Poker

2005-10-25T01:08:00.000-07:00

The New Order

When we play single table tourneys, its good to have
fun, but I think the games are fun when the standard
is good. If its a competitive / close game then I
think everyone will benefit, and probably enjoy
themeselves a bit more.

Lets review yesterday's game, for example, there was
a variety of standards, but I can say that the new
player probably impressively played with as much common sense
as the next person, however the village idiot played
like the village idiot. Whichever way you look at
it , anyone who calls all his chips with 8-2, when
none of his chips are in the pot, possibly calling the tightest
player, is an idiot play. If that person can say that
he has made that play 4 handed in a single table tourney,
for say $100 then ill take that back if not then
it shows the idiotic nature of that play. Why play
so differently to the way you play online then do
you when its live ??? Perhaps if you play like that
live, you wont be able to help make stupid plays
when you are in a live situation, when it counts
for a lot more ???

Anyway each to their own. But ... I am proposing a
new single table tournament format. Firstly the
winner takes all (subject to change). In the past i
have said we should increase the buy-in, but that
is not fair. To an extent, why should someone put
$50 to play in a single table tournament, when
they might only play $30 online, and if i play
say $200 single table tournaments, then one person
is possibly out of their depth in terms of bankroll
and one person is quite comfortable.

The solution is the handicapped poker buy-in single
table tournaments. Everyone needs to buy in at least for
their assigned poker handicap buy-in. Here is
the list (of some of the players) :

Rk - $200
frage - $100
chad - $50
horry, barts, dayle , jon, tanya, brad, lap - 20
nai - $10
new players - $5

Lets say:
RK, Frage, Chad, dayle, tanya , and nai all play
in a single table tournament. There are 6
players, and the winner takes all. But b4, you
say, hey sweet a new player can win $200 off
rk thats unfortunately not how it works. You
can only win a maximum of the number of players
times your buy in or the size of the pool,
whichever is smaller.

So in example one, say buy ins are :
Rk - $200, Frage - $100, Chad - $50, Dayle / Tanya - $20
Nai - $10.

If nai were to win he would win $60, $10 off everyone.
If dayle or tanya were to win , theyd win $20 each minus
10 coz nai put in $10, so they would $110. If
chad were to win he would win nai's $10, dayle and tanya's
$20 , and $50 of frage and rk. Winning $200 (which is including
chads $50). And if frage were to win, he would win
$300 (including his $100 buy in). This system allows everyone
to play on an equal playing field for a buy-in they would
feel comfortable playing with online for. Perhaps you could
say that if it got 3 handed with frage , me and nai, he would
much prefer to see me elminated than nai, coz if nai wins
he would lose less than if i won, but i dont think that will
affect the game much, and frankly the better player should
welcome that challenge. New players can buy-in for a game
for $5, and compete on the same level, coz all the chips
are worth the same. And everyone else can still feel like
they have something to play for, as the prize pool will
still be ok.

The other rule about the handicap system, is say Brad, who
thinks hes good, (brad did play well win to last night)
fancy himself, he can buy in for anything up to $200.
But more likely say he puts in for $50, and everyone else
puts in for their regular handicap, he is just giving himself
a chance to win more. (winning $50 of say chad, frage
and rk, and everyone else's normal buy ins)

Anyway i dont think its unfair to make ppl buy-in for
what they would do online, therefore promoting a standard
of play which is competitive and interesting. And hey
if you want to call 8-2 in a $50 tournament , then id
believe u may do it in an online tournament as well.

The table may come back to my place, tho im happy
with it being at chs. I dont see how this is unfair
on anyone, and if you think your handicap is too high
id be happy to review it. If someone says they dont
feel like playing at their handicap, then they prolly
dont feel like playing poker which is fine, and should
stay home.

These are the new rules as of soon :)

Comments welcome.

2005-10-16T17:33:00.000-07:00

its alive!

The famous words uttered by the professor,
when the monster, frankenstein, is zapped by
lightning and brought to life.

The two headed monster I can say wasnt my
creation. As hideous as it may seem, it doesnt
seem to be running too hot at the moment.
Which i dont really understand, how can 2
people who are patient and smart, and
attractive (tho irrelevant in online poker)
with some assistance by me, be not travelling
better ?!

