
Seat 4: shadowmf20 ( $186.52 USD )
Seat 5: lose_2_learn ( $372.39 USD )
Seat 6: mmcessa ( $198 USD )
Seat 3: tokenblak ( $279.97 USD )
mmcessa posts small blind [$1 USD].
Tankalanka posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Kc Jd ]
tokenblak raises [$8 USD]
shadowmf20 calls [$8 USD]
lose_2_learn folds
mmcessa folds
Tankalanka folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, Qd, 3c ]
tokenblak bets [$14 USD]
shadowmf20 calls [$14 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ Kh ]
tokenblak bets [$38 USD]
shadowmf20 calls [$38 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Td ]
tokenblak bets [$60 USD]
shadowmf20 calls [$60 USD]
tokenblak shows [ Kc, Jd ]two pairs, Kings and Jacks.
shadowmf20 doesn't show [ Qh, Tc ]two pairs, Queens and Tens.
tokenblak wins $241 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Kings and Jacks.
>You have options at Table 131199 Table!.
>You have options at Table 125383 (No DP) Table!

This hand illustrates the importance of putting your opponent on a range, and value betting when you are ahead of that range. And note the bet sizing here, $60 into a $120 pot. If he raises that river, even a min raise, its an easy fold. $60 into $120 is small enough for this bad player to call with worse hands.

***** Hand History for Game 6517975168 *****
$200 USD NL Texas Hold'em - Tuesday, November 20, 01:17:23 ET 2007
Table Table 126832 (No DP) (Real Money)
Seat 5 is the button
Total number of players : 6
Seat 1: Cchubbins ( $69.60 USD )
Seat 2: trapeza2000 ( $284.46 USD )
Seat 3: dwonlog ( $441.03 USD )
Seat 6: ICatchdaBigfish ( $239 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $242.55 USD )
Seat 4: VodkaUser ( $200 USD )
ICatchdaBigfish posts small blind [$1 USD].
Cchubbins posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Jc Kc ]
trapeza2000 folds
dwonlog folds
VodkaUser folds
tokenblak raises [$7 USD]
ICatchdaBigfish calls [$6 USD]
Cchubbins folds
** Dealing Flop ** [ 3c, 2d, 3s ]
ICatchdaBigfish bets [$10 USD]
tokenblak raises [$25 USD]
ICatchdaBigfish raises [$42 USD]
tokenblak calls [$27 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6d ]
ICatchdaBigfish checks
tokenblak bets [$75 USD]
ICatchdaBigfish folds
tokenblak wins $192 USD from the main pot with a pair of Threes.

And this hand may just be spew, but its still cool. Every single fish on the planet will bet a 323 flop with nothing trying to take it down. And the only hand that has even a legitimate reason to min-3 bet the flop is a hand containing a 3, which he is definitely never ever betting the flop with to begin with. Calling the flop lets him know that I have an overpair (hopefully he can read that) and when he checks the turn he confirms to me that he did have nothing, and the pot is mine for the taking.

New Career on the Horizon

2007-11-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

Screw poker, sports gambling is where the real money is at.

I mean lets compare the pros and cons of poker and sports gambling:

	Poker	Sports Betting	Advantage?
Pros	Potentially unlimited source of income with major time investment	Potentially unlimited source of income with no time investment	Sports
Cons	Downswings with potentially life-altering emotional and financial consequences	None	Sports

So according to my calculations switching to sports betting as a profession is a no-brainer choice.

I'll be the first to admit that I am a sports betting noob. I don't know how to properply bankroll myself, how to watch line movements or know any complicated formulas to apply to games - yet this year I have managed to go 24-6 against the spread for a total of +$1461.66. Now imagine how much I would win if I knew what I was doing? I'd be almost a millionaire by my calculations.

And now I will share my betting tips that I have learned throughout the 2007 NFL season:

#1: Always bet on New England Patriots to cover the spread
#2: ????
#3: Profit

I hesitated to share this information to the public, but I figure the risk is worth the potential fame/book deals/playboy model blowjobs I may receive from this potentially groundbreaking strategy.

So from this day forth, you won't see me grinding away mindlessly for hours on end at the poker tables. Instead you'll see me making it rain in my basement every Sunday night.

New Vid

2007-11-16T13:56:00.002-08:00

This one is much shorter at about 45 minutes. I stack a few guys and also get stacked so it should be interesting.

To answer a question from the last video about reraising preflop with weak holdings. The question was would I do this at lower stakes? And I would answer with no probably, or at least less frequently. I only reraise tight players preflop because I know they have the ability to lay down hands like KQ, AT, etc. As you move down in stakes, even the "tight" players will still call there, making it a much less profitable move. However there are still players at lower stakes that you can reraise light, you just have to know who they are.

Enjoy.

Click picture or click HERE for the direct link.

Life on the downswing

2007-11-16T03:44:00.001-08:00

Damn poker sucks when you lose. I mean, it may be the least enjoyable thing on the planet - worse than super-AIDS.

If anyone was a budding poker player that has experienced some success and was considering playing full time, I would advise them to reconsider strongly. Poker really doesn't take up that much time. I mean, honestly, who can play day in day out for 8+ hours a day? I sure as fuck can't, although I don't love the game as much as I once did. However, it takes a really fucked up person with ridiculous drive/ambition/whatever to play "full time". Even with a job, you can still play as much as you'd like, and weekends (aka juicytown) are always available for binge sessions.

Whats interesting about most successful small-mid stakes grinders is they tend to be alike in almost every way. They think alike, have similar brain patterns, etc. Most of us have a fairly risk-averse way about things, which is one of the reasons why we've been successful. We make sure we are properly rolled, don't make stupid risks, don't chase losses, don't play over our head, etc. These are all solid and good things, but the very nature of poker variance will lead to inevitable swings - some in which are nauseating. Risk averse people aren't familiar with these types of swings and I think a lot of grinders have real problems when in a downswing because they try to live their life safely. When bills are due, and you are in a downswing, bad thoughts keep you up at night.

Gambling, in its true sense, isn't in a grinders vocabulary. All bets are +EV and we all know and accept the long run meaning of that. But try telling that to a grinder in the midst of a soul crushing, never ending downswing.

So if you are like me, and hate uncertainty and risk, don't play poker full time. Get a job. It not only stabilizes your bankroll, it also stabilizes your life. You'll get up the same time every day, eat regularly, sleep regularly, and your mind will be much clearer. You have no idea how many times a week where I have no idea what day or time it is. Its not the greatest way to live. And with a job you can always supplement your income nicely as well with poker.

I got another video made from tonights session. Still working on trying to find a better way to share it. Till then, keep your stick on the ice.

New Video

2007-11-06T11:55:00.000-08:00

Heres a video I made on the weekend. Its about an hour and 20 minutes long. For some reason the vid-capture software didn't pick up my AceHud, so there are many times where I'm referring to certain stats that I could see. It shouldn't be too much of an issue when watching though. Enjoy the vid and any feedback is greatly appreciated.

and CLICK HERE for the direct download link

Superman dat ho - and other related musings

2007-10-29T00:46:00.000-07:00

Update:

I ran sick hot at 2/4 this month, and like the dogs dick at 1/2. Conclusion? Always move up to where they respect your raises obviously. Maybe I should go right for 10/20 and test this theory out to the max.

All in all I had a good month though, and with the promising results at 2/4 I can at least consider a full time move there. Although my monthly expenses were astronomical this month so it will be back to 1/2 to rebuild for a while.

In related gambling news, I've also been running sick hot in football bets this year. I'm really not sure what has happened between this year and last where I was like 10-20 on the year against the spread. Actually I do know what happened - nothing. Variance in sports betting is as prevalent as it is in poker, and since the edges you are trying to push in sports betting are significantly smaller (possibly negative ev) the "swings" are much more common.

But I'll enjoy the money for now. This week I went 6-0 which is just an amazing feeling when you watching the games and seeing every fucking god damn score come in positive. I'm 16-3 against the spread this year which is pretty amazing if you consider each bet against the spread a coinflip. But I can't take all the credit for my winning - I have to give it up for the Patriots. Its comical at this point, but I've bet on them every week this year (except once against Buffalo for some reason) and each week they've covered. As a gambler you just have to love a team that consistently goes for it on 4th and 2, while up by 35 points. I'm seriously considering that Belichick is betting on his own team to cover each week at this point.

I'm still planning on riding out this Patriot train for as long as the oddsmakers let me. I'm not sure if you have heard but they are playing Indy this upcoming weekend. The game might fly under the radar in the media but I know I'll be watching. Currently they are only giving up 4.5 points which seems ridiculous even considering how well Indy has been playing. The Pats were one dropped third down conversion away from a win last year in the AFC championship game and they have improved a ridiculous amount in the off season. I'm not going to be shocked if this game is over in the 3rd quarter. I seriously cannot wait to see crybaby Peytons fat baby face crying.

As for poker, you know that other thing I used to blog about - I'm going to try to get some strategy posts going again. Some more "dissecting a hand" and maybe even another video as they've both been pretty therapeutic for me.

Inside the Mind of Tom Brady

2007-10-21T22:38:00.000-07:00

Is that Moss? I think he's triple-covered. You know what? Fuck it. I'm throwing it downfield.

Yeah, I see Kevin Faulk open on the flank. But fuck that. Dumpoff passes are for pussies. I'm fucking Tom Brady. I can get that ball in there. And, even if I can't, I bet I'll be able to pull it off the next go round. I like throwing the ball long. It makes my dick hard.

What's that? I should throw a quick slant? fuck that. That's gay. Button hook? Gay. Flare out? Gay. Screen pass? Kevin Spacey gay. This is fucking football. You can't just expect wins to come to you. You can't massage that shit. You gotta grab that game by the throat and rape the ever-loving shit out of it. You think a 5-yard out is gonna win you a game? You're a pussy. This ain't John Shoop running this offense. Tom Brady's got the arm. The dragon. You gotta unleash the dragon.

Okay, I'm throwing it. Nice. Look how far it went. I look good. I bet I made that Pats cheerleader wet her panties with that throw. She fucking wants me. I bet she likes it over a stair railing. I can hit that with 100% accuracy, my dear. Mmmmmm. I am delicious.

Oh shit. Looks at that. Moss just outjumped everyone and caught it for the touchdown. Again. It felt fucking great to throw that shit. Tell me that wasn't one of the prettiest passes you ever saw. You know what? Not only am I gonna throw it long the next time we hit the field. I'm gonna throw it even longer. Harder. You see that kid in wheelchair sitting in the end zone bleachers? I'm gonna try to nail him right between the fucking eyes with a Tom Brady fastball. Except Moss will jump up and catch that too.

This is Tom Brady we're talking about here. We're talking 210 lbs. of twisted steel and sex appeal. I'm not just a gunslinger. I'm a cumslinger. I fuck supermodels. Throwing that ball long tells all the Giesele wannabe's that I am fucking out there. On the edge. Where I gotta be. The ladies love the danger. The unpredictability. Oh, maybe I'll tease them with a pretty touch pass every now and again. But then I'm gonna go right back to pumping that ball out for all it's worth. It tells them I throw like I fuck. That's how we do things in the sexy business.

