By way of Pokerati and PokerNews, I heard about a charity tournament on PokerStars that is coming up next week. On November 12 at 9:00 PM ET, Stars will host the Bad Beat on Cancer Poker Challenge, with proceeds going to the Prevent Cancer Foundation. Entry fee is $10, with $10 rebuys available through the first two levels. As posted on (and stolen from) PokerNews, there are a lot of great prizes:
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...the top 50 finishers each will take something home. Players can find plenty of value for their donations including a VIP trip to the set of the "PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge;" a lifetime subscription to Deucescracked.com; a WSOP Academy seat; coaching from several of the game's top players, including the "Two Months, Two Million" cast, Daniel Negreanu, Jamie Gold, Matt Glantz, Vanessa Rousso, Tom Schneider and Tom McEvoy; as well as a number of special prizes that enable winners to get up-close-and personal with the likes of Phil Gordon and PokerRoad's Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith. Other top prizes include a Borgata Triple Play tournament package, Poker Players International tournament voucher, and Bluff Magazine adventure, which takes the winner on a personal tour of the world's leading sports television network, ESPN.
All prizes are transferable; a winner can use them or give them to a loved one or friend. The password for the tournament is BadBeatChallenge and the tournament can be found in the Private Tournament section at PokerStars.com.
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I didn't see the tourney listed when I checked Stars just now, but hopefully it will appear in the list soon. I plan to play and I hope you will too.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Deflecting, or reflecting, tilt, and other thoughts
Let's get my updates out of the way first:
A few weeks ago, I finished second in a local Amateur Poker League tourney. I hadn't finished "in the points" (top 16) in quite a while, so it was nice to make the final table and finish as high as I did. As usual in these tournaments, I had to get lucky a few times to last as long as I did. They play like turbos, with blinds going up every 15 minutes and pretty much doubling every round, so it turns into a crap shoot fast. Still, I didn't make much in the way of mistakes. That might be a good way to describe the strategy for these things: make the best plays you can and wait for your opponents to screw up. Also, pray that the Card Fairy smiles on you now and then. Other than that one game, I haven't played a lot of poker since my last entry, and don't have anything of note to report.
I have been meaning to write about something that came to mind while I was reading this post from CK a few weeks ago. At the end of it, she describes how a player called the clock on her in a ring game, got fed up by this move, and left the game. When she told the clock-caller that she didn't need to put up with his shenanigans and was leaving, the player told her that that was what he was hoping would happen. As she put it, "That's when I knew that young guy's clock call was an angle-shoot to try to put me on tilt."
That got me to thinking. Let me say first that I play very little live poker, and most of my live play is the free bar league poker tourneys like I mentioned above. I have never seen anyone in those games deliberately try to put someone on tilt, although I'm sure it must happen from time to time. But if you play live poker for real money, I imagine that it must be something that you expect and maybe even prepare for. After all, we all want to be in control of our emotions when we play so we make the best possible decisions, right? I suppose that there are as many ways of dealing with tilt or potential tilt as there are poker players. Some probably put on their Vulcan tinfoil hats, suppressing all emotions and playing as mechanically as they can, shutting out all comments and distractions around them. Some may "use" the tilt as motivation to play better, trying to figure out what happened that got them upset or pushed them off their game. Some may just get up and walk away, as CK did in her example, to cool off and prevent the steaming from causing them to spew chips.
I am wondering if there are players, and I'm sure there must be, who take the opportunity in situations like CK's to try to "tilt the tilter." You would have to recognize that the other player is trying to get to you, of course, but once you pick up on what is going on, you would need to determine your anti-tilt strategy. Please understand that I am not criticizing CK's choice in that particular instance. I am only using it as an example of a circumstance where one might be able to deflect the other player's tactic back at them.
So, if a player calls the clock on me AND I suspect that the intent is to get under my skin, how should I react? What about something like this:
*I make sure that the clock-caller is serious about the request. Maybe he or she is just kidding around (not likely, but asking adds to the stalling time that I am creating).
*I ask the dealer or floor person how much time I get once the clock has been called, when the clock starts, and maybe even ask that the time remaining be announced when it gets to ten seconds or something.
*I would then take all of the time on the clock, whether I need it to make my decision or not. If my decision is to fold, I would do so before the clock ran out rather than let my hand be folded for me.
