About 16 hours ago I was already mentally preparing a blog-entry. At the time, I still had several live tables up on my screen, but had just closed one after getting all my money in with AhKh against QQ on a 3h6h9d board – and losing. Only a slight edge, I realize that, but it was literally on the money bubble and the winner would have a top-5 stack. Moreover, I had been losing several 70/30s and a few other flips all day and was now fuming!
So, while still steaming, I was contemplating how I might be able to get away with writing a 20-page epic blog on bad beats, without sounding like a pathetic whiner. (Stop. Do not pass Go. Do not collect 400 dollars – simply not possible)
That’s when the damndest thing happened. I only had 3 other tables running and I was in no hand at the time, so I decided to close my eyes, take 3-4 deep breaths - and remind myself that losing my cool now, would be the worst thing I could do – and got stuck back in.
When the day came to an end, I had taken down a $33, 15K guaranteed tourney on Pokerstars, defeating 665 other players and winning $3.4K in the process! BOO-YAH!!!! You have no idea how psyched I was – and now, 16 hours later, STILL am. I wrote in one of my blogs not too long ago, that I felt a big 4-figure score was just around the corner for me and that perseverance – not panic – was the way to go.
So, here I am – my first four figure score under my belt and hopefully many more to come. I’ll be going through the hand history of this tournament win and will share interesting hands in this forum. Not that I think I did anything particularly different to normal, but hey – if there’s a winning formula in there, I might as well have a go at finding it!
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 197
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
PLAYING WELL, BUT...
Well, I don’t need to tell you – do I? You know all about it, you’ve been there before and will be there again soon enough… Yeah. Puke, yuck, meh. Just one of them days.
Currently, variance has been making me her bitch (variance… gotta be female, yeah?) and yet I probably shouldn’t even be complaining all that much, seeing how my most recent tourneys have actually included a couple of small final tables. Small, because we’re talking field sizes of approximately 200-250, making the “pot of gold” that we’re all chasing, sometimes looks more like a pot of… uhmm, really nice apples. Yep, I’ve gone and done it – chosen a weird metaphor again and now I’ve gotta just run with it.
So, it’s not like you don’t want the apples – oh no you really do, cause well – they’re still apples – they’re just not as attractive as some of the other pots around. Kinda wish I had an apple right now. And some pot. Mmmm… apples and pot.
Uhhm yeah. So…, uhmm – anyway…
The last two final tables I’ve made, I’ve come in 7th and 6th respectively. The 7th place finish was annoying. I’d come into the last two tables with a monster stack, only to see it dwindle pretty quickly. Obviously a monster at that point of most tourneys is approximately 40 BBs and it therefore doesn’t take more than 1 or 2 short-stack all-in confrontations that don’t go your way, before you yourself are the one everyone’s gunning for. Anyway, so that happened and then I go card-dead and get to the final table as a bottom-3 stack.
Imagine my frustration then when I finally pick up AQ in the CO. Angels were singing and I snap-shoved my 7BB stack. Did the BB have to have two aces? Well, NO… (duh!) – but he did and that was all she wrote.
Making it to the second final table lifted my spirits again! Ready to go! No more running into aces for me! Being “outplayed” wasn’t part of the plan either though…
Again, I have AQ and 6-handed I raise 2.4x from the button with a 18BB stack. SB flats and the BB is getting a good price, so he tags along. Flop is 8hThTd and I have the queen of hearts. They both checked and because a check-raise is the worst thing for my hand, I decide to check as well. Turn is the Q of diamonds and the SB min-bets. I decide he’s just looking to pick up an uncontested pot and raise him 3.5x his bet. He thinks for a long time and shoves (only JUST covering me). I figure there are hands I beat (not a lot) and have to call. He shows KK and the river bricks.
It’s all good. I’m cashing in a high percentage of tourneys and I’ll soon be the one picking up AA and KK at final tables.
