Book, Heads Up, Spring Break

The evolution of a poker player was something that I used to read about back in the day. Reading about it was one thing, but experiencing certain parts of it has been another. I have very erratic reading habits. I'll start a book and read a good portion of it. Sooner rather than later, I am often drawn in by another book. Sometimes related and sometimes entirely unrelated to the subject of the last book. My latest engagement with new reading material has been with "Hold'em Poker for Advanced Players" by David Sklansky. I read this book in Novemeber of last year. Much to my dismay, the majority of the book's contents flew right over my head. As a mere five month novice to the game, I still had much to learn before being able to assimilate material from an "advanced" text. Now, fifteen months later, I am reading the same text. The content in the book is outstanding. Sklansky's preface to the actual strategic content of the book sent shivers up and down my spine. The keys to becoming a successful player were right in front of my eyes fifteen months ago, but I was not good enough to recognize the importance of Sklansky's words. He insisted that while the contents of the book would make you a better, the book was not a means to an end. He claims that to become an expert one must study often, think constantly about the game, and spend countless hours at the hold'em tables. As he reiterates time and time again, "There is no substitute for experience."

I used to be very intimitated by the idea of the math behind poker. Lets face facts, poker is a game of math. The math isnt all that scary, though. When seeing poker math in action, I often got lost in the extensive equations. The more I read Sklansky, the more I understand how math works in poker. Math can work in a multitude of ways. In Sklansky's texts I have found that it is not the ability to carry out complex equations which makes one an expert player. It is the ability to consider all of the variables of a particular situation. Any given situation may require the consideration of several variables. Each variable is a piece of impartial information. A skilled player is one who is aware of the variables for any given situation. An expert player is one who can accurately estimate the probability of each variable to come to a conclusive decision on whether to fold, call, or raise. Easy game, right?

That was a rant, but I hope it made some sense because Ive been thinking about that for awhile. I started implementing some heads up into my game. I suck, lol. Ive been playing 1-2 HU. Im learning so much, though. I played against a good player the other day. I have a feeling he was being coached by someone when he was playing me. He was a reg from the 1-2 games when I played there. The reason I think he was being coached was bc he was waitlisted to play me and he was only playing on two tables. Regardless of whether he was being coached or not, I learned alot from the match.

There was one hand that extremely frustrated me. He had been upping his three betting range. I had four bet him recently. He three bet me again, I had T6o - the nuts, obv. I decided to four bet. My logic was that he wouldnt assume Im four betting him light twice in a row. We were about 300bb deep. He calls my four bet out of position on the big blind. K55 flop. He checks, I cbet and he calls. Im thinking that while he could very well have AK, KQ, or AA, the majority of his range is sort of medium to high pocket pair. The turn brings another K. I make a "standard" value bet. He thinks for a bit and calls. DAMNIT! Just fold your TT-QQ. Im desperately trying to rep AK. River brings a Q. Pretty bad card. He checks and I shove. He thinks, and thinks some more. He calls with AQ. At first I thought, "What a horrible call down! He must be tilted from me taking a few buy ins from him earlier." I thought about the hand for a bit, and it didnt take me long to realize that in reality I got owned.

When I make the four bet preflop, my range becomes polarized. Its safe for him to assume that Ill show up with AK, JJ+, or air. While AK and JJ+ constitute a portion of my range, so does air. For instance, I might show up with a big hand 50% of the time and air the other 50%. An expert player is able to deduce a rough estimate of the probabilities of each type of hand within his opponent's "hand range." When I bet on a K55 flop, he made the assumption that the only suitable hands for me to bet on that board would be KK+, AK, or air. He could make the assumption that QQ-JJ would check the flop back. When the turn pairs the K and I bet it strong, it polarizes my range even more. Now my range is confined to KK, AK or air. With AA, I should check back the turn to try to induce calls from smaller underpairs on the river. With two K's on the board, it is mathematically less likely that I hold a K in my hand. The river brought a Q and he check called me with AQ. Im not sure how much this affected his river call. I have a hard time believing he would call down on three streets in a four bet pot for 300 bb's with A high. However, he was not playing the hand based on its strength. He played it based on his hand's value versus my range, to which he clearly gave alot of merit to air.

