It has been a week and a half since my last post. This will be a short post as I have little poker to report. My days have been dedicated to visiting friends and family, eating, drinking, sleeping, and more eating. I think I gained 10 pounds and many of my clothes do not fit anymore. No matter, in a couple of days my typical New Year's resolutions kick in and I will be once again frequenting the gym (usually by February this resolution fizzles).
I have played vitually no internet poker. I was going to play today, but instead got carried away with Guitar Hero. By the time I clicked on stars the Sunday Million and heads up $215 were already underway. I don't mind though as I'm a little tired and the Million is $1050 today so I shouldn't play unless fresh anyway at that price. As well, I need to work on my Guitar Hero so I don't get hustled by my friends (Kathy and I had a party on Friday. Travis waited until I was really drunk before asking to play me Guitar Hero for money.....I lost 50 bucks. Oh, and for those that care, play Wolters for cash he really sucks).
I have played live 3 times, all stud. The first game was 20/40 kill and the other two started as 30/60 but were quickly bumped up to 40/80 kill games. I booked three consecutive wins $775, $1925, and $5,400 respectively. No complaints. FOR THOSE INTERESTED THIS GAME IS NOT RAKED so please don't have the gaming commission waste their time investigating.
Anway, the game seems to be getting bigger. A couple of the colourful characters feel that by juicing up the game to 40/80 it will slow down the chasing. In my humble opinion I think it just means bigger pots. Some of these guys really enjoy playing greek style (coming from behind) and I don't think the size of the bets are going to scare them. Obviously, the bigger the game the better as far as I'm concerned, but in the end I go with the flow and be happy that I get to play. I cannot list who regularily plays but I will say that each of them are either businessmen or professionals, all of whom love to gamble and talk trash (the only exception is Todd, but his stud game is still a work in progress so the threat is minimal...hehe). None of them play for a living and I feel I have a very good read on each of them.
Reinacting stud hands is a little more complicated than in holdem but I do want to talk about 2 hands in particular. These two were chosen because I think they are interesting and because they ended happily by me raking in sizeable pots.
Hand #1:
It's 40/80 and I limp in first position with 932 all clubs. In our game we have big blind / small blind with no low card bring in or ante - a bit unconvential, but so is the tempo of this game. There was no point in raising to isolate at this point because it was getting late, people were stuck, and bluffing was very unlikely if I couldn't make a hand. Anyway, Mike calls, Rosie calls, Larry calls, and Nick checks big blind (I will refrain from using last names). Next card out for me is the 4 of clubs so I have a three straight and four flush (92 of clubs showing). However, Rosie shows JJ, Larry shows KQ, and Nick shows 83 (and each player has two cards buried). With a pair showing Rosie fires out $80, Larry raises, and Nick reraises to $240 and action is to me. I know Rosie has only a pair of jacks because he raises almost any pair on 3rd street. I know Larry hit the Q on 4th and raises because he can beat the jacks, a good raise. But Nick in the big blind reraises with 83 showing? I think he may have two pair 8s and 3s, but he is also capable of raising with one pair here to isolate trying to get heads up with Larry. As well, he may be a little on tilt at this point because he lost a few big pots in a row. So, knowing Rosie and Larry are going to call I feel I'm getting good equity on calling against at worst Nick's two pair. One final piece of information is that I have not seen any 5s, 6s, or Aces which means I am more likely to back into a straight and I have only seen 1 other club out so with 8 clubs left I can easily make a flush. Anway, next card I get a 9, Rosie gets a 4, Larry gets a 4, and Nick gets a 3. Checked to Nick he bets. This is tricky now because if Nick had 8s and 3s he now has a fullhouse which means I'm drawing so thin. I have a 3 in the hole though so I'm not convinced he has a fullhouse, and with a pair of 9s now I have additional outs to beat him if he has two pair. So, I call and see what comes next. Rosie and Larry also call, but I'm not afraid of them at this point because if either of them hit jacks up or queens up they would have bet into Nick. On 6th, Rosie gets a 6, Larry gets a 7, Nick gets a 10 and I get a 2. Checked to Nick he bets. Now, I'm a little concerned because he is betting into my hand showing 9922, however I have invested a lot and the pot is big and I have outs even if he has a full house with two 9s remaining. Both Rosie and Larry call, with Rosie stating 'I shouldn't call but there's too much money in there', so I'm not too worried about either of their hands. On 7th I get the a of clubs making an ace high flush. Nick bets out. I was hoping he would slow down on 7th, but his bet made me feel like I was donating to a full house. However, after calling and Rosie and Larry both folding (neither had 2 pair or would have called) Nick shows aces and 3s, two pair, he slow played the aces. Lucky river me, however I had a lot of outs against that hand. Nick proceeds to call me a hack for calling three bets cold on 4th with a flush draw, however, mathematically it was a good call and in fact I would take my hand over any of theirs on 4th 8 times a week.
Hand #2
Same day about an hour later. Nick raised on 3rd and only Rosie and I called. I have 10s in the hole with a 4 up. Rosie has a J and Nick has an 8. I was going to three bet but with Rosie already calling one bet I knew he was going nowhere and Nick was in steamroll mode so I thought I would disguise my strength (I do this sometimes with wired pairs to mix it up. I fast play much more often with split pairs because there is little inherent deception). Fourth, Nick gets a 3 Rosie gets a 5, and I get an A. Nick bets, we both call. My plan is if neither of them get a scare card on fifth I'm gonna raise Nick to get rid of Rosie. On fifth Rosie gets a
K of diamonds and bets out. Rosie's door card J was a diamond as well so I knew he was either betting a pair of kings or a flush draw. Nick calls after getting a 10, I just call getting a Q. On sixth, Rosie gets a dud I think a 2 and Nick gets what I think is a dud 4. I get a nothing card as well, 7. So showing Rosie has J5K2, Nick has 83104, and I have 4AQ7. Rosie bets out and Nick raises. At first glance it looks like an auto-pass because Rosie likely has a pair of kings and Nick must have backed into something. However, after a little deliberation I put Rosie on a flush draw as I think I heard him mumble after being raised 'ok Nick, I got outs' and I think Nick is steamrolling a backdoor draw (he picked up 2 spades - his 8 and 4, remember his door card was the 8 of spades and he could easily have raised on 3rd with three spades, possibly 8a2 of spades, which would also give him a gut straight draw). A lot of times I just pass, but I was rushing and felt I had the best even know my hand was extremely vulnerable. On 7th I don't improve, Nick bets and I see Rosie is dissapointed about missing his draw so I call. Nick says I'm good, I show him a measly pair of 10s and he snaps. He proceeds to lecture Rosie about folding his hand (or showing he is going to fold) before the action gets to him. In reality, I don't think it matters because I can usually tell if Rosie likes his hand so unless I sense strength from him I was going to call Nick down. Why else would I call 2 bets on 6th? Certainly not to see if I can improve to 2 pair. Just the same, Nick has a valid complaint.
