Post online poker in the US has let me reflect. Let me make the first statement more accurate. The post US online poker world where US players could actually compete in a large enough player pool to matter and create enough value to make it worth it has disappeared. Online poker still goes on in the USA if someone wants to go through the avenues to play. Prohibition never works.
As for my reflection, there has always been a battle in my mind and spirit about what poker has meant to me. Sometimes I think about it more, on long plane and car rides, sometimes I think about it less. I've been consumed by the game at many points in the past 4 years to the point of playing 14-20 day series nearly every day and regularly playing 12-16 hours on a Sunday. That doesn't leave much time to reflect on the big picture. To be away now for almost 3 weeks without a chance to compete is tough. I can say without a doubt that I loved what I was doing. Online poker is a training grounds. It's the best value place to hone skills in many games. I believe the only way to be great is to practice. Online poker lets someone like me who deposited under $1k of my own money initially to work my way up. Along the way, I made enough that I could focus on it full time. Less than 2 months off my largest cash win (not online), my training grounds are gone. The repetition that online poker gives me is no more. I now must travel away from the comfort of my home, live in and around casinos, risk more of my money for less value, and most importantly, put a shirt on to go to work.
Practice is essential for the World Series of Poker coming up from June 1-July 20. Of the over 50 events, there are many different games and buy in levels not just the most popular No Limit Hold 'em. You can't play these games regularly aside from a few venues and very rarely in a tournament of a size that matters. This hurts US players against our competition from non-US players that continue to improve at this very moment through experience.
At this point, most online player's careers earning a living doing something they loved online. While nothing changes the fact that online poker probably won't be available to us, we are all still going to Vegas to play in the most meaningful events for poker players. Events that allow us to win a coveted World Series of Poker bracelet. A brand that was built from the inside out of America that should be the biggest brand in poker now pales in comparison to other international poker growth because of a law that was not once discussed by our "representatives." Many players win their way into the main event for $1-$1000 online and can compete for upwards of $7 million. That is now impossible for the majority of US players and will hurt attendance.
After the World Series of Poker, some of us will win and some of us will lose. We will all have to make a decision. At that point, I will have to decide if I want to leave the country to be able to play online and evaluate what that means I'm giving up in the US. These are not light life decisions and require the maturity of years to probably make correctly. Since I already know that the government doesn't believe we are mature enough to handle our own money against other players in an online poker game, I'm sure they will offer us assistance in making our decision.
I've read other blogs where most players talk about a gaping 5 year hole in their resume, but I see this as hopeless talk. I'll list below a few of the things I've learned.
I've learned to able to ignore money to make a profitable mathematical decision.
I've learned to control unwanted negative emotions.
I've learned to manage money.
I've learned to understand and respect the results that come with luck.
I've learned I don't feel right if I don't give something back when people are in need.
I've learned inside of me, I have the ability to become a champion and compete at the highest level.
I've learned how to not live outside of my means.
I've learned about human nature in pressure situations.
I've learned a lot about different cultures and their players.
I've learned how to take a risk.
I've learned how to survive out of the comfort zone of a steady job and income.
I've learned how to objectively examine and review plays in poker.
I've learned the value of hard work (but I was actually taught this my entire life, nothing changed in poker)
I've learned there are always people in life cheering for you and always people rooting against you. The people rooting against you are louder than the people cheering for you.
"Stay far from timid, only make moves when your hearts in it, and live the phrase sky's the limit."
Showing posts with label world series of poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label world series of poker. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Monday, August 24, 2009
Reflection
There must be something that biochemically changes in my brain when enduring a long car or plane ride (more so on car rides because I'm not worried about any time sound change likely signaling a plane crash in my mind). I just got back from visiting a few of my long time best friends in Arizona. In the midst of my ride home, I asked myself some of the following questions:
What happens if my car breaks down and a violent dust storm erupts for 3 days?
Why do we think that other intelligent civilizations in the universe would even be able to build spaceships?
If aliens came from a barren, desert planet, wouldn't Las Vegas or an Arizona type climate be the first place they would try to land?
If the Twitter generation takes over, are people ever going to talk to each other again?
Will text messages eventually become obsolete just like so many other forms of communication have in the past?
and most importantly as related to the blog,
Why did I not win another huge tournament this month?
The answers flooded my mind with all sorts of words popping into my mind; fatigue, focus, skill, luck, real estate, stocks, money, pressure, competition, rigged, etc. Those floods of words were enough to answer the question in and of themselves. My mind just needs more breaks.
Truth be told, I had a unbelievable month in poker in June, took most of July off with a few tiny tournament and cash game sessions, and have come back to Vegas in August to probably my worst month in my poker career. I've engulfed myself in trying to better understand the real estate market here for my first home purchase while simultaneously studying options trading strategies and attempting to put them into practice. All in the meantime, I still have to focus and worry about my actual primary source of income, poker HELLO!!!
I've talked in the past about meditation and how a book titled The Joy of Living has driven me to practice meditation. I practiced several of the exercises in this book throughout April-May-June and made a point to meditate during the World Series of Poker on breaks, after tournaments, etc. My meditation has since been non-existent, while in the meantime, all I'm doing from 6:30am-roughly 9-10PM is immersing my mind with new data points, information, numbers, and strategies involving all 3 of the tasks I'm trying to accomplish. These all add up to a poor month.
I'd like to also throw in a little disclaimer as well in that it's almost impossible in the short run of poker to determine how much luck is playing a role in the results, so 20 days of a month doesn't tell much. When it comes down to it though, there have been days where I knew I was simply too inundated with information and not putting my mind in poker 100%. You can't win online nowadays doing that.
So going forward, the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) starts Sept 2nd-Sept 20th. Historically in this event (2 years), I have 0 final tables. I do have two final two table finishes and a 30 something place in the 7200 person event last year. I won't be playing every event in this series, but plan on playing as many as possible.
Focus and success coincide with a mind that is clear from distraction and free to innovate on its own.
What happens if my car breaks down and a violent dust storm erupts for 3 days?
Why do we think that other intelligent civilizations in the universe would even be able to build spaceships?
If aliens came from a barren, desert planet, wouldn't Las Vegas or an Arizona type climate be the first place they would try to land?
If the Twitter generation takes over, are people ever going to talk to each other again?
Will text messages eventually become obsolete just like so many other forms of communication have in the past?
and most importantly as related to the blog,
Why did I not win another huge tournament this month?
The answers flooded my mind with all sorts of words popping into my mind; fatigue, focus, skill, luck, real estate, stocks, money, pressure, competition, rigged, etc. Those floods of words were enough to answer the question in and of themselves. My mind just needs more breaks.
