In two days, I've read through a Republican Governor's request for Congress to ban online gaming and a Democratic Governors Association letter asking for Congress to not ban online gaming. Their reasoning behind both are a rhetorical abomination.
The Republican Letter from Rick Perry
The 10th amendment crusader Rick Perry....oh wait. If it involves technology that can easily cross borders, the federal government needs to be in charge. So in 2014, basically all e-commerce and pretty much everything else should cede power to our omnipotent Federal government. Burn the 10th straight from the bill of rights at this point. What's more offensive? We are still throwing terrorism in there as an excuse and the government protecting us from ourselves. Oh yeah, kids aren't in dorm rooms. When you are 18 years old, you are an adult who can still find a myriad of other ways to blow your money. Trust me, if you can sign up for a brokerage account and get options approval, you are having the most dangerous casino piped into your computer 5 days a week.
Just for the record, the Wire Act was made to combat mafia activity in sports betting. Don't mess up the intention of a law to how liberal judges and others with agendas have applied it. It was a large basis for the shutdown of online poker rooms operating offshore serving US customers. The DOJ has since said it doesn't apply to online poker.
Democratic Governors Association Letter
Yay! Finally, an entire party standing up for poker players!! Wrong. While I respect someone finally standing up for the 10th amendment, this letter is about protecting the revenues from online state lotteries. Since our governments are bad at budgeting and funding very mediocre education plans, they need to tax the mathematically challenged by letting them bet on 3 numbers in a row or scratch off tickets. I'm all about anyone being able to do whatever they want with their money, but the Democratic Governors appear to only want you to bet your money when it benefits their ability to fund their programs.
If you want to think about online gambling, you have to divide it into two categories. Player vs House and Player vs Player or Peer to Peer
My proposal:
Regarding all online gambling where it is player vs the house (corporate entity):
Let states decide how to regulate. This includes all games like roulette, craps, blackjack, slots, sports betting where the house is the book, etc. New Jersey has already decide they will let you pretty much bet on anything you want from the comfort of your own home. Allow states to tax revenues. There is no benefit to a network of people. This is like any casino. They make money when you lose money. They should be taxed at a higher rate if policy dictates you want to decrease gambling or use funds to treat gambling addicts.
Regarding Player vs Player games where money is bet and the corporate entity takes fees to host (these include fantasy sports, poker games and tournament, player vs player blackjack elimination tournaments, etc.) We need federal regulation that creates a framework of laws to punish cheaters, track money trails to prevent money laundering, hold corporations accountable, and prevent & treat underage and problem gambling. Poker is a large industry in the world and peer to peer games will only continue to grow in the future. Peer to peer games benefit from the network effect. The more states and countries involved in the networks, the better the prize pools, variety, and liquidity.
Unfortunately, the entire poker world is being lumped into the "online gambling" category because politicians on both sides are either promoting their "new" Presidential agenda (Perry) or trying to protect their economically unviable government programs.
Showing posts with label poker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poker. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
2011
January: Began in Chicago with my quietest New Year’s in recent memory after nursing my body back to health from a brutal bachelor party. Take heed of my words and don’t go to Vegas for more than 3 days for a bachelor party. Two is probably ideal. Shortly after that I went to Bahamas for an unsuccessful poker trip, but discovered the drink known as the zombie, a combination of about every type of rum you could find. After winning a main event package for $350ish dollars, I could hardly complain to be in the sun and heading down water slides through shark tanks. Chicago winter was brutal upon my return and snowmageddon shortly followed. Before heading to Cleveland to celebrate my niece’s 1st and 3rd birthdays., I made a two day bachelor party stop in Las Vegas highlighted by two enjoyable craps rolls with the entire bachelor party. The first saw every person up handily while completely loading the board through the come line and with almost everyone at max odds and total points through the hot roll of the man known as Steele, the dice were passed from the floor man to Steele when an unnamed member of the bachelor party grabbed the dice out of turn. Immediate 7. I had a nice online poker month and everything seemed to be in line for a great start to the year.
February: Online poker turned completely the other way erasing almost all the profits from January. A package to Copenhagen for my first EPT event and visit to Denmark made the intolerable winter easier to bear. I only played one event in Copenhagen, but finished fourth place for 1,000,000 Danish Kroner. It was my biggest cash to date and one of the most exciting moments of my life. Competing on that stage was fun, challenging, stressful, and nothing I could have imagined without being in that situation. My own mistake unraveled my EPT title shot, but Copenhagen was beautiful and I look forward to revisiting. When I flew back to Chicago, I thought about how far I’d actually come from playing $5 buy in cash games with my friends in my buddy Dave’s house in high school. We loved to play and bluff and force another guy to go into his pocket to pull out another $5. I loved the challenge of figuring out people, finding a way to beat them, and of course, the rush in your blood every step of the way. Nothing has changed.
March: Online poker was up and down this month, but I had a great St Patrick’s day weekend in Chicago.
April: This is the month where I finally lost all hope with the US government. On tax day after sending in my tax estimate and starting my usual Friday routine of watching the markets and playing a few early Friday online poker tournaments, both major online sites that I played on had their domain names seized by the FBI. Online poker would never be the same. The debacle that ensued has seen one site, Pokerstars, returning all our money. On the other hand, Full Tilt Poker basically proved it was running as effective of a business as a kid selling .01 lemonade cups full of piss. I turned a lot of time into studying the financial markets and businesses, but was left with a huge void in my life. Being so close to family for the first time in a few years, I headed home to join family for Easter and had a great time in Ohio.
May: What wasn’t to love about May. The month before the World Series, I plotted what I would do to move out to Vegas for the summer while enjoying spring in Chicago, a Chicago area wedding, and watching Chicago come alive. Near the end of the month, I was part of a wonderful rapture weekend wedding in Columbus, Ohio celebrating a Miami Merger between the Brodas. We all had a great time yucking it up at world class facilities despite pending world apocalypse. The night before I drove out to Vegas, I attended a rooftop party in Chicago. I remember having a meditative moment looking out over the sky and imagining winning a World Series of Poker bracelet, but either way, I knew I loved my new city and was content even in the face of losing online poker. I left for Denver the next day and stopped to meet up with some bros. Denver cemented its place as somewhere I would love to live, but the two days there with the crew I was with was not what I needed before driving another day to Vegas. Luckily, I made it to my destination safely after a reflective drive.
June & July: THE WORLD SERIES OF POKER. Best finish 11th. Second best finish 17th. 5 cashes, and basically a wash in terms of profit. There is nothing not to love about the World Series of Poker except for the walk out of the Rio after busting a tournament, especially the main event. In between some of the events, it was fun to celebrate the marriage of one of my best and longest friends in my hometown Mentor, OH. Three days of the main event and not cashing again was frustrating. I think I’ve played close to 13 days without cashing in the main event. I’ve bagged chips every day 1 and 3 times on day 2, yet have never cashed. It remains a goal of mine. I know I’ll get there. After the main event, I decided to be a hero and drive 24 hours straight to Lake Geneva, WI to meet up with some Chicago friends and my love. Chicago summer was waiting for me. We golfed, tubed, drank, and caught up. It was also around this time that I officially knew I’d be moving to London. One more Cincinnati area wedding at the end of July allowed me to see my college town of Oxford, Ohio and Skippers, walk through a lobby in Kentucky with a life sized championship belt over my shoulder, and celebrate with some great people.
August: LOLLAPALOOZA!! Foster the People, Eminem, Foo Fighters, Skrillex, Afrojack, Girl Talk, Kid Cudi, Deadmau, Nas and Ziggy Marley, Explosions in the Sky, and others I’m sure I’m missing made for a great time. The highlight being a torrential downpour just before the main Foo Fighters act creating a mess of a savagery and mud only true maniacs can enjoy. I spent the end of the month packing up and readying my move out of Chicago.