Unfortunately all my good decisions do not translate into pots won, however I am happy that I am guessing right. Both of those situations were tough spots, but after playing with these guys so many times I have been able to dissect betting patterns. This stud game is wild and unlike any other I have ever played. 4-5 guys usually call to at least 5th street and it is not uncommon to have 3-4 players going to 7th street. This kind of game forces you to play close attention to each card that falls as opposed to traditional stud where you pound a big pair to 7th street and hope you win. In this game, you could be the better on 5th and folding on 6th.
I think we are going to play again January 2 so good luck to me. Also, I do hope we can organize another nl game soon. It seems to be drying up a little. Heaven forbid, I don't want to rely on the club regent slash fest for my weekly fix of holdem. As for Internet, I'll probably start grinding after New Years with tournaments and Sit-n-gos (taking a break from cash games as I'm running bad online).
Hope everyone has a great New Year's and you'll here from me soon.
Cheers,
Joe
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Vegas
It’s been a busy week so I apologize for not posting this earlier.
Kathy and I spent a week down at the Wynn, Las Vegas from the 9th to 16th of December. I love that hotel as the people are generally hospitable and the environment is comfortable. Their poker room is one of the better ones on the strip offering a regular 1-3 up to 5-10nl and including an occasional 10-20nl. People say the games at the Wynn are the toughest as many of the local pros make this room their destination of choice. If I’m running bad there, or if Kathy and I venture off to play tournaments elsewhere, we sometimes find ourselves playing at the Bellagio, Venitian, or Caesars. Each has their pros and cons as far as I’m concerned.
The Bellagio has the best action, but the people are rude, the lists are usually long, and they cap the buy-in at all games lower than10-20nl. Personally, I love no cap buys so I can play deep stack poker without having to build my stack for the first few hours (if I’m lucky enough to be winning).
The Venitian has the best poker room setup. They also hold the best daily tournaments especially on Saturday where for $540 you get 10k chips and 45 minute levels. Kathy and I both played it yesterday. With 144 players I came in about 133 after taking two retarded beats (losing half my stack with the nut straight when the board paired on the river – to a 2 pair 4 out draw, then losing with aces to kj after hitting a set. Kathy on the other hand went deep finishing 20th. Unfortunately, she went card dead down the stretch and even more unfortunately, they only paid 18. I hope the Venician draws bigger games as time goes on because I really like playing there. As of now they only spread a 5-10nl and it is usually silly tight.
Caesars is my least favourite because they can’t even get a 5/10 going, their tournaments suck as the blinds escalate quickly, the room is right next door to Pure so it is loud and smoky, and most importantly, the waitresses are all 60 plus sporting rather revealing uniforms.
Overall this trip was not great financially. I felt like the games were a little tougher than usual because it is a slow time in Vegas and therefore there were a higher percentage of local pros playing vs. tourist fishies. I felt like I played well on most sessions but was not able to convert that into big wins. In typical fashion, I won a lot of small pots, but could not win the big ones, except one which I will explain shortly. Overall, I ran relatively poor and the net result was positive 3k. I will highlight some key hands mostly from cash as I only played a couple tourneys.
#1 Wynn 5-10nl. There was a fish with lots of money so I bought in 3k (I usually buy equal to the largest weak player’s stack). Had qj of clubs in the cutoff with one limper to me. I put in a pot building raise to $50 and two defended including the big blind (fish) and limper. Flop came down 1084 one club. Check check, I bet $110 (I bet because both of these guys were not very aggressive and I noticed that this table generally slow played big hands. So, I figured it was unlikely to be raised and if someone flopped big I could win a big pot with a 9 or running clubs, as I would get two free cards with my position). Anyway, big blind called. Turn q. He checked, I felt I had best and bet $255. He calls. River q. He checks, now I over bet to $650 he snap calls. He shows me q9. Where is the rest of the pot? Nevertheless, I am happy take home a stress free G note. If I knew he had that hand I would have made a small bet like $325 to induce a raise, but I thought the big bet may look like a power bluff and I may get called down thin. I find that fish generally view a big river bet as a bluff after triple barrelling (preflop, the flop, and turn). I think this has to do with the fact that most fish view the hand as finished after the turn bet if you have a made hand. The thinking is I made them pay to draw and to be safe I’ll now just check and see if I win. Value betting rivers are less frequent with mediocre hands and is one of the big separating points between good and bad players (obviously this is not a mediocre hand having running trips).
#2 Tuesday – Tournament at Wynn 58 players, $330 buy-in. We were down to 11 and 9 got paid. I was about 5th in chips with 22k, blinds 300-600 w/ ante so lots of play. Buddy (many people chose to use villain as the name of their opponent, I prefer buddy) raises from the button for the 3rd time out of 3 opportunities to raise when all folded to him. I passed on other two with horrible hands. This time I have kq clubs and decide to call his raise to 1,800 as this is one of the few hands I like seeing flops with because flopping top pair with either is very strong, and given the high aggression level of buddy I felt I could win a big pot by trapping him (and I cannot call if he pushes to a re-raise preflop as I’m a dog to even an ace rag) . So, he raises, I call and flop is 753 one club. Not good, however, when I check and he bet $1,800 I was so sure he had nothing. I was going to raise there (and in hindsight should have) but instead I decided to call with intentions of raising the turn as long as no ace came or my read changed based on turn action. I had watched him double barrel on several occasions already and had once before been caught bluffing. So anyway, I float and the j of clubs comes. No way was I going to let this go now with two overs and a flush draw. I checked and he bet 4.5k. This was a rather large bet for a double barrel bluff, I was expecting a 3k bet. It was risky that he may have a j here, however, even with a j it would be difficult to withstand a check raise I think especially given that I have not shown a bluff all day and for the most part have not floated any pots of significance. And, if he calls I’m still 1/3 to win assuming my kq or club are good. So, I check raise all-in for another 14k approximately, which is standard with a big hand considering 12k in the pot already and a flush draw out there. Buddy thought for about 2.4 seconds and called showing j8 of diamonds. I was surprised he called so fast with no kicker, but such is life. The river bricked and I bubbled instead of becoming chip leader. The funny thing about tournament poker is it is so situational and there are so many correct/incorrect ways to play each situation. Maybe this one was incorrect?
