I reorganized the right sidebar. Instead of all the archives by date, I went to more concise monthly archives and then singled out some of my favorite posts. Also made a few minor updates to the movie rankings.
Fascinating.
By the way, lately I usually sleep from 7:30am to 3:30pm, give or take an hour.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
Friday, April 29, 2005
Notes
Some poker notes
- With last weekend's rebuy bonus at PartyPoker, I decided it was a good time to move from $3/6 to $5/10. I've always been very conservative about moving up in limits, so even though I've put in some time at this limit previously, this jump was a big deal for me. I had a good first weekend there, partially confirming my theory that the bonus would cause an infusion of loose money. It was a good way to ease the transition.
- The last few days I've felt like I've hit another wave of very tough beats. It seems like all my big pairs and flopped sets get cracked, and I'm not hitting any draws.
- I'm really having a tough time playing my AK, AQ, KQ type hands. Lately it seems like either I raise and everyone folds, or I get a couple calls and miss. I'm having a tough time playing the hand when I miss the flop, especially because people call flop bets with almost anything. When I bet, I always seem to get check-raised, and when I check I always seem to let a weaker hand catch a card to beat me. But I think I've been getting away from rule #3:
3.) Assume your opponents are morons unless you have overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Act accordingly. This means that 99% of the actions you are faced with are pretty straight-forward. You can't bluff a calling station, and you can't check-raise someone who is afraid of their shadow. Bluff sparingly. Bet for value. Don't get fancy, jackass.
- I'm doing much much better dealing with this tough little stretch. I've managed not to get as emotionally frustrated, and most importantly, I've been able to keep plugging away and putting in more hours, hours where I'm still playing well. I keep making adjustments in my game, and I'm feeling pretty confident in spite of a little bad luck.
- 21 of the 29 hours I've played in the last 6 days have been at $5/10, good for 5,293 hands and a win rate of 0.9 BB per 100 hands, which works out to about $22/hour. My VP$IP is under 13%, which means I'm being very conservative about my starting hands, more conservative than I've ever been in full-handed games. My overall aggression factor is at 1.82, which is as aggressive as I've ever played in full-handed games. Only my river aggression factor is below 1.5, which I think I think I'm ok with, since when there are no more cards coming I'm not using aggression to protect made hands any more, and I don't run into too many situations where my opponents are likely to fold a better hand than mine.
- Last week (I track my weeks Wednesday through Tuesday), I made an effort to put in more hours, and got in 40 hours last week and averaged about $18.75/hour. Kind of like a crappy full-time job.
NBA Notes
- Ok, when I picked the Dallas Mavericks to win the NBA title, I might have been getting carried away a little bit. They have a rookie head coach, their point guards have very limited experience, and they still don't have much offensive post presence. But I still think that they are a very dangerous team. Dirk had the best season of his career, and Michael Finley still is a very good player. Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, Eric Dampier and the rest of the supporting cast are fitting their roles well and the Mavs actually play some defense now. But T-Mac is off his ass and it looks likely that Houston will win the series, in spite of the Mavs stealing a game in Houston tonight. If Dallas loses, I just hope that my boy Mark Cuban doesn't tear the team apart again. After another tumultuous offseason, they pretty much stood pat during the season, making only the excellent acquisition of Keith Van Horn. This is a great nucleus that he should give a few seasons to grow into their potential.
- How fun would a Rockets-Suns series be? I say that the Rockets are likely to win their series now because I really like Houston's team, especially their backcourt. Bob Sura, Jon Barry and David Wesley are a great collection of veteran guards to play with McGrady and Yao. Suddenly Yao is playing with some aggression, and T-Mac is being a leader and playing excellent defense. Matching that team up against the Suns small-ball squad would be very very interesting.
- My predictions suck, which is why I don't bet sports. I love watching and analyzing, which is why I still make predictions. But I don't take too much pride in correct predictions or feel too bad about misses, cause its all a crapshoot to me, because I don't watch or read enough to really have a good idea what is going on. The media seems to think they always have to make bold predictions, which I guess is fine. But I'd rather hear them discuss strategic analysis.
- Another thing that media always does that drives me crazy is when they feel the need to establish the importance of a playoff game. They say "this is a must-win game!" These are the fucking playoffs, every game is important. You want to win every game you play. They asked Kenyon Martin if splitting 2 games in San Antonio was a "successful road trip" and he got all pissed off at the question, and rightfully so. Umm, the one they lost was a failure and the one they won was a success. What the hell is a "successful roadtrip." I know what a successful game is, and what a successful series is. Stop trying to invent more artificial subsets of basketball! And then you get segments on ESPN where the experts try to tell me about the importance of each game in a 7 game series. THEY ARE ALL IMPORTANT, YOU STUPID ASSHOLES!
- I've never liked Jermaine O'Neal as a player or a person. He is a talented player, and when he has time to plan his words in advance, he usually says good things and seems like a good guy. But I think he's a dumb player and a punk. I'll always remember his absurdly stupid foul on Kobe Bryant as Kobe was shooting a desperation shot falling out of bounds as the clock expired that ruined what should have been MJ's game winning shot in his last All Star game. Watching him in the Detroit brawl earlier this year, and in the scuffle with Antoine Walker last night, he really comes off as a jackass who is always looking for an excuse to hit someone. And he recently made comments that the NBA's proposed 20 year old age limit for players is motivated by racism. While it is true that more black men than others will be affected by such a rule, even disproportionately to the ratio of black men to others in the league (the one good point Scoop Jackson made in an otherwise worthless commentary on this issue), it is ridiculous to suggest David Stern and the team owners would adopt it for racist reasons. I don't know if an age limit is in the league's best interests, but I am sure that the league's best interests, and thus their own personal financial interests, are all they care about. And if they adopt it, how would an age limit even hurt black men? Sure, there are some 18 year olds who are ready for the league, but unless they suffer a career-ending injury in those 2 years, they'll still get their payday. And for every preps-to-pros superstar, there have got to be many more guys who declared for the draft and lost their chance to get a free college education that could have improved their lives. It is at least a reasonable argument that by encouraging 2 extra years of maturation and education before they are eligible for the league, in the long run you'd be helping more black men than you hurt. The opposite could also be reasonably argued. Maybe an age limit would hurt more players than it helps, I don't know. But if it is adopted, it won't be because the man is trying to keep 'em down. God knows black people have faced and continue to face unfair discrimination, but playing the race card on this issue and accusing the owners and commissioner of a league that has made millionaires out of thousands of young black men is grossly irresponsible and classless.
- Speaking of NBA players who came in right out of high school, Jermaine O'Neal noted that those guys are some of the biggest stars in the league. Lebron, KG, Jermaine, Amare, Kobe, T-Mac. These guys are the faces of the NBA. But I think it is worth pointing out that the superstars that win the titles are college players. Shaq, Duncan, Jordan, Pippen, David Robinson, Hakeem. Yeah, Kobe has his rings, but this year is proving that those were Shaq's teams more than Kobe's. This might change over the next decade, but so far the way to build a winning team has been with college players, not the high school guys.
Other Notes
- Happy 50th birthday to my Mommy.
- Happy 81st birthday to my Grandfather
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Reality
Its been a month since my last day of work. In 135 hours of poker play since then, I've made enough money to cover my expenses. Barely. And I made more money from bonuses and rakeback than I did from poker winnings.
If this is the best I can do, I won't be doing this for long.
But I'm willing to call this month an "adjustment period," be glad I made any money at all, and see if I can improve my results over the next month. I've still got a 6 month expense cushion so I'm not afraid to fail. If nothing else, I've bought myself a few months of freedom and a cool story.
But I don't think I will fail. I've probably learned more about the game in the last month than I have in several years combined. I'm making adjustments in my game and in my lifestyle that have already begun to yield positive results. And I've had months in the past where I made more money playing far fewer hours and at lower stakes, so I know I can do better.
If this is the best I can do, I won't be doing this for long.
But I'm willing to call this month an "adjustment period," be glad I made any money at all, and see if I can improve my results over the next month. I've still got a 6 month expense cushion so I'm not afraid to fail. If nothing else, I've bought myself a few months of freedom and a cool story.
But I don't think I will fail. I've probably learned more about the game in the last month than I have in several years combined. I'm making adjustments in my game and in my lifestyle that have already begun to yield positive results. And I've had months in the past where I made more money playing far fewer hours and at lower stakes, so I know I can do better.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Stop offering me credit
I get at least a dozen credit offers every week. Its pretty annoying, because I go through and open each one and tear it up because I'm paranoid enough about identity theft that I actually think its worth the effort. I guess this is part of the deal when you buy a house, although my real estate agent didn't mention it.
I find it especially annoying when I get offers for products I already have, which happens amazingly frequently. I get bombarded by pounds and pounds of mail for months, and staunchly resist their wares. Finally when I can't take it any more I break down and accept their offering, conceding victory to the evil credit card company, and they don't even acknowledge the defeat. I guess its not worth the bank's time to cross me off their solicitation list when I sign up. "Hello sir, we'd like to offer you (another) Amazon.com Visa card!"
The irony in all this is that if they knew that I quit my job, they probably wouldn't see me as such a valuable customer. Its hard to lend to someone with no verifiable income, although maybe my home equity is more valuable to them than my employment status.
I find it especially annoying when I get offers for products I already have, which happens amazingly frequently. I get bombarded by pounds and pounds of mail for months, and staunchly resist their wares. Finally when I can't take it any more I break down and accept their offering, conceding victory to the evil credit card company, and they don't even acknowledge the defeat. I guess its not worth the bank's time to cross me off their solicitation list when I sign up. "Hello sir, we'd like to offer you (another) Amazon.com Visa card!"
The irony in all this is that if they knew that I quit my job, they probably wouldn't see me as such a valuable customer. Its hard to lend to someone with no verifiable income, although maybe my home equity is more valuable to them than my employment status.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
What is life like when you don't have a job?
This month's Party Poker 20% rebuy bonus was capped at $100. Whats up with that? The last 2 months it has been $200. I guess we're pretty spoiled to be complaining that they only give a free $100 every month.
But I don't have a job. Another free $100 would be nice.
So tonight I had just finished playing the 700 raked hands needed to earn the $100 bonus and was more interested in watching the NBA playoff game between the Sonics and Kings than continuing with the lackluster session. Seduced by a recent deluge of propaganda about the lavish decadence of a hot bath, I decided to drag my TV over to the bathroom door, plugged the tub drain and let the hot water run.
It was lovely for about 5 minutes. Then I realized I was lying in a tepid pool of my own filth with my head 3 feet from my toilet bowl and the game was a blowout with halftime approaching. So the big experiment with pampering myself was fairly short-lived
Name that movie:
Dinah! Where's my Jimmy?
But I don't have a job. Another free $100 would be nice.
So tonight I had just finished playing the 700 raked hands needed to earn the $100 bonus and was more interested in watching the NBA playoff game between the Sonics and Kings than continuing with the lackluster session. Seduced by a recent deluge of propaganda about the lavish decadence of a hot bath, I decided to drag my TV over to the bathroom door, plugged the tub drain and let the hot water run.
It was lovely for about 5 minutes. Then I realized I was lying in a tepid pool of my own filth with my head 3 feet from my toilet bowl and the game was a blowout with halftime approaching. So the big experiment with pampering myself was fairly short-lived
Name that movie:
Dinah! Where's my Jimmy?
Saturday, April 23, 2005
That oughta teach him
I've been increasingly annoyed by my PartyPoker opponents' growing tendency to not raise preflop with AA or KK. I think that they are misapplying a no-limit concept to the limit game. In no-limit, it is sometimes a good move to just call the blind in early position with a big hand in hopes that someone will raise you from behind, and then you get to put in a massive reraise. But in fixed limit games, especially games where you are unlikely to see the same opponents ever again, I think that anything other than raising with these hands is horrible poker.
Really, I'm glad that my opponents are grossly misplaying their hands, but the deceptive nature of this move has cost me a few bets recently. So that, plus my general disdain for mindless trendy idiots has me pretty worked up about this issue. Tonight I got some revenge on one of these assholes.
In a $5/10 Hold'em game on Party, "asshole" called my $5 big blind in early position.
Asshole: K♠K♣
Everyone folded to me in the big blind, and I checked.
Me: A♣ 3♠
I would have folded if he had raised. Instead, I saw a free flop with $12 in the pot.
Flop ($12): 9♥, 7♣, Q♦
I check because I have nothing, and the asshole checks because he's an asshole. I would have folded if he had bet, but instead we saw a free turn card.
Turn ($12): A♦
Now I have a pair of Aces but no kicker. I check because the pot is small and I won't know what to do if I get raised, but also because he'd be likely to bet a lot of hands worse than mine at this point, which is what happens. Asshole bets $10 because he's an asshole and I call it.
River ($32): 6♠
I check for the same reasons, he bets again for the same reason, and I call and win the $49.50 pot (net of the $2.50 rake) with my pair of Aces.
Lets review my opponent's four decisions this hand.
Preflop
Call, instead of raising and winning the blinds uncontested
Flop
Check, instead of betting and winning the pot
Turn
Bet at a tiny pot with the worst hand
River
Bet at a small pot with the worst hand
Yup, he misplayed every single action. Seriously, you should sign up for Party Poker.
Really, I'm glad that my opponents are grossly misplaying their hands, but the deceptive nature of this move has cost me a few bets recently. So that, plus my general disdain for mindless trendy idiots has me pretty worked up about this issue. Tonight I got some revenge on one of these assholes.