Sometimes i seem to have the effect that I can create
enthusiasm for people to play poker, only for me
not to properly prepare them and they dont really
succeed as well as they might. Luckily with my
group of friends, we all got into it at the same
time, so it wasnt my fault, entirely ...

The classic example, which wasnt poker but blackjack,
was when i introudced nai's housematest in melbourne
to the counting strategy and charts that you should
be using when playing blackjack. A week after I left,
they went to the crown with photocopied charts from my
books, maxed out their credit cards, down a heap
and were receiving calls by one of their dads late at
night. Arggh.

After leaving London staying with Mitch, all his housemates
had party poker installed on their machines, and were playing
online and sometimes live. Thankfully mitch won some money
and stopped.

Then there was the episode with my cousin, where he
was banned from the internet after his parents found
him playing online poker. Thankfully it was a free-roll,
but i had showed him how to play poker just 2 days before.
He was 15. Unfortunately I havent seen the end of this
episode, coz I was over there for dinner yesterday, and
now he was playing for money ! His parents didnt seem
to care coz he said he won $10 in a free-roll , but that
was kind of fabricated. Anyway hes run the $10 into $100+.
Its hard to be so discouraging, when he is doing well.
I mean thats pretty impressive really, he barely knows
much about the game, and he beating the lower limits. But
what am i saying, he is 15, he isnt suppose to be
playing ! Wat the hell is going on. Then he mentioned
how another person at his school, was up to $10K ,
not sure how much he started with, and now had lost
it all.
me: so he is older than u, right ?
cousing: nah, he is actually younger...

Wat !! 14 year old kids playing with 10K bankrolls
and flushing it away. Which raises the question, who am
i playing against? When i play live at the casino, you
can see the idiots you are playing against. I mean i dont
have too man qualms about winning against people in general,
especially people who are looking for some fun/ who have
money. But what about people who are playing with pension
money.

At least at the higher limits, surely these people have
money. Or are they addicts , playing beyond their means?
Or are they 14 year old school kids riding a hot streak??
May be if you lose 10K when you are 14, you will be better
preopared for life, but may be you will just become
a degenerate gambler. Thankfully my cousin has some
money management skills. As he plans to take out $50 everytime,
he gets to $100. So he has already cashed out $50. 15
year olds cashing checks from poker sites doesnt sit right.
But then i was about to tell him, about pokersouce, etc.
Luckily im not completely reckless.

So I guess you have to ask yourself some questions when
playing poker.
1) Do you enjoy playing poker ? - If yes then playing occasionally
within your limits, would seem to be sensible advice.
2) Do you win at the game ? - No, and you still enjoy playing
the game ? Hmmm well, then you should definately play within
your limitations. If you really want to improve you should
seek help, i can probably help, but perhaps you should be
just a recreational player.
- Yes i win at the game. Well if thats the case then
you have more options. You shouldnt quit your job, and
may be just supplement your regular income with you
poker winnings. Ok i did the opposite but im not normal.
- If you win at the game and you don't enjoy it, then
you probably should find some other way to spend you time.

3) How do you spend your winnings ? - If you are a true
winning player, you potentially can make a lot of money,
or at least more than your day job and in a lot less
time. But i think there has to be a goal to use the
money responsibly. Most poker players will just spend
on crazy things, or on playing more poker. There is
no money management for a lot of people. There are kids
in their 20s with too much money at their disposal,
with no real interests other than making more money,
and as such are completeley out of control. When I
was in London i met a couple of these type of people,
winning 100 of thousands in a week , losing it all back
borrowing some money working it up and then repeating
this cycle. Reading some of the greenstein book, is
refreshing. Here you have a top poker player, who spends
his money on something worthwhile, helping kids in
under priveleged countries . While his ideals are
beyond the average person, it is good to know there are
people out there like that, who are poker players, but
in someway you can aspire to. And it becomes understandable
how such a consumate professional like ivey can look up to
someone like Greenstein.

Its 10.42am on a Monday morning , and ive made close to twice
what i would have made in a week at my old job.(I was underpaid
at my last job, well not really brad did most of it). And who
knows whether i will be up at the end of the week, but it is
starting to dawn on me, there is some responsibility on
poker players to do something good, whether the pursuit
of something nobler or in my case also making movies. You
cant shirk the responsibility.

