One Last Hoorah

Well, my blog is officially getting moldy. Not that I actually think anyone I know is still checking in on it, but I still felt it was important to wrap things up with one more rambly post.

Since my last post, which gave a quick glimpse into my biggest poker cash to date, I really tapered off playing, and especially blogging. I played some tournaments through October and November, without a whole bunch of success. A couple more scattered tournaments early in the new year which had a balance of success and some let downs. That's not the reason my play (and blogging) continued to taper. On the poker side of things, I just felt like I needed a bit of a break. I tend to go through waves when it comes to what I do with my time. I just go with the flow, and right now the flow doesn't feel like playing a lot of poker. There will come a day when I'll be focused on it again. Maybe in a week, maybe in a month, or maybe longer. It's more fun not knowing what's around the corner.

Following the biggest poker cash of my life, I learned a few things.

First, the old cliche 'money can't buy happiness' is very true. Money is convenient to have, sometimes. It's like an escalator beside the stairs. It always seems appealing, yet when the escalator is broken, you take the stairs and realize afterwards you are probably better off and stronger for it. 

Second, I slowly learned that blogging about myself, especially my triumphs, isn't for me. After my last blog post, it started to feel like bragging. I've had some epiphanies over the last year, associated with people I've met and interacted with or had become friends with on Facebook. I started to become agitated with self-promoting and egotistic behaviors seen through social media or other interactions, and started to question if what I was doing through my blog was any different. Was posting about a big poker score fundamentally different than posting self-promoting status updates and photos on Facebook or Twitter? Are they just  brags to the world in disguise? So, I decided to drop it all together, as well as deactivate social networks such as Facebook. It all started to feel like brain pollution. My real friends know who they are, and they all know how to get a hold of me. I love hearing about their triumphs, as they love hearing about mine, but why don't we do it over a coffee or a beer instead of in front of 300 other "friends" with a computer or smartphone in the way.

Lastly, I learned that anything you love is worth chasing. Sometimes what you're chasing may seem like a mirage in the middle of the desert to other people, but even if it is, when you survive the trek it's amazing what you will learn about yourself. And when you're running through a desert, sometimes it's OK to take a break.  

To all or any of my faithful supporters in life, thanks again. This is the official end of my blog, but only the start of more great things to come.

Cheers
Josh

WCOOOOOP!

So it seemed as though the World Championship of Online Poker came and went as quickly as a Calgary chinook...bringing many joy and the rest headaches . I didn't play in very many of the 62 events hosted over the month of September, but here are my results in a nutshell. The good, the bad, and the ugly:

$215 [1.5M Gtd]                           6078th/8332 = $0 
$109 [wcoop 2nd chance]              398th/2298 = $0
$265 [turbo, 400K Gtd]                  2918th/3436 = $0
$320 [400K Gtd]                           1105th/2080 = $0
$215 [wcoop 2nd chance]              13th/605 = $1,330
$82   [Rebuy, Main Event satellite]   Tied 1st/468 =  $5,200 main event seat
$5,200 [Main Event, 5M Gtd]           67th/1627 = $20,338

Although my attempt at WCOOP glory got off to a rather sluggish start, it ended fairly well by scoring my biggest cash to date in the main event. It's a long and grueling event which definitely pushes patience to the max, but I had a ton of fun. There were a few times where some tough decisions turned bad and nearly led me to elimination before we were in the money, but each time I managed to stay patient and claw my way back into the tournament like a hungry stray cat. My experience in events of this magnitude are very limited so this was really good experience and gives me the confidence that I can contend in any poker tournament.

There were so many interesting hands and situations throughout the tournament that I wouldn't even know where to begin. I'm not much for words at the moment, so let's just assume for the purpose of keeping the post short that I played every hand perfect and awesome (except for the very last one, which obviously knocked me out).