Even though it cost me some money, the educational value of the hand was worth it to me. What I failed to do was correctly assess the range I was representing. I was trying to rep a narrow range of strong, made hands. I never gave much credit to air - a big mistake. I remember from Phil Galfond's video that it is more effective to represent a wider range of hands while bluffing. If I were to check the flop, I could have repped my entire range. A check there would also indicate that I had some showdown value because he would expect air to bet such a dry flop. Granted, a check could have opened myself up to a bluff on his end, but he should assume that Im at least calling one street after the flop check. Im going to get a HU coach, because the investment should be well worth it. I really like HU poker. And as a former wrestler, I enjoy one on one sports.

On the other side of the fence, some interesting prospects have surfaced in the real world. As advertised earlier, my roomate and I are officially going on spring break to South Padre Island, Texas. Its me, him, and fifteen sororirty sisters from Central Missouri State. Hes from Missouri and one of his friends from home cordially invited us. We gladly accepted and probably would have walked to Texas if we had to. The plan is as follows: drive back to my home in Jersey and stay in AC for two nights. The NJ State Wrestling Championships are the first weekend of spring break in AC. My brother should be wrestling there so Im looking forward to it. We fly out of Philly to Texas on Monday morning and fly back Saturday. Classes resume for us on Tuesday, so well probably head back on Monday. Should be fun, but I first need to get through midterms week at school!

Apologies and a Game Plan

I apologize for my last post. I was pretty pissed about my recent failures but blaming it on running bad is simply an excuse. Ive always held true to the quote, "If you cant stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." Its one of my all time favorites - haha. It can be used in so many different contexts, but Ill leave it to poker. I know the variance is crazy at 5-10. I voluntarily play it knowing the above. There is no reason to complain, because variance at this limit should not be a surprise to me at this point. The heat is variance and the kitchen is 5-10.

Ive been studying poker a little more in depth and I realize that there are definitely some things I need to integrate into my game. I need to better adapt to opponent specific tendencies. Not obvious ones like opponents three betting like crazy, but little ones like assessing an opponents range when he cbets a flop. Most players will cbet with TP+ or air, while checking back marginal hands with showdown value. Some will simply check behind with air occasionally, while cbetting everything else. Poker is a game of impartial imformation. The more information we can accurately take from our opponents; the closer to optimal poker we can play. This is just one example of the things I am looking to improve upon.

After watching Townsend's latest series on CR, I realize I am a long ways off to being an elite player in those games. If you havent watched it yet, it is an unbelievably eye opening series to anyone looking to make an impact at the higher limit games. I am going to cut my tables down to three in order to establish reads and practice adapting to opponents based on my reads. As I get better and feel more comfortable, Ill add more tables. While I do believe I could currently sustain a decent win rate in the 5-10 games, there is still much, much more room for improvement. In the meantime Ill be playing 3-6 where Im going to try to learn some of the intracies of the game.

Tonight was my turn to play for the weekly UF2B group sweat. I posted some hands on our blog. Check them out and holler if you have any questions or comments.

Not Winning

Weird. Had my biggest day (5k) and biggest losing day (5.5k- today) within the same weekend. From today, I lost a total of $6.2k with QQ+ and AK alone. I misplayed two hands and it cost me. Anytime I play 5-10, I get murked. I understand the variance is crazy. Ive experienced it first hand. I crush 3-6 and lose it all at 5-10. Its been a constant cycle. After my third unsuccessful attempt to transition to 5-10, Im inclined to say that Im simply going to stay at 3-6 and 2-4 exclusively. However, I can be a winner in the 5-10 games. Not to sound cliche, but if I ran close to expectation, 5-10 would be my normal game for good. Its sucks to invest so much time and effort yet consistently fail. Im typically not a negative person, and it takes alot to make me feel this beaten down. When the money goes in and Im good, I almost expect to get sucked out on. I despise of this negative mentality, but when it happens over and over again Icannot help but expect to worst.