Truth be told, I had a unbelievable month in poker in June, took most of July off with a few tiny tournament and cash game sessions, and have come back to Vegas in August to probably my worst month in my poker career. I've engulfed myself in trying to better understand the real estate market here for my first home purchase while simultaneously studying options trading strategies and attempting to put them into practice. All in the meantime, I still have to focus and worry about my actual primary source of income, poker HELLO!!!
I've talked in the past about meditation and how a book titled The Joy of Living has driven me to practice meditation. I practiced several of the exercises in this book throughout April-May-June and made a point to meditate during the World Series of Poker on breaks, after tournaments, etc. My meditation has since been non-existent, while in the meantime, all I'm doing from 6:30am-roughly 9-10PM is immersing my mind with new data points, information, numbers, and strategies involving all 3 of the tasks I'm trying to accomplish. These all add up to a poor month.
I'd like to also throw in a little disclaimer as well in that it's almost impossible in the short run of poker to determine how much luck is playing a role in the results, so 20 days of a month doesn't tell much. When it comes down to it though, there have been days where I knew I was simply too inundated with information and not putting my mind in poker 100%. You can't win online nowadays doing that.
So going forward, the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) starts Sept 2nd-Sept 20th. Historically in this event (2 years), I have 0 final tables. I do have two final two table finishes and a 30 something place in the 7200 person event last year. I won't be playing every event in this series, but plan on playing as many as possible.
Focus and success coincide with a mind that is clear from distraction and free to innovate on its own.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Best of the WSOP blog
I know it's been quite a while coming, but I wanted to take a look back at my favorite moments and hands from the WSOP.
I played 16 events at the WSOP including the main event. I recorded 3 cashes and one final table. The 3 cashes came in the 5000 NL Hold 'em 6 max, 2500 8 game mixed event, and 1500 Pot Limit Omaha. 3 cashes in 3 different games in 3 different buy in levels is kind of cool looking back at it. My best finish was 3rd place in the Pot Limit Omaha event where I recorded my biggest live cash and second biggest ever cash of a little over 96,000.
Best bad beat I gave:
This one is too easy. In the 6 max tournament near the end of day 1, I was at a tough table with several primarily online guys. A very good online player "Bill Ivey" flat called an early position raise and I looked down at 88 with 16 big blinds and shoved it in. The raiser folded and "Bill Ivey" called and showed QQ. Crap. Flop 8Q8. Easy game.
Toughest Table at any one moment in a tournament:
This one also comes from the 6 max tournament. Seat 1 was an older European who I wasn't terribly familiar with but had a ton of chips and wasn't afraid to play pots. Seat 2 was me. Seat 3 was Rory "mafews" Mathews from Scotland. This guy wasn't afraid to mix it up with anyone and basically made a soul read on Shannon Shorr that left the entire table stunned. I consistently had to worry about being 3 bet if I came into a pot with this guy as he was right to my left. Seat 4 was "apestyles." I've played with him in so many online tournaments that it was nice to finally meet him and I actually won a coin flip 33 vs A4 to stay alive against him on day 1. I got knocked out shortly after he moved to the table, so we didn't get to play many hands. Seat 5 was Shannon Shorr. I've probably read his blog for the last 3 years or so, but I still didn't quite know where I was at in many hands against him. He mixes up his game so well and isn't afraid to do anything at the table. That makes him a very a dangerous opponent, especially when he has more experience than all the opponents at the table. Seat 6 is Online Player of the Year for the last 2 years on Pokerstars, Shaun Deeb. Although he sort of went nuts with a straight draw for against me, I know he's a very good player He is another player who goes out there and plays poker. If he gets chips, he's not afraid to do anything.
Most heartbreaking beat:
This comes from the toughest table. Let me set up the scenario a bit. We are playing for 1 million dollars in probably the toughest tournament field in any event aside from Event #1-40,000 NL Hold 'em, which I didn't play. I fought all day to build my chips and played solidly throughout day 2. While I don't know the exact details, I have a pretty good idea in the hand. Shaun Deeb raises in early position to some 10k at 2k/4k. I look down at KK and reraise to 29500 after seat 1 calls. This is a small reraise, and I did this on purpose. First off, I was in position, and I want value from my hand. I don't want to flat call here because we were deep enough at the time. I believe I had roughly 250k at 2k/4k, and he had me covered. Flop comes down JT5. Deeb checks to me and I bet something close to half the pot or a little over it. He check raises me and I thought for about 30 seconds about the situation. Clearly, I gave him odds to hit a set with JJ, TT, or 55, but a check raise with these hands didn't seem as likely as other ways he would play the hand. I actually just think I caught him in a situation where I got a perfect flop for him to do something that isn't profitable when playing as deep as we were. I moved all in and he called and showed KQ. The 9 was the first card off on the turn and I lose. 550k would have put me in 3rd with 55 to go and 1 million to first. No big deal.
Hand I've talked about the most:
This hand came in the 8 game mixed tournament in limit hold 'em. I was just beginning to rush at my new table when I raised 6 9 of spades on the cutoff and was 3 bet by Bryan "badbeatninja" Devonshire. I called. Flop 7s8s2h. Uh-Oh. We put 5 bets in on the flop. Turn card 3 of not spades. He bets and I just call. River T of diamonds. Bingo! He bets with headphones on I might add. I take a second and decide not to be an idiot and look back at my cards like I do too much when I have the nuts. I go to put in a raise and announce raise, but put out probably 1.2x the bet instead of 2x because I simply didn't have any more big denomination chips. In order to make the full bet, I had to grab a stack of 40 100's chips at the time, which is not easy to maneuver without two hands. He thinks I just called because he had his headphones on and tables 88 for a flopped set. The dealer instantly grabs his hand and puts it into the muck. He rightfully flips a switch and gets the floor over demanding his hand back. When he gets the correct ruling that they can retrieve his hand, the floor guy asks him "Do you want to call the bet?" At that point, in a weird way, he said "well yeah." I table the straight, and he blurts out a priceless "F*%& my life!"
Best Celebration in a Loss
In a 2k NL Hold 'em event, I went from the 6k chips early up to around 35k without much trouble. After dinner break, I went completely cold. I couldn't hit a flop or get a hand or do anything until I was slowly down to around 6k. Blinds were 300/600 and I was under the gun with KJ off suit. I decided to push in as 2 players had left early for break. I'm in Seat 1 to the left of the dealer, but my stack is clearly out there. The SB says call and lobs 300 more chips in the middle. The dealer says his verbal declaration is binding and makes him call 6000 total or so. The player in the big blind (BB) sees that the player in the small blind (SB) is so angry at this point that he shoves in his stack with AQ. The SB folds another 5k or so with 9 4 off suit face up. The BB shows AQ with the Ace of spades. Flop comes KhJs and some low spade. The turn card is another low spade giving him any T or spade except for the K of spades to win the hand. The K of spades comes on the river and he screams "YEAHHHHH" while clapping his hands as I laugh on the inside knowing I won. The dealer points out to him that he actually lost. I triple up. (Unfortunately, this was one of the tournaments where I missed the money by about 2-3 tables when I had KK vs AA)
AA vs KK count
I had KK twice run into AA and lost both times. One was in the shootout where you have to play to win your table. I'm never folding, and neither is probably anyone good. The other time was the 2k near the bubble and I'm never folding and neither is anyone good.