In a $5/10 Hold'em game on Party, "asshole" called my $5 big blind in early position.
Asshole: K♠K♣
Everyone folded to me in the big blind, and I checked.
Me: A♣ 3♠
I would have folded if he had raised. Instead, I saw a free flop with $12 in the pot.
Flop ($12): 9♥, 7♣, Q♦
I check because I have nothing, and the asshole checks because he's an asshole. I would have folded if he had bet, but instead we saw a free turn card.
Turn ($12): A♦
Now I have a pair of Aces but no kicker. I check because the pot is small and I won't know what to do if I get raised, but also because he'd be likely to bet a lot of hands worse than mine at this point, which is what happens. Asshole bets $10 because he's an asshole and I call it.
River ($32): 6♠
I check for the same reasons, he bets again for the same reason, and I call and win the $49.50 pot (net of the $2.50 rake) with my pair of Aces.
Lets review my opponent's four decisions this hand.
Preflop
Call, instead of raising and winning the blinds uncontested
Flop
Check, instead of betting and winning the pot
Turn
Bet at a tiny pot with the worst hand
River
Bet at a small pot with the worst hand
Yup, he misplayed every single action. Seriously, you should sign up for Party Poker.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Party Poker
If you ever decide to sign up for Party Poker, my favorite online poker room by far, I'd appreciate if you signed up through me by clicking the banner on the right side column or using bonus code "adspar" at signup. You get a 20% bonus on your first real money deposit, access to the easiest poker games in the history of time, and you help finance this blog you love so much.
Jesus loves you.
Jesus loves you.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
More randoms
- There is some ginormous Chinese guy who wants to be the next Yao. This is a regulation basketball. Wow. Freak shows are awesome.
- I kept hearing what I thought was George Clooney's voice doing Budweiser commercials. I was wondering how much they'd have to pay him to do that. Turns out it is him, and he is getting £1m, which is almost $2 million. I am all in favor of elite actors doing commercials, like Brad Pitt doing Heineken and Robert De Niro's awesome American Express commercial. I find it hilarious that Russell Crow is opposed to this. What does he care if his colleagues want to make an easy buck?
- Saranac's Adirondack Amber would have been much better with my silly salmon.
- Tonight is Reggie Miller's last regular season homegame. While I hated him for most of his career, as I've become a more general NBA fan in the last few years I've grown to like him. He's definitely always been a polarizing figure, but you have to respect what he's done in 18 seasons with the same team. One of the greatest shooters and clutch players of all time, I don't really understand why he is retiring. He's still got game, and the Pacers could make a deep run in the playoffs next year with Artest back.
- I'm playing in Iggy's satellite on Sunday. WSOP $1500 event entry to the winner.
- It's not that I'm lazy. It's that I just don't care.
You = chump. Good times.
Haven't written anything in a while. I don't have much to say, but here's what is going on.
I just finished up my financially best week of poker so far (I keep track of my weeks from Wednesday to Tuesday), but I'm not playing enough hours. So I decided I'd take today off, and then play my ass off for the next 6 days.
But Erm, who decided to devote his 2 week recovery from back surgery to online poker, keeps making money in tournaments. So, inspired by his success, I decided to enter a $50+5 Pot Limit hold'em tournament on PokerStars. I ended up busting out 28th out of 178 after almost 2 hours. I needed to hit 18th to make the money, but I won my buy-in back in a NL cash game I played on the side.
As an amusing anecdote, Erm originally hurt his back in college when I made his 6'8" lurchy ass sit in the middle back seat of Heath's tiny Saturn for the ride from College Park to the Baltimore Arena for a Terps basketball game. He whined that I should let him have the front seat because he's too big for the back, but I had called shotgun (2 other guys called "not bitch") and I sure wasn't backing down. When we got to the game, painfully gimpy Erm got picked to shoot a half-court shot for some prize. He awkwardly chucked a weak airball with the form and strength of an 11 year old girl. I felt much worse in the second half sitting next to the pathetic airball guy than I do now about the fact that 6 years later, he's under the knife. Good times.
After busting out the tournament, I was going to revert to my original plan to take the rest of the day off, but Erm talked me into a $20+2 sit'n go on Paradise, which I won. So I played for 3 hours today and won $80. Good times.
Last night around 2am, I had a craving for a cold beer, but I didn't have any. So after I finished that tournament, I ran to pick up a couple 6 packs. As I'm paying for them, the dude behind the counter gets this excited look and asks "have you seen that new punk undercover magazine?!" or something like that. "Fat Mike is working on it. It JUST came out!"
"Oh, cool man. Later." Yeah... why is he telling me this? Then I realized that I was wearing a T-shirt that says "pastepunk.com" and shaved my head last week.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I bought the shirt to support a guy I knew in college who ran that website, and that I have no clue who "Fat Mike" is. Maybe before the rare occassions that I leave the house, I should check a mirror to see if I look like a guy who got out of bed at 1pm and played online poker all day. Good times.
In conclusion, Samuel Adams Double Bock is good, but doesn't really go well with leftover broiled salmon and potatoes and writing a boring blog entry. But you're the chump who just read the boring blog entry. Chump.
I just finished up my financially best week of poker so far (I keep track of my weeks from Wednesday to Tuesday), but I'm not playing enough hours. So I decided I'd take today off, and then play my ass off for the next 6 days.
But Erm, who decided to devote his 2 week recovery from back surgery to online poker, keeps making money in tournaments. So, inspired by his success, I decided to enter a $50+5 Pot Limit hold'em tournament on PokerStars. I ended up busting out 28th out of 178 after almost 2 hours. I needed to hit 18th to make the money, but I won my buy-in back in a NL cash game I played on the side.
As an amusing anecdote, Erm originally hurt his back in college when I made his 6'8" lurchy ass sit in the middle back seat of Heath's tiny Saturn for the ride from College Park to the Baltimore Arena for a Terps basketball game. He whined that I should let him have the front seat because he's too big for the back, but I had called shotgun (2 other guys called "not bitch") and I sure wasn't backing down. When we got to the game, painfully gimpy Erm got picked to shoot a half-court shot for some prize. He awkwardly chucked a weak airball with the form and strength of an 11 year old girl. I felt much worse in the second half sitting next to the pathetic airball guy than I do now about the fact that 6 years later, he's under the knife. Good times.
After busting out the tournament, I was going to revert to my original plan to take the rest of the day off, but Erm talked me into a $20+2 sit'n go on Paradise, which I won. So I played for 3 hours today and won $80. Good times.
Last night around 2am, I had a craving for a cold beer, but I didn't have any. So after I finished that tournament, I ran to pick up a couple 6 packs. As I'm paying for them, the dude behind the counter gets this excited look and asks "have you seen that new punk undercover magazine?!" or something like that. "Fat Mike is working on it. It JUST came out!"
"Oh, cool man. Later." Yeah... why is he telling me this? Then I realized that I was wearing a T-shirt that says "pastepunk.com" and shaved my head last week.
I didn't have the heart to tell him that I bought the shirt to support a guy I knew in college who ran that website, and that I have no clue who "Fat Mike" is. Maybe before the rare occassions that I leave the house, I should check a mirror to see if I look like a guy who got out of bed at 1pm and played online poker all day. Good times.
In conclusion, Samuel Adams Double Bock is good, but doesn't really go well with leftover broiled salmon and potatoes and writing a boring blog entry. But you're the chump who just read the boring blog entry. Chump.
Monday, April 18, 2005
I got this email.
Dear Adspar
Your site has been added to our new *quality* poker links page, which can be found at www.Gutshot.co.uk/poker-links. We would be grateful if you could you reciprocate this, and link back to www.Gutshot.co.uk. As you’re probably aware, a link exchange is beneficial to both sites and will help us both become more accessible to poker players.
www.Gutshot.co.uk is home to the Gutshot Poker Collective, the largest online poker collective in the world with over 12,000 members. As well as our feature rich website and active forum, we also run the busiest poker club in Europe with over 900 players through our doors each week. We also provide ground breaking coverage of the WSOP main event each year and this year will be no different as TEAM Gutshot hit Vegas on mass.
Kind regards,
Danny.
Hmmm. I went to their site and looked around for about 30 seconds. It looks ok. Then I clicked on the links section, and I don't see any link to my site. Am I missing something?
Dear Adspar
Your site has been added to our new *quality* poker links page, which can be found at www.Gutshot.co.uk/poker-links. We would be grateful if you could you reciprocate this, and link back to www.Gutshot.co.uk. As you’re probably aware, a link exchange is beneficial to both sites and will help us both become more accessible to poker players.
www.Gutshot.co.uk is home to the Gutshot Poker Collective, the largest online poker collective in the world with over 12,000 members. As well as our feature rich website and active forum, we also run the busiest poker club in Europe with over 900 players through our doors each week. We also provide ground breaking coverage of the WSOP main event each year and this year will be no different as TEAM Gutshot hit Vegas on mass.
Kind regards,
Danny.
Hmmm. I went to their site and looked around for about 30 seconds. It looks ok. Then I clicked on the links section, and I don't see any link to my site. Am I missing something?
Sunday, April 17, 2005
turning around a bit
Since I realized how much crap had seeped into my game and put my new rules into place, I've played about 5,000 hands with over 3BB won per 100 hands. Spring cleaning pays off? I hope it lasts.
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
I Alone Cannot Stop the D
I thought of another musical post while running today.
I worked with a guy at GE who loves music, but I think he had been under the impression that there hadn't been any good music made in the last 40 years. So I put together a mix CD with a sampling of good music from my lifetime.
As I was narrowing it down to the 80 minutes of music I could fit onto a single disc, my last cut was between Live's I Alone and Tenancious D's Tribute. I went all artsy and picked I Alone, and burned the CD. Then I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. No way a 2nd song from Throwing Copper would have more marginal utility than the hilarity of the D.
The name of the compilation was a no-brainer. Here is the final version.
I Alone Cannot Stop the D
I worked with a guy at GE who loves music, but I think he had been under the impression that there hadn't been any good music made in the last 40 years. So I put together a mix CD with a sampling of good music from my lifetime.
As I was narrowing it down to the 80 minutes of music I could fit onto a single disc, my last cut was between Live's I Alone and Tenancious D's Tribute. I went all artsy and picked I Alone, and burned the CD. Then I realized I'd made a terrible mistake. No way a 2nd song from Throwing Copper would have more marginal utility than the hilarity of the D.
The name of the compilation was a no-brainer. Here is the final version.
I Alone Cannot Stop the D
- Sublime - What I Got (Acoustic version)
- U2 - Pride (In The Name of Love)
- R.E.M. - Man on the Moon
- Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit
- Rage Against the Machine - Sleep Now in the Fire
- Counting Crows - Rain King
- Dave Matthews Band - The Best of What's Around (Live at Red Rocks version)
- Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Big Country
- Kelly Bell Band - Homegrown
- Metallica - The Unforgiven
- Tenacious D - Tribute
- Pearl Jam - Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town
- Stevie Ray Vaughan - Couldn't Stand the Weather
- Barenaked Ladies - Brian Wilson
- Live - Lightning Crashes
- Dave Matthews Band - Grey Street
* Live - I Alone would have been track 3 and pushed everything down
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Poker Life (so far)
Many tragedies come from our physical and cognitive makeup. Our bodies are extraordinarily improbable arrangements of matter, with many ways for things to go wrong and only a few ways for things to go right. We are certain to die, and smart enough to know it. Our minds are adapted to a world that no longer exists, prone to misunderstandings correctable only by arduous education, and condemned to perplexity about the deepest questions we can entertain.
-Steven Pinker
I quit my job on March 25. I guess technically I quit a month before that, but my last day was March 25. I didn't know what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, but I knew I didn't want to work at GE any more. I knew I had always been curious what it would be like to play poker full time, so I decided until I figure out something better to do, I'd play a lot for a while and see how it went.
I had heard and read a lot about what its like to do this for a living. There are plenty of magazine articles, websites, TV shows, and internet message boards that discuss the pros and cons, highs and lows, feels, smells, and tastes of professional poker. A couple weeks ago, someone who has been there summed it all up for me: "Poker can be a brutal life, but a lucrative one. I wouldn't suggest it, but you'll find out for yourself."
I named my blog from the Buddha quote I have at the very bottom of this page. I can do all the research about poker life or what it would be like to work for another company or to go back to school, but its the "find out for yourself" part that resonates for me.
To be successful in a poker career, aside from poker talent, I always thought I would need to be capable of distancing myself from emotion and making rational decisions. I also figured I'd need to be comfortable with more of a "loner" lifestyle, and capable of good bankroll management. I believed I had these characteristics and abilities. I've always seen myself as unemotional and introverted, and with my finance background I didn't think I'd have trouble with the bankroll management.
Now, not even 3 weeks into this thing, how it going? I still believe I have the poker talent; I'm thriving on the solitude; Sleeping til 3pm is awesome; bankroll management hasn't been a problem yet. What I do question is my emotional capacity for coping with adversity.
Humans are social animals. We have always lived and worked in groups, and depended on our group for survival. Each person has to be trusted to contribute, and each person had to be able to trust the group will reward that contribution. Because this bond of trust is so important to the stability of a group, and thus to our individual survival, we have evolved certain emotions to reinforce it. Positive feelings like loyalty, honor, brotherly love, respect, dedication, patriotism, honesty and trust are a psychological glue that keep us together.
