The title accurately describes my play, and my results, at SFPT September. Part of the issue was lack of concentration, but I also wasn't getting much in terms of cards either. In some ways it felt a lot like my last TS cash session.
But, I had fun, and my fourth place finish was just barely good enough to keep me atop the points race thanks to Tina taking home the win. Oscar got his second straight runner-up finish; it's too bad for him that he got off to such a shitty start else he'd be right in the thick of things as we come down to the last three tournaments.
So, I wasn't able to add any money to the bracelet hunting envelope, but I did keep on track to maybe add some in December if I can bring home the points title. I have decided that if I do take it down, half the money will go to said envelope, and the other half will go to Ally's bank account.
As for details: not many hands stand out, and I did find myself short-stacked when we were down to four players. I won a hand to get out of that spot but it didn't last long, and I shoved with 8/5 clubs. Matt and Oscar called, and post-flop, Oscar also shoved to put Matt at risk. Matt folded, Oscar showed A/J for two pair, and I mucked.
Not much else to say, really. It was a fun tournament, but not a lot sticks out.
Race to 10K: 3 home game hours played, 128.75 home game hours, 238.75 total hours
Next up will be the October tournament, which may or may not be the same night as the World Series party. Looking further into the future, Tina, Rachel, Matt, Danielle, and I are already discussing planning for the annual January Turning Stone trip. You can bet poker will be played, and I hope to get Matt into the room as well. Call it my first poker-related goal of 2014.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Poker Mentality
With the next SFPT event looming on Saturday and not having played much since the August tournament, I decided to pop back on to Full Tilt both yesterday and today for a couple tournaments. Both went pretty well: yesterday I finished 2nd in a 250, 1-table SNG, and today won a 6-handed 1-table SNG.
In the 9-handed event, I was barely paying attention, but in this case that isn't a bad thing. I was able to play the math, and let my subconcious mind work picking up trends, patterns, etc. This isn't new for me, but using that information in real-time is. I was able to do so, and got my chips in with the advantage, only to have the math bite me once again. No big deal. From that tournament, I also took away the fact that if I can play that well not paying attention, I have a lot of upside for when I actually do focus.
The 6-handed event today comes with a huge astrisk. One player was eliminated on the first hand, and two others were sitting out almost from the beginning. As soon as I recognized this, I loosened up my play, knowing in reality I was only playing against two other opponents. I was able to KO one of the others not too long after, and though the second guy was a much bigger challenge (I couldn't really put a read on his betting patterns), I was victorious over him as well.
The hand that finished him off is one I am proud of, not because of how it turned out, but because of how I processed the information. I raised 4x the big blind pre-flop with 8/8, and was called. The flop was 4/7/5, and I c-bet half the pot. A snap call, and turn J. Here's where I processed what was in front of me: an over pair to all but one card, a straight draw, and a better than 2:1 chip advantage against an at least semi-aggressive player acting after me. I shoved all-in, and was called with Q/10. River 6, straight, and to quote Hawk Harrelson, "he gone". The other two were still sitting out, and the result was a formality.
Which leads me to why I'm really blogging today. That sequence of events illustrates an area in which I've made great progress over the past few months. There were any number of hands which could have had me beat, or at least had me behind in terms of what we were drawing to, but I absorbed all of the information available to me and took a calculated risk. That is the essence of poker.
It's also the essence of life. Very rarely is there a situation in life that is black and white. Gray is the new black; there is always ambiguity in every situation you face. The ability to process incomplete information and make smart decisions is one of the factors that separate the successful from the unsuccessful, no matter your definition of success. Nate Silver once said that poker players are the best he's seen at evaluating situations correctly. I'm not sure if that is because of poker, or if people of that nature are drawn to poker and find themselves successful in part because of that attribute.
Either way, there's a very strong parallel. Mel Levinson and I always talk about "Baseball Mentality", which we have loosely defined as taking a situation as it comes, reacting calmly and without undue angst. Even the best of all time will fail in their objective six times out of ten. In that spirit, I am ready to officially christen Poker Mentality: taking all of the information available to you, processing it in relation to the situation, and making a decision based on what you know without being overly concerned about what you don't know.
Poker Mentality shall become one of my attributes - at the felt, and in life.
In the 9-handed event, I was barely paying attention, but in this case that isn't a bad thing. I was able to play the math, and let my subconcious mind work picking up trends, patterns, etc. This isn't new for me, but using that information in real-time is. I was able to do so, and got my chips in with the advantage, only to have the math bite me once again. No big deal. From that tournament, I also took away the fact that if I can play that well not paying attention, I have a lot of upside for when I actually do focus.
