Slumpbusters

If you somehow clicked through a love or dating site after seeing this title, you should probably stop reading now because this is a poker blog.



To my loyal readers,

I can happily say that I have slammed through my recent downswing in the past week. To start, last Monday, I placed 2nd in the 55 rebuy tournament on Stars for something like 8k. Then on Wednesday, I placed 2nd in the Stars Quarter Million for around 33k. This is probably one of the biggest tournament on the entire internet that isn't on a Sunday. I would have loved a win, but I felt that I was up against a formidable opponent in shaundeeb with a 500k to 1.8 mill chip disadvantage heads up. I have some hands below that I need to discuss of course because they were tough decisions and left me thinking. Then to top it off, I got third in the Full Tilt nightly tournament for around 9k again. After struggling and complaining about how bad I've ran and everything that was against me, I finally stopped complaining and put together some nice results. I'm not exactly sure what to attribute my success to, but I have a few possible explanations.

In a lot of ways, I was able to let the game slow down for me. After playing the 1k at Caesar's Palace, I sat around for 12 hours watching situations and just really thinking about things. I'm a great rational thinker with great analytical skills. I always have been. When playing 8 tables online, the thinking can sometimes elude the massively robotic nature of online plays. I was able to seriously analyze my opponents and pay attention to the hands that were actually going on. Poker is a game about your opponents. It's about assigning the right ranges of hands to a player based on how tight or aggressive the player is playing. Then, it's about coming up with the best strategic response to that player to answer the math problem that is the hand. Some players are exceptionally good at confusing your assessment of them, so this is a skill that is developed over thousands and thousands of hands. The live tournament just gave me a chance to get back to my understanding. Being in a slump was shoving my negative emotions to the forefront of my mind, and not giving me a chance to think clearly and just enjoy what was going on.

I did play fewer tables and focused immensely on the final few tables of these three specific events. Pressing the registration button for every tournament possible is probably not profitable for me or any player.

Luck played the final factor in all of this. You can't do well in tournaments without luck and I think the absence of bad luck was a major factor in my success. There was a run in that last Full Tilt tournament where I went from being crippled after losing a K6 vs Q2 hand to winning with 55 vs an overpair. 9 4 off suit against KJ and QQ vs AA and 88.


I'm going to talk through one hand that occurred at the final table of the 300 because it really is complex and has been bothering me for a while.

PokerStars Game #21422845493: Tournament #113896173, $300+$20 Hold'em No Limit - Level XXIII (6000/12000) - 2008/10/23 5:14:01 ET
Table '113896173 58' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: rivermanl (424219 in chips)
Seat 3: GotURead (305510 in chips)
Seat 8: shaundeeb (688335 in chips)
Seat 9: iacog4 (1002936 in chips)
rivermanl: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts the ante 1200
shaundeeb: posts the ante 1200
iacog4: posts the ante 1200
GotURead: posts small blind 6000
shaundeeb: posts big blind 12000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [Th Ad]
iacog4: raises 16550 to 28550
rivermanl: folds
GotURead: calls 22550
shaundeeb: calls 16550
*** FLOP *** [4c Ac 3h]
GotURead: checks
shaundeeb: checks

OK. So 3 way action in this hand. I get called by both players. Both players are not tight and I'm probably the second tightest at the table behind these two. I flop an ace with a ten. This is weak kicker, but there are both flush and straight draws on board here. I can easily check here for pot control, but I don't love doing this on draw heavy boards because then something falls on the turn and I have no clue where I'm at against either player, so I decided on betting.

iacog4: bets 48550
GotURead: folds
shaundeeb: calls 48550
*** TURN *** [4c Ac 3h] [Qh]
shaundeeb: bets 130000

I get called by shaundeeb. Then he fires out an extremely large bet in this situation. At this point, I'm not exactly sure what to do. I'm low on the time bank and trying to consider what hands he can do this with. I'm not afraid of AK or AQ because I would expect a raise preflop. I'm not afraid of A4 or A3 because I would expect a raise on the flop with that draw heavy board and him knowing the possibility of me having AK could get him all my chips. The combo draw hands (both straight and flush) like 56 67 57 clubs or hearts seem possible. There is also the possibility here of 33 or 44 that are now worried about giving a free card to two flush draws. I decided to call here because I considered the likelihood of a combo draw to be just as possible as a set.