#3 Wynn 10-20nl. I was stuck about 1k from playing a little 2-5nl and 10-20 Omaha H/L fixed while waiting for a seat. The game was great as there were two golfers from Scottsdale playing and they were bad. For the first hour I had won a few smaller pots and had recouped my 1k plus about $2,000 interest. Then the following hand came up. One of the golfers limped and I had the punisher (the punisher is kq, named so by Chris Wolters because you never win with it but always lose to it). I raised to $80 and had two callers including the golfer. Flop came 910J two diamonds. Finally, I had flopped the bomb. He checked, I bet 160, my standard 2/3 pot continuation bet (some like to make pot size bets but my conservative nature fancies a more cautious approach). My good friend the golfer decides to check raise me to $500. I lot of times I fast play here, but considering his erratic play I don’t want to lose him. Already, he has shown two check-raise-fold scenarios on flops when re-raised. Turn 4 clubs. He leads out $700 and with only another $850 behind I put him in. He tells me he’s committed and has lots of outs, showing q4 diamonds. River diamond.
#4 Wynn 5-10nl. The game was pretty good but I was down about 1k when the following hand took place. Buddy, who I called Ferguson because he looked like Chris Ferguson (luckily his play was much worse) came to the table on a short buy of $400. He was very aggressive preflop, which is common of low limit ram, jam and hope for the best players. In fact, he had repopped about 3 pots preflop in 30 minutes on hands where significant cash was already in the middle (ie. Straddle lots of callers, straddle raise and a few callers, etc…). In this case, I raised the straddle to about $70. Ferguson was in the small, and elected to re raise to $410. $410? This guy is an idiot. About 10 minutes earlier I raised the straddle with 88 and folded when he made an insane re-raise. This time I had jj and was not going to let him push me again. I had to be careful though because he had by some miracle amassed about $1700 total. After thinking a bit and realizing he was nervous about his hand and that he would not kill his action with such an over bet if he held qq through aa, I concluded no way he has better than jj, but I didn’t want to shove and race an aq or ak. So I call. Flop was 974 two clubs. Ferguson proceeded to flex his muscles by leading out for $600 leaving him with about $700. I put him in, he calls and shows ak of clubs….bonk k on turn. I love guys that power through ak from the blind out of position, then push through no matter what the flop is (although Ferguson did hit a fairly good flop for his hand and is a slight favourite over my jacks). No matter how I play the hand though I will lose my money unless I fold preflop. Guys like this don’t ever fold ak.
#5 Caesers – 2-5nl. Ceasers 2-5 is a no cap buy and on this day the game was wild. I was killing some time as Kathy was going deep in another tourney, which I was bounced out of early (I shot it in on a draw against top set – I tend to shoot in smaller tournaments early to either stack up or get out). In this game there was a cowboy he was a complete maniac calling and raising every hand. I bought in for $1,500 and had it up to about 2.5k when the following hand took place. For the first time that evening I picked up aa, in the small blind. A European dude who was pretty solid raised to $20 several called and I repopped from the small to $90. I had been pretty active of late, but rarely re-raising out of position. The European called and the cowboy called. Flop came down ak2 rainbow. By far and away the biggest monkey flop you could ask for. I bet out $150 and they both call. Turn 5 clubs bringing in flush draw. I bet $400 looking for the cowboy to pay me off. All of a sudden the European raises all-in to $1300. Then, the cowboy says to his wife ‘we may be going broke this hand honey – lets gamble’ then declares all-in for $1700. Honestly, I thought he was being honest and thought he had a k and picked up a flush draw. I snap call. The European shows 22 and the cowboy produces 34 off for the straight. Yuck, here we go again with the beats. However, this time the board paired the k on the river and for the first time in ages, I came from behind on a big pot. Sorry cowboy, the angling didn’t payoff. He proceeded to call me the luckiest player ever and that he always takes the worst beats.
#6 Wynn – 10-20nl. The game was the toughest I’d played in on this trip with at least 4 guys who knew the game well. However, there was a rich women playing who was stuck in 5th gear trying to bluff every pot. So, I was playing rather tight waiting for an opportunity to grab her. All of a sudden she opens for $60 and I look down at my friend aa. I re-raise to $220 and she calls, we are heads up. Flop is q1010 with two spades. She leads out $200. I like the flop and I likely have the best but decide to call instead of raising for several reasons. First, we are both deep. Second, I have position and with her not being a creative player I will know I have the best if she checks to me on any street. Third, she may be running a drawing dead bluff so I do not necessarily want to lose her. Fourth, she will not fold if on a draw so wait until turn before punishing a flush/straight draw. Five, if she has no straight or flush draw, it is very hard for her to catch up with a made hand (like a q or a pocket pair), unless already beating me with a 10. Turn is 4 of spades and she leads out again, only this time betting a measly $100. I found this very suspicious as her previous double barrel bluffs increased in size on the turn. I was concerned she hit the flush so I just call. River is an off suit 6 and she fires out $500 into the 1k pot. I think for awhile and was unable to get a good read. I felt she either has a flush or nothing at all and for ½ pot I think I was getting good equity to call so I did. She showed me 44 for a full house….sweet. If I raised the flop I would have won, however, if the 4 didn’t hit I think she would have pushed through in the same manner, so what is the right play?
This last hand centers on the dilemma I have been struggling with for sometime now. Do I play too conservatively and cautious? There are successful players that opt for this approach and there are successful players that are way more aggressive. I am trying to change my style a bit to open up my game and be more aggressive because I feel playing defensively puts a lot of pressure on one’s ability to read hands especially on big turn and river bets. As well, it is difficult to engage in big pots because your opponents notice you only play big pots when you have the nuts. Playing an open game is the most difficult style to play. If you are not able to know where your opponents are in the hand and which cards will hurt you, you will go broke quickly. I think very few people play an open style effectively, but ultimately it is required to play at the top level. In the last couple days, I have begun reviewing videos from Cardrunner from guys like CTS, Greenplastic, and Stinger and I do feel that they take control of hands better than I do, especially preflop with significantly more 3 and 4 betting, and they run more bluffs (at the right times when the right situations present themselves and the right scare cards come down). Having said all of that, I think there are enough fish at all limits that don’t pay attention to how their opponents play so you can play tight-aggressive, without big pot bluffing, and still make a handsome living.
Playing in our local 5/10; 10/25 nl game you see both styles work effectively. For example, I play regularly against two winning players in Travis Brown and Chris Wolters. Travis is very aggressive and he pushes many hands. Sometimes he gets caught bluffing, but his image allows him to get paid off so much more because people feel he is always bluffing (which is not the case). Of course it doesn’t hurt that he runs like god, hence the nickname ‘Seabiscuit’. On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, sparked by his rather donkish approach to the Barca game, Wolters has a more tight aggressive style. He is not afraid to put the chips in, but usually he plays big pots with a big hand or big draw only.
Having said all that, I would play that hand the same way against that lady all day long because she is going to push big bluffs. And, as in this case, she is only drawing to a 2-outers so I’ll take my chances.
