The Math

I've been really trying to grind the math out and get an even better understanding of how it works within the game. I'm truly amazed by how some of the probabilities work out in the long run. Fox did a hand analysis chat a few weeks ago and it opened my eyes to a whole dimension of the game that I was missing. Thanks Fox!! I've also been working within a study group that has it's own "math genius" and his input(CPOner) has also enlightened me to a whole new level of thinking. It's actually dumbfounding how well 97o will do against a lot of ranges. Plus, the Sheets lecture series are actually starting to make sense. That, in it's own right, is an incredibly big step towards my improvement within the game.

The study group that I'm currently working with has brought a huge ray of sunshine. It's an older bunch that have as much passion for the game as I do. There isn't any whining or crying about differences of opinion, so it opens the whole gambit of learning. We've actually started with a review of one of my 180man tourneys. We've had three separate sessions of review(about 6 hours) and still haven't finished. We're about half way through the final table play. I really can't wait to finish this one and get into the next. I've also just been introduced to another group this week. It's a younger group with another approach to ideas. We did an impromptu review session yesterday evening that also went well. I think if I can coax a little bit more involvement from them, it'll also turn into another fantastic learning circle.

I have decided to split my games up by site for the time being. I'll play sngs at Cake, mtts at PS, and I'm wanting to learn limit cash play at FTP. I'm currently looking at reactivating my account at Bodog also but that has future written all over it. I believe this is the correct approach since the play styles at the different sites vary so much. By specializing, I can take in the active style of one site and use it specifically for an event/game. That way the differences don't effect my game as a whole and keeps me focused a bit more. Really just an experiment until I get bankrolls built up at all the sites.

Sort of as a quick review of January, I've pretty much stuck to the $4.40 180man sngs at PS. things are going fairly well. Since the study group became truly active, my play has taken a turn for the better and the results are starting to show. Since the 11th, I've played 50 games with an ITM of 18% and an ROI of 76.4%. I started the 180 thing with around $200 and it is now around the $340 mark in the first month. I am pretty confident that it will be getting better very quickly.

One other thing of note. By spending so much time studying the math, the beats are have much less of an effect on my play. Tilting in a negative way is gradually disappearing as well as the positive side of it. Everything is starting to become a constant review of correct choices as opposed to a win/loss sequence of emotional reactions. I'm really enjoying this form of reaction much more. There is still the thrill of making the final table, I just feel like I'm in much greater control of myself when I get there. The force is strong with you, young paddiwan!! Hehe.

Well, got more work to do. Hopefully that never ends, for it is the student of the game that succeeds. Good luck everyone!! Til next time....

Tradition

As things would have it, my tradition with writing continues. Although I truly enjoy putting the thoughts to paper(computer screen), the consistency just isn't there. I shan't dwell on it now but it is under observation. So, on with an update.

I've been playing a lot of the $4.40 180man sngs at PokerStars. I've prolly been getting in between 4-6 of these a day. I have managed a + ROI for the first 104 games at 12%. It isn't necessarily a fantastic result but I'm not really too concerned. This month has been full of learning in ways that I hadn't expected. The study group at PXF is starting to take form and the other group is really getting active. We had our first live conference call last night. Absolutely great experience with four of us sharing information while analyzing hands. What a great way to study the game! I'm hoping to do at least a couple of these sessions a week for awhile. Maybe get another group involved. Hard telling but it's off to a wonderful start.

As to updating the blog here, I need to start setting a more concrete schedule for that. Haven't really put a bunch of thought into it so far. I'm sure that will come with time. The drinking and exercise parts are doing fine. I do think I need to regiment the exercise a bit more also. I went to give blood today and got turned down do to my blood pressure being 2 points to high. Go figure. You do what they tell you is healthy just to find out that you're not. Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Will go and attempt tomorrow. I'm sure everything will be fine then. Enough for now. Good luck everyone, Cya

Double Deuce

As fate would have it, the study group I was looking for has shown up out of thin air. It's an older bunch with varying opinions and styles. The nice part is that they can talk about poker without having an emotional attachment to their views. This opens up a lot of different avenues of thought that wouldn't normally be exposed for evaluation. We can actually debate the different approaches without someone flaming or getting pissed off. I can't tell you how delightful that is compared to some of the forums that I've read. The game is one of logical assumption based on incomplete information. Thought about from that perspective, please leave your emotions at the door. It is possible to disagree and still get along. That's one of the nicest parts to poker. No one approach is completely valid, so all styles can work in any given situation. The debate itself can show you how your competition thinks and reacts. What better way to defeat them then by their own means?