Cheers
Josh

Life and a Bit of Poker

Oh hi all. I hope this post finds you happy and healthy. Poker hasn't been a huge focus in my life lately but the itch and the motivation to get going is creeping up. Maybe it's the fall feel in the air, which usually means it's time to close the lemonade stand and get ready for cyclocross and poker. What a great time of year! I put in a small session of tournaments last Sunday (the 11th) but didn't over do it since I was feeling under the weather and as sharp as a rubber band. I cashed in one of the few tournaments I played in but was in the red overall for the day. Not overly surprising considering I should have stayed in couch mode. I more or less felt like garbage that had been ripped apart by a raccoon the following week, but powered through the work week despite my best judgement which told me to take it easy for a couple days. On Thursday evening I was feeling a bit perkier with nothing much on the slate, so I entered a few MTTs. I also put in a big MTT session on Sunday and had a lot of fun. Here are some notable results from those sessions:

15 Sep [$109 Turbo]  5th/199 = $1,149
15 Sep [$55 Nightly 30K]  2nd/708 = $3,231
18 Sep [$55 55K Gtd]  3rd/1377 = $6,885
18 Sep [$215 WCOOP 2nd chance] 13th/605 = $1,330

This isn't all gravy since there were many others I didn't cash in, but the results are encouraging as I try and get my game sharp again after a very low volume summer. I don't really like how poker success is generally measured in dollar amounts, but that's the nature of it. Maybe I'll come up with some type of system and call them 'freedom points' or something. That's all money is...it has nothing to do with status, image, or material goods for me. It's just a tool to build freedom. Luckily poker is a fun way to chase this freedom.

I don't know if it's a late 20's thing or just a generational thing, but it seems many of my friends and I are starting to really reflect on our lives, where we've come from, what we've accomplished so far and where we ultimately want to go (which I'm going to ramble about). Basically, why are we doing what we're doing and does it make us happy?  I'm fortunate to be part of a great group of friends who maintain high standards of happiness and think above and beyond the norm. We're taking a hard look at life in general, what gives us happiness and meaning, how to rid our lives of toxic people, environments, and behavior. How to surround ourselves with positive people who genuinely care. People with a good perspective on what really matters in life. Not making room for people who are nice to you one day, and throw you under the bus the next. People who are willing to live simply so others can simply live. Ultimately, isn't this what we should all be striving for? What's stopping so many of us? It's almost like society has scared people out of being happy. So many are conned into thinking that "sucking it up" and going to a job that makes good money even though it slowly rots you, for example, is how you gain respect and become successful. "That's life" people often say when you appear unhappy with things. Did it really take me till I'm 27 to realize this doesn't have to be life? I don't measure success by these factors, nor is this how people gain my respect. Success should be measured by happiness. It should be measured by the good that you do. The love that you're able give and the compassion you're able to show. By having the courage to do what you love or chase a dream. Not by your ability to earn the most money or show authority over people. Many strive towards big incomes and fancy job titles at the expense of their health and happiness, but they still take comfort that society in general will view them as successful. If you don't have your health (mental and physical), absolutely everything in your life loses meaning. It seems that the people who live passionately usually have a knack for making things fall into place, and are generally happier and healthier for it.  

I've come across this saying a few times over the years (as I'm sure many of you have) but it never really hit home with me until recently. I don't think it means much until you've actually reached that time in your life. Maybe it's a bit cliche, but I think it carries some weight.



"There comes a time in your life when u can walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh, forget the bad and focus on the good. So love the  people who treat you right and forget the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is part of life, getting back up is part of living."

So why don't we simplify our lives and get back to the basics. Have fun. Laugh. Let's get back to building the foundations of our relationships on trust, respect, love, and good old fashioned fun. Not on money, convenience, status, or image.  Let's drop the labels. Forget about your image and be yourself. At the end of the day, we're all just killing time on earth until our time runs out. So let's make the best of it, and give it some meaning while we have the chance. Get your soul back if somebody has stolen it, don't settle, and don't let other people get you down. Forget the people who cause you stress, and focus on the ones who make you smile. Stand up for yourself and what you believe in without caring what people think. Chase a dream, be passionate, and be happy. I think true happiness should be a lifestyle. I'm trying to take the steps to get there. Hopefully you'll join me.