September: Spent time in Mentor, Ohio before heading over for a London/Cannes poker trip and flat hunting. After living in Vegas and Chicago and not spending day in and day out with family, it was great to spend some quality time with Mom and Dad and see my nieces, brothers, in-laws, and friends. Flying over to London and searching for a place was slightly stressful, but being away from poker made me extremely hungry and focused. With tons of luck on my side for 5 days, I final tabled the EPT London Main Event and cashed in 6th place of 691. It was my biggest score to date and back-to-back EPT final tables for me in Europe. Getting so close to a win was again frustrating and satisfying. I know I’ll be back again and win the next time.
October: Cannes was a beautiful venue for WSOP Europe. My poker results allowed me to explore the beach more frequently than I would have preferred. I failed to cash in five events. I flew back to Cleveland and Toledo to see a friend who I first met at age 3 get married. When his wife walked down the isle, I thought about how rare it is to have friends for that long and how appreciative I am of our friendship and others I’ve hung on to for a long time.
November: Moving and all the annoyances you could imagine moving to a new continent. Tourist stops included the Tower of London, London Bridge,
December: I began the month with a trip to Prague where I played the WPT, EPT and GSOP main events in addition to one side event. 68th with 63 paying in the WPT wasn’t very pleasant. My EPT streak ended at 2 final tables as I busted day 1 of EPT. It was a tough first table and a pitiful performance by me in many regards. I didn’t adapt quick enough to the optimal strategy of tightening up. I made a deep run in the GSOP, but fell short with a min cash. Prague is a fantastic city and a must see for all European trips. When I arrived home, my grandmother was in poor health and dying. My whole family, a family she loved and was so much her responsibility surrounded her and said their goodbyes. It was a tough time for my entire family, but when thinking about her, I can’t help think about her love and care and what it meant to me in life. I have nothing but appreciation and gratitude for everything. She will forever live on through me. Some of my youngest memories with her was of her sitting me on her lap and letting me bet her chips when the family played poker. I couldn’t help but give a wry smile when one of her best friends told me at her funeral, “Shirley was always trying to get us to play cards!” RIP Grandma.
Cheers to 2012. Let’s make it a big one.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
First Eurotrip a Success
I arrived in my temporary new home in London with a bang finishing a strong 6th place in the EPT London main event. It was a great run and I spent 4 days getting my chips in good and holding and winning crucial 50/50 races. Almost every big race was JJ vs AQ coincidentally. The tough decisions came mostly on the second to last day as I was attempting to accumulate chips for the final table but was stuck in the card dead, flop dead portion and forcing things a little too much. After spending a lot of time folding, I won a miracle KK vs AA with a beautiful King of clubs on the river. It seemed like I was finally due for a title. The final table hardly went my way. 22 and A6 top out the high end of my range of hands and I whimpered out in 6th place after reraising A6 all from the small blind and having the big blind wake up with AQ. It was cool getting deep. I felt like I belonged there and I know I'll be back at some other stage. I remember calling somewhere that I was going to go 2/2 at EPT final tables when I came back. My main goal in poker is to win a big live tournament at this point.
I tried to carry that momentum to the WSOP Europe in Cannes. Cannes is gorgeous by the way and the weather hasn't failed to disappoint. I just busted my last of 5 tournaments here. Lost a giant pot 4h 7h vs 5d 3d on a 9h 6h 4s flop in the first tournament. In the second tournament, the 1k, I fought for a while from my 3k chip stack and then could not find a spot to get my chips in the middle after almost 5 levels (hours) of play. The third tournament was basically my main event, a 5k Pot Limit Omaha tournament. After doubling up early, things did not go my way and I was put to the test on a Th 9s 6s 9h board by a check raise all in. I eventually made the call with only a 78A5 no suits that mattered and was up against a KQJ5ss. The J sealed my fate, but I liked my decision at the point. I made it down to the final 3 in the shootout, but was short the entire tournament it seemed. I made one of my worst calls of the five days in that tournament early but fought back. The key hand for me was when my JJ finally had a chance to double against AQ, but the 98675 board saw a split pot and ultimately, an AT vs 77 race later, I was gone. The final PLO event was no different. I had a tough time getting anything going and made a bad pay off to a player who made quads, but could never seem to win an all in or racing situation when it would have got me going. 0 for 5 in Cannes, but I'm fairly pleased with how I played. I feel more and more comfortable live and especially playing in Europe.
As for my schedule from here on out, get back online soon from London and I'm certainly going to Prague in December for two events, one being the final EPT event of the calendar year. I'm looking to close out my best year as a professional with a BELT.
Monday, June 27, 2011
The 27th day.
I warn readers that I've played 26 days of poker straight, and I'll be playing my 21st event today. My mind is in a weird place, but relentless positivity and thoughts of being a champion still pervade. I have been battling a cough for the last three days or so, but if Dirk Nowitzki can play like a sick champion while spanking Lebron James in the NBA Finals, then a little bug isn't going to affect me. It's pretty easy to catch something in that giant Rio petri dish passing around chips that each person has coughed all over.
I arrived about an hour late to the $1k NL Hold 'em today. After losing a key pot early QQ vs AK and KJ, I rallied from just 1400 chips (starting 3k) all the way up to 11k. The key hand of the day came as I held AQ out of the small blind with blinds at 100/200 25 ante. An aggressive player raises the cutoff position and I call out of the small blind. Flop comes A95 two of the same suit. I decide to check raise his 800 bet to 1900. He calls. Turn card is a 4 second suit of spades. Two flush draws are now out. He was the type of player that was literally raising any two cards at this point. I decided to ship in 9075 into the 5200 pot b/c I sort of put him on a draw or a weaker ace and really thought he might call me off. I wanted to push this for value and protect my hand. I thought he'd be more likely to call a shove then two bets in a row. I was pretty confident I had the best hand. If I bet into a better hand then fine, but I just didn't care about controlling the pot. When I pushed my 9075 in I still had a 25 chip on my cards. The dealer incorrectly announced that I was all in and I pointed to my chip a few times but didn't want to say much as the player hadn't acted yet. The player thinks for a while and calls immediately flipping his A4 over for two pair. The dealer says "ok we are all in flip them over." Then they call the floor because I point out that I'm not all in. First floor guy somehow rules it's an assumed all in and I say there is no way I'm going to put that chip in the pot when there is one card to come and I know his hand. Now typically they penalize someone for exposing a hand before the action is over, but I'm glad to see the 2nd floor man decided not to penalize my opponent and ruled I didn't have to bet that chip. The bad news is the river was a 6 and I check folded my cards face down. I'm really fine with the play. My 25 chips and my 28 of diamonds failed to beat AK on the next hand.
The 5k NL Hold 'em event concluded for me on Saturday with a teasing day 3 11th place finish. It was the 3rd biggest event so far this series in terms of prize pool out of the first 40 events. My day 3 began with me pushing A8 of diamonds at 5k/10k blinds 1k ante into the short stack big blind and losing 85k from my 866k. I then immediately raised KK and everyone folded and that about sums up the day. I made a bluff that eventual champion Matt Jarvis made a nice call with J9 on a K Jd Td 9d 2s board. I missed my straight flush draw with A7d and almost moved all in there. Who knows if he calls? The deck put me in a few less than lukewarm situations as well. My AA had the board run out Kh4h4sThJh. I bet on the flop and the turn because I felt like he could still be drawing with a KQ, KJ hand or even have something like nines with a heart. I folded to his river bet. I believe I was right on both decisions, but I'll never know for sure. After the bluff, I won a KQ vs AT all in by hitting a K on the last card. Shortly after, I 3 bet Jarvis again with TT only to see him call in position and flop come out AJ4. After my bet on the flop, the K on the turn made me just give up with my 19 bb stack. He could have been bluffing, I think he probably had me beat at that point. If he didn't, then he just owned my soul. I then moved all in over a raise 5 handed with AQ and the small blind called with 99. The 9 on the flop sealed my fate. It didn't occur to me until later that I shook everyone's hand because I was kind of in a daze at the time. 3 days of poker and all the excitement of achieving my one goal this summer was on hold. Props to my opponents as they deserved to be there getting through that tough field.