This may (or may not) upset the clock-caller to a certain degree. It might be even more likely to upset the other players at the table. One hopes that those other players recognize that it is the clock-caller's fault that the game was held up (assuming that you haven't taken a lot of time to act on previous hands or had the clock called on you before).
Later, if the clock-caller is still in the game with me, I might pointedly check my watch any time he or she is taking a while to make a decision about a hand. If I'm feeling really contrary, I might even call the clock myself, after a reasonable amount of time has passed. I would think it less effective if calling the clock myself came across as a tilting response instead of a simple "let's all play by the same rules" action.
I am not by nature a confrontational person. In most cases, I believe that promoting or building a conflict is counterproductive. However, there are times when one must stand one's ground and even give one's antagonists a taste of their own medicine. In poker, I think it is a good idea to show your opponents that you can't be thrown off your game too easily and, in fact, are able to push back when necessary. It may gain you some respect or, occasionally, throw them off their game and give you the advantage that they were after.
A few weeks ago, I finished second in a local Amateur Poker League tourney. I hadn't finished "in the points" (top 16) in quite a while, so it was nice to make the final table and finish as high as I did. As usual in these tournaments, I had to get lucky a few times to last as long as I did. They play like turbos, with blinds going up every 15 minutes and pretty much doubling every round, so it turns into a crap shoot fast. Still, I didn't make much in the way of mistakes. That might be a good way to describe the strategy for these things: make the best plays you can and wait for your opponents to screw up. Also, pray that the Card Fairy smiles on you now and then. Other than that one game, I haven't played a lot of poker since my last entry, and don't have anything of note to report.
I have been meaning to write about something that came to mind while I was reading this post from CK a few weeks ago. At the end of it, she describes how a player called the clock on her in a ring game, got fed up by this move, and left the game. When she told the clock-caller that she didn't need to put up with his shenanigans and was leaving, the player told her that that was what he was hoping would happen. As she put it, "That's when I knew that young guy's clock call was an angle-shoot to try to put me on tilt."
That got me to thinking. Let me say first that I play very little live poker, and most of my live play is the free bar league poker tourneys like I mentioned above. I have never seen anyone in those games deliberately try to put someone on tilt, although I'm sure it must happen from time to time. But if you play live poker for real money, I imagine that it must be something that you expect and maybe even prepare for. After all, we all want to be in control of our emotions when we play so we make the best possible decisions, right? I suppose that there are as many ways of dealing with tilt or potential tilt as there are poker players. Some probably put on their Vulcan tinfoil hats, suppressing all emotions and playing as mechanically as they can, shutting out all comments and distractions around them. Some may "use" the tilt as motivation to play better, trying to figure out what happened that got them upset or pushed them off their game. Some may just get up and walk away, as CK did in her example, to cool off and prevent the steaming from causing them to spew chips.
I am wondering if there are players, and I'm sure there must be, who take the opportunity in situations like CK's to try to "tilt the tilter." You would have to recognize that the other player is trying to get to you, of course, but once you pick up on what is going on, you would need to determine your anti-tilt strategy. Please understand that I am not criticizing CK's choice in that particular instance. I am only using it as an example of a circumstance where one might be able to deflect the other player's tactic back at them.
So, if a player calls the clock on me AND I suspect that the intent is to get under my skin, how should I react? What about something like this:
*I make sure that the clock-caller is serious about the request. Maybe he or she is just kidding around (not likely, but asking adds to the stalling time that I am creating).
*I ask the dealer or floor person how much time I get once the clock has been called, when the clock starts, and maybe even ask that the time remaining be announced when it gets to ten seconds or something.
*I would then take all of the time on the clock, whether I need it to make my decision or not. If my decision is to fold, I would do so before the clock ran out rather than let my hand be folded for me.
This may (or may not) upset the clock-caller to a certain degree. It might be even more likely to upset the other players at the table. One hopes that those other players recognize that it is the clock-caller's fault that the game was held up (assuming that you haven't taken a lot of time to act on previous hands or had the clock called on you before).
Later, if the clock-caller is still in the game with me, I might pointedly check my watch any time he or she is taking a while to make a decision about a hand. If I'm feeling really contrary, I might even call the clock myself, after a reasonable amount of time has passed. I would think it less effective if calling the clock myself came across as a tilting response instead of a simple "let's all play by the same rules" action.