The flip side of that coin is that some of the strongest negative emotions we feel are reactions to breaking that social covenant. We feel guilt, shame or disgrace when we wrong someone who trusted us, and the wronged party feels betrayed and desires revenge. A highly developed negative sense is our "cheater-detection mechanism." 120,000 years ago it was "that bastard Og in cave 3 is eating more than his share of the antelope meat we caught" and today it is "that bastard Ogden in marketing barely did anything for this project, but he's going to take advantage of my hard work." We are all keenly alert for people taking advantage of us.
We all have experienced some form of these universal emotions, and understand the intense power they have over our actions. That power reflects the critical importance that working together played in the evolution of our species, and the danger of being taken advantage of.
What does that have to do with me and poker? Sometimes weird things can inadvertantly trigger those intense negative emotions. When someone catches the only card in the deck that could have beaten me, it feels like an injustice. It feels like the world owed me better, and someone has to pay for it. Obviously this is completely irrational. I know that if I'm in that situation 100 times, I'll win 98 of them and get paid off handsomely. But, my innate understanding of statistics isn't as well-tuned as my rational understanding, and my own mind betrays me as I feel a burn like I've been wronged.
Since March 26 I've played over 15,000 hands of poker. To put that in perspective, if you played in a casino and were dealt 30 hands an hour, you'd need about 3 months of playing 40 hours per week to play that many hands. But because internet poker is a lot faster, and I can play multiple tables simultaneously, that represents 71 hours of play and a little over 2 weeks. In this short time, I've seen the brutality to which Luke alluded. (So far the lucrative part eludes me.)
It usually doesn't bother me very much when I absorb one or two "bad beats." My style of play lends itself to them, because when I'm in there playing a hand, I usually started with something very strong, so usually my wilder opponents need to get lucky to beat me, which is of course going to happen some of the time. The theory is that it won't happen enough of the time to prevent me from winning overall, and long term it hasn't.
When it does start to bother me is when it happens a few times in a row, or on huge pots. In the last 2.5 weeks, I've suffered 3 months worth of bad beats, and the effect on my emotional state is cumulative. Feel the burn over and over, and that shit adds up.
In poker, when you let something bother you enough that your play suffers, it is called going on tilt. I've read world-class professionals say something to the effect of "I can't hope to eliminate tilt in my game, just to minimize it. I think of it as a business expense." They understand that it is part of our nature.
I've been suffering from short-term and long-term tilt lately. Short term tilt gets set off by a few tough beats in a row, and suddenly I'm playing hands differently that I normally would, usually to my disadvantage. Then those short-term downfalls and other factors have contributed to me playing poorly over a longer horizon. My recent woes, while likely at least partially just some bad luck, are probably also due to some questionable play on my part. Its a pretty viscious spiral. Brutal.
So while it wasn't realistic for me to expect to just dive right into this and be emotionally prepared for it, I do think that I can learn. I've made some key adjustments recently that I think are helping to put me back on track.
In regards to short-term tilt, I've started trying to implement a very simple remedy - count to 3. I'm trying to force myself to count to 3 before I make any action in big pots, or in hands that are likely to cause an emotional response. I noticed that often when I'm confronted by an unexpected raise from an opponent, that I too quickly go into a passive/defensive style of play. Sometimes this might be appropriate, but often it is not. Counting to 3 is helping already.
In regards to long-term, I've noticed I'm tending to play too passively overall lately. Related to this, I'm limping in early position with some weakish hands. In an effort to plug this leak as soon as possible, I've implemented a few rules:
1.) No limping in early position preflop (the first 3 people to act after the big blind). This means that if I'm in bad position, I either raise or fold. This is forcing me to dump hands like A8s, KJo, JTs, and 55 that I used to limp with.
2.) No open-limping. If I'm the first person into a pot, I am raising. Period.
3.) Assume your opponents are morons unless you have overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Act accordingly. This means that 99% of the actions you are faced with are pretty straight-forward. You can't bluff a calling station, and you can't check-raise someone who is afraid of their shadow. Bluff sparingly. Bet for value. Don't get fancy, jackass.
These rules aren't perfect, but they do more good than bad. They are part of Pinker's "arduous education" intended to help me overcome my natural tendancies. I think my game is starting to get back on track.
This is fun.
Desiderata
Desiderata
by Max Ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
by Max Ehrmann
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
poor little guy
If laughing at painful awkwardness is as good for you as it is for me, check this out.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Cacocallia
Cacocallia (KAK-uh-KAL-shee-uh) - The paradoxical state of being ugly but at the same time sexually desireable.
Mena Suvari
Anna Paquin
Hilary Swank
Steffi Graf
Mary Pierce
Mena Suvari
Anna Paquin
Hilary Swank
Steffi Graf
Mary Pierce
Sympathy for the Devil
I started running again now that the weather is getting warm. Yesterday I did about 2.5 miles in about 25 minutes and was struggling. Today I did 3 miles in about 30 minutes and felt pretty good. I'd like to get to 4 miles in 30 to 32 minutes comfortably. Running with music helps a lot.
Speaking of music, I realized I have 2 songs that have been on my playlists recently that tell tales of the triumph of man over evil beings in musical competition:
Tribute, Tenacious D
The Devil Went Down to Georgia, Charlie Daniels Band
In Tribute, JB and KG defeat the shiny demon by meeting his demand that they play the best song in the world. They played the first thing that came to their heads, and it just so happened to be the best song in the world. I take no issue with the story.
But in Charlie's tale, the Devil squares off against Johnny head to head, and after hearing Johnny play, the Devil bows his head as a concession of defeat. What is going on here?? That doesn't sound like the Price of Darkness that I know and love. Johnny's chops were definitely impressive, but Satan and the band of demons layed it down pretty damn good. Come on guy, at least put the decision to a 3rd party! I'd vote for you.
I guess that's the problem though - you couldn't really find impartial judges like me. Most mortals would be so terrified of the Devil that they would be too scared to decide against him. And any that aren't afraid of him probably are going to be biased against him. Then the immortals are already going to have well-established allegiances to Heaven or Hell, so you wouldn't be able to trust their objectivity. This situation must have been what it was like trying to pick Olympic figure skating judges during the Cold War.
See, in Tenacious D's ballad, there was a clearly defined objective goal. There is one single best song in the world, and thats what they played. In fact, upon hearing it, the fallen beast assumed that Jack and Rage Kage must have been angels to have have played it. The power and genius of Tribute is that we never actually get to hear the greatest song in the world, because they couldn't remember it after that fateful night. The best song in the world is like Keyser Soze, achieving mythical status because you never really know exactly what happened.
I suppose it is possible that Johnny and Satan had some mutual understanding about how the winner would be objectively decided, but that seems improbable. The major flaw is that we the listeners get to hear the fiddle contest, which opens its outcome to debate based on our subjective preferences. I think the Devil won.
Regardless, the Devil knew that he'd been beat. And he laid the golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet. I guess its good to know that the Devil is exceedingly honest in his business dealings, because the way this poker thing is going I might have to make a few wagers with him myself...
NAY! WE ARE BUT MEN!
ROCK!!
Thursday, April 07, 2005
How am I losing?
How am I losing when these are my opponents? Look at this...
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Th, Ah. UTG calls, 4 folds, CO calls, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG calls, CO calls.
Flop: (8.33 SB) 4s, 4c, 4d (4 players)BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, WeepForMe bets, BB calls, UTG calls, CO folds.
Turn: (5.66 BB) 2s (3 players)BB checks, UTG checks, WeepForMe bets, BB calls, UTG calls.
River: (8.66 BB) 7d (3 players)BB checks, UTG checks, WeepForMe checks.
Final Pot: 8.66 BB
Results below: BB has Kd Ts (three of a kind, fours). UTG has Ad 9s (three of a kind, fours). WeepForMe has Th Ah (three of a kind, fours). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 8.66 BB.
This is weak passive poker from my 2 opponents here. Limping UTG (UTG = Under the Gun = 1st person to act after the blinds) with A9o is generally awful, mainly for the exact reason illustrated by this hand - if you are up against a better Ace you are in big trouble. I think calling a raise from a solid player with KTo from the big blind is a pretty bad play also, because too often you are up against a better King or a better Ten. Both of these guys called flop and turn bets with only 3 outs.
How can I be losing to these guys? Its not just the passive, suspicious call stations either:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Ah, Ac. 5 folds, CO calls, WeepForMe raises, 2 folds, CO calls.
Flop: (5.33 SB) 3s, Jc, 7s (2 players)CO checks, WeepForMe bets, CO raises, WeepForMe calls.
Turn: (4.66 BB) 8h (2 players)CO bets, WeepForMe raises, CO calls.
River: (8.66 BB) 6d (2 players)CO checks, WeepForMe bets, CO calls.
Final Pot: 10.66 BB
Results below: CO has Qh 8c (one pair, eights). WeepForMe has Ah Ac (one pair, aces). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 10.66 BB.
Lets walk through this hand from the perspective of my opponent, Mr. CO (CO = Cutoff = the person sitting to the right of the button):
Hi, I'm the moron in the cutoff. Everyone folds to me, and I look down and see a potential monster hand with my unsuited Q8. Rather than raise and risk everyone folding and suffer the disaster of just stealing the blinds, I'm going to limp. Excellent! The unsuspecting fool in on the button raises for me! I'll just call for now. He'll never know what hit him.
HAHA!!! My dream flop, J73 with 2 spades! I have a spade! Oh no wait, I don't, but no matter. I still have the powerful Queen high. Given that the button raised preflop, he'll probably bet if I check, so I'll do that and continue my trap. He fell for it, what a chump! At this point the only possible hand he could have is AK, which I can't beat yet, but I know that nobody on PartyPoker ever calls to the river with an unimproved AK, I'm going to check-raise him and outplay him. Ha! He just called my raise, he must not have anything. Maybe I'm even winning with my Queen. I am so good at poker!!!!!
Woah, the turn was my supercard. Now I have a pair of eights, so I have to keep betting. What?? He raised?? He must not know I have a pair of eights. Hmmm, $6 more? I better call this. I guess he might have a better hand than me, but that seems pretty unlikely. I'll just play it safe and call.
Darn, that river didn't help me. I'll do this guy a favor and just check my pair of eights. He bet again? Maybe he has that Jack after all. I'm going to call him though, just to keep him honest. Nobody bluffs me out of a hand!
How am I losing to these hopeless bluffing clowns? Even when they stop bluffing, they just keep hoping...
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is SB with Kd, Kh. UTG calls, 3 folds, MP2 calls, 2 folds, Button calls, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, UTG 3-bets, MP2 calls, Button folds, WeepForMe calls.
Flop: (11 SB) 4s, Ah, 5c (3 players)WeepForMe checks, UTG bets, MP2 calls, WeepForMe calls.
Turn: (7 BB) 4d (3 players)WeepForMe checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks.
River: (7 BB) 6h (3 players)WeepForMe bets, UTG folds, MP2 calls.
Final Pot: 9 BB
Results below: WeepForMe has Kd Kh (two pair, kings and fours). MP2 has 7c 7d (two pair, sevens and fours).
Outcome: WeepForMe wins 9 BB.
First let's talk to MP2 (middle position #2). Given a preflop raise from the SB (small blind) and a 3bet, and then 2 other people putting money in on an Ace-high flop, did you really believe that 77 could win this hand? Even when the UTG guy folds, what did you think I had? You watched me raise preflop from awful position. If you had been paying attention, you'd see I am a pretty tight player, so to raise from there I probably had to have a big pair or an Ace with a good kicker, right? In fact, the only pocket pair you can beat on the river is 22 or 33, so you must think I have that? Or maybe you thought I'd get wild with KQ? Please keep playing in my games.
Second, lets talk to trendy young man who decided after calling the blinds that he would try "that sweet move everyone is doing these days," the limp-reraise. Look son, I know you think that is a cool move to try with your 89s, but you really ought to save it for another time. Like maybe when you have a few more people in the pot, or a bit better position for later in the hand. Or maybe wait for when you have a fucking clue. Leave the big boy tools for the big boys to use. Go play on a swing set.
Ok, so in all of those hands I knew I was in pretty good shape, and was glad that my inept opponents made it easy for me. What about hands where it isn't so clear?
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is BB with Th, 8s. 3 folds, MP2 calls, 3 folds, SB completes, WeepForMe checks.
Flop: (3 SB) 5s, 3s, Ts (3 players)SB checks, WeepForMe bets, MP2 calls, SB calls.
Turn: (3 BB) Js (3 players)SB checks, WeepForMe checks, MP2 bets, SB calls, WeepForMe folds.
River: (5 BB) 3h (2 players)SB checks, MP2 checks.
Final Pot: 5 BB
Results below: SB has 6c 7s (flush, jack high). MP2 has 9h Td (two pair, tens and threes). Outcome: SB wins 5 BB.
Folding the best hand is always annoying. I had this hand wrong from beginning to end. I got to see the flop for free, and immediately didn't like the situation I was in. I actually flopped the exact same thing recently (I had top pair of tens on a flop with 3 spades and the 8 of spades as my kicker. I was up against someone with AT and the Ace of spades, and it sucked.) and didn't want the same thing to happen. When everyone called the flop bet I remember thinking that I had the best hand and that I hoped a spade didn't hit, so I checked when the spade hit. It never occured to me that MP2 might have been playing a ten, and that the SB would call a bet with no pair and a spade lower than my 8.