That’s enough rambling for one post. I’ll try to put something up in the next couple days to cover our local nl game and I’ll report how I did in the stud game today. As for online, I have not played much of anything this week except Wednesday night where I hacked around in some tournaments. I did finish 3rd in a 77 6-max for a couple thousand, but otherwise nothing exciting to report. I doubt I’ll have much time to play online this next week with many family and friend commitments. If I can squeeze it in I may go to Travis’s on Sunday to play some tournaments otherwise my next adventure will be a Boxing Day 40-80 stud game. All for now….
Kathy and I spent a week down at the Wynn, Las Vegas from the 9th to 16th of December. I love that hotel as the people are generally hospitable and the environment is comfortable. Their poker room is one of the better ones on the strip offering a regular 1-3 up to 5-10nl and including an occasional 10-20nl. People say the games at the Wynn are the toughest as many of the local pros make this room their destination of choice. If I’m running bad there, or if Kathy and I venture off to play tournaments elsewhere, we sometimes find ourselves playing at the Bellagio, Venitian, or Caesars. Each has their pros and cons as far as I’m concerned.
The Bellagio has the best action, but the people are rude, the lists are usually long, and they cap the buy-in at all games lower than10-20nl. Personally, I love no cap buys so I can play deep stack poker without having to build my stack for the first few hours (if I’m lucky enough to be winning).
The Venitian has the best poker room setup. They also hold the best daily tournaments especially on Saturday where for $540 you get 10k chips and 45 minute levels. Kathy and I both played it yesterday. With 144 players I came in about 133 after taking two retarded beats (losing half my stack with the nut straight when the board paired on the river – to a 2 pair 4 out draw, then losing with aces to kj after hitting a set. Kathy on the other hand went deep finishing 20th. Unfortunately, she went card dead down the stretch and even more unfortunately, they only paid 18. I hope the Venician draws bigger games as time goes on because I really like playing there. As of now they only spread a 5-10nl and it is usually silly tight.
Caesars is my least favourite because they can’t even get a 5/10 going, their tournaments suck as the blinds escalate quickly, the room is right next door to Pure so it is loud and smoky, and most importantly, the waitresses are all 60 plus sporting rather revealing uniforms.
Overall this trip was not great financially. I felt like the games were a little tougher than usual because it is a slow time in Vegas and therefore there were a higher percentage of local pros playing vs. tourist fishies. I felt like I played well on most sessions but was not able to convert that into big wins. In typical fashion, I won a lot of small pots, but could not win the big ones, except one which I will explain shortly. Overall, I ran relatively poor and the net result was positive 3k. I will highlight some key hands mostly from cash as I only played a couple tourneys.
#1 Wynn 5-10nl. There was a fish with lots of money so I bought in 3k (I usually buy equal to the largest weak player’s stack). Had qj of clubs in the cutoff with one limper to me. I put in a pot building raise to $50 and two defended including the big blind (fish) and limper. Flop came down 1084 one club. Check check, I bet $110 (I bet because both of these guys were not very aggressive and I noticed that this table generally slow played big hands. So, I figured it was unlikely to be raised and if someone flopped big I could win a big pot with a 9 or running clubs, as I would get two free cards with my position). Anyway, big blind called. Turn q. He checked, I felt I had best and bet $255. He calls. River q. He checks, now I over bet to $650 he snap calls. He shows me q9. Where is the rest of the pot? Nevertheless, I am happy take home a stress free G note. If I knew he had that hand I would have made a small bet like $325 to induce a raise, but I thought the big bet may look like a power bluff and I may get called down thin. I find that fish generally view a big river bet as a bluff after triple barrelling (preflop, the flop, and turn). I think this has to do with the fact that most fish view the hand as finished after the turn bet if you have a made hand. The thinking is I made them pay to draw and to be safe I’ll now just check and see if I win. Value betting rivers are less frequent with mediocre hands and is one of the big separating points between good and bad players (obviously this is not a mediocre hand having running trips).
#2 Tuesday – Tournament at Wynn 58 players, $330 buy-in. We were down to 11 and 9 got paid. I was about 5th in chips with 22k, blinds 300-600 w/ ante so lots of play. Buddy (many people chose to use villain as the name of their opponent, I prefer buddy) raises from the button for the 3rd time out of 3 opportunities to raise when all folded to him. I passed on other two with horrible hands. This time I have kq clubs and decide to call his raise to 1,800 as this is one of the few hands I like seeing flops with because flopping top pair with either is very strong, and given the high aggression level of buddy I felt I could win a big pot by trapping him (and I cannot call if he pushes to a re-raise preflop as I’m a dog to even an ace rag) . So, he raises, I call and flop is 753 one club. Not good, however, when I check and he bet $1,800 I was so sure he had nothing. I was going to raise there (and in hindsight should have) but instead I decided to call with intentions of raising the turn as long as no ace came or my read changed based on turn action. I had watched him double barrel on several occasions already and had once before been caught bluffing. So anyway, I float and the j of clubs comes. No way was I going to let this go now with two overs and a flush draw. I checked and he bet 4.5k. This was a rather large bet for a double barrel bluff, I was expecting a 3k bet. It was risky that he may have a j here, however, even with a j it would be difficult to withstand a check raise I think especially given that I have not shown a bluff all day and for the most part have not floated any pots of significance. And, if he calls I’m still 1/3 to win assuming my kq or club are good. So, I check raise all-in for another 14k approximately, which is standard with a big hand considering 12k in the pot already and a flush draw out there. Buddy thought for about 2.4 seconds and called showing j8 of diamonds. I was surprised he called so fast with no kicker, but such is life. The river bricked and I bubbled instead of becoming chip leader. The funny thing about tournament poker is it is so situational and there are so many correct/incorrect ways to play each situation. Maybe this one was incorrect?
#3 Wynn 10-20nl. I was stuck about 1k from playing a little 2-5nl and 10-20 Omaha H/L fixed while waiting for a seat. The game was great as there were two golfers from Scottsdale playing and they were bad. For the first hour I had won a few smaller pots and had recouped my 1k plus about $2,000 interest. Then the following hand came up. One of the golfers limped and I had the punisher (the punisher is kq, named so by Chris Wolters because you never win with it but always lose to it). I raised to $80 and had two callers including the golfer. Flop came 910J two diamonds. Finally, I had flopped the bomb. He checked, I bet 160, my standard 2/3 pot continuation bet (some like to make pot size bets but my conservative nature fancies a more cautious approach). My good friend the golfer decides to check raise me to $500. I lot of times I fast play here, but considering his erratic play I don’t want to lose him. Already, he has shown two check-raise-fold scenarios on flops when re-raised. Turn 4 clubs. He leads out $700 and with only another $850 behind I put him in. He tells me he’s committed and has lots of outs, showing q4 diamonds. River diamond.