Wow, this has turned into such a weird blog entry, compared to my ‘normal’ style of writing. I’m just kinda ranting on, huh? Time to go then. You’re excused.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 205
Currently, variance has been making me her bitch (variance… gotta be female, yeah?) and yet I probably shouldn’t even be complaining all that much, seeing how my most recent tourneys have actually included a couple of small final tables. Small, because we’re talking field sizes of approximately 200-250, making the “pot of gold” that we’re all chasing, sometimes looks more like a pot of… uhmm, really nice apples. Yep, I’ve gone and done it – chosen a weird metaphor again and now I’ve gotta just run with it.
So, it’s not like you don’t want the apples – oh no you really do, cause well – they’re still apples – they’re just not as attractive as some of the other pots around. Kinda wish I had an apple right now. And some pot. Mmmm… apples and pot.
Uhhm yeah. So…, uhmm – anyway…
The last two final tables I’ve made, I’ve come in 7th and 6th respectively. The 7th place finish was annoying. I’d come into the last two tables with a monster stack, only to see it dwindle pretty quickly. Obviously a monster at that point of most tourneys is approximately 40 BBs and it therefore doesn’t take more than 1 or 2 short-stack all-in confrontations that don’t go your way, before you yourself are the one everyone’s gunning for. Anyway, so that happened and then I go card-dead and get to the final table as a bottom-3 stack.
Imagine my frustration then when I finally pick up AQ in the CO. Angels were singing and I snap-shoved my 7BB stack. Did the BB have to have two aces? Well, NO… (duh!) – but he did and that was all she wrote.
Making it to the second final table lifted my spirits again! Ready to go! No more running into aces for me! Being “outplayed” wasn’t part of the plan either though…
Again, I have AQ and 6-handed I raise 2.4x from the button with a 18BB stack. SB flats and the BB is getting a good price, so he tags along. Flop is 8hThTd and I have the queen of hearts. They both checked and because a check-raise is the worst thing for my hand, I decide to check as well. Turn is the Q of diamonds and the SB min-bets. I decide he’s just looking to pick up an uncontested pot and raise him 3.5x his bet. He thinks for a long time and shoves (only JUST covering me). I figure there are hands I beat (not a lot) and have to call. He shows KK and the river bricks.
It’s all good. I’m cashing in a high percentage of tourneys and I’ll soon be the one picking up AA and KK at final tables.
Wow, this has turned into such a weird blog entry, compared to my ‘normal’ style of writing. I’m just kinda ranting on, huh? Time to go then. You’re excused.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 205
Wednesday 17 June 2009
WHAT I DO WELL, PART1
I check-raise well. God, I am just the awesomest (quote, Barney Stinson) check-raiser ever. When I check to all the donkeys and they donk into me with their donkish donk-bets, I just love to check-raise their asses! Teaches them who is boss…!
…LOL. I don’t know why I wrote the above, but to anyone who didn’t pick up on it; those three lines are laden with irony. Come to think of it though, it wouldn’t surprise me at all, if there are actual people out there, who DO think those things. That’s hysterical…
Back to serious. I thought long and hard about what I (honestly) think I’m good at, when it comes to poker. Basically, I didn’t wanna sound like a pretentious fool with an inordinately arrogant perception of his own skills, so here it is.
Bankroll management. Yes, I am actually quite good at bankroll management. I wasn’t when I just started playing, but I doubt anyone is really. I’m a bit of a numbers-nerd and therefore thoroughly enjoy compiling statistics about the tournaments I play, the percentage of ITM-finishes I achieve, the potential new level of buy-in a certain bankroll allows me, based on a 50-buy-in-rule, 100-buy-in-rule etc etc. I haven’t re-invented the wheel in this connection, just picked from the various rules that others seem to be using profitably. In my opinion, the following elements are compulsory for anyone wishing to exercise sound bankroll management.
- Tournament play (includes STT play) should see you working with a minimum of 100 buy-ins at all times. I would even say that more than 100 is preferable, meaning that just because you have a $10K bankroll doesn’t necessarily mean you have to play only $100 tournaments. The 100 buy-in rule for me is a guideline for the MOST expensive tournaments you should take shots at.
My own current bankroll is hovering around the $6700 mark at the moment, after having been over $7K not too long ago. As such, this means I will from time to time take shots at $20rebuy (realistic investment 62 dollars) as well as theoretic $67 tourneys, if there was such a thing. I do however tend to play anything from $5rebuys to $10-20 freeze-outs and the occasional $50 tourneys.
