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.
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