#4 Wynn 5-10nl. The game was pretty good but I was down about 1k when the following hand took place. Buddy, who I called Ferguson because he looked like Chris Ferguson (luckily his play was much worse) came to the table on a short buy of $400. He was very aggressive preflop, which is common of low limit ram, jam and hope for the best players. In fact, he had repopped about 3 pots preflop in 30 minutes on hands where significant cash was already in the middle (ie. Straddle lots of callers, straddle raise and a few callers, etc…). In this case, I raised the straddle to about $70. Ferguson was in the small, and elected to re raise to $410. $410? This guy is an idiot. About 10 minutes earlier I raised the straddle with 88 and folded when he made an insane re-raise. This time I had jj and was not going to let him push me again. I had to be careful though because he had by some miracle amassed about $1700 total. After thinking a bit and realizing he was nervous about his hand and that he would not kill his action with such an over bet if he held qq through aa, I concluded no way he has better than jj, but I didn’t want to shove and race an aq or ak. So I call. Flop was 974 two clubs. Ferguson proceeded to flex his muscles by leading out for $600 leaving him with about $700. I put him in, he calls and shows ak of clubs….bonk k on turn. I love guys that power through ak from the blind out of position, then push through no matter what the flop is (although Ferguson did hit a fairly good flop for his hand and is a slight favourite over my jacks). No matter how I play the hand though I will lose my money unless I fold preflop. Guys like this don’t ever fold ak.
#5 Caesers – 2-5nl. Ceasers 2-5 is a no cap buy and on this day the game was wild. I was killing some time as Kathy was going deep in another tourney, which I was bounced out of early (I shot it in on a draw against top set – I tend to shoot in smaller tournaments early to either stack up or get out). In this game there was a cowboy he was a complete maniac calling and raising every hand. I bought in for $1,500 and had it up to about 2.5k when the following hand took place. For the first time that evening I picked up aa, in the small blind. A European dude who was pretty solid raised to $20 several called and I repopped from the small to $90. I had been pretty active of late, but rarely re-raising out of position. The European called and the cowboy called. Flop came down ak2 rainbow. By far and away the biggest monkey flop you could ask for. I bet out $150 and they both call. Turn 5 clubs bringing in flush draw. I bet $400 looking for the cowboy to pay me off. All of a sudden the European raises all-in to $1300. Then, the cowboy says to his wife ‘we may be going broke this hand honey – lets gamble’ then declares all-in for $1700. Honestly, I thought he was being honest and thought he had a k and picked up a flush draw. I snap call. The European shows 22 and the cowboy produces 34 off for the straight. Yuck, here we go again with the beats. However, this time the board paired the k on the river and for the first time in ages, I came from behind on a big pot. Sorry cowboy, the angling didn’t payoff. He proceeded to call me the luckiest player ever and that he always takes the worst beats.
#6 Wynn – 10-20nl. The game was the toughest I’d played in on this trip with at least 4 guys who knew the game well. However, there was a rich women playing who was stuck in 5th gear trying to bluff every pot. So, I was playing rather tight waiting for an opportunity to grab her. All of a sudden she opens for $60 and I look down at my friend aa. I re-raise to $220 and she calls, we are heads up. Flop is q1010 with two spades. She leads out $200. I like the flop and I likely have the best but decide to call instead of raising for several reasons. First, we are both deep. Second, I have position and with her not being a creative player I will know I have the best if she checks to me on any street. Third, she may be running a drawing dead bluff so I do not necessarily want to lose her. Fourth, she will not fold if on a draw so wait until turn before punishing a flush/straight draw. Five, if she has no straight or flush draw, it is very hard for her to catch up with a made hand (like a q or a pocket pair), unless already beating me with a 10. Turn is 4 of spades and she leads out again, only this time betting a measly $100. I found this very suspicious as her previous double barrel bluffs increased in size on the turn. I was concerned she hit the flush so I just call. River is an off suit 6 and she fires out $500 into the 1k pot. I think for awhile and was unable to get a good read. I felt she either has a flush or nothing at all and for ½ pot I think I was getting good equity to call so I did. She showed me 44 for a full house….sweet. If I raised the flop I would have won, however, if the 4 didn’t hit I think she would have pushed through in the same manner, so what is the right play?
This last hand centers on the dilemma I have been struggling with for sometime now. Do I play too conservatively and cautious? There are successful players that opt for this approach and there are successful players that are way more aggressive. I am trying to change my style a bit to open up my game and be more aggressive because I feel playing defensively puts a lot of pressure on one’s ability to read hands especially on big turn and river bets. As well, it is difficult to engage in big pots because your opponents notice you only play big pots when you have the nuts. Playing an open game is the most difficult style to play. If you are not able to know where your opponents are in the hand and which cards will hurt you, you will go broke quickly. I think very few people play an open style effectively, but ultimately it is required to play at the top level. In the last couple days, I have begun reviewing videos from Cardrunner from guys like CTS, Greenplastic, and Stinger and I do feel that they take control of hands better than I do, especially preflop with significantly more 3 and 4 betting, and they run more bluffs (at the right times when the right situations present themselves and the right scare cards come down). Having said all of that, I think there are enough fish at all limits that don’t pay attention to how their opponents play so you can play tight-aggressive, without big pot bluffing, and still make a handsome living.
Playing in our local 5/10; 10/25 nl game you see both styles work effectively. For example, I play regularly against two winning players in Travis Brown and Chris Wolters. Travis is very aggressive and he pushes many hands. Sometimes he gets caught bluffing, but his image allows him to get paid off so much more because people feel he is always bluffing (which is not the case). Of course it doesn’t hurt that he runs like god, hence the nickname ‘Seabiscuit’. On the other hand, contrary to popular belief, sparked by his rather donkish approach to the Barca game, Wolters has a more tight aggressive style. He is not afraid to put the chips in, but usually he plays big pots with a big hand or big draw only.
Having said all that, I would play that hand the same way against that lady all day long because she is going to push big bluffs. And, as in this case, she is only drawing to a 2-outers so I’ll take my chances.
That’s enough rambling for one post. I’ll try to put something up in the next couple days to cover our local nl game and I’ll report how I did in the stud game today. As for online, I have not played much of anything this week except Wednesday night where I hacked around in some tournaments. I did finish 3rd in a 77 6-max for a couple thousand, but otherwise nothing exciting to report. I doubt I’ll have much time to play online this next week with many family and friend commitments. If I can squeeze it in I may go to Travis’s on Sunday to play some tournaments otherwise my next adventure will be a Boxing Day 40-80 stud game. All for now….
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Intro - Life of a degenerate gambler
My name is Joe Williams and I am a degenerate gambler. Some of you reading this know me and many do not. For those that do I would like to apologize in advance for using this blog as a platform to vent what seems to be a never ending string of bad beats. For those that do not know me, you should know that when it comes to poker I feel the same way as Phil Helmuth in that ‘if not for bad luck, I would always win’.
