Entries from October 2007 ↓

Day 2, Part 2:

After a shower and some lunch I hopped back into a 20/40 game, this one was running 6handed and was more aggressive than the last table. I lost a couple pots and was down to $2500 but feeling good about my play. It was similar to an online 6max game, there were soft spots but there were also some tough opponents too.

My Biggest Pot Ever

My stack had dwindled to about $2500 after getting KK cracked and folding JJ in a reraised pot on a bad board, when I was dealt 88 2 off the button.

I made it $140 to go, the button and the SB both called, both have me covered.

Flop: 9 82 ($440 pot)

I lead for $300, button folds, and the SB checkraises to $700.
I “think” for a moment, and then go all-in for about $2360 total – he calls quickly with K9.

Turn: (9 82) 4 ($5160 pot)
River: 3

Ouch.  I got my money in as a significant favorite, and that’s all I can ask for – but boy did I want to win that one.  I wasn’t about to let frustration or tilt creep in, so I got back to work.

I decided to rebuy for $2k, since the players were calling preflop reraises very loosely, playing “deepstack” poker.   I felt I had a decent chance to double up if I picked up JJ+ or AK, since I would get a near-guaranteed call if I reraised preflop, building a pot big enough to commit with one pair on the flop.

Getting Back In The Action

After a couple orbits I get lucky and pick up QQ in the SB.  An aggressive player opens for $200 one off the button(CO), and the button, a somewhat fishy player, coldcalls. I make it $500 to go – a small reraise, but effective since my opponents will put money in with dominated hands. They both call, which is great for me – now I just need a decent flop.

Flop:4 7 9 (Pot: $1540)

This flop is safe enough that I can commit happily. I go allin for my remaining $1200 (I had just lost a pot and was a bit shorter), the CO folds, and the button calls with QJ.

Turn: (4 7 9 ) 3 (Pot: $3940)
River:( 4 7 9 3) T

My Queens hold up! I’m close to where I was before I lost the set hand, but still down a bit. I’m determined to succeed, and while the game is profitable there are some tough opponents. I hunker down, excitedly awaiting my next hand. I’m back in the action! It’s all going to come down to the next few hours…

1. The Rules Do Not Apply

Many absolute beginners who’ve maybe played a few months for fun know the rules but they do not follow them. Why is that? You’re obviously setting yourself up for failure if you’re acting like this.

The past few days I’ve been talking to people I haven’t seen in a while and they’re all pretty happy to talk poker but when I talk to them there comes a point where I just can’t help them, because they set up a mental barrier.

For example; someone might know that you should play tight and you shuold practice proper bankroll management but still they play with 50% of their bankroll at the table and see every flop. Why is this? Only you can answer this question and in the end you will be the one that determines how successful you will be.

2. Bankroll Management

When I tell people that they should have AT LEAST 20 buy-ins to play any limit of No-Limit Hold’em (assuming they are winners which most are not) their jaw drops. It goes against the quick fix mentality we’ve been indoctrinated with since birth.

It shocks people that you actually have to put in some work and discipline to succeed. Poker isn’t all luck, if you play for a month or two (depending on how much you play) you should come out ahead about 95%+ of the time.

There are no excuses when it comes to bankroll management. If you’re playing with less than 20 or 30 buy-ins at any level you are probably fooling yourself in some way, especially if you’re constantly losing.

3. Start Low

Another poker tip that drops jaws and breaks the get rich quick mentality. Most will not put in the work so they will keep deluding themselves that they are just unlucky. When you’re beginning to learn poker you should go as low as you can go.

My advice is that you start at $25 buy-in NL with as many buy-ins as you can afford because it will take time to learn. Read books, read forums and talk to poker players better than you and you will improve.

Focus on improving and not on making millions of dollars the first week or the first year because that is not going to happen for 99.99% of poker players.

4. Study

Put in your study time. I’ve heard many beginning poker players ask me how many poker books I’ve read and when I reply with “I have 35 poker books on my shelf” it is too much. They usually reply with something like “I think self-taught players are the best”.

Now why do they do this? The case mostly is because it justifies them not reading any books. Just playing and suddenly they wake up and they’ve made $1,000,000 playing poker, not going to happen if you don’t study and analyze your game.

5. Awareness

Poker is a tough game to learn because it will take a lot of self-observing and expanding awareness to become good. If you’re fooling yourself and not noticing it your growth as a poker player is severely stunted.

I know some players who never take any coaching because it is against their beliefs. They might think something like “If I take coaching I have lost, I have to learn this on my own” and my question to this is always “Why re-invent the wheel?”.

