While I'm feeling frisky, here's a poker boom thought that recently occurred to me.
I've had concerns that this whole poker explosion would dry up. The popular doomsday model is that the bad players lose enough money that they stop coming back, so without any fish, the sharks just have to feed on each other and everything gets much harder. Poker is a huge fad right now, so tons of dollars are flowing into the poker economy, enabling decent players like me to (barely) make a living. But when the fad dies, that money will stop coming. The best players will probably still make a living, but lots of marginal players like me will have to reenter the work force.
But what occurred to me is that poker's popularity has increased with its availability. 10 years ago, how many people lived close enough to a public card room to play poker regularly? It was basically just AC, Vegas, southern California and maybe a few other spots near Indian casinos or riverboats. So availability of poker was fairly limited. Today anyone with a computer and a credit card can play poker any time they want.
And even in those areas near the casinos, poker rooms were very mysterious and intimidating. But now coverage all over the TV has stripped poker of its seedy image, and commercials for online gambling make everyone forget about its ambiguous legal status.
People play games that are fun and available. Poker has always been fun, but it wasn't always available. Now people know that poker is a widely available entertainment option, and they'll spend a little less time in the theaters or bowling alleys. I'm sure eventually the poker craze will slow down, and maybe it already is doing that. But unless the government explicitly criminalizes online poker, there's going to be plenty of action for a long time.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 07, 2005
Back to where it all started
Going back to 4-tabling $3/6. Fortunately, I'm able to view this as a simple business decision. I don't have any problem playing lower, in terms of ego. I need to maximize income given my risk tolerance, and this move is the best way to do it.
Two big advantages to playing lower: the players are so much worse, and I don't have to be afraid of a big loss. Another noteworthy advantage is that it is easier to find a good game any time.
Worse Players: Loose/Passives vs Loose/Aggressives
Unfortunately, its harder to make a living at lower stakes, so I'm going to have to drastically increase my volume. 30~40 hours per week of 4-tabling is still better than 40 hours per week in an office. I might try 6-tabling.
Hopefully after a few months I will have rebuilt my bankroll and my confidence, and I'll be in a much better position to succeed at the mid-limits. While I was able to post a winrate of 1BB/100 hands in 50,000 hands at $15/30 and $10/20 I still think there are some big flaws in my game, and not all of them fall under the "if my bankroll was bigger..." excuse. I need to patch those holes.
Alternatively, if I find that I am unable to beat these games for enough to make ends meet, I'll know that I'm just not good enough to play poker for a living, and I can walk away knowing that I gave it my best shot and went down swinging.
Two big advantages to playing lower: the players are so much worse, and I don't have to be afraid of a big loss. Another noteworthy advantage is that it is easier to find a good game any time.
Worse Players: Loose/Passives vs Loose/Aggressives
- There are some loose players at the mid-levels, but there are fewer and they're usually much more aggressive. Loose $3/6 players routinely call til the river and then fold when they miss their inside straight draw. Loose $15/30 players check-raise that draw on the turn just to fuck with you. Not that money can't be made from the latter, but on a weak bankroll, I want my opponents to be as passive as possible. More aggressive games = more variance. I can't afford variance any more.
- The majority of players at $3/6 and up are somewhat tight, but again they are more aggressive at higher limits. In my return to $3/6, I was amazed by how often all my opponents folded to my flop continuation bet (After raising preflop I almost always bet the flop, regardless of whether my hand improved. There are exceptions, but not many.) This rarely happens at mid-limits. It is so much easier to steal small pots at the lower limits.
- As my losing streak worsened and my bankroll crumbled, it got to the point where I was afraid of losing. 50BB fluctuations are a very common occurrence in limit hold'em, but I couldn't handle a $1,000 swing at $10/20 any more. Playing scared takes away some important tools, and even bad aggressive players know how to pounce on weakness. I can play fearlessly at $3/6, giving me a big advantage.
Unfortunately, its harder to make a living at lower stakes, so I'm going to have to drastically increase my volume. 30~40 hours per week of 4-tabling is still better than 40 hours per week in an office. I might try 6-tabling.
Hopefully after a few months I will have rebuilt my bankroll and my confidence, and I'll be in a much better position to succeed at the mid-limits. While I was able to post a winrate of 1BB/100 hands in 50,000 hands at $15/30 and $10/20 I still think there are some big flaws in my game, and not all of them fall under the "if my bankroll was bigger..." excuse. I need to patch those holes.
Alternatively, if I find that I am unable to beat these games for enough to make ends meet, I'll know that I'm just not good enough to play poker for a living, and I can walk away knowing that I gave it my best shot and went down swinging.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Methodology
Problem:
I've had 2 losing months in a row.
Hypotheses:
Background Info/Observations:
Definition: Earning 1.0 BB/100 hands means averaging $20 profit for every 100 hands at $10/20, or $30 for every 100 hands at $15/30, etc.
Facts about my overall mid-limit record:
Discussion:
It seems pretty clear to me that my results are consistent with a good player who has hit the bad side of routine variance lately. When the best way to look at results is in the context of hundreds of thousands of hands, and I'm only playing 15,000 hands per month, my perception of results is going to be pretty skewed while I go through them in real time.
That being said, even if I can conclude I'm a good player, that doesn't necessarily translate to making a living. I've identified several obstacles I'll have to overcome if I want to make my living this way: endurance, multitasking, game selection and discipline.
Bankroll
Playing poker for a living is a lot like running a small business. If I remember one thing from studying entrepreneurship in college, it is that a large percentage of small business failures can be attributed to undercapitalization. I'll get back to this point in a bit.
I've noted that poker has a huge amount of variance, and my results have certainly shown it that too (the bottom lines of my last 5 months: +8,000, +400, +9,000, -2,000, -500). How do you combat variance in poker? Well if you want your monthly results to be more consistent, the best way is to play a huge number of hands every month. So my lack of endurance and limited multi-tabling experience make me more susceptible to high variance. Some guys have no problem putting in 50 hours per week or more and playing 8 tables at a time, which greatly decreases their variance in the same time period, and increases the chance of their poker business being successful.
So if you don't combat variance with volume, how else can you? Capital reserves. Bankroll. If my expected monthly earn isn't significantly above my monthly expenses, I need a much larger bankroll to minimize my risk of ruin. I've known for a long time that my bankroll is smaller than it should be, given my monthly expenses. Ideally, with my bankroll I'd be playing lower limits. But given my cost of living and the other weakness I mentioned above, I decided I had to be in the middle limits, and accepted the risks.
I think that part of the reason for my weak results at $15/30 was that I was playing scared. I think that part of the reason my shorthanded play sucks is that it naturally has higher variance and I play scared. I think part of the reason for this losing streak is that a few bad sessions while playing well caused me to lose confidence and start playing scared and weak. If I had a bigger bankroll I wouldn't play scared, and my results would be better. I'm going to say "scared" a few more times. Scared, scared, scared.
Conclusion:
Clearly if I can't keep bring in cash, I'll have to get a real job and my poker career will have been an enjoyable failure. It doesn't seem likely that I'll put in a lot more hands, so volume won't be my key to success. So its got to be a combination of these things:
Idea: Sell My House
Trading the mortgage payment for cheap rent would decrease my expenses, and the cash infusion from my gains would increase my bankroll. That would allow me to play higher limits with less pressure, which should help improve my playing skills and income.
I've had 2 losing months in a row.
Hypotheses:
- I am a good but not great poker player.
- I have the skills to make a decent living playing limit hold'em.
- I could expect to average between 1.0 and 1.5 BB/100 hands in most full handed mid-limit games on PartyPoker.
- Deviation between actual results and the above is explainable by variance and psychological factors.
Background Info/Observations:
Definition: Earning 1.0 BB/100 hands means averaging $20 profit for every 100 hands at $10/20, or $30 for every 100 hands at $15/30, etc.
- A good player can earn 1.0-1.5 BB/100. A great player can make over 2.0 BB/100.
- It takes 50,000 to 200,000 hands to have much confidence in the accuracy of a winrate, because variance is so high.
- It isn't uncommon for a good or even a great player to have 20,000 hand stretches of losing or breakeven results.
- These are based on my interpretation of the collective wisdom of the message boards at 2+2. There are lots of discussions about these topics you can search for at the site.
Facts about my overall mid-limit record:
- 19,000 hands at $15/30, won 0.54 BB/100
- 32,000 hands at $10/20, won 1.37 BB/100
- 8,900 hands at $15/30, lost 2.6 BB/100
- 19,000 hands at $10/20, won 0.54 BB/100
Discussion:
It seems pretty clear to me that my results are consistent with a good player who has hit the bad side of routine variance lately. When the best way to look at results is in the context of hundreds of thousands of hands, and I'm only playing 15,000 hands per month, my perception of results is going to be pretty skewed while I go through them in real time.
That being said, even if I can conclude I'm a good player, that doesn't necessarily translate to making a living. I've identified several obstacles I'll have to overcome if I want to make my living this way: endurance, multitasking, game selection and discipline.
- Endurance - I struggle to play more than 20 hours per week. Experimenting with forcing myself to play more hours showed me that when I go beyond that amount, my focus suffers and I lose my edge. I like the lifestyle of only playing 20 hours per week, so I don't really have any plans to keep working on this. This doesn't necessarily count me out though, since averaging $50/hr for 20 hours per week gives me enough to make a decent living for now.
- Multi-tasking - I've had mixed results with multi-tabling. In terms of handling the pace of it, I had no problem 4-tabling $3/6 and still winning a healthy amount. But my results at $5/10 while 4-tabling were far from stellar. My best results in the mid-limits have come while 2-tabling, so it would probably be best to stick with 2 tables until my I start to improve my results. I do think that I'll be able to increase to 4 tables or possibly 6 or 8 eventually.
- Game selection - I'm defining game selection as choosing games where my edge is the greatest. I think I'm generally pretty good at choosing the best available tables based on average pot size and similar statistics, and also based on knowing who the weakest players are. But a big problem with my game selection is that I tend to stay at the tables when games get shorthanded and a weak player is still playing. For whatever reason, I just haven't had much success with shorthanded play online. At that point, the edge that I enjoyed when the table was full starts to disappear, so I ought to leave the table when it drops below 7 players.
- Discipline - Discipline encompasses the 3 points above, among other things. I need to force myself to play the most amount of hours that I can do while still playing my best. I need to stick with 2 tables when I can't keep up with the action above that. I need to avoid shorthanded games or tables where my position isn't good. While I'm playing I need to focus and not be distracted by AIM or ESPN.com or anything else, and if I feel tilt setting in I need to take a breather. Poker is a game, but if I'm playing for a living I need to approach it in a professional manner.
Bankroll
Playing poker for a living is a lot like running a small business. If I remember one thing from studying entrepreneurship in college, it is that a large percentage of small business failures can be attributed to undercapitalization. I'll get back to this point in a bit.
I've noted that poker has a huge amount of variance, and my results have certainly shown it that too (the bottom lines of my last 5 months: +8,000, +400, +9,000, -2,000, -500). How do you combat variance in poker? Well if you want your monthly results to be more consistent, the best way is to play a huge number of hands every month. So my lack of endurance and limited multi-tabling experience make me more susceptible to high variance. Some guys have no problem putting in 50 hours per week or more and playing 8 tables at a time, which greatly decreases their variance in the same time period, and increases the chance of their poker business being successful.
So if you don't combat variance with volume, how else can you? Capital reserves. Bankroll. If my expected monthly earn isn't significantly above my monthly expenses, I need a much larger bankroll to minimize my risk of ruin. I've known for a long time that my bankroll is smaller than it should be, given my monthly expenses. Ideally, with my bankroll I'd be playing lower limits. But given my cost of living and the other weakness I mentioned above, I decided I had to be in the middle limits, and accepted the risks.
I think that part of the reason for my weak results at $15/30 was that I was playing scared. I think that part of the reason my shorthanded play sucks is that it naturally has higher variance and I play scared. I think part of the reason for this losing streak is that a few bad sessions while playing well caused me to lose confidence and start playing scared and weak. If I had a bigger bankroll I wouldn't play scared, and my results would be better. I'm going to say "scared" a few more times. Scared, scared, scared.
Conclusion:
Clearly if I can't keep bring in cash, I'll have to get a real job and my poker career will have been an enjoyable failure. It doesn't seem likely that I'll put in a lot more hands, so volume won't be my key to success. So its got to be a combination of these things:
- Improve my hand playing skills
- Improve my game selection
- Improve my discipline
- Decrease my expenses
- Increase my bankroll
Idea: Sell My House
Trading the mortgage payment for cheap rent would decrease my expenses, and the cash infusion from my gains would increase my bankroll. That would allow me to play higher limits with less pressure, which should help improve my playing skills and income.
beatdown
I've been losing for more than 2 months now. That's a really long time.
