Nine o’clock on a Tuesday morning at the end of April 1981, and according to the giant illuminated figures at the top of the Mint hotel the temperature was already 92°. At the entrance of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino stood the famous horseshoe itself, seven feet high painted in gold, and enclosing within its arch a million dollars in ten-thousand-dollar bills. The hundred dollar bills are neatly ranked and held, for whatever foreseeable eternity, in some kind of super-Perspex – bulletproof, fireproof, bombproof – the perennial dream of the Las Vegas punter visible to all, although not quite touchable.
The million-dollar horseshoe reflected the glare of the morning sun on Fremont Street. Behind it were the gloom and movement: a long, low, rather shabby room, full of noise, smoke and, unlike the other casinos at this early hour, full of people. Women in halters and men in cowboy boots and Stetsons jostled each other around the roulette and craps tables, rattled the armies of slot machines, and perched in semicircles before the blackjack dealers; even the seats in the little keno lounge were mostly taken. At the back, there was already a crowd along the rail that separates the casual punters from the area that, for five weeks every year in the last decade, has been set aside for poker.
Excerpts from “The Biggest Game In Town” by Al Alvarez – great book and an enlightening read.
I will be shortly travelling to 'The Meadows' or, in spanish, 'Las Vegas' for New Year celebrations and poker. I will be giving myself strict guidelines as to when I should or shouldn’t play. I will also try to post more information on key hands throughout different tourneys. This will be the 3rd time I have visited the promised land and I hope to continue my success as so far I have always left in profit, albeit once was only $2 – damn roulette.
20 December 2009
23 November 2009
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
We often read in articles that in order to be successful at poker we must be patient. What some players fail to understand that we must be patient not only hand by hand but game by game and session by session because poker does not reset the figures whenever you go to sleep, the cards don’t forget because they don’t remember in the first place and finally you are never “owed” a flush because you are drawing for the 5th time without hitting.
Too many players think that there is a quicker way rather than waiting. Too many players are like Infantry men who are waiting for a lift on the 5th floor to go down to the 1st. They push buttons up and down because they believe that they will get where they are going quicker. No matter how nicely I try to tell them (on my way up to the 7th floor) that they would have been quicker if they only push the button for the direction they wish to travel (and you have to be careful telling these guys) they just don’t understand why it would slow them down. They don’t understand that the lift would have one less stop. They believe that because they got on the lift quicker they will get to where they are going quicker. They also find it annoying and believes that one of their mates are pulling a practical joke when the lift opens on the 5th floor on the way down and no one is there.
My last session was not very successful I played 1 MTT, 2 SNG’s and a cash game to boot all live – I lost every game, not all down to bad play but lessons were learnt. I played the whole evening patiently but as I was evidently going to be down I decided to give myself a stop loss limit so the night may end in the black but not too much. So I headed back home reminding myself to be patient, got in my lift and went straight up to the 7th floor, it was 2am and all the soldiers were asleep.
Just a short blog, but be patient and another will arrive.
Too many players think that there is a quicker way rather than waiting. Too many players are like Infantry men who are waiting for a lift on the 5th floor to go down to the 1st. They push buttons up and down because they believe that they will get where they are going quicker. No matter how nicely I try to tell them (on my way up to the 7th floor) that they would have been quicker if they only push the button for the direction they wish to travel (and you have to be careful telling these guys) they just don’t understand why it would slow them down. They don’t understand that the lift would have one less stop. They believe that because they got on the lift quicker they will get to where they are going quicker. They also find it annoying and believes that one of their mates are pulling a practical joke when the lift opens on the 5th floor on the way down and no one is there.
My last session was not very successful I played 1 MTT, 2 SNG’s and a cash game to boot all live – I lost every game, not all down to bad play but lessons were learnt. I played the whole evening patiently but as I was evidently going to be down I decided to give myself a stop loss limit so the night may end in the black but not too much. So I headed back home reminding myself to be patient, got in my lift and went straight up to the 7th floor, it was 2am and all the soldiers were asleep.
Just a short blog, but be patient and another will arrive.
13 November 2009
Image is Everything
Well maybe not everything, in poker being able to walk the walk and talk the talk can be very helpful but, you have to remember that all the gold chains, Rolex’s and other kinds of bling won’t make you a poker player any more than scalpel will turn a tree surgeon into a brain surgeon. You’ve got to be able to play the game to win. But in the tactical play, image is sometimes all you’ve got at your disposal to win pot. It may be all you have to get your opponent the false sense of comfort he needs to bet into your power-house.
Last time I played Funk Poker I was able to secure a wild and crazy player image. I decided that by using this image it would give out a completely opposite image from my regular rock like facade. So when I returned this week and played the same game against predominantly the same players I had ALL my value bets paid off as well as most of my premium hands. And I also managed to obtain a place in the payouts. I was knocked out going against the big stack with JJ vs. 66.
Certain images can be a little too much for some players. Last week I also realised that pointers I gave the volunteer dealer at my new table could have put that player on tilt, let me explain.
The image of a jobs-worth
In 1995, when the late Ken Flaton was contending for the championship title in Atlantic City he was given a choice and his decision made him very unpopular. One of the players at the final table, a veteran player, suddenly needed to relieve himself in the bathroom. He kindly asked the other players permission to step out since the tournament rules did not allow for the clock to be stopped before the end of the hour. All players except ken agreed, he said no and explain later that this man knew from experience how to pace himself. He should have known not t drink so much coffee. If he had to go while the game played on he was free to do that, but the tournament did not have to stop for him. The blinds were high and the championship was at stake. What happened was that the other players at the table, as a favour played slowly so that the man did have time to go and return. The man came back angry at Ken and on tilt. Ken ended up winning the tournament. Ken looked at this as an example of using the rules to your advantage. If enforcing the rules puts another player on tilt, so much the better.
Last time I played Funk Poker I was able to secure a wild and crazy player image. I decided that by using this image it would give out a completely opposite image from my regular rock like facade. So when I returned this week and played the same game against predominantly the same players I had ALL my value bets paid off as well as most of my premium hands. And I also managed to obtain a place in the payouts. I was knocked out going against the big stack with JJ vs. 66.