iacog4: calls 130000
*** RIVER *** [4c Ac 3h Qh] [8s]
shaundeeb: bets 322500

He fires a huge bet here. So what do I read into this bet. It's either a huge value bet with a monster hand that now can't be slowed down by a flush draw or a missed combo draw bluff that believes my hand to be too weak to call the river bet. I decided to call.


iacog4: calls 322500
*** SHOW DOWN ***
shaundeeb: shows [4h 4d] (three of a kind, Fours)
iacog4: mucks hand
shaundeeb collected 1092550 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1092550 | Rake 0
Board [4c Ac 3h Qh 8s]
Seat 2: rivermanl (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: GotURead (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: shaundeeb (big blind) showed [4h 4d] and won (1092550) with three of a kind, Fours
Seat 9: iacog4 mucked [Th Ad]

In retrospect, I've thought about this hand a lot. I still don't think I know the correct answer, but I'm not afraid to stick my neck out there and go with my gut. I thought he could easily be making this play with those missed draw hands and decided to go for it. It probably also ended up costing me because he had a huge chip lead going heads up. If I fold the river and make the correct decision, I probably have a more formidable stack to play against him with. You aren't always correct in poker. I wasn't here, but I would love to hear other opinions on the hand because it is pretty complex.


I know that I'm far from being the best hand reader in the game. As good as I can try to become at this skill, it sometimes doesn't matter. Some decisions are so tough that it really just comes down to your gut. This time, my gut was wrong.


I've broken the slump. The Cavs are 0-1, but I'm excited they are back. The Browns are 3-4 with a huge game Sunday against Baltimore, and I get to go to Chicago for Halloween Weekend.

For those people that are PocketFivers, I have this blog at http://kevinice.blogspot.com and I will continue posting on both sites. I think the PocketFives new blog feature will be a huge positive for the site in the future, and I'm excited to contribute.

Two 2nds

In the last two days, I took a second place in the 50 rebuy on Stars and then last night for 33k, 2nd in the 300 on Stars. This really helps me come out of a rather painful downswing. Attitude is really everything in this game. Staying positive and trying to just keep improving through all of a downswing is really a tough thing to do, but it's all you really can do. I'm really happy right now and about to go play the HORSE tournament at Caesar's. Hopefully, I'll have good news when I update next.

Michael Phelps, Caesar's 1k, Props to PPA

I must admit that I'm extremely excited to see someone as much of a public figure as Michael Phelps begin to enter poker tournaments as visible as the Caesar's tournament. Not only was there a buzz in lots of poker rooms in Las Vegas that may create short term interest in tournaments, but I think lots of long term effects can help poker. Poker has been shunned by legislatures and federal agencies all across America lately. We have done the standard American thing and pretended like it's simply not there. Millions of people don't play online every day and if you just put a .net at the end of your poker website, it removes all the legal problems your poker site can face. When someone as visible and loved as Michael Phelps takes up the game seriously, it can easily make more people understand that the game is more than just your standard gamble. Of course, there will always be people that don't understand poker is a long term skill game. I hope more people that are visible, intelligent, successful people replace the obnoxious people we have in our game today. I was pretty sad to see Phil Hellmuth parading around with Michael Phelps at the Bellagio. Talk about two completely different people for the game. While Hellmuth has progressively lost his mind with each tournament, blog post, commercial, whatever he's embarked in, Phelps maintained the standard swagger of a champ without being too cocky, but just backing up his swagger with golds. Of course, Hellmuth has many WSOP bracelets and those can't be taken away from him. I just find the contrasting demeanors funny. So anyway, good luck to Michael Phelps and other public US figures that can do positive things for our game.


I voted yesterday before heading to Caesars to finish 23rd in the 1k with 18 getting paid. I got knocked out at 12:15 over 12 hours after beginning to play with nothing to show for it. It was one of those tournaments where you are just put to the test so often. On the third hand of the tournament I had AQ and called from the SB the 150 raise in a 5 way pot. Flop came Q 4c 5c. It checked to the raiser who bet 250 into the 750 pot. I called out of position because I don't raise for information or play huge pots with top pair this early in the tournament. David Plastik called behind. The turn was an A of hearts. I checked to the raiser again and he bet 1500 this time. Now, I had the option to raise here, but really didn't see much value in doing that. My hand was disguised. I was a little intimidated by the size of the bet because it felt at worst he could have AK of clubs or AK. AA or QQ or 55 or 44 were the really concerning hands in his range here. The river was an 8 of spades. I checked to him again and he fired 4000. I hated my hand but called and he showed 55. I don't know if I can fold here. I call online all day and even get it in on the turn sometimes. I've actually struggled with this hand a lot because there really isn't much I'm beating here.

