I don't really know how well this is going to come out, but here goes a list of things I have learned over the past 7+ weeks.
1. I can take bad beats well. What I can't take well is making mistakes myself. If I play a hand poorly, it can put me on tilt. If a guy sucks out on me in an 800 dollar pot, I seem to be doing just fine handling it.
2. As in many endeavors, in poker you can enter "the zone". Basically everything becomes easy. You're reading the table well, you're making good plays, and in general you're confident that you're just going to win. You can also get into a "slump", where you just don't feel yourself; you get check/raised on the turn every time you enter a pot, and you're never sure what to do. You always seem to make the wrong decision.
3. It is important to knock yourself out of a slump and to continue playing when you're in the zone. This is because the point here is to make money. The best way to knock yourself out a slump, at least for me it seems, is to order some food and tighten up pre-flop. Play only easy hands to play, and play them straight-forwardly. Try to hand-read and congratulate yourself for your victories.
4. I am not an extremely ethical person. As it turns out, it is easier to see your opponents cards than you might expect; about once a week I'm in a situation where I can see my neighbors hole cards with just a small amount of effort. I, unfortunately, have a hard time not looking. Live and learn....I'll admit that yesterday I saved a ton of money in one hand and won another pot that I would not have entered because I could see my neighbors hole cards. And, what's worse, is that I don't really feel bad about it. I'll probably get flamed for this but whatever...protect your hole cards...it ain't hard.
5. It's best to be more calm and quiet than my usual state. When you're playing for 8+ hours in a row, you need to conserve energy and brain power. I used to be quite a talker at the table, but now have found myself saving my speech for times I really am getting bored.
6. Having poker friends is the nuts. I need to make more of them. My trip to Foxwoods with a certain 2p2er was a great experience, if only because I was hanging out with someone who truly, truly got it.
7. When you don't have a job, you don't do shit online. Fantasy football? Too much work. Posting on 2p2? Can't really be bothered. This is a problem that I don't really have a solution for.
8. Exercise is the nuts. Eating well, also the nuts.
9. You can make a decent living playing live 20/40. You don't have to play 40/80. Also, playing 40/80 around here is a pain in the neck because it completely removes game selection. You basically have to sit down and play in whatever game is available, and move to the main game when they tell you to. I changed tables 3 times yesterday at 20/40, moving each time my table looked to be getting a little hard. It was gorgeous. I am going to take another 40/80 shot soon, but for right now 50 dollars an hour at 20/40 is fine by me.
10. It's hard to devote enough time to playing when there is other fun stuff you want to do. I went on vacation 3 times! I tend to spend either Friday or Saturday night out at a bar, and I now don't play Sundays because of the NFL. Crazy stuff.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
Reports of my death were mildly exaggerated
Only mildly though. Without the usual apology, here's what's been going on:
The mathematically inclined reader can quickly deduce that in about the last two weeks I have only won 1200 dollars, and that I won 2900 of those today. Holy moly.
The real reason this post is so delayed is that I wasn't willing to write down my intention, in stone, to continue playing live poker for another 2 months until after I got back from my trip to Boston. The only thing I've really figured out so far is that 6 weeks wasn't long enough to make a decision, so I decided to give myself 8 more. So far it's been going fine, but the 3 vacations (Reno, during which I played, water skiing, during which I didn't, and Boston, during which I did) totaling over 2 weeks of time, coupled with moving to a new apartment really didn't let me get as good of a feel for this as I would have liked.
As you can see, I suffered a massive roller coaster ride over the last 2 weeks. The 3000 dollar loss last Friday (on the last official day of my 6 week shot) was over whelming. I had never lost that much before, and didn't really handle it very well. I learned from it though and got right back on the horse the next day. Shortly after that I took a trip to Boston and played for 2 days at Foxwoods, which greatly increased my confidence. Then just today, on my first full day back in the bay area, I booked my largest single day win ever.
I'll try to write more tomorrow when all my brain cells are back up and running. To anyone left reading, thanks for sticking with me :)
| 10-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | -1405 |
| 11-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | 1669 |
| 12-Sep | 6/12 Limit | Bay 101 | -30 |
| 12-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | -2984 |
| 13-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | -116 |
| 14-Sep | 15/30 Limit | Ajs | 143 |
| 14-Sep | SNG | Ajs | -40 |
| 17-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Foxwoods | 1147 |
| 17-Sep | SNG | Foxwoods | -120 |
| 18-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Foxwoods | 325 |
| 18-Sep | 10/20 Limit | Foxwoods | -226 |
| 22-Sep | 6/12 Limit | Bay 101 | 146 |
| 22-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | 2727 |
The mathematically inclined reader can quickly deduce that in about the last two weeks I have only won 1200 dollars, and that I won 2900 of those today. Holy moly.