Till next time
Josh

Brief Update

So it's been a while since my last post. Almost forever. I was feeling creative today so I entitled this post "Brief Update". What it lacks in creativity it gains in truthfulness. This will be an update, and it will probably be brief.

As you probably already know, it's summer. The sun shines, or at least it's supposed to. Not always conducive to getting motivated to play poker, hence my lack of play as of late. Especially when you're at a desk most of the day as it is, the window of opportunity to enjoy other aspects of life is limited. Too many things to enjoy, not enough time. However, I have put in a few real sessions since my last post, but nothing too spectacular happened. I had one where I was up a bit and made a final table, but was first to go, so nothing life changing. The others I've been down a bit, but again, nothing life changing. It almost seems I've been playing so seldom these days that I feel a bit rusty around the edges when I finally do sit down and play. I mean, I can still compete due to my natural ability to be awesome at things, but I haven't been too zoned on keeping a sharp game lately. As the summer winds down, I'll most likely ramp things up in this department.

September always brings the annual WCOOP (world championship of online poker) series on PokerStars (in addition to my birthday, which also occurs annually). I'll likely find some time to sharpen up and play in some of the great events they offer. There is always life changing bling up for grabs in these big tournaments. Last year I qualified for the $5200 2-day main event by winning a $150 qualifier. If I remember correctly, first place was just over 2 million big ones. I lasted about 6 hours in the main event (shy of the money) and had a nice little stack built up before I ended up on the wrong side of a couple coolers. It would sure be neat to qualify for that again. My bankroll doesn't quite justify buying into that tournament directly quite yet!

So there you have it. An update which was brief (sort of), as promised.

Cheers
Josh

Poker Tidbits #1 and #2: Position, Starting Hands, The Gap Concept

So here we go, my first attempt to shed some light on a bit of poker advice for the average player. I'm sure my scattered advice will make all the experienced tutors out there quiver, if they ever happen to stumble upon it. I decided to combine #1 and #2 since they are closely linked. It's actually difficult to talk about many concepts in poker without talking about (or understanding) the importance of position. So what is position? Well, it's simply where you are at the table relative to the dealer. Since the dealer button shifts clockwise one seat after each hand, your position is changing each hand.  Below is a screen shot of a PokerStars table I snagged from the web illustrating what is considered early position, mid position, and late position.

Theoretically, you need stronger starting hands when you're in early position than in late position. Under the Gun (UTG) is the first to act pre-flop. On the flop, turn, and river the first person to the left of the dealer button who is still in the hand is first to act. When somebody has to act before you, you have position on them which is desirable. Having position on your opponents is extremely important to gain information in a hand. Since poker is a game of gathering information from your opponents through a series of betting, the more information you have the better off you will be to make wise decisions. The disadvantage to being UTG is that you do not have any information from your opponents yet, since you are first to act before the flop. You will also be out of position on later streets against any opponent that plays against you, with the exception of the small blind and big blind if they get involved in the hand. Typically, stronger hands should be played from UTG (big pairs such as 10-10+, A-K, A-Q). Hands like A-10 thru A-2, K-J, K-10, Q-J, Q-10, etc can be potentially dangerous playing from this position.  These are typical "trap" hands. As you move into mid and late position, your starting hand requirements go down since there are less people to act behind you. When you're raising UTG or even UTG +1 with one of the "trap" hands, the likelihood of somebody calling you with a weaker hand becomes highly unlikely since they will tend to respect a raise from that position more than a raise from later position. This leads to the Gap Concept which basically states: It takes a stronger hand to call a raise then it does to make a raise.