Tell me you're not turned on right now. I am.

Sadly I can't take credit for this genius piece of work as it was originally posted on 2+2 in this thread by "PokerFink". Looks like my mancrush on Brady isn't as uncommon as I'd hope.

Disection of a Hand

2007-10-16T23:56:00.000-07:00

Play along with me in this hand and lets see if we agree on what to do.

(this hand is fictitious for learning purposes only)

Party Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players

SB: $383.50
BB: $420.38
UTG: $484.20
Hero: $420.00
BTN: $1,671.90

Pre-Flop: 9s 9c dealt to Hero (UTG)
1 fold, Hero raises to $16, 2 folds, BB raises to $56, Hero calls $40

Flop: ($118) 2h 8d Jc (2 Players)
BB bets $80, Hero calls $80

Turn: ($278) 5s (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: ($278) 2d (2 Players)
BB bets $175, Hero folds

Ok, so theres the hand. Read it? Understand it? Ok lets discuss.

First I'll have to tell you about our opponent and the game flow. Our opponent here is a decent tight aggressive multitabler that you see often on any site. He is running a tight 20/15 game, meaning he is playing 20% of his hands and raising 15% of the hands he plays preflop. Quite often a raise from the cutoff will just steal his blind, but this time he decides to reraise us.

Pre-Flop

Now, the first thing you must do, before you call, fold or raise, is put him on a range of hands in order to make this decision. Now, a typical aggressive player here will have a semi-tight range of pocket pairs 77 and up, Ace-ten suited and all better aces, maybe KQ, KJ type hands, and occasionally a random suited connector. Very rarely will a tight non-tilted player reraise you here with like K5s, not to say it doesn't happen, but its rare enough to be insignificant.

Ok so with that range (77+, ATs+, KJ+, random sc's) we can now make our decision. We will not be playing this hand strictly for "set value", as a lot of his unpaired preflop hands will miss the flop. Because our hand has decent equity against his range, and we will have position on him throughout the hand, a call is prefered to a fold or a raise. A fold is way too tight givin the wide range of hands he is reraising us with, and a reraise will basically fold out all the hands we beat, and he will push all the hands that beat us (with the exception of AK). Call.

The Flop

Now, we call and see the flop of Jack, Eight, Two rainbow. All things considered, a good flop for our hand. We are now basically ahead of more than half his range. AK, AQ, AT, KQ all missed, as did his random suited connectors that don't contain a jack. Now he bets into us. Every good player will bet here after reraising preflop with their entire reraising range. They do this to not only get value from hands that beat us, but also to allow themselves to not be easily read when they don't have a hand that hit. Because we still are beating more than half of his range, a call is a must with the odds he is giving us. We have to call $80 to win about $200. We only have to be right about one in 3.5 hands to make this a profitable call in the long run.

What about raising? A lot of people will raise here to either "see where they are at" or to protect their hand. The problem with raising here is that he will always fold the hands you are currently beating, and he will go all in with the hands that beat you. Because there are virtually no draws aside from 9T he can't push on a draw, nor can he put you on a draw. This is important because if he pushes over your raise he probably realizes you have a made hand, and has still gone all in. Sure, raising takes the pot down now, but what are you really worried about? If he has 2 overcards you are still a 75% favorite to win the hand. Remember in a cash game you don't need to protect your stack since you can always reload.

The Turn

The turn brings another great card for you at this point, an offsuit 5, completing the rainbow, and your opponent checks. At this point he has either given up on the hand with a hand that missed, or he is trapping you. Again, this situation is one that many newer players will bet once checked to because your opponent has shown weakness, but again, what are you trying to get him to fold? What are you trying to get value from? If you bet the turn the same principle from raising the flop applies. You will never get called by a worse hand and you will get called or raised by a better hand. Even better is the fact that if he has 2 overcards you are now a 88% favorite to win the hand. And since there are basically no draws, your hand doesn't need protection from them. Just check.

The River

The river brings another safe card, pairing the two. The problem now is, your opponent decides to bet. Now, lets rewind this hand and look at it from your opponents perspective. You raised preflop, something you do often anyways, but you also called a sizable reraise preflop, meaning you must have a somewhat decent hand. You also called the flop bet and checked behind on the turn. Its very obvious you have something, but not something great since you never reraised the flop or bet the turn. You probably have a made hand that seems to want to get to a river showdown, yet your opponent bets. A lot of players will call here since your hand is pretty good and your opponent hasn't really shown a lot of strength either. The problem is, if your opponent was going to bluff twice at this hand, he is much much more likely to fire a second barrel on the turn since that is what he would do with a big hand, rather than check turn and fire on the river. Most good players know that if they bet the flop, and check the turn they are representing that they missed the flop and are giving up. They know that this line will get looked up lightly because of the turn check.

He knows you have a decent pair here, maybe even a jack, and he knows that he checked the turn indicating weakness, yet he still bets this river. River bets are for 2 reasons, bluffs or for value. This has value written all over it and if you call expect to see at least KJ. If he has a hand like TT or a weak jack he may check again because he feels that you wont call with worse often enough to make a bet worth-while.

Ok, get through all that? Its a long read but its an extraordinarily common situation that a lot of newer and inexperienced players will lose money on in the long run. At first glance it seems pretty boring, but its hands like these that you must play correctly because they happen so often.

A round of shots

2007-10-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

I've spent most of this year at 200NL. I've beaten the fuck out of it for 9 months but rarely have I had the cojones or more recently, the cash to move up. I've seen many screenshots of datamined winrates and my numbers are comparable to the highest found online at 200NL.

Basically what I'm saying is its obvious I can beat 200NL and its fucking time to move up.

The sand in the vagina will definitely be a problem, as well as a short bankroll, but I think with some discipline, perseverance and luck I can make the leap this month. And its really not the increase in skilled opponents I'm most concerned with, its the shear real life money that is at stake. Playing 400NL you have to accept having multiple thousands of real life American dollars lost within a session. This is something that will happen, and one has to be mentally prepared for that loss.

Its times like these where I wish I had a "real job" for backup incase of busto. Although even then I'd probably still be worried since the losses would dwarf my income anyways. There really is no way to become comfortable with losing that amount of money until you do it over and over again.

I'm a huge pussy. Thats a given. But even this pussy has come to accept (most) of the swings that come with the 200NL territory. I can easily goto bed knowing I just dropped $800. I might put in a few extra hours the next day, but its definitely not keeping me up at night. I can remember back when I first started, and I had my first day where I lost more than $200. I'm pretty sure I cried myself to sleep that night.

So tonight, I decided to search through the 400NL games, trying to find the fishiest tables. Eventually I found 4 that I could be comfortable at and played for a few hours. The other biggest adjustment for 400NL is that fish still exist, really bad fish, but they are just fewer in numbers compared to the volume of sharks. So once you find a table with a really shitty player, its not uncommon for 4 other sharks to play there, all happy that at least there is 1 fish. At 200NL its not too difficult to find many tables with 2 or more fish on them, so table selection isn't anywhere near as important.

Anyways, here is the results from tonights mini session. Its really really nice to run good when you are taking a shot at the next buyin level.

HOW PLAY POKER

2007-10-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Had a great past weekend with a trip with da boys to Montreal for muchos drunken debauchery. I have to say that it is probably my favorite party town that I've been to. And staying at hostels as oppose to hotels is definitely +EV. The weekend was capped off with another beautiful blowout by New England on Monday night. I had a $100 on them and it was the easiest bet I ever made. When is Vegas going to learn how fucking dominant the Pats are?

Anways, during one of the many conversations that took place this weekend, my friend mentioned to me that he just wants to make $500 / month playing poker. Its definitely a modest and achievable goal for anyone who has passed 11th grade. However, I mentioned to him that even with a decent amount of poker knowledge, there are many other factors that will determine if you are a winning or losing player. The problem is, all the intangible factors that go into ones winrate are almost impossible to teach. Things like tilt control, discipline at the tables and so on are only really realized after you have done a lot of damage to your bankroll.

I mean, everyone knows not to tilt. Its like saying don't fall when trying to win a footrace. But the problem with tilt is, not every player is able to even identify when they are tilting, so avoiding it becomes difficult. And tilt isn't the only thing to avoid. Playing when tired, angry, sad, etc, these things will effect your game in ways that are very difficult to identify let alone quantify.

The best advice I can give to anyone struggling to put together a bankroll is to start analyzing your state of mind when playing. Be conscious of every move you are doing. Do not go on autopilot (until you are a confirmed winner at least). For every significant move you make, ask yourself, would I always do this play? Do I know better than to do this play?

At the low levels poker is an exceedingly easy game to beat. I could easily beat 50NL for a significantly high winrate by never bluffing. I'm not even joking either. I've done many long experimental sessions at lower limits trying out my "no bluffing" strategy and it always shows a good profit. What hurts most lowstakes would-be grinders is not the strategy - thats easy - its the discipline. Its the discipline not to check-raise all in on a draw just because your opponent is "always betting". Its the discipline to just fold to the fish who keeps min raising you. Its the discipline not to instantly try to win your money back after getting sucked out on.

Winning poker is folding poker. I know, it sucks folding. Its not fun and you can't win if you fold. Trust me, I know what its like not to want to fold. But the truth of the matter is, no matter what game your are playing in, poker is still at best 50% skill and 50% luck. And against most decent opponents, your edge is not that significant. Your main winnings will come from fish with terrible stats. Just wait for a hand, bet and they will call you. You know why? Because fish hate folding even more than you do. It only takes a few terribly played, tilt induced hands by you to ruin your winrate and send your bankroll back to zero.

Sometimes you just won't be getting the cards, and sometimes the fish will keep getting better ones. Thats called variance. Do not in any circumstance justify your play because of the lack of cards you are getting (or the glut of cards your opponents are getting). Keep in mind that there will be days that you will have the nuts every hand and they will pay you off. Your edge comes in when you can fold to their nut hands.

$500/month is possible and a very nice bonus for most non poker players working 9-5 jobs. With most people's current poker knowledge it is almost trivial assuming tilt and discipline are not issues. However, 90% of poker players are long time losers for a reason, and that reason is basically lack of experience with dealing with tilt. Don't ignore it, just learn to recognize it and you will win.

I fucking hate my life

2007-09-26T23:38:00.000-07:00

All tonight. Fuck you WORLD

Seat 3: nn243712 ( $265 USD )
Seat 5: tcyr19 ( $245.10 USD )
Seat 6: manny654 ( $148.80 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $211.25 USD )
Seat 1: Liberty3BSpec ( $229.65 USD )
Seat 2: GERA2000 ( $40.80 USD )
tcyr19 posts small blind [$1 USD].
manny654 posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 7d 9d ]
Liberty3BSpec folds.
GERA2000 folds.
nn243712 raises [$7 USD]
tokenblak raises [$24 USD]
tcyr19 folds.
manny654 folds.
nn243712 calls [$17 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 7s, Td, 8c ]
nn243712 checks.
tokenblak bets [$38 USD]
nn243712 raises [$111 USD]
tokenblak raises [$146 USD]
nn243712 is all-In.
tokenblak is all-In.
** Dealing Turn ** [ Ks ]
** Dealing River ** [ Qs ]
tokenblak shows [ 7d, 9d ]a pair of Sevens.
nn243712 shows [ Ah, Jd ]a straight Ten to Ace.
nn243712 wins $53.75 USD from side pot #1 with a straight, Ten to Ace.
nn243712 wins $422.50 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.