I had AA vs KK one time in the 8 game mix to double up in a nice pot in NL Hold 'em.
Bad Tournaments
The one tournament I regret was the 2500 NL Hold 'em right after I had final tabled the Pot Limit Omaha. I made a couple of wretched plays and got most of my chips in with 89 suited on a 8 6 6 board against AA. I simply wasn't locked in this tournament. This was a lesson that is so valuable to learn in poker. After a big win, there is no guarantee the next tournament will be an easy ride to the final table. I didn't respect the concentration needed every single moment for this one tournament. When looking back, I think this was my only egregiously bad play in a WSOP tournament.
The hand that won me 90,000
The stage is set. 18 players left. I'm in the middle of the pack with around 200k in chips, and my first final table painfully close. The small blind raises 24k on my 8k big blind. I looked down at AKsTs2 and decided to defend my blind. Flop comes down AhKh5c. The raiser checks. I bet 28k. He calls. Turn card is a 7h. He immediately fires out a pot sized bet. At this point, it's a decision for all my chips. My mind starts racing like Phil Ivey's in the commercial. This is one hand where every single thought that matters crossed my mind. Of course, the pressure is completely amped up being so close to a World Series Final Table. In the end, I eventually shoved the rest of my chips in and stared at the board in silence as the player took about 4 full minutes to fold. From there, I was able to take control of the situation and give myself a chip lead going into the final table.
It was really a great World Series for me and I can't wait until next year.
I played 16 events at the WSOP including the main event. I recorded 3 cashes and one final table. The 3 cashes came in the 5000 NL Hold 'em 6 max, 2500 8 game mixed event, and 1500 Pot Limit Omaha. 3 cashes in 3 different games in 3 different buy in levels is kind of cool looking back at it. My best finish was 3rd place in the Pot Limit Omaha event where I recorded my biggest live cash and second biggest ever cash of a little over 96,000.
Best bad beat I gave:
This one is too easy. In the 6 max tournament near the end of day 1, I was at a tough table with several primarily online guys. A very good online player "Bill Ivey" flat called an early position raise and I looked down at 88 with 16 big blinds and shoved it in. The raiser folded and "Bill Ivey" called and showed QQ. Crap. Flop 8Q8. Easy game.
Toughest Table at any one moment in a tournament:
This one also comes from the 6 max tournament. Seat 1 was an older European who I wasn't terribly familiar with but had a ton of chips and wasn't afraid to play pots. Seat 2 was me. Seat 3 was Rory "mafews" Mathews from Scotland. This guy wasn't afraid to mix it up with anyone and basically made a soul read on Shannon Shorr that left the entire table stunned. I consistently had to worry about being 3 bet if I came into a pot with this guy as he was right to my left. Seat 4 was "apestyles." I've played with him in so many online tournaments that it was nice to finally meet him and I actually won a coin flip 33 vs A4 to stay alive against him on day 1. I got knocked out shortly after he moved to the table, so we didn't get to play many hands. Seat 5 was Shannon Shorr. I've probably read his blog for the last 3 years or so, but I still didn't quite know where I was at in many hands against him. He mixes up his game so well and isn't afraid to do anything at the table. That makes him a very a dangerous opponent, especially when he has more experience than all the opponents at the table. Seat 6 is Online Player of the Year for the last 2 years on Pokerstars, Shaun Deeb. Although he sort of went nuts with a straight draw for against me, I know he's a very good player He is another player who goes out there and plays poker. If he gets chips, he's not afraid to do anything.
Most heartbreaking beat:
This comes from the toughest table. Let me set up the scenario a bit. We are playing for 1 million dollars in probably the toughest tournament field in any event aside from Event #1-40,000 NL Hold 'em, which I didn't play. I fought all day to build my chips and played solidly throughout day 2. While I don't know the exact details, I have a pretty good idea in the hand. Shaun Deeb raises in early position to some 10k at 2k/4k. I look down at KK and reraise to 29500 after seat 1 calls. This is a small reraise, and I did this on purpose. First off, I was in position, and I want value from my hand. I don't want to flat call here because we were deep enough at the time. I believe I had roughly 250k at 2k/4k, and he had me covered. Flop comes down JT5. Deeb checks to me and I bet something close to half the pot or a little over it. He check raises me and I thought for about 30 seconds about the situation. Clearly, I gave him odds to hit a set with JJ, TT, or 55, but a check raise with these hands didn't seem as likely as other ways he would play the hand. I actually just think I caught him in a situation where I got a perfect flop for him to do something that isn't profitable when playing as deep as we were. I moved all in and he called and showed KQ. The 9 was the first card off on the turn and I lose. 550k would have put me in 3rd with 55 to go and 1 million to first. No big deal.
Hand I've talked about the most:
This hand came in the 8 game mixed tournament in limit hold 'em. I was just beginning to rush at my new table when I raised 6 9 of spades on the cutoff and was 3 bet by Bryan "badbeatninja" Devonshire. I called. Flop 7s8s2h. Uh-Oh. We put 5 bets in on the flop. Turn card 3 of not spades. He bets and I just call. River T of diamonds. Bingo! He bets with headphones on I might add. I take a second and decide not to be an idiot and look back at my cards like I do too much when I have the nuts. I go to put in a raise and announce raise, but put out probably 1.2x the bet instead of 2x because I simply didn't have any more big denomination chips. In order to make the full bet, I had to grab a stack of 40 100's chips at the time, which is not easy to maneuver without two hands. He thinks I just called because he had his headphones on and tables 88 for a flopped set. The dealer instantly grabs his hand and puts it into the muck. He rightfully flips a switch and gets the floor over demanding his hand back. When he gets the correct ruling that they can retrieve his hand, the floor guy asks him "Do you want to call the bet?" At that point, in a weird way, he said "well yeah." I table the straight, and he blurts out a priceless "F*%& my life!"