It was this group that introduced me to the Double Deuce tourney at FTP. Great tournament with a nice structure. You can satellite into it for as little as $.50 and it's a $100k guaranteed purse. I think you can see the value in that. After the second break(maybe 15 minutes from the next), I was down to 12bb and looking to get my chips in when this hand came up:

Full Tilt Poker Game #9988455946: The $100K Double Deuce (73510655), Table 34 - 300/600 Ante 75 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:30:27 ET - 2009/01/11
Seat 1: Percy80 (14,910)
Seat 2: AAAAlexis (25,002)
Seat 3: EZpleze (9,555)
Seat 4: caisson (7,647)
Seat 5: lafortuna24 (31,722)
Seat 6: 123223 (40,780)
Seat 7: Juana de Arco (9,545)
Seat 8: Purple_Gold08 (7,850)
Seat 9: Simme123 (13,712)
Percy80 antes 75
AAAAlexis antes 75
EZpleze antes 75
caisson antes 75
lafortuna24 antes 75
123223 antes 75
Juana de Arco antes 75
Purple_Gold08 antes 75
Simme123 antes 75
Juana de Arco posts the small blind of 300
Purple_Gold08 posts the big blind of 600
The button is in seat #6
*** HOLE CARDS ***Dealt to caisson [Ks Ad]
Simme123 folds
Percy80 folds
AAAAlexis folds
EZpleze folds
caisson has 15 seconds left to act
caisson raises to 7,572, and is all in
lafortuna24 folds
123223 folds
Juana de Arco folds
Purple_Gold08 calls 6,972
caisson shows [Ks Ad]
Purple_Gold08 shows [Qd Qc]
*** FLOP *** [4h Kd Kc
]*** TURN *** [4h Kd Kc] [7d]
*** RIVER *** [4h Kd Kc 7d] [Qh]
caisson shows three of a kind, Kings
Purple_Gold08 shows a full house, Queens full of Kings
Purple_Gold08 wins the pot (16,119) with a full house, Queens full of Kings
caisson stands up


On the flop, be still my beating heart! On the river, wow!! Nice hand sir, good luck. A month ago, that hand would have had me depressed for a couple of days. Now that the maths are starting to sink in, good game me and let's gettum next time. You have to win a few of these coin flip situations to go deep into the $$$. Nice part is I know that day is coming and that makes all the study worthwhile.

For those keeping track, sobriety for 12 days. I would have thought there would be some form of mental/emotional complication but there hasn't been. Maybe that is why all the poker information is starting to meld into something useful. I've also lost 5 lbs but I think that's nothing but water weight. It's amazing how the body will let go of things it stores when you give it enough of what it needs. Maybe the mind works along the same lines. That something to ponder.

Well, good luck everyone and til next time...

2009

So here we are. One week into the "next" year. I was thinking about putting resolutions down on the first but was sceptical because of the word. Re-solution. "So, you didn't get it correct the first time huh?", one of the little voices in my mind responds. "Do you possibly think you have the answer this time?". What a queer little voice that is, I think to myself. After the week has past and to much weighing of information, I believe I have come up with some simple changes for this year which may help this hobby along. They are as follows:

1) Stop thinking in terms of $$ gained as the reference point for poker skill.
2) Create/join a small group of poker degenerates.
3) Use a minimum of 10 hrs/wk for study (vids,reading,etc)
4) Use a minimum of 10 hrs/wk for hand analysis
5) Learn how to make this blog more interesting
6) Write more- twice a week sounds right
7) Stop drinking for one year
8) Exercise for 1 hr 4 times a week

