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