Overall, I'm happy with that tournament, I'll learn from it and move on. I made a couple bad plays in the event, but also made some good ones and rallying from just 16,000 chips with blinds at 800/1600 all the way to 11th makes it hard to complain about luck. It was probably the best competition in a tournament I've played to date. Some extremely talented tables played throughout that tournament. At the same time, it's extremely painful to be so close to a huge score and a bracelet again and come up short. The swings in emotions are just mind boggling. I slept extremely well the night before day 3 despite it being the biggest tournament I would ever win if I beat the 20 remaining players. I feel much more mature as a poker player in terms of how I manage my emotions. At the end of the day, it's just a game and you have to have confidence in your ability and reads and play great poker.
I've been having a lot of fun this summer and wouldn't want to be any place in the world but in the biggest poker tournaments in the world. I do miss my girlfriend and family/friends. 27 straight days of poker probably isn't helping my relations to any other human, but I get to take a break and head to Cleveland for July 1-5 where I'll see a lot of great people in my life. I'm super excited for that. Then I'll return for maybe one more event and the Main Event. I'm feeling ready for that after immersing myself in poker this month.
It's 2:21am and somehow I haven't gone to bed yet, but I'll decide how I feel tomorrow and play either the 10k six max NL Hold 'em tournament or the 2500 Omaha Hi/Lo and Stud Hi/Lo 8 or better Limit tournament.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Time for Reflection
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."
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."
Saturday, February 26, 2011
EPT Copenhagen: So Close
"Fold or hang tough. Call or raise the bet. These are decisions you make at the table. Sometimes the odds are stacked so clear there's only one way to play it. Other times, like holding a small pair against two over cards, it's six to five, or even money, either way. Then it's all about feel, what's in your guts."
Mike McDermott from the movie Rounders
One of the best quotes from one of the best movies. It can't describe my tournament with anymore precision. Day 1 was jet lag day, but it worked. Get it in good and win. Control the pots. Day 2 was a struggle, card dead, but one last hour rush of aggression and nicely played hands kept me in contention. Day 3 was seize the moment, play with no fear, and enjoy every minute as we entered the money and set ourselves up for more. Day 4 was the craziest day of my poker life. It was the day of the biggest bluff I've ever pulled off. A bluff about feel, guts, your opponents, and knowing something would work. It did. It took me from 11th of 12 remaining players to in contention. A couple well timed hands later I was playing with one table remaining. The goal was so close. A major title against a talented field.
The final table was a struggle. It's always tough to win tournaments without flopping pairs and always having inferior holdings to opponents, but with the stroke of luck on the shortstack, my 44 beat 66 all in. I still had a shot. Then, I kissed my shot away with an incorrect read. See quote above. One critical mistake in my eyes over the course of 5 days. Not all that bad, but given my holdings today, I needed to be slightly better than that.
I can't help but smile when thinking about the last five days and how much fun I've had. I came up just short of a huge goal of mine, but recognize how much I've matured as a competitor.. I can smile because I never lost faith in knowing I'd win or in my own abilities. No matter what happened, I kept the game in front of me while always telling myself to pay attention to the 3-8 other opponents. I know I fought with my heart, my guts, and with every inch of poker talent I have. A taste of a major no limit live final table is intoxicating, but tournament players must always remember, the next time around, you all start with the same amount of chips. You start from scratch with your poker tools and your guts and of course, hopefully a little lady luck.
Mike McDermott from the movie Rounders
One of the best quotes from one of the best movies. It can't describe my tournament with anymore precision. Day 1 was jet lag day, but it worked. Get it in good and win. Control the pots. Day 2 was a struggle, card dead, but one last hour rush of aggression and nicely played hands kept me in contention. Day 3 was seize the moment, play with no fear, and enjoy every minute as we entered the money and set ourselves up for more. Day 4 was the craziest day of my poker life. It was the day of the biggest bluff I've ever pulled off. A bluff about feel, guts, your opponents, and knowing something would work. It did. It took me from 11th of 12 remaining players to in contention. A couple well timed hands later I was playing with one table remaining. The goal was so close. A major title against a talented field.
The final table was a struggle. It's always tough to win tournaments without flopping pairs and always having inferior holdings to opponents, but with the stroke of luck on the shortstack, my 44 beat 66 all in. I still had a shot. Then, I kissed my shot away with an incorrect read. See quote above. One critical mistake in my eyes over the course of 5 days. Not all that bad, but given my holdings today, I needed to be slightly better than that.
I can't help but smile when thinking about the last five days and how much fun I've had. I came up just short of a huge goal of mine, but recognize how much I've matured as a competitor.. I can smile because I never lost faith in knowing I'd win or in my own abilities. No matter what happened, I kept the game in front of me while always telling myself to pay attention to the 3-8 other opponents. I know I fought with my heart, my guts, and with every inch of poker talent I have. A taste of a major no limit live final table is intoxicating, but tournament players must always remember, the next time around, you all start with the same amount of chips. You start from scratch with your poker tools and your guts and of course, hopefully a little lady luck.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
January Update, February Plans
January flew by in large part due to a 9 day trip to the Bahamas, the cleansing of my mind through a tougher yoga practice, and lots of poker in between. January really felt balanced. Let me first say that I really enjoy getting to meet my adversaries and friends at the poker table at the live tournaments. So often, we spend time looking at each other's screen names and competing online that we forget we are actually other living people. At least in competitive sports you could look another player in the eye all of the time. Playing online doesn't afford you that opportunity. I met some great people and had a blast despite playing two other events in the Bahamas and not cashing and an exact bubble (43rd place with 42 paying) in the 1k six max. I did, however, have an outstanding month online both in cash and tournaments. I was able to throw up the belt Aaron Rodgers style in my home by winning the 6 max $75 tournament on double guarantee multi-entry week and narrowly missed my first life ever title in a hyper turbo event during double guarantee week. In that tournament, I refused a chop for the 5th straight time and for the 5th straight time turned in a 2nd or 3rd place performance after refusing a chop. I don't think it's stubbornness, but when I get that deep in the tournament, I want to win it outright. Why play if you don't want to win the maximum? This works both ways in poker, but if the situation really calls for a deal, I'll make it. It usually doesn't.
I've had a lot of time to think about my goals for this upcoming year. My halfhearted approach towards the goals in the earlier blog is unlike me, but many of the goals that I haven't accomplished are the same from the year before. I will add a few things as I go along and think of them.
February is started with a great trip to see the family with two wonderful nieces having birthdays as well as my Grandma. Then the FTOPS begins on Full Tilt for what will prove to be two grueling weeks that should get me into a great poker mindset for the EPT Copenhagen at the end of February. Normally, I'd make my way out to LA for the LA Poker Classic, but the Commerce selfishly (against the poker community and spirit of the game) tried to get online poker legalized as a statewide initiative through California earlier this year. I think a one year break from there is fine enough for me on the boycott level. This initiative of casinos, states, and countries looking to restrict the access of local players to the same sites is anti-free trade and completely against the spirit of the game. If anything, the World Series of Poker has taught me that poker is an international game enjoyed by men and women from all over the world. It's equality in its purest form. States like New Jersey, countries like France, and poker rooms like the Commerce have all done or are in the process of restricting access to poker pools of money to their own states to make a profit. Now, I have no problem if the Commerce wants to compete in its own niche market, but everyone in the world needs to realize that the bigger the pie of players, the better for everyone, players, tax collectors, media, live casinos, etc.
