I lie to you not. I was actually going to post an entry that would have told you that I was up $1034 for the year, and I was going to talk about how much I was rushing, how I was making incredible decisions and how I was the best player in the world. I guess this would have been maybe five days ago. I actually still have the draft saved.
But, I am now down almost $300 since then. To be exact, for the year I'm at $766. Still a good $200 up from when I last wrote but disconcerting nonetheless.
For the most part all of these losses have been online. In fact, come to think of it they have been. To anyone unfamiliar with poker, it's a huge difference. Twice as many hands, no physical tells to rely on, and the variable of distraction forever compounding things. I've found that when I've been playing well online, it's because I've limited my hand selections. When I go through swings like this, it's usually because I try to get too creative and see flops with marginal holdings. Simple enough, right? I just have to tighten my ship.
I'm not overly worried. I know the money's coming back. I'm really looking forward to getting back to live play tonight.
After watching "Poker After Dark" the last couple of days on NBC, I've come to really respect Gus Hansen's game. For the most part, people can play what's known as "ABC" or by-the-book poker and do a fine job, even make a living off of it. But, the reason why I think Hansen is one of the best is that he deviates from cut and dry poker. Granted, if you want to play like him at a high level I think you need a massive roll and maybe a few shots of Smirnoff, but check out his escapades under the "Poker Superstars III" posting. Even if you know he's full of bulldog manure, he ultimately does put you to a decision, most of the time for a large sum or all of your chips. As you'll see in the post, sometimes he doesn't even look at his hole cards. Gambler? Yes. But, most of the best players in the world are.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Instinct (Hibachi)
I get a ton of flack about playing poker. I get it everywhere--my parents, my girlfriend, my friends. They all tell me that poker is nothing more than just playing cards, occasionally getting lucky, but more often than not it's a losing proposition. Maybe they're right. Maybe it is all about luck. I saw a kid tonight put $20 in the pot prior to the flop with pocket 3s against pocket queens and win, defying his 4-1 underdog status. Sure, I'm not denying that luck makes up a big part of this game. Just look at poker on television sometimes. There's a hand I love (couldn't find it on the web) where professional poker player Sammy Farha loses with nines over sixes to an amateur's quad sixes. Luck. Good TV.
To me, however, the measure of a good player has nothing to do with the cards that he or she is dealt. The measure of a good player is how they perform in marginal situations.
This is my hand of the week:
I'm dealt 10-6 off suit in first position, and, feeling frisky, I raise to 3. Much to my dismay, I get four callers.
The flop comes 8 of spades, 8 of clubs, 6 of clubs. The two blinds check to me. I bet $4.50. The player to my left folds. Then, out of nowhere Brad, a solid but tricky player at times, raises, making it ten more to go.
One thing to know about Brad before I go any further is that he sees a ton of flops. He could literally have anything. If he has an eight, I'm crushed obviously. He could also have a higher pair to the board, which I could definitely see him smooth calling with on the flop with two callers in front of him. Straight and flush draws are also possibilities because he likes to play suited connectors. In short, he's beating me with almost anything.
However, I felt like he was drawing, so I called.
The next card is a five of spades. Now not only is there a possible straight exposed, but now I'm contending with TWO flush draws WITHOUT even ruling out an over pair OR an 8. I didn't even mention that he could also have a six with a better kicker.
He says the dreaded two words. "All-in."
He has me covered. He has now forced me to make a decision for the rest of my chips, in this case $20. I have to fold, because realistically what can I beat?
Except... a draw.
"I call."
The goal in poker is to put your chips in with the best of it. I didn't figure that I had the best of it; I knew. What I didn't know was that he had A-7 of clubs, meaning he had almost half the deck to beat me with, but win or lose I wanted to call to prove that I was ahead.
Of course I won the pot. In the long run the person who makes the most correct decisions at the table wins the most of them.
For the year: 10 sessions, +503.75
To me, however, the measure of a good player has nothing to do with the cards that he or she is dealt. The measure of a good player is how they perform in marginal situations.
This is my hand of the week:
I'm dealt 10-6 off suit in first position, and, feeling frisky, I raise to 3. Much to my dismay, I get four callers.