I've tried just about everything I can think of to get back on my feet:
Since 9/1/05 I've played 34,524 hands in 188 hours, averaging 2.2 tables at any given time. I've lost 0.42BB/100 hands, or $29.33/hour for a total playing loss of $5,500. I've received some bonuses and rakeback that adds up to $2,600.
I've had times where I've felt like I was playing very well, times where I've felt like I was playing very poorly, and everything in between. But the results are always negative. I have no idea how I ever won $9,000 in a month two different times.
This all should explain my recent emphasis on advertising on this blog.
I've tried just about everything I can think of to get back on my feet:
- more hours per week
- less hours per week
- more tables at a time
- less tables at a time
- shorthanded
- different sites
- taking a few days off
- playing at different times
- sharing hands with friends
- reading more poker literature
- reading less poker literature
- adding a 2nd monitor
- killing homeless people for good luck
Since 9/1/05 I've played 34,524 hands in 188 hours, averaging 2.2 tables at any given time. I've lost 0.42BB/100 hands, or $29.33/hour for a total playing loss of $5,500. I've received some bonuses and rakeback that adds up to $2,600.
I've had times where I've felt like I was playing very well, times where I've felt like I was playing very poorly, and everything in between. But the results are always negative. I have no idea how I ever won $9,000 in a month two different times.
This all should explain my recent emphasis on advertising on this blog.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Back where I started
I decided to do some mid-month evaluation after yet another catastrophe at the tables, and much to my delight, I've calculated that my bankroll has dropped to exactly where it was when I began this foolish journey.
Now what?
Now what?
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Observations
At work, I used to read ESPN all day. I'd estimate I averaged no less than 60 minutes a day reading ESPN articles with an excel spreadsheet ready to quickly flip to if someone walked by. 60 minutes is a very conservative estimate; I'm sure there were weeks where I averaged 3 hours per day. I devoted at least another 60 minutes to other topics, including my fantasy sports teams, Mark Cuban's blog, the latest news in science and technology, and tried to stay generally aware of what was going on in financial markets.
I spend very little time on any of those now. Since I quit the desk job, my records tell me I've spent 21.5 hours per week playing poker. I've watched a lot of movies and DVD TV shows (Sopranos, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Family Guy), and read a few books. I play way too much online Risk (the game of world domination!). I've played some basketball, soccer, and tennis. I've done some jogging and some drinking, and I cook a lot more. I read 2+2 for I'd guess an average of 90 minutes per day. At some point I decided I wanted to do more writing, and I've done a tiny bit but not much. I probably average 9 hours of sleep per night, which is glorious.
When people ask me what I do with my time, I don't really have an answer. I do most of the same things as I used to do, but now I just get more sleep, read different web pages, and don't spend 2 hours commuting. I guess I'm wasting away a similar amount of time as before, I just can't call it "work" now.
I spend very little time on any of those now. Since I quit the desk job, my records tell me I've spent 21.5 hours per week playing poker. I've watched a lot of movies and DVD TV shows (Sopranos, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Family Guy), and read a few books. I play way too much online Risk (the game of world domination!). I've played some basketball, soccer, and tennis. I've done some jogging and some drinking, and I cook a lot more. I read 2+2 for I'd guess an average of 90 minutes per day. At some point I decided I wanted to do more writing, and I've done a tiny bit but not much. I probably average 9 hours of sleep per night, which is glorious.
When people ask me what I do with my time, I don't really have an answer. I do most of the same things as I used to do, but now I just get more sleep, read different web pages, and don't spend 2 hours commuting. I guess I'm wasting away a similar amount of time as before, I just can't call it "work" now.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Wallowing peppered with lies
Warning: The following could easily be construed as a bloggal vomit of self-pity. Proceed with caution.
In the 2.5 weeks since Sept 22
The poker games I'm in for the most part seem very good. I usually have several opponents who are consistently making obvious mistakes. I am extremely frustrated with this prolonged losing streak, and not experienced enough to have confidence in either explanation for it (bad luck/bad play). Luckily, losing thousands of dollars rather than earning money in this period is inconsequentially to me financially, since I'm independently wealthy.*
To further complicate matters, today PartyPoker separated itself from Empire, Eurobet, and the other skins, so my rakeback arrangement is most likely screwed. So it seems pretty likely that I'll effectively be paying higher rake to continue playing with Party's vast aquarium of horrendous players, rather than playing in Empire's tougher games with reduced fees. I'm a little bit concerned that a frenzy of withdrawal requests from Empire has some chance of screwing me out of the money I have deposited there, but hopefully that won't happen.
Hard to tell for sure how this whole Party situation will play out. My theory is that with any major change comes a major opportunity. I just haven't figured out what the opportunity is quite yet.
* - denotes a probable fabrication.
In the 2.5 weeks since Sept 22
- My net poker results are a loss of over $5,000.
- That's about 8,000 hands at mostly $10/20 and $15/30, with a BB/100 of (2.78).
- My VP$IP/PFR/AF in that stretch is 19.5/12.5/1.6.
- Won $ When Saw Flop is 36.59%
- Went to showdown 39%
- Won $ at SD 51%
- My computer started laughing at me when I lose hands.*
- A dear member of my family is facing a serious health issue.
- Water keeps dripping out of more and more places in my house. I assume it will cost a good deal of money to fix the leaks and damage.
- In a full-body stretch gone terribly awry, I somehow managed to hurt my neck playing poker today. I can't rotate it more than 20 degrees left or right.
- My penis fell off.*
The poker games I'm in for the most part seem very good. I usually have several opponents who are consistently making obvious mistakes. I am extremely frustrated with this prolonged losing streak, and not experienced enough to have confidence in either explanation for it (bad luck/bad play). Luckily, losing thousands of dollars rather than earning money in this period is inconsequentially to me financially, since I'm independently wealthy.*
To further complicate matters, today PartyPoker separated itself from Empire, Eurobet, and the other skins, so my rakeback arrangement is most likely screwed. So it seems pretty likely that I'll effectively be paying higher rake to continue playing with Party's vast aquarium of horrendous players, rather than playing in Empire's tougher games with reduced fees. I'm a little bit concerned that a frenzy of withdrawal requests from Empire has some chance of screwing me out of the money I have deposited there, but hopefully that won't happen.
Hard to tell for sure how this whole Party situation will play out. My theory is that with any major change comes a major opportunity. I just haven't figured out what the opportunity is quite yet.
* - denotes a probable fabrication.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Perspective
A conversation with Dan helped me put things in perspective tonight. I've been distraught about my recent downswing, but the bottom line is that I've earned enough money playing poker over the last 6 months to cover my living expenses and keep paying my mortgage. My idea of success has been a bit distorted by hearing stories about people who have done very well, but I just need to focus on what I've done and what I can do.
I can do better in the next 6 months than I've done so far. I've learned some valuable lessons, and I have a solid gameplan going forward.
I can do better in the next 6 months than I've done so far. I've learned some valuable lessons, and I have a solid gameplan going forward.
Friday, September 30, 2005
I've had 13 positive thoughts while pokering recently:
- I knew he made that flush on the river; I'm glad I checked my top 2 pair. I could have lost a lot more that hand. Good job saving that bet!
- That certainly was nice of him to show me that set of 3s he turned after I folded to his check-raise. (Maybe I'll just never make another continuation bet with AK.)
- Well the pot was giving me 9-1 on that flush draw, so in the long run I'll profit from situations like that. So technically I just won $22.22 Sklansky bucks. Awesome.
- That was a very spectacular way he sucked out on me, stastically speaking. Randomness is fascinating.
- Hopefully winning every pot they're in against me will keep these fish coming back.
- This song that randomly came on my playlist right as my flopped nut flush loses to a runner-runner full house perfectly captures the feeling of the moment. How delightful!
- This salsa is delicious.
- So he had 87o. My read was right! I knew when he bet out on the turn he couldn't beat my JJ on the 743Q rainbow board. Great turn raise! (Too bad the 8 on the river gave him 2-pair...)
- Well the 2 horrible players just were replaced by tight aggressive players. I guess I'll leave this table in spite being down $434. Good game selection!
- Oh boy, lets see how badly this flop can miss my AK!
- Updating my resume will give me a wonderful opportunity to refresh my Microsoft Word skills.
- That awful river call looked spectacular on this new monitor.
- Sweet, I just remembered that my neighbor is having a birthday party for his kid tomorrow and my clown suit is freshly washed.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Cartesian Pokery 2
To clarify, here is the same graph with my total expenses added. I only update those once a month, hence the step function. I had some residual income in the early months, so those got netted against early expenses. This month is about to end, and it looks like I'll find myself close to break-even. My expenses have been higher than I expected the last few months though, so I expect I can lower that. Also, these giant losses reduce my estimated tax liability, so that should help too.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Temporary setback or the beginning of the end?
Well I'm pretty much in crisis mode now as the huge losses continue. My winrate for at $15/30 has dropped to 0.55BB/100 after about 14,000 hands. Since I felt underbankrolled to begin with, I might have to concede defeat and retreat to lower limits to rebuild my tattered bankroll, not to mention my tattered confidence.
The game that felt so easy a month ago is now a complete mystery to me. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong: horrendous bad luck (punctuated by losing to runner-runner quads after I flopped top set), horrendous bad judgment, missed flops, missed bets, misreads, missed flushed draws for me, made flush draws for them, folding the winners, calling down with losers, and any other imaginable way to finish a session with a lot fewer chips. I'm doubting my entire approach to everything: what times I play, how long I play, how many tables, what limits, when to stop, when to bet, raise, call or fold. My concentration sucks. My hand reading sucks. My decision-making sucks. My luck sucks.
I'm not particularly distressed about the $5,500 I've lost in the last 3 days. I am distressed at the very real possibility that I'll need to find another income source in the near future. The thought of returning to the workforce is harrowing. I don't know what my plan is, but if I'm going to keep playing poker, I need to drastically improve my game and my results in a hurry.
I'm forced to acknowledge the possibility that I'm just not good enough at poker to last much longer. I have a few ideas about what I want to do to give this a chance to keep working. I need to think some more about that, form a strict plan, and then let the cards fall where they may.
The game that felt so easy a month ago is now a complete mystery to me. Everything that can go wrong has gone wrong: horrendous bad luck (punctuated by losing to runner-runner quads after I flopped top set), horrendous bad judgment, missed flops, missed bets, misreads, missed flushed draws for me, made flush draws for them, folding the winners, calling down with losers, and any other imaginable way to finish a session with a lot fewer chips. I'm doubting my entire approach to everything: what times I play, how long I play, how many tables, what limits, when to stop, when to bet, raise, call or fold. My concentration sucks. My hand reading sucks. My decision-making sucks. My luck sucks.
I'm not particularly distressed about the $5,500 I've lost in the last 3 days. I am distressed at the very real possibility that I'll need to find another income source in the near future. The thought of returning to the workforce is harrowing. I don't know what my plan is, but if I'm going to keep playing poker, I need to drastically improve my game and my results in a hurry.
I'm forced to acknowledge the possibility that I'm just not good enough at poker to last much longer. I have a few ideas about what I want to do to give this a chance to keep working. I need to think some more about that, form a strict plan, and then let the cards fall where they may.
Friday, September 23, 2005
A month of daily results
$1,627.84
($108.86)
($350.00)
$1,381.80
$289.81
$696.00
0 - no play
($1,273.82)
($945.50)
$1,621.50
($2,787.50)
($612.00)
$645.03
$114.70
($248.33)
$29.00
($664.42)
$430.75
$316.32
$1,406.25
$401.60
0 - no play
$818.75
$549.50
$705.45
($1,309.05)
0 - no play
$753.75
$388.08
($91.03)
($1,908.00)
Sum: $1,877.62
That last big loss made me want to look at the big picture. Not a great month.
($108.86)
($350.00)
$1,381.80
$289.81
$696.00
0 - no play
($1,273.82)
($945.50)
$1,621.50
($2,787.50)
($612.00)
$645.03
$114.70
($248.33)
$29.00
($664.42)
$430.75
$316.32
$1,406.25
$401.60
0 - no play
$818.75
$549.50
$705.45
($1,309.05)
0 - no play
$753.75
$388.08
($91.03)
($1,908.00)
Sum: $1,877.62
That last big loss made me want to look at the big picture. Not a great month.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
Redemption?
This hand happened about 14 hours after the last hand I wrote about. At the time this hand happened, I had been 3-tabling $15/30 on Party for an hour and was down about $1,800 and extremely frustrated with a $3,000+ downswing in less than 24 hours. After this hand, I somehow I managed to finish the session an hour later with a $7 profit. These swings give me indigestion.
A loose and horrible player limped in from middle position, an unknown player who had posted a big blind checked, and I raised with
A♠ K♠.
They both called. 3 to the flop for 6 small bets.
6♦ 9♦ T♦.
