I wish I could come up with something better to say for myself on Sunday, but congrats to my buddy Gary, who won the Sunday Mulligan on Full Tilt. He one-ups me in this tournament as my best finish was second, but we all know who won the MarioKart tournament at Memorial Junior High.
I went to watch the Browns utterly dismantle any hopes I had for our organization ever being good. After that, I probably shouldn't have touched a poker tournament, but despite a couple of mistakes, I generally didn't think I did too much wrong today. It was one of those Sundays where I went deep in a bunch of things, but seemed to finish just short of the money in every one. All told, I've had worse Sundays, but I probably did go about 0 for 12. If I had to be completely honest with myself, I really do think I need a break. I've played poker probably 97% of the days this year and after running through another Sunday of 9-10 hours of straight poker, I won't be prepared to play my A game in online tournaments unless I get a break of some sort. I'm looking forward to December when I head to Cleveland/Chicago and can actually have good reason to take days off, but until then, I will be either completely bored if I don't play or feel like I'm not doing my job. This is a weird feeling that I have recently felt for the first time. In college, poker was a secondary hobby/priority. I always put my studies, fraternity, friends, other clubs ahead of poker. Now, I feel like I need to always play. I totally don't think this ruins the excitement and competitiveness, but I would be selling my talents shorts if I didn't pay respect to what it can do to your mentality. I remember having this feeling at times near the end of a track season where after so many races and hundreds of miles of training, I just needed to take a few weeks and do absolutely nothing.
Hopefully, that something can come in my first book I'm attacking since going to the library. The book is The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It's 700 pages of pure literary and intellectual muscle that I intend on defeating.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Random Blurb Blog
Disclaimer--I will be writing about as many topics as I can think of without dedicating more than 2 minutes of my thoughts towards each individual topic. You are certainly allowed to skip topics that don't interest you.
My Poker Career Lately
It's been a lot of close but no cigars lately. I wish I had more exciting things to report about, but it's been a lot of the 7th-25th place column. On another fun note, I looked up my Online Player of the Year Ranking on Cardplayer yesterday and I was at 212th. I'm at kind of a disadvantage in this area because I don't play the 100 rebuy every day, which almost always qualifies for points. Maybe I can make a run and crack the top 100. It might take a big score. I'm basically winding down for the year as all the major online events are over until the Ultimate Bet events in January. I'll be pushing for a PCA seat so I can go to the Bahamas in January.
World Series of Poker Final Table
That was fun to watch, wasn't it? I much prefer as a spectator to watch it without knowing who wins. It's almost impossible to avoid spoilers as I received only one when I clicked through to PokerXFactor and saw who got 4th. I think when you put a final table into 2 hours, it's really tough to do the game any justice, but I understand that not every poker fan wants to watch 25 hours of boring poker footage. It is tough to examine hands though without knowing many of the variables leading up to the hands. That being said, I don't take much stock in some of the plays that we were shown. There were, however, some incredibly bad mistakes made throughout the 2 hour broadcast. It's probably nerves, and I won't bash anyone too much because I can't even begin to imagine what it's like.
Peter Eastgate
I survived an all in against the champ. Peter Eastgate raised on day 3 to about 2.7 big blinds, and I gave him my 19 bb pile with A10. He called and showed the same hand, and we split the pot. I was pulling for this kid the whole time because he impressed me tremendously in the 5 hours I played with him on day 3. He is absolutely fearless. Every player at the table probably was paying extra attention to this guy. That's the kind of player I want to be.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The best team in the NBA is led by King James. 8 games in a row and a team that Lebron calls his best squad since he's been there. Might this be the year that the King finally takes his throne? I think it will be. I've never felt confident in a Cleveland team since James has been here, but this team really has championship potential. We play great defense, have a lot of depth, and good coaching. Give Mike Brown credit for what he has done with this team early on in the year.
Cleveland Browns
In light of the current week, we need less players from Michigan. We need more players from Ohio State. Phil Dawson deserves that game on Monday Night Football. That guy has sure been through a lot in Cleveland and to punch a 56 yarder in for the lead must have felt great. Brady Quinn is hands down the better option for the Cleveland Browns at QB. He came up with the plays that we needed that Anderson has failed to bring all year. He did it last week, and he did it this week. Now if we only had more Buckeyes on defense, we might be something.
OSU vs. MeatChicken
Joke provided courtesy of Mike Z.
"Hey did you hear that Michigan canceled their travel plans to Ohio State this week?"
"No. Why?"