A poker player doesnt really add any value to society by
playing. Poker on tv is entertaining too some extent, but
really its a negative sum equation. Where money is slowly
filtered out by casinos and large organisations like party
poker, and the rest of the money is redistributed.

I guess in some ways it would have been good to have someone
traveling down a similar path, coz the younger tournament
players seem to have others with them to discuss stuff,
but im happy my friends are doing better things with their
lives!

- even tho my door is open for 101 lessons if you need help,
beware wat u want :) !

2005-10-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Putting it together?

Poker is about trying to put the pieces of the
puzzle together. If you can work out what your
opponent is holding then its a lot easier to
work out what to do. But its important to try
and form a view, even if its wrong.

Couple of hands from yesterday's tourney.

Ive got 9-7, dayle A-K. Flop comes
9-7-J all spades. I have bottom 2
pair kind of dangerous. She bets
100, i raise to 300. She calls at this
point im prolly thinking she at least
has a spade in the hand, or may be
has A-J. Turn comes a red A, she leads
out and best 500, im think im ahead
but worried about A-J decide to call
and see what happens. But think theres
a chance she at least got an Aces and
a spade which im ahead of, possibly
could re-raise all in. Last card
comes a spade, and she bets 500, i have
to fold putting her on one spade in
the hand. Perhaps could have pushed her
off her tp tk, flush draw on the turn,
but called and bet when i was ahead and
folded when behind.

Another hand dayle and barter, flop
Ah-2h-2, barter is in the blind. Check,
dayle bets barter calls. The turn comes
another heart, barter checks and dayle
bets, and barter calls. There is about
a 1000 in the pot. River comes an aces
putting 2 pair on the board, Barter bets
500. Dayle decides to call with her flush,
barter has a 2 and wins the pot. This is
one of those hands where you are almost
certainly beat. Barter is for one reasonably
solid, he has called a bet on the flop
and the turn. Logic would dictate he either
had an Ace or a 2. Its very unlikely that
he would bluff into a board like that,
after the opponent, has bet twice, i mean
barter would have to be a little worried
about his opponent having an ace. Barter
would also be very unlikely to bet a flush
there, and prolly just check it out. So
what hand can u put ur opponent that would
make him play his like that. Almost nothing,
so therefore you are beaten and you probably
have to fold.

In both examples sometimes your ahead, but
then logic dictates that you are beaten
on the river and its time to let go and
save chips. Im not saying you always have
to fold in these situations, but you want
to try and work out what sort of hands your
opponent might be betting or calling with
and then add it up. Even if your wrong the
most important thing is engaging in the
process. You cant just look at your hand
and the board and think well ive got a decent
hand i could be ahead.

One thing i learnt in London, was how the
better opponents are always studying and
you and putting it together. In the
semi-finals, tony bloom raises from late
position, i called with 5s from the blind.
Flop comes 9-9-6. I check he checks. Turn
comes a 7. I bet , after a while he comes
over the top strongly. I think about it
for a while, and conclude that either
he was slow playing or somehow sense weakness,
but the check on the flop abd the re-raise on
the turn, seems like strength. I was later
told that Tony Bloom had k-9 , good lay down!
But the amazing thing was when Tony G, said
to Tony Bloom thats probably the most you could
of got out of his 5s !!!! And i was like wtf.
Can he see my cards?? Then i thought about it,
and it seemed logical. Bloom raised in late
position, I just called. If i had a stronger
hand 10s and up i would have been tempted
to re-raise. So therfore i had something a bit
weaker. Then the flop comes 9-9-6, I check
and he checks. Ok i could still have anything,
then the turn comes 7, and I bet. Logically
i had something to call with pre-flop, possibly
a small pocket pair, bloom has checked, i have
picked up an inside straight draw and have a pair,
so it would seem a good point to bet. Anyway
he put the pieces of the puzzle quite quickly,
and worked out what i had, and i still remember
thinking wow, neat trick, but really he just
deduced it all rather cleverly !

2005-10-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

Qualifier !