The idiot limper bet out and the next player folded. Lots of players will bet at a scary coordinated flop like that with just a big diamond. If he just had a big diamond, he wouldn't fold but I was winning. And if he actually had a pair, he'd be afraid that I had him beat and would revert to check-calling the rest of the way. Taking back control of the hand seemed appropriate here, so I raised. He called the raise and the turn was the
Q♠.
He bet out again, making the pot 6 big bets. My first thought was that he had the Q♦ in his hand, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like he'd just check and call with that kind of hand. I concluded that he most likely had either a big diamond or a pair of tens without much kicker, so either I was ahead or I had a lot of top pair or straight outs. So I called. Just like the last hand, the river paired sixes with the same
6♥.
He bet out again. Once again, it seemed like a strong hand would have check-raised me at some point, and a medium strength hand like T♣ 8♣ would have checked the river planning to call a bet. So I called and beat his K♦ 5♠ bluff to win the $302 pot.
Winning is more fun than losing.
A loose and horrible player limped in from middle position, an unknown player who had posted a big blind checked, and I raised with
A♠ K♠.
They both called. 3 to the flop for 6 small bets.
6♦ 9♦ T♦.
The idiot limper bet out and the next player folded. Lots of players will bet at a scary coordinated flop like that with just a big diamond. If he just had a big diamond, he wouldn't fold but I was winning. And if he actually had a pair, he'd be afraid that I had him beat and would revert to check-calling the rest of the way. Taking back control of the hand seemed appropriate here, so I raised. He called the raise and the turn was the
Q♠.
He bet out again, making the pot 6 big bets. My first thought was that he had the Q♦ in his hand, but the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like he'd just check and call with that kind of hand. I concluded that he most likely had either a big diamond or a pair of tens without much kicker, so either I was ahead or I had a lot of top pair or straight outs. So I called. Just like the last hand, the river paired sixes with the same
6♥.
He bet out again. Once again, it seemed like a strong hand would have check-raised me at some point, and a medium strength hand like T♣ 8♣ would have checked the river planning to call a bet. So I called and beat his K♦ 5♠ bluff to win the $302 pot.
Winning is more fun than losing.
Eternal Shame
I am not a good poker player.
Sure, I've been able to scratch a living for half a year by taking money from the retarded chimps that inhabit the online poker world, but that is by no means enough to convince me I'm good. I'm getting there though, and every once in a while something happens that reminds which side of the line I'm on.
This hand will haunt my dreams for many nights. I'm posting it here as a monument to my eternal shame.
When this hand was played, I was 3 hours into a session and down about $1500 4-tabling $15/30 on Party. The games were insanely good, even for a Saturday night, and my luck had been insanely bad so far, putting my Zen-like patience to the test.
Some idiot raised in early position, and I reraised him with
A♣T♣
which I won't always play that way, but this guy was very loose and aggressive and wild so I wanted to isolate him and see a flop heads-up. Everyone else folded, and he called. The flop came down:
9♣ 6♠ 3♦
He bet out. This meant I was probably winning, because he'd probably try to check and raise if he had a pair. I raised and he called. The turn was the
2♠
He checked again, and called my bet. The river was the seemingly harmless
6♥
so I was surprised that he decided to bet out. I replayed the hand in my mind and decided that he must be bluffing, because I believed there was no paired hand he would have played the way he played the flop. Once I determined he was bluffing, I also had to face the prospect that he could still have me beat with an Ace with a better kicker. So I decided to raise, figuring he might fold AK, AQ or AJ.
He rocked my world by quickly reraising. As soon as it happened, I stopped thinking clearly.
I stared at the board:
9♣ 6♠ 3♦ 2♠ 6♥
What the fuck could this guy have?? I had bet and raised at every opportunity, and he'd have to think I had a big pocket pair. He couldn't think I'd actually fold here. But I still just couldn't imagine he had a good hand. I'd seen him bluff several times, but I had also seen him give up on a bluff when it was obvious it wouldn't work. But damn this river 3-bet was so quick that it felt very very weird. As the timer was running down, I considered capping for the same reasons I had put in the first raise, but finally convinced myself that I wasn't thinking clearly because I was having a rough session, and that capping the river with no pair was too crazy. I folded.
He showed
J♠7♠
to taunt me as he scooped the $382 pot that should have been mine.
Looking back on the hand, my reasoning and my play was absolutely perfect until I raised his river bet. Even that river raise could have been good, but I never considered that he might 3-bet me. My reason for the raise was that it might force him to fold a better Ace, but I should have thought back to preflop and realized that he would have probably capped AK or AQ, and maybe even AJ. So without much chance of him having a better hand than mine that would fold to my raise, I guess just calling would have been better. There aren't many players who would put that reraise in on a total bluff, and with that paired board and the strength I had shown, I just never imagined he would reraise bluff.
The lesson for me is obvious - be prepared. My failure to consider what I'd do if he 3bet cost me a huge pot, which was a complete disaster, and especially painful on a night like this one. If I had thought about the possibility of him 3betting, and if I had realized that he would have reraised preflop with better Aces, I would have concluded that since I'd fold to his 3bet that I should just call his river bet. God I wish I could have pulled the trigger on that river cap...
I'm not a good player, but I'm getting close.
Sure, I've been able to scratch a living for half a year by taking money from the retarded chimps that inhabit the online poker world, but that is by no means enough to convince me I'm good. I'm getting there though, and every once in a while something happens that reminds which side of the line I'm on.
This hand will haunt my dreams for many nights. I'm posting it here as a monument to my eternal shame.
When this hand was played, I was 3 hours into a session and down about $1500 4-tabling $15/30 on Party. The games were insanely good, even for a Saturday night, and my luck had been insanely bad so far, putting my Zen-like patience to the test.
Some idiot raised in early position, and I reraised him with
A♣T♣
which I won't always play that way, but this guy was very loose and aggressive and wild so I wanted to isolate him and see a flop heads-up. Everyone else folded, and he called. The flop came down:
9♣ 6♠ 3♦
He bet out. This meant I was probably winning, because he'd probably try to check and raise if he had a pair. I raised and he called. The turn was the
2♠
He checked again, and called my bet. The river was the seemingly harmless
6♥
so I was surprised that he decided to bet out. I replayed the hand in my mind and decided that he must be bluffing, because I believed there was no paired hand he would have played the way he played the flop. Once I determined he was bluffing, I also had to face the prospect that he could still have me beat with an Ace with a better kicker. So I decided to raise, figuring he might fold AK, AQ or AJ.
He rocked my world by quickly reraising. As soon as it happened, I stopped thinking clearly.
I stared at the board:
9♣ 6♠ 3♦ 2♠ 6♥
What the fuck could this guy have?? I had bet and raised at every opportunity, and he'd have to think I had a big pocket pair. He couldn't think I'd actually fold here. But I still just couldn't imagine he had a good hand. I'd seen him bluff several times, but I had also seen him give up on a bluff when it was obvious it wouldn't work. But damn this river 3-bet was so quick that it felt very very weird. As the timer was running down, I considered capping for the same reasons I had put in the first raise, but finally convinced myself that I wasn't thinking clearly because I was having a rough session, and that capping the river with no pair was too crazy. I folded.
He showed
J♠7♠
to taunt me as he scooped the $382 pot that should have been mine.
Looking back on the hand, my reasoning and my play was absolutely perfect until I raised his river bet. Even that river raise could have been good, but I never considered that he might 3-bet me. My reason for the raise was that it might force him to fold a better Ace, but I should have thought back to preflop and realized that he would have probably capped AK or AQ, and maybe even AJ. So without much chance of him having a better hand than mine that would fold to my raise, I guess just calling would have been better. There aren't many players who would put that reraise in on a total bluff, and with that paired board and the strength I had shown, I just never imagined he would reraise bluff.
The lesson for me is obvious - be prepared. My failure to consider what I'd do if he 3bet cost me a huge pot, which was a complete disaster, and especially painful on a night like this one. If I had thought about the possibility of him 3betting, and if I had realized that he would have reraised preflop with better Aces, I would have concluded that since I'd fold to his 3bet that I should just call his river bet. God I wish I could have pulled the trigger on that river cap...
I'm not a good player, but I'm getting close.
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Ease the tension
I hate it when a poker player berates his opponent for bad play after a hand. They do it because they are frustrated to have lost a hand to someone who played poorly, but it bothers me because aside from being rude, it is bad for the game. What are these jerks trying to accomplish? Do you want your opponents to play better? Do you want bad players to feel offended and leave? Obviously they don't consider that, and just lash out because it helps heal their wounded ego.
Usually when I see this happening at my table, I lightly make fun of the player who was doing the insulting. A lot of the time that shuts them up, or makes them see how dumb they are being. My goal is to diffuse the tension and make everything friendly, something any entrepreneur does when there is a loud fight in their place of business.
But when that doesn't work, sometimes I have to get creative. Recently, at a table I was playing on Paradise Poker, some jerk wouldn't stop ranting about how "online poker is rigged," and that "all his opponents are bullshit."
So I started typing, "Yeah poker is mostly bullshit. But at least I don't have to talk to my wife. She knows not to talk to me when I play."
I get a smattering of "lol" and "haha." Encouraged, I continue.
"Yeah, last time she tried to talk to me when I was playing I lost the hand and got really mad. So I stepped on her kitten."
"HA!"
"lol!!"
I'm rolling now. "The next day I went out and got her another kitten. Not because I felt bad. That way she wouldn't talk to me while I'm playing again because she still has something to lose."
"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!"
Who wouldn't want to play at my table?
Usually when I see this happening at my table, I lightly make fun of the player who was doing the insulting. A lot of the time that shuts them up, or makes them see how dumb they are being. My goal is to diffuse the tension and make everything friendly, something any entrepreneur does when there is a loud fight in their place of business.
But when that doesn't work, sometimes I have to get creative. Recently, at a table I was playing on Paradise Poker, some jerk wouldn't stop ranting about how "online poker is rigged," and that "all his opponents are bullshit."
So I started typing, "Yeah poker is mostly bullshit. But at least I don't have to talk to my wife. She knows not to talk to me when I play."
I get a smattering of "lol" and "haha." Encouraged, I continue.
"Yeah, last time she tried to talk to me when I was playing I lost the hand and got really mad. So I stepped on her kitten."
"HA!"
"lol!!"
I'm rolling now. "The next day I went out and got her another kitten. Not because I felt bad. That way she wouldn't talk to me while I'm playing again because she still has something to lose."
"HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAAA!"
Who wouldn't want to play at my table?
Friday, September 09, 2005
Drivel 3
When the going gets tough, I get philosophical. That is just how I am. Intense reflection and introspection have gotten me through life's challenges - loss, disappointment, frustration, illness, indecision, injury, and whatever other problems we all face. I haven't burdened myself by giving this blog a narrow focus, so with the exception of illness (knock on wood), I've used this space as a tool for coping with all of those. I write this stuff for myself, and I share it with anyone else who wants to hear my voice. Often I'm honestly amazed that anyone reads this drivel, but I am grateful for the opportunity to be heard.
Poker life is hard in ways that are difficult to explain.
When you're winning, you feel like a genius and the game is the easiest thing in the world. When you're losing, you feel like the biggest idiot alive and like the whole world is out to get you. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle, hopefully slightly closer to genius than idiot.
But I've been on the idiot side for almost 2 straight weeks now, and its getting harder and harder to remember anything else. All the understanding of poker theory, any concept of variance, it all feels hopelessly hollow as my money gushes away to the idiots that hit every miracle river. I can recite fairy tales about "the long run"and tell myself to just play my game and chip away at the damage. I can convince myself that I'm good at avoiding tilt and that I handle adversity well. But can I really believe all that crap?
I keep writing these blog posts that are just pep-talks to myself. Drivel 1 Drivel 2. Those are by no means the 1st and 2nd drivel posts, just the first ones I found in a quick look at the archives.
The hardest thing right now is that I know enough to recognize all the mistakes I'm making while I lose all this money. I know that world class players make mistakes. And I know that huge losers make mistakes. I know that world class players can have losing streaks worse than this, and I know that huge losers have winning streaks better than any wins I've ever had. I laugh at the morons who are convinced their losses are because of bad luck, then I convince myself that my losses are because of bad luck. So who is laughing at me?
Oh wait, this is a skill game. If I'm a winner, then losses must be bad luck right?
Am I a winner in this game? I'd need 20 times more hands than I've played to have any reasonable degree of certainty about my "true" winrate, and by the time I've played that many hands, I won't be the same player I was at the start. Or maybe I'll never get to the point that I establish I'm a winning player, because I hit a downswing along the way that wiped out my bankroll. Lots of small businesses fail because of undercapitalization, not because they weren't good ideas that could have made money. Or maybe my business idea just sucks.