The 6-handed event today comes with a huge astrisk. One player was eliminated on the first hand, and two others were sitting out almost from the beginning. As soon as I recognized this, I loosened up my play, knowing in reality I was only playing against two other opponents. I was able to KO one of the others not too long after, and though the second guy was a much bigger challenge (I couldn't really put a read on his betting patterns), I was victorious over him as well.
The hand that finished him off is one I am proud of, not because of how it turned out, but because of how I processed the information. I raised 4x the big blind pre-flop with 8/8, and was called. The flop was 4/7/5, and I c-bet half the pot. A snap call, and turn J. Here's where I processed what was in front of me: an over pair to all but one card, a straight draw, and a better than 2:1 chip advantage against an at least semi-aggressive player acting after me. I shoved all-in, and was called with Q/10. River 6, straight, and to quote Hawk Harrelson, "he gone". The other two were still sitting out, and the result was a formality.
Which leads me to why I'm really blogging today. That sequence of events illustrates an area in which I've made great progress over the past few months. There were any number of hands which could have had me beat, or at least had me behind in terms of what we were drawing to, but I absorbed all of the information available to me and took a calculated risk. That is the essence of poker.
It's also the essence of life. Very rarely is there a situation in life that is black and white. Gray is the new black; there is always ambiguity in every situation you face. The ability to process incomplete information and make smart decisions is one of the factors that separate the successful from the unsuccessful, no matter your definition of success. Nate Silver once said that poker players are the best he's seen at evaluating situations correctly. I'm not sure if that is because of poker, or if people of that nature are drawn to poker and find themselves successful in part because of that attribute.
Either way, there's a very strong parallel. Mel Levinson and I always talk about "Baseball Mentality", which we have loosely defined as taking a situation as it comes, reacting calmly and without undue angst. Even the best of all time will fail in their objective six times out of ten. In that spirit, I am ready to officially christen Poker Mentality: taking all of the information available to you, processing it in relation to the situation, and making a decision based on what you know without being overly concerned about what you don't know.
Poker Mentality shall become one of my attributes - at the felt, and in life.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Trying Something New, and Something Old
For a long time, I have been a fan of the idea of "learning by osmosis". I'm not sure if I heard that term somewhere or made it up myself, but I feel like the idea is a sound one. Basically, what I mean by that is that I feel I can gain knowledge of something by just having it around me. This is one of the reasons I like to have the TV on a science or history program while I am working on something else,because I can learn a little bit of something even if I am not really trying to do so.
In that spirit, I have decided to forgo listening to the radio while I am working, for the most part, in favor of watching YouTube training videos and other poker-related content. There's plenty of it out there, and more produced every day, so it's not like I am going to run out of videos to watch any time soon.
I have started with Jason Somervville's Run It Up series, and also delved into some of his other videos. Today, I watched one where he went over the hands of his first ever online final table, in 2007. I feel like I learned quite a bit about how the game has changed from then to now, as he kept talking about how he couldn't believe he played hands certain ways and would have done it differently today. From those specific hands, I compared to my play, and saw how I can play hands (and more specifically, situations) differently.
That was the new. Now for the old:
Inspired by actually seeing poker played in that video, I decided to log on to Full Tilt for the first time since August second. I had a step three ticket and decided to use that right off the bat.
Right away, I applied a lesson: keep the hammer down: I missed a flop, but c-bet the flop and turn and got three folds on a stone-cold bluff. That was good, as were a couple of pots where I actually hit a flop but could have lost to draws, but bet people out before showdown.
The bad: four-handed, I shoved with trip queens, got called with 8/9 off, and the guy hit a straight. A few hands later, I shoved with the king high flush draw, got called with two pair, and couldn't hit. I finished fourth and won another Step 3 ticket.
Not wanting to go out like that, I cashed in that ticket following a break for lunch. I lost some of my motivation (read: got distracted), and took a big hit when I gambled to take out a player and lost with AhQh to KK. After getting some back, I lost another chunk in a similar situation when I didn't hit an open-ender and lost to queens.
At this point I figured it just wasn't my tournament, but before I knew it, I was chip leader again. That lasted all of about 10 hands; soon I was short stacked again, shoved, and lost with K/Q off to Q/6 off when the turn was a 6. Oh well.