Who is in for a qualifier tonite at CHS 8pm, for a spot in the
Spring Classic ($300+40). Buy in for tonites tourney
will be $20 - $30, and ill put in the rest for the seat.

Tourney is on 23rd Sunday October.

Here is the tournament calendar

There are currently 12 spots available , so ill go and
buy the seat winner a spot tomorrow.

First in best dressed !

2005-10-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Freerolls?

Pokernetwork and Titan are offfering - "

Titan Poker is proud to announce two Aussie Millions
Freeroll Tournaments. The first, awarding a seat at the
No Limit Holdem event at the Aussie Millions in Australia on
January 6, 2006, will take place on Sunday, October 16,
2005, at 19:30 AEST / 05:30 EST (Server Time). The second,
awarding a seat at the Aussie Millions Main Event in
Australia starting on January 15, 2006, will take place
on Sunday, October 30, 2005, at 19:30 AEST / 05:30 Server
Time.

The one to play is on October 30 ! Make sure u sign up
with pokernetwork and also sign up with titan poker,
free to do both, and you could be playing in the
aussie millions come january !

2005-10-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Stoopid RBC

Ive never been so disapointed after a tourney. Played
in pokerstars tourney, actually my second tourney that
i have played on this site. Thats important coz i
guess im unfamiliar with the software. Anywhere
240ppl left, i have a bit less than average. 3000+
ppl started ! In the money, looking yo do well. Im
in the big blind wiht Q6s, small blind limps
in i check option, flop comes J-10-7. I attempt to bet
3K into 4K pot on a steal, then 2 seconds later im
out ? Wtf happened, i think i entered 30K or pressed
all in somehow, anyway he instantly called with j-7
and the turn came a J meaning i was drawing dead.
The only time i accidentally press the button like
that he has 2 pair and im gone. Victim of an
RBC (random button click), and i played really well
up till then, so disapointing :((

2005-10-06T17:06:00.000-07:00

Absolute gheyness

Absolute poker were running a competition, which was
almost purely luck. If you played in the 200th millionth
hand and won, you would win a trip to costa rica. If
you lost in the 200th millionth hand ud win $500. Omaha
Hi/lo was the best game to play coz if u were either
the high or the low winner you would win the trip.

I decided to stay up and after 1am, i dont know whether
you can get much closer.

Look at the hand number up the top right corner !#$#!

And also i went on to win the high, ghey ghey ghey.

Oh well here are some facts about Costa Rica according
to the CIA, Facts. Apparently Costa Rica
has a lot of volcanoes, so your prolly likely to see
shana hiatt there.

2005-10-06T01:40:00.000-07:00

RK vs Bax

According to Pocket 5s the current tourament
champion is JohnnyBax. Now its good to set yourself a
goal, so I have decided to see how i stack up against the best ?!
The contest, who is the better tournament player ?! Method,
see how we go when playing in the same tourneys.

So far : syntax=> tourney(entry)/no ppl -jbax-pl($) Rk -pl($)

200K Guaranteed($215)/1194 - JBax - 669($0) RK - 27($1432)
500K Guaranteed($215)/2430 - JBax - 1826($0) RK - 1442($0)
Super Wednesday($162)/579 - Jbax - 376($0) RK - 60($347)

I didnt play in the tourney he cashed this week, tho
frage cashed in that one so how hard could it have
been ;) Good to set up silly competitions like this
to push yourself.

Early days RK 2 Jbax 0 (where u dont cash , its a draw)
Ultimately it will come down to accumulated winnings,
but this guy is supposedly consistent, so good to see
what his cashing rate is like. It is possible that he
just plays a lot more, but i imagine when he cashes
he prolly makes it count more too.

2005-10-04T23:47:00.000-07:00

Blogger poker ?!

It pays to blog and play poker? Apparently so.

Blogger championship

Jon told me about this and u prolly saw the email. The deal :

- u have to sign up with poker stars, Poker stars tournament
wise is apparently the place to play. So even if u dont play
in ths tourney its prolly a worthwhile place to improve.
In fact playing tournaments on pp, u prolly pick up bad habbits.
- u have to operate an active blog. (min 2 months old)
- $25K in free prizes, Xboxs, Nanos, Flat screen monitors and 1
WPT package !
- date : Oct - Monday 24th 6am (bit of a catch for aussies)
- i prolly can play for someone else if they register, 1st
in 1st serve.
- go to RK old poker to see what
your blog looks like once u have registered for the tourney

Good luck !