"Because they couldn't get past Toledo"
Zinggggggggggggggggg
Go Bucks! This one won't even be close. My prediction. Ohio State 72-Michigan 3
Books
I applied for a library card a couple of days ago, but haven't gone to the library. I'm finishing up the book Freakonomics. Reading is probably a hobby that I should pick up again. I've been reading real estate books and all, but I want to read some actual good novels. It's been awhile since I've read anything fiction. Leave good suggestions in the comments section please.
Shout out to my Dad
Every time my Dad tells me he has a feel, I seem to knock down a big tournament. Last time he told me and really meant it, I got 2nd in the 50 rebuy, 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 163 in a week. While it may be hard to fathom what this feel entails, I have learned to respect and use the momentum of the feel to my advantage. A little superstition never hurt anyone. The over/under for the shout out to my mom is 3.5 years.
Best Movies I've Seen Lately
In no particular order...
1. Michael Clayton
2. The Dark Knight
3. Capote
4. Saving Private Ryan
THE HOUR OF BAUER
Jack "God" Bauer returns to Fox on Sunday. Look out for several airplanes blowing up, people dying, and Jack Bauer generally saving the day. That is to assume he didn't jump off the cliff like a wuss at the end of last season.
That's all I got for now.
My Poker Career Lately
It's been a lot of close but no cigars lately. I wish I had more exciting things to report about, but it's been a lot of the 7th-25th place column. On another fun note, I looked up my Online Player of the Year Ranking on Cardplayer yesterday and I was at 212th. I'm at kind of a disadvantage in this area because I don't play the 100 rebuy every day, which almost always qualifies for points. Maybe I can make a run and crack the top 100. It might take a big score. I'm basically winding down for the year as all the major online events are over until the Ultimate Bet events in January. I'll be pushing for a PCA seat so I can go to the Bahamas in January.
World Series of Poker Final Table
That was fun to watch, wasn't it? I much prefer as a spectator to watch it without knowing who wins. It's almost impossible to avoid spoilers as I received only one when I clicked through to PokerXFactor and saw who got 4th. I think when you put a final table into 2 hours, it's really tough to do the game any justice, but I understand that not every poker fan wants to watch 25 hours of boring poker footage. It is tough to examine hands though without knowing many of the variables leading up to the hands. That being said, I don't take much stock in some of the plays that we were shown. There were, however, some incredibly bad mistakes made throughout the 2 hour broadcast. It's probably nerves, and I won't bash anyone too much because I can't even begin to imagine what it's like.
Peter Eastgate
I survived an all in against the champ. Peter Eastgate raised on day 3 to about 2.7 big blinds, and I gave him my 19 bb pile with A10. He called and showed the same hand, and we split the pot. I was pulling for this kid the whole time because he impressed me tremendously in the 5 hours I played with him on day 3. He is absolutely fearless. Every player at the table probably was paying extra attention to this guy. That's the kind of player I want to be.
Cleveland Cavaliers
The best team in the NBA is led by King James. 8 games in a row and a team that Lebron calls his best squad since he's been there. Might this be the year that the King finally takes his throne? I think it will be. I've never felt confident in a Cleveland team since James has been here, but this team really has championship potential. We play great defense, have a lot of depth, and good coaching. Give Mike Brown credit for what he has done with this team early on in the year.
Cleveland Browns
In light of the current week, we need less players from Michigan. We need more players from Ohio State. Phil Dawson deserves that game on Monday Night Football. That guy has sure been through a lot in Cleveland and to punch a 56 yarder in for the lead must have felt great. Brady Quinn is hands down the better option for the Cleveland Browns at QB. He came up with the plays that we needed that Anderson has failed to bring all year. He did it last week, and he did it this week. Now if we only had more Buckeyes on defense, we might be something.
OSU vs. MeatChicken
Joke provided courtesy of Mike Z.
"Hey did you hear that Michigan canceled their travel plans to Ohio State this week?"
"No. Why?"
"Because they couldn't get past Toledo"
Zinggggggggggggggggg
Go Bucks! This one won't even be close. My prediction. Ohio State 72-Michigan 3
Books
I applied for a library card a couple of days ago, but haven't gone to the library. I'm finishing up the book Freakonomics. Reading is probably a hobby that I should pick up again. I've been reading real estate books and all, but I want to read some actual good novels. It's been awhile since I've read anything fiction. Leave good suggestions in the comments section please.
Shout out to my Dad
Every time my Dad tells me he has a feel, I seem to knock down a big tournament. Last time he told me and really meant it, I got 2nd in the 50 rebuy, 2nd in the 300 and 3rd in the 163 in a week. While it may be hard to fathom what this feel entails, I have learned to respect and use the momentum of the feel to my advantage. A little superstition never hurt anyone. The over/under for the shout out to my mom is 3.5 years.