Certain images can be a little too much for some players. Last week I also realised that pointers I gave the volunteer dealer at my new table could have put that player on tilt, let me explain.
The image of a jobs-worth
In 1995, when the late Ken Flaton was contending for the championship title in Atlantic City he was given a choice and his decision made him very unpopular. One of the players at the final table, a veteran player, suddenly needed to relieve himself in the bathroom. He kindly asked the other players permission to step out since the tournament rules did not allow for the clock to be stopped before the end of the hour. All players except ken agreed, he said no and explain later that this man knew from experience how to pace himself. He should have known not t drink so much coffee. If he had to go while the game played on he was free to do that, but the tournament did not have to stop for him. The blinds were high and the championship was at stake. What happened was that the other players at the table, as a favour played slowly so that the man did have time to go and return. The man came back angry at Ken and on tilt. Ken ended up winning the tournament. Ken looked at this as an example of using the rules to your advantage. If enforcing the rules puts another player on tilt, so much the better.
07 November 2009
Funk Poker = Fun Poker, Drunk.
I have been slowly recruiting more players into the poker world, to shine a light onto the game and to persuade people that poker is fun and should no longer be considered taboo. To start off I have had to convince these newcomers that they are not going to lose vast amounts of money and that they will be enjoying themselves in the process, a win-win scenario.
So I have guided them towards low stakes tournaments. These are generally held in public houses to increase profit with sales on what would normally be a quiet night. I generally don’t drink very much or even very often, but my new recruits have haggled me to a compromise; they will come and play if I also attend and drink. I decided I will allow myself a night of non profit poker once a month in the form of a cheap tournament.
The results were interesting;
I have previously played in these types of tournaments and found that the games are incredibly loose almost to the point where nobody folds, now you have to realise that even though our opponents play ultra loose this will not prevent you from winning in the long run. These types of tournaments are potentially the most profitable games going around. Skill is still a very important factor just as in the higher priced tourneys. People who think that these types of games are unbeatable and associate them to bingo will lose, not because of the game but because of the decisions that they make when playing against uber loose players.
My mission for the night was to attempt to bust myself out but not just to throw the chips away. As I recall this tale you have to keep in mind that before I had even sat down I had already reached my standard limit where alcohol was concerned (2 pints)
First hand UTG with 74c blinds 25/25 and everyone with starting stacks of 4000 so I decided to call as you should always play the first hand. The player to my left raises to 100 then the next re-raises to 250 followed by another re-raise this time to 1000 everyone folds round to me, as I had made the decision to play the first hand as well as my reasoning of they must all have high cards so I must be live, I called. So did the other two players Pot = 4050
It transpires that the players who had re-raised to 1000 had A7 and with his continued standard of play was out 3 hands later.
I must apologise as from this point onward I receive another pint and my memory goes a little fuzzy, I do however remember getting to the last two tables and after knocking out a few more unlucky souls on the way.
One thing you must also realise is that at these low stake events you will not find any dealers until the final table so before you survive to that point most tables are self-dealt.
Upon arriving at one the last two tables we had a player whom had volunteered their services as a dealer for the table, I watched as the hand finished and complemented this dealer on their efficiency, not that I am any kind of judicator. I then followed the complement by a few pointers which were not received well, maybe it was my delivery but what do you expect I was up to 4 pints at this point. So I found myself dealing, 1st hand I had dealt myself AA and showed the table along with a “Bruce Willis” type of smart arse comment “yippie kia yay mother f*cker, this what happens if I'm dealing.” I continued to bully the table until I was knocked out by a player who had slow played KK, what made me smile was that everyone cheered when I was knocked out. I had obviously achieved putting everyone out of their comfort zone and on tilt.
So I have guided them towards low stakes tournaments. These are generally held in public houses to increase profit with sales on what would normally be a quiet night. I generally don’t drink very much or even very often, but my new recruits have haggled me to a compromise; they will come and play if I also attend and drink. I decided I will allow myself a night of non profit poker once a month in the form of a cheap tournament.
The results were interesting;
I have previously played in these types of tournaments and found that the games are incredibly loose almost to the point where nobody folds, now you have to realise that even though our opponents play ultra loose this will not prevent you from winning in the long run. These types of tournaments are potentially the most profitable games going around. Skill is still a very important factor just as in the higher priced tourneys. People who think that these types of games are unbeatable and associate them to bingo will lose, not because of the game but because of the decisions that they make when playing against uber loose players.
My mission for the night was to attempt to bust myself out but not just to throw the chips away. As I recall this tale you have to keep in mind that before I had even sat down I had already reached my standard limit where alcohol was concerned (2 pints)
First hand UTG with 74c blinds 25/25 and everyone with starting stacks of 4000 so I decided to call as you should always play the first hand. The player to my left raises to 100 then the next re-raises to 250 followed by another re-raise this time to 1000 everyone folds round to me, as I had made the decision to play the first hand as well as my reasoning of they must all have high cards so I must be live, I called. So did the other two players Pot = 4050
Flop – 7d 10c 4d
With two pair I decided to try for a check raise, so I checked the player to my left went all in the two other players folded and I decided to call.
“I’ve got the flush draw” he says as he lays down AKd
“That’s ok, I'm drawing for a house” I say placing my cards down.
Turn – 8c
“I’ve got a flush draw too” smiling like a drunk Cheshire cat.Final Card – Jc
“And I’ve hit, unlucky mate”It transpires that the players who had re-raised to 1000 had A7 and with his continued standard of play was out 3 hands later.
I must apologise as from this point onward I receive another pint and my memory goes a little fuzzy, I do however remember getting to the last two tables and after knocking out a few more unlucky souls on the way.
One thing you must also realise is that at these low stake events you will not find any dealers until the final table so before you survive to that point most tables are self-dealt.
Upon arriving at one the last two tables we had a player whom had volunteered their services as a dealer for the table, I watched as the hand finished and complemented this dealer on their efficiency, not that I am any kind of judicator. I then followed the complement by a few pointers which were not received well, maybe it was my delivery but what do you expect I was up to 4 pints at this point. So I found myself dealing, 1st hand I had dealt myself AA and showed the table along with a “Bruce Willis” type of smart arse comment “yippie kia yay mother f*cker, this what happens if I'm dealing.” I continued to bully the table until I was knocked out by a player who had slow played KK, what made me smile was that everyone cheered when I was knocked out. I had obviously achieved putting everyone out of their comfort zone and on tilt.