I am not by nature a confrontational person. In most cases, I believe that promoting or building a conflict is counterproductive. However, there are times when one must stand one's ground and even give one's antagonists a taste of their own medicine. In poker, I think it is a good idea to show your opponents that you can't be thrown off your game too easily and, in fact, are able to push back when necessary. It may gain you some respect or, occasionally, throw them off their game and give you the advantage that they were after.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
2009 WPBT Winter Classic - I'm in
I found that reasonable airfare that I was looking for, so I am now booked for this year's Winter Classic in Las Vegas. I don't even have to change planes or connect in Atlanta or Minneapolis; wheee. I have reserved a "Luxury" room at Harrah's, which supposedly will have a view of the Strip, for $200.00 for three nights. There were cheaper deals available, but I like Harrah's location (though I have not stayed there before) and I have never had a room with a Strip view, so I figured I would treat myself.
I'm not sure what all I will be doing in Vegas outside of the big tournament at Caesar's on Saturday and probably the mixed games at MGM on Friday night. I would like to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame; I heard that several of the bloggers had a good time there last year. Maybe I will take in an afternoon show somewhere. I also would like to splurge once and eat at the Bellagio buffet. I'm sure I will come up with some ideas of things to do, but I'm open to suggestions too.
In other news, I finished 4th in another 90-player $3.30 SNG on FullTilt, to put a bit back in my roll there. That's been about it on the plus side; I haven't played much lately. I suppose I should get some more hands in, to practice up before Las Vegas.
Non-poker: I'm listening to the Texas Rangers get their asses kicked by the Oakland A's once again. They are about to be swept by the last place team in their division. They picked a really bad time to go into a big slump. I have tickets to see them play the Angels here this Friday, but it's getting to the point where I'm not sure I even want to go to the game. I can't see them making the playoffs this year, but I hope they can at least put up a good fight over what's left of the season.
I'm not sure what all I will be doing in Vegas outside of the big tournament at Caesar's on Saturday and probably the mixed games at MGM on Friday night. I would like to visit the Pinball Hall of Fame; I heard that several of the bloggers had a good time there last year. Maybe I will take in an afternoon show somewhere. I also would like to splurge once and eat at the Bellagio buffet. I'm sure I will come up with some ideas of things to do, but I'm open to suggestions too.
In other news, I finished 4th in another 90-player $3.30 SNG on FullTilt, to put a bit back in my roll there. That's been about it on the plus side; I haven't played much lately. I suppose I should get some more hands in, to practice up before Las Vegas.
Non-poker: I'm listening to the Texas Rangers get their asses kicked by the Oakland A's once again. They are about to be swept by the last place team in their division. They picked a really bad time to go into a big slump. I have tickets to see them play the Angels here this Friday, but it's getting to the point where I'm not sure I even want to go to the game. I can't see them making the playoffs this year, but I hope they can at least put up a good fight over what's left of the season.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
WCOOP blogger freeroll and other updates
Tomorrow (Sunday August 30) I will be playing in a freeroll on PokerStars for participants in the 2008 World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. Apparently PokerStars e-mailed everyone who played in last year's WBCOOP events and gave them a ticket to this freeroll. The prize for this freeroll is a $109 entry in the 2009 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for the top 18 finishers. Unfortunately, the prize cannot be converted to cash, tournament dollars, or other tourney entries. But, it's a freeroll, and I will be home anyway, so I figured that I might as well give it a try. If you got an invitation and decide to play, maybe I will see you there. I also saw something about news coming soon for this year's WBCOOP. I hope it is a better deal for the players than last year's.
I didn't plan to go over a month without posting here, but lack of motivation to write something got the best of me. I guess I will start with how things have been going for me at the tables.
Cash games on line - down about $11, which is bad for me since I only play the nickel and dime games. Had a couple of big losing sessions; my notes for them say that either my draws didn't come through, or my opponents' draws did.
Tournaments - up about $8 overall, thanks to a second place finish in a 90-player $3.30 SNG on FullTilt but no thanks to a $10 + 1 rebuy on Bodog where I rebought twice but didn't cash.
I have not played live again yet since Okie-Vegas, but hope to do so soon at either Winstar or Riverwind in Oklahoma. Then there is the 2009 WPBT Winter Classic (Facebook page) in Las Vegas in December, where I hope to be if I can just find a decent airfare. I've been watching and hope to come across a good deal soon. Hotel bargains are plentiful and I may make a reservation soon just to be sure that I have one. I can cancel or change that later if need be. Where is everyone staying?