The flop comes 8 of spades, 8 of clubs, 6 of clubs. The two blinds check to me. I bet $4.50. The player to my left folds. Then, out of nowhere Brad, a solid but tricky player at times, raises, making it ten more to go.
One thing to know about Brad before I go any further is that he sees a ton of flops. He could literally have anything. If he has an eight, I'm crushed obviously. He could also have a higher pair to the board, which I could definitely see him smooth calling with on the flop with two callers in front of him. Straight and flush draws are also possibilities because he likes to play suited connectors. In short, he's beating me with almost anything.
However, I felt like he was drawing, so I called.
The next card is a five of spades. Now not only is there a possible straight exposed, but now I'm contending with TWO flush draws WITHOUT even ruling out an over pair OR an 8. I didn't even mention that he could also have a six with a better kicker.
He says the dreaded two words. "All-in."
He has me covered. He has now forced me to make a decision for the rest of my chips, in this case $20. I have to fold, because realistically what can I beat?
Except... a draw.
"I call."
The goal in poker is to put your chips in with the best of it. I didn't figure that I had the best of it; I knew. What I didn't know was that he had A-7 of clubs, meaning he had almost half the deck to beat me with, but win or lose I wanted to call to prove that I was ahead.
Of course I won the pot. In the long run the person who makes the most correct decisions at the table wins the most of them.
For the year: 10 sessions, +503.75
Thursday, February 8, 2007
Back to the Drawing Board
Judging by the title of this post, how do you think I played last night?
The crazy thing is that I probably should have dumped a ton more money. I've played in a million sessions over the course of three and a half years, and I think last night was the worst six hours of poker I have ever played. I can't name one good thing I did last night.
Let me count the ways. First and foremost, I played far too fast. At least when playing online, a good hand percentage for me is seeing about 30% of the flops, and out of those 30% I want to be raising 75% of the time. I think it was more like 75%/90%. Also, I made some absolutely horrendous calls for a large sum of chips, and at times I even made the wrong laydowns. Nothing went right for me.
So, after the game I went home, tilted out of my mind. I felt like wounded prey, literally limping into my bedroom. I go to lay down, and suddenly I see a copy of the November issue Bluff Magazine. For whatever reason I decided to cycle through it, even though I thought I'd read everything. It appears as though I hadn't.
I thought Angel Largay gave great perspective on, well, putting your losses into perspective. However, for me nothing rang more true than the final paragraph:
"Poker is a people game. There is one person sitting in each game, though, that is the most dangerous to you; one person who can decimate your bankroll faster than anyone else – and he’s sitting in your seat. Get to know that player first."
Lord knows I'm trying.
For the year: +428.75
The crazy thing is that I probably should have dumped a ton more money. I've played in a million sessions over the course of three and a half years, and I think last night was the worst six hours of poker I have ever played. I can't name one good thing I did last night.
Let me count the ways. First and foremost, I played far too fast. At least when playing online, a good hand percentage for me is seeing about 30% of the flops, and out of those 30% I want to be raising 75% of the time. I think it was more like 75%/90%. Also, I made some absolutely horrendous calls for a large sum of chips, and at times I even made the wrong laydowns. Nothing went right for me.
So, after the game I went home, tilted out of my mind. I felt like wounded prey, literally limping into my bedroom. I go to lay down, and suddenly I see a copy of the November issue Bluff Magazine. For whatever reason I decided to cycle through it, even though I thought I'd read everything. It appears as though I hadn't.
I thought Angel Largay gave great perspective on, well, putting your losses into perspective. However, for me nothing rang more true than the final paragraph:
"Poker is a people game. There is one person sitting in each game, though, that is the most dangerous to you; one person who can decimate your bankroll faster than anyone else – and he’s sitting in your seat. Get to know that player first."
Lord knows I'm trying.
For the year: +428.75
Wednesday, February 7, 2007
Before/After (Hibachi)
Adhering to the criteria of this class is going to be impossible on certain posts. Therefore, I'm going to leave a code for Prof. Eshkenazi every time I would like to decline having a post graded. Let me think of a code... how about... Hibachi, in honor of local pro basketball hero Gilbert Arenas? Yeah, I think Hibachi is cool. If not, let me know if that's uncool.