Playing: 1 hour online
Reading: I started the September issue off "Bluff" the other day, but only glanced. More to come later on that. I have been reading the articles that Mike Caro tweets out on an almost daily basis
Watching: So far, two of Jason Somerville's videos, a total of a shade over 1 hour
10k update: 84.25 online hours, 233.50 total hours
In that spirit, I have decided to forgo listening to the radio while I am working, for the most part, in favor of watching YouTube training videos and other poker-related content. There's plenty of it out there, and more produced every day, so it's not like I am going to run out of videos to watch any time soon.
I have started with Jason Somervville's Run It Up series, and also delved into some of his other videos. Today, I watched one where he went over the hands of his first ever online final table, in 2007. I feel like I learned quite a bit about how the game has changed from then to now, as he kept talking about how he couldn't believe he played hands certain ways and would have done it differently today. From those specific hands, I compared to my play, and saw how I can play hands (and more specifically, situations) differently.
That was the new. Now for the old:
Inspired by actually seeing poker played in that video, I decided to log on to Full Tilt for the first time since August second. I had a step three ticket and decided to use that right off the bat.
Right away, I applied a lesson: keep the hammer down: I missed a flop, but c-bet the flop and turn and got three folds on a stone-cold bluff. That was good, as were a couple of pots where I actually hit a flop but could have lost to draws, but bet people out before showdown.
The bad: four-handed, I shoved with trip queens, got called with 8/9 off, and the guy hit a straight. A few hands later, I shoved with the king high flush draw, got called with two pair, and couldn't hit. I finished fourth and won another Step 3 ticket.
Not wanting to go out like that, I cashed in that ticket following a break for lunch. I lost some of my motivation (read: got distracted), and took a big hit when I gambled to take out a player and lost with AhQh to KK. After getting some back, I lost another chunk in a similar situation when I didn't hit an open-ender and lost to queens.
At this point I figured it just wasn't my tournament, but before I knew it, I was chip leader again. That lasted all of about 10 hands; soon I was short stacked again, shoved, and lost with K/Q off to Q/6 off when the turn was a 6. Oh well.
Playing: 1 hour online
Reading: I started the September issue off "Bluff" the other day, but only glanced. More to come later on that. I have been reading the articles that Mike Caro tweets out on an almost daily basis
Watching: So far, two of Jason Somerville's videos, a total of a shade over 1 hour
10k update: 84.25 online hours, 233.50 total hours
Friday, September 6, 2013
Learning By Watching - Being Social Edition
I love watching the EPT, and I get to watch a lot of it thanks to the combination of the pokerstars.tv livestream, and the time zone difference. The commentators are good, and as with any poker viewing I get to see top players and how they play. Plus, I get some lessons that aren't directly related to play on the felt; lessons like the one today, an answer to my dilemma from yesterday.
The situation: Liv Boeree was guest-commentating, and action cut from the Main Event to the other event running at the time, the 10k High-Roller. Daniel Negrenau was at the table, and of course he was chatting it up. And also of course, he was sitting on a well-above-average chip stack. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday.
I stepped away for a couple minutes, and the live stream was still showing that same table when I returned. They were discussing the table dynamic, and Boeree made a comment in response to a question from one of the commentators about the amount of good-natured talk at the table. This may not be exact, but it's pretty close:
"Oh, yes, that's why I love these high roller events. They feel like a home game, they're so much fun."
So the high-roller events, the tournaments with the highest buy-ins, are the most fun because people are treating them like home games. What I deduce from that is that other people, low-level pros and amateurs playing in the lower buy-in events, take the game too seriously. Why that is, I don't know. Maybe they feel like that is the best way for them to play, maybe they feel pressure because of the amount of money they have at risk.
That's not me - I don't feel that's the best way to play, I don't feel that kind of pressure (anymore), and I'm certain playing like that would make me miserable, even if I was winning. There are times where I may shut down and focus to a greater extent, but that's not my typical M.O.
Or, as I said to myself earlier (and this IS an exact quote), "Fuck it. I'm there to have fun."
This approach may go against me becoming a better player. Maybe it won't. Maybe I'm short-changing myself, even now. I may be terrible. I probably AM terrible. But here's the thing: I don't know that for sure. And in the absence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I am forced to believe I'm better than average, with even more potential. It's all relative, but remember - I haven't been playing for very long, and I have a grand total of twenty and a half hours of live, non-home game play. Or, as Phil Laak would call it, a Tuesday.
Even if results or other evidence point towards me not being very good, I always want to THINK I'm good, because that confidence, even if it's irrational, breeds success.