I even asked a friend of mine why he doesn’t take coaching and he answered “It would be kind of like taking a blow to my ego”. These are all things to be aware of and things that severely hinder your growth.

Be open to ALL forms of learning and I promise you that you will learn fast and you will even grow as a person while becoming a better poker player.

I arrived in California midday Thursday, a friend picked me up at the airport and we drove up to the casino for a weekend of poker.

Day 1:

I jumped into a juicy 10/20NL game with a $2000 stack – the games were very good, hopefully it would be a profitable weekend.

There were only 2 notable hands from day 1:

• I raised AK under the gun(UTG) and got reraised by a tight player who was next to act (UTG+1). Live plays very differently than online, it is generally more passive, so I folded – he flashed KK.

• I raised 75 and 3barreled a K63 2 club board against what turned out to be a fish, who called me down with a king.

This was mostly tilt, I was frustrated from folding for 4 hours and this particular player had not folded to my cbet yet on the flop in 6 different hands.

After some thought I realized that 4 hours = ~150 hands, which is less than I play in one hour online. I redoubled my efforts to play a patient game after my moment of weakness.

After a 6hr session I was down a bit, about $1200. I called it a night early because I was tired from my flight, determined to play my A game for the rest of the weekend.

Day 2:

I woke up early on Friday, and went downstairs to play some cards. The waiting list for the 10/20nl was very long, but there was a 20/40 game running 3handed so I bought in for $2000 there to minimize my risk until I could determine if the game was good.

The game was very good. I added on for $2k more and ordered some food, planning to play a long session. The table filled up and soon pots were 6way unraised – a juicy table to be sure!

Things started out rough. I got AA and KK cracked in the first couple hours, but I managed to get away from my hand both times and only lost medium-sized pots.

Making Use of My Image

I turned things around in two hands that complement each other.

Hand 1:

I raise AK to $140, unknown player calls in the big blind(BB).

Flop: K 4 2 ($300)

I have a tight image at the table. With almost $4000 behind, I’m not happy getting my stack into this $300 pot on such a dry board. Furthermore, the only legitimate calling hands are Kx, so I opt to take a somewhat unorthodox line.

BB checks, I check.

Turn: (K 4 2 ) T ($300)
BB checks, I bet $200, BB calls.

River: (K 4 2 T) 2 ($700)
BB checks, I bet $450, BB calls.

I show my hand and BB mucks, I scoop the $1600 pot.

I gave my opponent a chance to bluff, and when he didn’t I value-bet. It’s possible I missed some value from KQ/KJ, but I don’t know his hand so it is possible he called down with just a T that could not have called the flop.

Such an unorthodox line later protects me.

Hand 2:

A somewhat aggressive player raises in middle position(MP) to $120, I reraise KK in the BB to $400, he calls.

The flop is: A T 4 (pot: $820)
I check, MP bets $500, I call.

Turn: (A T 4) 8
I check, MP checks.

River: (A T 4 8) Q
I check, MP checks.

I flip my KK and villain mucks, ship the $1820 pot.

I was fortunate that my opponent did not have the guts to fire a second barrel, but he had seen me take unorthodox lines and check the flop to trap with strong hands before, so he could not be certain whether I was giving up or trapping him, which likely bought me my free showdown.

One aggressive player at the table commented on the hand, saying “i’m going to have to 2-barrel you!”
I would not be able to take such a vulnerable line again at this table today, but could potentially set some traps with my now-weakish image.

After a few more hours of play I was ready for a shower and some lunch, so I took my leave of the table.
Stay tuned for part 2, where I run into some real tough spots in an aggressive, shorthanded 20/40 NL game during my afternoon session! I manage to lose my biggest pot, ever!

Take a few deep breaths and notice how the air flows as you inhale, slowly in through your mouth down your throat and finally reaching your stomach. There might be a small pause and the journey of the exhale begins. Slowly the air curls in your stomach and starts moving upwards and out, through your lungs and throat, and finally out through your mouth. How much better does taking a few deep breaths make you feel?

And with that semi new-age meditation talk let’s get to today’s post which revolves around an epiphany I had a few days ago about setting goals.

You see, I am what you would call your typical over-achiever. I set crazy goals and force myself to do them, I want things to be pretty close to perfect otherwise I’ve done a seriously bad job and can now scold myself for a perfect amount of time.

I do not wish I wasn’t an over-achiever, not at all, I like it and see it as a strength. Although sometimes my ambitious nature gets the best of me which brings me to our topic.