Anyway, tonight is Wednesday, and for different people that means different things. In sports, you have the big North Carolina/Duke game, for which ESPN is devoting full coverage. Of course, for me it means two things. First, I'm going to be up on this campus until 9:30, which means I will undoubtedly update my basketball blog as well. Secondly, and most importantly... tonight is poker night.
You'll be seeing a ton of these entries as the semester goes on, and if you happen to see me Thursday mornings, well, you'll know why I look like utter crap. To catch you up on how I'm doing this year, check out my live journal, which before this class was my one and only venting outlet in terms of poker.
If you choose not to click on the link, I'll do a quick synopsis of my play so far this young year. Money wise I'm looking good, up $478.25 in 7 sessions. Anytime you're in the black it's a good thing. My first few sessions were quite masterful, a seminar in perfect tight-aggressive play. My last two, however, have been anything but.
Last Friday I netted $130, but honestly my game felt a little off. More or less I was getting lucky, hitting miracle flops, turns and rivers with marginal holdings (I plan on creating a vocabulary list just so that what I'm spitting isn't complete jargon). And then, this past Saturday I totally collapsed.
Players call it being "tilted", and if you're new to the game I'll show you what being on tilt means. In short, it's when extraneous variables (bad beats, annoying players) cause a player to do irrational things at the table. In this particular situation, Shawn Sheikhan's antics got the best of Phil Hellmuth, one of the best players on the planet (and if you don't believe him he'll surely tell you). No one is immune to tilt, and as good as he is, Hellmuth is no different.
With me, I ended up getting into a pissing contest with my boy Matt Baker. He had been jabbing at me all night, but I'll tell you about the play that ruined everything. Baker was on the button and he made it $4 to go, which meant $3.50 more for me in the big blind. In most games the standard raise is three times the big blind, but at this game there is no "standard raise" per se. I looked down and saw K-10 of clubs. I thought he might be trying to steal my blind, so I called.
The flop came A-7-2, two clubs, and since the ace was a club I had the nut flush draw. I could have bet, but I checked it to him. He bet five. I'm drawing at 11 outs twice, giving me about a 30% chance to catch, with $17 in the pot and only $5 more to call. I could have raised to see where he was at, but I called.
The turn was a blank for me, I think it was something like a four of hearts. I check, and he bets again. At this point I'm putting him on an ace, so I'm beat, but I still have one pull of the deck with my 11 outs and I only have to call $5 into a $23 pot. I call.
The river is a king of spades. I catch my king, but like I said I put him on an ace. I checked, and he fired a bet of $13. While it may sound like a decent amount of money, $13 into a pot of $36 is a value bet, AKA Baker silently screaming, "Please call me!". In effect he was pricing me into calling.
But, the ace. He was representing a good ace, and I thought I was beat. I folded.
He flipped over Q-2 of clubs! ACE HIGH!
From then on Baker outplayed me like crazy. I was calling him when I should have folded, folding when I should have called. It didn't help that he was a complete chatterbox, even going as far as telling me what he had before the flop. He REALLY got under my skin, and admittedly I don't tilt often. That [synonym for female dog] really pissed me off.
But, with poker it's all about moving on to the next hand, or in this case the next session. I plan on doing a better job of that tonight.
Glad I got that out of my system.
Anyway, tonight is Wednesday, and for different people that means different things. In sports, you have the big North Carolina/Duke game, for which ESPN is devoting full coverage. Of course, for me it means two things. First, I'm going to be up on this campus until 9:30, which means I will undoubtedly update my basketball blog as well. Secondly, and most importantly... tonight is poker night.
You'll be seeing a ton of these entries as the semester goes on, and if you happen to see me Thursday mornings, well, you'll know why I look like utter crap. To catch you up on how I'm doing this year, check out my live journal, which before this class was my one and only venting outlet in terms of poker.