2005-10-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

Embrace it

When ur playing ring games embrace being shafted. Its
weird but i really dont mind when some guy sucks out
and wins out on me. Ok if it happens more than once,
then it gets a bit frustrating, but its going to happen
nomatter what u do, u cant always get ur money
in with ur opponent drawing dead, its how u choose
to deal with it.

Recently, ive sat down with Ks first hand. Ks when
ur holding $2000 and blinds are 10-20, can get tricky.
In a tourney u can push all in, but in ring, well
u dont just want to push all in pre-flop most of the
time ull prolly have to play a flop , and then
judgement comes in.

First hand someone else raised to $80, 3 other ppl
see the flop. The flop comes 7-2-2, i bet $160,
when it gets checked to me. Some guy who didnt
raise re-raises all in with a short stack. The others
fold, i dont think he has 7s or As or a 2 most likely
a medium pair, and i call (pot-$1200). Its also good
to consider the short stack mentaility. Ie short stacks
are less likely to be patient. He has 8s, next card
out an 8 ! Oh well, i was about a 92% to 8% favourite,
one of the best situations u can get ur money in,
and i still lost ! But look at the odds, 8 in a 100
times he will win, its going to happen embrace it
and move on. It hurts in a tourament a lot, coz
there is no next hand ur out, cya later, but in
ring, u sit down, and soon enuff u have that
persons money or someone elses money.

Yesterday first hand Ks, i raise to $60, short
stack re-raises to $220, i put him all in for
his remaining $600. Another $1200 pot, he has
AQs. The reason i re-raise on the flop here, is
that once i feel he doesnt have Aces, i may as well
get the rest of his money in while i have the
best hand. Also he doesnt have a lot of money
in front oh him, so theres no real advantage
to trying to outplay him on the flop, keep it
simple. Say he has Js and an Ace comes out and
he bets, it can get complicated. Anyway
first 4 cards all blank, river is an Ace, oh
well. The odds pre-flop of that matchup are 67 - 33,
i lose one in 3 hands. Perhaps i could have
seen the flop and put him all in there, but oh
well, bring on one bad beat once in a while i
dont mind :)

Try not to let it affect you, concetrate being
the favourite when ur playing, and ull be winning
in the long term and they'll be the ones paying
you!

2005-10-03T17:23:00.000-07:00

Mobile player

Now that i have a laptop, i can take to playing poker
outside, its kinda good to have a mobile office.
On the weekend met tg for lunch, and walked down to ETC
with laptop open playing two tournaments down rundle st.
I must say it looked retarded, and im pretty sure ppl
were wondering what i was doing. But at least , i didnt
miss any hands. In fact in the hour during alfresco
coffee, i went from 8k to 50K+ in chips, but unfortunately
egged it later, coming around 25th in the 200K tourney.
Tough one raised 6s early position, got called, bet out
on K-Q-4 flop, he called, he had KQ, and milked somemore
out of me. Could i have checked the flop there ? Perhaps.
Tho i like to bet , bet !

Also went down to the park, kicked the soccer ball around,
sat under a shady tree and played some poker there.

CHS poker friendzy, frage barts and i all played in the
same tourney. Ppl seemed to be onto us that we were both
from adelaide, but frage used some clever conversation to
divert people from this fact. Tho none of us cashed, ghey !

2005-10-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

GT IV

Oh well after looking forward to the GT IV i got
knocked out early. The overbet , got me again.
Final Hand blinds , 50-100, one limper late position,
button raises to 900, button is quite aggressive,
kinda loose. I have Ks in the sb, could re-raise, but
better value in calling i belive. Everyone folds,
2K in the pot. Flop comes 9-5s-2s, I bet 1K, he goes
all in for 10K, I have about the same. The hand i prolly
should have considered more was the flush draw, but
i was thinking he had a pair pre-flop, so if he didnt
have aces then i was ahead of any medium pair 10s,Js
Qs. Didnt really think he had a set, considering
the size of the bet, I called he had 5s, all over.
Woops, tough one to lay down , esp to loose player
there. Ks ran into As for belfrage later, and that was
the end, anptjer few months to the next gt.