I folded with my 4k stack for about an hour and a half then raised to 600 UTG with AQ to get called by a tighter nice old man UTG+1. The flop came QJ5. I bet 800 and he moved in with AK. I held. I basically then didn't play any big pots. I played the ultimate small ball game and eventually built my way from that 4k stack to 20k after the 4th level. There really weren't that many notable hands, but I did make some lay downs where players would show and I was right 3 times. When I got moved to a new table, I played the short stack for about 3 hours. I probably put my stack in the middle 10 times without getting called in this period of time. There was one pot where a player raised to 2400 with probably 6500 total chips. I had about 10k in chips at 400/800 and looked at KK in the big blind. I just assumed that he couldn't fold, so I pushed in and he mucked. I mean I guess I can flat call here, but come on people. I eventually pushed with KJ off in the cutoff with 16k at 800/1600 with 200 ante. I got called by 88 and won the race. At this point, I felt I was picking up steam and started opening finally. I had a great image . Now for purposes of the fact that I haven't told anyone what I had on this hand. I opened for 4k under the gun with 800/1600 and I had around 40k. I was flat called on the button. The flop came K Q J. I bet 5500. I was soon raised 13000 more. So at this point, I had either AK AA AQ QJ. I was on the verge of pushing my chips in when the player said "I'll show." At that point, the alarms went off in my head. I just felt like I was actually being leveled into a call. Why would anyone ever say that to someone? One the first level, they want you to fold. On the second level, they want you to think they want you to fold to get action. On the third level, they know you think them saying that means you will think they think they want you to fold. So before I confuse myself anymore, I really felt like he was saying this to get me to put my chips in. I folded my hand and he showed KJ. After blinds go up, I'm again around 10bbs and we get to shoving time. I played the patient short stack again until I shoved A5 of hearts and was finally called after like shove 15 with 99. I lost that and still had 2 bb's when I no looked 6 9 of diamonds and was isolated by 66. I can't even be angry about anything. I really think I played well. Confidence in live tournaments can go a long way. After playing at the WSOP this year, I kept making consistent good decisions without many results to back it up. Then I would come home and play online and had my best month of the year in June with big wins. I'm hoping the same theme continues. I'm still deciding what to play next at Caesar's. They have a 2k on Wednesday, but I really want to play the 500 HORSE on Thursday even though they have another great 1k. The 2k on Wednesday has 20k in starting chips and hour levels which means we could play down to the time of 2am and still not be at the final table. By the same token, I'm really pissed about how HORSE worked out at the WSOP.


Props to the PPA (Poker Players Alliance) for putting out the Congressional scorecard. It literally changed my vote to support the Republican in my district. He's in a tight race and his A rating by PPA changed my mind. If more voters follow these things, I can see PPA making a big mark in many tight races that hopefully lead to the proper changes in poker legislation in America.

Has software ruined me?

I was talking with a certain friend today. This certain friend has a grandmother with a certain vase I may have broke. He said that he believes my recent struggles in the online poker forum could be due to the use of software. Now, I use software to essentially tell me how other opponents play. It records the hands and gives me hundreds of statistics to sort through that could influence my decision one way or the other. The question that remains simple. Is poker really a game about software and definitive math?
Most online players have been able to sort out the variance, that is the fluctuations of random luck from expectation, by playing a high volume of tournaments. The idea would be that the larger the sample size of tournaments, the more likely the expectation would float towards the probable result. This software helps players keep track of their opponents. Undoubtedly, opponent's tendencies are certainly important. Is this software though really helping me out in the long term? I questioned my friend's idea, but began thinking about it more in depth. Is it possible that I'm giving away my edge by thinking the software will allow me to play more tournaments at once than I am truly capable of? Ultimately, I've essentially trained myself to make spot on decisions based on hundreds of variables over the past few years learning poker. I've removed the importance of a single decision and replaced it with the idea that the long term range of these decisions will ultimately prove profitable. At the same time, I've probably allowed myself to play so many tournaments at once that I truly lose the feel of how one particular set of opponents is playing.