So these are the mental hurdles I have to clear, and the resolution is just accepting that this life is one of constant uncertainty. While you never really know what something will feel like until you live it, I had a good idea what I was getting myself into when I chose this path, and I certainly wouldn't trade the last 6 months for anything. For the first 5 months of it, if you asked me if I'd still be doing this poker thing in 6 months, I wouldn't have had an answer. Suddenly, 2 weeks ago I thought I had an affirmative answer, but now that arrogance has been punished and I'm back to uncertainty.
So it goes. And so I'm going to bed. At least I don't have to set an alarm.
Poker life is hard in ways that are difficult to explain.
When you're winning, you feel like a genius and the game is the easiest thing in the world. When you're losing, you feel like the biggest idiot alive and like the whole world is out to get you. Reality is probably somewhere in the middle, hopefully slightly closer to genius than idiot.
But I've been on the idiot side for almost 2 straight weeks now, and its getting harder and harder to remember anything else. All the understanding of poker theory, any concept of variance, it all feels hopelessly hollow as my money gushes away to the idiots that hit every miracle river. I can recite fairy tales about "the long run"and tell myself to just play my game and chip away at the damage. I can convince myself that I'm good at avoiding tilt and that I handle adversity well. But can I really believe all that crap?
I keep writing these blog posts that are just pep-talks to myself. Drivel 1 Drivel 2. Those are by no means the 1st and 2nd drivel posts, just the first ones I found in a quick look at the archives.
The hardest thing right now is that I know enough to recognize all the mistakes I'm making while I lose all this money. I know that world class players make mistakes. And I know that huge losers make mistakes. I know that world class players can have losing streaks worse than this, and I know that huge losers have winning streaks better than any wins I've ever had. I laugh at the morons who are convinced their losses are because of bad luck, then I convince myself that my losses are because of bad luck. So who is laughing at me?
Oh wait, this is a skill game. If I'm a winner, then losses must be bad luck right?
Am I a winner in this game? I'd need 20 times more hands than I've played to have any reasonable degree of certainty about my "true" winrate, and by the time I've played that many hands, I won't be the same player I was at the start. Or maybe I'll never get to the point that I establish I'm a winning player, because I hit a downswing along the way that wiped out my bankroll. Lots of small businesses fail because of undercapitalization, not because they weren't good ideas that could have made money. Or maybe my business idea just sucks.
So these are the mental hurdles I have to clear, and the resolution is just accepting that this life is one of constant uncertainty. While you never really know what something will feel like until you live it, I had a good idea what I was getting myself into when I chose this path, and I certainly wouldn't trade the last 6 months for anything. For the first 5 months of it, if you asked me if I'd still be doing this poker thing in 6 months, I wouldn't have had an answer. Suddenly, 2 weeks ago I thought I had an affirmative answer, but now that arrogance has been punished and I'm back to uncertainty.
So it goes. And so I'm going to bed. At least I don't have to set an alarm.
Monday, September 05, 2005
Big Losses
I've lost 4BB/100 hands in my almost 3,000 hands this week. It would take several miracles for this not to finish out as my worst week of poker results ever. On Saturday I was actually down $4,000 for the day at one point, but managed to reduce the damage to $2,800.
In the face of gigantic losses, and in spite of nearly continuous cause for frustration, I've generally avoided tilt for the most part, and played reasonably well. Last month's good results buffer me against this week's woes, financially and emotionally. I'm still averaging 3BB/100 at the $15/30 limit. Saying that over and over to myself seems to help when I lose a 5th straight hand where I had to make several judgment calls that didn't work out right. My judgment has been good enough to win most of the time, so I try to learn from the hand but not beat myself up for a play that looks bad in retrospect.
Something I've been able to avoid is the mindset that sounds something like "well I'm down so much already so what's the difference if I lose another few hundred." Instead of wildly risking more to avoid a loss, I remember that even though it feels different, the financial difference between losing $4,000 and $2,800 is exactly the same as the difference between winning $400 and $1,600. The bottom line is all that matters, so I can't fall for an all-or-nothing psychological trap. I've been surprisingly content to just slowly chip away at the deficit, an ability that will no doubt serve me well whenever I have to deal with a big loss.
In the face of gigantic losses, and in spite of nearly continuous cause for frustration, I've generally avoided tilt for the most part, and played reasonably well. Last month's good results buffer me against this week's woes, financially and emotionally. I'm still averaging 3BB/100 at the $15/30 limit. Saying that over and over to myself seems to help when I lose a 5th straight hand where I had to make several judgment calls that didn't work out right. My judgment has been good enough to win most of the time, so I try to learn from the hand but not beat myself up for a play that looks bad in retrospect.
Something I've been able to avoid is the mindset that sounds something like "well I'm down so much already so what's the difference if I lose another few hundred." Instead of wildly risking more to avoid a loss, I remember that even though it feels different, the financial difference between losing $4,000 and $2,800 is exactly the same as the difference between winning $400 and $1,600. The bottom line is all that matters, so I can't fall for an all-or-nothing psychological trap. I've been surprisingly content to just slowly chip away at the deficit, an ability that will no doubt serve me well whenever I have to deal with a big loss.
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Bad end to a great month
My 24th week got off to a bad start last night/this morning with a $1274 loss.
I lost $390 in an early session, but I wasn't too displeased with my play. I took a break, then sat back down only to lose another $884. I cut that second session short because I found myself getting frustrated, and I'm a bit tired. The games I left were good, so I didn't want to leave, but there will be good games tomorrow when I'm fresh and unemotional.
In my first 23 weeks, I averaged $1013 of winnings in 21.4 hours of play per week, bringing me close to my goal of earning $50/hour. Actually, since I set that goal I've averaged $66/hour, so I'm pretty proud of that. But a ferocious downswing could always be just around the corner, so I'm not going to be overconfident.
I didn't like ending an otherwise great August ($8866 this month unless I play tomorrow evening before midnight) on a down note, but game selection has been crucial to that success, which means finding the right games to play and knowing when not to play.
I lost $390 in an early session, but I wasn't too displeased with my play. I took a break, then sat back down only to lose another $884. I cut that second session short because I found myself getting frustrated, and I'm a bit tired. The games I left were good, so I didn't want to leave, but there will be good games tomorrow when I'm fresh and unemotional.
In my first 23 weeks, I averaged $1013 of winnings in 21.4 hours of play per week, bringing me close to my goal of earning $50/hour. Actually, since I set that goal I've averaged $66/hour, so I'm pretty proud of that. But a ferocious downswing could always be just around the corner, so I'm not going to be overconfident.
I didn't like ending an otherwise great August ($8866 this month unless I play tomorrow evening before midnight) on a down note, but game selection has been crucial to that success, which means finding the right games to play and knowing when not to play.
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Famous Poker Players
This is based on what I know about them, poker and personally, which is almost entirely based on publicly available media. I might update this occasionally (last updated 8/30).
I particularly like:
I particularly don't like:
Not as bad as I first thought:
I particularly like:
- Barry Greenstein - Barry seems like a good person, and unquestionably one of the best poker players in the world. His book is one of my favorites, not just among poker books.
- Daniel Negreanu - Daniel's blog can get a lot gayer than even mine, but I respect that he speaks his mind openly. I also like that he seems to live a balanced life, not completely obsessed with only poker. And hosting all these heads up challenge matches, he's got some big balls for a little guy.
- Phil Ivey - In contrast to Daniel's balanced life respect, I respect how much this guy seems to be dedicated to his career. Dude plays long hours at the highest stakes. He is an unstoppable poker machine.
- Paul Phillips - Smart guy, great blog. I'd like to be more like paulp.
- Howard Lederer - Hearing of him almost exclusively in the context of tournament poker, I had no idea what a cash game beast he was until I read this book. Good book, by the way. He has really done a great job of capitalizing on this poker boom.
- Greg Raymer - ESPN's coverage painted him as another Chris Moneymaker, but Raymer wasn't a total fluke. He's had a lot of success in very big cash games, and everything I've ever heard this guy say about poker has impressed me. He seems like a classy guy as well.
I particularly don't like:
- Phil Hellmuth - What an egomaniacal fucking jackass. But jackassery sells, so he's making a crapload of money away from the tables. Very good tournament hold'em player, not very impressive otherwise. I think he'll turn out to be like the Paris Hilton of poker - a trainwreck that was fun to watch for a while, but eventually we'll all realize how pathetic he is and stop caring. But he'll still be rich. And he'll remind us of that as often as possible. Check this out.
- Johnny Chan - Rounders made Chan out to be the ultimate poker god, but we haven't really seen much of this guy in the poker explosion the last few years. Why not? This guy was perfectly positioned to be a huge poker star, but he's off making bad investments somewhere. I've heard that he is superstitious, blaming dealers for bad luck. He also made disparaging comments about billionaire Texas banker Andy Beal, who has given a group of the world's top poker players all they can handle in ultra-highstakes limit hold'em games (as high as $100,000/$200,000), which was described in this book. Except for his relatively low profile lately, most of my reasons for disliking him are based on obscure 3rd person accounts, so I could be way off here.
- Scotty Nguyen - Drunk and annoying, baby!
- Sam Farha - Just look at this guy. He looks like the ultimate sleezy gambler. There was that moment with Moneymaker where he barked at the dealer "I can read the cards better than you can." That wasn't the only time he offended a dealer. If it looks like a slimebag, and it acts like a slimebag, it must be a slimebag.
- Antonio "The Magician" Esfandiari - Just read this.
- Everyone associated with "The Crew" - What a bunch of annoying assholes. Especially Dutch Boyd, who ripped off a bunch of people who deposited money in the now-collapsed online poker room he started.
Not as bad as I first thought:
- Mike Matasow - My first impression of him was the ugly incident of him taunting Raymer, but when you hear about some of the other insane stuff this guy says and does, you realize that he's just crazy. Rudeness is much more forgivable from an insane person. He seems like a genuinely nice guy who can't control his emotions or impulses whatsoever. Everyone who knows him says they love him, so I guess that counts for something.
- Scott Fischman - Disdain for "The Crew" aside, this guy is damn good at poker and seems to approach it the right way. He's had some obnoxious moments, like rolling on the table after winning a bracelet, but I'll assume he is maturing.
Monday, August 15, 2005
Online Poker Screen Names 4
When you sign up to play poker at an online casino, you pick a screen name that other players see when you sit at a table. Here are some names I've played against. Players in red are losers in games I've played; green are winners. My databases are getting too big, so I don't have this detail for everyone now.
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
(Online Poker Screen Names 2)
(Online Poker Screen Names 3)
Poo: very popular in this data collection period.
Sexual/Vulgarity:
Funny References:
Weird:
Drugs:
Reader Submission:
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
(Online Poker Screen Names 2)
(Online Poker Screen Names 3)
Poo: very popular in this data collection period.
- PokerPoopy - this guy sat out for a few hands after typing "brb gotta go poo"
- poosnack
- SittininPoop
- poomachine
Sexual/Vulgarity:
- AssSpanker - My first hand against him I had AA vs his KK. I guess I spanked his ass.
- Owning_Balls -
- fulltit_com - FullTilt.com is a poker website. I can guess what kind of website fulltit.com is
Funny References:
- demimoore - This is funny not because Demi Moore is particularly amusing, but because its funny that anyone would pick her for a poker screen name.
- JIMMYFALO -This is funny because Jimmy Fallon is pretty funny, AND because its funny that anyone would pick him for a poker screen name.
- TutanComeOn - When I saw the name "KhanhAir" I wrote the following: This is one of two things. Best case is that this guy's name is Khanh, or he's somehow affiliated with something named Khanh. In that case, he decided to come up with a play on words and related his name to the name of the movie "Con Air." That's like when my friend Erm had the IM screenname "ErmNHammer." I understand the pun and all, but couldn't you have come up with something cooler than baking soda or a crappy movie? (Yes, Con Air is on my honorary mention Badass Movies list, but I'm trying to make a point.) So that's the "good" case. The worse case is that this guy is in no way associated with the name Khanh at all, and he just thought he'd come up with an alternate spelling for Con Air. That would be really really weird. Well clearly this guy isn't the legendary King Tut (Egyptian King Tutankhamun), so this is a worst case scenario.
- thebigsalad - Seinfeld reference, Elaine's meal choice
- MrVanDeLay - Seinfeld reference, George's standard fake name was Art Vandelay
Weird:
- SubHmanRetrd - This guy is kind of hard on himself
- catpig - When I found out there was a real children's show called "Catdog" I was amazed at the simple stupidity of combining those 2 animals. I probably was drunk, but its still kinda funny. Catpig. Funny.
- Chunky_LuvR - Big people play poker when they aren't busy making love.
- brues - I like this name because of its ambiguity. Is it supposed to be an alternate spelling of Bruce? Bruise? Brews? Is brue a word? So many possibilities... yeah I stopped caring.
Drugs:
- ISmokeMeth - me too.