Seat 2: yatnod_rm ( $510.45 USD )
Seat 3: dannyboysnow ( $202.36 USD )
Seat 5: tokenblak ( $397.50 USD )
Seat 6: kmwin ( $201.75 USD )
dannyboysnow posts small blind [$1 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ 9d Kd ]
kmwin calls [$2 USD]
yatnod_rm folds.
dannyboysnow calls [$1 USD]
tokenblak checks.
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, Qc, Js ]
dannyboysnow bets [$2 USD]
tokenblak raises [$8 USD]
kmwin calls [$8 USD]
dannyboysnow folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 6c ]
tokenblak bets [$22 USD]
kmwin calls [$22 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 4d ]
tokenblak bets [$50 USD]
kmwin raises [$100 USD]
tokenblak raises [$262 USD]
kmwin is all-In.
tokenblak shows [ 9d, Kd ]a straight Nine to King.
kmwin shows [ Kh, As ]a straight Ten to Ace.
tokenblak wins $142.25 USD from side pot #1 with a straight, Nine to King.
kmwin wins $405.50 USD from the main pot with a straight, Ten to Ace.

Seat 1: Maverick4646 ( $287.57 USD )
Seat 4: GoBears67 ( $199.45 USD )
Seat 6: nluckygmblr ( $170.71 USD )
Seat 3: tokenblak ( $160 USD )
Seat 5: azromii ( $253.50 USD )
Seat 2: Max_Power112 ( $157.65 USD )
nluckygmblr posts small blind [$1 USD].
Maverick4646 posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ As Qd ]
Max_Power112 folds.
tokenblak raises [$8 USD]
GoBears67 folds.
azromii folds.
nluckygmblr folds.
Maverick4646 calls [$6 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6c, Qh, 8c ]
Maverick4646 checks.
tokenblak bets [$12 USD]
Maverick4646 calls [$12 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2s ]
Maverick4646 checks.
tokenblak bets [$34 USD]
Maverick4646 calls [$34 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ 9d ]
Maverick4646 checks.
tokenblak is all-In.
Maverick4646 calls [$106 USD]
Maverick4646 shows [ 5d, 7s ]a straight Five to Nine.
tokenblak doesn't show [ As, Qd ]a pair of Queens.
The time at which hand ended:Sep 27 2007 01:51 ET
Maverick4646 wins $317.50 USD from the main pot with a straight, Five to Nine.

Seat 1: RoyaleCay1 ( $305.54 USD )
Seat 2: spinner1972 ( $329.95 USD )
Seat 3: Baaba112 ( $225.10 USD )
Seat 4: Logoped83 ( $170.50 USD )
Seat 5: tcyr19 ( $247.40 USD )
Seat 6: tokenblak ( $200 USD )
spinner1972 posts small blind [$1 USD].
Baaba112 posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ As Qd ]
tcyr19 folds.
tokenblak raises [$8 USD]
RoyaleCay1 folds.
spinner1972 calls [$7 USD]
Baaba112 calls [$6 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 2h, 6c, Th ]
spinner1972 checks.
Baaba112 checks.
tokenblak bets [$17 USD]
spinner1972 calls [$17 USD]
Baaba112 folds.
** Dealing Turn ** [ 5c ]
spinner1972 bets [$10 USD]
tokenblak raises [$50 USD]
spinner1972 calls [$40 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Ac ]
spinner1972 checks.
tokenblak checks.
spinner1972 shows [ Ts, 6s ]two pairs, Tens and Sixes.
tokenblak doesn't show [ As, Qd ]a pair of Aces.
spinner1972 wins $156 USD from the main pot with two pairs, Tens and Sixes.

Seat 5: tcyr19 ( $292 USD )
Seat 6: manny654 ( $244.15 USD )
Seat 4: tokenblak ( $313.80 USD )
Seat 1: Liberty3BSpec ( $224 USD )
Seat 2: ProudMom1997 ( $197 USD )
Seat 3: GERA2000 ( $35 USD )
GERA2000 posts small blind [$1 USD].
tokenblak posts big blind [$2 USD].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to tokenblak [ Kh Kd ]
tcyr19 folds.
manny654 folds.
Liberty3BSpec folds.
ProudMom1997 raises [$7 USD]
GERA2000 folds.
tokenblak raises [$25 USD]
ProudMom1997 calls [$20 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ Jc, Th, As ]
tokenblak bets [$40 USD]
ProudMom1997 is all-In.
tokenblak folds.
ProudMom1997 shows [ 7d, 8d ]high card Ace.
ProudMom1997 wins $262 USD from the main pot with high card, Ace.

1st bragworthy post in months

2007-09-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Played some hands tonight, here are the results:

Yay 10 buyins, woopdy fucking shit. But at this point I will fucking take it. Good god this month has been hell. Just need a few more of these sessions and maybe I'll be able to put gas in the car again.

God this job sucks sometimes (read: every fucking day). But days like today always remind you that god put dumb people on the earth for your profit.

And heres a pretty awesome video for no reason.

Tapped out

2007-09-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

For those that have been furiously refreshing their homepages (this blog) awaiting updates this past week, I apologize.

And to those who lazily check updates with a RSS reader, fuck you. Show some loyalty.

But seriously, sorry for the lack of updates. I just have nothing to write about. I've still been playing poker, and living my hilarious life, but honestly nothing has happened in a week worth telling even myself about in my daily self-reflection recap in front of the mirror.

I started the month off in serious fashion, putting in serious amounts of hours for not so serious amounts of money. Somewhere along the line I started to get bent over and I backed off on the serious play, regressing to the usual 1 hour workday. While the 1 hour workday (patent pending) is easy, breezy and beautiful, its not really the ideal way to make mortgage payments.

I think the reason for my lack of play last week was due to the earlier losses in the month. Obvious I know, but its a pattern that I'm trying to correct. You see for every anal raping loss I take, it takes me literally days of stitches and ice for my ass to heal. I can't play straight until it does, because I'm a fucking pussy who lets his emotions affect his game (and his ass pain affect his comfort).

Even though I've been playing poker "full time" for almost 2 years now, losses still get to me. The long run, one long game, +EV, these are all just meaningless words to me when I lose. Something must be done. I need to get my hand out of my ass (wtf?) and just fucking play play play.

Fuck the man and his results.

Oh and has anyone been watching the New England Patriots play? It looks like they are playing on All-Madden level against their "Pro" level opponents. I've watched each game of theirs this season and I can't wipe the perma-smile off my face. To quote some retarded monday night football commentator (maybe Joe Thiesman?): "If you don't like watching the New England Patriots play right now, you don't like NFL football".

Next weeks game in Cinci should be a massacre. Take the over.

Snap Call

2007-09-10T14:10:00.001-07:00

POKERSTARS GAME #11983285325: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($1/$2) - 2007/09/10 - 16:55:11 (ET)
Table 'Shao' 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: TwistedEcho ($332.05 in chips)
Seat 2: djj6835 ($398 in chips)
Seat 3: dest- ($348.60 in chips)
Seat 4: billyzzz ($547.70 in chips)
Seat 5: RikkiDee ($196 in chips)
Seat 6: TheLife ($422.70 in chips)
TheLife: posts small blind $1
TwistedEcho: posts big blind $2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to RikkiDee [Ac Kc]
djj6835: folds
dest-: folds
billyzzz: calls $2
RikkiDee: raises $8 to $10
TheLife: folds
TwistedEcho: folds
billyzzz: calls $8
*** FLOP *** [Qh Jd Qd]
billyzzz: checks
RikkiDee: checks
*** TURN *** [Qh Jd Qd] [8c]
billyzzz: bets $14
RikkiDee: calls $14
*** RIVER *** [Qh Jd Qd 8c] [2c]
billyzzz: bets $246
RikkiDee: calls $172 and is all-in
*** SHOW DOWN ***
billyzzz: shows [Kd 4c] (a pair of Queens)
RikkiDee: shows [Ac Kc] (a pair of Queens - Ace kicker)
RikkiDee collected $392 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $395 | Rake $3
Board [Qh Jd Qd 8c 2c]
Seat 1: TwistedEcho (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 2: djj6835 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: dest- folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: billyzzz showed [Kd 4c] and lost with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: RikkiDee (button) showed [Ac Kc] and won ($392) with a pair of Queens
Seat 6: TheLife (small blind) folded before Flop

Been too busy and lazy to blog lately. Yes you can be too busy AND lazy to do something, dumbass. Trust me.

I have actually been playing a shitload of hands this month. I've played something like 30k hands already this month which is like twice as much as I played in all of August. Granted, most of it has been like 10 tabling 50NL just for practice / fun on Stars, but still, lots of hands. Not so much profit though.

I think I'll be playing on Stars for a while. I miss it a lot. The software is at least 98% better than Party's. And for some reason I can put in marathon sessions way easier. I think its because Party lags my comp so much that after a few hours its virtually unplayable. Besides, Party stopped giving me rakeback so fuck them in principle.

It was fun building up a bankroll on stars (because I'm obviously too lazy to actually move funds from one site to another). I started with the last $30 I had on Stars, and just grinded my ass off. I started with a few $6 SNG's for a while, then when I got up to about $100 I 4 tabled 25NL, and just went from there. Took me about a week of play to get up to $1k. My goal was to build my roll up so I could play 200NL with 20 buyins, but I then thought, what the fuck am I doing wasting all my time trying to build a roll when I already have one?

But it is a neat experiment to do. Its comforting knowing that even if I went completely busto I would be able to come back playing at least 8 tables of 50NL within a week.

Live poker is easy

2007-09-01T08:25:00.000-07:00

Took a day off the online grind yesterday and went down to Niagara Falls for the day with my friend Wpalango for an afternoon/evening/early morning of live action. I hadn't played live in about a year so I was actually pretty excited even though the last time I played live I went busto and wanted to murder every live player in existence.

As soon as I sat down, I immediately felt much more comfortable with my game than I did before. When I went before, the majority of my poker experience was in SNG's and MTT's and I realize now how much that affected my cash game. I was the walking (sitting?) definition of a tourney donk and was probably only a break even player even against the terrible competition that is live poker.

My plan was to just play super solid and tight for an hour or so, get a read on the table and then start opening up. I pretty much stuck to this plan to my surprise, and didn't get bored or restless at all. It's a pretty strange thing. When playing online, if I don't play the maximum number of tables that I can process I start getting bored and all fancy play syndromey, trying to make too many moves on people and ultimately tilting because they never work. But live, for some reason I was able to curb my boredom and not start playing every hand and trying to win every pot even though we are playing about 10 hands per hour.