As I sometimes do these days, I have been thinking lately about whether poker is something I should continue to play. I tend to have long losing streaks, with an occasional decent cash that brings me close to even again. I have to wonder if my play is just good enough to be a break-even player, and if I am satisfied with that.
I only consider myself a recreational player, and have no aspirations of going pro or anything like that. Still, I would like to be good enough to *build* my bankroll instead of just barely keeping enough in it to tread water. I would also like to earn or win a chance at a large-scale tournament, such as a WSOP event, and have the skills to make a reasonable showing in such an event.
I know that I need to do at least two things to accomplish the improvements I am seeking: put in the effort to study and apply good playing techniques, and put in the time to play and practice what I have (hopefully) learned. The question is, can I motivate myself sufficiently to do these things? What kind of goals can or should I set for myself that will get me where I would like to be? If anyone out there has gone through this and has any tips or suggestions, please leave me a comment.
Non-poker content:
Our son has finished his first week of college at OU. He says he is enjoying it so far, but can already tell that calculus is going to be hard. It's weird not having him here at home.
The Texas Rangers are still in the playoff hunt, although I am a bit worried. They need to step it up a notch if they hope to catch Boston in the wild-card race, or the Angels in the Western Division. I hope they put things together and play well consistently over the next month. I would not want to see them get into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and then get clobbered as has happened in their previous post-season appearances.
That's all I got for now.
I didn't plan to go over a month without posting here, but lack of motivation to write something got the best of me. I guess I will start with how things have been going for me at the tables.
Cash games on line - down about $11, which is bad for me since I only play the nickel and dime games. Had a couple of big losing sessions; my notes for them say that either my draws didn't come through, or my opponents' draws did.
Tournaments - up about $8 overall, thanks to a second place finish in a 90-player $3.30 SNG on FullTilt but no thanks to a $10 + 1 rebuy on Bodog where I rebought twice but didn't cash.
I have not played live again yet since Okie-Vegas, but hope to do so soon at either Winstar or Riverwind in Oklahoma. Then there is the 2009 WPBT Winter Classic (Facebook page) in Las Vegas in December, where I hope to be if I can just find a decent airfare. I've been watching and hope to come across a good deal soon. Hotel bargains are plentiful and I may make a reservation soon just to be sure that I have one. I can cancel or change that later if need be. Where is everyone staying?
As I sometimes do these days, I have been thinking lately about whether poker is something I should continue to play. I tend to have long losing streaks, with an occasional decent cash that brings me close to even again. I have to wonder if my play is just good enough to be a break-even player, and if I am satisfied with that.
I only consider myself a recreational player, and have no aspirations of going pro or anything like that. Still, I would like to be good enough to *build* my bankroll instead of just barely keeping enough in it to tread water. I would also like to earn or win a chance at a large-scale tournament, such as a WSOP event, and have the skills to make a reasonable showing in such an event.
I know that I need to do at least two things to accomplish the improvements I am seeking: put in the effort to study and apply good playing techniques, and put in the time to play and practice what I have (hopefully) learned. The question is, can I motivate myself sufficiently to do these things? What kind of goals can or should I set for myself that will get me where I would like to be? If anyone out there has gone through this and has any tips or suggestions, please leave me a comment.
Non-poker content:
Our son has finished his first week of college at OU. He says he is enjoying it so far, but can already tell that calculus is going to be hard. It's weird not having him here at home.
The Texas Rangers are still in the playoff hunt, although I am a bit worried. They need to step it up a notch if they hope to catch Boston in the wild-card race, or the Angels in the Western Division. I hope they put things together and play well consistently over the next month. I would not want to see them get into the playoffs by the skin of their teeth and then get clobbered as has happened in their previous post-season appearances.
That's all I got for now.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Okie-Vegas 2009 memories
I won't ramble on too much here, but I wanted to post a few thoughts about my second trip to Okie-Vegas. I enjoyed myself the first time I went, so I was glad that it worked out for me to attend again this year.
Our hosts, the fabulous Mr. and Mrs. GCox, put together a relaxed and fun weekend. Although there was plenty of poker involved, there was also a generous amount of goofing off at the lake, sitting around gabbing about everything and anything, telling hilarious if occasionally "inappropriate" jokes, eating tasty goodies, and drinking the beverage of your choice. Many Keystone Lights, along with several other varieties of adult thirst-quenchers, sacrificed themselves to the attendees of this event. They did not give themselves up in vain.