Best Celebration in a Loss
In a 2k NL Hold 'em event, I went from the 6k chips early up to around 35k without much trouble. After dinner break, I went completely cold. I couldn't hit a flop or get a hand or do anything until I was slowly down to around 6k. Blinds were 300/600 and I was under the gun with KJ off suit. I decided to push in as 2 players had left early for break. I'm in Seat 1 to the left of the dealer, but my stack is clearly out there. The SB says call and lobs 300 more chips in the middle. The dealer says his verbal declaration is binding and makes him call 6000 total or so. The player in the big blind (BB) sees that the player in the small blind (SB) is so angry at this point that he shoves in his stack with AQ. The SB folds another 5k or so with 9 4 off suit face up. The BB shows AQ with the Ace of spades. Flop comes KhJs and some low spade. The turn card is another low spade giving him any T or spade except for the K of spades to win the hand. The K of spades comes on the river and he screams "YEAHHHHH" while clapping his hands as I laugh on the inside knowing I won. The dealer points out to him that he actually lost. I triple up. (Unfortunately, this was one of the tournaments where I missed the money by about 2-3 tables when I had KK vs AA)
AA vs KK count
I had KK twice run into AA and lost both times. One was in the shootout where you have to play to win your table. I'm never folding, and neither is probably anyone good. The other time was the 2k near the bubble and I'm never folding and neither is anyone good.
I had AA vs KK one time in the 8 game mix to double up in a nice pot in NL Hold 'em.
Bad Tournaments
The one tournament I regret was the 2500 NL Hold 'em right after I had final tabled the Pot Limit Omaha. I made a couple of wretched plays and got most of my chips in with 89 suited on a 8 6 6 board against AA. I simply wasn't locked in this tournament. This was a lesson that is so valuable to learn in poker. After a big win, there is no guarantee the next tournament will be an easy ride to the final table. I didn't respect the concentration needed every single moment for this one tournament. When looking back, I think this was my only egregiously bad play in a WSOP tournament.
The hand that won me 90,000
The stage is set. 18 players left. I'm in the middle of the pack with around 200k in chips, and my first final table painfully close. The small blind raises 24k on my 8k big blind. I looked down at AKsTs2 and decided to defend my blind. Flop comes down AhKh5c. The raiser checks. I bet 28k. He calls. Turn card is a 7h. He immediately fires out a pot sized bet. At this point, it's a decision for all my chips. My mind starts racing like Phil Ivey's in the commercial. This is one hand where every single thought that matters crossed my mind. Of course, the pressure is completely amped up being so close to a World Series Final Table. In the end, I eventually shoved the rest of my chips in and stared at the board in silence as the player took about 4 full minutes to fold. From there, I was able to take control of the situation and give myself a chip lead going into the final table.
It was really a great World Series for me and I can't wait until next year.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Some WSOP Thoughts
After getting away from it for a week and from poker in general, I thought it might be a good idea to give some final World Series of Poker thoughts.
I came into the WSOP with a specific bankroll planned that was essentially out of my yearly winnings. It was a number that I basically decided was going to keep me comfortable at all times. I wanted to play around 8 events including the main event, but if I did well early and made a big score, go for player of the year. While I know I'm not deeply experienced in every single game, I don't think the average player is either. With my online experience in every game, I felt pretty confident with this plan.
What began was a 1500 PL Hold 'em event where I immediately realized our chip stacks aren't going to allow much play, and with a couple of set up hands I was out. This kind of left me flustered as I didn't really know what to do. Should I keep taking small shots at these or play the bigger buy ins/rebuys? I decided against rebuys because I don't feel comfortable without 8k in the 1k rebuy to go. I don't even feel comfortable in the 100 rebuy half the time because I'm not ready to go off for 800 on any night in one tournament against a field of tough players.
After that, I played the 2000 No Limit Hold 'em and played considerably well. An AA vs 99 vs 88 all in hand crippled me when an 8 appeared on the flop.
Still after two events, I felt I played considerably well and did my best.
Then came event 3. It was a shorthanded event, 1500. 3000 chips in a shorthanded event can go awfully quick especially when you don't have the correct mentality. In retrospect, this was my worst tournament by far. I made several untimely plays. I wasn't patient when short stacked, and I just kind of failed at concentrating.
I came back later that night to try my hand at the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo /Stud Hi/Lo mixed event. I got off to a great start. I cracked 10k fairly early from the 5k starting chip stack. The deck ran so super cold after level 4 that I had to kind of think through my hands again to see if I played bad or not. I think I played fine, but really ran extremely unlucky in Omaha Hi/Lo. This is a game where when dealt certain starting hands and hitting certain flops, you just won't be able to fold until the river if at any time. I had similar situations here and am happy with how I played.
So a quick poor start had my spirits dampened. If not for a 21k score online followed by a second place in the heads up championship on Pokerstars, I would have been phased just a little.
Another 2k event where I again played great poker up until a critical mistake before dinner. I got moved to a new table. Getting moved is sometimes a curse and sometimes a blessing as any player knows. Moving from my previous tables were both curses. I had a good understanding of several online players from playing against them online. I don't think they knew who I was giving me a significant edge. The other players weren't all that tough. I had a good image and everything was fine. When I got moved, I immediately caught in a bluff for some chips killing my image. Then I made probably the biggest mistake of my entire WSOP. I raised it up with 8 9 suited and was called behind. The BB moved all in for what was 4600 total I think after I put in a 1600 raise. I just called where I should be pushing all in all day to isolate. If I'm going to call, I might as well just take a shot. I think this was the only point where I made a critical mistake. If I shove here, I win the pot outright with all the dead money increasing my stack to an above average pretty close to the money. This situation can give me some good bubble opportunities. Either way, aside from that big mistake, I played well. In the end, it came down to me not winning a race 66 vs AQ.
The biggest disappointment of the whole series was the 3000 HORSE for me. I played both the 1500 and 3000. In both tournaments, I ran so incredibly bad that I left demoralized and shaking my head. In the 1500 event, it's tough to recover from running bad. The 3k HORSE though is an event that I should be able to find good spots. It's just frustrating when nothing go rights in games that I typically do very well at online.
Two more 1500 tournaments and losing races along with losing the 5 6 vs QQ after the 6 5 2 flop with the Q hitting the turn card were both crushing.
Then came my first cash ever. 53rd in the 2k event following a crushing beat of A10 vs A8. This tournament was a lot of fun in retrospect. It was really what it was all about. I felt great throughout. I made a couple of aggressive plays and thinks just went my way. I hit a couple of big river flushes on big draws that propelled me. Other than that though, I tended to get my money in very well. What hurt me in the end was the KQdd vs AA after the two diamond flop and I missed. I couldn't have felt worse about winning 11k. While this would guarantee a main event seat within my bankroll, I really felt that if that A10 holds against A8, I'm a lot richer right now.
The Main Event is an unbelievable experience. This was my second main event. I was not half the player I was 2 years ago when I played. I'll probably think the same thing in 2 more years about how I played now, but the gap is just so much farther. My ability to control the situations at my table this year was what I was most proud of. Even after getting short stacked early, I fought back with a nice 44 vs AK after a 4 10 K flop. The end of Day 1 saw me make an outstanding fold. Go read about it if you haven't yet.
Day 2 was a great experience. I had two tough internet players, an absolutely wild table, and I fought hard all day. I was up and down and up and down. I really and truly grinded through this day. I went into Day 3 feeling strong. I also had the possibility of being on TV with a 2 hour featured table stint. That's still to be determined even though I hope I don't end up on the cutting room floor.