My own biggest revelation (and an insanely logical one, at that) is that I play a lot better when I don’t worry about the money I spent to play the tournament. If you’ve got $420 in your online account and register for a $100+9 tourney, not very many people have the ability to not let that affect their play. I’m just saying…
- As for cash games, I don’t personally play them at the moment, but I have in the past. I feel the important thing is to consider the amount of money you’re risking at any given time – and not the stakes you’re playing. If you’re risking 5% of your bankroll during a cash game(s), then I’d say that’s probably the highest you should go. Again, let’s assume you’ve got a 1000 dollar bankroll. 5% is 50 bucks. This would allow you to play 1 table of NL50 (assuming full buy-in), 2 tables of NL25 or 5 tables of NL10 etc etc. I’ve heard people say, “Ok, a thousand bucks – 5% is equal to NL50” – and then proceed to fire up 4 tables at those stakes. Wrong. Now you’re risking 20% of your roll. Before I ‘got good’ at this bankroll thing, I DID the above myself – and unsuccessfully, I might add, so take it from me.
If you’re a limit player or perhaps play Pot Limit Omaha, I’ve got no clue what your bankroll should be. Probably a lot for the Omaha. Probably less for the limit games. If you’re Gus Hansen, you probably need a shitload. Who knows where those nosebleed-playing guys get their cash?
Anyway, I digress and that was not the point. Bankroll management – I know my way around an excel spreadsheet, I’m pretty good at calculating percentages and for the time being I feel like I’ve got BM-theory figured out. It IS a huge part of being a successful poker player. Hope y’all keep strict guidelines as well.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 211
…LOL. I don’t know why I wrote the above, but to anyone who didn’t pick up on it; those three lines are laden with irony. Come to think of it though, it wouldn’t surprise me at all, if there are actual people out there, who DO think those things. That’s hysterical…
Back to serious. I thought long and hard about what I (honestly) think I’m good at, when it comes to poker. Basically, I didn’t wanna sound like a pretentious fool with an inordinately arrogant perception of his own skills, so here it is.
Bankroll management. Yes, I am actually quite good at bankroll management. I wasn’t when I just started playing, but I doubt anyone is really. I’m a bit of a numbers-nerd and therefore thoroughly enjoy compiling statistics about the tournaments I play, the percentage of ITM-finishes I achieve, the potential new level of buy-in a certain bankroll allows me, based on a 50-buy-in-rule, 100-buy-in-rule etc etc. I haven’t re-invented the wheel in this connection, just picked from the various rules that others seem to be using profitably. In my opinion, the following elements are compulsory for anyone wishing to exercise sound bankroll management.
- Tournament play (includes STT play) should see you working with a minimum of 100 buy-ins at all times. I would even say that more than 100 is preferable, meaning that just because you have a $10K bankroll doesn’t necessarily mean you have to play only $100 tournaments. The 100 buy-in rule for me is a guideline for the MOST expensive tournaments you should take shots at.
My own current bankroll is hovering around the $6700 mark at the moment, after having been over $7K not too long ago. As such, this means I will from time to time take shots at $20rebuy (realistic investment 62 dollars) as well as theoretic $67 tourneys, if there was such a thing. I do however tend to play anything from $5rebuys to $10-20 freeze-outs and the occasional $50 tourneys.
My own biggest revelation (and an insanely logical one, at that) is that I play a lot better when I don’t worry about the money I spent to play the tournament. If you’ve got $420 in your online account and register for a $100+9 tourney, not very many people have the ability to not let that affect their play. I’m just saying…
- As for cash games, I don’t personally play them at the moment, but I have in the past. I feel the important thing is to consider the amount of money you’re risking at any given time – and not the stakes you’re playing. If you’re risking 5% of your bankroll during a cash game(s), then I’d say that’s probably the highest you should go. Again, let’s assume you’ve got a 1000 dollar bankroll. 5% is 50 bucks. This would allow you to play 1 table of NL50 (assuming full buy-in), 2 tables of NL25 or 5 tables of NL10 etc etc. I’ve heard people say, “Ok, a thousand bucks – 5% is equal to NL50” – and then proceed to fire up 4 tables at those stakes. Wrong. Now you’re risking 20% of your roll. Before I ‘got good’ at this bankroll thing, I DID the above myself – and unsuccessfully, I might add, so take it from me.