Reader Submission:
- PubesOnSoap - My first reader submission, this delightful name came from Erm, who saw it on Paradise.
Gracious in Defeat #4
People say lots of classy things after they lose a hand...
Coolarrow: nice hand you XXXXing retard homo fcku
----
avi25g: fasteddie u fu,cking lucky dic
I could pretty much do one of these every day for the rest of my poker career, but this is getting old pretty fast.
Coolarrow: nice hand you XXXXing retard homo fcku
----
avi25g: fasteddie u fu,cking lucky dic
I could pretty much do one of these every day for the rest of my poker career, but this is getting old pretty fast.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Gracious in Defeat #3
People say lots of classy things after they lose a hand...
MichaelRav: what the fuc is wrong with sons of mot ther fu cing bit ches
Note that most of the quotes in these features contain very innovative ways to avoid the automatic censoring of vulgarity. Poor Michael.
----
riggedparty: anything but not my 500th river today
riggedparty: software is a fking rigged joke
This guy believes that multi-billion dollar PartyPoker intentionally fixes its games to create more action and to let bad players catch their miracle card on the river so they don't go broke and stop generating income for the site. He believes it so strongly that he created a screen name based on the idea. And yet he still plays at PartyPoker. Apparently he'd rather play in a poker game where he's sure he'll be cheated than not play at all.
----
Kelly19hoty: ahhahaha
Kelly19hoty: fyu
Tarasque: nice mouth
Kelly19hoty: blow me
Tarasque: R we 2 be impressed by your vocabulary?
Kelly19hoty: no.. my poker skill.. shut up son
Tarasque: gee, I guess u told me
Kelly sounds really hot.
MichaelRav: what the fuc is wrong with sons of mot ther fu cing bit ches
Note that most of the quotes in these features contain very innovative ways to avoid the automatic censoring of vulgarity. Poor Michael.
----
riggedparty: anything but not my 500th river today
riggedparty: software is a fking rigged joke
This guy believes that multi-billion dollar PartyPoker intentionally fixes its games to create more action and to let bad players catch their miracle card on the river so they don't go broke and stop generating income for the site. He believes it so strongly that he created a screen name based on the idea. And yet he still plays at PartyPoker. Apparently he'd rather play in a poker game where he's sure he'll be cheated than not play at all.
----
Kelly19hoty: ahhahaha
Kelly19hoty: fyu
Tarasque: nice mouth
Kelly19hoty: blow me
Tarasque: R we 2 be impressed by your vocabulary?
Kelly19hoty: no.. my poker skill.. shut up son
Tarasque: gee, I guess u told me
Kelly sounds really hot.
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Gracious in Defeat #2
People say lots of classy things after they lose a hand...
This time I'm insulted in Italian. The second line seems to combine "pork" and "mother." I'm not sure if "pork" is intended as a noun or a verb. I think the first line has something to do with putting something somewhere uncomfortable.
spacciato: ma cosa avete nel culo
spacciato: porca madonna
This time I'm insulted in Italian. The second line seems to combine "pork" and "mother." I'm not sure if "pork" is intended as a noun or a verb. I think the first line has something to do with putting something somewhere uncomfortable.
spacciato: ma cosa avete nel culo
spacciato: porca madonna
Gracious in Defeat #1
People say lots of classy things after they lose a hand...
Originally referenced here, a maniac wrote this after I won a giant pot by catching a straight on the turn with my AK. The last line is a reference to my screen name, which contains the word "pour.")
Originally referenced here, a maniac wrote this after I won a giant pot by catching a straight on the turn with my AK. The last line is a reference to my screen name, which contains the word "pour.")
INSANE
INSANE
INSANE
Saturday, August 06, 2005
I'm still here - various poker updates
People start to get a little panicked if I don't post anything for a little while. Instead of questioning just how desperate my (4) readers are, I'll take it as a compliment.
Writing about poker is tricky. What can I write about: specific hands, wins/losses, general thoughts about my poker game, life as a wannabe poker pro, topics from the poker world...
Specific Hands
While it helps me improve my game, detailed hand analysis gets boring for both the writer and the readers. While I've done it here in the past, and will probably occasionally do it again, this just isn't the best place for it. If I want to get feedback from very knowledgeable poker minds, I should take the hands directly to friends, or post on 2+2. So I tend to just post hands that might interest casual readers, like a cool bluff or a huge pot. Here's one!
Wins/Losses
I have written about nice wins and rough losses, but I recently realized that I don't want to keep doing that. Poker is gambling. Gambling has wins and losses. Even when you gamble "with the best of it" you still lose sometimes. The important thing is to look at the long run, so you shouldn't take individual losses too hard or get too excited about wins.
I also don't like to write about losses because people get worried about me, especially people who don't really understand the variance of poker (aka everyone). And then I don't like to write about big wins because if I don't show the losses, I shouldn't brag about the wins, right?
But, life doesn't always feel like a long-run. It feels like a bunch of short-runs. So if writing about a big loss helps me deal with it, I'm going to do that. I write this shit because I think I'm getting something out of it, not just to entertain and enlighten dozens of people every month.
So, here's a story about a big win. Tonight I had the biggest session win of my life. It was 3 times bigger than my previous biggest, which happened 4 days earlier. Its been a good week.
General thoughts about my poker game
Life as a wannabe poker pro
I'm playing pretty well I think, but I'm still nervous that I'm playing $15/30 on a short bankroll. But I felt like it was time to get past the dead limits of $5/10 and $10/20 into the more juicy action. I wrote about a bad first night in the bigger game, but since then it has been very good to me. Inevitably I'll hit a bad streak, but hopefully not before I pad my bankroll a bit more.
In April, I made almost $3,800.
In May I made almost $1,600.
In June I made almost $8,000.
In July I made almost $400.
Tonight I made almost $3400.
Variance is a bitch. Try to imagine the range of emotions that kind of variability in income causes. It is really nice not to have to report to an office, or have a boss. It is nice to sleep til the afternoon and take a trip whenever I feel like. Its fun to drink a 6 pack on a Tuesday night while watching HBO on demand for 5 hours. Its fun to see people's reactions when they hear what I do for a living.
But this shit takes a toll on me in weird ways. I doubt my decisions and worry that my next session will start the avalanche to my inevitable demise. What happens if I have 4 months like July in a row? Do I even remember how to write a resume? Oh god I just know that flush draw is going to get there and fuck my flopped set.
Take a step back and a few deep breaths. You've proven that you are a winner. Just relax and let the long run work its magic...
Topics from the poker world
And I'm just playing limit hold'em cash games! I can't even imagine how tournament pros feel. Their income is even more variable. They could easily go a year without a major cash, or longer. I guess when they do hit, its for $190,00 or $455,00 or $1,100,000 which is a different zip code from $620 or $1,100 or $3,400. But I don't get the feeling that many of the tournament pros we see on TV are investing half of their big wins in blue chip stocks and treasury bonds.
I invest half of my winnings in coke and hookers. It helps me stay humble.
Seriously though, sitting at home playing cash games online is crazy enough for me right now. Flying all over the country, dropping $5,000 or $10,000 in entry fees plus travel and hotel expenses wherever the tournament is - those are some crazy gamblers.
Writing about poker is tricky. What can I write about: specific hands, wins/losses, general thoughts about my poker game, life as a wannabe poker pro, topics from the poker world...
Specific Hands
While it helps me improve my game, detailed hand analysis gets boring for both the writer and the readers. While I've done it here in the past, and will probably occasionally do it again, this just isn't the best place for it. If I want to get feedback from very knowledgeable poker minds, I should take the hands directly to friends, or post on 2+2. So I tend to just post hands that might interest casual readers, like a cool bluff or a huge pot. Here's one!
$15/$30 Texas Hold'em - Saturday, August 06, 2:30am or so
SB guy posts small blind [$10].
BB guy posts big blind [$15].
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to Adspar [ Ks Ah ]
LIMPING FOOL calls [$15].
INSANE MORON raises [$30].
1 guy folds.
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$30].
Adspar raises [$45].
Why Not Guy raises [$60].
SB guy folds.
BB guy folds.
LIMPING FOOL calls [$45].
INSANE MORON calls [$30].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$30].
Adspar calls [$15].
** Dealing Flop ** [ Td, 3h, Qh ]
LIMPING FOOL bets [$15].
INSANE MORON raises [$30].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$30].
Adspar calls [$30].
Why Not Guy folds.
LIMPING FOOL is all-In for $4 more
INSANE MORON calls [$4].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$4].
Adspar calls [$4].
** Dealing Turn ** [ Jd ]
INSANE MORON bets [$30].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$30].
Adspar raises [$60].
INSANE MORON raises [$60].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$60].
Adspar raises [$60].
INSANE MORON calls [$30].
COLD CALLING SPONGE calls [$30].
**
INSANE
COLD CALLING SPONGE folds.
Adspar raises [$60].
INSANE MORON folds.
LIMPING FOOL doesn't show [ Jc, 9c ] a pair of jacks.
Adspar wins $450 from side pot #1 with a straight, ten to ace.
Adspar wins $458 from the main pot with a straight, ten to ace.
INSANE
INSANE
INSANE
Wins/Losses
I have written about nice wins and rough losses, but I recently realized that I don't want to keep doing that. Poker is gambling. Gambling has wins and losses. Even when you gamble "with the best of it" you still lose sometimes. The important thing is to look at the long run, so you shouldn't take individual losses too hard or get too excited about wins.
I also don't like to write about losses because people get worried about me, especially people who don't really understand the variance of poker (aka everyone). And then I don't like to write about big wins because if I don't show the losses, I shouldn't brag about the wins, right?
But, life doesn't always feel like a long-run. It feels like a bunch of short-runs. So if writing about a big loss helps me deal with it, I'm going to do that. I write this shit because I think I'm getting something out of it, not just to entertain and enlighten dozens of people every month.
So, here's a story about a big win. Tonight I had the biggest session win of my life. It was 3 times bigger than my previous biggest, which happened 4 days earlier. Its been a good week.
General thoughts about my poker game
Life as a wannabe poker pro
I'm playing pretty well I think, but I'm still nervous that I'm playing $15/30 on a short bankroll. But I felt like it was time to get past the dead limits of $5/10 and $10/20 into the more juicy action. I wrote about a bad first night in the bigger game, but since then it has been very good to me. Inevitably I'll hit a bad streak, but hopefully not before I pad my bankroll a bit more.
In April, I made almost $3,800.
In May I made almost $1,600.
In June I made almost $8,000.
In July I made almost $400.
Tonight I made almost $3400.
Variance is a bitch. Try to imagine the range of emotions that kind of variability in income causes. It is really nice not to have to report to an office, or have a boss. It is nice to sleep til the afternoon and take a trip whenever I feel like. Its fun to drink a 6 pack on a Tuesday night while watching HBO on demand for 5 hours. Its fun to see people's reactions when they hear what I do for a living.
But this shit takes a toll on me in weird ways. I doubt my decisions and worry that my next session will start the avalanche to my inevitable demise. What happens if I have 4 months like July in a row? Do I even remember how to write a resume? Oh god I just know that flush draw is going to get there and fuck my flopped set.
Take a step back and a few deep breaths. You've proven that you are a winner. Just relax and let the long run work its magic...
Topics from the poker world
And I'm just playing limit hold'em cash games! I can't even imagine how tournament pros feel. Their income is even more variable. They could easily go a year without a major cash, or longer. I guess when they do hit, its for $190,00 or $455,00 or $1,100,000 which is a different zip code from $620 or $1,100 or $3,400. But I don't get the feeling that many of the tournament pros we see on TV are investing half of their big wins in blue chip stocks and treasury bonds.
I invest half of my winnings in coke and hookers. It helps me stay humble.
Seriously though, sitting at home playing cash games online is crazy enough for me right now. Flying all over the country, dropping $5,000 or $10,000 in entry fees plus travel and hotel expenses wherever the tournament is - those are some crazy gamblers.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Cartesian Pokery
My total poker income is the sum of 2 categories: poker wins and other. The first category is self-explanatory. The second category is income from various promotions that online sites use to attract players, net of poker-related expenses (travel and lodging for casino play).
Since I play mostly online, "other income" is a fairly consistent stream, linearly correlated to the number of hands I play. It is nice to have that stability in an otherwise highly volatile business.
The graph below is the cumulative sum of each category over the 14 weeks I've been doing this.
Observations/Analysis:
Since I play mostly online, "other income" is a fairly consistent stream, linearly correlated to the number of hands I play. It is nice to have that stability in an otherwise highly volatile business.
The graph below is the cumulative sum of each category over the 14 weeks I've been doing this.
Observations/Analysis:
- As recently as week 11, I'd made less playing than I made from other.
- Almost 70% of my total poker winnings have come in the last 3 weeks. I'm on a huge upswing right now.