So I was completely clueless this hand. If this was $15/30 and we encountered the same flop situation, I would have bet, the T9 guy would have raised to protect his vulnerable top pair, and the small blind would have folded. Then I would have check-called the rest of the way and won. But I don't play $15/30 online. I don't play $15/30 because I don't have the bankroll. I don't have the bankroll because I can't beat $3/6 for enough money to build my bankroll. I also don't play $15/30 because every time I've taken a shot at it I get crushed. I get crushed probably for the same reason that I can't beat the $3/6 game, which is that I don't know what the hell I'm doing most of the time regardless of the limit. So I probably shouldn't play for higher stakes against better players. Not that that usually stops anyone.
Sorry for that rant. I conclude that my cluelessness this hand was only because my opponents misplayed their hands so much that I couldn't possibly know what what going on. I'll just keep telling myself that. (How am I losing to these guys?)
So usually I'm completely clueless. But sometimes I know what's up. Observe:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is UTG with Jd, Jc. WeepForMe raises, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, CO calls, 2 folds, BB calls. Flop: (8.33 SB) 4c, Qs, 6h (4 players)BB bets, WeepForMe calls, UTG+1 calls, CO calls.
Turn: (6.16 BB) 5h (4 players)BB bets, WeepForMe folds, UTG+1 calls, CO folds.
River: (8.16 BB) Ks (2 players)BB checks, UTG+1 bets, BB calls. Final Pot: 10.16 BB
Results below: BB has Qd 8s (one pair, queens). UTG+1 has 7h Ah (high card, ace). Outcome: BB wins 10.16 BB.
I've had a rough time today with JJ, and this time I knew enough to lay it down. I guess I smelled his Q, but apparently the guy who coldcalled my UTG raise with A7 did not get the whiff. How am I losing to these people?
In the next hand I combined cluelessness and a sense of smell. I smelled danger, but I'm clueless as to whether it was right.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Qs, Kc. 1 fold, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, MP3 calls, 1 fold, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, MP3 calls.
Flop: (8.33 SB) Kh, 7h, Jd (4 players)BB checks, UTG+1 bets, MP3 calls, WeepForMe raises, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn: (7.16 BB) 3d (3 players)UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks, WeepForMe bets, UTG+1 calls, MP3 raises, WeepForMe calls, UTG+1 3-bets, MP3 caps, WeepForMe folds, UTG+1 calls.
River: (17.16 BB) 3c (2 players)UTG+1 folds.
Final Pot: 17.16 BB
Results below: MP3 doesn't show. Outcome: MP3 wins 17.16 BB.
Everything was going along fine until the turn. I had a decent hand got a decent flop, although not one I was entirely comfortable with. There were lots of draws, so I wanted to keep the pressure on.
On the turn, Mp3 (middle position 3) checkraised me, which sent off huge warning bells on this board, especially because I had observed that player to be very straightforward (he had the Q8 from the last hand). It probably meant he had a set, but I called 1 more bet hoping that he had a vulnerable 2 pair and I had the odds to chase it.
Then in got weird, as UTG+1 (UTG+1 = the guy after UTG = 2nd to act after the blinds) decided to 3bet it. Given his actions so far I read this to mean he had a big draw, either the nut heart flush draw from the flop since he bet at it, or perhaps he bet the flop with QT for an openended straight draw and maybe backed into the diamond flush draw also. I thought I had him beat, but when the guy caps, I let go of my hand. I'm pretty sure I would have lost, but for 17 bets I have to be pretty damn sure of it for the laydown to be correct.
At this point, you'll notice that I've been folding a lot of hands. You might suggest that the reason I'm losing is that I'm folding too often, even if the hands I've shared here all should have been folded. Maybe that is the case, or maybe not:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is CO with 6d, 6c. 3 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 raises, WeepForMe calls, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, MP2 calls.
Flop: (9 SB) Tc, 4c, 7d (4 players)SB checks, MP2 bets, MP3 calls, WeepForMe raises, SB folds, MP2 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn: (7.50 BB) 3c (3 players)MP2 checks, MP3 bets, WeepForMe calls, MP2 folds.
River: (9.50 BB) 2s (2 players)MP3 bets, WeepForMe calls.
Final Pot: 11.50 BB
Results below: MP3 has Ad Qc (high card, ace). WeepForMe has 6d 6c (one pair, sixes). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 11.50 BB.
Sometimes I'll fold 66 to a preflop raise, sometimes I'll 3 bet. This time I called.
That isn't a flop that was likely to have helped anyone. Mp2 seemed to be thinking the same thing when he bet the flop, and when the preflop raiser just called it, I decided to raise. I thought there was a decent chance I had the best hand, and I wanted see where I stood. I didn't like it that the SB called 2 cold, but he later folded the turn for 1 bet, so he's an idiot.
The preflop raiser comes to life and bets out when the turn brings a 3rd club. This struck me as extremely suspicious. Given that he raised preflop, if he had 2 big clubs in his hand, I think he would have raised the flop. I think he also would have raised the flop with an overpair or with a ten in his hand, so I concluded that he must have decided to bet out with the A or K of clubs as a semibluff. I definitely wasn't going to fold, but I decided I didn't want to raise and then get 3bet by MP2 if he was betting out on the flop with a flush draw. In retrospect I think I should have raise here to force MP2 to fold a 7 or a T, but luckily he must not have had a pair because he folded. I conclude he didn't have a pair because nobody in the history of Party Poker $3/6 has ever folded a pair for 1 bet.
The river call is easy, and I win a big pot with a shitty hand, because I'm so very awesome. How am I losing to these players?
Obviously I picked these hands specifically to tell a story. Given the thousands of hands I play, I could probably pick out a few hands that tell any story I want. (Maybe I should do a followup post, "Oh wait... this is why I'm losing." I have about 17,000 hands to tell that story.)
That is what makes a losing streak of this duration so frustrating, especially when my key metrics really haven't changed at all. I could come up with any kind of theory about what is wrong, and I'd probably be able to find plenty of evidence for it. But then I'd get cute and be able to find plenty of evidence against it as well. There are no easy answers. I'll keep doing analysis both of individual hands and of my overall stats, hoping to find something that I can fix, but I'm resigned to the idea that it won't be so simple. For now I'm just going to keep playing. I think I can turn it around.
Because making unbeatable hands is so rare, playing hold'em without confidence is dangerous. Even the worst players seem to be able to smell blood somehow, even online. And so losing can be contagious and there is no simple prescription like "tighten up," "be more aggressive," or "more cowbell." I think that one thing writing this helped me realize is that my instincts are usually pretty good, and maybe too often I'm talking myself out of following them.
Thoughts?
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Th, Ah. UTG calls, 4 folds, CO calls, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG calls, CO calls.
Flop: (8.33 SB) 4s, 4c, 4d (4 players)BB checks, UTG checks, CO checks, WeepForMe bets, BB calls, UTG calls, CO folds.
Turn: (5.66 BB) 2s (3 players)BB checks, UTG checks, WeepForMe bets, BB calls, UTG calls.
River: (8.66 BB) 7d (3 players)BB checks, UTG checks, WeepForMe checks.
Final Pot: 8.66 BB
Results below: BB has Kd Ts (three of a kind, fours). UTG has Ad 9s (three of a kind, fours). WeepForMe has Th Ah (three of a kind, fours). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 8.66 BB.
This is weak passive poker from my 2 opponents here. Limping UTG (UTG = Under the Gun = 1st person to act after the blinds) with A9o is generally awful, mainly for the exact reason illustrated by this hand - if you are up against a better Ace you are in big trouble. I think calling a raise from a solid player with KTo from the big blind is a pretty bad play also, because too often you are up against a better King or a better Ten. Both of these guys called flop and turn bets with only 3 outs.
How can I be losing to these guys? Its not just the passive, suspicious call stations either:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Ah, Ac. 5 folds, CO calls, WeepForMe raises, 2 folds, CO calls.
Flop: (5.33 SB) 3s, Jc, 7s (2 players)CO checks, WeepForMe bets, CO raises, WeepForMe calls.
Turn: (4.66 BB) 8h (2 players)CO bets, WeepForMe raises, CO calls.
River: (8.66 BB) 6d (2 players)CO checks, WeepForMe bets, CO calls.
Final Pot: 10.66 BB
Results below: CO has Qh 8c (one pair, eights). WeepForMe has Ah Ac (one pair, aces). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 10.66 BB.
Lets walk through this hand from the perspective of my opponent, Mr. CO (CO = Cutoff = the person sitting to the right of the button):
Hi, I'm the moron in the cutoff. Everyone folds to me, and I look down and see a potential monster hand with my unsuited Q8. Rather than raise and risk everyone folding and suffer the disaster of just stealing the blinds, I'm going to limp. Excellent! The unsuspecting fool in on the button raises for me! I'll just call for now. He'll never know what hit him.
HAHA!!! My dream flop, J73 with 2 spades! I have a spade! Oh no wait, I don't, but no matter. I still have the powerful Queen high. Given that the button raised preflop, he'll probably bet if I check, so I'll do that and continue my trap. He fell for it, what a chump! At this point the only possible hand he could have is AK, which I can't beat yet, but I know that nobody on PartyPoker ever calls to the river with an unimproved AK, I'm going to check-raise him and outplay him. Ha! He just called my raise, he must not have anything. Maybe I'm even winning with my Queen. I am so good at poker!!!!!
Woah, the turn was my supercard. Now I have a pair of eights, so I have to keep betting. What?? He raised?? He must not know I have a pair of eights. Hmmm, $6 more? I better call this. I guess he might have a better hand than me, but that seems pretty unlikely. I'll just play it safe and call.
Darn, that river didn't help me. I'll do this guy a favor and just check my pair of eights. He bet again? Maybe he has that Jack after all. I'm going to call him though, just to keep him honest. Nobody bluffs me out of a hand!
How am I losing to these hopeless bluffing clowns? Even when they stop bluffing, they just keep hoping...
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is SB with Kd, Kh. UTG calls, 3 folds, MP2 calls, 2 folds, Button calls, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, UTG 3-bets, MP2 calls, Button folds, WeepForMe calls.
Flop: (11 SB) 4s, Ah, 5c (3 players)WeepForMe checks, UTG bets, MP2 calls, WeepForMe calls.
Turn: (7 BB) 4d (3 players)WeepForMe checks, UTG checks, MP2 checks.
River: (7 BB) 6h (3 players)WeepForMe bets, UTG folds, MP2 calls.
Final Pot: 9 BB
Results below: WeepForMe has Kd Kh (two pair, kings and fours). MP2 has 7c 7d (two pair, sevens and fours).
Outcome: WeepForMe wins 9 BB.
First let's talk to MP2 (middle position #2). Given a preflop raise from the SB (small blind) and a 3bet, and then 2 other people putting money in on an Ace-high flop, did you really believe that 77 could win this hand? Even when the UTG guy folds, what did you think I had? You watched me raise preflop from awful position. If you had been paying attention, you'd see I am a pretty tight player, so to raise from there I probably had to have a big pair or an Ace with a good kicker, right? In fact, the only pocket pair you can beat on the river is 22 or 33, so you must think I have that? Or maybe you thought I'd get wild with KQ? Please keep playing in my games.
Second, lets talk to trendy young man who decided after calling the blinds that he would try "that sweet move everyone is doing these days," the limp-reraise. Look son, I know you think that is a cool move to try with your 89s, but you really ought to save it for another time. Like maybe when you have a few more people in the pot, or a bit better position for later in the hand. Or maybe wait for when you have a fucking clue. Leave the big boy tools for the big boys to use. Go play on a swing set.
Ok, so in all of those hands I knew I was in pretty good shape, and was glad that my inept opponents made it easy for me. What about hands where it isn't so clear?
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is BB with Th, 8s. 3 folds, MP2 calls, 3 folds, SB completes, WeepForMe checks.
Flop: (3 SB) 5s, 3s, Ts (3 players)SB checks, WeepForMe bets, MP2 calls, SB calls.
Turn: (3 BB) Js (3 players)SB checks, WeepForMe checks, MP2 bets, SB calls, WeepForMe folds.
River: (5 BB) 3h (2 players)SB checks, MP2 checks.
Final Pot: 5 BB
Results below: SB has 6c 7s (flush, jack high). MP2 has 9h Td (two pair, tens and threes). Outcome: SB wins 5 BB.
Folding the best hand is always annoying. I had this hand wrong from beginning to end. I got to see the flop for free, and immediately didn't like the situation I was in. I actually flopped the exact same thing recently (I had top pair of tens on a flop with 3 spades and the 8 of spades as my kicker. I was up against someone with AT and the Ace of spades, and it sucked.) and didn't want the same thing to happen. When everyone called the flop bet I remember thinking that I had the best hand and that I hoped a spade didn't hit, so I checked when the spade hit. It never occured to me that MP2 might have been playing a ten, and that the SB would call a bet with no pair and a spade lower than my 8.
So I was completely clueless this hand. If this was $15/30 and we encountered the same flop situation, I would have bet, the T9 guy would have raised to protect his vulnerable top pair, and the small blind would have folded. Then I would have check-called the rest of the way and won. But I don't play $15/30 online. I don't play $15/30 because I don't have the bankroll. I don't have the bankroll because I can't beat $3/6 for enough money to build my bankroll. I also don't play $15/30 because every time I've taken a shot at it I get crushed. I get crushed probably for the same reason that I can't beat the $3/6 game, which is that I don't know what the hell I'm doing most of the time regardless of the limit. So I probably shouldn't play for higher stakes against better players. Not that that usually stops anyone.