If you’re a limit player or perhaps play Pot Limit Omaha, I’ve got no clue what your bankroll should be. Probably a lot for the Omaha. Probably less for the limit games. If you’re Gus Hansen, you probably need a shitload. Who knows where those nosebleed-playing guys get their cash?
Anyway, I digress and that was not the point. Bankroll management – I know my way around an excel spreadsheet, I’m pretty good at calculating percentages and for the time being I feel like I’ve got BM-theory figured out. It IS a huge part of being a successful poker player. Hope y’all keep strict guidelines as well.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 211
Monday 15 June 2009
INTERLUDE
I absolutely intend to continue the soon-to-be “series” of blog posts about What I Do Well and What I Don’t Do Well, but right now I was in a writing mood and just wanted to get something out there. So let me back-track a little bit and give anyone who might be interested a bit of background…
I’m from Denmark originally, but have lived in several different places all over the world and – as anyone who follows this blog just some of the time will know – now currently reside in Sydney, Australia. My girlfriend and I didn’t come here with aspirations of me becoming a professional poker-player/obnoxious blogger, but things have just kind of worked out that way. I’ve been severely struggling to get a job in my field of expertise – which, supposedly, is shipping/logistics – although I’m starting to doubt a little bit exactly how much of an expert I should be considering myself, seeing that no one is looking to hire me!
Side note: Currently, I AM turning a profit from poker and it IS my only source of income, so technically the above reference to ‘professional’ is correct, but let’s not kid ourselves – I’m not exactly raking it in at the moment.
Anyway, we left Copenhagen and came here because of my girlfriend’s desire to undertake a Master’s Class that was being offered by the Sydney Opera House. She’s a professional violinist (but no – does not lull me to sleep with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star each night – unfortunately) who wanted to work behind the stage, instead of on it. We sold our apartment in Denmark and were EXTREMELY lucky to walk away with a six-figure profit, which has helped sustain us so far. It is also the source of my poker bankroll, which I have surprisingly, not yet squandered.
…and why do I tell you all this? Again, just felt like getting something out there. I feel like I’m on my way towards making a big 4-figure score in the not too distant future and WHEN (not ‘if’, very important to word-select properly to BIG-UP the motivation) I do hit it, this blog might actually receive some attention and I’ll be forced to write ONLY poker-related stuff. So – last chance to get this out there.
Speaking of poker, I’ll leave you with a little hand from one of my tournaments today and another lesson of what not to do. I should’ve trusted my read, but couldn’t find the fold button, even though I knew he was value-town’ing me in a big way.
It’s a $10 rebuy and we’re very close to the money-bubble. 30 get paid and I believe we were down to 38 at this point. I’m a semi-big stack and have a very solid TAG image. At a 9-handed table I find 7h7d in early position (UTG+3, stack 24560) with blinds at 400/800/a100.
It folds to me and I make it 2100. Two folds and the CO min-raises to 3400, which is such a donkish play (and yet, as this tale shall tell – maybe not) and somebody oughta shake this guy up real good to prevent him from doing so again. The rest fold. I know what he has. I estimate there’s about a 75% chance of him having AA, a 24.5% chance of it being KK and 0.5% chance of him having some random two-card-combo, because of a misclick or something equally insane. I call because I can never fold to a min-bet, but I am effectively set-mining. I even tell myself that, before the flop hits – simple reiteration of the fact that I am dominated and need to bail out if I don’t see a seven out there.
…but then disaster strikes.
(Pot 8900) FLOP: 8d 5s 6c
“Oh come on…” Are you shittin’ me? I can’t fold now, with that stupid-looking flop out there. All of a sudden, I’ve improved to 40% against AA. Anyway, he has position and I check to him. He checks back. (?)