Day 3 couldn't have gone worse. I couldn't get any hands. I couldn't steal a single pot preflop. I patiently waited and waited and eventually made a move that I think was fine with A9 suited, but was overcalled by a player with little experience with AQ off (even though I saw he finished pretty deep). I was really devastated after losing. All my goals and dreams for the entire year were shattered. I felt that I lacked a sense of validation and still do today. After all, my live cashes have no been impressive. I've made far more money online than I have in live tournaments. To be completely honest with my live play, I think it's been just a matter of not catching the right breaks at the right times. Every deep appearance usually ends by something out of my control. What a lot of people don't understand about poker is that many of the people they see on TV as the big time money winners and big time players wouldn't last over thousands of tournaments. Several of them don't have a dollar to their name. Some of them have tons of talent, but no money. Some of them have very little talent and lots of money. There are tons of ranges of skill levels and success stories. Where a player falls along the spectrum relies on both talent and luck. If you have the best luck though in your 10 dollar online tournaments, you won't be on TV, you won't be made of millions. If you have your best luck in one 10k event, you win a million and are instantly respected. When going to play with players that are considered big time, you can't go in thinking they are fabolous players. I've made this mistake before. You need to go in and evaluate exactly how they are playing and make your decisions accordingly. Sometimes it's just easier playing against players you don't recognize because your blueprint of their play is drawn in from scratch.
One final thought. To win any poker tournament where several good players are entered in the field, you need a few things. You need to get free chips. Free chips occur when the deck sets you up with them. You need to have good table draws. You need to have a thorough understanding of every stage of the tournament. You can only control one of those things. There are expanses of concepts in the thing you can control and learning more and always striving to learn is the best way to succeed in this game. The luck will even out in the end and I have no doubt that with the proper amount of tournaments played at the World Series or in live play, I'll have my victories.
Again, thanks for the support from everyone throughout. The next few months are big online months. An FTOPS and WCOOP are in August and September. These are just like live events like the WSOP with various games and such, but usually a better structure. I'll be playing lots of events in both. I think I'm due for a big victory in one of these. Let's hope it's soon.
I came into the WSOP with a specific bankroll planned that was essentially out of my yearly winnings. It was a number that I basically decided was going to keep me comfortable at all times. I wanted to play around 8 events including the main event, but if I did well early and made a big score, go for player of the year. While I know I'm not deeply experienced in every single game, I don't think the average player is either. With my online experience in every game, I felt pretty confident with this plan.
What began was a 1500 PL Hold 'em event where I immediately realized our chip stacks aren't going to allow much play, and with a couple of set up hands I was out. This kind of left me flustered as I didn't really know what to do. Should I keep taking small shots at these or play the bigger buy ins/rebuys? I decided against rebuys because I don't feel comfortable without 8k in the 1k rebuy to go. I don't even feel comfortable in the 100 rebuy half the time because I'm not ready to go off for 800 on any night in one tournament against a field of tough players.
After that, I played the 2000 No Limit Hold 'em and played considerably well. An AA vs 99 vs 88 all in hand crippled me when an 8 appeared on the flop.
Still after two events, I felt I played considerably well and did my best.
Then came event 3. It was a shorthanded event, 1500. 3000 chips in a shorthanded event can go awfully quick especially when you don't have the correct mentality. In retrospect, this was my worst tournament by far. I made several untimely plays. I wasn't patient when short stacked, and I just kind of failed at concentrating.
I came back later that night to try my hand at the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo /Stud Hi/Lo mixed event. I got off to a great start. I cracked 10k fairly early from the 5k starting chip stack. The deck ran so super cold after level 4 that I had to kind of think through my hands again to see if I played bad or not. I think I played fine, but really ran extremely unlucky in Omaha Hi/Lo. This is a game where when dealt certain starting hands and hitting certain flops, you just won't be able to fold until the river if at any time. I had similar situations here and am happy with how I played.
So a quick poor start had my spirits dampened. If not for a 21k score online followed by a second place in the heads up championship on Pokerstars, I would have been phased just a little.
Another 2k event where I again played great poker up until a critical mistake before dinner. I got moved to a new table. Getting moved is sometimes a curse and sometimes a blessing as any player knows. Moving from my previous tables were both curses. I had a good understanding of several online players from playing against them online. I don't think they knew who I was giving me a significant edge. The other players weren't all that tough. I had a good image and everything was fine. When I got moved, I immediately caught in a bluff for some chips killing my image. Then I made probably the biggest mistake of my entire WSOP. I raised it up with 8 9 suited and was called behind. The BB moved all in for what was 4600 total I think after I put in a 1600 raise. I just called where I should be pushing all in all day to isolate. If I'm going to call, I might as well just take a shot. I think this was the only point where I made a critical mistake. If I shove here, I win the pot outright with all the dead money increasing my stack to an above average pretty close to the money. This situation can give me some good bubble opportunities. Either way, aside from that big mistake, I played well. In the end, it came down to me not winning a race 66 vs AQ.
The biggest disappointment of the whole series was the 3000 HORSE for me. I played both the 1500 and 3000. In both tournaments, I ran so incredibly bad that I left demoralized and shaking my head. In the 1500 event, it's tough to recover from running bad. The 3k HORSE though is an event that I should be able to find good spots. It's just frustrating when nothing go rights in games that I typically do very well at online.
Two more 1500 tournaments and losing races along with losing the 5 6 vs QQ after the 6 5 2 flop with the Q hitting the turn card were both crushing.
Then came my first cash ever. 53rd in the 2k event following a crushing beat of A10 vs A8. This tournament was a lot of fun in retrospect. It was really what it was all about. I felt great throughout. I made a couple of aggressive plays and thinks just went my way. I hit a couple of big river flushes on big draws that propelled me. Other than that though, I tended to get my money in very well. What hurt me in the end was the KQdd vs AA after the two diamond flop and I missed. I couldn't have felt worse about winning 11k. While this would guarantee a main event seat within my bankroll, I really felt that if that A10 holds against A8, I'm a lot richer right now.
The Main Event is an unbelievable experience. This was my second main event. I was not half the player I was 2 years ago when I played. I'll probably think the same thing in 2 more years about how I played now, but the gap is just so much farther. My ability to control the situations at my table this year was what I was most proud of. Even after getting short stacked early, I fought back with a nice 44 vs AK after a 4 10 K flop. The end of Day 1 saw me make an outstanding fold. Go read about it if you haven't yet.
Day 2 was a great experience. I had two tough internet players, an absolutely wild table, and I fought hard all day. I was up and down and up and down. I really and truly grinded through this day. I went into Day 3 feeling strong. I also had the possibility of being on TV with a 2 hour featured table stint. That's still to be determined even though I hope I don't end up on the cutting room floor.
