Sunday, April 27, 2008
One Month
Whoa. Its been a month since my last post. If anyone still reads this, I apologize for the hiatus. Since spring break Ive been going non-stop. I'm currently in the library studying for two finals I have tomorrow, but I'll have an update on Tuesday after the tsunami has temporarily subsided. Speaking of the library.. yeah, thats where I've spent the majority of my time the past month.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Keep in the sunlight
I have quite a few topics to cover in this post. Alot has happened since my last post. Nothing too crazy, though. Since the primary subject of this blog is poker, I will start with that.
The title of this blog is from part of a Ben Franklin quote. Ben Franklin is the man. Having a ten day break from poker was really good. When was the last time I had a ten day break from poker? Hmm.. Im still thinking. the break allowed me to clear my head from what has been a somewhat dismal 2008. I've realized the signifance of keeping a positive frame of mind while playing. When Im expecting a negative outcome, it happens. At times when running bad, its eay to complain to myself or feel sorry for myself. I think that most poker players can relate. This contributes to negative thoughts. Psychologically, Im thrying to no longer accept complaints or sorrow for myself. I read some articles non-poker related that emphasize maintaining a positive frame of mind. the importance of this concept from wrestling. After ironically coming across several "poIve learned sitive thinking" articles (non-poker related) in the span of a few days, it was a good reminder of its importance. The full quote of the title is, "Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."
David Sklansky insists in "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" that study, but more importantly experience and alot of thinking about the game away from the tables are paramount to improving as a player. I consider myself very lucky for the support network I have. UF2B has been a cornerstone for improvent to my game. We all learn from each other, and also, when you're in a group, it forces you to think about poker alot away from the tables. My relationship with Hookem and Verneer has been extremely important to my game. Hookem recently said that I should reduce my number of tables to at the most four. I agree. I am now three tabling, and four if games are good. With 5+ tables, I become mechanical. The toughness of today's games dictate that most of my edge will come from knowing my opponent. Not only knowing his overall style, but knowing him in the moment. I have notes from Brian Townsend's first video. One of the first points he made in the video was, "Play no more than three tables at once. FOCUS is a huge benefactor." Granted, it was a 10-20 video. I fell behind on watching videos from the break. Ive always been a visual learner, so I really benefit from them. Leggo is turning out some excellent content lately, because their pros are familiar with the nature of todays games at the respective stake of the video. Greg Brooks (MYNAMEIZGREG) insists on playing fewer tables, as well. So from now on, Im not worrying about number of hands, etc. The focus will be on playing in each moment I am in and considering all of the information I have on my opponent(s) to make the perfect play. I think that performance goals are terrible for this game. How many hands? How much money? What bb/100? My goal is to constantly improve. I want to master the game. I find it tough to improve while playing many tables. I find myself improving at a much quicker rate at three tables. Hopefully I continue to improve.
Its past my bedtime so Im going to cut this one short. I got the poker out of the way, so for my next post I will include my Spring Break and Btimm Party report. Thanks again for hosting that party, Brian. We all had a really good time. Details to follow in my next post. Kinda sucks to leave this post at a cliffhanger.
The title of this blog is from part of a Ben Franklin quote. Ben Franklin is the man. Having a ten day break from poker was really good. When was the last time I had a ten day break from poker? Hmm.. Im still thinking. the break allowed me to clear my head from what has been a somewhat dismal 2008. I've realized the signifance of keeping a positive frame of mind while playing. When Im expecting a negative outcome, it happens. At times when running bad, its eay to complain to myself or feel sorry for myself. I think that most poker players can relate. This contributes to negative thoughts. Psychologically, Im thrying to no longer accept complaints or sorrow for myself. I read some articles non-poker related that emphasize maintaining a positive frame of mind. the importance of this concept from wrestling. After ironically coming across several "poIve learned sitive thinking" articles (non-poker related) in the span of a few days, it was a good reminder of its importance. The full quote of the title is, "Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight."
David Sklansky insists in "Hold 'em Poker for Advanced Players" that study, but more importantly experience and alot of thinking about the game away from the tables are paramount to improving as a player. I consider myself very lucky for the support network I have. UF2B has been a cornerstone for improvent to my game. We all learn from each other, and also, when you're in a group, it forces you to think about poker alot away from the tables. My relationship with Hookem and Verneer has been extremely important to my game. Hookem recently said that I should reduce my number of tables to at the most four. I agree. I am now three tabling, and four if games are good. With 5+ tables, I become mechanical. The toughness of today's games dictate that most of my edge will come from knowing my opponent. Not only knowing his overall style, but knowing him in the moment. I have notes from Brian Townsend's first video. One of the first points he made in the video was, "Play no more than three tables at once. FOCUS is a huge benefactor." Granted, it was a 10-20 video. I fell behind on watching videos from the break. Ive always been a visual learner, so I really benefit from them. Leggo is turning out some excellent content lately, because their pros are familiar with the nature of todays games at the respective stake of the video. Greg Brooks (MYNAMEIZGREG) insists on playing fewer tables, as well. So from now on, Im not worrying about number of hands, etc. The focus will be on playing in each moment I am in and considering all of the information I have on my opponent(s) to make the perfect play. I think that performance goals are terrible for this game. How many hands? How much money? What bb/100? My goal is to constantly improve. I want to master the game. I find it tough to improve while playing many tables. I find myself improving at a much quicker rate at three tables. Hopefully I continue to improve.
Its past my bedtime so Im going to cut this one short. I got the poker out of the way, so for my next post I will include my Spring Break and Btimm Party report. Thanks again for hosting that party, Brian. We all had a really good time. Details to follow in my next post. Kinda sucks to leave this post at a cliffhanger.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Btimm Challenge
I have to make this short and sweet bc Im pressed for time. My results for the challenge were not too good. I ran at -10bb/100 over 5200 hands. Oh well, get 'em next time.
Monday, February 25, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
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:
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
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.
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