I have been struggling with the idea of posting my poker experiences on PegCity for sometime now. On the one hand, I have had reservations about doing it because I feel that many close to me will view this as cheesy and egocentric. As well, I am busy and I am lazy, which both limit my willingness to exert energy for most any new initiative. On the other hand, I think actively documenting my play will help improve overall poker success. The poker landscape is changing as more young kids are treating it like a business with incredible focus and discipline. If I don’t follow suit I may be left behind. I think consistent analysis of play should identify mistakes and consistent record keeping should identify areas of strength and weakness. Finally, I think this will be fun and with a little luck I will be able to install some knowledge on interested readers - such as what not to do in a poker game. I have become an avid reader of Travis’s blog and I must commend him. It is interesting, honest, and he has shown considerable dedication to his listeners (however, I think his choice of hand discussions are a little bias sometimes. Don’t worry Travis I’ll be sure to tell everyone about your futile river bluffs….hehe).
So before I get into where I am at with poker I thought I would offer a reader’s digest summary of my gambling career. It started about 25 years ago when I used to hustle my way out of chores by beating my siblings in games of crib, rummy, and 952. At a very early age I realized that I loved to gamble at everything and that I had a knack for it. I expanded my horizons by hustling on the golf course, pool halls, and small stake house games. My philosophy was if it wasn’t for money it wasn’t worth doing at all.
By the time I was 18 (1991) I was earning enough cash to support my other great love at the time – drinking. By this time I felt like I had amassed a rather diversified portfolio of skills including such games as Stud, Omaha, Pineapple, Tahoe, Draw Poker, Offsuit and a blend of the circus games like In-between, 727, Fiery Cross to name a few. And just when I thought I had all the essentials to make it in the big leagues I expanded my horizons once again by enrolling in Pool Hall 101 at the University of Manitoba. At the time, the pool hall had an area called the ‘Side Pocket’ where many a student lost there tuition money, much of it to me. There I learned card games such as Big 2, 10s, Spades, Bidwist, Gin, and just about any other trump game you can think of. I would arrive at about 11am, usually a little hung-fu from the night before, and would begin the day by hustling some pool for an hour or two before the card games would breakout. This vicious cycle would continue for the better part of 5 years as I floated my way to a degree in business. My good GPA was facilitated by purchasing assignments from geeks, whining and lying to Profs to obtain extensions and extra marks, and of course hiring top notch tutors to filter through the heavy workload during exam time. It’s amazing what money can buy. During these years I learned that money won was so much more satisfying than more earned (sorry to take credit for your line Mr. Paul Newman, but it is so true).
After graduation, a little traveling, and my one short attempt at Corporate America I soon found myself in T-dot for business, lasting from late 1996 to 1999. The business eventually fizzled and I moved back to the Peg. I came home broke and had to decide what to do. After a couple minutes of deliberation I came to the conclusion that it was time to start gambling again. It was at this time that I was introduced to Texas Hold’em. Starting with a zero bankroll I began grinding it out at Club Regent playing mostly 3-6 and 4-8 limit with an occasional visit to McPhillips to play 10-20 with the mopes. I was making what you can expect to make in those game, but I was having difficulties keeping up with my lofty expenditures. I was living in the Ashdown Warehouse with a monthly entertainment expense of over $3,000. At one point, I was close to hanging up the jersey when all of a sudden out of nowhere the clouds parted and the angels brought forth the Scandals game. The Scandals game took place twice a week and was made up of a legendary cast of characters, most of whom could not grasp the basic concepts of poker on the best of days. After 24 beers, or in some cases, multiple bottles of Wild Turkey, the play was embarrassing to say the least. The game lasted for about a year until the bar pulled the plug because too many people began showing up for the unlicensed game.
Almost immediately after the decease of the Scandal’s game, I was approached by two gamblers I knew to open up a club. Now normally I would have declined, but with my recent pay cut I knew I needed an alternative source of income – enter Corydon Club. The Corydon club netted about 10k / month for me between hosting, dealing, and playing. The place did well during its existence as many gamblers preferred the confines of the club to the casino probably due to our appreciation for our customer base. But, like all good things, it came to an end, approximately 10 months in when two lowly crack addicts decided it would be cool to shoot the place up. Luckily nobody got hurt. After Corydon I moved over to Ness where I continued to offer late night entertainment to Winnipeg’s most degenerate souls. I stayed at Ness for about a year before finally tossing in the white flag. My reasons for quitting were twofold. One, I was tired of the lifestyle and tired of the degenerate nature of the customers. And two, profitability was down due to increased club competition and a shrinking player pool. I have no regrets about that chapter in my life however I could never do it again.
After leaving the club scene I soon left for the states with a buddy. We traveled around Southern California playing poker while enjoying a winter without snow (2003). The trip turned out to be a break-even for me financially but it did allow me to reflect and refocus. After an extensive self-diagnostic, I determined it was time for a major life change. So, when I returned from the trip I made a gigantic leap from degenerate live poker gambling to degenerate Internet poker gambling. Jokes aside, this adjustment proved very lucrative for me. In my first month online I managed to make 10k multi-tabling 5-10 limit. In my second month, I jumped up to 10-20 and 15-30 limit and banked over 20k. How sweet was this? I couldn’t believe how bad the play was or how good I was running. For the following year I strung together 12 profitable months sometimes earning upwards of 40k / month playing 10-20 to as high as 100-200 limit. I was logging insane hours but was slowly burning out.
It was then, in the early summer of 2004, that a business opportunity presented itself. My father and two others approached my about an interesting technology for the transportation sector. The product generates hydrogen and oxygen gases from water and introduces them into an internal combustion engine. The net effect is more efficient combustion leading to fuel mileage improvements and lowered emissions. I felt that the market timing for such a product was ideal and that the product was at a reasonable stage of development. So, without much hesitation, we formed a company called Innovative Hydrogen Solutions (I.H.S.), raised some private capital, and began refining the product to a commercialized state. Over the last 3 ½ years, the company has spent upwards of 4 million on product development and only in the last 3-4 months have we begun manufacturing product for sale. During this time, key management (reluctantly I slot myself into the ‘key’ category) have made no money and have endured many headaches along the way. In my case, I have sacrificed time and money by restricting my gambling to a part-time job. All in all, I don’t have any regrets because I think the company will eventually show a huge financial upside.
At about the same time that I.H.S. was created, I met my best friend and current girlfriend Kathy, of whom I have been living with, with her son Braeden for about six months. She is a wonderful person and has been a great supporter of my endeavours. She always jokes around that the honeymoon is over, but the fact is we’re still having as much fun as we did on our first date. She is also becoming one hell of a poker player, especially in tournaments (Most recently she finished 16th in the ladies event in B.C). I expect to see her cashing on a more regular basis in the tournaments we play and maybe with a little luck she can pick up a sponsorship along the way, as there are so few solid females playing the game, at least ones that are hot – sorry Kathy Liebert.