I did not arrive until Friday evening, after a longer-than-expected drive from Grapevine TX. I drove directly to the Cox lake house, which I had not visited before. It is way out in the boonies, which makes for a nice, quiet setting (when we weren't whooping it up ourselves). When I got there, the Mr. and Mrs. were already on site. Kat, OOSSUUU, Greg, and Special K were still at one of the local casinos, trying to take a few dollars from the locals at the poker room. Instant Tragedy and his intended were driving up from Lubbock TX later that evening. After I settled in a bit and caught up with the Coxes, the poker players pulled up. Before long, we decided to play a small SNG. $20 buy-in, NLHE, six players. I played my usual tight game and did OK at first. Then (warning: bad beat story ahead), I ran the nut flush into quad nines to take a big chunk out of my stack. I hung in long enough to place third; two places paid. After we all had some excellent cold fried chicken from a legendary local spot, a mixed cash game broke out: NLHE and PLO, blinds of $0.50 / $1.00. I bought in for the max of $100, which may or may not have been a good idea. After a slow start, I picked up J-T-T-x in Omaha. (Warning: here comes another one.) With almost everyone limping in, the flop came T-6-6. Top boat; doesn't start off much better than that. OOSSUUU and I got heads up, and after rags on the turn and river (no overcards to my tens), OOSSUUU pushed. I had him covered. I thought about what he could have to bet like that, but I couldn't put him on a better hand, so I called. Of course, he showed the nuts when he turned over the other two sixes. I'm pretty sure that is the first time I have run into quads twice in the same day.
Saturday was the day of the Okie-Vegas Main Event. The buy-in and player pool was a tad smaller than the WSOP Main Event going on at the same time, but as far as I'm concerned, we had more fun. OOSSUUU bought himself and his girlfriend in, presumably hoping to double his chances at a win. Things didn't quite work out that way, though; both of them busted on the early side. I kept my game tight-aggressive and won a few pots to build my chip stack. I thought at one point that Kat and I might end up heads-up, like we did in my only other Okie-Vegas appearance, but she busted in third place when my 99 held up to her 88. Greg and I were the last two standing. I went into heads-up with about a 2 to 1 chip lead, and I got some cards to keep the pressure on. At one point, though, I had a "aw fukkit" moment and called Greg's all-in with T8s. His 44 held up and my stack took a big hit. Eventually, I lost a race and finished second. I was happy to make back my tourney buy-in and my loss from the cash game the night before. I finished the weekend ahead $11 for poker, but ahead an immeasurable amount in fun times.
During a break in the tourney, I went out near my car to call home, and discovered that my car had a flat tire. I had picked up a nail along the way, and had to put on my emergency spare. Gary helped me with the tire change and gave me directions to the Wal-Mart in Chickasha where they would be able to fix the tire Sunday morning on my way home. Oh well, could have been worse: my air conditioner could have gone out.
After staying up way too late Saturday night swapping stories and checking the score of the Rangers game, I hit the sack. I was up before everyone else the next morning, so I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone except a mostly asleep OOSSUUU who waved at me as I snuck out the door. After a brief stop to get the tire repaired, I hit the highway and headed home.
I look forward to future Okie-Vegas events and encourage you to come to one if you can. You will have a great time, no doubt about it.
Our hosts, the fabulous Mr. and Mrs. GCox, put together a relaxed and fun weekend. Although there was plenty of poker involved, there was also a generous amount of goofing off at the lake, sitting around gabbing about everything and anything, telling hilarious if occasionally "inappropriate" jokes, eating tasty goodies, and drinking the beverage of your choice. Many Keystone Lights, along with several other varieties of adult thirst-quenchers, sacrificed themselves to the attendees of this event. They did not give themselves up in vain.