Best Movies I've Seen Lately
In no particular order...
1. Michael Clayton
2. The Dark Knight
3. Capote
4. Saving Private Ryan
THE HOUR OF BAUER
Jack "God" Bauer returns to Fox on Sunday. Look out for several airplanes blowing up, people dying, and Jack Bauer generally saving the day. That is to assume he didn't jump off the cliff like a wuss at the end of last season.
That's all I got for now.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
The Barack Obama is President-Elect Blog ......
and of course what I liked about election night.
Like the majority of the USA, I'm excited about Barack Obama being elected President. It's obviously huge progress for America when a man that wouldn't have been allowed to vote fifty years ago. On top of that, the Republicans have finally been held accountable for their failures in the last 8 years. On a personal note, online poker regulation in the US will never go anywhere with a Republican as President, so I'm also happy about that.
I really enjoyed thinking about this election for many different reasons. I basically realized that I am not too strongly in support of either party. I'm probably more moderate than I even care to believe. Whenever I argued with people about issues, I was able to take a deeper look into things and really think about them. Above all, I think I've accepted that personal freedom in the United States is the most important individual quality that should apply to government. I also think that a large government is inherently inefficient and bad (neither party appealed on this issue). Of course, we need some things done by government (national defense, roads, schools, social services, etc.) I firmly believe that when the government infringes upon individual freedoms, democracy loses. The goals of this Obama administration should be to restore individual freedoms and be fiscally responsible. I believe that if the Democrats do these two things in every way they can, the Republican party won't win in the United States for a long time.
On a sad election day note, I am upset in seeing several measures pass putting a ban on gay marriage. I firmly believe that our government was set forth to allow personal freedoms and personal choices be just that, personal. If a personal choice is made that does not harm society as a whole, it should be allowed. In terms of gay marriage, those individuals are seeking their right to pursue happiness. It's a basic tenant on which our country was founded upon. It's the civil rights issue of the next fifty years. When we look back at that point, it will be clear that we all made a mistake. I'm not surprised that these bans passed. Most people fear what they don't know and what they aren't. Most people are heterosexual. Our country is always supposed to protect the minorities. In this case, I feel that we are failing as a country.
Republicans booing John McCain's comments at his concession speech was really the highlight of my night. It summed up this party over the last 8 years as a divisive, intolerant, selfish entity of American government. You didn't see people booing at Kerry's concession speech despite severe displeasure with the administration. Democrats have impressed me in being able to be tolerant of both viewpoints when it matters. I hope they do the same when they are in control because that is what the US needs.
Alaska. Seriously?!? Come on!!! You reelected a Senator that was just charged with corruption in the form of 7 counts related to lying about gifts received. This guy deceived America and used his office for personal gain. His actions have no place in American democracy, but somehow, Alaska puts him back in office. Way to go Alaska! You seriously fail as a state and are embarrassing to the this country.
John McCain
I thank this man for his service and graceful, humble concession. If we had more of this real McCain in the election, it might have been closer. Republicans have always made him the sacrificial lamb when it's convenient. I hope he gets back to work in the Senate the way he has before. He's completely wrong about the war in basically every regard, but bless his heart.
Barack's Speech
I was almost brought to tears listening to his acceptance speech last night. It was what America is all about. I take him at his word as well as he enters an extremely tough time in American history.
Anyone else notice how attractive the four women (Palin, Biden, McCain, Obama) are? So much for having an ugly wife and running for President.
Like the majority of the USA, I'm excited about Barack Obama being elected President. It's obviously huge progress for America when a man that wouldn't have been allowed to vote fifty years ago. On top of that, the Republicans have finally been held accountable for their failures in the last 8 years. On a personal note, online poker regulation in the US will never go anywhere with a Republican as President, so I'm also happy about that.
I really enjoyed thinking about this election for many different reasons. I basically realized that I am not too strongly in support of either party. I'm probably more moderate than I even care to believe. Whenever I argued with people about issues, I was able to take a deeper look into things and really think about them. Above all, I think I've accepted that personal freedom in the United States is the most important individual quality that should apply to government. I also think that a large government is inherently inefficient and bad (neither party appealed on this issue). Of course, we need some things done by government (national defense, roads, schools, social services, etc.) I firmly believe that when the government infringes upon individual freedoms, democracy loses. The goals of this Obama administration should be to restore individual freedoms and be fiscally responsible. I believe that if the Democrats do these two things in every way they can, the Republican party won't win in the United States for a long time.