The real reason this post is so delayed is that I wasn't willing to write down my intention, in stone, to continue playing live poker for another 2 months until after I got back from my trip to Boston. The only thing I've really figured out so far is that 6 weeks wasn't long enough to make a decision, so I decided to give myself 8 more. So far it's been going fine, but the 3 vacations (Reno, during which I played, water skiing, during which I didn't, and Boston, during which I did) totaling over 2 weeks of time, coupled with moving to a new apartment really didn't let me get as good of a feel for this as I would have liked.
As you can see, I suffered a massive roller coaster ride over the last 2 weeks. The 3000 dollar loss last Friday (on the last official day of my 6 week shot) was over whelming. I had never lost that much before, and didn't really handle it very well. I learned from it though and got right back on the horse the next day. Shortly after that I took a trip to Boston and played for 2 days at Foxwoods, which greatly increased my confidence. Then just today, on my first full day back in the bay area, I booked my largest single day win ever.
I'll try to write more tomorrow when all my brain cells are back up and running. To anyone left reading, thanks for sticking with me :)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Catching Up Again
I suddenly (ok, not so suddenly) realized that I haven't made a post in almost a week. It turns out my desire to have a blog (which is fairly great) is matched equally by my desire to not write a blog...funny how that works out. Seriously, I'm in the process now of moving to a new apartment and trying to sell a bunch of my furniture while still playing 8 hours a day and it's kind of tough. But as Frond says, people are reading this thing :)
So let's see, what has happened since my last post:
I played the 5th at Artichoke Joe's because I needed to take my car in for it's 30K service appointment at Melody Toyota (walking distance from AJs). The plan was to stop in, play a few hours, then continue on to the Oaks (I still have never been there), but the service ended up taking 5 hours (and costing more big bets than I would have liked) because I needed new brakes. That 15/30 game has been a thorn in my side for a while now, but after playing in it for 10+ hours this week I'm convinced I had previously been running a bit bad and wasn't quite ready for it when I started playing it 9 months ago. The game is pretty straight forwardly played, with decent unimaginative players. They don't spew multiple big bets post flop like they do in San Jose, but they can still be exploited. Anyway, booking (albeit modest) wins in that game twice was a nice shot in the arm for my confidence. Only 3 more racks and I'll be break even in it life time....
Week 5 of my shot was an overall loser, thanks mostly to the fact that I didn't get to play much (I was water skiing until late Monday) and that I lost 2400 in my first two sessions upon my return. I'm now well into my final week, which as you can see has gone quite well. I could sit here and pretend there is a chance I'll be looking for a job come Saturday, but to be honest there isn't. I'm going to keep playing, at least for another month or two (the exact duration will be picked Saturday) to see if I continue to enjoy this as much as I have been. 6 weeks, with two vacations, just isn't long enough to get a feel for what this lifestyle really entails. I realize many people pointed that out to me when I started, and all I can say is "you told me so".
Hands
I have a nut flush draw in an 8/16 game
And one I didn't post because I know what I did wrong:
Gerry, a good playing prop player at Bay 101 3-bets my high jack open raise from the small blind. This is great because I have pocket Kings. I cap, and Gerry calls. He then meekly calls the flop and turn on a board of J928, and donks the river when a 2 comes off. I call and he says "I was calling anyway" and tables QQ. I win.
Where was my mistake here? Capping pre-flop. I should just call, let him think my hand is weak and range is wide, then raise any flop, getting me to the exact same point in the hand without giving away the fact that I have a MONSTER.
And one that really ticked me off:
This guy is a regular at Bay 101 and I don't like him much. He thinks he's hot stuff, and this time I was playing with him he actually commented on one hand "ace high is good against that guy" when I was betting the turn heads up in a blind steal when I happened to have flopped top pair ace kicker. Basically the guy was telling my opponent to call down because, in his opinion, I always have nothing and am a habitual bluffer. Anyway, I thought this was a little out of bounds (my opponent folded anyway) and was kind of irritated when....
I have AA and raise this guy's big blind. One limper is in the pot, and he calls saying "I'm going to check/raise the turn"
K23
They check to me and I bet. They both call.
6
They check to me and he says "I'm going to check/raise the turn". I bet. He raises. Other guy folds, I tank. Normally this is a turbo-call down, but with his all his talking I take a moment to try and find a raise. While I'm thinking he says "here, dark bet" and slides 8 chips out to bet the river. It is more than I can take.
"3-bets" I declare. He sits back quickly in his chair, as if struck by a large object, and clutches his chest. I am annoyed and finish my sentence, under my breath "you jackass", which only my half of the table (of which he is not a part) hears. He hollywoods and then calls. River is a brick and I bet and he calls. I table my AA and...it's no good. He flopped a set of 2s. Damn it.