Day 3 couldn't have gone worse. I couldn't get any hands. I couldn't steal a single pot preflop. I patiently waited and waited and eventually made a move that I think was fine with A9 suited, but was overcalled by a player with little experience with AQ off (even though I saw he finished pretty deep). I was really devastated after losing. All my goals and dreams for the entire year were shattered. I felt that I lacked a sense of validation and still do today. After all, my live cashes have no been impressive. I've made far more money online than I have in live tournaments. To be completely honest with my live play, I think it's been just a matter of not catching the right breaks at the right times. Every deep appearance usually ends by something out of my control. What a lot of people don't understand about poker is that many of the people they see on TV as the big time money winners and big time players wouldn't last over thousands of tournaments. Several of them don't have a dollar to their name. Some of them have tons of talent, but no money. Some of them have very little talent and lots of money. There are tons of ranges of skill levels and success stories. Where a player falls along the spectrum relies on both talent and luck. If you have the best luck though in your 10 dollar online tournaments, you won't be on TV, you won't be made of millions. If you have your best luck in one 10k event, you win a million and are instantly respected. When going to play with players that are considered big time, you can't go in thinking they are fabolous players. I've made this mistake before. You need to go in and evaluate exactly how they are playing and make your decisions accordingly. Sometimes it's just easier playing against players you don't recognize because your blueprint of their play is drawn in from scratch.
One final thought. To win any poker tournament where several good players are entered in the field, you need a few things. You need to get free chips. Free chips occur when the deck sets you up with them. You need to have good table draws. You need to have a thorough understanding of every stage of the tournament. You can only control one of those things. There are expanses of concepts in the thing you can control and learning more and always striving to learn is the best way to succeed in this game. The luck will even out in the end and I have no doubt that with the proper amount of tournaments played at the World Series or in live play, I'll have my victories.
Again, thanks for the support from everyone throughout. The next few months are big online months. An FTOPS and WCOOP are in August and September. These are just like live events like the WSOP with various games and such, but usually a better structure. I'll be playing lots of events in both. I think I'm due for a big victory in one of these. Let's hope it's soon.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Out of Main Event
I was reraised non stop, card dead all day, and out of the main event around 950th place. Again, I'm about 300 short of the money and in some pain. I played as well as I can, but just wasn't allowed to win big pots or get chips easily. You have to get lucky to win this tournament. With the great structure, skill can only take you so far. If you miss every single flop, you can't win.
The bust out hand came when I was down to 30k with 15 big blinds. An aggressive player opened two from the button for 5200. I was on the button with A9 of hearts and reshoved. The big blind called 30k of his 70k stack with AQ off. The other guy folded. The board bricked out and I was eliminated. Would have been nice for a little bit of justice from the 2k event with a river 9 or something, but it wasn't meant to be. It is just one tournament and when you have to battle as the short stack for pretty much 18 out of 24 hours, the tourney can get boring. Today, I hung around and tried to find a good spot. I thought my play was completely standard and normal even though I was behind. The guy was opening plenty of pots and I wouldn't play it any other way. For AQ to overcall takes a real strong read. I wasn't given any respect from this player all day though and he will likely muppet off all his chips to the other good players at the table.
Thanks for all the support along the way. Who knows if I'll be back next year. No need to think about poker for a while. I'll probably be updating less in the next month or so as I'm going to be in San Diego, Chicago, Cleveland and playing very little poker. I might make a trip somewhere in there to another casino possibly Atlantic City or something.
The bust out hand came when I was down to 30k with 15 big blinds. An aggressive player opened two from the button for 5200. I was on the button with A9 of hearts and reshoved. The big blind called 30k of his 70k stack with AQ off. The other guy folded. The board bricked out and I was eliminated. Would have been nice for a little bit of justice from the 2k event with a river 9 or something, but it wasn't meant to be. It is just one tournament and when you have to battle as the short stack for pretty much 18 out of 24 hours, the tourney can get boring. Today, I hung around and tried to find a good spot. I thought my play was completely standard and normal even though I was behind. The guy was opening plenty of pots and I wouldn't play it any other way. For AQ to overcall takes a real strong read. I wasn't given any respect from this player all day though and he will likely muppet off all his chips to the other good players at the table.
Thanks for all the support along the way. Who knows if I'll be back next year. No need to think about poker for a while. I'll probably be updating less in the next month or so as I'm going to be in San Diego, Chicago, Cleveland and playing very little poker. I might make a trip somewhere in there to another casino possibly Atlantic City or something.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Day 1 Complete
I just got back from Day 1 of the WSOP. I'm at 37,725 chips from the starting stack of 20,000. I was as low as 9,700 and as high as about 49,000. It was really a strange day as I felt aggression and pressure against me almost all day. I can't count on two hands even how many times I was three bet preflop. The caliber of play is different to say the least. While I sit with some players that are incredibly tough to play against at times, there are others that shouldn't be in a ten dollar rebuy tournament. All in all, I think I played pretty well today, and I had a strategy going in that I was going to play careful and solid. I doubled up when I was at 17,500 when I called a late position raiser from my UTG limp with 44. Flop came 4 10 K. I checked dark and he bet 2600. I just sensed a lot of strength so I went ahead and raised hoping to get it in. He put me in and showed AK and the turn card 3 sealed the deal. I was up to 35,000. Then, I just played a bunch of small pots until the last level. I raised to 1100 with 200/400 blinds 25 ante with AA in late position to be called by an old man out of the big blind. Flop was a scary Q 9s 10s. He checked and I checked behind. Turn was a 6. He bet 2,000 and I called. River was a 9. He bet 6,000 and I called. He showed A7 and I won. That was the only other real big pot I played in. I had a couple of smaller all ins when I had 20k. One I lost to AQ with 55 and the other I won with AK vs J7. I can't complain though as surviving day 1 is the first step towards winning the tournament. I'm happy with how I played and can't wait to start again on Monday Day 2A.
Monday, June 30, 2008
It's Main Event time baby
The WSOP is basically over. One more event remains. Of course, it's the main event, 10,000 buy in NL Texas Hold 'em. My guess for the number of players is 6865. I've had millions of questions from people about whether I'm buying in or not. I've alloted a certain percentage of my bankroll for the WSOP and early on, it wasn't looking so good. After that 11k cash though, I'm basically parlaying that into the main event. Aside from that, I really believe that I can play with anyone in the field. I really believe that I am fully capable of winning the event should luck fall my way. I also believe that to be as talented as I am and not be in the biggest poker tournament in the entire world is just not acting as if. I've just closed out an online month that is probably my 2nd best month ever (my best month is of course when I won the 100k tournament on Full Tilt). I'm playing with tons of confidence. I've had big wins on every site, and it's only proper if I go play a deep stacked no limit tournament for all the marbles. I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't play in this event. It would be a complete waste. While 10,000 for one tournament is absolutely a ton of money, I can just as easily say I won 22k on Full Tilt and a WSOP seat in that main event. I can say I won a main event seat and 1700 in the 2k. I can say I won a main event seat in the Stars tourney. The only thing I haven't done is been on a list that says I won a seat. I'm planning on playing the Day 1A because I want to just relax for 3 days if I am going on, and I want to get over it quickly if I'm not moving on. All in all, I tried to always keep telling myself that the WSOP this year would define my career. When it was going bad, I was basically considering myself a failure. At the same time though, I was just winning big tournaments online where I started as a poker player. I've basically just learned to define my success by what shows up on the spreadsheet at the end of the day/month/year. I expected to have good shot at a bracelet and maybe that will have to wait, or maybe it's just a couple weeks away.......