13 October 2009
The Demise Of Poker – Greed
We all know how to play certain hands in particular position against different opponents, yet some times for some unknown reason (soon to be explained) we don’t. I’m not preaching on some soap box from afar as the finger is also pointing at me!
Let me set the scene...
I'm in a tournament over an hour into it with well over the average stack. I'm in the BB and have a very tight and aggressive image I also have QQ. The fellow to my left (UTG) limps into the pot (100/200 blinds) he has been limping into and calling small raises in about 75% of all the pot since the beginning then he is followed by two folds and a raise to 800 (AQd) the action folds back round to me and I re-raise to 2800 UTG folds original raiser dwells, counts his chips and decides to go all in for an additional 4975 (this player has raised a few times before in this tourney and has shown good hands but not great hands so I elect to call) leaving myself with just under 4000. Of course he spikes an Ace and takes the pot – standard. I don’t consider myself on tilt as I am happy that I got the Neanderthal to put his balls on the table only to discover that mine were bigger and being held by the lovely ladies Judith and Argine, the Queens of Hearts and Clubs. Anyway half an hour passes by and I have manages to double through when I find myself staring down at Charles and Cesar The two red kings – Cesar is the one with a knife in his back – and then it hits me I feel like I am owed a lot of chips where the ladies have let me down the men will surely stand and be counted so it is time to get greedy, the table has had a raiser neigh on every hand for the last round so I decide to limp expecting a raise. We end up going 3 handed to see the flop me the BB and the Button as there was no raise. The flop decides to give me a flash back to the two ladies which earlier fail to help me along with a suited deuce (QhQd2d) BB checks I figure I have to check as I need to see if the Button has a Q and if he does then he’ll surely raise to push out the flush draws. so the flop ended up being checked, the turn brought a blank (7c) BB checks so I decide to bet (1400 in the pot) and I bet 1800 Button folds and BB re-raises because of the double check with the flush draw present I do not believe he has the Q and I re raise All in only to hear an instant call and Q8os shown leaving me drawing to 2 outs, standard. All I can do is congratulate the player for his well timely check and head back home giving myself a telling off for getting too greedy – if I had pushed preflop then I would still be in but I got greedy
Let me set the scene...
I'm in a tournament over an hour into it with well over the average stack. I'm in the BB and have a very tight and aggressive image I also have QQ. The fellow to my left (UTG) limps into the pot (100/200 blinds) he has been limping into and calling small raises in about 75% of all the pot since the beginning then he is followed by two folds and a raise to 800 (AQd) the action folds back round to me and I re-raise to 2800 UTG folds original raiser dwells, counts his chips and decides to go all in for an additional 4975 (this player has raised a few times before in this tourney and has shown good hands but not great hands so I elect to call) leaving myself with just under 4000. Of course he spikes an Ace and takes the pot – standard. I don’t consider myself on tilt as I am happy that I got the Neanderthal to put his balls on the table only to discover that mine were bigger and being held by the lovely ladies Judith and Argine, the Queens of Hearts and Clubs. Anyway half an hour passes by and I have manages to double through when I find myself staring down at Charles and Cesar The two red kings – Cesar is the one with a knife in his back – and then it hits me I feel like I am owed a lot of chips where the ladies have let me down the men will surely stand and be counted so it is time to get greedy, the table has had a raiser neigh on every hand for the last round so I decide to limp expecting a raise. We end up going 3 handed to see the flop me the BB and the Button as there was no raise. The flop decides to give me a flash back to the two ladies which earlier fail to help me along with a suited deuce (QhQd2d) BB checks I figure I have to check as I need to see if the Button has a Q and if he does then he’ll surely raise to push out the flush draws. so the flop ended up being checked, the turn brought a blank (7c) BB checks so I decide to bet (1400 in the pot) and I bet 1800 Button folds and BB re-raises because of the double check with the flush draw present I do not believe he has the Q and I re raise All in only to hear an instant call and Q8os shown leaving me drawing to 2 outs, standard. All I can do is congratulate the player for his well timely check and head back home giving myself a telling off for getting too greedy – if I had pushed preflop then I would still be in but I got greedy
08 October 2009
Baby Needs A New Pair Of Shoes
Tonight I got invited to a new potentially regular poker game. The room is no bigger than a prison cell and we still manage to squeeze two tables in so 18 players could play.
It is a £10+3 freezeout with a starting stack of 4000. 15min blind levels with the "option to re-register" (including vig) within the 1st hour thus allowing the organisers to gain maximum profit! Hosted by the next roulette nation girl or so I'm told.
Ok not perfect but as long as you have a good run of cards and are playing against reasonably competent opponents then you have more hope of lasting longer than a chocolate fire guard. Unfortunately tonight was not the case;
In the forces they have an expression "red arse" meaning to be so new that their bottom is still red from when their mother smacked them as a child. Tonight I was on a table full of red arse's the only problem with playing players who have absolutely no Idea is that they have no idea. When in such circumstances there rules which I believe you must follow in order to survive:
1. Never bluff
2. Never bluff
3. Value bet at every opportunity
Now, following these rules, I stack my chips off to 94os and J7c respectfully. I rebuy and then lose my entire stack as I move all in with AKs having two pair and get called by A 10 who hits a runner runner for a flush.
I would like to remind you of what I wrote in my first blog entry...
It is a £10+3 freezeout with a starting stack of 4000. 15min blind levels with the "option to re-register" (including vig) within the 1st hour thus allowing the organisers to gain maximum profit! Hosted by the next roulette nation girl or so I'm told.
Ok not perfect but as long as you have a good run of cards and are playing against reasonably competent opponents then you have more hope of lasting longer than a chocolate fire guard. Unfortunately tonight was not the case;
In the forces they have an expression "red arse" meaning to be so new that their bottom is still red from when their mother smacked them as a child. Tonight I was on a table full of red arse's the only problem with playing players who have absolutely no Idea is that they have no idea. When in such circumstances there rules which I believe you must follow in order to survive:
1. Never bluff
2. Never bluff
3. Value bet at every opportunity
Now, following these rules, I stack my chips off to 94os and J7c respectfully. I rebuy and then lose my entire stack as I move all in with AKs having two pair and get called by A 10 who hits a runner runner for a flush.