I did not arrive until Friday evening, after a longer-than-expected drive from Grapevine TX. I drove directly to the Cox lake house, which I had not visited before. It is way out in the boonies, which makes for a nice, quiet setting (when we weren't whooping it up ourselves). When I got there, the Mr. and Mrs. were already on site. Kat, OOSSUUU, Greg, and Special K were still at one of the local casinos, trying to take a few dollars from the locals at the poker room. Instant Tragedy and his intended were driving up from Lubbock TX later that evening. After I settled in a bit and caught up with the Coxes, the poker players pulled up. Before long, we decided to play a small SNG. $20 buy-in, NLHE, six players. I played my usual tight game and did OK at first. Then (warning: bad beat story ahead), I ran the nut flush into quad nines to take a big chunk out of my stack. I hung in long enough to place third; two places paid. After we all had some excellent cold fried chicken from a legendary local spot, a mixed cash game broke out: NLHE and PLO, blinds of $0.50 / $1.00. I bought in for the max of $100, which may or may not have been a good idea. After a slow start, I picked up J-T-T-x in Omaha. (Warning: here comes another one.) With almost everyone limping in, the flop came T-6-6. Top boat; doesn't start off much better than that. OOSSUUU and I got heads up, and after rags on the turn and river (no overcards to my tens), OOSSUUU pushed. I had him covered. I thought about what he could have to bet like that, but I couldn't put him on a better hand, so I called. Of course, he showed the nuts when he turned over the other two sixes. I'm pretty sure that is the first time I have run into quads twice in the same day.
Saturday was the day of the Okie-Vegas Main Event. The buy-in and player pool was a tad smaller than the WSOP Main Event going on at the same time, but as far as I'm concerned, we had more fun. OOSSUUU bought himself and his girlfriend in, presumably hoping to double his chances at a win. Things didn't quite work out that way, though; both of them busted on the early side. I kept my game tight-aggressive and won a few pots to build my chip stack. I thought at one point that Kat and I might end up heads-up, like we did in my only other Okie-Vegas appearance, but she busted in third place when my 99 held up to her 88. Greg and I were the last two standing. I went into heads-up with about a 2 to 1 chip lead, and I got some cards to keep the pressure on. At one point, though, I had a "aw fukkit" moment and called Greg's all-in with T8s. His 44 held up and my stack took a big hit. Eventually, I lost a race and finished second. I was happy to make back my tourney buy-in and my loss from the cash game the night before. I finished the weekend ahead $11 for poker, but ahead an immeasurable amount in fun times.
During a break in the tourney, I went out near my car to call home, and discovered that my car had a flat tire. I had picked up a nail along the way, and had to put on my emergency spare. Gary helped me with the tire change and gave me directions to the Wal-Mart in Chickasha where they would be able to fix the tire Sunday morning on my way home. Oh well, could have been worse: my air conditioner could have gone out.
After staying up way too late Saturday night swapping stories and checking the score of the Rangers game, I hit the sack. I was up before everyone else the next morning, so I didn't get to say goodbye to anyone except a mostly asleep OOSSUUU who waved at me as I snuck out the door. After a brief stop to get the tire repaired, I hit the highway and headed home.
I look forward to future Okie-Vegas events and encourage you to come to one if you can. You will have a great time, no doubt about it.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Slow times, and an obvious observation
I haven't played a whole lot of poker over the last month or so. A few cash game sessions, and a handful of tournaments and SNGs. I played the PokerWorks Family 8-Game tourney on PokerStars both times in May; won the first one, busted 8th of 9 in the second. I cashed in a SNG on Full Tilt for the first time in almost two months, so that was nice, although it wasn't even close to a big enough payout to offset my losses there. Now I will be away from the virtual tables for a couple of weeks on vacation. I'll be back, though.
Congratulations to CK for her cash in the $2,500 WSOP Omaha 8/Stud 8 Event! That is awesome.
The poker bill in the Texas legislature didn't make it through, but its sponsor said he plans to bring it up again next session. Let's hope they can take it all the way next time.
Here's a bit of information that my mind came up with regarding the skill vs. luck debate about poker, which I can't recall having read or heard elsewhere yet. I would think it must have appeared somewhere because it is so obvious, but I certainly haven't read EVERYTHING written about poker, so I'm sure I just missed it.
Poker has an element of luck about it; no one disputes that. The people who think that poker is just a gambling exercise in which skill does not play an important role are, I suspect, forgetting an extremely important fact about the game that sets it apart from so many other games.
In poker, there are two ways to win a hand or a pot:
1. To have the best hand at showdown
2. To be the last active player after everyone else has folded
#1 is more dependent on luck; if you don't get good cards dealt to you, you are less likely to have the best hand of those that go to showdown. But, skill still counts: if you know what the odds are of having a better hand, or of drawing to a better hand, than your opponents, then you can play your hands in such a way as to increase your chances of winning more, or of losing less.
#2 is where skill is even more important. If you can play in such a way that you get all of your opponents to fold in a given hand, then you win the pot without needing to show the best hand. Luck plays a much smaller role in this part of the game. (Yes, if your opponents are all dealt crap hands, you may not need to use much skill to get them to fold.)