I've had a lot of time to think about my goals for this upcoming year. My halfhearted approach towards the goals in the earlier blog is unlike me, but many of the goals that I haven't accomplished are the same from the year before. I will add a few things as I go along and think of them.
February is started with a great trip to see the family with two wonderful nieces having birthdays as well as my Grandma. Then the FTOPS begins on Full Tilt for what will prove to be two grueling weeks that should get me into a great poker mindset for the EPT Copenhagen at the end of February. Normally, I'd make my way out to LA for the LA Poker Classic, but the Commerce selfishly (against the poker community and spirit of the game) tried to get online poker legalized as a statewide initiative through California earlier this year. I think a one year break from there is fine enough for me on the boycott level. This initiative of casinos, states, and countries looking to restrict the access of local players to the same sites is anti-free trade and completely against the spirit of the game. If anything, the World Series of Poker has taught me that poker is an international game enjoyed by men and women from all over the world. It's equality in its purest form. States like New Jersey, countries like France, and poker rooms like the Commerce have all done or are in the process of restricting access to poker pools of money to their own states to make a profit. Now, I have no problem if the Commerce wants to compete in its own niche market, but everyone in the world needs to realize that the bigger the pie of players, the better for everyone, players, tax collectors, media, live casinos, etc.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
PCA Update
Let's do a quick summary. I played the Main Event of the PCA Day 1a today and made it a meager 6 levels into the tournament before my short stack was busted when my KQ failed to improve against AJ. Two hands before dinner break, I flopped a straight with my 67 of clubs after calling a minimum raise of 800. After betting 2100 into 4 players, I was raised and subsequently called by AQ of spades after I put my pile of chips in the middle. With the board reading Ts 9s 8h, I stand as a slight 53%? favorite, so basically a coin flip for 35k in chips. The 2 of spades crippled my stack down to a paltry 6k from starting 30k.
Chips were not easy to accumulate today. The table was very tough relative to fields I've played in the past. I have a pretty good knack for being able to succeed in these tables in the past but today wasn't meant to be. I can pin two mistakes on myself, one where I just leveled myself into calling. This is when I begin to think he thinks I think he thinks I think he thinks when really he just has a hand better than mine. The other situation was typical of the table on a QQ4 board when I bet the button against two players and was check raised. I really needed to see through that, but I folded my TT here and another player paid the player $100 to see the hand. He showed 89.
That leaves 8 days in the Bahamas to figure out what I want to do with myself. I may enjoy the sun or go on water slides through shark tanks or whatever else people do on vacation. There are several mixed game side events that I would actually be excited to play, so I'll probably win one of those. I really want to get to the point where I have that killer instinct at a live poker table. Sometimes I begin to get chatty and see other players as humans and that affects my play. It's a leak and I'll get over it. All other players shall not be seen as friends while cards are being dealt. Poker is supposed to be a social game and what not, maybe it is. The problem with that idea though is that we are all chasing millions of dollars.
Chips were not easy to accumulate today. The table was very tough relative to fields I've played in the past. I have a pretty good knack for being able to succeed in these tables in the past but today wasn't meant to be. I can pin two mistakes on myself, one where I just leveled myself into calling. This is when I begin to think he thinks I think he thinks I think he thinks when really he just has a hand better than mine. The other situation was typical of the table on a QQ4 board when I bet the button against two players and was check raised. I really needed to see through that, but I folded my TT here and another player paid the player $100 to see the hand. He showed 89.
That leaves 8 days in the Bahamas to figure out what I want to do with myself. I may enjoy the sun or go on water slides through shark tanks or whatever else people do on vacation. There are several mixed game side events that I would actually be excited to play, so I'll probably win one of those. I really want to get to the point where I have that killer instinct at a live poker table. Sometimes I begin to get chatty and see other players as humans and that affects my play. It's a leak and I'll get over it. All other players shall not be seen as friends while cards are being dealt. Poker is supposed to be a social game and what not, maybe it is. The problem with that idea though is that we are all chasing millions of dollars.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Know Thyself
By Sunday's end, I sat in silence as disgusted with myself as I've ever been. I've learned through this entire poker experiment that if one thing will burn me in poker, it's not keeping my emotions in check while playing a game that tirelessly tries to light me on fire. Three days of fluky bad beats finally got to me. The worst beat was the crazy Friday Night Fight hand (Full Tilt's $500 tournament) where I lost an AA vs JJ vs Q9 for a triple up with approximately 20 to go in the tournament. I was certainly running below expectation early on Sunday, and my emotions soon got the best of me. By reading through the hand histories at the end of the day (a process by which I review my play), I was looking at an entire different player. It wasn't the player I am or want to be. I was uncharacteristically building big pots against my instincts, gambling in situations where I shouldn't, and by the end of the day, not playing up to my full potential. I can't say how many times I made mistakes, but I wasn't acting like a professional. Being professional means playing through rough swings objectively, staying in the moment, and having a short memory of what just happened. Each new hand presents a new problem that should not carry the weight of any past occurrences. I certainly wasn't acting like it.
It may have been the other stresses of life seeping into my work. No one should ever let their work cross into their personal life or their personal life cross into their work. I was tense and stressed and that doesn't lead to anything positive. The takeaway from of all of this though is that you must "know thyself" in the game of poker. Being truly in tune with who you are as a person, as a player, and as a competitor are so essential to being successful. Being successful in poker doesn't always mean winning on any given day either. That's probably the most twisted thing about the game. Being successful means being professional despite what happens.
After thinking about what had happened, I did some yoga Monday morning to channel the emotions and worries of the past few days. Life has been stressing me out beyond belief and I came to peace with letting it all happen. I kept asking myself what really is the worst that can happen and is it that bad? (wise teacher once told me that) I responded tonight by playing in the moment and not letting the negative throw me into a tailspin. The beats today were just as bad as the days prior, but I played objectively until the last tournament was done. That anomaly that was my emotional unwinding on Sunday was temporarily conquered.
Every poker tournament has it's own life. I've learned that knowing thyself is a valuable skill in poker. It's a prerequisite to keeping an open mind, following the correct instincts, and being in the right position mentally to make correct decisions. The best players out there know who they are, know how to keep negatives at bay, and ultimately, know how to live in the moment.
It may have been the other stresses of life seeping into my work. No one should ever let their work cross into their personal life or their personal life cross into their work. I was tense and stressed and that doesn't lead to anything positive. The takeaway from of all of this though is that you must "know thyself" in the game of poker. Being truly in tune with who you are as a person, as a player, and as a competitor are so essential to being successful. Being successful in poker doesn't always mean winning on any given day either. That's probably the most twisted thing about the game. Being successful means being professional despite what happens.
After thinking about what had happened, I did some yoga Monday morning to channel the emotions and worries of the past few days. Life has been stressing me out beyond belief and I came to peace with letting it all happen. I kept asking myself what really is the worst that can happen and is it that bad? (wise teacher once told me that) I responded tonight by playing in the moment and not letting the negative throw me into a tailspin. The beats today were just as bad as the days prior, but I played objectively until the last tournament was done. That anomaly that was my emotional unwinding on Sunday was temporarily conquered.
Every poker tournament has it's own life. I've learned that knowing thyself is a valuable skill in poker. It's a prerequisite to keeping an open mind, following the correct instincts, and being in the right position mentally to make correct decisions. The best players out there know who they are, know how to keep negatives at bay, and ultimately, know how to live in the moment.
Friday, February 26, 2010
To LA and back
I made a trip down to the Commerce Casino and the LA Poker Classic on Monday. I immediately learned lesson #1 of the trip. Don't play immediately after driving from Las Vegas to LA. I don't know if it was because I hadn't released any of my pent up 3:30 hour drive energy, but I played the first $335 tournament like most of the other Commerce players with a dream. Starting with 3000 chips doesn't give much time to get it going. I played a hand with JJ where there were 3 callers, so I called from late position and the button came in. We went 5 handed to 8 7 6 two club flop. 3 players check to me and I bet 300 into 500. The button who had been playing pretty tight thinks for a second and makes it 1250. With only 2500 in my stack, I either play for it all or fold. I regret not playing for it all here since in a tournament like this, especially since I eventually called this guys all in later in the tournament with an impatient 77 vs his 99. Chalk up tourney number 1 to some bad decisions.