I would like to remind you of what I wrote in my first blog entry...
“Perfect poker play is; knowing what everyone else has and playing accordingly”
My question to you now is can you play perfect poker against players when they don’t even know what they’ve got. How are you supposed to know if they don’t? If you can’t then should you go to such evenings, upon reviewing tonight I feel that if I were to venture to another night out like tonight then I will not be able to play properly so why put myself into situation where I might as well be rolling dice hopping to get lucky.
18 September 2009
If i didn't have bad luck then I'd have no luck at all
Every time I deal I see players both good and bad talk so much about luck.
You should convince yourself that you are neither. Luck is a label that can only be applied in the past tense, never in the future. The odds of any random event occurring are precisely those dictated by the laws of probability. If you miss your open ended straight and flush draw 10 times on the bounce then when you go for it the next time your chances of hitting it are the same as the first time you went for it or indeed the any of the other nine. If you consider how well you are running when making a decision then effectively you’re on tilt - the act of playing worse than you are capable.
People tend to think of luck as an unlikely event that has occurred in their favour against the odds. In reality, however, a likely event occurring in a person’s favour can also be lucky as there was still the possibility of that event going the other way
For example you’re in a game £1/£2 pot limit and you hold
You raise pre flop and get called by an opponent who holds
However, you were lucky in a sense. Pre-flop, you were only a 65% favourite to win the hand. On the flop, if both players go down to showdown, you are still only 76% favourite. The fact you won the hand when your chance of winning was only 65% or 76% was lucky. You got a better result than you would expect on average. To look at it from a different angle if the exact hands and flop happened three times your chances of winning all of them are less than 50%!
When we play poker, we don’t tend to notice when things go as planned. We don’t notice when our flopped hands hold up or our aces don’t get cracked or even the times our opponents flush does not come in. Yet we will take notice when we get unlucky. We soon forget about the times we were fortunate enough not to get outdrawn instead focusing on the one hand, lamenting out bad luck.
You are not unlucky, you’re not lucky either and neither is any other player particularly lucky or unlucky.In fact if you believe that you are of either persuasion, then you are putting yourself in a position where you might make bad decisions as a result.
You should convince yourself that you are neither. Luck is a label that can only be applied in the past tense, never in the future. The odds of any random event occurring are precisely those dictated by the laws of probability. If you miss your open ended straight and flush draw 10 times on the bounce then when you go for it the next time your chances of hitting it are the same as the first time you went for it or indeed the any of the other nine. If you consider how well you are running when making a decision then effectively you’re on tilt - the act of playing worse than you are capable.
People tend to think of luck as an unlikely event that has occurred in their favour against the odds. In reality, however, a likely event occurring in a person’s favour can also be lucky as there was still the possibility of that event going the other way
For example you’re in a game £1/£2 pot limit and you hold
AhKs
You raise pre flop and get called by an opponent who holds
JdQcThe flop comes
As 9d JcYou bet and are called down all the way, scooping a modest size pot when blanks fall on the turn and river. Was this lucky on your part? Most people would say no, as you had the best hand on every street and you would certainly not think your opponent “unlucky” in this situation.
However, you were lucky in a sense. Pre-flop, you were only a 65% favourite to win the hand. On the flop, if both players go down to showdown, you are still only 76% favourite. The fact you won the hand when your chance of winning was only 65% or 76% was lucky. You got a better result than you would expect on average. To look at it from a different angle if the exact hands and flop happened three times your chances of winning all of them are less than 50%!
When we play poker, we don’t tend to notice when things go as planned. We don’t notice when our flopped hands hold up or our aces don’t get cracked or even the times our opponents flush does not come in. Yet we will take notice when we get unlucky. We soon forget about the times we were fortunate enough not to get outdrawn instead focusing on the one hand, lamenting out bad luck.
30 June 2009
Surprise your playing poker!
Last night all the dealers were getting ready for the first instalment of the “International’s Summer Festival” £50+£50 ROE all the tables were set, all the chairs were in place and all the cards were ready to go. I got called over to the table in the corner where all the dealers were sat down with 20 random coloured chips each.
“You in?” asked the dealer with cards.
“Yeah, what are you playing?”
The game was called “the game” which played like Cincinnati but with some twists. Everyone antied 1 chip, they were then dealt 5 cards and a flop. The lowest card on the flop was wild (I’m not sure what happens if the board comes 8,2,2, where the bottom two cards match) and if you wanted to stay in then you put a further 2 chips into the middle, then the last two community cards were dealt and then there was a show down, everyone is allowed to use up to 2 cards from their own hand like Omaha and the winner tales the pot of chips, this game went on for about 10mins with slight variations each hand. The TD (tournament director) came over and told the dealers to finish up, I had been running good, more or less every time I stayed in I won and every time I had folded I would have defiantly not won. I had just over 60 chips in front of me and was about to throw them in when something I had not expected happened. Some of the dealers started to throw in money for the amount of chips they were down, so I handed over 20 of my chips saying, there’s my buy-in and there’s my profit. Considering that I had no idea that I was gambling I had found the game great fun. But now that I know it is for monies I will have to wait till after my sabbatical to have another go.
The question I asked myself as I was now reviewing the hands played was would I have played the same if I knew that money was at stake? I’d like to think so as I hit a “true” straight flush (not using the wild card) 4 of a kind – twice!! But who knows....
Back to my relapsed sabbatical. Tonight I will be dealing the £30 rebuy for the main event, and watching both interesting and crazy poker. I will be dealing all week for the International’s Summer Festival before heading to Europe on tour for two weeks.
“You in?” asked the dealer with cards.
“Yeah, what are you playing?”