Example 1: You're dealt K-J off suit in the cutoff position. The UTG player raises pre-flop. What do you do? Fold. The likelihood of them raising with a weaker hand is unlikely. Think of all the hands they could easily be raising with that you are behind: A-J, A-Q, A-K, K-Q, 10-10, J-J, Q-Q, K-K, A-A. Even all smaller pairs such as 9-9 thru 2-2 you are slightly behind (although it's nearly 50/50 if you were to see all 5 community cards)

Example 2: You're dealt K-J off suit in the cutoff position. Everyone folds to you. What do you do? Raise. Same hand, same position, but now we're raising instead of folding? Yes. Now you have more information. The 5 people to act before you all folded, and there are only 3 left to act behind you. Now K-J appears to be a stronger hand. The less players left to act, the smaller chance there is of them having a stronger hand. I don't like limping (just calling the big blind) there, seems like a weak play, plus you're giving the big blind a free look at the flop with 2 random cards if nobody else raises. If I open a pot preflop, I tend to raise. I will limp in on occasion, but it's generally a unique situation with other variables at play (such as trapping a very aggressive player, for example).

It's very typical for weak poker players to look down, see any 2 face cards or any Ace and just throw chips in the middle with complete disregard for all other factors. These players are just giving away their chips, and will eventually have a huge target on their head. It's important to keep in mind that the type of opponents you're up against are also a determing factor in your starting hand selection. If players are playing tight, loosen up your game and play aggressively against them since you're likely to pick up some easy and uncontested pots. If they're loose and aggressive, tighten up your game and punish their aggressive play with the strong hands you're dealt. Sometimes I will play weaker hands when in position against weak opponents just because I know I can outplay them easily post-flop and pick up some easy pots. I will talk more about labeling your opponents later, however.

As the number of players dwindles at a table (at a final table where people are being eliminated, for example) your starting hand requirements go down. The less players at the table, the less cards being dealt, therefore the likelihood of a good hand being dealt decreases. Say you're 4-handed, now a hand like K-J, or any 2 face cards and any ace are playable from all positions.

Now, all the above information is fine and dandy in theory, but what you have to keep in mind is that many of the players you play against also have this information. There are a lot of resources out there to learn how to play poker well, and I find that this causes trends in poker. When the online poker craze hit, people starting writing books on poker theory, started tutorial websites, etc. Now everyone you play against "knows" that you're only supposed to raise UTG with very strong hands. So a trend started of people raising hands like suited connectors UTG such as 6-7s thru 9-10s (The "s" just means it's suited). This in an effort to be deceptive, and have a well disguised hand if you happen to hit the flop hard. So now the UTG raise has lost some credibility because of this. So it's important to stay ahead of the curve and observe these trends, especially if you're a regular player. The most important thing is to mix up your game so you aren't predictable. Don't always raise suited connectors UTG, for example, but do it once in a while to keep them guessing. Then next time you pick up A-A and raise you're more likely to get paid than if you always play by the book. I'd be far more willing to raise UTG with a hand like 7-8s than I would, say, A-7 off suit. The thing about doing it with 7-8s is that you're looking to flop a big hand like a straight or flush, or a big draw. If you do, it will be well disguised since they won't suspect you of holding 7-8. If you hit top pair, it's easier to get away from if you have to. Playing A-7 you're more likely to be dominated by people playing stronger Aces. So if you hit a flop like A-6-3, which initially might seem good, it might actually wind you up in a lot of trouble since you're really only going to get action from hands that dominate you. 

This was a pretty quick overview of position and starting hands to give the casual player a bit of a better grasp on what you should be playing from what position pre-flop. I'll leave it up to you to dig deeper if you so desire. The best way to learn is from experience as well. I'll talk more about position when we get into post-flop play.

Hopefully you enjoyed this little tidbit of information and it helps you crush some souls next time you find yourself in the middle of a poker game. I've barely scratched the surface (I think my car has more scratches than I just made), but it's important info to know about when tossing the chips around.