Tourney #2 was the 1k the next day. With 260 players, I got knocked out around 69th place on the second hand back from dinner break. I raised the button and was reraised by an internet regular and good player. I decided to go all in with my A9 suited here despite a tiny instinct to keep grinding. My entire tournament was a grind of small ball and dead cards. He showed AK, game over.
I picked up my game for the $500 shootout as I have total confidence in winning a one table tournament. I drew a great table where the talented and unpredictable Chino Rheem only made it through about 2 hands. Other than him, I only recognized one other solid internet player, but pretty much avoided confrontation with him despite getting it in AK vs AQ and splitting the pot early on. Despite not participating in probably 95% of hands for the first few hours, I managed to get all the money in KT vs JT 3 handed for a chance to go heads up with an older, southern gentlemen who was aggressive, but who I believe I had a very solid read on. Several times, I made laydowns to him and was shown the best hand. KT vs JT happened and the 789 flop sent me out in 3rd.
I only played one satellite to the main event and made a 3 bet with 22 to a late position aggressive player raise. Unfortunately, the BB overshoved with 99. The pot odds were close to 4.2 to 1. Since even the worst case scenario of an overpair is 4 to 1, I made the call and missed after the 3 4 6 flop. This hand did bother me a little bit because I wasn't really prepared to call the stack behind me and would have elected to fold had I been paying a little closer attention to stack sizes. My style has always been to understand the math of the game and how the constant mathematical dynamics are changing. Stack sizes and paying attention to how they are changing, what odds you may be getting in certain situations, what stack sizes are going to force you call, what positions you are putting other stacks in based on your stack size, and many other factors go into a hand. It may just be the result of the hand and me not getting a chance to play for over $1 million in one of the best tournaments of the year, but I'm a little bitter.
I'm trying to close out February and finish strong with a good weekend showing. I'm looking forward to Saturday and Sunday and lots of tournaments. Regardless, it has been a fairly slow month with 1 tournament win in the $55 on Pokerstars. With an FTOPS all month and not much success, that won't often make for a winner. I've had worse months though and by no means is it over. We still have two big days ahead.
Tourney #2 was the 1k the next day. With 260 players, I got knocked out around 69th place on the second hand back from dinner break. I raised the button and was reraised by an internet regular and good player. I decided to go all in with my A9 suited here despite a tiny instinct to keep grinding. My entire tournament was a grind of small ball and dead cards. He showed AK, game over.
I picked up my game for the $500 shootout as I have total confidence in winning a one table tournament. I drew a great table where the talented and unpredictable Chino Rheem only made it through about 2 hands. Other than him, I only recognized one other solid internet player, but pretty much avoided confrontation with him despite getting it in AK vs AQ and splitting the pot early on. Despite not participating in probably 95% of hands for the first few hours, I managed to get all the money in KT vs JT 3 handed for a chance to go heads up with an older, southern gentlemen who was aggressive, but who I believe I had a very solid read on. Several times, I made laydowns to him and was shown the best hand. KT vs JT happened and the 789 flop sent me out in 3rd.
I only played one satellite to the main event and made a 3 bet with 22 to a late position aggressive player raise. Unfortunately, the BB overshoved with 99. The pot odds were close to 4.2 to 1. Since even the worst case scenario of an overpair is 4 to 1, I made the call and missed after the 3 4 6 flop. This hand did bother me a little bit because I wasn't really prepared to call the stack behind me and would have elected to fold had I been paying a little closer attention to stack sizes. My style has always been to understand the math of the game and how the constant mathematical dynamics are changing. Stack sizes and paying attention to how they are changing, what odds you may be getting in certain situations, what stack sizes are going to force you call, what positions you are putting other stacks in based on your stack size, and many other factors go into a hand. It may just be the result of the hand and me not getting a chance to play for over $1 million in one of the best tournaments of the year, but I'm a little bitter.
I'm trying to close out February and finish strong with a good weekend showing. I'm looking forward to Saturday and Sunday and lots of tournaments. Regardless, it has been a fairly slow month with 1 tournament win in the $55 on Pokerstars. With an FTOPS all month and not much success, that won't often make for a winner. I've had worse months though and by no means is it over. We still have two big days ahead.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
My Mind's Battlefield
So I can talk about the countless final tables coming up short in the past month, but that can only come off as whiny. I can talk about my inadequate performance at times, but that would deny that the fact that I've learned a lot. I just want to talk about the battlefield that is my own mind.
First off, I've just passed my two year mark of living in Las Vegas and earning my living by playing countless hours of poker. This is not video poker or something with a house edge, but a mind game between individual players where the outcome of the contest is determined by both skill and luck. I've won a lot of tournaments, made a bunch of final tables, and have not cashed in probably close to 85% of the tournaments I've played. That being said, I'm a consistent winner in the long run, which is all that matters in the game. The problem with the long run meaning more than the short run is that we live in the short run. My daily emotions are focused on the short run. My competitive desires strive for the present. Certainly, I've blogged about my long run goals and what not, but every day, I wake up and have to go compete. The ultimate determination of my long run success relies on my mindset as a competitor.
I play primarily tournament poker where the prizes are top heavy and 1st place is the only thing that feels great most of the time. I've walked out of the World Series of Poker with a 3rd place finish and over $90,000. At the time, I didn't want to talk to a soul. I went to a celebration dinner and night out, but all I wondered was why I didn't win. When I went to bed at night and woke up in the morning, I was haunted by being so close. Winning a WCOOP bracelet a few months later felt better for less money because I won. Over the last few months, I pondered what was next. Surely, winning a WCOOP bracelet and being so close to the greatest prize of them all had to mean something towards my talent........
So now, I've come to a realization. To take this thing to the next level, I need to control my mind. My mind has become a constant battlefield between snap judgment and reaction vs. the thoughtful right reaction. It has become a battle between good habits and a few bad habits. It has become a battle between curiosity (paying off players on hands that make no sense) and the correct decision. The battle lasts to the point where it's all about positive energy versus negative energy, the I can versus the I don't think I can. To really take this thing to the next level, I have to conquer my own mind. My goal for the next 6 months is to play the best possible poker 100% of the time. My A game needs to be my D game, and my D game needs to be my A game.
I'm writing this blog because something has been bothering me. When snap emotional decisions make up what is anything in my life, I've found it to be a harmful force overall. I've taken up the practice of yoga along with the meditation that I've talked about in the past. I've always succeeded at everything in my life, and maybe have never faced enough resistance in my own mind. This is a battle that I think we all have to fight at some point in our life. I'm glad I've found mine within the scope of a game I love to play and call my profession.
I took at class at Miami University that was a special sports psychology class. I often draw upon the things that I learned from this class, but now I think I fully understand how it relates to what I need to be. We are only as strong as our weakest thought or negative impulse. I'm going to be better.
First off, I've just passed my two year mark of living in Las Vegas and earning my living by playing countless hours of poker. This is not video poker or something with a house edge, but a mind game between individual players where the outcome of the contest is determined by both skill and luck. I've won a lot of tournaments, made a bunch of final tables, and have not cashed in probably close to 85% of the tournaments I've played. That being said, I'm a consistent winner in the long run, which is all that matters in the game. The problem with the long run meaning more than the short run is that we live in the short run. My daily emotions are focused on the short run. My competitive desires strive for the present. Certainly, I've blogged about my long run goals and what not, but every day, I wake up and have to go compete. The ultimate determination of my long run success relies on my mindset as a competitor.