This idea that the software is hurting might not be a bad once. While my friend suggested that the numbers the software was giving me was hurting my decision making ability, I think what is really hurting me is that the software is giving me definitive numbers, but removing the intangible variables. Do the best players in the world appear to be overtly mathematical and reliant on statistics only? Surely, they are nowhere near that description. I think my conclusion coming out of this thought process is that while the software may give me more statistical information, it's covering up the instinctual processes that are so important to learning and developing as a poker player.

The Cleveland Browns

Too often on the shores of Lake Erie, we end up complaining. We end up disappointed and heartbroken at another blown season, another blown playoff game, another embarrassing performance in front of a national crowd. Finally, we have a moment that makes Cleveland proud. The Browns beat the Super Bowl champion New York Giants in front of a home crowd and a national television audience as a huge underdog going into the game. Not a single sane person would have picked this team to win after the tough start to the season and anemic offense led by Derek "just playing catch with DBs" Anderson. All those sane people, however, proved to be wrong. The Browns made a statement during this Monday night game. It was a statement that should ring loudly through Cleveland and the entire NFL. The Cleveland Browns can play some football. While everyone in the league was ready to cut the cord on Anderson and Crennel after the 1-3 start, the team didn't panic or give in to outsiders and came away with one of their best performances in 5 years. It was a moment where as an avid fan, I finally started to understand the genius behind the team. The offseason moves to bring in some lineman that can actually hold their own and cause trouble for defenses finally paid off. The Browns rarely got to Eli Manning, but their defense caused trouble enough to force Manning into looking like that good old fashioned Gomer Pyle rather than the Super Bowl MVP. The highly drafted secondary made big plays to inhibit any momentum from building against the team. The lineman protected Anderson brilliantly and gave him time to throw. The offensive plays showed creativity and even a rare simplicity that allowed Anderson to succeed. It proves that you don't necessarily need an all star behind center, but just someone who can manage the game and not make any mistakes. The lines on both side of the ball played tough and made a highly touted defense look like an average NFL defense. As far as the Browns go for now though, this is the team that the fans wanted. This is the team that we love. The underdogs, the doubted, the team that no one really cares about in the NFL is a team that is dangerous. Of course, any NFL coach with the talent that Crennel has behind his roster should be able to prepare and put up a good showing against anyone with two weeks between games. What really matters though is that from the opening kickoff to the last snap, the Browns played like a team that cared about each other and a team that wanted to win. Since they have had that attitude, they are 2-0.

When you can't dodge a brick, you can't dodge a ball......

PokerStars Game #21181731065: Tournament #113517901, $100+$9 Hold'em No Limit - Level XV (1000/2000) - 2008/10/14 3:04:14 ET
Table '113517901 9' 9-max Seat #2 is the button
Seat 2: DonkCommited (41580 in chips)
Seat 3: STROMBONE1 (196819 in chips)
Seat 4: nightman1234 (25388 in chips)
Seat 5: LIDER1417 (96389 in chips)
Seat 6: wolfbluffer (42812 in chips)
Seat 7: Coach4U (83553 in chips)
Seat 8: iacog4 (182663 in chips)
Seat 9: flewPT (46974 in chips)
DonkCommited: posts the ante 200
STROMBONE1: posts the ante 200
nightman1234: posts the ante 200
LIDER1417: posts the ante 200
wolfbluffer: posts the ante 200
Coach4U: posts the ante 200
iacog4: posts the ante 200
flewPT: posts the ante 200
STROMBONE1: posts small blind 1000
nightman1234: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to iacog4 [6c 8s]
LIDER1417: folds
wolfbluffer: folds
Coach4U: folds
iacog4: raises 2799 to 4799
flewPT: folds
DonkCommited: folds
STROMBONE1: calls 3799
nightman1234: folds
*** FLOP *** [6h Qh 8c]
STROMBONE1: checks
iacog4: bets 9588
STROMBONE1: calls 9588
*** TURN *** [6h Qh 8c] [6s]
STROMBONE1: checks
iacog4: bets 21555
STROMBONE1: raises 21555 to 43110
iacog4: calls 21555
*** RIVER *** [6h Qh 8c 6s] [Kc]
STROMBONE1: bets 56000
iacog4: raises 68966 to 124966 and is all-in
STROMBONE1: calls 68966
*** SHOW DOWN ***
iacog4: shows [6c 8s] (a full house, Sixes full of Eights)
STROMBONE1: shows [Qd Qs] (a full house, Queens full of Sixes)
STROMBONE1 collected 368526 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 368526 | Rake 0
Board [6h Qh 8c 6s Kc]
Seat 2: DonkCommited (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: STROMBONE1 (small blind) showed [Qd Qs] and won (368526) with a full house, Queens full of Sixes
Seat 4: nightman1234 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: LIDER1417 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: wolfbluffer folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Coach4U folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: iacog4 showed [6c 8s] and lost with a full house, Sixes full of Eights
Seat 9: flewPT folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Enjoy Buckeyes....