- Overall, I've made as much in the last 3 weeks as I did in the first 11. Again, huge upswing.
- Weeks 7 through 9 were brutal. Sooner or later I'll have another downswing like that. Sooner or later I'll have downswings much worse than that.
- In week 10 I switched from playing 4 tables of $5/10 to 2 tables of $10/20. You can see that the poker wins immediately skyrocketed while the growth of other income modestly declined as a result of playing fewer total hands. I'm not planning to add a 3rd table any time soon. I might move up to $15/30 soon though.
- Generally its just good to see a positive trend. I don't expect to continue crushing the games like I have the last few weeks, but hopefully my long term trend won't look as flat as the first 9 weeks here.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Reading, Thinking, Writing... Being a Lazy Jackass.
This is what happens when I see a simple poker winrate projection...
I was reading Luke's latest, when I came to this quote:
Something about that math didn't add up to me as I thought about it, so I busted out the excel and crunched some numbers. I was about to ask him what kind of crazy rake rebate deal he had, when I realized what I was missing. When I hear "8 hours per day" I think 40 hours per week.
He meant 8 hours every single day. I can't do that. I know there are tons of people out there who work more than 56 hours every week, but I don't think I could ever be one of them. I can't think of any one thing I'd be willing to devote that much time to.
Coming out of college with a double degree in finance and economics and strong math skills, I could have gone for an investment banking gig. I knew I could make a ton of money that way, and my friends who went that route are making huge 6-figure salaries at age 25. I saw that potential, but I didn't want to slave through the 80 hour work weeks they make the entry-level analysts put in.
Hell, it got to the point where 40 hour weeks at GE was too much to bear.
These days I'm fully aware that playing poker for more hours is the most important thing I can do to build my bankroll, thereby allowing me to move up to higher limits, thereby allowing me to make more money. But I struggle to put in more than 30 hours per week.
Clearly wealth accumulation isn't something I've shown a willingness to invest much time in. Which is not quite the same as saying I wouldn't be willing to invest a great deal of time in something that would lead to wealth, just that I'm not willing to work simply for the sake of wealth. We'll get back to that point.
But for now, if not just for money, then what would I invest tons of time in?
Well, I'm pretty sure that I'd work 18 hours a day to ensure my own survival. And if I have my own family some day, I assume I'd include their survival as a higher priority than my own.
But that's really all I can think of. I'm too selfish to include any kind of altruistic causes that help people outside my small circle. God bless the soldiers and the Peace Corps and teachers and law enforcement, cause I sure can't do what they do.
Before you write me off as 100% worthless and lazy, note that so far what I'm writing about is devoting myself extensively to any ONE thing. I couldn't dissect balance sheets or fight crime for 80 hours per week. But I could probably do those both for 8 hours per week, and throw in 7 or 8 other things too.
Ok, maybe not all in the same week. I am 90% worthless and lazy. I have a short attention span; spending too long on any one thing drains my energy.
I guess the point here is that I want to enjoy my time, not just slave miserably towards a goal. My means are just as important to me, if not more important than the ends. Some people enjoy poker enough to play 8 hours every single day. It turns out I enjoy it enough to fill about 30 hours per week, and it turns out that amount of play meets my survival needs. I'm very lucky in that regard.
For some people, meeting survival needs isn't enough, and they don't mind working 80 hours a week at jobs they dislike if they know they'll eventually have more money. Some people trudge through the hours knowing their work is serving a higher cause. Some people never stop moving because they don't know how.
I got a job after college because I wanted to live on my own instead of having to mooch off my parents. I liked the job more than I liked the other idea. After a few years I found a solution I liked better and I started playing online poker in my underwear in the house I bought instead of sitting in a cubicle in business casual working for the man.
That was an improvement, and now I think I can do even better. I know myself, what I'm capable of, what my limitations are. I have a better idea of what I want. I don't want to put more time into poker, because I want to spend some more time on other things.
When I was working 40 hours per week, I was spending about 10 hobby hours on poker. Both those time chunks had direction. These days I'm putting 40 work hours into poker (30 playing, plus I probably spend 10 hours reading or analyzing my game), but I haven't picked up something else to fill those 10 hobby hours. Nothing with direction anyway. I've enjoyed a couple months of filling that time with diversions - movies, video games, etc - but recently I've felt the urge to start something with a purpose.
I love writing this blog. I'll sit down and start typing and suddenly an hour has gone by. I like it when I can entertain, inspire, amuse, or mostly just annoy people with my ideas and the way I express them. I look forward to hearing about people's reactions, and I'm always on the lookout for new material to write about. I don't mind making an ass of myself with this kind of public introspection, and I know that people find it interesting.
I'm going to start writing something else. I'm not exactly sure what form it will take yet, or if it will ever be worth anything to anyone else. But I have some ideas that I know I'll enjoy spending some time developing. Those are the kind of time investments I'm willing to make.
I was reading Luke's latest, when I came to this quote:
In theory, playing 12 $2-$4 tables, beating each table for a bet per hour, and receiving a partial rake rebate would yield more than $250 thousand at 8 hours per day. A quarter of a million dollars at $2-$4 is actually possible!
Something about that math didn't add up to me as I thought about it, so I busted out the excel and crunched some numbers. I was about to ask him what kind of crazy rake rebate deal he had, when I realized what I was missing. When I hear "8 hours per day" I think 40 hours per week.
He meant 8 hours every single day. I can't do that. I know there are tons of people out there who work more than 56 hours every week, but I don't think I could ever be one of them. I can't think of any one thing I'd be willing to devote that much time to.
Coming out of college with a double degree in finance and economics and strong math skills, I could have gone for an investment banking gig. I knew I could make a ton of money that way, and my friends who went that route are making huge 6-figure salaries at age 25. I saw that potential, but I didn't want to slave through the 80 hour work weeks they make the entry-level analysts put in.
Hell, it got to the point where 40 hour weeks at GE was too much to bear.
These days I'm fully aware that playing poker for more hours is the most important thing I can do to build my bankroll, thereby allowing me to move up to higher limits, thereby allowing me to make more money. But I struggle to put in more than 30 hours per week.
Clearly wealth accumulation isn't something I've shown a willingness to invest much time in. Which is not quite the same as saying I wouldn't be willing to invest a great deal of time in something that would lead to wealth, just that I'm not willing to work simply for the sake of wealth. We'll get back to that point.
But for now, if not just for money, then what would I invest tons of time in?
Well, I'm pretty sure that I'd work 18 hours a day to ensure my own survival. And if I have my own family some day, I assume I'd include their survival as a higher priority than my own.
But that's really all I can think of. I'm too selfish to include any kind of altruistic causes that help people outside my small circle. God bless the soldiers and the Peace Corps and teachers and law enforcement, cause I sure can't do what they do.
Before you write me off as 100% worthless and lazy, note that so far what I'm writing about is devoting myself extensively to any ONE thing. I couldn't dissect balance sheets or fight crime for 80 hours per week. But I could probably do those both for 8 hours per week, and throw in 7 or 8 other things too.
Ok, maybe not all in the same week. I am 90% worthless and lazy. I have a short attention span; spending too long on any one thing drains my energy.
I guess the point here is that I want to enjoy my time, not just slave miserably towards a goal. My means are just as important to me, if not more important than the ends. Some people enjoy poker enough to play 8 hours every single day. It turns out I enjoy it enough to fill about 30 hours per week, and it turns out that amount of play meets my survival needs. I'm very lucky in that regard.
For some people, meeting survival needs isn't enough, and they don't mind working 80 hours a week at jobs they dislike if they know they'll eventually have more money. Some people trudge through the hours knowing their work is serving a higher cause. Some people never stop moving because they don't know how.
I got a job after college because I wanted to live on my own instead of having to mooch off my parents. I liked the job more than I liked the other idea. After a few years I found a solution I liked better and I started playing online poker in my underwear in the house I bought instead of sitting in a cubicle in business casual working for the man.
That was an improvement, and now I think I can do even better. I know myself, what I'm capable of, what my limitations are. I have a better idea of what I want. I don't want to put more time into poker, because I want to spend some more time on other things.
When I was working 40 hours per week, I was spending about 10 hobby hours on poker. Both those time chunks had direction. These days I'm putting 40 work hours into poker (30 playing, plus I probably spend 10 hours reading or analyzing my game), but I haven't picked up something else to fill those 10 hobby hours. Nothing with direction anyway. I've enjoyed a couple months of filling that time with diversions - movies, video games, etc - but recently I've felt the urge to start something with a purpose.
I love writing this blog. I'll sit down and start typing and suddenly an hour has gone by. I like it when I can entertain, inspire, amuse, or mostly just annoy people with my ideas and the way I express them. I look forward to hearing about people's reactions, and I'm always on the lookout for new material to write about. I don't mind making an ass of myself with this kind of public introspection, and I know that people find it interesting.
I'm going to start writing something else. I'm not exactly sure what form it will take yet, or if it will ever be worth anything to anyone else. But I have some ideas that I know I'll enjoy spending some time developing. Those are the kind of time investments I'm willing to make.
Friday, July 15, 2005
Acceleration?
I'm setting a goal of averaging at least $50 per hour over the next few months. That is 2.0 to 2.5 BB/100 hands playing 2 tables of $10/20, which I think is especially achievable playing limited hours with good game selection.
Translation for non-poker people:
I usually play limit hold'em where bets and raises are fixed in increments of $10 or $20, as opposed to the no-limit you see on TV. I think that I can average a profit of 2 to 2.5 big bets (big bet in this case being $20) per 100 hands I play, and I can expect 100 to 130 hands per hour or so. A win rate of 2.5 would be very ambitious (anything over 1.5 is good; over 3.0 is expert) if I was playing 4 tables at the same time for lots of hours, but if I only play under very favorable circumstances (lots of bad players at my table and few good players) and only have to concentrate on making good decisions at 2 tables, I think it is a reasonable goal.
For my last ~70,000 hands played, I've averaged $34/hour.
For my last ~13,000 hands played, I've averaged $77/hour.
For my last ~800 hands played, I've averaged $132/hour.
That last stat is just a joke. Those are the real numbers, but I'm sure I could find plenty of 800 hand samples where I won or lost $200/hour. This is a very volatile game, so you really have to look at the long run. Even the 13,000 hand sample isn't really enough to draw any specific conclusions other than that I've have a good last 13,000 hands.
What I really should also do is set a goal of playing a certain number of hours per week. Then I could estimate my total earnings, net out estimated living expenses, and project my bankroll growth to set an estimated date to move up to $15/30.
Not tonight though. I'm getting up "early" tomorrow to meet some former coworkers on their lunchbreak, so I better get some sleep.
Translation for non-poker people:
I usually play limit hold'em where bets and raises are fixed in increments of $10 or $20, as opposed to the no-limit you see on TV. I think that I can average a profit of 2 to 2.5 big bets (big bet in this case being $20) per 100 hands I play, and I can expect 100 to 130 hands per hour or so. A win rate of 2.5 would be very ambitious (anything over 1.5 is good; over 3.0 is expert) if I was playing 4 tables at the same time for lots of hours, but if I only play under very favorable circumstances (lots of bad players at my table and few good players) and only have to concentrate on making good decisions at 2 tables, I think it is a reasonable goal.
For my last ~70,000 hands played, I've averaged $34/hour.
For my last ~13,000 hands played, I've averaged $77/hour.
For my last ~800 hands played, I've averaged $132/hour.
That last stat is just a joke. Those are the real numbers, but I'm sure I could find plenty of 800 hand samples where I won or lost $200/hour. This is a very volatile game, so you really have to look at the long run. Even the 13,000 hand sample isn't really enough to draw any specific conclusions other than that I've have a good last 13,000 hands.
What I really should also do is set a goal of playing a certain number of hours per week. Then I could estimate my total earnings, net out estimated living expenses, and project my bankroll growth to set an estimated date to move up to $15/30.
Not tonight though. I'm getting up "early" tomorrow to meet some former coworkers on their lunchbreak, so I better get some sleep.
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Online Poker Screen Names 3
When you sign up to play poker at an online casino, you pick a screen name that other players see when you sit at a table. Here are some names I've played against. Players in red are losers in games I've played; green are winners.
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
(Online Poker Screen Names 2)
Sexual/Vulgarity:
Drugs:
Messages:
Weird:
Funny References:
(Online Poker Screen Names 1)
(Online Poker Screen Names 2)
Sexual/Vulgarity:
- jizmaster - Pretty much speaks for itself
- AssPoker - Pretty much speaks for itself. The AssPoker won a lot when we played. It was a lovely experience.
- NutsKickerNL - Curiously this guy was playing limit, when I saw him, not no-limit (NL). Maybe that's why he was losing.
- ea8tshtndie - Had to throw that 8 in there because eatshitanddie, eatshitndie, and eatshtndie must have been taken.