So, in summary, I have been playing part-time poker for about 31/2 years now due to increased responsibilities and a more balanced lifestyle. During this time, I have made money both live and on the Internet, but in amounts that are steadily shrinking. There are several reasons for the decreased incoming cash flow. For one, my busy schedule means that poker fits in when everything else is done. This frequently results in me playing tired and like many, my concentration weakens and my tilt strengthens when I’m tired. Two, the Internet is becoming more and more difficult. A lot of young guys are learning how to play tough from articles, forums, card runners, etc…, to the point where the edge is little if non-existent in the bigger games (games are even getting tough at the 1-2, 2-4, and 3-6 levels). Three, there are no more clubs to run bigger games. The casino is not licensed for big games, and even if they were, nobody would play there because of the attitude and restrictions put on players and games. Four, I have been running bad for the last year. Between online and my regular Vegas trips, I find that every time I get the money in on big pots I am usually between a 60-90% favourite, but I am losing close to 80% of them. For example, I have been involved in 9 20k+ plus pots in my life. I was ahead on 8 of them when the chips went in and only won once.
In Winnipeg, live play has been my only savour of late thanks to the Penguin game and the weekly Stud game. I ran average at the now non-existent Penguin 10-25 game, but still booked a win in all but one session. As for the Stud game, I run like god and have booked 26 wins in 27 attempts averaging at least 2.5k / session. That is a lot for a 20/40 kill game. I almost feel sorry for those that battle me in that game, almost.
Today and Tomorrow:
I live an awesome life all in all, but something is missing. My thirst to play serious poker is increasing and I think that with a little work, guidance, and experience, I can compete at the highest level in the game (in fact I think that there are at least 3-4 other guys in Winnipeg that could too). Ultimately, I want to make playing WPT events and travelling to cool places to be a part of my everyday life. This will be difficult to accomplish without logging serious hours playing poker where serious action takes place.
Due to the drive to compete and more importantly, with the need to make more money, I have been contemplating the idea of playing on the road for some time. 5 years ago, this would have been a rather easy decision, but now in order to balance my life with Kathy, Braeden, and I.H.S., sacrifices must be made no matter what decision is made. After much deliberation and consultation a decision was made to dedicate more time to poker in 2008. I will start in late January by travelling to LA for the LA Classic where I will pound the cash games for a couple months. Commerce casino is the biggest card room in the world and most every pro I talk to say the same thing ‘There is no where else to go if you like money’. I have not yet defined my entire 2008 poker schedule, but I hope to spend some time down in Vegas during WSOP. I’ll keep you informed.
Some General Highlights:
-Biggest Tournament Win: 28k (8 scores over 20k, but never any huge scores.)
-Biggest Cash Game Win: 16k
-Biggest Cash Game Loss: 44k
-Recent trip Performances: Canterbury (Oct) +3k; Regina (Nov) -4k; River Rock (Nov) +15k; Vegas (Dec) +3k
-Overall Performance: At least 100k+ each year for last 4 years with best year about 235k
-Biggest Strength: Hand reading ability
-Biggest Weakness: Chasing a loss instead of quitting for the day
-Favourite Game: H/L Stud
-Favourite Gambling Platform: Deep Stack Tournaments
-Favourite Player: Phil Ivey
-Local Players I feel got game: Todd Webb, Chris Wolters, Travis Brown, and Myles Bennett
I have been struggling with the idea of posting my poker experiences on PegCity for sometime now. On the one hand, I have had reservations about doing it because I feel that many close to me will view this as cheesy and egocentric. As well, I am busy and I am lazy, which both limit my willingness to exert energy for most any new initiative. On the other hand, I think actively documenting my play will help improve overall poker success. The poker landscape is changing as more young kids are treating it like a business with incredible focus and discipline. If I don’t follow suit I may be left behind. I think consistent analysis of play should identify mistakes and consistent record keeping should identify areas of strength and weakness. Finally, I think this will be fun and with a little luck I will be able to install some knowledge on interested readers - such as what not to do in a poker game. I have become an avid reader of Travis’s blog and I must commend him. It is interesting, honest, and he has shown considerable dedication to his listeners (however, I think his choice of hand discussions are a little bias sometimes. Don’t worry Travis I’ll be sure to tell everyone about your futile river bluffs….hehe).
So before I get into where I am at with poker I thought I would offer a reader’s digest summary of my gambling career. It started about 25 years ago when I used to hustle my way out of chores by beating my siblings in games of crib, rummy, and 952. At a very early age I realized that I loved to gamble at everything and that I had a knack for it. I expanded my horizons by hustling on the golf course, pool halls, and small stake house games. My philosophy was if it wasn’t for money it wasn’t worth doing at all.
By the time I was 18 (1991) I was earning enough cash to support my other great love at the time – drinking. By this time I felt like I had amassed a rather diversified portfolio of skills including such games as Stud, Omaha, Pineapple, Tahoe, Draw Poker, Offsuit and a blend of the circus games like In-between, 727, Fiery Cross to name a few. And just when I thought I had all the essentials to make it in the big leagues I expanded my horizons once again by enrolling in Pool Hall 101 at the University of Manitoba. At the time, the pool hall had an area called the ‘Side Pocket’ where many a student lost there tuition money, much of it to me. There I learned card games such as Big 2, 10s, Spades, Bidwist, Gin, and just about any other trump game you can think of. I would arrive at about 11am, usually a little hung-fu from the night before, and would begin the day by hustling some pool for an hour or two before the card games would breakout. This vicious cycle would continue for the better part of 5 years as I floated my way to a degree in business. My good GPA was facilitated by purchasing assignments from geeks, whining and lying to Profs to obtain extensions and extra marks, and of course hiring top notch tutors to filter through the heavy workload during exam time. It’s amazing what money can buy. During these years I learned that money won was so much more satisfying than more earned (sorry to take credit for your line Mr. Paul Newman, but it is so true).
After graduation, a little traveling, and my one short attempt at Corporate America I soon found myself in T-dot for business, lasting from late 1996 to 1999. The business eventually fizzled and I moved back to the Peg. I came home broke and had to decide what to do. After a couple minutes of deliberation I came to the conclusion that it was time to start gambling again. It was at this time that I was introduced to Texas Hold’em. Starting with a zero bankroll I began grinding it out at Club Regent playing mostly 3-6 and 4-8 limit with an occasional visit to McPhillips to play 10-20 with the mopes. I was making what you can expect to make in those game, but I was having difficulties keeping up with my lofty expenditures. I was living in the Ashdown Warehouse with a monthly entertainment expense of over $3,000. At one point, I was close to hanging up the jersey when all of a sudden out of nowhere the clouds parted and the angels brought forth the Scandals game. The Scandals game took place twice a week and was made up of a legendary cast of characters, most of whom could not grasp the basic concepts of poker on the best of days. After 24 beers, or in some cases, multiple bottles of Wild Turkey, the play was embarrassing to say the least. The game lasted for about a year until the bar pulled the plug because too many people began showing up for the unlicensed game.