2005-09-28T01:19:00.000-07:00

Grand tournament IV

Whose playing in Grand Tournament IV ?!!! The buy in is
$1000 which is pretty crazy, but there are plenty of
smaller tournaments to play in to qualify. This is the
best online tournament to play in ! You start with 10K
in chips, blind levels are 30mins each, its like a mini
world series. After 6.5 hrs, if ur still in, u get to
go through to day 2 ! And do it all again.

If you want to improve your tournament play, this is the
best one to play in. Pokerroom run $100 satellites for
this tourney, if you want me to play for you, ill be
happy to (as long as i know you). GT IV however does
start Sunday quite early in the morning, so that is
a bit of a catch. Hey , you gotta sacrifice a bit
sometimes.

Anyway, if ur still keen and cant play in the during
the day qualifiers, i can play. Last time frage came
15th ! Way to go !

2005-09-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

B is for Bellagio !!!!

Ive finally done it ! A life's dream to go to vegas, ever since i was
well, for a long time anyway, has been achieved.
And they're paying me, and i get to enter a big vegas tournament
and , well its just too cool for school !!!!

Last sunday i played on a pokerroom WPT qualifer for the
5 star diamond event at the bellagio. 91 entrants and there
was 1 seat for the winner. My goal was to make the
top 5, as thats where the money started and then see
what happens from there. Good thing about this tourney
is you start with 2500 in chips, which gives you some time
to play. I played well early with little in the way of cards,
just keeping afloat. Everytime i managed to get ahead,
i seemed to give the chips straight back. Finally got to 5K,
then make a late raise guy from the big blind push all in
for 4K, i raised to around 1, I had Js, I called he has Aces.
Grayte back down to 1. Then just before the end of the hour
i finally hit some cards , picking up Ks and As, in 3 hands, and
trippling and doubling up. From there i played really well.
I attempted to keep some poker map going but struggled.
Just mentally keeping track for now.

Made it to the final table, with about average chips, and started
getting some tough decisions. Pick up pocket 10s, get into 3
handed action. The Flop comes 8 high make a bet, two callers. Then
check the turn, sensing some gheyness, the guy who called from the
blind makes a big over bet , still 8 high on the turn, I think about
and decide to fold, later said he ahd Js !

Phew big fold there. Then later on I raised with k-10 5 handed , got
called, by the blind, flop came 10 high, he check raised me not a
big amount but enuff, i thought about it and folded, he showed A-10!
Another good lay down.

With that confidence i played really well to get to three handed. Then
one guy started going crazy and i folded 10s when he pushed all in.
I felt i could outplay them on the flop, and stuck to the game plan,
not wanting to race if i could. The other guy got rid of the crazy
guy, heads up. 42K to 160K, some tough work ahead. Early on,
he makes a small re-raise, I have K-8, i call. Flop comes 10-8-3,
he puts me all in call, he shows A-Q, another good call and I double
up. From then on it was a procession of me winning pots,
and finally he bluffed all his chips with nothing on the turn and
i had top pair, and OMG , the bellagio seat was mine :)))

Things i learnt from the tournament, a good nights sleep the
night before is very useful, other ppl were going out, it was
tempting, but i said , nup im going home, i have to wake up
early ! Last time i did that b4 melbourne tourney, it paid off
as well ! Hanging in - really important not to give it a way,
even if ur down the barrell, i came back a number of times
just like in melbourne, and stayed patient.

Anyway so whats the deal with the seat ??? The four
pictures up the top are , 2 of the bellagio and 2 of the
paris hotel where i am staying. The paris is opposite
the bellagio, and coz the bellagio is full, team pokerroom
which i am a part of , get based there.

Here are some 3d panaromaic photos of the paris and bellagio.

The tournament im playing in is the 5 star diamond WPT event,
which has a 15K buy in and prolly all the best players in the
world. Last years tournament attracted 377 entrants, a prize
pool over 5 million, with first place (negranu) getting 1.8 million!