I play primarily tournament poker where the prizes are top heavy and 1st place is the only thing that feels great most of the time. I've walked out of the World Series of Poker with a 3rd place finish and over $90,000. At the time, I didn't want to talk to a soul. I went to a celebration dinner and night out, but all I wondered was why I didn't win. When I went to bed at night and woke up in the morning, I was haunted by being so close. Winning a WCOOP bracelet a few months later felt better for less money because I won. Over the last few months, I pondered what was next. Surely, winning a WCOOP bracelet and being so close to the greatest prize of them all had to mean something towards my talent........
So now, I've come to a realization. To take this thing to the next level, I need to control my mind. My mind has become a constant battlefield between snap judgment and reaction vs. the thoughtful right reaction. It has become a battle between good habits and a few bad habits. It has become a battle between curiosity (paying off players on hands that make no sense) and the correct decision. The battle lasts to the point where it's all about positive energy versus negative energy, the I can versus the I don't think I can. To really take this thing to the next level, I have to conquer my own mind. My goal for the next 6 months is to play the best possible poker 100% of the time. My A game needs to be my D game, and my D game needs to be my A game.
I'm writing this blog because something has been bothering me. When snap emotional decisions make up what is anything in my life, I've found it to be a harmful force overall. I've taken up the practice of yoga along with the meditation that I've talked about in the past. I've always succeeded at everything in my life, and maybe have never faced enough resistance in my own mind. This is a battle that I think we all have to fight at some point in our life. I'm glad I've found mine within the scope of a game I love to play and call my profession.
I took at class at Miami University that was a special sports psychology class. I often draw upon the things that I learned from this class, but now I think I fully understand how it relates to what I need to be. We are only as strong as our weakest thought or negative impulse. I'm going to be better.
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.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Catching Fire
I had to cool off today after catching a string of fire.
I got to LA to play some of the California State Poker Championship. The online series at Full Tilt is also going on during this time. Nearly every tournament has an overlay meaning extra money is in the prize pool. I have thus been playing in the morning events along with a few other tourneys. If I busted, my plan was to drive to the Commerce for the live tournaments. I went deep in so many tournaments that I only played one tourney at the Commerce. I have since done the following:
1. Deep in the 100 rebuy during the day for 10th.
2. 2nd in the Friday Night Fight on Full Tilt for 20k.
3. I had a 6th in the Pokerstars Nightly for around $5k.
4. 1st in the UB Sniper for 6k
5. 1st in the UB 50 Rebuy for 4k which was on a Sunday to save my day.
All of this has led to a nice swing in the negative variance into the positive for me. It has been so nice going deep in something every day like I'm supposed to. I've been working on playing more creatively and adding different strategies to my game depending on the tournament. I'm feeling very confident and will be playing hard the next couple days before a much needed trip to Chicago.
I've also been twittering lately at Twitter with tournament updates for those who want them. Basically, if you like to watch online, just follow me on this site and then visit the site to see if I've updated my status. You can also follow friends, celebrities, news stuff, etc. The only disclaimer is that you get some really random people following you. Good thing there is a block button.
I got to LA to play some of the California State Poker Championship. The online series at Full Tilt is also going on during this time. Nearly every tournament has an overlay meaning extra money is in the prize pool. I have thus been playing in the morning events along with a few other tourneys. If I busted, my plan was to drive to the Commerce for the live tournaments. I went deep in so many tournaments that I only played one tourney at the Commerce. I have since done the following:
1. Deep in the 100 rebuy during the day for 10th.
2. 2nd in the Friday Night Fight on Full Tilt for 20k.
3. I had a 6th in the Pokerstars Nightly for around $5k.
4. 1st in the UB Sniper for 6k
5. 1st in the UB 50 Rebuy for 4k which was on a Sunday to save my day.
All of this has led to a nice swing in the negative variance into the positive for me. It has been so nice going deep in something every day like I'm supposed to. I've been working on playing more creatively and adding different strategies to my game depending on the tournament. I'm feeling very confident and will be playing hard the next couple days before a much needed trip to Chicago.
I've also been twittering lately at Twitter with tournament updates for those who want them. Basically, if you like to watch online, just follow me on this site and then visit the site to see if I've updated my status. You can also follow friends, celebrities, news stuff, etc. The only disclaimer is that you get some really random people following you. Good thing there is a block button.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Wynn Poker Classic Event 1
So I played event 1 of the Wynn Poker Classic which was a 545 buy in and attracted 450 players. Overall, I love playing the first event of tournaments because they attract a wide range of skill levels and generally generate the most excitement aside from the main event of any particular series. After a horrendous run in LA, I was confident and ready to go. Day 1 actually was painful. I've never seen more atrocious play in my entire poker playing career barring the first week on Party Poker. I was slightly amazed because although almost every single live tournament is pretty horrendous in play, they are usually never this bad. Actually in LA, I had a couple of decent first few tables from what I could witness. One guy had accumulated about 130k in level 4 from starting stack of 10k. The hands of consequence were extremely rare. I was playing extremely passive the entire day because when I was actually in a hand with someone and would just call with a solid hand, they would proceed to fire every single betting round. There were probably 4 pots where it went bet call, bet call, bet call and I scooped good size pots. They were the type of players that tended to think that as long as no one raised, their hand was good. Anyway, after a painful AK lay down right before the dinner break on Day 1, I battled back and ended the day with around 85k which was good for 20th out of 50. I actually survived an AK vs JT all in right before the bubble. Coming into Day 2, I was thrilled because I knew I had around a 20bb stack with blinds being at 2k/4k and that was plenty of chips against this field.
Day 2 was hell. I got there and notice that they had colored us up to the next level of chips and raised the level. The floor said that we only had a minute left at the lower level and they wanted to save time and color us up the night before. Color up is a term used to describe the removal of certain lower denomination chips as blinds go up. I could have sworn we had 20 minutes left in the level. The kicker was that there were two day ones playing down to 25 each day. The first Day 1 ended on 3k/6k while we ended on 2k/4k. Moral of the story is that they shouldn't have done this in the first place, but they definitely shouldn't have jumped to the higher level of the two. So while I'm expecting to go in with 20bb, I actually have around 14. Anyway, my table wasn't all that tough from the people I recognized from the day before. There was a solid girl about my age that was across the table that was at my table from Day 1, but with both our stack sizes, I knew if we collided, it would likely be in a situation neither of us could avoid. We lost 20 players rather quickly and I was dealt nothing the first level. We move up to 4000/8000 with a 1k ante and I still have around 80k because of a few timely shoves. Then some guy from Paris, who had easily won 20 pots on Day 1 and 2 by sucking out on someone shoves 280k from the cutoff. LOL!!! This guy tended to bet the amount that correlated to the strength of his hand. He was just precious. I look down at black kings and shove my stack in the middle from the small blind. He rolls over black queens and proceeds to beat me with a better flush.
WAIT WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????????? That is correct. The board rolls out T 9 8 all spades giving him more outs (jack or queen). The turn is the J of spades and his straight flush knocks me out of the tourney in 29th. It was actually my first big pair of the entire tournament. I did not see JJ-AA until that point. With 65,000 to first and a stack that would have handily put me in contention, I had nothing to feel but the urgent need to dropkick a slot machine. I did my standard quiet, "good game" and walked to the parking lot trying not to swear under my breath as I am trying extremely hard to quit swearing. Anyway, this is the type of thing that makes me never want to play poker, something that is currently my career.
Poker is just super funny. The last time I felt this confident about my abilities in something was when I used to ace finance tests in college. With some inevitable pressure involved (grades), I would sit down with full confidence and just get in the zone. If I made a mistake, it was likely just something that was lazy. Even when the problems weren't completely clear, I could eliminate a few options and proceed as follows. After playing now full time for a little over a year, I feel like poker is extremely similar. The pressure has changed because of the money and competition, but the overall confidence and methodical rationality it takes to succeed is exactly the same. Unfortunately, unlike in college where the Scantron would reward me for the correct answers, the poker deck does not always follow the precision of a multiple choice test. Either way, I'm prepared for downswings, but today was just an ugly, ugly beat.