- eatmynuts1 - Once again, resorting to adding numbers because some other genius beat you to the original idea.
Drugs:
- GAMBOL4CRACK - Is there any other reason to gambol?
- cokedupninja - This is just a great name. Bravo.
Messages:
- DontEatMeat - In response to his suggestion, I'll quote Reel Big Fish: "Maybe I'm a murderer, but I'm hungry and they're better off dead." Maybe some protein would help your results, buddy.
- spirituality - Allah helps me hit my flushes.
- Jeter_Loves_LilBoys - I didn't actually play with this guy, but I saw him sitting in a game and his message rang true to me. But I suspect most of you already knew that Jeter is a homosexual pedophile.
- lysbexic - This noble public servant has taken it upon himself to warn the world about the dangers of dyslexia.
Weird:
- ryanquirk - I assume the guy's name is Ryan Quirk. What kind of weird last name is Quirk?
Funny References:
- Pete Rose - Insert your favorite Pete Rose gambling joke.
- bobamilktea - I don't know if this is why he picked this name, but there is a woman who walks through the Commerce Casino selling that stuff. In her thick Asian accent, she yells "boba tea... milk tea... boba MILK tea!!" Mildly amusing but curiously memorable. Adverbially speaking.
- cunningstunts - I didn't play with this guy either, but I recognized the classic punchline: What is the difference between a circus and a cheerleading team? A circus is a bunch of cunning stunts...
- chewygotu - What a wookie!
Thursday, June 30, 2005
The value of a decision: to play or not to play
For various reasons, I found myself exhausted at 10pm. I had wanted to play tonight, but figured sleeping was a better decision than playing while tired. So I turned off the lights and laid down, unsure if I was taking a nap or going to bed. I knew I didn't want to be totally back on a real-world schedule, so I was leaning towards nap. But I sure as hell wasn't going to set an alarm had no reason to suspect I'd wake up before morning. I woke up around 3am and had to make a tough decision between getting up and playing for a while or rolling over to go back to sleep.
A funny thing about playing poker is that it creates a distorted picture of the value of those kinds of decisions. Theoretically, I should look at my long term average hourly earn rate, R, and how many hours I'm going to play, H, and multiply those 2 numbers to figure out the expected value of playing. H x R = EV. But variance is high in this game, so the actual result is often in a very different ballpark than the H x R projection.
So here's a common scenario. I decline an invitation to go out on a Saturday night, opting to stay in and take advantage of the juicy weekend action on Party Poker. I have a rough night at the tables: big pairs get cracked, miss all my flush draws, flop set under set 3 times. When my friends drunkenly call me at 3:31am and ask how my evening went, I know my excel sheet says I've lost $389 but I just mutter "Eh, not great... what did I miss?"
Our brains are built to make results-based associations. If I eat some berries and 30 minutes later I throw up, I associate the result of vomiting with eating the berries. I have an abstract understanding that I should be counting my imaginary EV dollars to determine how much the decision to stay in was worth, but its hard not to think that going out drinking would have been a $389 profit. I'm not going to eat those bastard berries any more.
Luckily tonight it went the other way. Instead of going back to sleep I got up and played, winning $884, far above the most generous estimates of my H x R. So what was the value of the decision?
A funny thing about playing poker is that it creates a distorted picture of the value of those kinds of decisions. Theoretically, I should look at my long term average hourly earn rate, R, and how many hours I'm going to play, H, and multiply those 2 numbers to figure out the expected value of playing. H x R = EV. But variance is high in this game, so the actual result is often in a very different ballpark than the H x R projection.
So here's a common scenario. I decline an invitation to go out on a Saturday night, opting to stay in and take advantage of the juicy weekend action on Party Poker. I have a rough night at the tables: big pairs get cracked, miss all my flush draws, flop set under set 3 times. When my friends drunkenly call me at 3:31am and ask how my evening went, I know my excel sheet says I've lost $389 but I just mutter "Eh, not great... what did I miss?"
Our brains are built to make results-based associations. If I eat some berries and 30 minutes later I throw up, I associate the result of vomiting with eating the berries. I have an abstract understanding that I should be counting my imaginary EV dollars to determine how much the decision to stay in was worth, but its hard not to think that going out drinking would have been a $389 profit. I'm not going to eat those bastard berries any more.
Luckily tonight it went the other way. Instead of going back to sleep I got up and played, winning $884, far above the most generous estimates of my H x R. So what was the value of the decision?
Friday, June 24, 2005
Opportunity cost
In 13 weeks, I've made about $4,200 less playing poker than I would have earned from the job I quit. That extrapolates to a $17,000 annual paycut. The benefits aren't as good either, but what can you expect from flexible part-time work?
If you add back the 2 weeks vacation I got paid out, and consider the expenses I'm saving on commuting and lunches out in Bethesda, the financial difference looks much better. Plus I got a nice tax refund this year, so with that buffer I haven't really felt any pains in the wallet at all.
As a return on that $4,200 investment, I honestly expect my earn rate over the next 13 weeks can completely dwarf what I've done so far. My understanding of the game is growing every day, I feel like I'm playing the best poker I've ever played, and my results are starting to show it. Or maybe I'm just catching a good run of cards and in the long run I'll struggle to break even. It has been fun either way.
Its 11:20am, I guess I should go to bed.
If you add back the 2 weeks vacation I got paid out, and consider the expenses I'm saving on commuting and lunches out in Bethesda, the financial difference looks much better. Plus I got a nice tax refund this year, so with that buffer I haven't really felt any pains in the wallet at all.
As a return on that $4,200 investment, I honestly expect my earn rate over the next 13 weeks can completely dwarf what I've done so far. My understanding of the game is growing every day, I feel like I'm playing the best poker I've ever played, and my results are starting to show it. Or maybe I'm just catching a good run of cards and in the long run I'll struggle to break even. It has been fun either way.
Its 11:20am, I guess I should go to bed.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
playing online poker for a living
pros
cons
input?
- don't answer to anyone:
- this is all on me
- no boss
- no corporate interests or politics
- no pants
- no annoying coworkers (no, not you)
- obvious and immediate correlation between effort and reward
- no alarm clocks
- my own schedule
- sleep when i want
- take days off when i want
- life is just a game
- don't have to take anything seriously
- "work" is fun
- easy money
- challenge
- matching wits
- opportunity for advancement - moving up limits
- applying skills to new areas - learning new games
cons
- "so what do you do?"
- parents don't like it
- people generally look down on gambling
- why did i bother with college?
- sketchy healthcare coverage
- no 401k, pension
- no sick leave
- life is a just game
- hard to take pride in outplaying a drunk or a rich moron
- greater good?
- future?
- what if the games dry up?
- huge hole in my resume
- downswings
- pyschological challenges
- financial challenges
input?
Monday, June 13, 2005
Trip Recap
BULLET I suppose the trip was a modest success, financially. I had a great 3-hour session in a $10/20 game at the Taj the night I arrived, and the rest of my play basically evened out. Not a hugely profitable venture, but a nice change of pace.
BULLET After a 14 hour session on Friday I decided to head home Saturday instead of playing again. I didn't want to risk burnout after 3 long days of playing. Even though I'm sure the Saturday action was great, I'm happy with my decision.
BULLET For the first 2.5 days of play, I had very good feel for my tables. More than ever before, I really had a good idea what my opponents held and how they'd act. But towards the end of my session on Friday, a guy sat down who completely altered the dynamic of the table, and it really threw my game off. There had been one maniac at the table who played any 2 cards to the river almost every hand. He had been amazingly lucky and had a very large stack of chips in front of him. But I had been sitting next to him for several hours and was doing a pretty good job of reading him in spite of his wildness. The new guy was a preflop maniac, playing any 2 cards, often for a raise, but he played fairly well postflop. They were sitting next to each other and their antics pretty much put the whole table on tilt. With one exception, I did a miserable job of adjusting my game. Hopefully with more experience, I'll know how to adjust properly to changing conditions.
BULLET I mentioned one exception, which was a play I made shortly after the new guy (NG) joined the table. This was certainly the greatest poker play I've ever made. We'll pick up the action on the turn, where the pot was already very large. I held 98 (suits irrelevant) on the button, and after several checks the original maniac (OM) bet with the board showing K978. I knew him well enough to know that he'd try to checkraise any hand that beat me, and the pot was huge, so I raised hoping to force out the 3 people acting after me. 2 of them folded, and then NG 3-bet. He hadn't been at the table long enough to know that OM was a complete moron, and he had heard others at the table talking about how tight I was, so I knew his check/3-bet meant my hand was worse than his. At worst he had to have a set, more likely a straight, and probably JT for the nut straight. But after OM called, I had to call 1 more bet and hope for a miracle on the river. I expected any miracle would have to take the form of an 8 or 9, but the river was a J, which seemed like a horrible card for me until NG checked. He looked genuinely concerned about the Jack. Then OM bet again. At this point I it was obvious to me that NG had the best hand and I had the 2nd best hand. OM betting was an blessing, because I realized that if I raised, NG would have to assume I have at least a T for a straight and he might fold. With the pot so large I figured it was worth a shot, so I raised and looked at NG and made a sheepish "I'm sorry" face. NG agonized and finally folded. OM called my raise, and NG immediately informed OM that I had a straight. When I turned over my hand an announced 2-pair I think he might have thrown up in his mouth. "JUST TWO PAIR???! I FOLDED 5-6!!! OH MY GOD!" I quietly stacked the $425 pot.
BULLET Asian casino employees have some cool names:
secondary bullet He
secondary bullet Trung
secondary bullet Nho
secondary bullet Thang
secondary bullet Phat
secondary bullet Supa
It makes me wonder if any American name sound like cool words somewhere in Asia...
secondary bullet Ron is the Vietnamese word for "pudding"
secondary bullet Betty is a slang term for a state of inebriation in Tagalog
secondary bullet Charlie sounds kinda like "shitbird" in Korean
secondary bullet Your average Cambodian would find the name Ralph highly amusing, but couldn't really explain why. Actually that might be universal.
secondary bullet Tony sounds like the Cantonese word for "girth," especially with that Hong Kong accent.
BULLET I played a bit of the $15/30 game at the Taj, and I really felt the difference that the 2/3 blind structure makes. I've got much more experience with 1/2 or 1/3, and the $10 small blind really made the game feel a lot different than what I'm used to. I don't remember feeling that way in my occassional shots at Party's $15/30 game, so that makes me think I've come a long way since my last try at that game.
BULLET After a 14 hour session on Friday I decided to head home Saturday instead of playing again. I didn't want to risk burnout after 3 long days of playing. Even though I'm sure the Saturday action was great, I'm happy with my decision.
BULLET For the first 2.5 days of play, I had very good feel for my tables. More than ever before, I really had a good idea what my opponents held and how they'd act. But towards the end of my session on Friday, a guy sat down who completely altered the dynamic of the table, and it really threw my game off. There had been one maniac at the table who played any 2 cards to the river almost every hand. He had been amazingly lucky and had a very large stack of chips in front of him. But I had been sitting next to him for several hours and was doing a pretty good job of reading him in spite of his wildness. The new guy was a preflop maniac, playing any 2 cards, often for a raise, but he played fairly well postflop. They were sitting next to each other and their antics pretty much put the whole table on tilt. With one exception, I did a miserable job of adjusting my game. Hopefully with more experience, I'll know how to adjust properly to changing conditions.
BULLET I mentioned one exception, which was a play I made shortly after the new guy (NG) joined the table. This was certainly the greatest poker play I've ever made. We'll pick up the action on the turn, where the pot was already very large. I held 98 (suits irrelevant) on the button, and after several checks the original maniac (OM) bet with the board showing K978. I knew him well enough to know that he'd try to checkraise any hand that beat me, and the pot was huge, so I raised hoping to force out the 3 people acting after me. 2 of them folded, and then NG 3-bet. He hadn't been at the table long enough to know that OM was a complete moron, and he had heard others at the table talking about how tight I was, so I knew his check/3-bet meant my hand was worse than his. At worst he had to have a set, more likely a straight, and probably JT for the nut straight. But after OM called, I had to call 1 more bet and hope for a miracle on the river. I expected any miracle would have to take the form of an 8 or 9, but the river was a J, which seemed like a horrible card for me until NG checked. He looked genuinely concerned about the Jack. Then OM bet again. At this point I it was obvious to me that NG had the best hand and I had the 2nd best hand. OM betting was an blessing, because I realized that if I raised, NG would have to assume I have at least a T for a straight and he might fold. With the pot so large I figured it was worth a shot, so I raised and looked at NG and made a sheepish "I'm sorry" face. NG agonized and finally folded. OM called my raise, and NG immediately informed OM that I had a straight. When I turned over my hand an announced 2-pair I think he might have thrown up in his mouth. "JUST TWO PAIR???! I FOLDED 5-6!!! OH MY GOD!" I quietly stacked the $425 pot.