Saturday, June 28, 2008
First WSOP cash, First 100 Rebuy win
Dear Readers,
I am running awfully good and extremely confident. I won the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt the other night. This is a 6 max (6 players maximum at a table) tournament that is one of the biggest tournaments on the net during the week. A little over 32k was rewarded for my efforts. I didn't report on this because I was still in shock.
I just finished up day 1 of the 2k No Limit event at the WSOP. We finished the day with 198 players meaning that I record my first WSOP cash ever. Tomorrow is day 2 beginning at 2PM Vegas time and I have 63700 chips with around 48k being the average. The winner gets a tiny 771,000. I get to play a game for 771,000 although it will take a full day of work to get to the final table which would be Sunday. I'm feeling good though and have tons of hands I could go into, but I'm going to bed.
I am running awfully good and extremely confident. I won the 100 rebuy on Full Tilt the other night. This is a 6 max (6 players maximum at a table) tournament that is one of the biggest tournaments on the net during the week. A little over 32k was rewarded for my efforts. I didn't report on this because I was still in shock.
I just finished up day 1 of the 2k No Limit event at the WSOP. We finished the day with 198 players meaning that I record my first WSOP cash ever. Tomorrow is day 2 beginning at 2PM Vegas time and I have 63700 chips with around 48k being the average. The winner gets a tiny 771,000. I get to play a game for 771,000 although it will take a full day of work to get to the final table which would be Sunday. I'm feeling good though and have tons of hands I could go into, but I'm going to bed.
Monday, June 23, 2008
No WSOP Success, Little Break
I've continued to have no WSOP success, and it's becoming more frustrating by the hour. Every time I check an update on one of the WSOP reporting sites and don't see my name I'm angry. I've had a few poor days online to top that all off. I've had a lot of bubbles and have made some mistakes that may be telling me it's time to refocus and get back on track. The next few days are probably a good time to take a break, play less or maybe something other than tournaments. I have had problems controlling my emotions late in these tournaments online lately. This is really something that comes and goes for me in the game of poker. When you are playing online, there really isn't anyone to hold anyone accountable for their actions or emotions. When playing a live event, I easily keep to myself because I don't want to be perceived as a loose cannon asshole that is inconsiderate of everyone around him. At home, only the dog really can see how I act aside from my roommate. My emotions can get to me at times. Emotions cloud judgment and lead to poor decisions.
One thing I think happens to me is after being successful online for consistent periods of time, I begin to lose focus. I forget everything that went into my success in previous weeks and months. To be successful in this game, you have to be a hard worker. It' s just like any other job. You have to study the game, study the players, study your mistakes, study your successes, study your crucial hands, study, study, study, and learn. You can't just rest on your laurels at any point because the game is always changing. There is always a new strategy to learn. Because the game is based on other human counterparts, there are infinite different strategies that must be employed at different times. Those that adapt and succeed will win. Adaptation must come both before and after success.
R.I.P. Tim Russert
One thing I think happens to me is after being successful online for consistent periods of time, I begin to lose focus. I forget everything that went into my success in previous weeks and months. To be successful in this game, you have to be a hard worker. It' s just like any other job. You have to study the game, study the players, study your mistakes, study your successes, study your crucial hands, study, study, study, and learn. You can't just rest on your laurels at any point because the game is always changing. There is always a new strategy to learn. Because the game is based on other human counterparts, there are infinite different strategies that must be employed at different times. Those that adapt and succeed will win. Adaptation must come both before and after success.
R.I.P. Tim Russert
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Back in Action
Last week was another tough week at the WSOP, but I did get 2nd the Pokerstars Heads Up Matches Tournament. This tournament is one that I would have loved to win and I lost an AK vs K9 all in pre flop on the 3rd hand to cripple me after a J 10 x x 9 board. Yeah, it was an easy $11k river card to handle as that was the difference between first and second. Either way, I have just been crushing online and can keep playing some of these events at the WSOP. I think I'm playing the 1500 tomorrow or today, whenever you read this. I'll also be checking out the Venetian for the first time this week. Sorry I haven't been updating the blog, but I really want to report some good WSOP news rather than the WSOP blues.
Friday, June 6, 2008
0/4
1500 shorthanded no limit went terrible. I went in with the mentality that I needed to win every pot and that was a bad idea.
I played the 2500 Stud Hi/Lo/Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better mixed event and busted in the middle of level 6. I took a 10500 chip stack from the starting chip stack of 5000 into Level 5. My talbe draw kept getting worse all day long. Early on, I didn't recognize anyone but Bryan Devonshire and Shannon Elizabeth. By the time I left, seat 1 was an aggressive player, seat 2 Hoyt Corkins, seat 3 another pretty good player, seat 4 Bryan Devonshire, seat 5 David Sklansky, seat 6 tighter can't take a chip away from him guy seat 8 Nick Schulman. Easy to say that there aren't many slouches in our group. Then I have never been so cold in my entire life. It was scary. I don't think I played a hand of Stud Hi/Lo past 4th street and rarely up to that point. I had three low cards A63 together one time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes. In Omaha, I had AAK3 with spades against Hoyt Corkins AAQ3 after the 4 5 10s Qs and missed my big freeroll of the day. I really think I made one 800 mistake the whole tournament. Other than that, seeing flops for 800 with AAQ2 double suited and having the flop come 5 8 9 all spades (not my suit) 5 8 gets expensive. The WSOP has just gone terribly so far. The structures are all pretty much a joke for the buy in because so many people are playing events. I'm in a disappointed mood right now because nothing has gone right in 4 events. I don't know my next event. It might be No Limit 2500 on Saturday. If not, I probably won't be playing until Tuesday or Wednesday because there are no events I want to play Sunday or Monday.