This year has sucked. Hopefully the poker gods have some better things in store for me. 2008 so far:

Move it like clockwork

I managed to recoup all losses from my 5-10 downswing. It took me three days. Poker is a volatile game. I dont really know what to say but I am ready for another 5/10 shot. However, Im not too sure Ill take it just yet. I have some new and exciting plans for spring break. It will require some funding so thats why Im not too sure I want to risk it at 5/10. I dont want to give away any details but lets just say it involves Atlantic City. It also involes my roomate and I going to a spring break destination. But we wont be alone. We'll be traveling with some friends, or shall I say, an entire sorority? My roomate is from Missouri, and this chick hes cool with from home extended the invite. Hes met her sororiety sisters once before. Hes excited, and so am I. Oops, maybe thats giving too much away.

Loser

I hate to lose. Everyone hates to lose. If you dont, you're most likely a loser. Even though losing sucks, I have learned alot from it. Ironically, losing has probably benefitted me long term me more than winning has. When I was wrestling, a loss would really affect me. I would become withdrawn, depressed, and unpleasant in general. By the same token, it was the losses which helped me improve. If I was beat, I obviously had a particular weakness that was exploited by my opponent. Since we are only as good as our biggest weakness, it is essential to improve not what we are already good at, but rather what we are bad at.

My experiences with wrestling have taught me alot. I am now much better at handling losses. I do not fear defeat, I desire victory. My latest downswing has posed an interesting situation. I think that after this downswing, how I rebound will be a true test of character. Do I sit down at the 3-6 tables feeling sorry for myself, or do I sit with the conviction to strive for excellence with each and every hand? Losing sucks, but its kind of cool because it allows you to show what you are truly made of.

Movin' on down

Nice title? Haha, I crack myself up. Things started off very well at 5-10. Unfortunately a 12 BI downswing ensued. I had a 6 BI loss limit, so back to 3/6 we go! Many coolers and bad beats along with not getting paid off, but its a part of the game. Moving down feels like defeat, but Ill take some time off and then hit the midstakes hard once again. I made smooth transitions at both 2-4 and 3-6, but I had a rough time at 1-2. I guess I was due for a rough transition. However, I crushed 1-2 the second time around. After my brief tenure at 5-10, Ill feel pretty confident in any 3-6 or 2-4 game. Martin suggested that I simply grind a "shit ton" of hands at mid stakes and move up when I can. I concur, and I shall do as suggested. I appreciate all the nice feedback from my last post, but hold the applause, Im not done yet.

Movin' on up

On Friday night I accomplished my long-term goal of making it to 5-10. Hopefully things go well for the next few weeks so I can make it my regular game. For now it will be my regular game, but if I start to see alot of red on my bottom line then I'll take precationary measures and drop back to 3-6. 5-10 is alot of fun. Dodgy was right when he said that adjusting to 5-10 is a somewhat smooth transition. Well, so far its been a smooth transition. Hopefully I wont have to eat my words (knock on wood).

Its kind of surreal that Im at 5-10. I started playing cash games in July with a 1k roll at .25-.50. As I got more involved with cash games, my ultimate goal was to establish myself at 5-10. It took me 7 months and I averaged about 20k hands a month. Either quality over quantity or Im a luck sack. Probably because Im a luck sack. My latest move up feels just like any other move up. Sure, it was exciting for the first thousand hands or so, but I feel pretty comfortable already. It usually took me several weeks to feel comfortable at a limit. However, I was able to anticipate some of the intangibles of moving up. For example, the increase in money can cause people to play suboptimally. 5-10 is simple though, because I just think in terms of big blinds rather than actual money. I never doubted that I would be able to make it to 5-10, but it was something that I thought would come after a considerable amount of time and experience.

I want to put in alot of hands this month. The past few months have been hectic and I haven't been able to play as much as I'd like. Im also going to start playing heads up. Adapting to opponent specific tendencies is a necessity at 5-10. Heads up will allow me to develop those skills even further. Also, with my wrestling background, I think I have a good mindset for one-on-one sports.