This is way oversimplified, but the fact remains that it is the two-fold nature of winning in poker that, as I see it, makes it predominantly a game of skill compared to other gambling games. I hope that those who oppose poker thinking that it is all up to luck will realize this and allow poker its place as a legitimate game of skill that should not be lumped in with strictly-chance games.
Congratulations to CK for her cash in the $2,500 WSOP Omaha 8/Stud 8 Event! That is awesome.
The poker bill in the Texas legislature didn't make it through, but its sponsor said he plans to bring it up again next session. Let's hope they can take it all the way next time.
Here's a bit of information that my mind came up with regarding the skill vs. luck debate about poker, which I can't recall having read or heard elsewhere yet. I would think it must have appeared somewhere because it is so obvious, but I certainly haven't read EVERYTHING written about poker, so I'm sure I just missed it.
Poker has an element of luck about it; no one disputes that. The people who think that poker is just a gambling exercise in which skill does not play an important role are, I suspect, forgetting an extremely important fact about the game that sets it apart from so many other games.
In poker, there are two ways to win a hand or a pot:
1. To have the best hand at showdown
2. To be the last active player after everyone else has folded
#1 is more dependent on luck; if you don't get good cards dealt to you, you are less likely to have the best hand of those that go to showdown. But, skill still counts: if you know what the odds are of having a better hand, or of drawing to a better hand, than your opponents, then you can play your hands in such a way as to increase your chances of winning more, or of losing less.
#2 is where skill is even more important. If you can play in such a way that you get all of your opponents to fold in a given hand, then you win the pot without needing to show the best hand. Luck plays a much smaller role in this part of the game. (Yes, if your opponents are all dealt crap hands, you may not need to use much skill to get them to fold.)
This is way oversimplified, but the fact remains that it is the two-fold nature of winning in poker that, as I see it, makes it predominantly a game of skill compared to other gambling games. I hope that those who oppose poker thinking that it is all up to luck will realize this and allow poker its place as a legitimate game of skill that should not be lumped in with strictly-chance games.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Another month already?
Time once again for my monthly (give or take a few days) update. So how have things been going for this sporadic micro-limit donkey since my last post? Let's take a look...
Bodog - 3 tourneys and 2 SNGs; 2 first place finishes; small profits in cash and in T$.
PokerStars - only one tournament, the PokerWorks Family 8-Game tourney last Sunday, where I finished 9th out of 10 runners. Stellar.
FullTilt - 9 SNGs plus last night's Friday Night Donkament. Didn't cash in a single one.
Cash games, various sites - a few sessions of different games, for a modest loss.
Over the past several months, I have done most of my playing at FullTilt in the hopes of building my roll there, and using my winnings to play in the some of the BBT4 events. Unfortunately, my run there has gone in the opposite direction, and my FT bankroll is now under $100, making playing in any BBT tourneys an exercise in bad money management. So why do I keep playing there, I ask myself? I haven't come up with a good answer yet. Because I don't play in the BBT, I very seldom play with the bloggers that I know. I do enjoy some of the games FT offers, notably the $3 + 0.30 Deep Stack KO turbo SNGs. But I haven't had any real success in them lately, so either my game is worse than usual or I'm on a bad streak which should eventually end.
I suppose I should play more at Stars and Bodog. Stars offers plenty of games, so selection shouldn't be a problem. Bodog doesn't have as many tourneys, and the SNGs can take a long time to fill up. But I have a healthy roll at Bodog, and I probably should take advantage of that. I'm in decent shape at PokerStars as well, so maybe I will give them some more of my action.
I bought Harrington on Cash Games, Vol. 1, a while back and have been reading that a bit here and there. Some of the concepts I had read before, some I had picked up here and there, but the book has plenty of useful information that I plan to study and put to use, because my NLHE skills are sorely lacking. I think there are others like me who prefer no-limit for tournaments and limit for cash games, but I know that improving my NLHE game will do me a world of good. In the few micro-stakes NLHE cash games that I have played lately, I have seen some plays that look, even to me, like big mistakes, and I want to be better equipped to take advantage of those mistakes. I don't want to look around the table only to find that I can't spot the sucker until I get back to myself.