I played the 2500 Stud Hi/Lo/Omaha Hi/Lo 8 or better mixed event and busted in the middle of level 6. I took a 10500 chip stack from the starting chip stack of 5000 into Level 5. My talbe draw kept getting worse all day long. Early on, I didn't recognize anyone but Bryan Devonshire and Shannon Elizabeth. By the time I left, seat 1 was an aggressive player, seat 2 Hoyt Corkins, seat 3 another pretty good player, seat 4 Bryan Devonshire, seat 5 David Sklansky, seat 6 tighter can't take a chip away from him guy seat 8 Nick Schulman. Easy to say that there aren't many slouches in our group. Then I have never been so cold in my entire life. It was scary. I don't think I played a hand of Stud Hi/Lo past 4th street and rarely up to that point. I had three low cards A63 together one time over the course of an hour and 40 minutes. In Omaha, I had AAK3 with spades against Hoyt Corkins AAQ3 after the 4 5 10s Qs and missed my big freeroll of the day. I really think I made one 800 mistake the whole tournament. Other than that, seeing flops for 800 with AAQ2 double suited and having the flop come 5 8 9 all spades (not my suit) 5 8 gets expensive. The WSOP has just gone terribly so far. The structures are all pretty much a joke for the buy in because so many people are playing events. I'm in a disappointed mood right now because nothing has gone right in 4 events. I don't know my next event. It might be No Limit 2500 on Saturday. If not, I probably won't be playing until Tuesday or Wednesday because there are no events I want to play Sunday or Monday.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Some thoughts on what's ahead
I’m on a plane back from
One of the hardest parts about being in my situation is wondering what I’m going to do next, something that is both destructive to my morale and drive to succeed. Instead of thinking how I will succeed, I’ve felt I’ve almost put a burden on loved ones, family and friends for my unconventional path to wealth. I’ve almost always thought about what I do next. Do I go back to school? Won’t it be hard to get a job? What will potential employers think about poker? Who would hire me? How can I prove that I’ve always had what it takes, the work ethic, brain power, and drive to become the cream of the crop? Should I just go teach, so I can play poker at the WSOP in the summer? When am I going to start my business? I’ve had countless unsettling dreams about what my future will hold, and this uncertainty is both exciting and tough to deal with. I remember telling some of my friends that the worst part about making the decision to play poker professionally was having to spend probably 14 days a year of my life explaining to friends, family and people I meet how I am successful, how what I do is legitimate, and how I am still deep in my heart of all hearts trying to be a great person along the way. Living in
I really feel in a lot of ways like a professional athlete competing every day and trying to always improve and get better. Maybe that is why poker is a spectacle on ESPN because people learn personalities and players develop fans, there is trash talk and excitement around big final tables. You obviously can’t be 400 pounds and grossly unhealthy and succeed in sports like you can in poker, but competition is fierce and the stakes are high.
It’s been a random tangent of emotions, but something that is really honest and from the heart. As far as my schedule for the WSOP, I’ll be sticking to the smaller buy in events early on and expect to play the 1500 and 2000 NL Hold em events. I’m thinking about the PL Hold em 1500 event tomorrow as my first event because I’m just that excited to play some live poker and be at the
Monday, May 19, 2008
HORSE, Back in Vegas, PLO
I've been playing a lot more PLO since I've been in Ohio (Pot Limit Omaha) for those of you that don't know. I've actually noticed a huge disparity as well between my success at 3/6 PLO vs 2/4 PLO. I think this is simply a game of knowing when to put all your money in the middle and knowing when to shut it down. On top of that very simple statement, there are much more complicated bluffing scenarios because for the most part at these limits the play is straightforward. I've had some success and plan on playing a lot more in the cash games. If I do well over the next few weeks, I'm planning on playing at least one PLO event at the WSOP. I said I would never play an event like this again because the game is just too crazy and wild, but after considering my record in PLO events which includes a deep finish despite a nasty 5 outer in the WCOOP on Stars and a deep finish in the FTOPS shorthanded despite a nasty 2 outer, I can't imagine I'm that far behind the average player. On top of that, if you watch WSOP episodes of PLO, you see some outrageously bad plays that I know I would never ever make in a million years.
One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win the HORSE tournament on Full Tilt. I ended up 5th last night, my second best finish of the year behind a 3rd place finish. I played as a short stack from 30 players to the final table and am quite proud I hung in there as long as I did. I always seem to lose in Hold Em. I need to rethink my strategy in this game because I think my experience playing in 6 max limit hold em ring games is ruining my tournament strategy. Also, I know I don't have a big edge in limit hold em, but still want to battle it out. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to be crazier in the split pot games because there is no definite one winner huge pot that will always happen like in Stud Hi and Hold em. Blind stealing is much less defended in other games. Hold 'em is almost always like that. Last night, I reraised with A5 off against the button raiser. Flop comes Kc3c3 and with my chip stack, it's 4 small bets and some change and we are in. So I have no way to get a lot of information about my opponent's hand. I think he's raising the button with the top 80% of hands from my previous encounters with him and I'm going to bet 100% of the time here. If he raises, he either has a K or club draw or maybe even a pocket pair, but I highly doubt that as I think 4 bets are in order for everything besides maybe 66 and down. He has K 7 off and I fail to improve. Do I bet and fold to a raise? I don't know maybe.
I'm back in Vegas for the next two months for sure aside from a Chicago trip right at the beginning of the WSOP because my girlfriend is more important than any tournament crapshoot. My first event will be the 2,000 event on the Thursday or Friday maybe June 4 or 5th. After that, I'm just going to base my play on how I feel and my overall success. I'll be trying hard to win a main event seat online and plan on doing that for sure.
One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to win the HORSE tournament on Full Tilt. I ended up 5th last night, my second best finish of the year behind a 3rd place finish. I played as a short stack from 30 players to the final table and am quite proud I hung in there as long as I did. I always seem to lose in Hold Em. I need to rethink my strategy in this game because I think my experience playing in 6 max limit hold em ring games is ruining my tournament strategy. Also, I know I don't have a big edge in limit hold em, but still want to battle it out. Furthermore, sometimes it's better to be crazier in the split pot games because there is no definite one winner huge pot that will always happen like in Stud Hi and Hold em. Blind stealing is much less defended in other games. Hold 'em is almost always like that. Last night, I reraised with A5 off against the button raiser. Flop comes Kc3c3 and with my chip stack, it's 4 small bets and some change and we are in. So I have no way to get a lot of information about my opponent's hand. I think he's raising the button with the top 80% of hands from my previous encounters with him and I'm going to bet 100% of the time here. If he raises, he either has a K or club draw or maybe even a pocket pair, but I highly doubt that as I think 4 bets are in order for everything besides maybe 66 and down. He has K 7 off and I fail to improve. Do I bet and fold to a raise? I don't know maybe.
I'm back in Vegas for the next two months for sure aside from a Chicago trip right at the beginning of the WSOP because my girlfriend is more important than any tournament crapshoot. My first event will be the 2,000 event on the Thursday or Friday maybe June 4 or 5th. After that, I'm just going to base my play on how I feel and my overall success. I'll be trying hard to win a main event seat online and plan on doing that for sure.
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