On a sad election day note, I am upset in seeing several measures pass putting a ban on gay marriage. I firmly believe that our government was set forth to allow personal freedoms and personal choices be just that, personal. If a personal choice is made that does not harm society as a whole, it should be allowed. In terms of gay marriage, those individuals are seeking their right to pursue happiness. It's a basic tenant on which our country was founded upon. It's the civil rights issue of the next fifty years. When we look back at that point, it will be clear that we all made a mistake. I'm not surprised that these bans passed. Most people fear what they don't know and what they aren't. Most people are heterosexual. Our country is always supposed to protect the minorities. In this case, I feel that we are failing as a country.
Republicans booing John McCain's comments at his concession speech was really the highlight of my night. It summed up this party over the last 8 years as a divisive, intolerant, selfish entity of American government. You didn't see people booing at Kerry's concession speech despite severe displeasure with the administration. Democrats have impressed me in being able to be tolerant of both viewpoints when it matters. I hope they do the same when they are in control because that is what the US needs.
Alaska. Seriously?!? Come on!!! You reelected a Senator that was just charged with corruption in the form of 7 counts related to lying about gifts received. This guy deceived America and used his office for personal gain. His actions have no place in American democracy, but somehow, Alaska puts him back in office. Way to go Alaska! You seriously fail as a state and are embarrassing to the this country.
John McCain
I thank this man for his service and graceful, humble concession. If we had more of this real McCain in the election, it might have been closer. Republicans have always made him the sacrificial lamb when it's convenient. I hope he gets back to work in the Senate the way he has before. He's completely wrong about the war in basically every regard, but bless his heart.
Barack's Speech
I was almost brought to tears listening to his acceptance speech last night. It was what America is all about. I take him at his word as well as he enters an extremely tough time in American history.
Anyone else notice how attractive the four women (Palin, Biden, McCain, Obama) are? So much for having an ugly wife and running for President.
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.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Has software ruined me?
I was talking with a certain friend today. This certain friend has a grandmother with a certain vase I may have broke. He said that he believes my recent struggles in the online poker forum could be due to the use of software. Now, I use software to essentially tell me how other opponents play. It records the hands and gives me hundreds of statistics to sort through that could influence my decision one way or the other. The question that remains simple. Is poker really a game about software and definitive math?
Most online players have been able to sort out the variance, that is the fluctuations of random luck from expectation, by playing a high volume of tournaments. The idea would be that the larger the sample size of tournaments, the more likely the expectation would float towards the probable result. This software helps players keep track of their opponents. Undoubtedly, opponent's tendencies are certainly important. Is this software though really helping me out in the long term? I questioned my friend's idea, but began thinking about it more in depth. Is it possible that I'm giving away my edge by thinking the software will allow me to play more tournaments at once than I am truly capable of? Ultimately, I've essentially trained myself to make spot on decisions based on hundreds of variables over the past few years learning poker. I've removed the importance of a single decision and replaced it with the idea that the long term range of these decisions will ultimately prove profitable. At the same time, I've probably allowed myself to play so many tournaments at once that I truly lose the feel of how one particular set of opponents is playing.
This idea that the software is hurting might not be a bad once. While my friend suggested that the numbers the software was giving me was hurting my decision making ability, I think what is really hurting me is that the software is giving me definitive numbers, but removing the intangible variables. Do the best players in the world appear to be overtly mathematical and reliant on statistics only? Surely, they are nowhere near that description. I think my conclusion coming out of this thought process is that while the software may give me more statistical information, it's covering up the instinctual processes that are so important to learning and developing as a poker player.
Most online players have been able to sort out the variance, that is the fluctuations of random luck from expectation, by playing a high volume of tournaments. The idea would be that the larger the sample size of tournaments, the more likely the expectation would float towards the probable result. This software helps players keep track of their opponents. Undoubtedly, opponent's tendencies are certainly important. Is this software though really helping me out in the long term? I questioned my friend's idea, but began thinking about it more in depth. Is it possible that I'm giving away my edge by thinking the software will allow me to play more tournaments at once than I am truly capable of? Ultimately, I've essentially trained myself to make spot on decisions based on hundreds of variables over the past few years learning poker. I've removed the importance of a single decision and replaced it with the idea that the long term range of these decisions will ultimately prove profitable. At the same time, I've probably allowed myself to play so many tournaments at once that I truly lose the feel of how one particular set of opponents is playing.
This idea that the software is hurting might not be a bad once. While my friend suggested that the numbers the software was giving me was hurting my decision making ability, I think what is really hurting me is that the software is giving me definitive numbers, but removing the intangible variables. Do the best players in the world appear to be overtly mathematical and reliant on statistics only? Surely, they are nowhere near that description. I think my conclusion coming out of this thought process is that while the software may give me more statistical information, it's covering up the instinctual processes that are so important to learning and developing as a poker player.
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