Sorry for that rant. I conclude that my cluelessness this hand was only because my opponents misplayed their hands so much that I couldn't possibly know what what going on. I'll just keep telling myself that. (How am I losing to these guys?)
So usually I'm completely clueless. But sometimes I know what's up. Observe:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed)
Preflop: WeepForMe is UTG with Jd, Jc. WeepForMe raises, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, CO calls, 2 folds, BB calls. Flop: (8.33 SB) 4c, Qs, 6h (4 players)BB bets, WeepForMe calls, UTG+1 calls, CO calls.
Turn: (6.16 BB) 5h (4 players)BB bets, WeepForMe folds, UTG+1 calls, CO folds.
River: (8.16 BB) Ks (2 players)BB checks, UTG+1 bets, BB calls. Final Pot: 10.16 BB
Results below: BB has Qd 8s (one pair, queens). UTG+1 has 7h Ah (high card, ace). Outcome: BB wins 10.16 BB.
I've had a rough time today with JJ, and this time I knew enough to lay it down. I guess I smelled his Q, but apparently the guy who coldcalled my UTG raise with A7 did not get the whiff. How am I losing to these people?
In the next hand I combined cluelessness and a sense of smell. I smelled danger, but I'm clueless as to whether it was right.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is Button with Qs, Kc. 1 fold, UTG+1 calls, 3 folds, MP3 calls, 1 fold, WeepForMe raises, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG+1 calls, MP3 calls.
Flop: (8.33 SB) Kh, 7h, Jd (4 players)BB checks, UTG+1 bets, MP3 calls, WeepForMe raises, BB folds, UTG+1 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn: (7.16 BB) 3d (3 players)UTG+1 checks, MP3 checks, WeepForMe bets, UTG+1 calls, MP3 raises, WeepForMe calls, UTG+1 3-bets, MP3 caps, WeepForMe folds, UTG+1 calls.
River: (17.16 BB) 3c (2 players)UTG+1 folds.
Final Pot: 17.16 BB
Results below: MP3 doesn't show. Outcome: MP3 wins 17.16 BB.
Everything was going along fine until the turn. I had a decent hand got a decent flop, although not one I was entirely comfortable with. There were lots of draws, so I wanted to keep the pressure on.
On the turn, Mp3 (middle position 3) checkraised me, which sent off huge warning bells on this board, especially because I had observed that player to be very straightforward (he had the Q8 from the last hand). It probably meant he had a set, but I called 1 more bet hoping that he had a vulnerable 2 pair and I had the odds to chase it.
Then in got weird, as UTG+1 (UTG+1 = the guy after UTG = 2nd to act after the blinds) decided to 3bet it. Given his actions so far I read this to mean he had a big draw, either the nut heart flush draw from the flop since he bet at it, or perhaps he bet the flop with QT for an openended straight draw and maybe backed into the diamond flush draw also. I thought I had him beat, but when the guy caps, I let go of my hand. I'm pretty sure I would have lost, but for 17 bets I have to be pretty damn sure of it for the laydown to be correct.
At this point, you'll notice that I've been folding a lot of hands. You might suggest that the reason I'm losing is that I'm folding too often, even if the hands I've shared here all should have been folded. Maybe that is the case, or maybe not:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: WeepForMe is CO with 6d, 6c. 3 folds, MP2 calls, MP3 raises, WeepForMe calls, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, MP2 calls.
Flop: (9 SB) Tc, 4c, 7d (4 players)SB checks, MP2 bets, MP3 calls, WeepForMe raises, SB folds, MP2 calls, MP3 calls.
Turn: (7.50 BB) 3c (3 players)MP2 checks, MP3 bets, WeepForMe calls, MP2 folds.
River: (9.50 BB) 2s (2 players)MP3 bets, WeepForMe calls.
Final Pot: 11.50 BB
Results below: MP3 has Ad Qc (high card, ace). WeepForMe has 6d 6c (one pair, sixes). Outcome: WeepForMe wins 11.50 BB.
Sometimes I'll fold 66 to a preflop raise, sometimes I'll 3 bet. This time I called.
That isn't a flop that was likely to have helped anyone. Mp2 seemed to be thinking the same thing when he bet the flop, and when the preflop raiser just called it, I decided to raise. I thought there was a decent chance I had the best hand, and I wanted see where I stood. I didn't like it that the SB called 2 cold, but he later folded the turn for 1 bet, so he's an idiot.
The preflop raiser comes to life and bets out when the turn brings a 3rd club. This struck me as extremely suspicious. Given that he raised preflop, if he had 2 big clubs in his hand, I think he would have raised the flop. I think he also would have raised the flop with an overpair or with a ten in his hand, so I concluded that he must have decided to bet out with the A or K of clubs as a semibluff. I definitely wasn't going to fold, but I decided I didn't want to raise and then get 3bet by MP2 if he was betting out on the flop with a flush draw. In retrospect I think I should have raise here to force MP2 to fold a 7 or a T, but luckily he must not have had a pair because he folded. I conclude he didn't have a pair because nobody in the history of Party Poker $3/6 has ever folded a pair for 1 bet.
The river call is easy, and I win a big pot with a shitty hand, because I'm so very awesome. How am I losing to these players?
Obviously I picked these hands specifically to tell a story. Given the thousands of hands I play, I could probably pick out a few hands that tell any story I want. (Maybe I should do a followup post, "Oh wait... this is why I'm losing." I have about 17,000 hands to tell that story.)
That is what makes a losing streak of this duration so frustrating, especially when my key metrics really haven't changed at all. I could come up with any kind of theory about what is wrong, and I'd probably be able to find plenty of evidence for it. But then I'd get cute and be able to find plenty of evidence against it as well. There are no easy answers. I'll keep doing analysis both of individual hands and of my overall stats, hoping to find something that I can fix, but I'm resigned to the idea that it won't be so simple. For now I'm just going to keep playing. I think I can turn it around.
Because making unbeatable hands is so rare, playing hold'em without confidence is dangerous. Even the worst players seem to be able to smell blood somehow, even online. And so losing can be contagious and there is no simple prescription like "tighten up," "be more aggressive," or "more cowbell." I think that one thing writing this helped me realize is that my instincts are usually pretty good, and maybe too often I'm talking myself out of following them.
Thoughts?
Hand analysis
It is nice to have someone to talk about hands with.
Adspar: i 3bet an UTG raiser (his VPIP is 19%) w/TT, that guy cold calls
Adspar: K7x flop, UTG checks, i bet, cold call folds
Adspar: UTG checkraises, i fold
Adspar: what do you think?
Adspar: i cant imagine him taking that line with a hand i can beat
DK: i agree
DK: the pot may have been big enough to try and spike a 10 though
DK: if it was 3 bet preflop
Adspar: hmm
DK: and you think it will be good
Adspar: if he has AK
DK: in general i hate getting mixed up with those guys thougu
Adspar: he's 91% favorite
Adspar: basically 10 to 1
DK: yeah
DK: the pot was laying you more than that i imagine
Adspar: and i'm getting 12 to 1 on my call
DK: so i think unless you think he has KK you can call that
Adspar: but for him to raise preflop
Adspar: and then checkraise me after i 3bet him
DK: yeah
DK: strong
Adspar: he's got to put me on AA, KK, QQ, AK when i 3bet
Adspar: and knowing his own cards, he can rule out some of those
Adspar: so for him to 3bet i gotta think KK is in there enough to maybe justify the fold
Adspar: i should have thought about that 12-1 price though
DK: sometimes you can tell too by whether he capped preflop
DK: some people are always cap
DK: some are not
Adspar: i just thought: i'm up against AA, KK, or AK
DK: yah
Adspar: if he definitely had one of those, its probably a good fold still
DK: yah
Adspar: actually, if he definitely has AA, KK, AK then its by far a good fold
DK: well yeah
DK: KK is a big chunk there
Adspar: 6 ways AA, 3 ways KK, 12 ways AK
DK: so 17% time KK or so
DK: 14%
DK: rather
Adspar: so 86% of the time i have a 9% chance to win. 14% i have basically 0
DK: yeah
Adspar: so i have 7.7%
DK: so what way does that tip it
Adspar: thats basically 12 to 1
DK: hah
Adspar: so i can do whatever i want
DK: yeah
DK: if you think that's too conservative, call
Adspar: probably with the implied odds its worth playing
DK: this is all with the understanding that you're probably folding the turn
DK: ooh yeah
Adspar: good to know for next time some moron cold calls 3 and juices it up
DK: yah
DK: so how many bets did we neeed
DK: 12 to 1
Adspar: for even money, yes
DK: which is 3 * 3
Adspar: huh?
DK: i was just thinking 3 players 3 bets
DK: preflop
Adspar: right, plus my 1 and UTG's 2 on the flop
DK: yah
Conclusion - It would have probably been right to see the turn here, but its a close call.
Adspar: i 3bet an UTG raiser (his VPIP is 19%) w/TT, that guy cold calls
Adspar: K7x flop, UTG checks, i bet, cold call folds
Adspar: UTG checkraises, i fold
Adspar: what do you think?
Adspar: i cant imagine him taking that line with a hand i can beat
DK: i agree
DK: the pot may have been big enough to try and spike a 10 though
DK: if it was 3 bet preflop
Adspar: hmm
DK: and you think it will be good
Adspar: if he has AK
DK: in general i hate getting mixed up with those guys thougu
Adspar: he's 91% favorite
Adspar: basically 10 to 1
DK: yeah
DK: the pot was laying you more than that i imagine
Adspar: and i'm getting 12 to 1 on my call
DK: so i think unless you think he has KK you can call that
Adspar: but for him to raise preflop
Adspar: and then checkraise me after i 3bet him
DK: yeah
DK: strong
Adspar: he's got to put me on AA, KK, QQ, AK when i 3bet
Adspar: and knowing his own cards, he can rule out some of those
Adspar: so for him to 3bet i gotta think KK is in there enough to maybe justify the fold
Adspar: i should have thought about that 12-1 price though
DK: sometimes you can tell too by whether he capped preflop
DK: some people are always cap
DK: some are not
Adspar: i just thought: i'm up against AA, KK, or AK
DK: yah
Adspar: if he definitely had one of those, its probably a good fold still
DK: yah
Adspar: actually, if he definitely has AA, KK, AK then its by far a good fold
DK: well yeah
DK: KK is a big chunk there
Adspar: 6 ways AA, 3 ways KK, 12 ways AK
DK: so 17% time KK or so
DK: 14%
DK: rather
Adspar: so 86% of the time i have a 9% chance to win. 14% i have basically 0
DK: yeah
Adspar: so i have 7.7%
DK: so what way does that tip it
Adspar: thats basically 12 to 1
DK: hah
Adspar: so i can do whatever i want
DK: yeah
DK: if you think that's too conservative, call
Adspar: probably with the implied odds its worth playing
DK: this is all with the understanding that you're probably folding the turn
DK: ooh yeah
Adspar: good to know for next time some moron cold calls 3 and juices it up
DK: yah
DK: so how many bets did we neeed
DK: 12 to 1
Adspar: for even money, yes
DK: which is 3 * 3
Adspar: huh?
DK: i was just thinking 3 players 3 bets
DK: preflop
Adspar: right, plus my 1 and UTG's 2 on the flop
DK: yah
Conclusion - It would have probably been right to see the turn here, but its a close call.
What the hell is going on?
From August to December 2004 I played 13,601 hands of $3/6 full handed hold'em and won at a rate of 6.29 BB/100 hands.
Since January 1, 2005 I have played 17,230 hands and lost at a rate of 0.98 BB/100 hands.
I feel like a loser whenever I play this game now. Very frustrating.
Since January 1, 2005 I have played 17,230 hands and lost at a rate of 0.98 BB/100 hands.
I feel like a loser whenever I play this game now. Very frustrating.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Classic
Winners of the "worst analogies ever written in a high school essay" contest.
He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guywho went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. (Joseph Romm,Washington)
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. (Rich Murphy, Fairfax Station)
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup. (Paul Sabourin, Silver Spring)
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and"Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30. (Roy Ashley, Washington)
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. (ChuckSmith, Woodbridge)
Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung bymistake (Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hills)
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. (Unknown)
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase)
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. (Gary F. Hevel, Silver Spring)
Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a moviethis guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man." (Russell Beland, Springfield)
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across thegrassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on Dr Pepper can. (Wayne Goode, Madison, Ala.)
They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth (Paul Kocak, Syracuse, N.Y.)
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. (Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria)
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free (Chuck Smith, Woodbridge)
The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guywho went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it. (Joseph Romm,Washington)
She caught your eye like one of those pointy hook latches that used to dangle from screen doors and would fly up whenever you banged the door open again. (Rich Murphy, Fairfax Station)
The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty Bag filled with vegetable soup. (Paul Sabourin, Silver Spring)
From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in another city and"Jeopardy" comes on at 7 p.m. instead of 7:30. (Roy Ashley, Washington)
Her hair glistened in the rain like nose hair after a sneeze. (ChuckSmith, Woodbridge)
Her eyes were like two brown circles with big black dots in the center. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
Bob was as perplexed as a hacker who means to access T:flw.quid55328.com\aaakk/ch@ung but gets T:\flw.quidaaakk/ch@ung bymistake (Ken Krattenmaker, Landover Hills)
Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever. (Unknown)
He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree. (Jack Bross, Chevy Chase)
The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease. (Gary F. Hevel, Silver Spring)
Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a moviethis guy would be buried in the credits as something like "Second Tall Man." (Russell Beland, Springfield)
Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across thegrassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)
The politician was gone but unnoticed, like the period after the Dr. on Dr Pepper can. (Wayne Goode, Madison, Ala.)