(Pot 8900) TURN: 3s
On the flop I was dead-certain he had AA. I would’ve sold my grandmother (my grandma is definitely +EV if anyone’s interested?) to the devil, just to prove how bombin’ ass right I was. Then he checks. All of a sudden that little turn-around voice, which has gotten me in trouble SO many times before, creeps up out of nowhere and starts whispering something about AK. “Oooohhh… (the voice has ghostly tendencies, go figure) – he proooobably has Ace…KING!!!”
I check. He bets 4000. I call.
(Pot 16900) RIVER: 2h
In a matter of seconds I’ve sold my grandmother, and done a one-eighty on the AA. I’ve managed to donk myself into thinking that AK is a real possibility. He bets 9600 and I pay him off.
I busted a few spots later, just shy of the money.
Lesson learned
… again.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 213
I’m from Denmark originally, but have lived in several different places all over the world and – as anyone who follows this blog just some of the time will know – now currently reside in Sydney, Australia. My girlfriend and I didn’t come here with aspirations of me becoming a professional poker-player/obnoxious blogger, but things have just kind of worked out that way. I’ve been severely struggling to get a job in my field of expertise – which, supposedly, is shipping/logistics – although I’m starting to doubt a little bit exactly how much of an expert I should be considering myself, seeing that no one is looking to hire me!
Side note: Currently, I AM turning a profit from poker and it IS my only source of income, so technically the above reference to ‘professional’ is correct, but let’s not kid ourselves – I’m not exactly raking it in at the moment.
Anyway, we left Copenhagen and came here because of my girlfriend’s desire to undertake a Master’s Class that was being offered by the Sydney Opera House. She’s a professional violinist (but no – does not lull me to sleep with Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star each night – unfortunately) who wanted to work behind the stage, instead of on it. We sold our apartment in Denmark and were EXTREMELY lucky to walk away with a six-figure profit, which has helped sustain us so far. It is also the source of my poker bankroll, which I have surprisingly, not yet squandered.
…and why do I tell you all this? Again, just felt like getting something out there. I feel like I’m on my way towards making a big 4-figure score in the not too distant future and WHEN (not ‘if’, very important to word-select properly to BIG-UP the motivation) I do hit it, this blog might actually receive some attention and I’ll be forced to write ONLY poker-related stuff. So – last chance to get this out there.
Speaking of poker, I’ll leave you with a little hand from one of my tournaments today and another lesson of what not to do. I should’ve trusted my read, but couldn’t find the fold button, even though I knew he was value-town’ing me in a big way.
It’s a $10 rebuy and we’re very close to the money-bubble. 30 get paid and I believe we were down to 38 at this point. I’m a semi-big stack and have a very solid TAG image. At a 9-handed table I find 7h7d in early position (UTG+3, stack 24560) with blinds at 400/800/a100.
It folds to me and I make it 2100. Two folds and the CO min-raises to 3400, which is such a donkish play (and yet, as this tale shall tell – maybe not) and somebody oughta shake this guy up real good to prevent him from doing so again. The rest fold. I know what he has. I estimate there’s about a 75% chance of him having AA, a 24.5% chance of it being KK and 0.5% chance of him having some random two-card-combo, because of a misclick or something equally insane. I call because I can never fold to a min-bet, but I am effectively set-mining. I even tell myself that, before the flop hits – simple reiteration of the fact that I am dominated and need to bail out if I don’t see a seven out there.
…but then disaster strikes.
(Pot 8900) FLOP: 8d 5s 6c
“Oh come on…” Are you shittin’ me? I can’t fold now, with that stupid-looking flop out there. All of a sudden, I’ve improved to 40% against AA. Anyway, he has position and I check to him. He checks back. (?)
(Pot 8900) TURN: 3s
On the flop I was dead-certain he had AA. I would’ve sold my grandmother (my grandma is definitely +EV if anyone’s interested?) to the devil, just to prove how bombin’ ass right I was. Then he checks. All of a sudden that little turn-around voice, which has gotten me in trouble SO many times before, creeps up out of nowhere and starts whispering something about AK. “Oooohhh… (the voice has ghostly tendencies, go figure) – he proooobably has Ace…KING!!!”
I check. He bets 4000. I call.