I was basically very surprised that I remained patient. Take this hand for example. I had folded probably every hand preflop for over an hour, after getting dealt J5 and T3 repeatedly. I finally get AK, raise it up with a few limpers, obviously get 4 callers despite my obvious tightness, hit an ace on the flop and bet / fold to a check raise. Obviously I "had a read" but I honestly couldn't believe I went with it. I mean, here I am having not won a pot in 1.5 hours and I finally hit a huge hand and I fold.

But the thing is, live players, especially the shitty ones at my table, are so fucking passive that any sign of strength like this can be taken to the bank as the nuts. If any man over 50 check raises you, and you don't have the nuts, you fold. Its quite simple - old men suck at poker. They have no aggression left in their body and probably don't feel that semi-bluffing and the like are the "right" way to play poker. This theory is supported by the fact that every time a "stupid young kid" takes down a pot showing a marginal hand and a lot of strength, old men at the table let out a collective eye-rolling and sighing to show their disdain for their lack of respect for the game. So they continue to wait for the nuts, "knowing" that when they hit they will get paid off by these over-aggressive young kids, disregarding the fact that anyone paying attention will insta fold to any bet they make.

Anyways, my table was about 80% of this type yesterday. So it was pretty easy for me to lag it up a bit and take a lot of pots off them. And even despite my aggression they would still make ridiculous laydowns to me and show. For example, I raise a few limpers with T8s and get 2 callers. Flop comes T high and its checked to me, and I obviously bet. Old passive dude is last to act and folds his QQ face up, saying "well you either have tens, jacks, queens, kings or aces, and I only beat one of those". I mean get a fucking clue dude. I've raised every limped pot in position for the past 5 hours and you are still putting me on a monster? He even made a comment to me on one J high flop that the only way I hit that flop is if I had JJ because otherwise I would *never* raise preflop with any hand that had a jack in it. Uh, ok. Keep giving me that respect plz.

I would later bust him.

Nothing super spectacular happened in the 12~ hours I was there. I didn't really bother to make any crazy bluffs, since it was hard to put these passive dudes on hands that they would fold once they've check/called the flop, so usually I would just give up and take the free cards they offered.

My first big hand came when I had doubled my stack to around $1000 (oh btw I was playing 5/5 NL with $500 buyin). I had JJ on the button and raised a few limpers up to $50 preflop (lol 10xbb raises). 2 players obviously call and the flop comes 747 with 2 spades. It's checked to me and I have to bet, so I $110 into the middle. A young kid, younger than me in the blinds calls me fairly quickly as does the old passive dude. At this point I'm already done with the hand. Before the turn is dealt I'm thinking in my head, "without a jack hitting I'm not putting another $1 into the pot". Well who do you think stops by on the turn? Oh yes, a fucking beautiful jack. Again they check to me and I bet $200 because no one can read bet sizes live and the young kid in the blinds goes all in for $800 more and then the passive dude calls. I obviously call. The kid shows 67 and the other guy has the ace high flush draw. No 7 on the river and I take down a sick pot over $2k. Definitely my biggest pot ever since I don't even play 2/4 online.

After that I go on a crazy rush. I have jacks again in early position facing an UTG limper. I raise it to $35 and everyone folds to the limper who then mini raises me to $80. He has like $700 behind so I call because he is old and obviously has aces. I obviously hit a jack on the flop and I insta push over his continuation bet. He actually thinks for a good 2-3 minutes before calling, flips over kings and I win. The best thing about live poker is people don't seem to consider bet sizes at all. They just decide if they have the best hand or not and call any bet. After the hand hes all, "OFMG how do u call my raise preflop??". I can't help but laugh at his ignorance, but I don't say anything but sorry. I did feel kind of bad for the guy because he had obviously waited all night to "trap" me and then that happens. But hey, try not sucking at poker?

2 hands later I'm UTG with 54s and I figure since my image right now is pretty sick after showing down the nuts 2 hands for massive pots I decide to raise for fun. 4 callers see the flop which is obviously 236 rainbow. I can't help but laugh at this point. The same guy I stacked with the kings 2 hands ago had rebought and leads out into me for $125. I smooth call his bet, not wanting to raise yet because there are 3 players yet to act. One other player calls and the turn brings a T. Old passive dude checks, I bet $300 and both fold, with the old passive guy showing 36. I'm like WTF?? I ask him what he put me on and he says "Aces, but I know you'll draw out". I LOL again and scoop another sizable pot.

It was getting fairly late at this point and I tired and hungry so I decided to cash out and leave. The total damage was +$2500 which was a nice end to a mediocre August for me. As I was cashing out one of the old dudes takes me aside and says to me "now don't do what most young guys do after their first big win and blow it thinking that its always this easy". Yes sir I will keep your advice in my heart for all my future poker playing days. Good thing he was there to keep me grounded.

The funny thing is I probably played maybe like 300 hands in my 12 hours live, which is just a ridiculous winrate. If I had stayed home and played for 12 hours I would have probably played about 5k hands, maybe more. So while live is fun and a nice change of pace to the online grind, its still way way below the expectation of income that online poker provides, even considering the ridiculously horrible players that play live. So I will probably go back eventually but it won't be a regular occurrence.

Never give up

2007-08-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Took a beating in the ass yesterday. A serious ass pounding. My ass was fucking killing me. All red and raw from all the pounding it took. After 700 hands my ass had been fucked so hard no one even wanted me anymore because it was so stretched out and gross. Like that goatse guy.

So, while shaking uncontrollably in the fetal position on the ground, with an ice bag on my asshole, I had nothing left to offer but pure reflex. Pure reflex and mankind's basic drive for survival, that somehow shouts, "NO - I WILL NOT DIE TODAY!".

I picked myself up, tied the bag off ice to my ass, picked the keyboard off the ground and the mouse out of the hallway and started back up again. It was ugly and I was still crying a bit but I played through it.

6 hours later it was over. My ass was healed, pink and tight again. And my bankroll was back in order. Best fucking feeling I've ever had in my life. Heres the graph.

Almost -10 buyins in 700 hands. Ugliest shit ever. Damn my ass got fucked.

But, somehow someway I made it all back. Honestly, after I dropped the $1900 in less than an hour all I could think of was how long it was going to take for me to make it back. Luckily I had a few coolers here and there to help me back up. But most importantly I don't think I tilted. I mean after the first 700 hands obviously. I kept a level head, and played through it. I'm proud of my ass.

Going to take a day off because after this marathon I was literally shaking and numb.

This shit is Bananas

2007-08-21T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure whats gotten into me the past few days but I like it.

I've played like 5x my regular amount, went crazy and back again, and still made some monies. Sure, tilt is usually damaging to your bankroll, but as long as you can recover unscathed it can be therapeutic.

I think by donking off a few stacks in the past few days has taught me the meaning of a "stack". And that "meaning" is meaningless. They are just numbers on a computer screen. Not an ipod, or a Wii. Its just 3 digits on a server somewhere. Thinking like this allows for true poker freedom. It opens up your game and allows you to make some high variance (read:+ev) maneuvers. No big deal if you lose.

Looking back on a few of the hands I played, sure, I looked like an idiot. But sometimes your read is off and you end up looking like an idiot in poker. But it's important to always be testing your reads and your instincts else your game will stagnate. Sometimes you'll need to stack off with ace high, and sometimes you'll need to fold the 2nd nuts. And I say this as a player who has barely ever tested his marginal reads, but I can see from my short experience that it makes you a better player. Not only that, your opponents will fear you, even if you did look like a donk that one hand. They'll still remember you called down with ace high once before they attempt that next bluff.

And maybe I went a little overboard this week. I mean, I didn't win much and I experienced a huge amount of variance. But I truly do believe I grew as a player immensely. Funny how after playing for almost 2 years full time I can still learn so much in a few days.

Just for fun, heres todays graph:

And here are some of my awesome reads in action. Most of them are ridiculous and very opponent dependent. Definitely way different than my regular game.

SB: $254.05
BB: $308.89
UTG: $246.05
CO: $396.13
Hero (BTN): $526.95

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ad 7d (5 Players)
UTG folds, CO raises to $7.00, Hero raises to $24.00, 2 folds, CO calls $17.00

Flop: ($51) Jh 6s As (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero bets $40.00, CO calls $40.00

Turn: ($131) 7c (2 Players)
CO checks, Hero bets $100.00, CO calls $100.00

River: ($331) 8c (2 Players)
CO bets all-in for $232.13, Hero calls $232.13

Pot Size: $795.26 ($2.50 Rake)

CO had Qs Js (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$396.13)
Hero had Ad 7d (two pairs, Aces and Sevens) and WON (+$396.63)

Hero (SB): $435.00
BB: $200.00
UTG: $394.00
CO: $876.02
BTN: $548.00

Preflop: Hero is dealt 9c 4c (5 Players)
UTG folds, CO raises to $10.00, BTN folds, Hero calls $9.00, BB folds

Flop: ($22) 7d 2h 9d (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $12.00, Hero raises to $44.00, CO calls $32.00

Turn: ($110) 3h (2 Players)
Hero bets $80.00, CO calls $80.00

River: ($270) Kh (2 Players)
Hero checks, CO bets $115.81, Hero calls $115.81

Pot Size: $501.62 ($2 Rake)

CO had Td 5d (high card King) and LOST (-$249.81)
Hero had 9c 4c (a pair of Nines) and WON (+$249.81)

SB: $129.34
BB: $42.30
UTG: $340.15
MP: $517.31
Hero (CO): $197.00
BTN: $37.00

Preflop: Hero is dealt Th Jh (6 Players)
UTG raises to $8.00, MP folds, Hero raises to $26.00, 3 folds, UTG calls $18.00

Flop: ($55) 3s 5c Jc (2 Players)
UTG bets $30.00, Hero calls $30.00

Turn: ($115) 9c (2 Players)
UTG bets $50.00, Hero calls $50.00

River: ($215) 5d (2 Players)
UTG bets $80.00, Hero calls $80.00

Pot Size: $375.00 ($3.50 Rake)

UTG had 6h 6c (two pairs, Sixes and Fives) and LOST (-$186.00)
Hero had Th Jh (two pairs, Jacks and Fives) and WON (+$185.50)

Avert thy eyes for this next one if you hate bad play

SB: $184.47
BB: $102.00
Hero (BTN): $200.00

Preflop: Hero is dealt 8c Kd (3 Players)
Hero raises to $7.00, SB raises to $20.00, BB folds, Hero calls $13.00

Flop: ($42) 7h 5d 4d (2 Players)
SB bets $20.00, Hero calls $20.00

Turn: ($82) Ks (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $50.00, SB calls $50.00

River: ($182) Jh (2 Players)
SB bets all-in for $94.47, Hero calls $94.47

Pot Size: $370.94 ($1 Rake)

SB had Ah Js (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$184.47)
Hero had 8c Kd (a pair of Kings) and WON (+$185.47)

SB: $442.64
Hero (BB): $406.80
UTG: $200.00
MP: $209.45
CO: $123.14
BTN: $267.25

Preflop: Hero is dealt 4h 4s (6 Players)
4 folds, SB raises to $6.00, Hero raises to $22.00, SB calls $16.00

Flop: ($44) Qc 6c 6d (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero bets $30.00, SB calls $30.00

Turn: ($104) 3d (2 Players)
SB checks, Hero checks

River: ($104) 7s (2 Players)
SB bets $79.00, Hero calls $79.00

Pot Size: $262.00 ($3.50 Rake)

SB had As 2d (a pair of Sixes) and LOST (-$131.00)
Hero had 4h 4s (two pairs, Sixes and Fours) and WON (+$127.50)

And sometimes I'm wrong... although that river card sucked

SB: $198.00
BB: $199.00
UTG: $394.00
MP: $867.32
CO: $276.00
Hero (BTN): $321.00

Preflop: Hero is dealt Jc Ah (6 Players)
UTG folds, MP calls $2.00, CO folds, Hero raises to $10.00, SB calls $9.00, BB folds, MP raises to $40.00, Hero calls $30.00, SB calls $30.00

Flop: ($122) Qd 2d 8h (3 Players)
SB checks, MP checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($122) Qs (3 Players)
SB checks, MP bets $119.00, Hero calls $119.00, SB folds

River: ($360) Kc (2 Players)
MP bets $74.00, Hero calls $74.00

Pot Size: $508.00 ($3 Rake)

MP had Js Ks (two pairs, Kings and Queens) and WON (+$272.00)
Hero had Jc Ah (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-$233.00)

I tried to rep AK...