They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth (Paul Kocak, Syracuse, N.Y.)
John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met. (Russell Beland, Springfield)
The thunder was ominous-sounding, much like the sound of a thin sheet of metal being shaken backstage during the storm scene in a play. (Barbara Fetherolf, Alexandria)
His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free (Chuck Smith, Woodbridge)
The red brick wall was the color of a brick-red Crayola crayon.
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Video Games (and another top 10)
An unemployed jackass who just spent the last few days blogging about his favorite movies shouldn't be allowed into Best Buy. There should be rules to protect me against myself.
I went in to pick up the new Splinter Cell game on Friday, and I came back with 8 DVDs too. They always have those specials where they bundle 3 movies together for $20 and I can't resist buying a movie I like for $10 or less, so I go nuts.
I don't play video game very much, but I occassionally get really into one. I bought an XBox a few years ago specifically to play the first Splinter Cell game (the 3rd just came out). I bought a few other games, but couldn't really get into them and never touch them now. Until Friday, I hadn't even played a game on my 55" HDTV that I bought in July.
I bought an N64, in 2002 I believe, just to play Bond. I didn't even buy another game except for Perfect Dark, which was a quasi-sequel to Goldeneye. Bond had an amazing multiplayer game that we played way too much in college, and I got way too good at it. MarioKart was fun too.
My parents never bought me a video game system, but how I managed to get a Nintendo is an amusing story. In 5th grade, our teacher made us all enter a writing contest. I don't remember what I wrote about, but I managed to win it, and the prize was a gift certificate to Walden Books. I took it to a Walden Software store and redeemed it for a Nintendo system and Super Mario 3, completely defeating the spirit of the contest. I ended up with a lot of games for that system, since they were pretty cheap by the time I got it.
This introduces another top list - my favorite video games from my limited video game experience.
Top 10 favorite video games:
1.) Goldeneye 007 - N64 - The facility cheat code, 4 player grenade launchers in the complex, Oddjob, Plithy comebacks. SILLY!
2.) Super Mario Brothers 3 - original Nintendo - Each Mario game was different enough to count them all separately. The hammer suit was awesome. Warp Whistles, P-wings, disappearing behind the white blocks. Money.
3.) Splinter Cell - XBox - Each of these games is almost the same, so they all count together. These games are amazingly realistic. Sam Fisher is a badass.
4.) MarioKart - N64 - Jumping the walls in the level I called "dirt farm" and pissing everyone off was sweet.
5.) Contra - original Nintendo - Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, (B, A, Select), Start
6.) Madden Football - Playstation 2 - The only sports video game I've ever really liked. Whatever version we played in college, I used to use the Broncos, and there was a Hail Mary pass that I always had Greise throw to easy Ed McCaffery that was unstoppable. Erm used to get so pissed about it.
7.) Zelda - original Nintendo, N64 - I know there were lots of these games, but I've only played 3 of them. The first one for the original Nintendo, and the 2 for N64. I always said the whole point of Zelda is to avoid being annoyed. Especially in the N64 versions with all the magical music and the pony and whatnot, everything was so annoying, yet still completely addictive. I never bought these games, so I must have borrowed them from someone.
8.) Halo - XBox - The multiplayer is very very cool. Single player sucked.
9.) Perfect Dark - N64 - They tried to make a sequel to Bond. Props on the effort, but next time don't use stupid looking aliens as the enemies instead of Russians. I don't care if you don't have the rights to the Bond names any more, just use generic looking spies and call the hero Jim Bondsworth or something. I'm only putting this on the list to emphasize how awesome the first one was.
10.) Super Mario Brothers 2 - original Nintendo - This game was just so damn weird, but it was fun.
I went in to pick up the new Splinter Cell game on Friday, and I came back with 8 DVDs too. They always have those specials where they bundle 3 movies together for $20 and I can't resist buying a movie I like for $10 or less, so I go nuts.
I don't play video game very much, but I occassionally get really into one. I bought an XBox a few years ago specifically to play the first Splinter Cell game (the 3rd just came out). I bought a few other games, but couldn't really get into them and never touch them now. Until Friday, I hadn't even played a game on my 55" HDTV that I bought in July.
I bought an N64, in 2002 I believe, just to play Bond. I didn't even buy another game except for Perfect Dark, which was a quasi-sequel to Goldeneye. Bond had an amazing multiplayer game that we played way too much in college, and I got way too good at it. MarioKart was fun too.
My parents never bought me a video game system, but how I managed to get a Nintendo is an amusing story. In 5th grade, our teacher made us all enter a writing contest. I don't remember what I wrote about, but I managed to win it, and the prize was a gift certificate to Walden Books. I took it to a Walden Software store and redeemed it for a Nintendo system and Super Mario 3, completely defeating the spirit of the contest. I ended up with a lot of games for that system, since they were pretty cheap by the time I got it.
This introduces another top list - my favorite video games from my limited video game experience.
Top 10 favorite video games:
1.) Goldeneye 007 - N64 - The facility cheat code, 4 player grenade launchers in the complex, Oddjob, Plithy comebacks. SILLY!
2.) Super Mario Brothers 3 - original Nintendo - Each Mario game was different enough to count them all separately. The hammer suit was awesome. Warp Whistles, P-wings, disappearing behind the white blocks. Money.
3.) Splinter Cell - XBox - Each of these games is almost the same, so they all count together. These games are amazingly realistic. Sam Fisher is a badass.
4.) MarioKart - N64 - Jumping the walls in the level I called "dirt farm" and pissing everyone off was sweet.
5.) Contra - original Nintendo - Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, (B, A, Select), Start
6.) Madden Football - Playstation 2 - The only sports video game I've ever really liked. Whatever version we played in college, I used to use the Broncos, and there was a Hail Mary pass that I always had Greise throw to easy Ed McCaffery that was unstoppable. Erm used to get so pissed about it.
7.) Zelda - original Nintendo, N64 - I know there were lots of these games, but I've only played 3 of them. The first one for the original Nintendo, and the 2 for N64. I always said the whole point of Zelda is to avoid being annoyed. Especially in the N64 versions with all the magical music and the pony and whatnot, everything was so annoying, yet still completely addictive. I never bought these games, so I must have borrowed them from someone.
8.) Halo - XBox - The multiplayer is very very cool. Single player sucked.
9.) Perfect Dark - N64 - They tried to make a sequel to Bond. Props on the effort, but next time don't use stupid looking aliens as the enemies instead of Russians. I don't care if you don't have the rights to the Bond names any more, just use generic looking spies and call the hero Jim Bondsworth or something. I'm only putting this on the list to emphasize how awesome the first one was.
10.) Super Mario Brothers 2 - original Nintendo - This game was just so damn weird, but it was fun.
Friday, April 01, 2005
Its better to be lucky than good
"Its better to be lucky than good" is a saying I hear all the time around poker games. Here are some hands from tonight to illustrate. Results and commentary are in white beneath the hands, to preserve suspense for you, my faithful reader. Simply highlight the text in that area to get your jollies.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is MP2 with 9s, As.
4 folds, Golden Boy raises, 4 folds, BB calls.
Flop: (4.33 SB) 9c, 5s, Qc (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB raises, Golden Boy 3-bets, BB calls.
Turn: (5.16 BB) 6d (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB calls.
River: (7.16 BB) Td (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB calls.
Final Pot: 9.16 BB
Results and commentary in white below:
BB has Jc Tc (one pair, tens).
Golden Boy has 9s As (one pair, nines).
Outcome: BB wins 9.16 BB.
I somehow knew he had JTc when he checkraised that flop. I was sure of it. That actually makes him a favorite (66-34) but I decided to 3bet, partially to get information to validate my read, and partially to make him think I have a Q instead of a 9. When he hits the ten on the river, I bet hoping he'd fold because I played the hand like I had a queen. Oh well.
Maybe I should classify this as him getting lucky, since he did have the better hand on the flop. But I wouldn't have put another bet in on the river if he hit his flush or straight, which is what he was hoping for. Only the Jack or the Ten would have gotten him that extra bet. So he's lucky? Whatever, lets move on...
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is Button with As, Ts.
2 folds, UTG+2 raises, 4 folds, Golden Boy 3-bets, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG+2 caps, Golden Boy calls, BB calls.
Flop: (12.33 SB) 6d, 7h, 8d (3 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy raises, BB calls.
Turn: (8.16 BB) 5d (3 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB raises, Golden Boy folds.
River: (11.16 BB) 2h (2 players)
Final Pot: 11.16 BB
Results in white below:
BB has Qh 9h (straight, nine high).
UTG+2 has 8h Ac (one pair, eights).
Outcome: BB wins 11.16 BB.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is UTG+2 with 7d, 7h.
2 folds, Golden Boy raises, 2 folds, MP3 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, BB calls.
Flop: (8 SB) 4c, Kd, 3d (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Golden Boy bets, MP3 calls, SB folds, BB folds.
Turn: (5 BB) 3h (2 players)
Golden Boy bets, MP3 calls.
River: (7 BB) As (2 players)
Golden Boy checks, MP3 bets, Golden Boy calls.
Final Pot: 9 BB
Results in white below:
Golden Boy has 7d 7h (two pair, sevens and threes).
MP3 has 5h 2h (straight, five high).
Outcome: MP3 wins 9 BB.
Obviously this guy is a dolt, calling 2 cold with 52s. I was sure he didn't have a King when he simply called the flop, so I bet the turn, and check-called the scary river. I expected to see A6o or some crappy Aces, but the wheel said: It is better to be lucky than good!
I've disguised which hand is mine here.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (8 handed) converter
Preflop:
2 folds, MPA raises, 1 fold, CO 3-bets, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, MPA calls.
Flop: (10 SB) Ts, Qd, Ks (3 players)
SB folds, MPA bets, CO raises, MPA 3-bets, CO caps, MPA calls.
Turn: (9 BB) Qs (2 players)
MPA bets, CO raises, MPA 3-bets, CO calls.
River: (15 BB) As (2 players)
MPA checks, CO bets, MPA calls.
Final Pot: 17 BB
Results in white below:
MPA has Kc Qh (full house, queens full of kings).
CO has Td Tc (full house, tens full of queens).
Outcome: MPA wins 17 BB.
I had the KQ. I opened for a raise, and was very uncomfortable when a tight solid winning player 3bet me. He'd have to have a big pair or AK or unlikely AQ. Since I have KQ, I figured his most likely holdings are AA, JJ, TT. If the small blind hadn't called, I would have seriously considered folding, but I had to call 1 more bet getting 9 to 1 on my call.
At first I love the flop. If he has AA, AK or AQ, he's in serious trouble. There's no way he has AJ, but I do need to be worried about TT or the JJ open-ended straight draw. I decide to bet out , planning to 3bet, rather than go for a checkraise or wait for a later street to reraise. I want to get as much money in this flop as possible if he's drawing. When he caps instead of calling the 3bet, I'm seriously concerned about TT. I've represented AJ pretty well, so I think with AA or JJ he'd just call the flop probably, although maybe he'd keep ramming AA.
I catch a beautiful turn card and get 3 bets in on the turn. He thinks I have AJ at this point, so he raises my bet, but changes his mind when I 3bet him. At this point his most likely hand is TT, but AA or JJ with the Js are still possible, which is why the river scares me and I check. I didn't lose any money though, cause he wouldn't have raised a river bet, but he'll bet TT if I check to him.
Preflop he was a 56.5% - 43.5% favorite, and on the flop he was an 82% favorite. I got lucky!
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is MP2 with 9s, As.
4 folds, Golden Boy raises, 4 folds, BB calls.
Flop: (4.33 SB) 9c, 5s, Qc (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB raises, Golden Boy 3-bets, BB calls.
Turn: (5.16 BB) 6d (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB calls.
River: (7.16 BB) Td (2 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB calls.
Final Pot: 9.16 BB
Results and commentary in white below:
BB has Jc Tc (one pair, tens).
Golden Boy has 9s As (one pair, nines).
Outcome: BB wins 9.16 BB.
I somehow knew he had JTc when he checkraised that flop. I was sure of it. That actually makes him a favorite (66-34) but I decided to 3bet, partially to get information to validate my read, and partially to make him think I have a Q instead of a 9. When he hits the ten on the river, I bet hoping he'd fold because I played the hand like I had a queen. Oh well.
Maybe I should classify this as him getting lucky, since he did have the better hand on the flop. But I wouldn't have put another bet in on the river if he hit his flush or straight, which is what he was hoping for. Only the Jack or the Ten would have gotten him that extra bet. So he's lucky? Whatever, lets move on...
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is Button with As, Ts.
2 folds, UTG+2 raises, 4 folds, Golden Boy 3-bets, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG+2 caps, Golden Boy calls, BB calls.
Flop: (12.33 SB) 6d, 7h, 8d (3 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy raises, BB calls.
Turn: (8.16 BB) 5d (3 players)
BB checks, Golden Boy bets, BB raises, Golden Boy folds.
River: (11.16 BB) 2h (2 players)
Final Pot: 11.16 BB
Results in white below:
BB has Qh 9h (straight, nine high).
UTG+2 has 8h Ac (one pair, eights).
Outcome: BB wins 11.16 BB.