So let's see, what has happened since my last post:
| 5-Sep | 15/30 Limit | Ajs | 311 |
| 6-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | -437 |
| 8-Sep | 8/16 Limit | Bay 101 | 39 |
| 8-Sep | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | 984 |
| 8-Sep | 6/12 Limit | Ajs | -73 |
| 8-Sep | 15/30 Limit | Ajs | 172 |
| 9-Aug | 20/40 Limit | Bay 101 | 1349 |
I played the 5th at Artichoke Joe's because I needed to take my car in for it's 30K service appointment at Melody Toyota (walking distance from AJs). The plan was to stop in, play a few hours, then continue on to the Oaks (I still have never been there), but the service ended up taking 5 hours (and costing more big bets than I would have liked) because I needed new brakes. That 15/30 game has been a thorn in my side for a while now, but after playing in it for 10+ hours this week I'm convinced I had previously been running a bit bad and wasn't quite ready for it when I started playing it 9 months ago. The game is pretty straight forwardly played, with decent unimaginative players. They don't spew multiple big bets post flop like they do in San Jose, but they can still be exploited. Anyway, booking (albeit modest) wins in that game twice was a nice shot in the arm for my confidence. Only 3 more racks and I'll be break even in it life time....
Week 5 of my shot was an overall loser, thanks mostly to the fact that I didn't get to play much (I was water skiing until late Monday) and that I lost 2400 in my first two sessions upon my return. I'm now well into my final week, which as you can see has gone quite well. I could sit here and pretend there is a chance I'll be looking for a job come Saturday, but to be honest there isn't. I'm going to keep playing, at least for another month or two (the exact duration will be picked Saturday) to see if I continue to enjoy this as much as I have been. 6 weeks, with two vacations, just isn't long enough to get a feel for what this lifestyle really entails. I realize many people pointed that out to me when I started, and all I can say is "you told me so".
Hands
I have a nut flush draw in an 8/16 game
And one I didn't post because I know what I did wrong:
Gerry, a good playing prop player at Bay 101 3-bets my high jack open raise from the small blind. This is great because I have pocket Kings. I cap, and Gerry calls. He then meekly calls the flop and turn on a board of J928, and donks the river when a 2 comes off. I call and he says "I was calling anyway" and tables QQ. I win.
Where was my mistake here? Capping pre-flop. I should just call, let him think my hand is weak and range is wide, then raise any flop, getting me to the exact same point in the hand without giving away the fact that I have a MONSTER.
And one that really ticked me off:
This guy is a regular at Bay 101 and I don't like him much. He thinks he's hot stuff, and this time I was playing with him he actually commented on one hand "ace high is good against that guy" when I was betting the turn heads up in a blind steal when I happened to have flopped top pair ace kicker. Basically the guy was telling my opponent to call down because, in his opinion, I always have nothing and am a habitual bluffer. Anyway, I thought this was a little out of bounds (my opponent folded anyway) and was kind of irritated when....
I have AA and raise this guy's big blind. One limper is in the pot, and he calls saying "I'm going to check/raise the turn"
K23
They check to me and I bet. They both call.
6
They check to me and he says "I'm going to check/raise the turn". I bet. He raises. Other guy folds, I tank. Normally this is a turbo-call down, but with his all his talking I take a moment to try and find a raise. While I'm thinking he says "here, dark bet" and slides 8 chips out to bet the river. It is more than I can take.
"3-bets" I declare. He sits back quickly in his chair, as if struck by a large object, and clutches his chest. I am annoyed and finish my sentence, under my breath "you jackass", which only my half of the table (of which he is not a part) hears. He hollywoods and then calls. River is a brick and I bet and he calls. I table my AA and...it's no good. He flopped a set of 2s. Damn it.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Double Duty
I played two sessions yesterday, both at Bay 101, and decided to take Thursday off to take care of a bunch of stuff that has just been piling up/watch football. The first session was from about 10:30 am until about 4:30 pm, and the second session started around 10:45pm and went until 2:45am. A
In the first session I lost about a rack ($500) and honestly nothing went right. In the second session I posted a nearly 2 rack win and felt a lot better about myself. 10 hours of poker in a single day is pushing it, but breaking it up into two sessions really seemed to help.
Without a huge win tomorrow I'll be posting a loss for week 5, but them's the breaks....
In the first session I lost about a rack ($500) and honestly nothing went right. In the second session I posted a nearly 2 rack win and felt a lot better about myself. 10 hours of poker in a single day is pushing it, but breaking it up into two sessions really seemed to help.
Without a huge win tomorrow I'll be posting a loss for week 5, but them's the breaks....