The game was called “the game” which played like Cincinnati but with some twists. Everyone antied 1 chip, they were then dealt 5 cards and a flop. The lowest card on the flop was wild (I’m not sure what happens if the board comes 8,2,2, where the bottom two cards match) and if you wanted to stay in then you put a further 2 chips into the middle, then the last two community cards were dealt and then there was a show down, everyone is allowed to use up to 2 cards from their own hand like Omaha and the winner tales the pot of chips, this game went on for about 10mins with slight variations each hand. The TD (tournament director) came over and told the dealers to finish up, I had been running good, more or less every time I stayed in I won and every time I had folded I would have defiantly not won. I had just over 60 chips in front of me and was about to throw them in when something I had not expected happened. Some of the dealers started to throw in money for the amount of chips they were down, so I handed over 20 of my chips saying, there’s my buy-in and there’s my profit. Considering that I had no idea that I was gambling I had found the game great fun. But now that I know it is for monies I will have to wait till after my sabbatical to have another go.
The question I asked myself as I was now reviewing the hands played was would I have played the same if I knew that money was at stake? I’d like to think so as I hit a “true” straight flush (not using the wild card) 4 of a kind – twice!! But who knows....
Back to my relapsed sabbatical. Tonight I will be dealing the £30 rebuy for the main event, and watching both interesting and crazy poker. I will be dealing all week for the International’s Summer Festival before heading to Europe on tour for two weeks.
20 June 2009
Take No Prisoners
As the evening draws to an end and a new day is starting tournaments that had started around 8 are just coming to their most crucial part – The Bubble – it is during this stage that play slows down while everyone is waiting for the three, two or one more players to be knocked out. Once those players are eliminated, all the remaining will finish somewhere in the money.
If you are willing to be the last person to be knocked out of an event without any reward, then you stand a good chance of stealing quite a few extra blinds. Quite often play slows down so much that deals are struck in order to speed the game along.
This concept of making a deal for the “would have been bubble” cuts out such an untapped area of tournament play, as so many tournaments are now dealing for the bubble. I believe that making a deal for the bubble is wrong. Making a deal is not wrong, but a deal for the bubble is. It takes a slice from everyone else’s potential profit. If for instance the tournaments get heads up then the remaining two players will be tried and generally want the ordeal to be over and done with; and as a dealer I agree with splits.
If you are willing to be the last person to be knocked out of an event without any reward, then you stand a good chance of stealing quite a few extra blinds. Quite often play slows down so much that deals are struck in order to speed the game along.
This concept of making a deal for the “would have been bubble” cuts out such an untapped area of tournament play, as so many tournaments are now dealing for the bubble. I believe that making a deal for the bubble is wrong. Making a deal is not wrong, but a deal for the bubble is. It takes a slice from everyone else’s potential profit. If for instance the tournaments get heads up then the remaining two players will be tried and generally want the ordeal to be over and done with; and as a dealer I agree with splits.
Back to the bubble
This truly is the time the big stack to rein terror over the table. Everyone is waiting for the short stack to be blinded out or knocked out; everyone is folding everything waiting for someone, namely the big stack to attack the short stack, because no one wants to go home empty handed, no one want to tell their mates that they lasted 5 hours and went out with no reward for all their play.
This is the time the big stack should be attacking everyone else BUT the short stack, because all the time the short stack is in everyone else is afraid of going out, this is the time when the big stack should be protecting the short stack as well as taking their big stack tax from everyone else. This is the Big Stack’s “Hammer Time”. So all you big stacks when it comes down to the bubble, don’t make a deal.
09 June 2009
Sabbatical
I have decided to dedicate the next two months to observation and study of poker; both Hold’em and Omaha so I will not be partaking in any poker game, live or other. I hope that this period will help me rebuild my game as I feel at the moment my playing style has reached a level that I cannot continue without taking a few steps back. I believe that I play live so much more than online that I have developed errors that are common amongst live players. To name some of the main errors that I have come across and have assimilated, I have comprised a list.
Stealing too much in late position:
This is a major symptom of poker today. Too many players are being overly aggressive; winning Hold'em requires that you pick up the blinds every now and then. I feel that you don’t need to be constantly attacking the blinds especially in cash games as they are so small relative to the average stack size and to do so with relatively weak holdings can prove to be expensive, as you would end up winning the micro pots and losing the large pots. This strategy may work well against tight opponents but in poker today they a rare breed.
Isolating weak opponents too much:
This is another error of play today and another strain of the aggressive poker. Do not misunderstand my point, there is occasional value in isolating the weak player, however for this play to be profitable, you must get heads up with the weak player. Too often attempting to isolate one opponent will frequently bring other players in behind you. Then you may well be facing another bet from someone else who has position on you in an ever increasing pot.
Not understanding that some loose opponents are playing better than it seems:
There is an ever increasing breed of poker players who probably plays too many hands, but then plays their hands very well from the flop on. Most of these players do win and some of them do quite well. They are able to make up for their large hand selection through a good understanding of post flop play and their hand reading skills. However, if you were to just concentrate on their hand selection, you may well believe that these players are not very good. So be careful of someone who seems to be playing like a maniac and winning.
Defending the blinds too much:
They don’t call it a vicious circle for nothing. Players believe that because they steal blinds from late position that everyone else is “at it” as well and will elect to call and play a hand out of position with not necessarily a good holding, and they wonder why they are losing money.
My conclusion is summed up by something I once said to the guy who taught me to first play.
“They should have called this game patience”
Stealing too much in late position:
This is a major symptom of poker today. Too many players are being overly aggressive; winning Hold'em requires that you pick up the blinds every now and then. I feel that you don’t need to be constantly attacking the blinds especially in cash games as they are so small relative to the average stack size and to do so with relatively weak holdings can prove to be expensive, as you would end up winning the micro pots and losing the large pots. This strategy may work well against tight opponents but in poker today they a rare breed.
Isolating weak opponents too much:
This is another error of play today and another strain of the aggressive poker. Do not misunderstand my point, there is occasional value in isolating the weak player, however for this play to be profitable, you must get heads up with the weak player. Too often attempting to isolate one opponent will frequently bring other players in behind you. Then you may well be facing another bet from someone else who has position on you in an ever increasing pot.
Not understanding that some loose opponents are playing better than it seems:
There is an ever increasing breed of poker players who probably plays too many hands, but then plays their hands very well from the flop on. Most of these players do win and some of them do quite well. They are able to make up for their large hand selection through a good understanding of post flop play and their hand reading skills. However, if you were to just concentrate on their hand selection, you may well believe that these players are not very good. So be careful of someone who seems to be playing like a maniac and winning.