Day 2 was hell. I got there and notice that they had colored us up to the next level of chips and raised the level. The floor said that we only had a minute left at the lower level and they wanted to save time and color us up the night before. Color up is a term used to describe the removal of certain lower denomination chips as blinds go up. I could have sworn we had 20 minutes left in the level. The kicker was that there were two day ones playing down to 25 each day. The first Day 1 ended on 3k/6k while we ended on 2k/4k. Moral of the story is that they shouldn't have done this in the first place, but they definitely shouldn't have jumped to the higher level of the two. So while I'm expecting to go in with 20bb, I actually have around 14. Anyway, my table wasn't all that tough from the people I recognized from the day before. There was a solid girl about my age that was across the table that was at my table from Day 1, but with both our stack sizes, I knew if we collided, it would likely be in a situation neither of us could avoid. We lost 20 players rather quickly and I was dealt nothing the first level. We move up to 4000/8000 with a 1k ante and I still have around 80k because of a few timely shoves. Then some guy from Paris, who had easily won 20 pots on Day 1 and 2 by sucking out on someone shoves 280k from the cutoff. LOL!!! This guy tended to bet the amount that correlated to the strength of his hand. He was just precious. I look down at black kings and shove my stack in the middle from the small blind. He rolls over black queens and proceeds to beat me with a better flush.
WAIT WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!???????????????????????????? That is correct. The board rolls out T 9 8 all spades giving him more outs (jack or queen). The turn is the J of spades and his straight flush knocks me out of the tourney in 29th. It was actually my first big pair of the entire tournament. I did not see JJ-AA until that point. With 65,000 to first and a stack that would have handily put me in contention, I had nothing to feel but the urgent need to dropkick a slot machine. I did my standard quiet, "good game" and walked to the parking lot trying not to swear under my breath as I am trying extremely hard to quit swearing. Anyway, this is the type of thing that makes me never want to play poker, something that is currently my career.
Poker is just super funny. The last time I felt this confident about my abilities in something was when I used to ace finance tests in college. With some inevitable pressure involved (grades), I would sit down with full confidence and just get in the zone. If I made a mistake, it was likely just something that was lazy. Even when the problems weren't completely clear, I could eliminate a few options and proceed as follows. After playing now full time for a little over a year, I feel like poker is extremely similar. The pressure has changed because of the money and competition, but the overall confidence and methodical rationality it takes to succeed is exactly the same. Unfortunately, unlike in college where the Scantron would reward me for the correct answers, the poker deck does not always follow the precision of a multiple choice test. Either way, I'm prepared for downswings, but today was just an ugly, ugly beat.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
New Games
Every time my mind gets caught up in one thing, it gets a little tedious and boring. Lately, I've been still playing a few NL hold em tournaments, but I've also mixed in some Omaha Hi/Lo cash games and tournaments. I had a positive Sunday after a 2nd place finish in the Pot Limit Omaha tournament on Pokerstars for about 4k. Other than that, I've had a bunch of small cashes in tourneys here and there.
I have been studying up in Omaha Hi/Lo and really trying to perfect my cash game skills. It's not quite as exciting as winning a huge tournament, but I'm hoping to make it a profitable avenue to turn to when things get too boring. I think anyone who plays should always consider learning new games or new forms of the game. If you play heads up all day, go play something else. I would recommend that cash games players bored with the game to turn to tournaments.
Other than that, I've been reading a lot and laying low enjoying the Cavs. What a start to this season so far. I hope we can keep it up.
A couple of shoutouts:
I got 2nd in the 55 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha event which I now title the Ben Smola Championship since he won this event a few weeks ago.
Congrats also to the Mossman on his upcoming retirement!
I have been studying up in Omaha Hi/Lo and really trying to perfect my cash game skills. It's not quite as exciting as winning a huge tournament, but I'm hoping to make it a profitable avenue to turn to when things get too boring. I think anyone who plays should always consider learning new games or new forms of the game. If you play heads up all day, go play something else. I would recommend that cash games players bored with the game to turn to tournaments.
Other than that, I've been reading a lot and laying low enjoying the Cavs. What a start to this season so far. I hope we can keep it up.
A couple of shoutouts:
I got 2nd in the 55 rebuy Pot Limit Omaha event which I now title the Ben Smola Championship since he won this event a few weeks ago.
Congrats also to the Mossman on his upcoming retirement!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
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.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Some Political Wisdom
When I was 5 years old, I had a President book. I studied this book day in and day out. I was simply fascinated by all the white men over the years of history that represented this country in its most important office. I learned about their wives. I learned about their cats. I learned about their big accomplishments and the records they held. I even knew most of their middle names. George Herbert Walker Bush was President at the time although my book only took me to Reagan. I liked knowing their political parties, and when I asked my parents what political party they voted for, I would never get a straight answer. They voted for the candidate that they thought was best. While I'm sure they leaned certain ways on some issues, I thought that was a reasonable response. I remember holding a mock election in 2nd grade where we voted for Perot, Clinton or Bush in the 1992 election. Of course, my friend Mike Z. led one mob chanting "Ross is the Boss" leading Perot to victory in our class. We couldn't tell you the first thing about the issues or Perot's ideas. We just wanted to be a mob. As I watched tonight, I couldn't help but think the same thing about the Republican party. In a convention night that heard several "USA" chants along with "Drill baby drill!" chants, I couldn't help but be embarrassed by a party that understands itself about as much as a 12 year old girl first experiencing her period.
I'll tell you flat out that I'm not going to bash the Republican party in this post anymore than they deserve. In fact, on many issues, I flat out agree with the Republican party. Free trade, limited government, and a balanced budget are among the strong Republican ideals I support. Wait a minute. The Republican party has done nothing of the sort over the last 8-15 years. The idea of a balanced budget and limited government has fled the main party platform for newer and fresher birds. Believe it or not Republicans, the last true patriot of the balanced budget was Bill Clinton. Don't believe me? See what Alan Greenspan says in book "The Age of Turbulence." It doesn't bother me all that much anyway that Republicans use this tenant as part of their fundamental ideology. What bothers me is that the Republican mob doesn't quite realize it. What bothers me is that there is not a single ounce of accountability in the Republican party. When McCain's ads pop up on TV, I think they are Obama ads. They say things like Washington is broke. John McCain knows that. Well if he knows that, where the hell has he been for the last 20 years? I'm so confused by the political process. We can no longer get an honest response from a politician about anything. Anytime a politician tries to give an honest response, we write it off as insecurity. When Obama tries to answer complicated questions with thorough responses that aren't 4 word answers, he's written off as indecisive or inexperienced. The fact that maybe some of his ideas are worth considering is out of the question. How can this Republican party still try to get away with a complete lack of non-partisanship? My main truth here is that Republicans essentially bash Democrats for raising taxes and increasing spending, but they just lower taxes and increase spending. So what is better for the long term health of the economy? I'll take the latter. What needs to happen in Washington is both parties have to agree on balancing the budget (an idea proposed at the beginning of W's term, but flatly rejected for the broad range of tax cuts that spiraled our government from surplus to deficit).
Now, my next qualm relates to the experience issue. I basically laugh the idea of the experience issue off most of the time. If someone has the leadership ability and potential to win a main party Presidential primary, then he or she has the ability to lead the country. You can't win the primaries without thorough support from major players across your party. These major players, superdelegates or major endorsements, don't give you support if you can't come across to them as knowledgeable about an array of topics and as a leader. How can you really prepare someone to be President of the United States anyway? The only real way is to have someone super close to a previous effective President. So by that notion Al Gore should have been super experienced. Was he? Probably not. Experience is just a word thrown around in a slogan. Just because you are old doesn't mean you are experienced either. An effective Senator doesn't necessariliy make them ready to be President. This goes for both Obama and McCain.