SB: $786.38
BB: $554.85
Hero (UTG): $580.06
MP: $221.10
CO: $784.20
BTN: $493.33

Preflop: Hero is dealt 7h 7c (6 Players)
Hero raises to $10.00, MP calls $10.00, 4 folds

Flop: ($23) 6h 3c 6c (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $16.00, Hero calls $16.00

Turn: ($55) 6d (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $26.00, Hero calls $26.00

River: ($107) Kd (2 Players)
Hero checks, MP bets $44.00, Hero raises all-in to $528.06, MP calls all-in for $125.10
Uncalled bet of $358.96 returned to Hero

Pot Size: $445.20 ($3 Rake)

MP had Ah As (a full house, Sixes full of Aces) and WON (+$221.10)
Hero had 7h 7c (a full house, Sixes full of Sevens) and LOST (-$221.10)

SB: $182.00
BB: $267.20
UTG: $695.14
MP: $774.92
CO: $569.50
Hero (BTN): $844.61

Preflop: Hero is dealt Ac 9h (6 Players)
UTG folds, MP raises to $8.00, CO folds, Hero raises to $26.00, 2 folds, MP calls $18.00

Flop: ($55) 8s 5d 5s (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero bets $35.00, MP calls $35.00

Turn: ($125) 5h (2 Players)
MP checks, Hero checks

River: ($125) 3h (2 Players)
MP bets $110.00, Hero calls $110.00

Pot Size: $345.00 ($3 Rake)

MP had Qd 8c (a full house, Fives full of Eights) and WON (+$171.00)
Hero had Ac 9h (three of a kind, Fives) and LOST (-$171.00)

SB: $203.30
BB: $158.12
UTG: $207.50
Hero (CO): $197.00
BTN: $234.95

Preflop: Hero is dealt Jc Qh (5 Players)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $8.00, 2 folds, BB calls $6.00

Flop: ($17) 2c 8s 6c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $12.00, BB calls $12.00

Turn: ($41) 5c (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $33.00, BB calls $33.00

River: ($107) Ad (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80.00, BB calls $80.00

Pot Size: $267.00 ($2 Rake)

BB had 7s 8d (a pair of Eights) and WON (+$132.00)
Hero had Jc Qh (high card Ace) and LOST (-$133.00)

Hitler Gets Banned From Online Poker

2007-08-14T15:44:00.001-07:00

Spent

2007-08-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

I've been ridiculously busy in the past few weeks.

And by ridiculously busy I mean less busy than the average person.

Still, work is relative as you can become accustomed to it. And I am not.

Fourth paragraph! After buying the house, and getting all this shit set up, I wasn't exactly dying to play poker, but since I just spent what feels like Jesus' ransom on this shit, I needed to play.

And as anytime previous when I was short on cash, I played and lost. Standard. So the combination work + losses lead to no updates. Because who wants to talk about their shitty, tilt-induced play.

But its all good now. I've chilled out and started to turn things around. After the 3rd straight losing day I had to take a step back to realize wtf I was doing to myself. I'm pretty sure I lost my fold button, which ended up causing most of the damage. So at least I have that excuse.

In order to get back into the game I just started writing down the absolute truths of hold'em when I saw fit. I would play a bit then notice certain things that I intrinsically know but haven't verbalized in a while. Things like "its ok to get bluffed" and "if your image sucks, stop raising marginal hands preflop". Pretty simple stuff but I think it was a good exercise that got me focussed again. I've done this before and I still have the text document. Going back and reading it (from a year ago) is pretty interesting on its own. Amazing to see how your unconscious poker mind develops within a year.

I also finally erased everquest from my computer. Took me too long to do, but at least its done. I actually got bored of it eventually, so it wasn't that hard of a decision. And at this point in my life, I need as little amount of distractions as I can get.

So I'm back on track, living basically the same life I lived in Toronto, only in a house now. I think I'll be alright.

Kill me

2007-07-23T03:16:00.001-07:00

That pretty much sums up my progress this month.

I don't take losses well. And since I ran so good early in the month, the losses were inevitable. I hate poker for that. I wish I was still naive about variance. I remember 2 years ago thinking that if I played good, I couldn't lose. Like, yea maybe a suckout here and there, but I couldn't fathom losing 10 days in a row. But now I understand that you can't do shit to avoid it. If you run good, YOU WILL RUN BAD.

So yea, I started running bad last week, and I wanted to shit my pants - actually I did, fuck. I stopped playing, dug a hole and crawled into it - hence the lack of updates for those who were actually cheering for me.

I'll post my stats eventually - when I actually look at them. It got real ugly at the end. Of course, I'm exaggerating, and I still made some money, but nothing close to 10k. I failed.

So I got to thinking, once again, about my life and different shit I should be doing with it. The last 3 weeks may be the least productive 3 weeks of any human of all time. I'm talking less productive than a fucking newborn baby. Even I was embarrassed for myself, and I was the only person who knew what the fuck I was even doing.

It's all good though since I'm moving to my new house in like a week, as well as going to New York City for the first time to see Rage Against the mother fucking Machine in concert. Once I get settled in my new house, I hope that I summon some motivation to start living a productive life.

Not that I feel any outside pressure to do so. I'm just really fucking bored.

And while playing the 14th straight hour of Everquest, I started to think of different things I could do. And I really don't care about money. As long as my bills are paid, and I'm not struggling to pay them, its all good. I don't save money and I don't invest. I like to spend and I like to live my life now. I mentioned previously that I wanted to get into radio broadcasting as its something I've always been intrigued by and I figure I could do it and not be on the 24 hour suicide watch.

Tonight I started to formulate a life plan that I could see myself living with some degree of satisfaction. I mean, I've always considered myself to be "smart". Not genius, just fairly smart. It doesn't always translate into my real life though, but generally I make fairly decent decisions. So in the back of my mind, when considering "career" paths, I always consider the fact that I could be doing "so much more" if I wanted to. But I've been saying this to myself since high school and yet I've never been running at full potential. So while in theory I probably could do something fairly meaningful or important in life, I know its not a realistic thought due to the motivation factor. Thus the radio gig. Something fun to do while getting paid peanuts doing a job that doesn't require a great deal of intelligence. Be like me kids.

So I need experience. My plan is to volunteer with a friend at the university radio station for a while then apply at some local stations. The university station is great as they give you an hour of free time to do your own show with very little restrictions (mostly just music based). I think it will be a lot of fun and have a lot of ideas for possible shows. I also want to take this time to develop my other secret life goal - to become a stand up comedian.

I know that sounds ridiculous. I'm not even that funny, I know. And its probably something that will never happen but for some reason, every time I listen to a stand up comic who I enjoy, I always sit there thinking that I should do what he's doing.

I think even saying that you want to be a stand up comic is absurd and probably a little arrogant, but hey, its a dream of mine. I mean, who am I to think I'm funny? Fuck you RikkiDee. But I know I've had my moments of hilarity. If you take all the funny shit I've said throughout my life, and put it back to back, I think thats at least a 5 minute bit.

And if you are sitting here reading this thinking, this guy is on crack, I've read everything he has written and I've never laughed once - I have to agree with you. I mean, I'm not exactly bringing down the house with this blog. Although most of my posts are pure spontaneous drivel that aren't really designed to be funny. I mean after all this is a poker blog. But I think with some time, and practice, I could put together a bit that would have you on your ass. Plus I think that any true comic that I've ever respected is only funny when they are performing. In their regular life they aren't going to be reaching for ridiculous references and jokes just to get through a daily conversation. I mean, retards like Dane Cook would, but who respects him anyways?

So there it is, a sort of 5 year plan. Volunteer at university radio station for a while, then apply at local station - all the while playing poker while working on a stand up comedy routine to show drunkenly at an amateur night.

I can see the millions now.

Oh and fuck poker.

wtf am i doing

2007-07-16T20:11:00.001-07:00

Dealt to tokenblak [ Js Ks ]
mugsie69 folds.
RalphAlf folds.
SagatnOlsens raises [$7 USD]
tokenblak calls [$7 USD]
AndyKayy folds.
viola_777 calls [$5 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 9c, 5s, 7d ]
viola_777 checks.
SagatnOlsens bets [$15 USD]
tokenblak calls [$15 USD]
viola_777 calls [$15 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 2d ]
viola_777 checks.
SagatnOlsens checks.
tokenblak bets [$50 USD]
viola_777 calls [$50 USD]
SagatnOlsens folds.
** Dealing River ** [ 3s ]
viola_777 is all-In.
tokenblak calls [$134.90 USD]
viola_777 shows [ 6s, 7s ]a pair of Sevens.
tokenblak shows [ Js, Ks ]high card King.

Trying to keep it daily

2007-07-13T03:52:00.000-07:00

Still working on playing for more than like 3 hours without losing all concentration. Also playing through a fun breakeven stretch and its really fucking annoying. There is something about me and the magical $5k mark that I can't fucking get past. As soon as I hit it, a mental alert goes off and I am incapable of winning. This has been going on for over a year now. It's no longer a trend, its a certainty. I hate it and and I hate my vagina.

Hands Played: 9508
Amount Won: $5825.24
ptBB/100: 15.91

Quickie

2007-07-11T01:53:00.000-07:00

Quick update just for stats

Played like 1.2k hands, brain started to fry. I need to get out of the house. I can feel my eyes sinking into my skull.

Hands Played: 6303
Amount Won: $5473.22
ptBB/100: 21.71

Plan for tomorrow is to get up, shower, go outside and do "something". Maybe I'll work out, or shoot around at the gym. I just need some activity.

Paying for motivation

2007-07-10T01:13:00.000-07:00

Apparently my "challenge" isn't challenging enough for me. I mean, I sit in front of my computer 14(?) hours of the day, and I can only muster 3 of them for poker. It's pathetic.