Almost immediately after the decease of the Scandal’s game, I was approached by two gamblers I knew to open up a club. Now normally I would have declined, but with my recent pay cut I knew I needed an alternative source of income – enter Corydon Club. The Corydon club netted about 10k / month for me between hosting, dealing, and playing. The place did well during its existence as many gamblers preferred the confines of the club to the casino probably due to our appreciation for our customer base. But, like all good things, it came to an end, approximately 10 months in when two lowly crack addicts decided it would be cool to shoot the place up. Luckily nobody got hurt. After Corydon I moved over to Ness where I continued to offer late night entertainment to Winnipeg’s most degenerate souls. I stayed at Ness for about a year before finally tossing in the white flag. My reasons for quitting were twofold. One, I was tired of the lifestyle and tired of the degenerate nature of the customers. And two, profitability was down due to increased club competition and a shrinking player pool. I have no regrets about that chapter in my life however I could never do it again.
After leaving the club scene I soon left for the states with a buddy. We traveled around Southern California playing poker while enjoying a winter without snow (2003). The trip turned out to be a break-even for me financially but it did allow me to reflect and refocus. After an extensive self-diagnostic, I determined it was time for a major life change. So, when I returned from the trip I made a gigantic leap from degenerate live poker gambling to degenerate Internet poker gambling. Jokes aside, this adjustment proved very lucrative for me. In my first month online I managed to make 10k multi-tabling 5-10 limit. In my second month, I jumped up to 10-20 and 15-30 limit and banked over 20k. How sweet was this? I couldn’t believe how bad the play was or how good I was running. For the following year I strung together 12 profitable months sometimes earning upwards of 40k / month playing 10-20 to as high as 100-200 limit. I was logging insane hours but was slowly burning out.
It was then, in the early summer of 2004, that a business opportunity presented itself. My father and two others approached my about an interesting technology for the transportation sector. The product generates hydrogen and oxygen gases from water and introduces them into an internal combustion engine. The net effect is more efficient combustion leading to fuel mileage improvements and lowered emissions. I felt that the market timing for such a product was ideal and that the product was at a reasonable stage of development. So, without much hesitation, we formed a company called Innovative Hydrogen Solutions (I.H.S.), raised some private capital, and began refining the product to a commercialized state. Over the last 3 ½ years, the company has spent upwards of 4 million on product development and only in the last 3-4 months have we begun manufacturing product for sale. During this time, key management (reluctantly I slot myself into the ‘key’ category) have made no money and have endured many headaches along the way. In my case, I have sacrificed time and money by restricting my gambling to a part-time job. All in all, I don’t have any regrets because I think the company will eventually show a huge financial upside.
At about the same time that I.H.S. was created, I met my best friend and current girlfriend Kathy, of whom I have been living with, with her son Braeden for about six months. She is a wonderful person and has been a great supporter of my endeavours. She always jokes around that the honeymoon is over, but the fact is we’re still having as much fun as we did on our first date. She is also becoming one hell of a poker player, especially in tournaments (Most recently she finished 16th in the ladies event in B.C). I expect to see her cashing on a more regular basis in the tournaments we play and maybe with a little luck she can pick up a sponsorship along the way, as there are so few solid females playing the game, at least ones that are hot – sorry Kathy Liebert.
So, in summary, I have been playing part-time poker for about 31/2 years now due to increased responsibilities and a more balanced lifestyle. During this time, I have made money both live and on the Internet, but in amounts that are steadily shrinking. There are several reasons for the decreased incoming cash flow. For one, my busy schedule means that poker fits in when everything else is done. This frequently results in me playing tired and like many, my concentration weakens and my tilt strengthens when I’m tired. Two, the Internet is becoming more and more difficult. A lot of young guys are learning how to play tough from articles, forums, card runners, etc…, to the point where the edge is little if non-existent in the bigger games (games are even getting tough at the 1-2, 2-4, and 3-6 levels). Three, there are no more clubs to run bigger games. The casino is not licensed for big games, and even if they were, nobody would play there because of the attitude and restrictions put on players and games. Four, I have been running bad for the last year. Between online and my regular Vegas trips, I find that every time I get the money in on big pots I am usually between a 60-90% favourite, but I am losing close to 80% of them. For example, I have been involved in 9 20k+ plus pots in my life. I was ahead on 8 of them when the chips went in and only won once.
In Winnipeg, live play has been my only savour of late thanks to the Penguin game and the weekly Stud game. I ran average at the now non-existent Penguin 10-25 game, but still booked a win in all but one session. As for the Stud game, I run like god and have booked 26 wins in 27 attempts averaging at least 2.5k / session. That is a lot for a 20/40 kill game. I almost feel sorry for those that battle me in that game, almost.
Today and Tomorrow:
I live an awesome life all in all, but something is missing. My thirst to play serious poker is increasing and I think that with a little work, guidance, and experience, I can compete at the highest level in the game (in fact I think that there are at least 3-4 other guys in Winnipeg that could too). Ultimately, I want to make playing WPT events and travelling to cool places to be a part of my everyday life. This will be difficult to accomplish without logging serious hours playing poker where serious action takes place.
Due to the drive to compete and more importantly, with the need to make more money, I have been contemplating the idea of playing on the road for some time. 5 years ago, this would have been a rather easy decision, but now in order to balance my life with Kathy, Braeden, and I.H.S., sacrifices must be made no matter what decision is made. After much deliberation and consultation a decision was made to dedicate more time to poker in 2008. I will start in late January by travelling to LA for the LA Classic where I will pound the cash games for a couple months. Commerce casino is the biggest card room in the world and most every pro I talk to say the same thing ‘There is no where else to go if you like money’. I have not yet defined my entire 2008 poker schedule, but I hope to spend some time down in Vegas during WSOP. I’ll keep you informed.
Some General Highlights:
-Biggest Tournament Win: 28k (8 scores over 20k, but never any huge scores.)
-Biggest Cash Game Win: 16k
-Biggest Cash Game Loss: 44k
-Recent trip Performances: Canterbury (Oct) +3k; Regina (Nov) -4k; River Rock (Nov) +15k; Vegas (Dec) +3k
-Overall Performance: At least 100k+ each year for last 4 years with best year about 235k
-Biggest Strength: Hand reading ability
-Biggest Weakness: Chasing a loss instead of quitting for the day
-Favourite Game: H/L Stud
-Favourite Gambling Platform: Deep Stack Tournaments
-Favourite Player: Phil Ivey
-Local Players I feel got game: Todd Webb, Chris Wolters, Travis Brown, and Myles Bennett
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