If you choose not to click on the link, I'll do a quick synopsis of my play so far this young year. Money wise I'm looking good, up $478.25 in 7 sessions. Anytime you're in the black it's a good thing. My first few sessions were quite masterful, a seminar in perfect tight-aggressive play. My last two, however, have been anything but.
Last Friday I netted $130, but honestly my game felt a little off. More or less I was getting lucky, hitting miracle flops, turns and rivers with marginal holdings (I plan on creating a vocabulary list just so that what I'm spitting isn't complete jargon). And then, this past Saturday I totally collapsed.
Players call it being "tilted", and if you're new to the game I'll show you what being on tilt means. In short, it's when extraneous variables (bad beats, annoying players) cause a player to do irrational things at the table. In this particular situation, Shawn Sheikhan's antics got the best of Phil Hellmuth, one of the best players on the planet (and if you don't believe him he'll surely tell you). No one is immune to tilt, and as good as he is, Hellmuth is no different.
With me, I ended up getting into a pissing contest with my boy Matt Baker. He had been jabbing at me all night, but I'll tell you about the play that ruined everything. Baker was on the button and he made it $4 to go, which meant $3.50 more for me in the big blind. In most games the standard raise is three times the big blind, but at this game there is no "standard raise" per se. I looked down and saw K-10 of clubs. I thought he might be trying to steal my blind, so I called.
The flop came A-7-2, two clubs, and since the ace was a club I had the nut flush draw. I could have bet, but I checked it to him. He bet five. I'm drawing at 11 outs twice, giving me about a 30% chance to catch, with $17 in the pot and only $5 more to call. I could have raised to see where he was at, but I called.
The turn was a blank for me, I think it was something like a four of hearts. I check, and he bets again. At this point I'm putting him on an ace, so I'm beat, but I still have one pull of the deck with my 11 outs and I only have to call $5 into a $23 pot. I call.
The river is a king of spades. I catch my king, but like I said I put him on an ace. I checked, and he fired a bet of $13. While it may sound like a decent amount of money, $13 into a pot of $36 is a value bet, AKA Baker silently screaming, "Please call me!". In effect he was pricing me into calling.
But, the ace. He was representing a good ace, and I thought I was beat. I folded.
He flipped over Q-2 of clubs! ACE HIGH!
From then on Baker outplayed me like crazy. I was calling him when I should have folded, folding when I should have called. It didn't help that he was a complete chatterbox, even going as far as telling me what he had before the flop. He REALLY got under my skin, and admittedly I don't tilt often. That [synonym for female dog] really pissed me off.
But, with poker it's all about moving on to the next hand, or in this case the next session. I plan on doing a better job of that tonight.
Glad I got that out of my system.
Tuesday, February 6, 2007
Why Poker?
First of all, I should formally say welcome to my poker blog. Anyone who's ever read one of my blogs/journals knows that, even though this is for a class, I'm a thorough guy when it comes to writing. Feel free to look at my basketball blog for further proof.
But, to answer the question associated with the title of the blog, I love cards first and foremost. Ever since raking in my first pot about three and a half years ago playing old man stud, I've been enamored with the game. It's gotten to the point where I'd rather sit down and play cards for eight hours than play basketball at the gym. Five years ago I never thought I'd say that.
However, the main reason I'm doing this is to better myself as a poker player. Along with the required posts linking to news and video and what not, I'll also analyze every single session I play in. Recollection is the quickest way to pot collection.
But, if you haven't fallen asleep by now, get back at this blog tomorrow. I have a feeling I'll be writing about some cards tomorrow.
But, to answer the question associated with the title of the blog, I love cards first and foremost. Ever since raking in my first pot about three and a half years ago playing old man stud, I've been enamored with the game. It's gotten to the point where I'd rather sit down and play cards for eight hours than play basketball at the gym. Five years ago I never thought I'd say that.
However, the main reason I'm doing this is to better myself as a poker player. Along with the required posts linking to news and video and what not, I'll also analyze every single session I play in. Recollection is the quickest way to pot collection.
But, if you haven't fallen asleep by now, get back at this blog tomorrow. I have a feeling I'll be writing about some cards tomorrow.
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