(Pot 16900) RIVER: 2h
In a matter of seconds I’ve sold my grandmother, and done a one-eighty on the AA. I’ve managed to donk myself into thinking that AK is a real possibility. He bets 9600 and I pay him off.
I busted a few spots later, just shy of the money.
Lesson learned
… again.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 213
Thursday 4 June 2009
WHAT I DON'T DO WELL, PART1
One of the things that still really annoys the shit out of me – about myself – is that I STILL haven’t managed to lose the trash-talking, when I get sucked out on. You should think that for someone who plays as much as I do, I would know all about variance, would fully comprehend the bliss of getting someone to put their money in bad and therefore would be completely at peace, when getting 2-outed.
-and actually, I do! Honest to god, I really do understand all of that and for the most part (if I had to put a number on it, probably about 80% of the time); I manage to basically ignore what just happened or merely type in ‘nh’. Then there’s that 20% though. Mostly, it’ll be the situational context that propels my immature mocking, hazing and/or whining – meaning 2 suckouts very close together or sometimes a badly played hand and THEN a suckout will do it. A donkey possessed describes my state of emotion most of the time and even though I’m not big on name-calling or swearing at my opponent, I do find real pleasure in berating their play. I’m ashamed of posting this, but here’s a taste of what it might look like:
Semi-shortstacked with approx. 15 BBs, I open AK off-suit from the CO. The SB, sitting on 29 BBs calls and we see a flop of K93. I bet 60% of the pot and after some deliberation he calls. Turn is a T. I move the rest of my chips in and he snaps with QJ. If I’m feeling a little off, I might go ahead and type something like:
“Wow, nice soul-read champ. You saw straight through me on that flop. I DEFINITELY would’ve called with a gutter there too. Moron. *sigh*”
Ok, so I’m not exactly proud of it… embarrassed, actually covers it better, even though some of you might find yourselves wondering, “hmmm… that’s not even THAT bad – I’ve seen/heard a lot worse”. And granted, you probably have, but that still doesn’t make it right. IF I write anything, it should be ‘nh’ and/or ‘gg’, but better yet, would be to simply shut the window down and forget about it.
The silver lining is that I’ve become a lot more polite, since I started playing some 4 years ago. I actually do manage to squeeze out a mock ‘nh’ (tone-of-voice-sarcasm is hard to discern in a chat window!) most of the time and just move on. It’s the way it should be.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 223
-and actually, I do! Honest to god, I really do understand all of that and for the most part (if I had to put a number on it, probably about 80% of the time); I manage to basically ignore what just happened or merely type in ‘nh’. Then there’s that 20% though. Mostly, it’ll be the situational context that propels my immature mocking, hazing and/or whining – meaning 2 suckouts very close together or sometimes a badly played hand and THEN a suckout will do it. A donkey possessed describes my state of emotion most of the time and even though I’m not big on name-calling or swearing at my opponent, I do find real pleasure in berating their play. I’m ashamed of posting this, but here’s a taste of what it might look like:
Semi-shortstacked with approx. 15 BBs, I open AK off-suit from the CO. The SB, sitting on 29 BBs calls and we see a flop of K93. I bet 60% of the pot and after some deliberation he calls. Turn is a T. I move the rest of my chips in and he snaps with QJ. If I’m feeling a little off, I might go ahead and type something like:
“Wow, nice soul-read champ. You saw straight through me on that flop. I DEFINITELY would’ve called with a gutter there too. Moron. *sigh*”
Ok, so I’m not exactly proud of it… embarrassed, actually covers it better, even though some of you might find yourselves wondering, “hmmm… that’s not even THAT bad – I’ve seen/heard a lot worse”. And granted, you probably have, but that still doesn’t make it right. IF I write anything, it should be ‘nh’ and/or ‘gg’, but better yet, would be to simply shut the window down and forget about it.
The silver lining is that I’ve become a lot more polite, since I started playing some 4 years ago. I actually do manage to squeeze out a mock ‘nh’ (tone-of-voice-sarcasm is hard to discern in a chat window!) most of the time and just move on. It’s the way it should be.