Here is a Wikipedia entry from this past Saturday that has since been edited.

Go Buckeyes..

"Rich "Rod" Rodriguez (born May 24, 1963 in Grant Town, West Virginia) is the head football coach at the University of Michigan. Prior to moving to Michigan, he was the head coach at West Virginia University for seven seasons. He is the only Michigan coach to have lost to a MAC team, which is a sign of mental retardation.[1][2]"

Where did I go......??

Hey everyone....(all 8 of you),

I'm back to talk for a little bit. I wish I could say poker is going well, but I haven't really had any good results lately. I had a period in there of about 2 weeks where I think I acted unprofessionally. I let things get out of hand emotionally when I never should do that. There are times in playing as a professional when things hit real hard. It always seems to come in the midst of a losing streak when I'm making deep finishes, but they aren't deep enough. When it comes to my emotions, I feel like I need to attain the level of a player like Chip Reese, RIP. Chip was known for being one of the classiest players in the history of the game. I remember reading one of Daniel Negreanu's blogs after Chip's death that said the toughest part about Chip's game was that his A game was his D game. In effect, he never strayed from his game no matter what happened at the table. He could control his emotions and be on the top of his game at all times. It's so tough to do in this game. The game breeds a culture of negativity because there is only one winner out of the hundreds or thousands of players. If you are competitive and driven, not winning hurts. I think I'll grow professionally when I can change my state of mind in these situations. I've been taught well in life by coaches and parents to name a few. My dad always taught me to keep my cool throughout sports. Coach Mackar, Simko, Green, Jeckel all had emphasis on staying focused and patient throughout adversity. I need to remember these lessons and bring them to the forefront of my mind. That will help me progress. I know I'm extremely talented at poker, but this comment is assuming my competitive emotions and focus are in check.



I have to subtly brag about my fantasy football team. After losing my first two weeks and starting QB Tom Brady, I've put together 3 straight winning weeks. Ronnie Brown, Michael Turner, and a late pickup Jason Campbell have allowed me to keep it close and win games. In my league, which is one of the best leagues in the history of fantasy sports (mostly my family and friends), I will never be the best player. My Aunt Tracey deserves all the props for being the best fantasy player I've ever seen. In fact, I would be afraid to invite her into any other leagues. I can't think of someone who consistently picks sleepers, puts together good teams, and always stays at the top year in and year out. She basically taught me all I know and I still remember getting those dollars from our first combined fantasy baseball team. That was a long while back when I knew every single player and team in and out. She also knew every single player in and out, so on draft day when we picked the best team and stayed with it, there was no doubt we were going to win it all. I hope I can stick around in this league and regain the title. I haven't had it for a while now. In fact, the year I won, my Uncle called me up at 8 in the morning on a Labor Day. On a scale of 1-10, I probably had football knowledge at a 4.




The Cleveland Browns have looked terrible this year. I don't expect anything to change on Monday night against the Giants, but I'm glad I don't have to drive to a sports bar to watch them. The funny part about Vegas is that I can never get lucky and get a Cleveland or Ohio State game on TV. I went to the casino the other day to watch the Buckeyes game in the sports book and it made me excited about the future of Buckeye's football.



I just watched the Presidential Debate. If you've read the blog, you know I like Barack Obama and why. I think it's a virtual lock that he wins the election. I'm looking forward to the next four years in office. I love this site that I follow all the time.

www.electoral-vote.com