I think I need a visit from one of those ghosts that come and take you to see your possible futures depending on what changes in your life you make. You know those ghosts, where are they when you really need one.

I wasn't able to play Friday or Saturday since I was away, and most of the day Sunday, but I still could have feasibly got in a few k hands. Of course I just sit around.

I played a bit tonight, won a bit, here are updated stats.

Hands Played: 5194
Amount Won: $5062.09
ptBB/100: 24.37

Halfway to my "goal", although I still have a lot of bad variance to play through, so I imagine it will take me at least three times as long to get the rest.

I seriously would pay $100/day for someone just to come over to my place and physically force me to play. Because I'm playing really really good, and am probably the best at poker that I've ever been in my life right now. I'd move up in limits if I didn't just cash out my entire bankroll.

Also have been watching the WSOP updates periodically throughout the day. For some reason the WSOP still captures my interest, even though I know I'll never be in it. I guess it is a pretty big event, with every final table member beating essentially unbeatable odds to get there. I suppose thats the draw.

The only person I'm cheering for is Taylor Caby (greenplastic) the creator of cardrunners. He seems like a really down to earth, non arrogant player and I've learned a lot from him. He's already made a small fortune from poker anyways, but I can't think of anyone else deserving of the price. Apparently he made it to day 2 with a decent chip stack. Other than that I don't really want anyone else to win. I despise most other poker players, especially the "live pros" as they are usually way worse than their reputations would dictate.

Ayyways, I'm done once again for the day but I plan (obviously) to play a lot tomorrow, at least 2k hands, which is so stupidly achievable. And I'll goto bed tonight praying for the ghost of christmas future to visit me.

Hotter Than God Himself

2007-07-05T18:32:00.001-07:00

Update:

Still lazy

But at least I run good

Hands Played: 4269
Amount Won: $4236.42
ptBB/100: 24.81

Pretty ridiculous. I actually don't think I've lost a hand this week. If I have a pocket pair - I get a set. If I have a draw - I get there. This is the exact reason we all play poker. I've never felt better in my life. No feeling beats it. Seriously.

Obviously I'm going to have to play this hotstreak out, and I'm hoping it will cool down in the form of a long breakeven stretch, rather than a downswing. But all things considered, I'll take my risks given the amount of luck I've had so far. Imagine I make my $10k goal this fucking week. I just wish I didn't suffer from reverse tilt from winning. It's not like someone can have a ton of experience running at about 423% above the median. This is a once in a year type event. So I have trouble handling the money won. I tend to start donking it off or playing too weak tight trying to protect it. I just need to erase my memory and play later. I think I have solution for that.

Not to say that its all luck. I mean I know without the luck I don't have much but I was really feeling it today. I can count on one hand how many times I've triple barrel bluffed and today I did it 3 times. And each time I did it, I knew when I double barreled that I was throwing down a third. I was just so on point, focussed and confident that honestly it would have been hard to beat me. I'm usually such a pussy so it was a nice change. I don't really understand how one gets "in the zone" but I imagine running like god can't hurt. If I could only bottle up this confidence and keep it for when I'm running bad.

And don't worry to those who hate reading about success and someone bragging, the inevitable losses are coming. So stay tuned for a tilt induced donk fest that will ensue later this month.

Heres an example of my godlike abilities

Dealt to tokenblak [ 7c 9d ]
mikerowewave folds
destyler folds
tokenblak raises [$7 USD]
starler229 calls [$6 USD]
Terbjasiz calls [$5 USD]
** Dealing Flop ** [ 6s, 7s, Kc ]
starler229 bets [$2 USD]
Terbjasiz folds
tokenblak raises [$20 USD]
starler229 calls [$18 USD]
** Dealing Turn ** [ 4c ]
starler229 checks
tokenblak bets [$35 USD]
starler229 calls [$35 USD]
** Dealing River ** [ Jh ]
starler229 bets [$66 USD]
tokenblak calls [$66 USD]
starler229 shows [ 6c, Qc ]a pair of Sixes.
tokenblak shows [ 7c, 9d ]a pair of Sevens.

I mean how can you beat that shit? By the way my flop raise and turn bet are both value bets vs this opponent (obviously, look at his fucking hand) and the river was basically an insta-call.

Good Start...

2007-07-04T20:53:00.001-07:00

Update:

I'm still a lazy piece of shit.

Hands Played: 3259
Amount Won: $2053.44
ptBB/100: 15.75

Still aiming for 10k hands by this Friday. Shutup its doable.

At least I have something to blame my lack of play on, whats your excuse?

My excuse? Oh just the most addictive, time-consuming video game ever conceived. I am so easily tempted, especially with things to do.

Thats right; fucking Everquest. God damn what a time for this slut to come back in my life. The good news is I can already feel myself getting bored with the game already.

No seriously.

Honestly I actually stopped playing today for reasons other than sleep or food. Its actually kind of funny because this game is like 23 years old, and a basically no one plays. I was actually surprised to find out that this game was still in existence with the plentiful number of other MMORPG's now. But people still play. I guess they figure they are too invested in it now to quit. Down with the ship they go.

But me? Nah. I play poker now.

Which reminds me, I have some more playing to do. Lets hope I keep running well.

10k Month Yo?

2007-07-03T15:51:00.001-07:00

Still having trouble establishing that groove thang. But at least I've started to play poker again. It's been a while.

I have set a goal for myself. It's a pretty simple and basic goal.

10k month.

I've done it once in my poker career before and since I need more money now than ever, I figure I could use another. In all honesty it shouldn't be hard, and anyone with my "ability" could easily do it given a decent work ethic. To keep me motivated I'm going to post daily results on the blog because theres nothing worse for me than a bunch of random strangers who accidentally came to my site knowing how badly I'm slacking.

So the basic plan is to play 2-3k hands a day.

"4 bags?? But I'll never be able to do that compared to my usual load of... one"

True, the goal seems a little lofty, but with the girlfriend on vacation, I'll have no distractions and should be able to get a lot more poker in. And if I don't end up running like the dog's dick, I should be able to hit 10k sooner.

Sofar, here are my stats for the month.

Hands Played: 1876
Amount Won: $641.97
BB/100: 8.56

Nothing special, and certainly way under my daily goal, but I just started. Hopefully I'll get a few more k hands in today and get this week to about 10k~ hands total.

Groove is in the house

2007-06-24T23:33:00.001-07:00

I haven't really had consistent, stable access to a computer for a few weeks now, which has severely limited the amount I've been able to play. I have had days where I was able to play, but because I hadn't kept a consistent schedule, it was difficult to start up, so I just didn't.

For me, its all about getting into a groove.

Last year around this time I came to the conclusion that I needed to play more. A year later and I'm still the captain of the good ship lazy. However, in that time last year, I made some significant strides with increasing my daily play time and maintaining it. And for a few months, I was putting in some solid hours, and in turn, seeing some nice results. Everything was going to plan.

Then I hit a sickening downswing, lost a ton of cash and my mind, and shriveled back into minimal, risk-averse play. Losing can seriously fuck with your long term goals.

However, the key point here that I need to keep conscious is the fact that when I actually did get into a groove where I played consistent hours everyday, I made more. This is the most obvious correlation of all time, but it still evades me all the time.

To get back into working, I just need to get into a groove. Any groove will do. I'll start with a small goal, simply playing every day. Thats it, just making sure I log on to internet poker at least once a day for the next week. Thats my goal. Once that happens, I can start to concentrate on the length of sessions. Currently I can't play more than 3 hours without my ADD setting in, but I know I'm capable of 5+ hour sessions. Additionally I need to get multiple sessions in a day, one during the afternoon and one late at night. This strategy has worked for me before and it just takes a little focus to achieve.

I'll also hopefully be posting more as I'll have more poker on the brain this week. So heres to the rejuvenation of this blog and my bankroll. They both have been sorely neglected in the past 2 months.

Random black act of violence

2007-06-24T22:36:00.000-07:00

Crazy weekend for me. Friday, played poker with some friends, won both donkaments - lol. Saturday morning I entered into a 3 on 3 basketball tournament in town that lasted all afternoon. The night ended with a drive down to Niagara Falls to celebrate a friends bachelor party. So fuckin tired.

I was excited to play the basketball tournament even though I've never been the best baller around but I usually am at least competitive. I was definitely a bit rusty but I feel that after the third game I finally got some confidence back and was semi-helpful to my team. They put us in the mens age 19-29 height 6'1+ bracket because we happened to have 1 person over 6'1 on our team. Even still the competition was a lot weaker than I thought and we managed to play pretty well, at least making it to the next day for the semi-finals. Most of the games were pretty tame, with some standard "streetball" roughness involved, but nothing serious - except for our last game.

Now I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to interactions with black people. I went to a high school where the population of black people was outnumbered by our school's population of gay Librarians. And it could have easily been just a coincidence that they were black because ass-hole's exist in all shapes and sizes, but damn, these blacks were supreme ass-hole's. I'll try to set the scene. We are 4 average sized white guys and they are 4 large black men. Each was at least 6' with an average weight of at least 250. So right off the bat, we are fairly intimidated, especially in an outdoor, streetball setting. But we came to play, and don't really care too much initially. We couldn't have been less prepared for what would happen as they seemed like fairly mild mannered dudes pre-game. Within the first 20 seconds of play, they've already received 2 fouls, 2 flagrant fouls and a technical foul. For some reason they just want to kick the shit out of us. After every in-game confrontation they would verbally threaten us, basically implying that they will fuck us up if we say or do anything. It was pretty scary and I didn't really know what to do. I mean, they were way way past the line of trash talking. Everything was said in an intense, non-playful manner. I initially thought they could only be joking because, what did they really expect us to do? But after the third elbow to the temple and the fourth blatant shove to the ground, all humor was lost. I could only keep a cool head and just try to play as best as I could. The ref was useless, making the occasional foul call but basically letting them have their way with us. And it wasn't even as if they were good players. They couldn't shoot, couldn't pass or really play defense. Their only strength was their physical advantage, which they "used" to their advantage at every illegal opportunity. One time I was actually toppled onto on the ground during a rebound scuffle, then grabbed directly by the throat. I just tried to get up without reacting, but that strategy was met with an intentional off-play elbow to the face which resulted in yet another technical foul.

I mean it was just about as ridiculous as the size of that last paragraph.

So to make a long story short, we stayed competitive with them despite their ridiculous behavior, eventually losing 16-12. I believe their final words when walking off court was "fuckin punk ass bitches". And I realize this story seems kind of one sided. You are probably sitting there assuming that I'm not telling the other side of the story - that we were equally as aggressive and confrontational. But I'm not joking. Everything they did completely caught us off guard as we never did anything to antagonize them. They were just mean, senseless, black ass-holes.

It was just a ridiculous incident which should have never been allowed. They were clearly in the wrong, at times bordering on criminal physical activity. And we were left with no recourse. We couldn't even say anything, let alone do anything. How they managed to get past one game without getting kicked out is amazing to me. And I'm all for competitive, aggressive play and trash talk. Our team actually enjoys a rough game. But we aren't going to go out there and fear for our fucking lives just to play an essentially meaningless basketball game.