Now on to Sarah Palin. Let me first say that I'm excited that both genders are or have been represented in the primaries and now the main ticket. I'm also proud that both parties decided to put someone up other than a white guy. It makes me think that actual progress is taking place in our society. I would also like to say that it's not by mere chance that women or non white males had a chance. It was by knowledge, vision and well-run campaigns that caused both Hillary and Obama to be in the hunt. So let me tell you why Sarah Palin is on the Vice Presidential ticket. She's likeable. She's likeable. She's likeable. Since the Republicans have brought forth nothing of real value or substance over the last 8 years, it only makes sense to win back the masses through likeability. McCain is likeable. I mean I have liked the guy since he ran against George W. Bush in the primaries. I've liked him even when he was a huge proponent of the Iraq War. Who doesn't like a POW war veteran? Palin proved it again tonight when she spoke. She's likeable. The speechwriter made sure of it through everything she said. The GOP knows they are in trouble. They are up against a candidate that people are finally passionate about, Obama. This isn't John Kerry and this isn't Al Gore. It's someone that inspires not only Democrats, but Americans. That's why the GOP needed to announce a shocker after Obama's stellar acceptance speech where he didn't just attack Republicans, he laid out a vision for a greater United States of America. The Republicans don't offer that to people. Instead, they speak to only the people that see the world as a big globe of good vs. evil. They speak to the mob of people that will believe anything they say despite what the last 8 years have truthfully brought forth. You won't balance the budget Republicans. You haven't done it in 8 years. You have dragged our country down by failed policies right after 9/11. You have made it only possible and feasible to lump together support of country, support of war, and support of troops.
I can't remember who said this tonight at the convention, but it stuck with me. He said that the American people know that the Republicans are correct and strong on social values, but they have lost it on economic policy. He was truly correct about his second statement. As for the first statement, I don't think you can argue that abstinence-only education is correct. I don't think a debate will ever be settled in America about a women's right to choose. Despite the continuous scientific findings regarding the fact that the Earth is well over 6000 years old, we may never all agree on that. We probably won't all agree on what should be taught in schools creationism or evolution even though we should teach actual science. We won't agree on the right or wrong of homosexuals (even though I'm certain in 100 years, it will be a far better picture as all civil rights battles need to be fought). I quite frankly don't think that the majority of these "social values" even matter in the long term of political progress. What does matter is that the Republican party wakes up to the reality of its principles. Limited governemt and conservative economic policies can pretty much define what this party means politically. As for the other stuff, it should probably be sorted out on Sunday, or in the privacy of a worship group and family or with one's own personal conversation with God before bed. If we voted simply on what candidate's message is being the most honest, a value that I think everyone admires in a person, this race wouldn't even be close.
I'll tell you flat out that I'm not going to bash the Republican party in this post anymore than they deserve. In fact, on many issues, I flat out agree with the Republican party. Free trade, limited government, and a balanced budget are among the strong Republican ideals I support. Wait a minute. The Republican party has done nothing of the sort over the last 8-15 years. The idea of a balanced budget and limited government has fled the main party platform for newer and fresher birds. Believe it or not Republicans, the last true patriot of the balanced budget was Bill Clinton. Don't believe me? See what Alan Greenspan says in book "The Age of Turbulence." It doesn't bother me all that much anyway that Republicans use this tenant as part of their fundamental ideology. What bothers me is that the Republican mob doesn't quite realize it. What bothers me is that there is not a single ounce of accountability in the Republican party. When McCain's ads pop up on TV, I think they are Obama ads. They say things like Washington is broke. John McCain knows that. Well if he knows that, where the hell has he been for the last 20 years? I'm so confused by the political process. We can no longer get an honest response from a politician about anything. Anytime a politician tries to give an honest response, we write it off as insecurity. When Obama tries to answer complicated questions with thorough responses that aren't 4 word answers, he's written off as indecisive or inexperienced. The fact that maybe some of his ideas are worth considering is out of the question. How can this Republican party still try to get away with a complete lack of non-partisanship? My main truth here is that Republicans essentially bash Democrats for raising taxes and increasing spending, but they just lower taxes and increase spending. So what is better for the long term health of the economy? I'll take the latter. What needs to happen in Washington is both parties have to agree on balancing the budget (an idea proposed at the beginning of W's term, but flatly rejected for the broad range of tax cuts that spiraled our government from surplus to deficit).
Now, my next qualm relates to the experience issue. I basically laugh the idea of the experience issue off most of the time. If someone has the leadership ability and potential to win a main party Presidential primary, then he or she has the ability to lead the country. You can't win the primaries without thorough support from major players across your party. These major players, superdelegates or major endorsements, don't give you support if you can't come across to them as knowledgeable about an array of topics and as a leader. How can you really prepare someone to be President of the United States anyway? The only real way is to have someone super close to a previous effective President. So by that notion Al Gore should have been super experienced. Was he? Probably not. Experience is just a word thrown around in a slogan. Just because you are old doesn't mean you are experienced either. An effective Senator doesn't necessariliy make them ready to be President. This goes for both Obama and McCain.
Now on to Sarah Palin. Let me first say that I'm excited that both genders are or have been represented in the primaries and now the main ticket. I'm also proud that both parties decided to put someone up other than a white guy. It makes me think that actual progress is taking place in our society. I would also like to say that it's not by mere chance that women or non white males had a chance. It was by knowledge, vision and well-run campaigns that caused both Hillary and Obama to be in the hunt. So let me tell you why Sarah Palin is on the Vice Presidential ticket. She's likeable. She's likeable. She's likeable. Since the Republicans have brought forth nothing of real value or substance over the last 8 years, it only makes sense to win back the masses through likeability. McCain is likeable. I mean I have liked the guy since he ran against George W. Bush in the primaries. I've liked him even when he was a huge proponent of the Iraq War. Who doesn't like a POW war veteran? Palin proved it again tonight when she spoke. She's likeable. The speechwriter made sure of it through everything she said. The GOP knows they are in trouble. They are up against a candidate that people are finally passionate about, Obama. This isn't John Kerry and this isn't Al Gore. It's someone that inspires not only Democrats, but Americans. That's why the GOP needed to announce a shocker after Obama's stellar acceptance speech where he didn't just attack Republicans, he laid out a vision for a greater United States of America. The Republicans don't offer that to people. Instead, they speak to only the people that see the world as a big globe of good vs. evil. They speak to the mob of people that will believe anything they say despite what the last 8 years have truthfully brought forth. You won't balance the budget Republicans. You haven't done it in 8 years. You have dragged our country down by failed policies right after 9/11. You have made it only possible and feasible to lump together support of country, support of war, and support of troops.
I can't remember who said this tonight at the convention, but it stuck with me. He said that the American people know that the Republicans are correct and strong on social values, but they have lost it on economic policy. He was truly correct about his second statement. As for the first statement, I don't think you can argue that abstinence-only education is correct. I don't think a debate will ever be settled in America about a women's right to choose. Despite the continuous scientific findings regarding the fact that the Earth is well over 6000 years old, we may never all agree on that. We probably won't all agree on what should be taught in schools creationism or evolution even though we should teach actual science. We won't agree on the right or wrong of homosexuals (even though I'm certain in 100 years, it will be a far better picture as all civil rights battles need to be fought). I quite frankly don't think that the majority of these "social values" even matter in the long term of political progress. What does matter is that the Republican party wakes up to the reality of its principles. Limited governemt and conservative economic policies can pretty much define what this party means politically. As for the other stuff, it should probably be sorted out on Sunday, or in the privacy of a worship group and family or with one's own personal conversation with God before bed. If we voted simply on what candidate's message is being the most honest, a value that I think everyone admires in a person, this race wouldn't even be close.
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