Let's get to the felt.
The situation: Liv Boeree was guest-commentating, and action cut from the Main Event to the other event running at the time, the 10k High-Roller. Daniel Negrenau was at the table, and of course he was chatting it up. And also of course, he was sitting on a well-above-average chip stack. This is exactly what I was talking about yesterday.
I stepped away for a couple minutes, and the live stream was still showing that same table when I returned. They were discussing the table dynamic, and Boeree made a comment in response to a question from one of the commentators about the amount of good-natured talk at the table. This may not be exact, but it's pretty close:
"Oh, yes, that's why I love these high roller events. They feel like a home game, they're so much fun."
So the high-roller events, the tournaments with the highest buy-ins, are the most fun because people are treating them like home games. What I deduce from that is that other people, low-level pros and amateurs playing in the lower buy-in events, take the game too seriously. Why that is, I don't know. Maybe they feel like that is the best way for them to play, maybe they feel pressure because of the amount of money they have at risk.
That's not me - I don't feel that's the best way to play, I don't feel that kind of pressure (anymore), and I'm certain playing like that would make me miserable, even if I was winning. There are times where I may shut down and focus to a greater extent, but that's not my typical M.O.
Or, as I said to myself earlier (and this IS an exact quote), "Fuck it. I'm there to have fun."
This approach may go against me becoming a better player. Maybe it won't. Maybe I'm short-changing myself, even now. I may be terrible. I probably AM terrible. But here's the thing: I don't know that for sure. And in the absence of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, I am forced to believe I'm better than average, with even more potential. It's all relative, but remember - I haven't been playing for very long, and I have a grand total of twenty and a half hours of live, non-home game play. Or, as Phil Laak would call it, a Tuesday.
Even if results or other evidence point towards me not being very good, I always want to THINK I'm good, because that confidence, even if it's irrational, breeds success.
Let's get to the felt.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Social Aspect
I've spent a lot of time in this space talking about the technical aspect of poker; how to play, how I used to play versus how I play now, how I can improve, etc. What I haven't done very much of, other than comments and stories in my live action recaps, is talk about the social aspect of the game.
Maybe the single biggest reason I love live poker as much as I do (and why online isn't cutting it for me), is the people. Now, there are situations where people make it a less-than-pleasant time, but I have been fortunate enough to have not gone down that road often. Regardless, those bad moments have been far outweighed by the good ones - good people, good conversations, and just a general overall good time. Playing some poker, chatting it up, laughing, and making some money to boot. That's hard to beat.
But...I feel like my enjoyment may be holding me back from becoming a better player. When I play live, I will always talk with the people around me, and because of that, I can't focus as much as I "should" on the action, especially on hands I am not playing. I have mentioned in this space how important it is to concentrate on play even when you are out of the hand, and how one's ability to do so can provide important information that may provide an edge later in the game. At the moment, I am one of the large majority of people who can't/don't focus on the action, and I know this is to my detriment.
The real question is, does this matter to me? How important is it to me to get better? I know I have already made significant strides as a player in just a few live sessions, to the point where I feel comfortable playing against almost anyone, be it in cash or tournament play (but especially tournament). So I have reached a comfortable plateau of sorts, knowing I can step into any game and, while I may not be successful in a monetary sense, I will play properly and the odds will be in my favor.
How important is it to me to take that next step, which at this point involves more focus and less talk? Is it more important to have fun, and (forgive the obvious cliche) let the chips falls where they may? That's the question I'm trying to answer right now, and frankly, I'm not sure. Obviously, everyone who plays poker on at even a remotely serious level wants to get better. But it's a tradeoff, and I need to find that balance.
Ideally, I would end up like Daniel Negreanu - someone who can run his mouth constantly and still play at a high level, besting most of those around him on a regular basis. I know that's shooting for the moon, but hey - lofty goals are good, right?
Maybe the single biggest reason I love live poker as much as I do (and why online isn't cutting it for me), is the people. Now, there are situations where people make it a less-than-pleasant time, but I have been fortunate enough to have not gone down that road often. Regardless, those bad moments have been far outweighed by the good ones - good people, good conversations, and just a general overall good time. Playing some poker, chatting it up, laughing, and making some money to boot. That's hard to beat.
But...I feel like my enjoyment may be holding me back from becoming a better player. When I play live, I will always talk with the people around me, and because of that, I can't focus as much as I "should" on the action, especially on hands I am not playing. I have mentioned in this space how important it is to concentrate on play even when you are out of the hand, and how one's ability to do so can provide important information that may provide an edge later in the game. At the moment, I am one of the large majority of people who can't/don't focus on the action, and I know this is to my detriment.