Defending the blinds too much:
They don’t call it a vicious circle for nothing. Players believe that because they steal blinds from late position that everyone else is “at it” as well and will elect to call and play a hand out of position with not necessarily a good holding, and they wonder why they are losing money.
My conclusion is summed up by something I once said to the guy who taught me to first play.
“They should have called this game patience”
31 May 2009
Samson & Deliah
For years, Samson battled the Philistines. One time, he was attacked by them; before the fight had ended Samson had killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey!
Samson loved a woman named Delilah. He didn't know the Philistines had offered her money to trick him. "Why are you so strong, Samson?" she would often ask. Although she begged, Samson wouldn't tell. Finally, she cried, "You don't love me, Samson, or you would share your secret."
"It's my vow to God" he whispered. "If my hair is cut, my strength will go." When he fell asleep, she called the Philistines, and they paid her to cut his hair. Samson's strength was gone. The Philistines bound and blinded him. Later they threw a big party. But Samson prayed. And God gave him strength to push and collapse their temple. That day, thousands of Philistines died—along with Samson
Poker players often believe in lucky seats, dealers and trinkets. Which is why my mind on the long walk back from LC’s last Thursday evening was wondering if, just maybe, cutting my hair was a bad idea? (Apart from the obvious displaying my FA Cup size ears) what if my hair was my lucky charm.
Samson's hair was not the source of his power; it was simply an outward sign that his life was set apart for God's service. By the time Delilah had Samson's hair cut off, he had already betrayed his relationship with the LORD (and thus found himself in the sh*t)
I then came to my senses, that night I had lost most playing Omaha (a game I am still studying) and the last hand I was called by a rather inebriated player who believed I was ahead but called regardless. This brings me to another point that I have observed in my poker play - I have often played at the wrong level against my opponents, let me explain...
When anyone is playing poker they play at a level. They go like this (roughly)
1. I don’t know what I have got
2. I know what I have got
3. How far behind the best have I got
4. What has my opponent got
5. What does my opponent think I have
6. What does my opponent think, that I think they have
etc etc...
On my journey home I realised that I was in trouble from the start. At the beginning of the evening I was playing at a lower level than my opposition in the Omaha hands (Level 4 vs. Level 5) - and lost. Later when playing against the well lubricated, I was thinking a few levels too high (Level 5 vs Level 2) - and lost (the level approximations are only examples). I have come to the conclusion that the premium play is to be one level higher than my opposition. So with my lesson learnt I will be putting myself back into the action with my best foot forward.
20 May 2009
From Park Lane to Brick Lane
As much as I love this time of year with all its pomp and pageantry it does however discourage me from partaking in the finer things that life has to offer, like poker and as I'm sure you are aware that like drill; poker should be taken regularly to keep on top of your game. I managed to get a small number of games in these last few days both tournament and cash and in different locations around town, Sunday 1st day off in over 2 weeks so I headed off to the international. Seemed to be going fine until this hand
BL 300/600 - All fold around to cut off who raises 2400, Button (me) calls with JJ, both blinds fold because neither of us have played a hand in a long time.
The Flop 10, 8, 9 (rainbow)
My opponent bets 1500 – I call
Turn 2
My opponent checks and I push all in for 6000ish, after a few minutes he gets a chip count and after a few more minutes another player calls clock and during the 1 minute clock the tournament clock is paused and the dealer is a little unsure as what to do the tournament clock resumes 30sec later and just as the time is running out the other player calls (well past his allotted time) and shows QQ, river is a slight kick in the teeth as the J lands giving my already winning opponent a better winning hand
My second game came Monday afternoon with a 3rd place from 20 runners and not much to report.
Last night was a charity game where the prises were an X-Box 360, Manchester United signed football shirt and a Chelsea signed football shirt. My girlfriend took 3rd place to claim the Chelsea shirt while I was in a cash game with calling stations, the game might as well have been played with everyone anteing and then dealing all the cards out. I finished my evening of suck-outs with this hand against a player who had single handily ruined my table image earlier.
Blinds are 25/25p
I have A5h and my opponent 2nd to act raised £2 everyone folds and I elect to call in SB
Flop A 8 5
I check to let my opponent make a continuation bet which the obligingly did £5 and I raised to £20 they called
Turn 5
I check to represent a weak Ace they bet again £10 and I push all in for £35, they call.
River Q
My opponent proudly places QQ down and declares a house – I say nice hand and they mutter something about me not betting enough!!
BL 300/600 - All fold around to cut off who raises 2400, Button (me) calls with JJ, both blinds fold because neither of us have played a hand in a long time.
The Flop 10, 8, 9 (rainbow)
My opponent bets 1500 – I call
Turn 2
My opponent checks and I push all in for 6000ish, after a few minutes he gets a chip count and after a few more minutes another player calls clock and during the 1 minute clock the tournament clock is paused and the dealer is a little unsure as what to do the tournament clock resumes 30sec later and just as the time is running out the other player calls (well past his allotted time) and shows QQ, river is a slight kick in the teeth as the J lands giving my already winning opponent a better winning hand
My second game came Monday afternoon with a 3rd place from 20 runners and not much to report.
Last night was a charity game where the prises were an X-Box 360, Manchester United signed football shirt and a Chelsea signed football shirt. My girlfriend took 3rd place to claim the Chelsea shirt while I was in a cash game with calling stations, the game might as well have been played with everyone anteing and then dealing all the cards out. I finished my evening of suck-outs with this hand against a player who had single handily ruined my table image earlier.
Blinds are 25/25p
I have A5h and my opponent 2nd to act raised £2 everyone folds and I elect to call in SB
Flop A 8 5
I check to let my opponent make a continuation bet which the obligingly did £5 and I raised to £20 they called
Turn 5
I check to represent a weak Ace they bet again £10 and I push all in for £35, they call.
River Q
My opponent proudly places QQ down and declares a house – I say nice hand and they mutter something about me not betting enough!!