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Catching Up
I've been out of town water skiing at New Melones Lake for the last 6 days with my friend Chris, my ex-girlfriend/friend/possibly future girlfriend again Danielle, and her father, Dan. The trip was fantastic and pictures will be posted eventually. The trip by numbers:
Beers consumed: 108
Shoulders dislocated (Dan's, not mine): 1
Shoulders reduced in the truck ride to the ER, thus avoiding arrival at the ER: 1
Times my friend Chris said "you can't pee there": 2
Times I actually moved: 1
Pounds of Ice used to keep our food cold: ~300
Pairs of my sunglasses Chris lost: 1
Pairs of Chris's sunglasses I dropped in the lake: 1
Back to the pokers....
Before I left last Wednesday I played one last session at Bay 101. For a while it looked like I might actually lose some money, but I ended up posting a ~300 dollar win capped off by the following hand:
I raise AQ both hearts and some people call.
448 with two hearts
It's checked to me and I bet. Two players call maybe.
Heart hits on the turn.
A guy donk bets and I raise him. He 3-bets and I tank. He says "flush good?" and I decide to just call. He bets the blank river and I again just call. He tables KJo with the King of hearts for...king high. Turns out 4 was the most bets I could get out of him anyway, so it worked out well, but wow....he put in 4 bets heads up with a flush draw, one of them on the river!
Final Results for week 4
In just 16 hours of play (over 4 days) I managed to win almost 3800 dollars. As previously stated, I ran like God on a scooter. The last two weeks have been dicey in terms of total hours played, since I took the Reno trip (and opted to sit in my winnings and actually enjoy a vacation) and this water skiing trip. I'm going to get back on the horse and play as many hours as I can over the remaining 10 days of my shot.
Today's Session
Today I crashed my scooter. I played at Bay 101 from about 1:30 until 6:15 and managed to post a 1900 dollar loss. I won exactly 1 pot in my last 2.5 hours of play, and had stuff like this happen:
Bad player limps, I raise QJs. Passive lady with 2000 dollars in front of her calls on the button. JJ3 flops. I bet all three streets, she calls me down only, and on the river shows 33 for a full house that beats my trips. Believe it or not I almost checked the river, as she was THAT passive.
My QQ also ran into KK, my AT was cracked by JT, and various other bad things continued to happen to me until I finally decided I was not going to buy a 5th rack and just left when I got all in on my last hand.
Surprisingly, I don't think I was on tilt at the end of the session and really could have kept playing. I suppose I probably should have, but didn't want the loss to start with a 2 :(
Beers consumed: 108
Shoulders dislocated (Dan's, not mine): 1
Shoulders reduced in the truck ride to the ER, thus avoiding arrival at the ER: 1
Times my friend Chris said "you can't pee there": 2
Times I actually moved: 1
Pounds of Ice used to keep our food cold: ~300
Pairs of my sunglasses Chris lost: 1
Pairs of Chris's sunglasses I dropped in the lake: 1
Back to the pokers....
Before I left last Wednesday I played one last session at Bay 101. For a while it looked like I might actually lose some money, but I ended up posting a ~300 dollar win capped off by the following hand:
I raise AQ both hearts and some people call.
448 with two hearts
It's checked to me and I bet. Two players call maybe.
Heart hits on the turn.
A guy donk bets and I raise him. He 3-bets and I tank. He says "flush good?" and I decide to just call. He bets the blank river and I again just call. He tables KJo with the King of hearts for...king high. Turns out 4 was the most bets I could get out of him anyway, so it worked out well, but wow....he put in 4 bets heads up with a flush draw, one of them on the river!
Final Results for week 4
In just 16 hours of play (over 4 days) I managed to win almost 3800 dollars. As previously stated, I ran like God on a scooter. The last two weeks have been dicey in terms of total hours played, since I took the Reno trip (and opted to sit in my winnings and actually enjoy a vacation) and this water skiing trip. I'm going to get back on the horse and play as many hours as I can over the remaining 10 days of my shot.
Today's Session
Today I crashed my scooter. I played at Bay 101 from about 1:30 until 6:15 and managed to post a 1900 dollar loss. I won exactly 1 pot in my last 2.5 hours of play, and had stuff like this happen:
Bad player limps, I raise QJs. Passive lady with 2000 dollars in front of her calls on the button. JJ3 flops. I bet all three streets, she calls me down only, and on the river shows 33 for a full house that beats my trips. Believe it or not I almost checked the river, as she was THAT passive.
My QQ also ran into KK, my AT was cracked by JT, and various other bad things continued to happen to me until I finally decided I was not going to buy a 5th rack and just left when I got all in on my last hand.
Surprisingly, I don't think I was on tilt at the end of the session and really could have kept playing. I suppose I probably should have, but didn't want the loss to start with a 2 :(
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