Normally I'd fold ATs to an early position raise, but there were several factors that made me strongly suspect I had the best hand. I had just seen the guy limp and then horribly misplay AK, so he seemed like he'd be likely to misplay other hands. He was also very shortstacked, and I've seen enough of these shortstacked donkies to know that they play stupid hands way too hard. So I 3bet hoping to isolate him. Alas, the brilliant player in the big blind decides his Q9s is worth calling 2 cold, and he hits his hand on the turn. I like my read and my play, but its better to be lucky than good.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Golden Boy is UTG+2 with 7d, 7h.
2 folds, Golden Boy raises, 2 folds, MP3 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, BB calls.
Flop: (8 SB) 4c, Kd, 3d (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Golden Boy bets, MP3 calls, SB folds, BB folds.
Turn: (5 BB) 3h (2 players)
Golden Boy bets, MP3 calls.
River: (7 BB) As (2 players)
Golden Boy checks, MP3 bets, Golden Boy calls.
Final Pot: 9 BB
Results in white below:
Golden Boy has 7d 7h (two pair, sevens and threes).
MP3 has 5h 2h (straight, five high).
Outcome: MP3 wins 9 BB.
Obviously this guy is a dolt, calling 2 cold with 52s. I was sure he didn't have a King when he simply called the flop, so I bet the turn, and check-called the scary river. I expected to see A6o or some crappy Aces, but the wheel said: It is better to be lucky than good!
I've disguised which hand is mine here.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (8 handed) converter
Preflop:
2 folds, MPA raises, 1 fold, CO 3-bets, 1 fold, SB calls, 1 fold, MPA calls.
Flop: (10 SB) Ts, Qd, Ks (3 players)
SB folds, MPA bets, CO raises, MPA 3-bets, CO caps, MPA calls.
Turn: (9 BB) Qs (2 players)
MPA bets, CO raises, MPA 3-bets, CO calls.
River: (15 BB) As (2 players)
MPA checks, CO bets, MPA calls.
Final Pot: 17 BB
Results in white below:
MPA has Kc Qh (full house, queens full of kings).
CO has Td Tc (full house, tens full of queens).
Outcome: MPA wins 17 BB.
I had the KQ. I opened for a raise, and was very uncomfortable when a tight solid winning player 3bet me. He'd have to have a big pair or AK or unlikely AQ. Since I have KQ, I figured his most likely holdings are AA, JJ, TT. If the small blind hadn't called, I would have seriously considered folding, but I had to call 1 more bet getting 9 to 1 on my call.
At first I love the flop. If he has AA, AK or AQ, he's in serious trouble. There's no way he has AJ, but I do need to be worried about TT or the JJ open-ended straight draw. I decide to bet out , planning to 3bet, rather than go for a checkraise or wait for a later street to reraise. I want to get as much money in this flop as possible if he's drawing. When he caps instead of calling the 3bet, I'm seriously concerned about TT. I've represented AJ pretty well, so I think with AA or JJ he'd just call the flop probably, although maybe he'd keep ramming AA.
I catch a beautiful turn card and get 3 bets in on the turn. He thinks I have AJ at this point, so he raises my bet, but changes his mind when I 3bet him. At this point his most likely hand is TT, but AA or JJ with the Js are still possible, which is why the river scares me and I check. I didn't lose any money though, cause he wouldn't have raised a river bet, but he'll bet TT if I check to him.
Preflop he was a 56.5% - 43.5% favorite, and on the flop he was an 82% favorite. I got lucky!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Monday, March 28, 2005
First Day Notes, and more NBA v NCAA
Thanks to the dozen people who IMed me today asking how my first day of joblessness was going, and my apologies for not responding to most of you. So far it doesn't really seem real. It just feels like a long weekend.
In the last 2 days I've played 7.5 hours and 1,478 hands. I lost $126.67 and cleared another $100 worth of Party Poker bonus.
I began my massive house cleaning project, watched Pulp Fiction (top 5) and Swingers (top 10 pure comedies). Hmmm, I should write about my favorite movies. I also cleaned my trumpet, with the intention of playing it tomorrow.
Here are a pair of Mike Wilbon quotes that Clint brought to my attention:
1.)
As dramatic as the tournament often is, with all the upsets and buzzer-beating shots that become part of college basketball history, the play is very often -- how do I say this? -- spotty. Games, even between the good teams, are often a matter of attrition. Tournament games have steadily declined in quality for the simple reason that there are fewer and fewer skilled players in college every year.
2.)
As for the person who is "daring" me to provide reasons the NBA playoffs are more exciting than college basketball, why would I waste my breath. You're a college fan who probably thinks he knows everything about basketball and would spit out a bunch of dumb reasons the college game is more exciting without knowing anything real about the pro game. A great many of the people who spew that junk have their own issues to deal with.
I'll say this: The college game is exciting.
The NBA Playoffs are exciting.
But don't try to convince someone who has spent 25 years covering both that the college kids are more fundamentally sound and play better defense and all this garbage.
For all the college basketball know-it-alls, ask yourself this: If a college basketball player played better defense than his pro counterpart, why wouldn't he try out, make a roster as a defensive starter, then make the average NBA salary of $3.5 million?
Because he can't. Because the college game, while exciting, isn't as good. It isn't as well played, as well-officiated, as well coached, as well anything. It's a step below.
If you don't like the pro game just have the guts to say, "I don't like it" instead of hiding behind all the codes and personal agendas. People are allowed to like and dislike whatever they want. Discerning basketball fans see the beauty of both.
Well said, Wilbon.
In the last 2 days I've played 7.5 hours and 1,478 hands. I lost $126.67 and cleared another $100 worth of Party Poker bonus.
I began my massive house cleaning project, watched Pulp Fiction (top 5) and Swingers (top 10 pure comedies). Hmmm, I should write about my favorite movies. I also cleaned my trumpet, with the intention of playing it tomorrow.
Here are a pair of Mike Wilbon quotes that Clint brought to my attention:
1.)
As dramatic as the tournament often is, with all the upsets and buzzer-beating shots that become part of college basketball history, the play is very often -- how do I say this? -- spotty. Games, even between the good teams, are often a matter of attrition. Tournament games have steadily declined in quality for the simple reason that there are fewer and fewer skilled players in college every year.
2.)
As for the person who is "daring" me to provide reasons the NBA playoffs are more exciting than college basketball, why would I waste my breath. You're a college fan who probably thinks he knows everything about basketball and would spit out a bunch of dumb reasons the college game is more exciting without knowing anything real about the pro game. A great many of the people who spew that junk have their own issues to deal with.
I'll say this: The college game is exciting.
The NBA Playoffs are exciting.
But don't try to convince someone who has spent 25 years covering both that the college kids are more fundamentally sound and play better defense and all this garbage.
For all the college basketball know-it-alls, ask yourself this: If a college basketball player played better defense than his pro counterpart, why wouldn't he try out, make a roster as a defensive starter, then make the average NBA salary of $3.5 million?
Because he can't. Because the college game, while exciting, isn't as good. It isn't as well played, as well-officiated, as well coached, as well anything. It's a step below.
If you don't like the pro game just have the guts to say, "I don't like it" instead of hiding behind all the codes and personal agendas. People are allowed to like and dislike whatever they want. Discerning basketball fans see the beauty of both.
Well said, Wilbon.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Good day
Personal
- Annual family Easter party in Annapolis
- Brought my girl to meet everyone (I think she still likes me)
- Good food
- Good times
Financial
- Played 4.3 hours
- Played 981 hands
- Won $124.5
- Earned $100 of Party Poker Bonus
- I'll take it.
Temporal
- Terps win. Yay?
- Watched movie: Identity (entertaining)
- 2 blog entries and some excessive template editing
- Drank 1 beer (MGD)
- Ate 6 girl scout cookies (Thin Mints)
- Watched SNL
Inspirational
- "Every man I meet is my superior in some way. In that, I learn of him." -Emerson
- "If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own." - Henry Ford
- "Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving" - Dale Carnegie
- All 3 of those quotes are in Dale Carnegie's classic How to Win Friends & Influence People. I highly recommend the book to everyone that ever deals with humans.
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Some hands
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is MP2 with 6h, 6d.
3 folds, Your Favorite Chump raises, 3 folds, SB calls, BB 3-bets, Your Favorite Chump calls, SB calls.
Flop: (9 SB) 9s, 5s, 3d (4 players)
SB bets, BB raises, Your Favorite Chump folds, SB calls.
Turn: (6.50 BB) Td (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks.
River: (6.50 BB) Th (3 players)
SB bets, BB calls.
Final Pot: 8.50 BB
Results in white below:
SB has 5h Ac (two pair, tens and fives).
BB has Kh Ah (one pair, tens).
UTG+1 doesn't show.
Argh! I hate folding the best hand. As I folded, I thought to myself, "I hope that BB doesn't have AK." Dammit.
-------
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is BB with As, Kc.
2 folds, UTG+2 calls, 1 fold, MP2 raises, 4 folds, Your Favorite Chump calls, UTG+2 calls.
Sometimes I'd reraise this, but I because I'm out of position and to disguise the strength of my hand.
Flop: (6.33 SB) 5d, 4h, 7d (3 players)
Your Favorite Chump checks, UTG+2 checks, MP2 bets, Your Favorite Chump raises, UTG+2 folds, MP2 calls.
Your Favorite Chump checks, MP2 bets, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Ew, I don't like that Queen. He probably has AQ, AJ, or KQ, so I'm afraid he might have hit, but I'm reluctant to fold. So I call like a chump.
River: (7.16 BB) 3d (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, MP2 calls.
This card completes a flush and a straight draw, so I take a shot at it.
Final Pot: 9.16 BB
Results in white below:
Your Favorite Chump has As Kc (high card, ace).
MP2 has Qh Ah (one pair, queens).
Outcome: MP2 wins 9.16 BB.
Crap. Love the way I played it until the turn. The river isn't bad either. Probably should have folded on the turn though. Crap.
-----
Guess who has what, and which I am:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop:
1 fold, UTG+1 raises, 2 folds, MPB 3-bets, MP3 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold, UTG+1 caps, MPB calls, MP3 calls, SB calls.
Flop: (17 SB) 4s, 7c, 3d (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets, MPB raises, MP3 calls, SB calls, UTG+1 3-bets, MPB calls, MP3 calls, SB calls.
Turn: (14.50 BB) 7h (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets, MPB raises, MP3 calls, SB folds, UTG+1 calls.
River: (20.50 BB) 6d (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MPB bets, MP3 calls, UTG+1 calls.
Final Pot: 23.50 BB
Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Kc Kd (two pair, kings and sevens).
MPB has Ah As (two pair, aces and sevens).
MP3 has Qd Qh (two pair, queens and sevens).
Outcome: MPB wins 23.50 BB.
I had the Aces. Silly.
-----
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is BB with Ad, Jh.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises, 6 folds, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Flop: (4.33 SB) Qd, 7c, Ks (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 calls.
Turn: (3.16 BB) 4d (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 calls.
River: (5.16 BB) Th (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 raises, Your Favorite Chump 3-bets, UTG+1 caps, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Final Pot: 13.16 BB
Results in white below:
Your Favorite Chump has Ad Jh (straight, ace high).
UTG+1 has Kd Kh (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: Your Favorite Chump wins 13.16 BB.
I bet the flop and turn hoping that the preflop raiser had an underpair or AJ or AT, but planning to fold to a raise. Whoops!
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is MP2 with 6h, 6d.
3 folds, Your Favorite Chump raises, 3 folds, SB calls, BB 3-bets, Your Favorite Chump calls, SB calls.
Flop: (9 SB) 9s, 5s, 3d (4 players)
SB bets, BB raises, Your Favorite Chump folds, SB calls.
Turn: (6.50 BB) Td (3 players)
SB checks, BB checks.
River: (6.50 BB) Th (3 players)
SB bets, BB calls.
Final Pot: 8.50 BB
Results in white below:
SB has 5h Ac (two pair, tens and fives).
BB has Kh Ah (one pair, tens).
UTG+1 doesn't show.
Argh! I hate folding the best hand. As I folded, I thought to myself, "I hope that BB doesn't have AK." Dammit.
-------
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is BB with As, Kc.
2 folds, UTG+2 calls, 1 fold, MP2 raises, 4 folds, Your Favorite Chump calls, UTG+2 calls.
Sometimes I'd reraise this, but I because I'm out of position and to disguise the strength of my hand.
Flop: (6.33 SB) 5d, 4h, 7d (3 players)
Your Favorite Chump checks, UTG+2 checks, MP2 bets, Your Favorite Chump raises, UTG+2 folds, MP2 calls.
I like this flop because it isn't likely to have helped the preflop raiser, and it looks like the kind of flop that could have helped a small blind. Unless the raiser has a pocket pair, I'm probably beating him, so the checkraise to force out the big blind is a play I like a lot.
Turn: (5.16 BB) Qc (2 players)Your Favorite Chump checks, MP2 bets, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Ew, I don't like that Queen. He probably has AQ, AJ, or KQ, so I'm afraid he might have hit, but I'm reluctant to fold. So I call like a chump.
River: (7.16 BB) 3d (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, MP2 calls.
This card completes a flush and a straight draw, so I take a shot at it.
Final Pot: 9.16 BB
Results in white below:
Your Favorite Chump has As Kc (high card, ace).
MP2 has Qh Ah (one pair, queens).
Outcome: MP2 wins 9.16 BB.
Crap. Love the way I played it until the turn. The river isn't bad either. Probably should have folded on the turn though. Crap.