Over at Pokerati.com, I have been following the news about the progress, or lack of it, of the poker legalization bill here in Texas. Although things don't look so good at the moment, apparently it isn't dead, so I will hold out some hope that it has a chance to pass. If it doesn't get through, the poker rooms in Oklahoma and Louisiana will be happy to take the money of Texas poker players. It's a shame that we can't have card rooms for Texas Hold 'Em in Texas, but that's politics for you. I sent e-mails via the Poker Players Alliance to my state reps; I hope it helps in some small way.
Non-poker content: I saw the new Star Trek movie Thursday night. Go see it, right now. It is spectacular, funny, thrilling, and a great ride, whether or not you are a Trek fan.
My son graduates from high school in four weeks. He starts college at the University of Oklahoma in 3.5 months. It is quite a time in our lives.
In June, my wife, son and I will go to Italy and Greece for a cruise of the eastern Mediterranean. It is partly a graduation celebration, but mostly a vacation that all of us have wanted to go on for some time. We are all excited about the trip. And yes, the casino on the cruise ship should have Hold 'Em available. I will probably play a few hands when we aren't enjoying the sights.
Maybe I will post again before another month goes by. I do plan to write something before the big trip. I hope it will be about a big win or some other good news. Wish me luck.
Bodog - 3 tourneys and 2 SNGs; 2 first place finishes; small profits in cash and in T$.
PokerStars - only one tournament, the PokerWorks Family 8-Game tourney last Sunday, where I finished 9th out of 10 runners. Stellar.
FullTilt - 9 SNGs plus last night's Friday Night Donkament. Didn't cash in a single one.
Cash games, various sites - a few sessions of different games, for a modest loss.
Over the past several months, I have done most of my playing at FullTilt in the hopes of building my roll there, and using my winnings to play in the some of the BBT4 events. Unfortunately, my run there has gone in the opposite direction, and my FT bankroll is now under $100, making playing in any BBT tourneys an exercise in bad money management. So why do I keep playing there, I ask myself? I haven't come up with a good answer yet. Because I don't play in the BBT, I very seldom play with the bloggers that I know. I do enjoy some of the games FT offers, notably the $3 + 0.30 Deep Stack KO turbo SNGs. But I haven't had any real success in them lately, so either my game is worse than usual or I'm on a bad streak which should eventually end.
I suppose I should play more at Stars and Bodog. Stars offers plenty of games, so selection shouldn't be a problem. Bodog doesn't have as many tourneys, and the SNGs can take a long time to fill up. But I have a healthy roll at Bodog, and I probably should take advantage of that. I'm in decent shape at PokerStars as well, so maybe I will give them some more of my action.
I bought Harrington on Cash Games, Vol. 1, a while back and have been reading that a bit here and there. Some of the concepts I had read before, some I had picked up here and there, but the book has plenty of useful information that I plan to study and put to use, because my NLHE skills are sorely lacking. I think there are others like me who prefer no-limit for tournaments and limit for cash games, but I know that improving my NLHE game will do me a world of good. In the few micro-stakes NLHE cash games that I have played lately, I have seen some plays that look, even to me, like big mistakes, and I want to be better equipped to take advantage of those mistakes. I don't want to look around the table only to find that I can't spot the sucker until I get back to myself.
Over at Pokerati.com, I have been following the news about the progress, or lack of it, of the poker legalization bill here in Texas. Although things don't look so good at the moment, apparently it isn't dead, so I will hold out some hope that it has a chance to pass. If it doesn't get through, the poker rooms in Oklahoma and Louisiana will be happy to take the money of Texas poker players. It's a shame that we can't have card rooms for Texas Hold 'Em in Texas, but that's politics for you. I sent e-mails via the Poker Players Alliance to my state reps; I hope it helps in some small way.
Non-poker content: I saw the new Star Trek movie Thursday night. Go see it, right now. It is spectacular, funny, thrilling, and a great ride, whether or not you are a Trek fan.
My son graduates from high school in four weeks. He starts college at the University of Oklahoma in 3.5 months. It is quite a time in our lives.
In June, my wife, son and I will go to Italy and Greece for a cruise of the eastern Mediterranean. It is partly a graduation celebration, but mostly a vacation that all of us have wanted to go on for some time. We are all excited about the trip. And yes, the casino on the cruise ship should have Hold 'Em available. I will probably play a few hands when we aren't enjoying the sights.
Maybe I will post again before another month goes by. I do plan to write something before the big trip. I hope it will be about a big win or some other good news. Wish me luck.
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