The real question is, does this matter to me? How important is it to me to get better? I know I have already made significant strides as a player in just a few live sessions, to the point where I feel comfortable playing against almost anyone, be it in cash or tournament play (but especially tournament). So I have reached a comfortable plateau of sorts, knowing I can step into any game and, while I may not be successful in a monetary sense, I will play properly and the odds will be in my favor.
How important is it to me to take that next step, which at this point involves more focus and less talk? Is it more important to have fun, and (forgive the obvious cliche) let the chips falls where they may? That's the question I'm trying to answer right now, and frankly, I'm not sure. Obviously, everyone who plays poker on at even a remotely serious level wants to get better. But it's a tradeoff, and I need to find that balance.
Ideally, I would end up like Daniel Negreanu - someone who can run his mouth constantly and still play at a high level, besting most of those around him on a regular basis. I know that's shooting for the moon, but hey - lofty goals are good, right?
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
It All Comes Together
Finally.
For once, I played well for an entire tournament, and was rewarded with a win. The occasion was the nine player SFPT August Part 2 get-together, aka the February Makeup Tournament. I feel like I played well because I was very consistent; not once was I all-in and at-risk in a spot where I didn't have a heavy advantage. Each of those spots resulted in opponent folds, so really I was never truly at risk.
Prior to heads-up, two hands stood out. The first was a four-way pot with Tom, Oscar, and Matt, with Tom at risk pre-flop. After the river I held a flush, and an all-in shove got Oscar and Matt to muck. When I showed my flush, Tom mucked as well, and I earned my first of two knockouts on the night.
The second hand came down to Matt, Tom, and I. I limped pre-flop with 2/2, and caught trips on a 2/8/9 board. I didn't hesitate a moment in shoving all-in, leading to two almost instant folds. When Matt commented "I think I had you beat", I decided to tell him what I had. Matt's a good player, and I feel that by sharing hands, we can work on strategy together to our mutual benefit. When I whispered "twos", he exclaimed, "wow, ballsy!". Maybe it was, but it worked. In fact, I'm hoping it really was "ballsy", because that means I'm taking chances.
The last hand of the night is where I got some payback from the poker gods after the previous SFPT tournament. Oscar and I had gone back and forth for several hands, with the chip lead changing at least three times in that time. On the last hand of the night, Oscar was short-stacked and shoved with A/K off. I snap-called with A/9 hearts. There were no hearts on the flop and the turn was likewise a dud, but I spiked a river 9 to take the victory.
10k update: 3 hours home game, 125.75 total home game, 232.50 total hours
Bracelet Hunting: $45 added, $50 total, $950 to go
For once, I played well for an entire tournament, and was rewarded with a win. The occasion was the nine player SFPT August Part 2 get-together, aka the February Makeup Tournament. I feel like I played well because I was very consistent; not once was I all-in and at-risk in a spot where I didn't have a heavy advantage. Each of those spots resulted in opponent folds, so really I was never truly at risk.
Prior to heads-up, two hands stood out. The first was a four-way pot with Tom, Oscar, and Matt, with Tom at risk pre-flop. After the river I held a flush, and an all-in shove got Oscar and Matt to muck. When I showed my flush, Tom mucked as well, and I earned my first of two knockouts on the night.
The second hand came down to Matt, Tom, and I. I limped pre-flop with 2/2, and caught trips on a 2/8/9 board. I didn't hesitate a moment in shoving all-in, leading to two almost instant folds. When Matt commented "I think I had you beat", I decided to tell him what I had. Matt's a good player, and I feel that by sharing hands, we can work on strategy together to our mutual benefit. When I whispered "twos", he exclaimed, "wow, ballsy!". Maybe it was, but it worked. In fact, I'm hoping it really was "ballsy", because that means I'm taking chances.
The last hand of the night is where I got some payback from the poker gods after the previous SFPT tournament. Oscar and I had gone back and forth for several hands, with the chip lead changing at least three times in that time. On the last hand of the night, Oscar was short-stacked and shoved with A/K off. I snap-called with A/9 hearts. There were no hearts on the flop and the turn was likewise a dud, but I spiked a river 9 to take the victory.
10k update: 3 hours home game, 125.75 total home game, 232.50 total hours
Bracelet Hunting: $45 added, $50 total, $950 to go
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