Reaching Your Goals, Feeling Like Crap

A few days ago I sat in my chair with a weather I wish upon no one, the wind was howling and throwing water at my windows. You could say it was a gloomy evening, but I find weather of similar nature fun and interesting. My favourite kind of weather is a thunderstorm, because the thunderstorms in Northern Europe are pretty harmless and beautiful.

As I sat there, deep in thought about my situation, I had a private storm going on in my head like so many of us. Juggling an infinite number of things at the same time thinking that if I do not handle all of them I suck.

At that very moment I began thinking about my goals for how much poker I “should” play each month. My goal had always been to play at least 50,000 hands of poker a month. That equates to about 125-135 hours of playing 4 tables of 6-max No-Limit Hold’em

This is of course nothing in terms of normal working hours but I do not think you can compare the two.

A-ha!

The thing that struck me was that when I succeeded in reaching my goal, I was burned out and couldn’t play poker for a few weeks because I just hated it. That got me thinking. Why am I setting a goal that will make me feel bad when I reach it?

I started pondering on the fact that on average during my poker career I had played about 30,000 hands a month. In the beginning I only played 3-4 tables and a maximum of 30,000 hands a month and felt fine.

So what if… I should adjust my goals? What would happen if I did this?

• I would earn less money
• I would have more time for other things I enjoy even more
• There would be balance
• I would feel happier

That seems like a pretty good list where the pros outweigh the cons. I do not really need the extra few thousand dollars it gives me to play more, I have never been one that really needs excessive amounts of money as I have never craved expensive material things.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy driving a nice car and having that new shiny camera, but it is not something I MUST have.

Do You Want Happiness?

We all want happiness, that is one thing that is certain. But are we going about it the wrong way? In the early days of poker I looked to the game as a vehicle, the money would give me freedom to avoid taking a loan when I went to study at a university.

Along the way I forgot that money is just a vehicle. Money is not the end goal for most of us, it is a middle-man for time, freedom or even that nice car or house.

Keep setting goals and figuring out what works for you, because if you feel like shit then obviously something is wrong.

How Will You Know What Works?

Your body has a feedback mechanism. Feelings like pain, happiness or misery are there for a reason. If you feel content and happy you are probably heading in the right direction. On the other hand, if you’re feeling depressed or especially gloomy you should think about what needs to change. Listen to yourself.

Recommended Reading

Here are a few links I recommend you look at that I’ve read in the past and which I really enjoyed.

How to Set Goals You Will Actually Achieve by Steve Pavlina

How to Find True Happiness by Erin O’Donnell

I’m in San Diego at the moment, just finishing up a long weekend of live poker – it’s been an exciting trip and I played in some quite big games – I’ll discuss hands from the trip on Monday’s post(Edit: Tuesday’s – Henri is going to post Monday), so stay tuned.

For now, there have been some questions about hand two from the “Thinking Ahead” post from a few days ago so I figured it was worth a little more discussion.

Here’s the hand again:

Hand 2, getting value:

.50/1.00 NL, hero has $100 and villain has $25

Folded to hero on the cutoff whe raises to $3 with JhJd. The villain on the button, an unknown shortstack, calls.

Flop: Td 8d 7c (pot: $7.50)

In the actual hand, the villain raised and we set him allin. One question was “what if my opponent doesn’t raise me?” This is worth addressing – while many shortstacks are raise-happy sometimes you will get a call. Lets see what happens when our opponent calls.

Hero bets full pot ($7.50), and villain calls ($7.50).

Turn: (Td 8d 7c) Kh (pot $22.50)

Each of us has put in $10.50 at this point, so our opponent has $14.50 remaining. While we do not love the king, it is relatively unlikely to have changed the relative hand values – if our opponent has KT, K8, K7 or a Kx flush draw he is now ahead, but that is a relatively small portion of his range. So, we continue with the plan and bet the remaining $14.50, a little more than half pot. Many pairs, and any sort of draw, or pair and draw, will often call.

Note that with Jacks the only real “bad” card is a 6, since a 9 gives us a straight and a J gives us a set – with so little money left we don’t mind getting the rest in with top set on the turn if we spike.

Alternative lines become more attractive the deeper the stacks get. Once we are no longer happy with making a big pot then betting aggressively may become counterproductive. If we each had $400 behind, a flop pot bet will get us into very tough spots out of position on the turn and river, so betting small or checking can be good alternatives. Stack size is a critical piece of the puzzle, and can completely change the “best” play while the cards and the board stays the same.

Remember, thinking about how big a pot you want is just a guide, it helps you plan ahead about what you want to accomplish in a hand. No-limit hold’em is a complex game and there are many factors to consider, this is another tool to aid the decision-making process.