-----
Guess who has what, and which I am:
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (10 handed) converter
Preflop:
1 fold, UTG+1 raises, 2 folds, MPB 3-bets, MP3 calls, 2 folds, SB calls, 1 fold, UTG+1 caps, MPB calls, MP3 calls, SB calls.
Flop: (17 SB) 4s, 7c, 3d (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets, MPB raises, MP3 calls, SB calls, UTG+1 3-bets, MPB calls, MP3 calls, SB calls.
Turn: (14.50 BB) 7h (4 players)
SB checks, UTG+1 bets, MPB raises, MP3 calls, SB folds, UTG+1 calls.
River: (20.50 BB) 6d (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MPB bets, MP3 calls, UTG+1 calls.
Final Pot: 23.50 BB
Results in white below:
UTG+1 has Kc Kd (two pair, kings and sevens).
MPB has Ah As (two pair, aces and sevens).
MP3 has Qd Qh (two pair, queens and sevens).
Outcome: MPB wins 23.50 BB.
I had the Aces. Silly.
-----
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (9 handed) converter
Preflop: Your Favorite Chump is BB with Ad, Jh.
1 fold, UTG+1 raises, 6 folds, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Flop: (4.33 SB) Qd, 7c, Ks (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 calls.
Turn: (3.16 BB) 4d (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 calls.
River: (5.16 BB) Th (2 players)
Your Favorite Chump bets, UTG+1 raises, Your Favorite Chump 3-bets, UTG+1 caps, Your Favorite Chump calls.
Final Pot: 13.16 BB
Results in white below:
Your Favorite Chump has Ad Jh (straight, ace high).
UTG+1 has Kd Kh (three of a kind, kings).
Outcome: Your Favorite Chump wins 13.16 BB.
I bet the flop and turn hoping that the preflop raiser had an underpair or AJ or AT, but planning to fold to a raise. Whoops!
Friday, March 25, 2005
The Exit Interview
1:51pm
I have my exit interview coming up. They had sent me a survey to fill out. I wrote this on it:
At their request, I sent a meeting invitation to our HR leader to "discuss my responses." See any conflicts of interest with an HR person conducting an exit interview in which I mention problems with HR? After 2 days, I got no response, so I sent another email yesterday. I still had no response, so I just went up to her office to see if the 2:30 meeting time worked for her. As I approach her door, I see her bent over trying to reach something underneath her desk. She started to reach down from sitting in the chair, but couldn't reach it, so she was half off the chair with her posterior sticking up directly toward the doorway, her shirt riding up so that half of her bare back is exposed. I tap on the door, and she awkwardly pops up and looks very embarrassed as she pulls her shirt back down. She mutters something about how she thought she had replied, and makes a show of confusedly checking her computer to see if she responded. She says 2:30 works fine, come back up in an hour. What a great start to this....
2:48pm
I just got out of it. It was very friendly, and pretty anticlimactic. I gave honest feedback about situations I've been in and things that I've seen and it was received in a polite and appreciative manner. She told me she wished she could do what I'm doing, and how a friend of hers did something similiar and it was very good for him.
People talk a lot of shit about her, but I've never had a problem with her personally. She's always been nice to me and I had a lot of fun at the golf outing where I shared a cart with her for 18 holes. I told her that there is widespread dissatisfaction with HR, and that I'm sure she knows of that at least somewhat. She said it always amuses her that people think she has more power than our Risk Leader, and I acknowledged that it might be better for risk managers to be able to use HR as a scapegoat. Its easier for a manager to say "HR won't let me promote you" than "I don't think you really deserve that."
I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes, and I really don't care. People working for huge corporations are always going to have issues with something, and they want to blame everyone other than themselves. Doesn't matter whose fault it is, what matters is what you do about it. You know the rules of the game, now put up or shut up.
I have my exit interview coming up. They had sent me a survey to fill out. I wrote this on it:
There is widespread frustration with HR practices, at least at the lower and middle levels. Either the frustration or the practices should be addressed. However this could be difficult if voicing criticism of HR is perceived as likely to be damaging to an individual's reputation.
At their request, I sent a meeting invitation to our HR leader to "discuss my responses." See any conflicts of interest with an HR person conducting an exit interview in which I mention problems with HR? After 2 days, I got no response, so I sent another email yesterday. I still had no response, so I just went up to her office to see if the 2:30 meeting time worked for her. As I approach her door, I see her bent over trying to reach something underneath her desk. She started to reach down from sitting in the chair, but couldn't reach it, so she was half off the chair with her posterior sticking up directly toward the doorway, her shirt riding up so that half of her bare back is exposed. I tap on the door, and she awkwardly pops up and looks very embarrassed as she pulls her shirt back down. She mutters something about how she thought she had replied, and makes a show of confusedly checking her computer to see if she responded. She says 2:30 works fine, come back up in an hour. What a great start to this....
2:48pm
I just got out of it. It was very friendly, and pretty anticlimactic. I gave honest feedback about situations I've been in and things that I've seen and it was received in a polite and appreciative manner. She told me she wished she could do what I'm doing, and how a friend of hers did something similiar and it was very good for him.
People talk a lot of shit about her, but I've never had a problem with her personally. She's always been nice to me and I had a lot of fun at the golf outing where I shared a cart with her for 18 holes. I told her that there is widespread dissatisfaction with HR, and that I'm sure she knows of that at least somewhat. She said it always amuses her that people think she has more power than our Risk Leader, and I acknowledged that it might be better for risk managers to be able to use HR as a scapegoat. Its easier for a manager to say "HR won't let me promote you" than "I don't think you really deserve that."
I don't know what's really going on behind the scenes, and I really don't care. People working for huge corporations are always going to have issues with something, and they want to blame everyone other than themselves. Doesn't matter whose fault it is, what matters is what you do about it. You know the rules of the game, now put up or shut up.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Intelligent Design : Science :: Weezer : Music
Funny stuff.
It frustrates me when people exert political power to discredit good science; I hate it when irrationality wins out over clear thinking; and I hate it when truth is obscured. I also recognize that it is often in an individual's best interests for these things to happen, and perhaps it is or will be in my best interests for these things to happen, especially if I believe that most people are not capable of rational behavior. Maybe its worth fighting it, maybe not.
This reminds me that I was told recently by an intelligent person that evolution is basically a bunch of crap, and that he thinks it is ridiculous that people would object to disclaimers in school textbooks that say "Evolution is just a theory; Intelligent Design and Creationism are other theories..."
Since I actually respect this guy and realized that he had an open mind and had just been presented with bad information, I talked to him about it for quite a while and recommended several books. Hopefully we'll win him over to seeing the issue more clearly. Maybe its worth fighting for, maybe not.
Bring on the bashing from the Creationists and the Weezer fans.
It frustrates me when people exert political power to discredit good science; I hate it when irrationality wins out over clear thinking; and I hate it when truth is obscured. I also recognize that it is often in an individual's best interests for these things to happen, and perhaps it is or will be in my best interests for these things to happen, especially if I believe that most people are not capable of rational behavior. Maybe its worth fighting it, maybe not.
This reminds me that I was told recently by an intelligent person that evolution is basically a bunch of crap, and that he thinks it is ridiculous that people would object to disclaimers in school textbooks that say "Evolution is just a theory; Intelligent Design and Creationism are other theories..."
Since I actually respect this guy and realized that he had an open mind and had just been presented with bad information, I talked to him about it for quite a while and recommended several books. Hopefully we'll win him over to seeing the issue more clearly. Maybe its worth fighting for, maybe not.
Bring on the bashing from the Creationists and the Weezer fans.
What's Shabbos?
Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't ride in a car, I don't pick up the phone, I don't turn on the oven, and I sure as shit DONT FUCKING ROLL! SHOMER SHABBOS!
Monday, March 21, 2005
what to do
Brainstorming about my tendency to lose early in my live mid-limit hold'em sessions and win late...
Idea: Hunt at night.
My sessions usually start in the day or early evening and go into the night. I lose during the day and win later. Late at night there are more people drinking and more people who are stuck and trying to get even, so I have an easier time beating the loose drunks than the sober daytime regulars . Also, play tends to get shorthanded, which I consider a strength of mine, so maybe avoiding the full daytime tables is another reason to try this. Staying up all night was tough when I knew I had to go back to the 9 to 5 world, but that won't apply for a while.
Idea: Know everything about everyone
The longer I play, the more I know about the players in the game. Maybe my success at the end of sessions is because I've reached a tipping point of knowing enough about everyone and being able to use that information profitably. So the idea would be to find a game where its the same faces all the time so I don't have to spend the first 6 hours paying to learn about the strangers.
Idea: Centaurian Standard Time
Will Smith: Zed, don't you guys ever get any sleep around here?
Rip Torn: The twins keep us on Centaurian time, standard thirty-seven
hour day. Give it a few months. You'll get used to it... or you'll have a
psychotic episode.- Men In Black
If I know I have to put in 6 or 10 hours before I start to really make money, maybe I should accept it and plan for marathon sessions. I haven't played longer than 12 hours in a row very often, and it gets to be a pretty weird feeling after a while.
Idea: Tight now, Loose later
I could just get super ultra tight for the first few hours. That way I'm only entering pots with by far the best of it, and I can focus on learning people instead of playing hands. I think that my style of play is usually best when I can be slightly on the loose side, but setting that up with several hours of extreme tightness could give me a very dangerous image. It could get pretty boring, but I think I have the discipline to pull it off. This means folding AJo, KQs, and 66 in early position in an unopened pot. It means folding QJs in middle position. It means folding AQs to most raises (which I often do anyway). It means mucking KTo or 98s on the button unless I have like 4 limpers ahead of me and the blinds look passive. It means looking down at AK in the big blind when there is an UTG raise and a late 3bet and tossing big slick into the muck. I'd make Rolf Slotboom proud.
Vegas II
When I spent 8 days at the Commerce Casino last year, I got pretty burnt out on poker after the fourth or fifth day playing 12 hours of poker, so I wanted to make sure I spent some time more recreationally than playing poker at stakes I consider serious. So I set out to Vegas with the intention of the trip being part business and part pleasure, and I kept that balance.
On the pleasure side, I finally met a bunch of guys that I've played fantasy basketball, baseball and football with for a few years now. Normally I don't like people, but I genuinely liked all of them. We saw Norm MacDonald's standup act at the House of Blues, which was a lot of fun. Norm's poker comment was that he had done the Celebrity Poker Challenge recently, and that the real challenge of it is identifying the other celebrities. Not bad. At some point in his ramblings, after assuring us he's not gay, he mentioned a man's "beautiful shaven balls" and "shiny cock."
Norm.
I spent an afternoon in a packed sports book watching basketball (yes, NCAA basketball), hit some buffets, and took some time to just walk around and check things out. Vegas is a weird place. You can walk down the street with an open container of alcohol, everyone is drunk all the time, and nobody thinks anything of it. Its like frat row with more money.
I was walking past Caesar's palace in the afternoon one day and watched a guy trying to light a cigarette and take a sip of his Corona at the same time. Suddenly he stopped and said to his buddy "smell those flowers and shit, man!"
Indeed they were some lovely and fragrant blossoms. Even in Sin City, while imbibing of 2 vices at the same time and standing outside of a palace built on gambling addiction, it is important to stop and smell the flowers and shit. It is also important to take a musical journey through one unforgettable voice: Clint Holmes.
The poker results were a bit frustrating and I basically broke even. I really only played 2 serious sessions, and continuing with a pattern I established for myself at the Commerce, I lost a lot of money early in the early hours of my sessions, held steady for a few more hours, and then got it all back towards the end. I'm sure I'll write more about the poker over the next few days.
Thanks to Erm for covering my room, and to Budden for hooking up the Norm tickets. Going to work today sucked, but knowing Friday is my last day made it much more tolerable.
On the pleasure side, I finally met a bunch of guys that I've played fantasy basketball, baseball and football with for a few years now. Normally I don't like people, but I genuinely liked all of them. We saw Norm MacDonald's standup act at the House of Blues, which was a lot of fun. Norm's poker comment was that he had done the Celebrity Poker Challenge recently, and that the real challenge of it is identifying the other celebrities. Not bad. At some point in his ramblings, after assuring us he's not gay, he mentioned a man's "beautiful shaven balls" and "shiny cock."
Norm.
I spent an afternoon in a packed sports book watching basketball (yes, NCAA basketball), hit some buffets, and took some time to just walk around and check things out. Vegas is a weird place. You can walk down the street with an open container of alcohol, everyone is drunk all the time, and nobody thinks anything of it. Its like frat row with more money.
I was walking past Caesar's palace in the afternoon one day and watched a guy trying to light a cigarette and take a sip of his Corona at the same time. Suddenly he stopped and said to his buddy "smell those flowers and shit, man!"
Indeed they were some lovely and fragrant blossoms. Even in Sin City, while imbibing of 2 vices at the same time and standing outside of a palace built on gambling addiction, it is important to stop and smell the flowers and shit. It is also important to take a musical journey through one unforgettable voice: Clint Holmes.
The poker results were a bit frustrating and I basically broke even. I really only played 2 serious sessions, and continuing with a pattern I established for myself at the Commerce, I lost a lot of money early in the early hours of my sessions, held steady for a few more hours, and then got it all back towards the end. I'm sure I'll write more about the poker over the next few days.
Thanks to Erm for covering my room, and to Budden for hooking up the Norm tickets. Going to work today sucked, but knowing Friday is my last day made it much more tolerable.
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