Anyways the point of this post I guess was to say that I've never really been involved in an uninitiated act of violence with anyone before. I mean, if we were being mouthy or physical I would understand retaliation. But for them to just randomly attack us for the entire game, it just, well doesn't make black people look very good, especially with their entourage cheering them on. Like I said though, it may be a sample size thing, as I have very little experience with black people, but I can confidently say that in my many sports altercations I've never ever had to deal with anything like that shit.

I knew I should have brought my gat...

Save a horse ride a schoolboy

2007-06-14T00:50:00.000-07:00

Short update because I've been hilariously busy lately.

But obviously not busy enough to 1 table a random late night meaningless H.O.R.S.E. tournament and win it! (despite never playing HORSE more than 2-3 times in my life)

JEEEA BITCHES BE SCURRRED OF MY HORSEABILITIES

As the next picture shows I was dominating the whole way.

Pretty sure this means I was meant to be a HORSE player. Cya at the WSOP final table.

So random

Downswings

2007-06-06T01:25:00.000-07:00

Downswings happen

Especially in poker!

I'm 100% sure that the number one reason that good players are good is because of their ability to play through downswings, not go on monkey tilt, and maintain their bankroll.

I think I have this ability almost 50% mastered!

And 50% is a passing grade where I come from.

When you talk to people, and read people's postings on various websites about poker, it seems that everyone has a general understanding of what this game is all about. I've thought about this a lot, because it seems as though everyone on 2+2 plays the very same style of poker that I do. And it doesn't make sense that everyone is always winning. Downswings are inevitable due to random variance, and since everyone has the same skill level in poker (obviously untrue but stay with me) then what must separate the has from the has beens is tilt control.

It seems trivial. Tilt. It's for the weak. And no one considers themselves weak. So its a very easy aspect to ignore. But it exists. And it can fucking destroy your bankroll without you even being aware of it.

Ok, so I basically just made this fluffy little post as an excuse to post my recent downswing and subsequent (long-overdue) upswing that followed. It was an ugly few weeks I have to tell you. Probably the most stressful 2-3 weeks of my life. And yes, there was definitely some tilt in there.

I'm definitely proud of this graph, in fact, I'm crying right now looking at it. The fact that one simple smiley faced graph can represent so much emotion to me is just a beautiful thing. Thinking back to my lowest moments, I couldn't imagine life being worse. I also couldn't imagine ever recovering. I mean, I knew it would probably happen eventually, but it was such an abstract, impossible thought at the time that it would be almost irrational to believe in it.

Ok, thanks.

Chasing losses - A +EV venture

2007-06-04T01:44:00.000-07:00

I think I had a semi-epiphany tonight.

It was 2am and I had just gotten back from a double feature at the drive-in (Shrek 3 and Disturbia, neither were that great). I was tired from the weekend but I wanted to get some hands in anyways, so I loaded up 5 tables at Party.

An hour went by and I'm obviously stuck about $300. Great, what a fucking stupid idea that was.

I then considered my options. I didn't feel I was playing that badly, maybe a little bit passive, but most of the losses were the of the gay suckout/cooler variety (KQ>KK all in preflop obviously). I felt that I could still continue to play profitably. And I am aware thats what every poker player in the universe says when they are stuck.

So in the midst of this thought process I was still playing, and still losing (84s on a AKQ flop is obviously good sir, continue playing, flush draws are like 90% vs sets). I was about to quit. But then I finally hit some big hands vs stations, got payed off and got back to even and then some, ending the night up $150 or so.

After going over what just transpired I realized that my comeback in terms of dollars was fairly insignificant but the boosts to my confidence and overall poker psyche was damn near priceless. As I've learned throughout the past 2 years, I am emotionally effected by my poker results, despite my best efforts otherwise. Losing breeds losing for me and it takes a long time to rebuild my confidence. And without confidence, you aint shit in poker.

So while if I had quit earlier when I was down a few hundred, it wouldn't have really hurt my bankroll, but it may have started a chain reaction of negative emotions that ultimately leads to Bustoville.

So maybe chasing losses isn't such a bad thing, as long as you can keep a level head about it. It might even save your life some day.

And heres the graph just for fun:

Dirty, dirty, dirty

2007-05-30T16:30:00.000-07:00

Still living like a nomad. I can't wait until I have a stable life again. Doing better in poker, and am actually going to turn a winning month in for May which is definitely bragworthy at this point.

Heres a sick sick dirty dirty hand from yesterdays mini session.

SB: $88.05
BB: $289.62
Hero (UTG): $276.60
BTN: $154.83

Preflop: Hero is dealt 9s 9d (4 Players)
Hero raises to $8.00, BTN calls $8.00, SB folds, BB raises to $26.00, Hero calls $18.00, BTN folds

Flop: ($61) Kd Jd Td (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($61) Qd (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $40.00, BB calls $40.00

River: ($141) Qs (2 Players)
BB bets all-in for $223.62, Hero calls all-in for $210.60

Fold this river?

The BB here is a super-duper nit who sucks at poker. He will only reraise me preflop with one of 4 hands, QQ, KK, AA, and AK, MAYBE JJ. So once the river gets there, 2 of the hands in his range beat me (AdAx, AdKx) and 2 I beat (QQ, KK). His line makes absolutely no sense to me. What hand could possibly check the flop, check the 4 flushed turn and then overbet push the river? Surely any hand he has with the Ad in it wants to get all in on that flop, even if he has no pair (which isn't possible for him). So the royal makes little sense. However, what set is he checking on that dirty ass flop? Surely he would bet KK? QQ sorta makes sense I guess but the river overbet is still pretty ridiculous givin that he has to fear that I could have 9d or Ad for the straight flush.

Dirty shit.

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Supdates?

2007-05-22T23:22:00.001-07:00

I'm currently living probably the busiest few weeks of my life.

It's no surprise that I put poker on the back burner.

I'm having my "worst" month money wise of all time and I'm pretty ok with that. At least I'm not playing a lot and losing. Hopefully I can get into a schedule eventually.

We pretty much have everything settled up with our new house dealy. Even though I've never bought a house before, I'm pretty sure I got a sweet ass deal. I know living there is going to kick fucking ass, so I'm pretty excited to actually move in. And the best part is, the house is only 6 years old and in complete "move-in" condition, which translates into me not havin' to doafuckingthing. +EV

I predict that owning this house will be good for my poker life as well, giving me extra-extra incentive to play more. Hopefully I get over my cursed laziness with this new found responsibility.

I'm also sort of kind of am starting to take the first steps into getting back to the "real-world" with a "real-job".

Mom and Dad, don't get too excited just yet.

By "taking the first steps" I mean, "barely starting to visualize places of employment in my imagination". Because my residency won't be changing for a while, I can start to figure what types of jobs I should be looking for. And since I'll be living in London, Ontario, aka home of the $15/hour job no matter what you do, my options aren't all that great. But because of poker, its all good baby.

I can afford to take a low paying job for a while, as long as it has a good future and I don't want to suicide myself on a minute basis while working there. And one place that I've always sort of wanted to work even though its kind of fruity and unballa, is at a radio station.

I've always had this weird, unexplainable desire to be on the radio. I actually used to tape myself on my old recorder and play songs like I was some sort of DJ. And I did it a lot. I can be sort of a private, shy, introverted person at times but being on the radio allows me to be more anonymous, and it actually brings out my hilarious awesome side. Sort of how this blog works, except with more awesome.

I just think it would be a fun job, something I could enjoy doing day in day out. And I'm sure there are a ton of shitty little jobs that are involved that I'd eventually tire of, but what job doesn't have those? Ultimately, if it gets me up, and I don't cry, then my job is pretty good.

But since I have absolutely no experience in the field, and have a degree in economics, I really don't know what I should do to get into it. I mean, obviously I could take some sort of broadcasting degree program at some random school, but I mean, seriously, do I really need 2-4 more years of school just to teach me how to fucking talk into a microphone? Just let me like intern or work part time at your stupid radio station - I'll work for cheap - get me some on-air experience - and we'll take it from there.

There, thats my cover letter.

Ship it!

I'm pretty sure poker just doesn't like me anymore

2007-05-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

My relationship with poker right now is bordering on the edges of pathetic.

Poker is still smokin' hot and I love her, but she just keeps rejecting me over and over again.

My friends all know the truth - that the end is near with her - but I keep naively holding on hoping that she'll remember how in shape and rich I used to be.

I get the feeling she's cheating on me?

"Yea I get that feeling too, man."

Actually I still see a future between us together, albeit with less physical contact (god could these analogies get more painful?).

Tonight she fucked me up the ass though. Literally strapped on a dildo, and protruded my bung hole over and over again.

I don't think I'll be able to shit right for a week.

Maybe I just suck, I'll let you be the judge:

SB: $153.65
BB: $245.69
RikkiDee (UTG): $110.15
MP: $117.10
CO: $93.45
BTN: $112.55

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Kh Kd (6 Players)
RikkiDee raises to $4.00, 3 folds, SB raises to $10.00, BB folds, RikkiDee raises to $35.00, SB raises to $60.00, RikkiDee raises to $85.00, SB raises to $110.00, RikkiDee calls all-in for $25.15, SB calls $0.15

Flop: ($221.30) Qs 3d 3c (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Turn: ($221.30) 5c (2 Players - 1 All-In)

River: ($221.30) Td (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $221.30 ($3 Rake)

SB had As Ad (two pairs, Aces and Threes) and WON (+$108.15)
RikkiDee had Kh Kd (two pairs, Kings and Threes) and LOST (-$110.15)

Weeeeee; standard

SB: $118.20
BB: $248.75
RikkiDee (UTG): $98.50
MP: $144.35
CO: $164.50
BTN: $78.30

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt 9c 9d (6 Players)
RikkiDee raises to $4.00, MP folds, CO calls $4.00, 3 folds

Flop: ($9.50) 9s Ah 7c (2 Players)
RikkiDee checks, CO checks

Turn: ($9.50) Ad (2 Players)
RikkiDee bets $7.00, CO raises to $17.00, RikkiDee raises to $39.00, CO calls $22.00

River: ($87.50) Jh (2 Players)
RikkiDee bets all-in for $55.50, CO calls $55.50

Pot Size: $198.50 ($3 Rake)

CO had Jd As (a full house, Aces full of Jacks) and WON (+$97.00)
RikkiDee had 9c 9d (a full house, Nines full of Aces) and LOST (-$98.50)

ZOMG SLOWPLAY LOL. Only like a 96% favorite on the flop.