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 223
Monday 1 June 2009
HOW I GOT INTO WRITING
I suppose primarily my friends back home are to blame, since they’re the ones who encouraged my writing to begin with. There were roughly 16 of us, who would alternately play 10-man-sit’n’gos at my place, on a pretty regular once-a-month basis. USD20 buy-ins, unlimited re-buys, an add-on as well as a USD10 per-player-per-night compulsory contribution for the player-of-the-year pool. So basically “fun stakes” and in reality it was all about bragging rights – outwitting your friends, hero-calling with the slimmest of hands and bluff-check-raising the river if possible.
I’ll paint you a picture of that last possibility. The bluffer wouldn’t subsequently just show the bluffee his cards. Hell no, the person would be getting up – slamming the cards down on the table, double-fistpumping the air and high-fiving anyone willing to back him up. Shit, one of the guys even had an obscene little dance – a pretty annoying pelvis-thrusting-Ricky-Martin-ain’t-got-nothing-on-me looking act you’d be forced to observe if he ever got the better of you. Fuck, those were the good days…!
It was the type of the game, where you were likely to see the typical math-geek (that would be yours truly) rambling about, “…27% equity! – No, hang on, you’ve got 11 outs and you’ve got a possible re-draw, must be 43.71%. Any jack, deuce or spade! Ok, deal the turn!” I was such a poker-dork. You might also run into a player, who – during a hand – would be frantically sifting through PokerForDummies, trying to see whether a straight beats a flush. True story.
Back to the writing bit: Since there were 16 of us, but only one 10-person table, not everyone could play each time, which is why I started putting together tourney reports after each monthly session. At first, this was just an outlet for me, getting the opportunity to trash-talk about everyone, name-call (“uber-donk” & “dim-witted retard” still come to mind) but ultimately also summarize the action as accurately and humorously as I could. The reporting caught on and soon a summary email was expected from me, leading to disconcerted emails, if I didn’t deliver within a day or two.
And finally, here we are – present day. I still love writing about poker, still love it when other people enjoy what I write and only wish that I can keep up both playing and writing forever. Speaking of which, I’ve come up with a new blog topic which I’ll delve into as soon as I finish up this one. It’ll be an account of sorts, in which I try to detail what I do and don’t do well in poker. Obviously, one should be a hell of a lot longer than the other. Until next time.
Bankroll: USD 6,553.13
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 226
I’ll paint you a picture of that last possibility. The bluffer wouldn’t subsequently just show the bluffee his cards. Hell no, the person would be getting up – slamming the cards down on the table, double-fistpumping the air and high-fiving anyone willing to back him up. Shit, one of the guys even had an obscene little dance – a pretty annoying pelvis-thrusting-Ricky-Martin-ain’t-got-nothing-on-me looking act you’d be forced to observe if he ever got the better of you. Fuck, those were the good days…!
It was the type of the game, where you were likely to see the typical math-geek (that would be yours truly) rambling about, “…27% equity! – No, hang on, you’ve got 11 outs and you’ve got a possible re-draw, must be 43.71%. Any jack, deuce or spade! Ok, deal the turn!” I was such a poker-dork. You might also run into a player, who – during a hand – would be frantically sifting through PokerForDummies, trying to see whether a straight beats a flush. True story.
Back to the writing bit: Since there were 16 of us, but only one 10-person table, not everyone could play each time, which is why I started putting together tourney reports after each monthly session. At first, this was just an outlet for me, getting the opportunity to trash-talk about everyone, name-call (“uber-donk” & “dim-witted retard” still come to mind) but ultimately also summarize the action as accurately and humorously as I could. The reporting caught on and soon a summary email was expected from me, leading to disconcerted emails, if I didn’t deliver within a day or two.
And finally, here we are – present day. I still love writing about poker, still love it when other people enjoy what I write and only wish that I can keep up both playing and writing forever. Speaking of which, I’ve come up with a new blog topic which I’ll delve into as soon as I finish up this one. It’ll be an account of sorts, in which I try to detail what I do and don’t do well in poker. Obviously, one should be a hell of a lot longer than the other. Until next time.
Bankroll: USD 6,553.13
Days left until Aussie Millions 2010: 226
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