Wow, 8 solutions seems like a lot, doesn't it? Maybe this is a mistake and I should cut back so as to set myself up for success and not create an atmosphere heading to failure? Rubbish!!!!!! One of the things I see wrong in this world today is people will actually strive to avoid being successful. At the first sign of some form of resistance to their hopes and dreams, they curl up and whine about the world not being fair. The worst part is the modern psychological community is agreeing with this pattern. If you don't have discipline or patience, they diagnose you as ADD. If your scared to get out and change your life, they diagnose you with Chronic Fatigue Disorder so you have an excuse not to do anything about it. If you think the world is unfair and that makes you unhappy, they give you a bottle of Xanax(a depressant) to make you "feel" better. Let's face some reality here. If life was supposed to be easy, why do you shed tears at the birth of your child? Why do you feel so alone when God doesn't hear your prayer? Why do you feel remorse when your plans fall through? Any clues?

We didn't listen to our parents when they said something was hot for the first time. We had to touch it and find out for ourselves. "Damn, that hurt!!", we think in our dismay. As we get older, the lessons become more subtle and complicated but the basic answers all remain the same. We do not learn anything without experience and we do not receive fruits without the labors to show for it! Don't get me wrong here. There are people who are born gifted and don't "seem" to have to work as hard. The other side of their coin is what lessons they have to learn. People that struggle can appreciate the benefits of their labor because they understand the cost. What of the gifted? I'll leave that for you to decide. Sorry for the rant. I do have a very spartan way of looking at things which may seem unsympathetic but I'm weary of people demanding excess solely on the basis that they are capable of drawing air into their lungs. I refuse to be that naive and I've enjoyed the work that is life. Let's get back to the topic at hand.

Solutions for my poker hobby. I hope by sustaining this rather rigorous training plan, by the end of the year, my mistakes at the tables will be few. That may or may not be as profitable as I may hope, but the "pros" that I communicate with seem to confirm that $$ does follow proper decision making. I will just have to try it out for myself. As to the difficulty of this plan, I really don't see it as such. 20 hours in a weeks time really isn't a lot when compared to the normal waste of time used in other activities like watching mundane drama on the television so you have some imaginary comparison that makes you feel better about your own life. And let's face it folks, would you rather watch Phil Hellmuth blow up on Poker After Dark or play well enough to sit down and be the reason that he's blowing up? I prefer the latter.

As to items 5 & 6 on the list, I've had some really nice feedback about this blog. So I'd like to take the time and hopefully make it more interesting, if not at least more appealing to the eye. It really helps when there is some interest from other people. This is also something I hadn't thought about before I started it. Throughout my entire life, I've made attempts of recording things of interest in words. This one has lasted the longest and is by far my favorite endeavour. I would just like to make it more enjoyable for those of you that read it, so any input would also be appreciated.

As to 7 & 8, these are topics that have needed to be addressed for a while. Because of my position at my day job, I don't get the exercise that I should and alcohol obviously ( for those of you who don't drink) "relieves" the stresses of my day. Well, I quit smoking almost two years ago and have put on about 40 pounds and don't really "feel" any better for it. In my mind, that would mean that I am still contaminating myself with something that isn't good for me. Let's see. My usual week consisted of about 4-6 cases of Budlight/Budweiser for mental "medicinal" purposes. When written out that way, it sounds sort of sick/sad doesn't it? Although there are people in this world that wouldn't understand, the heavy construction industry is full of people that have this preoccupation. It had never stopped me from being to work on time or from taking care of my responsibilities. I just feel at this stage of my life, it should be left behind for now to see if my physical aspects can start aiding my mental aspects in being a better player. I believe a years time with periodic reviews should be able to determine if this approach is helpful.
So far this year, sobriety for a week and some form of cardio/weight lifting every other day has at least got my spirit saying thank you but the joints are a little upset(creaky, snap, crackle!)

This seems to have been a bit long for a blog post but I think very necessary. I hope everyone is having a grand new year and may all be blessed with aces in the big blind!! (utg raiser w/ AKo of course!!!) Until next time,

Rodney