RikkiDee (SB): $224.45
BB: $112.81
UTG: $33.65
CO: $135.33
BTN: $78.25

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Ah 6s (5 Players)
UTG calls $1.00, CO folds, BTN calls $1.00, RikkiDee calls $0.50, BB checks

Flop: ($4) Kh 6h 6d (4 Players)
RikkiDee checks, BB checks, UTG checks, BTN bets $3.00, RikkiDee calls $3.00, BB raises to $6.00, 2 folds, RikkiDee raises to $30.00, BB calls $24.00

Turn: ($67) Qh (2 Players)
RikkiDee bets $50.00, BB calls $50.00

River: ($167) 7h (2 Players)
RikkiDee bets all-in for $143.45, BB calls all-in for $31.81
Uncalled bet of $111.64 returned to RikkiDee

Pot Size: $230.62 ($2 Rake)

BB had 6c Kd (a full house, Sixes full of Kings) and WON (+$115.81)
RikkiDee had Ah 6s (a flush, Ace high) and LOST (-$112.81)

I don't always stack off here as the turn brought a flush but this player was so fucking passive that I knew the only hand he would check min raise the flop with was a 6 and unless he has K6, I'm the winner. And obviously I pick up the nut flush on the river just for good measure.

Oh, you have K6? Fuck you.

SB: $16.60
BB: $238.80
UTG: $94.35
MP: $93.90
RikkiDee (CO): $101.50
BTN: $103.90

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Th Qh (6 Players)
UTG folds, MP raises to $3.00, RikkiDee calls $3.00, BTN calls $3.00, SB folds, BB calls $2.00

Flop: ($12.50) 3h 5h Ts (4 Players)
BB checks, MP bets $12.00, RikkiDee calls $12.00, BTN calls $12.00, BB folds

Turn: ($48.50) Qc (3 Players)
MP checks, RikkiDee bets $40.00, BTN folds, MP raises all-in to $78.90, RikkiDee calls $38.90

River: ($206.30) Jc (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $206.30 ($3 Rake)

MP had Qs Qd (three of a kind, Queens) and WON (+$109.40)
RikkiDee had Th Qh (two pairs, Queens and Tens) and LOST (-$93.90)

Not enough of a setup here. Top two pair and a flush draw on the turn. Clearly you have a set though.

SB: $100.50
BB: $98.05
UTG: $111.55
CO: $252.99
RikkiDee (BTN): $92.50

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Ks Kh (5 Players)
UTG folds, CO checks, RikkiDee raises to $5.00, SB calls $4.50, BB calls $4.00, CO folds

Flop: ($16) Th 8h Qh (3 Players)
SB bets $8.00, BB calls $8.00, RikkiDee raises to $35.00, SB folds, BB raises to $62.00, RikkiDee calls all-in for $52.50, BB calls $25.50

Turn: ($199) 8s (2 Players - 1 All-In)

River: ($199) 6h (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $199.00 ($2 Rake)

BB had 7h Ah (a flush, Ace high) and WON (+$104.50)
RikkiDee had Ks Kh (a flush, King high) and LOST (-$92.50)

YESSSSSSSS I HIT MY FLUSH!!!!
Oh fuck me

RikkiDee (SB): $113.35
BB: $91.05
UTG: $117.85
MP: $248.33
CO: $58.50
BTN: $91.40

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Td Ts (6 Players)
4 folds, RikkiDee raises to $4.00, BB calls $3.00

Flop: ($8) 3d 7c 9s (2 Players)
RikkiDee bets $7.00, BB raises to $20.50, RikkiDee raises all-in to $109.35, BB calls all-in for $66.55
Uncalled bet of $22.30 returned to RikkiDee

Turn: ($182.10) 4d (2 Players - 2 All-In)

River: ($182.10) 3c (2 Players - 2 All-In)

Pot Size: $182.10 ($3 Rake)

BB had 6c 5c (a straight Three to Seven) and WON (+$88.05)
RikkiDee had Td Ts (two pairs, Tens and Threes) and LOST (-$91.05)

This one legitimately made me lose a bit of my mind. The kicker here is that my opponent up to this point had played 6 hands out of about 100, and he folded post flop on each one. Perfect fucking timing to go insane.

SB: $88.53
RikkiDee (BB): $100.00
UTG: $36.02
MP: $100.00
CO: $213.15
BTN: $91.90

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Jd Js (6 Players)
UTG calls $1.00, MP folds, CO calls $1.00, BTN folds, SB calls $0.50, RikkiDee raises to $6.00, UTG calls $5.00, CO folds, SB calls $5.00

Flop: ($19) 9c 5h 6c (3 Players)
SB checks, RikkiDee bets $16.00, UTG folds, SB calls $16.00

Turn: ($51) 2d (2 Players)
SB checks, RikkiDee checks

River: ($51) Qh (2 Players)
SB checks, RikkiDee bets $30.00, SB raises all-in to $66.53, RikkiDee calls $36.53

Pot Size: $184.06 ($3 Rake)

SB had 7d 8d (a straight Five to Nine) and WON (+$92.53)
RikkiDee had Jd Js (a pair of Jacks) and LOST (-$88.53)

Not only do my opponents seemingly flop the nuts every fucking hand, they check it to me THREE MOTHERFUCKING TIMES iN A ROW. HOW CAN I NOT BET THAT RIVER WITH JJ? SERIOUSZLLLLLY>>!>?!

SB: $109.85
RikkiDee (BB): $101.60
UTG: $83.29
BTN: $41.45

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt Qd Qs (4 Players)
UTG folds, BTN raises to $4.00, SB folds, RikkiDee raises to $14.00, BTN calls $10.00

Flop: ($28.50) Tc 2h 6c (2 Players)
RikkiDee checks, BTN bets $10.00, RikkiDee raises to $36.00, BTN calls all-in for $17.45
Uncalled bet of $8.55 returned to RikkiDee

Turn: ($83.40) 4s (2 Players - 1 All-In)

River: ($83.40) 5h (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $83.40 ($2 Rake)

BTN had Th Td (three of a kind, Tens) and WON (+$39.95)
RikkiDee had Qd Qs (a pair of Queens) and LOST (-$41.45)

I just run really good.

SB: $37.90
BB: $230.43
UTG: $224.35
RikkiDee (CO): $93.00
BTN: $105.85

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt 3s 3c (5 Players)
UTG folds, RikkiDee raises to $4.00, BTN folds, SB calls $3.50, BB calls $3.00

Flop: ($12) 9c 3h Jd (3 Players)
SB bets $7.00, BB folds, RikkiDee raises to $14.00, SB calls $7.00

Turn: ($40) 8h (2 Players)
SB bets $10.00, RikkiDee raises to $20.00, SB calls all-in for $9.90
Uncalled bet of $0.10 returned to RikkiDee

River: ($79.80) Ts (2 Players - 1 All-In)

Pot Size: $79.80 ($2 Rake)

SB had Th Qd (a straight Eight to Queen) and WON (+$39.90)
RikkiDee had 3s 3c (three of a kind, Threes) and LOST (-$37.90)

Ignore the min raise on the flop. Because of his short stack I figured he would just push and I lazily minraised giving him proper odds to draw at his straight for the big big payoff of $20 more for him. Clearly he had implied odds because I can't fold1!!!

SB: $0.53
BB: $95.00
RikkiDee (UTG): $160.10
BTN: $74.10

Preflop: RikkiDee is dealt 9c 8c (4 Players)
RikkiDee raises to $4.00, BTN calls $4.00, SB calls all-in for $0.03, BB folds

Flop: ($9.53) 7c 2c 4c (3 Players - 1 All-In)
RikkiDee bets $3.00, BTN calls $3.00

Turn: ($15.53) Th (3 Players - 1 All-In)
RikkiDee bets $10.00, BTN calls $10.00

River: ($35.53) Ts (3 Players - 1 All-In)
RikkiDee bets $20.00, BTN calls $20.00

Pot Size: $75.53 ($2 Rake)

BTN had Kc Jc (a flush, King high) and WON (+$36.53)
RikkiDee had 9c 8c (a flush, Nine high) and LOST (-$37.00)

Well played sir.

Yea, a pretty whiny crybaby post. The problem tonight wasn't the fact that I got bad beated or coolered, it was the fact that I got bad beated and coolered OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. I'd show you some hands where I won but they actually didn't happen. Luckily I didn't go on tilt, played a pretty solid game and only ended down 4 buyins, which in my opinion is a fucking miracle.

Please baby take me back

The Illusion of Action

2007-05-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

I play a fairly nitty style of poker. "Nitty" meaning that I rarely put much money in the pot with a weakish hand (unless bluffing). I take great pride in being able to check fold without a second thought all day long.

Now sure, I raise a lot preflop, mostly just to take the betting lead, but if anyone calls me even once, I pretty much shut down. My main plan is to take down a bunch of pots uncontested with continuation bets, and if I pick up a hand, well lets just hope that someone else did too.

Now at a first glance, when playing against me, it would seem as though I'm a rather loose player. Since I raise frequently preflop, I inevitably will show down some trashy type hands. And thats the first type of thing that a bad player will notice - "hey this guy just raised with J7o, I should start calling him more". And thats generally what happens. But what they don't notice, is that unless I flop big, I barely put any money in the pot. So while they wait for sets and overpairs to slowplay vs me, I'm there picking up the small pots and, more importantly, not paying them off when they do hit (hopefully).

Ok, blah blah, I know all this, why am I still reading you ask yourself.

So while this cycle continues for a while, good players (and eventually even bad players) start to realize that I'm actually not giving them any action when they flop big. They see me folding to their check raises and overbets and they start to get a little upset that they aren't getting paid off. So they stop playing with you. They stop trying to call you down because they've started to realize that you always have the goods. Then you stop getting action on your big hands as well. Then the whole fuckin' game degenerates into a nitfest where the only way more than $20 is getting into the middle is if both players flop a set. This is especially relevant in long sessions where you end up playing with the same opponents for hours.

So what do you do? While sitting around waiting for coolers and other big hands can be marginally profitable, its certainly not optimal, especially if you are a good player. And while I'm definitely not the greatest player around, I still win money, and am always looking for ways to improve.

So heres what I do. I try to create the illusion of action. In order to keep most bad players satisfied and playing, you not only have to let them win occasionally, you have to let them catch you bluffing. Call them down with a marginal hand from time to time. Even if you know that they are so passive that they would never bet anything but the nuts, it might be worth your while to give them a bit of action to let them know that you aren't a complete nit and that they can make money off you. Just make sure to do it when it is cheap. A lot of bad players will bet their big hands small because they are afraid of losing a potential caller. Use this situation to give your image a cheap boost.

Bad players tend not to focus on bet size a lot. A bet is a bet to them, no matter the size (within reason) and if they end up winning a pot by them betting and you calling, then they are all the more happy, regardless of pot size.

The same is true for bluffing. If they never catch you ever bluffing, even bad players can stop calling you down. So from time to time, pull a semi-hopeless bluff on the river, provided that the pot nor your bet will be too big. The bluff might work and if you are called, oh well, your image can use the boost.

These image plays I've found are best used in a blind vs blind scenario where the SB has limped into your big blind. Because the pots here are going to be very small, you can use this opportunity to make a cheap -EV play for image purposes.

These plays are also not limited to just bad players. Even the regular multitablers will have a read on your nittyness, and if they don't see you bluffing or calling down light from time to time, they are much less likely to play with you when you are doing the betting.

While multitabling online, I often forgo even considering my image at the table, as most of the play at the lower stakes doesn't doesn't require much image manipulation. But once the sessions get long, even the most unobservant players remember particular hands. Hopefully they will remember those small pots you bluffed at in the times where you have the nuts and are considering a call.