10 May 2009
The Duracell Bunny Is Running On Fumes
Last year for about one and a half months I had trained my body to operate normally to a 48hr day rather than a 24, this proved quite profitable at the poker tables as I was in the middle of my day and fresh as a daisy and everyone else at the poker table was tired. Last night I had the opportunity to repeat this feat. Around 11pm I had just finished dealing Poker/Blackjack/Roulette to a group of students from the music colleges around London, it was a fun themed night based upon James Bond, at the end I was in high spirits and not in the slightest bit tired. I made my way to the Casino and sat down to play. After 5 hrs this electronic bunny had come to a point where battery power was not enough to keep its head above water. So I stood up and left, after experiencing this sensation I can clearly see two problems with long session play.
After an hour of sleep this Duracell Bunny had to go to work. Today I have drunk 1 coffee two espressos’ about 1.5lt of energy drink just to get stay awake through three parades and I am expecting my sugar crash any minute now. Time for a siesta!1) Clarity of thought no longer exists. This was evident in the other players when I first sat down, people whom I know to be quality players were not playing well, as they failed to realise due to tiredness that they were no longer playing solid poker and were unnecessarily bleeding chips, not that I was complaining :)
2) Playing many endurance sessions will begin to have a long term effect. That is, you will get burnt out and not be able to make the quality decisions you need to make even when you are well rested. I have seen it happen to some very good players they just lose the ability to walk away from the game when their session is turning into a vicious circle of loss
09 May 2009
Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo.
Il buono, The Good;
On the Thursday night I decided to try a different tact to approaching the tournament. I have recently read an article which had different suggestions about how to play at the beginning of a tourney. First there is no question that in a regular poker game you should play reasonably tight. Of course there are exceptions, but those who play every hand will enjoy the action but not necessarily the results. Many successful tournament players are quite loose at the beginning of tournaments which results in either quickly accumulating chips or quickly busting out. I have previously found that I often go deep into a tournament only to find that my remaining stack is too small. Results on this new approach is definitely interesting but more experimentation is needed
il brutto, The Bad;
Was defiantly my out draw against Sir Mike.
I am in the cut off seat, the blinds are 100/200 and my remaining stack is just over 2000 more than 10 times the BB but not by much, everyone folds to me and I see A8os and with only 3 people yet to act I feel my hand is well above average for a four handed hand so I announce the immortal words “I'm all in”. The button folds, one down two to go, a promising start. The small blind gets out the way by throwing their cards into the muck as well. Which only leaves Sir Mike, who wakes up with a hand and elects to call. The cards go on their backs and no surprise to find out that AdQd has me dominated.
Flop
Kd – 7c – Jd
Sir Mike now has more out’s than you can shake a stick at
Turn – 4s
Still very far behind
River – 8h
And there we have it; I must be running well as I catch one of my two outs to win with a pair
il cattivo, The Ugly;
The Ugly – unlike the film came at the end of the night. Once I had got on the night bus, I sat down only to realise that the rather large incredibly smelly snoring old man defiantly had a problem with incontinence whilst asleep and every time the bus jerked forward or braked heavily pools of urine would go trickling by, I'm sure if I had been drinking then urine would not have been the only fluid to be moving around the bus
05 May 2009
Where do they come from?
4 hours of play has left me mildly amused. Tonight I think I might have just seen it all. I have come to the conclusion that the rules of how to play poker live should be explained again to everyone and possibly printed in mutable languages and posted up on the wall (especially house rules) as it is starting to get beyond a joke.
Along with the regular acting out of turn, talking about the hand in-play and forgetting to say raise when only throwing in one chip, tonight I had to endure people showing their cards to their friends who were stood behind them (which makes their hand dead), as well this hand....
We join this hand on the river, three people remain. Player 1 who acts first fires out his 4th bullet of this hand which is roughly ¾ of the pot, Player 2 debates and calls, then as the third player is thinking about what to do player 2 picks his cards up where player 3 can see them!! Enough was enough and once again this evening I had to play sheriff, I informed the dealer what was happening and the floor was called over. The floor in my opinion did not entirely get it right. Yes Player 2’s hand is dead and no player 3’s hand is live. In my opinion player 3 was not going to call until they had seen player 2’s hand (now with an unfair advantage, could also be considered collusion) and so surely both players 2 and 3 hands should dead.
I know previously I encouraged everyone to sit down on tables where people are not playing solid poker, and yes I did triple up for the night but when other players are slowing the game down so much with live poker playing errors and making most hands last 5+ minuets then it is ruining your profit margin for the evening, my advice to anyone seeing this happening is to keep on at the dealer and the culprits will either adhere to the rules or leave. Maybe it is me, maybe I’m just tired but I think that this is a valid point.
Along with the regular acting out of turn, talking about the hand in-play and forgetting to say raise when only throwing in one chip, tonight I had to endure people showing their cards to their friends who were stood behind them (which makes their hand dead), as well this hand....
We join this hand on the river, three people remain. Player 1 who acts first fires out his 4th bullet of this hand which is roughly ¾ of the pot, Player 2 debates and calls, then as the third player is thinking about what to do player 2 picks his cards up where player 3 can see them!! Enough was enough and once again this evening I had to play sheriff, I informed the dealer what was happening and the floor was called over. The floor in my opinion did not entirely get it right. Yes Player 2’s hand is dead and no player 3’s hand is live. In my opinion player 3 was not going to call until they had seen player 2’s hand (now with an unfair advantage, could also be considered collusion) and so surely both players 2 and 3 hands should dead.
I know previously I encouraged everyone to sit down on tables where people are not playing solid poker, and yes I did triple up for the night but when other players are slowing the game down so much with live poker playing errors and making most hands last 5+ minuets then it is ruining your profit margin for the evening, my advice to anyone seeing this happening is to keep on at the dealer and the culprits will either adhere to the rules or leave. Maybe it is me, maybe I’m just tired but I think that this is a valid point.
28 April 2009
To Tip or Not To Tip
Every once in a while the subject of tipping comes up both in poker literature and at the table and opinions have ranged from defending those players who almost never tip to giving ridiculous advice, such as £1-£2 games you should tip the dealers X amount with a small pot and Y amount for a large pot and if you are running bad to tip the dealer before the deal starts...
Now in my opinion there are so many things wrong with those statements.