BULLET Asian casino employees have some cool names:
secondary bullet He
secondary bullet Trung
secondary bullet Nho
secondary bullet Thang
secondary bullet Phat
secondary bullet Supa
It makes me wonder if any American name sound like cool words somewhere in Asia...
secondary bullet Ron is the Vietnamese word for "pudding"
secondary bullet Betty is a slang term for a state of inebriation in Tagalog
secondary bullet Charlie sounds kinda like "shitbird" in Korean
secondary bullet Your average Cambodian would find the name Ralph highly amusing, but couldn't really explain why. Actually that might be universal.
secondary bullet Tony sounds like the Cantonese word for "girth," especially with that Hong Kong accent.
BULLET I played a bit of the $15/30 game at the Taj, and I really felt the difference that the 2/3 blind structure makes. I've got much more experience with 1/2 or 1/3, and the $10 small blind really made the game feel a lot different than what I'm used to. I don't remember feeling that way in my occassional shots at Party's $15/30 game, so that makes me think I've come a long way since my last try at that game.
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
11 weeks now
I've tracked 11 weeks (Wed to Tues) now.
9 out of 11 weeks have been wins.
7 out of 11 weeks I made less than $500.
3 out of 11 weeks I made more than $1,000. 2 of those I made more than $1,500.
My worst week was a $705 loss. I followed it with a $1,507 win.
My worst day was April 3. I lost $965.
My best day was April 17. I won $560.
My worst single session was losing $727 in two hours on May 27, playing four $5/10 full tables.
My best single session was $604 in one hour on May 27, playing two $10/20 full tables.
May 27 was a long day.
My average week is 25 hours of play and $480 of income. If I did that for 50 weeks I'd make about $24,000. If I kept the same earn rate and put in 40 hours instead of 25, I'd make about $38,000. Nobody would mistake these numbers for evidence of great success.
Discipline is my biggest problem. I rarely play my "A-game" for an entire session and I don't put in very many hours. I quit too soon when I'm ahead, and I play too long when I'm behind. I let emotion cloud my judgment in big hands. I don't know a lot of odds as well as I should. I am horrible at multi-table tournaments mostly because I don't have enough patience.
I've started posting on the 2+2 forums, and it has already helped my thinking about the game, beyond what simply reading them had done for me. I've felt improvement in my game. Game selection is a growing strength. I'm getting more effective at using statistics and other information to find situations where I have a greater advantage. I've read and reread a few excellent poker books, and tried some new games.
I'm making ends meet, and enjoying this time. I don't think I'll want to be a professional poker player in 10 years (considering myself a pro now seems like a stretch), but I don't think I'll be getting a job any time soon.
9 out of 11 weeks have been wins.
7 out of 11 weeks I made less than $500.
3 out of 11 weeks I made more than $1,000. 2 of those I made more than $1,500.
My worst week was a $705 loss. I followed it with a $1,507 win.
My worst day was April 3. I lost $965.
My best day was April 17. I won $560.
My worst single session was losing $727 in two hours on May 27, playing four $5/10 full tables.
My best single session was $604 in one hour on May 27, playing two $10/20 full tables.
May 27 was a long day.
My average week is 25 hours of play and $480 of income. If I did that for 50 weeks I'd make about $24,000. If I kept the same earn rate and put in 40 hours instead of 25, I'd make about $38,000. Nobody would mistake these numbers for evidence of great success.
Discipline is my biggest problem. I rarely play my "A-game" for an entire session and I don't put in very many hours. I quit too soon when I'm ahead, and I play too long when I'm behind. I let emotion cloud my judgment in big hands. I don't know a lot of odds as well as I should. I am horrible at multi-table tournaments mostly because I don't have enough patience.
I've started posting on the 2+2 forums, and it has already helped my thinking about the game, beyond what simply reading them had done for me. I've felt improvement in my game. Game selection is a growing strength. I'm getting more effective at using statistics and other information to find situations where I have a greater advantage. I've read and reread a few excellent poker books, and tried some new games.
I'm making ends meet, and enjoying this time. I don't think I'll want to be a professional poker player in 10 years (considering myself a pro now seems like a stretch), but I don't think I'll be getting a job any time soon.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
Hyperbole? Probably not...
This is the most amazing hand of poker I've ever played.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (8 handed)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Kc, Ad. MP2 posts a blind of $3.
2 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 (poster) checks, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls, MP1 calls, MP2 3-bets, Hero caps, BB folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds.
Flop: (13.33 SB) 5s, 3d, Qc (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets, MP1 folds.
Final Pot: 7.16 BB
I almost just called the 3-bet, but said to myself "I guess I'll cap and maybe someone will fold." And then I laughed, because the idea of someone folding was preposterous. And then 2 people folded.
Has anyone ever seen a preflop limp(check)-3bet-fold??
And then MP1 folds the flop getting over 14 to 1 on the call. Astonishing.
Party Poker 3/6 Hold'em (8 handed)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Kc, Ad. MP2 posts a blind of $3.
2 folds, MP1 calls, MP2 (poster) checks, Hero raises, 1 fold, BB calls, MP1 calls, MP2 3-bets, Hero caps, BB folds, MP1 calls, MP2 folds.
Flop: (13.33 SB) 5s, 3d, Qc (3 players)
MP1 checks, Hero bets, MP1 folds.
Final Pot: 7.16 BB
I almost just called the 3-bet, but said to myself "I guess I'll cap and maybe someone will fold." And then I laughed, because the idea of someone folding was preposterous. And then 2 people folded.
Has anyone ever seen a preflop limp(check)-3bet-fold??
And then MP1 folds the flop getting over 14 to 1 on the call. Astonishing.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Fun and games
I'm not a big fan of FullTilt but they have a 50% rebuy bonus going, and I'm trying to branch out, so I bought back into that site. I instantly remembered how they never have many hold'em games going and the bonuses take forever to earn back. I doubt I'll play there enough to earn all $300 within the 60 day window. But while I was sitting in either a $2/4 or $3/6 shorthanded game, an interesting hand arose, and hilarity ensued. (Non-poker people may or may not agree on the hilariousness.)
Another reason Full Tilt sucks is that they don't offer hand histories, so I'm recounting this hand from memory...
Preflop - 6 handed
Flop - 5 players, 15 small bets in the pot
Anyway, I mentioned that hilarity ensued. I very rarely engage my opponents in chat, in fact I usually turn the chat feature off, but this was too good to pass up. The big blind was pretty upset about losing a big pot on the last card, so he begins berating me for what he thinks is bad play. It always pisses me off when I see players criticize their opponents' play.
Big Blind says - "That was absolutely horrible"
He is insulting me, telling me my play was horrible. Now keep in mind that I'm pretty proud of myself because I used some fairly sophisticated moves that paid off. Also note that this guy went a little overboard with his middle pocket pair. If he hadn't 3bet preflop I probably would have just check-folded on the flop, although maybe someone else would have sucked out on him. But that is the nature of middle pocket pairs. The point is that he brought this "bad beat" upon himself.
I reply - "Yeah betting the river there didn't make too much sense for you. Horrible."
I turn it around on him. He probably shouldn't have bet the river. Lots of opponents will call until the river with a hand containing an ace or a ten, so checking probably would have been a better play.
Big blind says - "Well I figured your hand hit the flop... you know, since you called a reraise."
Actually I called a raise not a reraise, but who's keeping track. So he is now defending his river bet, saying he figured my hand was made on the flop and that the Ace didn't help me. I love how it started out with him criticizing me, and now he's flopping around trying to defend his own play.
I reply: "Horrible figuring."
Outzinged, he pretty much gives up on the "horrible' line of conversation, but is still fuming mad.
Big blind says: "I love it when idiots fall a$$ backwards into a hand and then act like they played it right"
This is so replete with irony:
1. At no point in our little conversation did I ever defend my play to him. I didn't act like I played it right; I simply questioned his play, but he's too mad and/or stupid to realize that.
2. Second, as I've already mentioned, with the possible exception of my preflop call, I think I did play my hand right, but he's not a good enough player to realize that. And I didn't fall into that hand, I had to work hard for it! But to his ignorant a$$, my play looked idiotic. (By the way, I find it hilarious when angry players find ways around the poker software's auto censoring: a$$, fu_ck you, chit, etc. Where there's a will, there's a way.)
3. If you believe your opponent is such a bad player, why would you tell him? Criticism is going to piss a person off, which usually has one of two effects - it is either going to make them play better, or it will make them leave. Do you really want your opponents to get better? Do you really want a horrible player to leave your game?
I was content to simply enjoy irony #1 without further comment. As for irony #2, I felt no need to defend my play. I didn't want to educate him any more than I had already done by questioning his river bet, which I was only willing to do because I knew I wouldn't be playing in this game much longer. On that note, I figured I'd teach him irony lesson #3.
I responded: "You are mean. I don't want to play with you any more. Your meanness is driving this bad player away from your game."
And I left the table.
Another reason Full Tilt sucks is that they don't offer hand histories, so I'm recounting this hand from memory...
Preflop - 6 handed
- me in the small blind: A♥9♠
- 2 donkeys limp. Button raises. I call cause I could easily have the best hand. Big Blind 3-bets. All call.
Flop - 5 players, 15 small bets in the pot
- board: 8♥ 6♥ 3♣
- I bet out because I figure the BB will raise his overpair, which will probably get everyone else to fold. That cleans up my Ace outs and maybe gets overcards out if pairing my 9 would be good, and I have the backdoor flush draw and a possible weak straight draw. The pot is huge, so its worth taking this shot.
- I bet, big blind raises, all fold to me and I call.
- Sweet, exactly what I wanted.
- board: T♥
- Now I picked up the flush draw, plus an inside straight draw. I figure I have 9 outs to the nut flush, plus 3 Aces and 3 sevens for probable winners. That's 15 outs of the 46 unseen cards, so I have an easy call getting 10.5 to 1 from the pot.
- I check, big blind bets, I call.
- board: A♦
- Sweet, I rivered top pair. No point betting it, but I probably win.
- I check, big blind bets, I call.
- I drag the 13.5 big bet pot after big blind shows 9♦9♣
Anyway, I mentioned that hilarity ensued. I very rarely engage my opponents in chat, in fact I usually turn the chat feature off, but this was too good to pass up. The big blind was pretty upset about losing a big pot on the last card, so he begins berating me for what he thinks is bad play. It always pisses me off when I see players criticize their opponents' play.
Big Blind says - "That was absolutely horrible"
He is insulting me, telling me my play was horrible. Now keep in mind that I'm pretty proud of myself because I used some fairly sophisticated moves that paid off. Also note that this guy went a little overboard with his middle pocket pair. If he hadn't 3bet preflop I probably would have just check-folded on the flop, although maybe someone else would have sucked out on him. But that is the nature of middle pocket pairs. The point is that he brought this "bad beat" upon himself.
I reply - "Yeah betting the river there didn't make too much sense for you. Horrible."
I turn it around on him. He probably shouldn't have bet the river. Lots of opponents will call until the river with a hand containing an ace or a ten, so checking probably would have been a better play.
Big blind says - "Well I figured your hand hit the flop... you know, since you called a reraise."
Actually I called a raise not a reraise, but who's keeping track. So he is now defending his river bet, saying he figured my hand was made on the flop and that the Ace didn't help me. I love how it started out with him criticizing me, and now he's flopping around trying to defend his own play.
I reply: "Horrible figuring."
Outzinged, he pretty much gives up on the "horrible' line of conversation, but is still fuming mad.
Big blind says: "I love it when idiots fall a$$ backwards into a hand and then act like they played it right"
This is so replete with irony:
1. At no point in our little conversation did I ever defend my play to him. I didn't act like I played it right; I simply questioned his play, but he's too mad and/or stupid to realize that.
2. Second, as I've already mentioned, with the possible exception of my preflop call, I think I did play my hand right, but he's not a good enough player to realize that. And I didn't fall into that hand, I had to work hard for it! But to his ignorant a$$, my play looked idiotic. (By the way, I find it hilarious when angry players find ways around the poker software's auto censoring: a$$, fu_ck you, chit, etc. Where there's a will, there's a way.)
3. If you believe your opponent is such a bad player, why would you tell him? Criticism is going to piss a person off, which usually has one of two effects - it is either going to make them play better, or it will make them leave. Do you really want your opponents to get better? Do you really want a horrible player to leave your game?
I was content to simply enjoy irony #1 without further comment. As for irony #2, I felt no need to defend my play. I didn't want to educate him any more than I had already done by questioning his river bet, which I was only willing to do because I knew I wouldn't be playing in this game much longer. On that note, I figured I'd teach him irony lesson #3.
I responded: "You are mean. I don't want to play with you any more. Your meanness is driving this bad player away from your game."
And I left the table.
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