Of course I appreciate being tipped but do not want to come across as begging, nor do I wish to feel bad when a player suggests that another should be tipping. By tipping you are thanking me for the cards, making out that I’m quasi responsible for them. This opens up a whole can of worms because if the dealer is responsible for the cards and is insistent upon a tip when things go the players way then surely he can be berated at when things don’t quit go the way the player wanted and I’m sure that no Dealer wants to be shouted at. Size of pots are all relative and there should not be a compulsory tip amount and there should not be a formula of the amount to be tipped .What’s more if you are running bad the last thing you want to hear is that you should be tipping!
As a Dealer I can tell you that if players did tip every pot that; a) What would have been a profitable night for a player might turn into a losing night and I would probably be out of a job due to the lack of customers. And b) I would probably be out of a job as I’m sure that there are better dealers who would come in and deal.
Of course there is a simple solution to this sticky problem
Tipping should not be allowed
I believe that casinos (Not card rooms*) should pay their help a decent wage and not expect their customers to do it for them. If this means that the rake (or table charge) goes up a small amount, then I am in favour of it. The extra amount of rake would only be taken out of the large sized pots anyway and would at most equate to a few extra pounds per hour off the players hourly rate, this idea would also apply to tournaments, just charge a little extra juice and then do not allow the winners to tip.
*the reason behind excluding card rooms is that I don’t work in a casino and as I’m writing this I can be biased :P
Now in my opinion there are so many things wrong with those statements.
Of course I appreciate being tipped but do not want to come across as begging, nor do I wish to feel bad when a player suggests that another should be tipping. By tipping you are thanking me for the cards, making out that I’m quasi responsible for them. This opens up a whole can of worms because if the dealer is responsible for the cards and is insistent upon a tip when things go the players way then surely he can be berated at when things don’t quit go the way the player wanted and I’m sure that no Dealer wants to be shouted at. Size of pots are all relative and there should not be a compulsory tip amount and there should not be a formula of the amount to be tipped .What’s more if you are running bad the last thing you want to hear is that you should be tipping!
As a Dealer I can tell you that if players did tip every pot that; a) What would have been a profitable night for a player might turn into a losing night and I would probably be out of a job due to the lack of customers. And b) I would probably be out of a job as I’m sure that there are better dealers who would come in and deal.
Of course there is a simple solution to this sticky problem
Tipping should not be allowed
I believe that casinos (Not card rooms*) should pay their help a decent wage and not expect their customers to do it for them. If this means that the rake (or table charge) goes up a small amount, then I am in favour of it. The extra amount of rake would only be taken out of the large sized pots anyway and would at most equate to a few extra pounds per hour off the players hourly rate, this idea would also apply to tournaments, just charge a little extra juice and then do not allow the winners to tip.
*the reason behind excluding card rooms is that I don’t work in a casino and as I’m writing this I can be biased :P
24 April 2009
Funny Bones
In a dark, dark city there was a dark, dark river next to the dark, dark river there was a dark, dark track along the dark, dark track was a dark, dark station under the dark, dark station there was a nicely lit very spacious poker club. Most of my stories will emanate from here, most of my thoughts; theories will come from the dark, dark space under my dark, dark hat.
The Fundamental Theorem of Poker (David Sklansky aka The Mathematician)
Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.
Therefore perfect poker play is; knowing what everyone else has and playing accordingly.
Every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose.
I was once in a casino sat in a poker game in seat 8, I was ebbing and flowing and had been for about an hour and a half when two players came and sat at the same table; one a young lady, who was no lady and is what our friends over the pond would call a “skank” (a leopard lycra “V” neck top showing at least 60% of her assets) sat down in seat 5 and proceeded to flirt with everyone. A few minutes later a young man similar age came and sat in seat 7 next to me, he was very quiet and brought to the table about 50% more chips he had a big stack. After about half an hour I noticed that the two new players were in the same pots, when one folded or played so did the other, this got me thinking, having recently read a book (dirty poker – a must read for any dealer) I noticed that they were signalling to each other what each of them had, a further 15 minutes and I now had not one but three hands of information. So I did what any decent upstanding poker player would have done and played perfect poker with these two cahooting players and enjoyed every second! (I did try to tell the cardroom manager but to no avail)
Every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain.
“Ah I’m sorry mate if I’d have known that’s what you had I’d have folded”
“Dam I knew you had that, but I was ahead”
These should be music to poker players’ ears, the cries of a bad player someone who really did/does not know what is right from wrong sat at the table. This is what you should be listening for when entering a busy card room because at that table against that player, you gain. Once sat at that table and see it happen again and again then reassurance is needed; “Nice one buddy, well played, you’re on fire tonight!” then sit back and enjoy!
The Fundamental Theorem of Poker (David Sklansky aka The Mathematician)
Every time you play a hand differently from the way you would have played it if you could see all your opponents’ cards, they gain; and every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose. Conversely, every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain; and every time they play their hands the same way they would have played if they could see all your cards, you lose.
Therefore perfect poker play is; knowing what everyone else has and playing accordingly.
Every time you play your hand the same way you would have played it if you could see all their cards, they lose.
I was once in a casino sat in a poker game in seat 8, I was ebbing and flowing and had been for about an hour and a half when two players came and sat at the same table; one a young lady, who was no lady and is what our friends over the pond would call a “skank” (a leopard lycra “V” neck top showing at least 60% of her assets) sat down in seat 5 and proceeded to flirt with everyone. A few minutes later a young man similar age came and sat in seat 7 next to me, he was very quiet and brought to the table about 50% more chips he had a big stack. After about half an hour I noticed that the two new players were in the same pots, when one folded or played so did the other, this got me thinking, having recently read a book (dirty poker – a must read for any dealer) I noticed that they were signalling to each other what each of them had, a further 15 minutes and I now had not one but three hands of information. So I did what any decent upstanding poker player would have done and played perfect poker with these two cahooting players and enjoyed every second! (I did try to tell the cardroom manager but to no avail)
Every time opponents play their hands differently from the way they would have if they could see all your cards, you gain.
“Ah I’m sorry mate if I’d have known that’s what you had I’d have folded”
“Dam I knew you had that, but I was ahead”
These should be music to poker players’ ears, the cries of a bad player someone who really did/does not know what is right from wrong sat at the table. This is what you should be listening for when entering a busy card room because at that table against that player, you gain. Once sat at that table and see it happen again and again then reassurance is needed; “Nice one buddy, well played, you’re on fire tonight!” then sit back and enjoy!
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