Cheers
Josh

Poker Tidbit Series

I've had a few requests to talk more about poker strategy, so I decided to start putting together a series of tournament poker tips to help out the beginner to average player. I'll try post about one or two per week, in addition to random progress updates and amusing life stories. Here are the exciting tidbits I plan to write about:

1. Importance of Position
2. Starting Hands and The Gap Concept
3. Pot Odds, Implied Odds
4. Flop Texture, C-betting, and Pot Control
5. The Float (sorry, not the kind with ice cream)
6. Daddy, does everybody have an 'M'? (Stack sizes and fold equity)
7. The Squeeze Play
8. Table Image and Labeling Your Opponents
9. Abusing the Bubble
10. End Game/Final Tables (not that mine is the best yet, but I'll try)

So, if poker interests you at all you will probably find these topics interesting and helpful to crush your buddies next time you find yourself in a home game or tournament. If poker does not interest you, than you can close my blog and go back to knitting slippers and I will not hold it against you :)

Stay tuned next week for what I feel is the most important fundamental concept in building a solid foundation to your poker game: position.

Josh

Big Sunday Recap...and stuff

Time to buckle up. Not because I rented another U-Haul, but because I put in a big session of cards on Sunday which I'm sure will also buck you off your seats with excitement. They shifted all of the big Sunday tournaments 2 hours earlier to target the influx of overseas players and the exit of US players. At first this made me feel a bit alone and afraid, but I've come around and am feeling good about the change. Basically it just means if I take a tournament really deep I get to bed 2 hours earlier than I normally would, or have an additional 2 hours in the evening to perform my victory celebration. I can't tell you exactly what my celebration ritual entails, but I can tell you that it involves lunges, ice cream, McGivor re-runs, a yo-yo and a top hat.

I hadn't put in a big session for a while, so I pretty much planned on entering every tournament on the schedule that wasn't a micro buy-in. It was going to be a big day one way or the other. The Sunday Warm-Up now starts at 9am, which is when I started my day. Actually I'm lying. I started at 9:30am since I decided last minute to go to Higher Ground for coffee before getting started. I only went there for coffee though, no muffins. I got home and registered late for the Warm-Up like a big shot, and got elimated shortly after. Oh. Over the next few hours I played in various other tournaments ranging from $22 to $109 buy-ins. If you have ever wondered why the buy-ins aren't round numbers, it's because the buy-ins include the entry + a fee. So, $22 is actually a $20 entry (goes into prize pool) + $2 fee (which goes to PokerStars). That's how they make their money. Bigger buy-in, bigger fee. Just for kicks, let's take the Sunday Million. $215 = $200 entry + $15 fee. Yesterday there were over 10,000 entries. 10,000 x $15 = $150,000....from one tournament. There are tournaments starting every minute. Not to mention sit n go and cash game rake. Oh wow. No wonder the US government wants a piece of this action. Well I digress. The Sunday Million kicked off at it's new fancy time of 12:30pm. I actually didn't even realize till about 12:50pm that it had started already. So like a big shot once again, I registered for it late only to be knocked out just over an hour later. Good. So at this point my day wasn't going very well. Actually it was going quite poorly. Some bad beats, compounded with some sloppy play and I was approaching 1K in entries as I moved into the afternoon wave of tournies, and no return on those investments yet. Sounds like a lot of money, and it is, this ain't no game of rummy down at the Lions Club, ya hear. It's all relative though, I won't risk more than 5% of my current bankroll in a given session. So I continue with my regular schedule, the $55 Sunday Special (200K GTD), $215 Second Chance (250K GTD), $215 80K GTD, $109 60K GTD etc....and managed to get my act together and cash in all 4 of those, and make pretty deep runs in a couple. Made for a +$1200 day overall, which doesn't warrant a trophy on my mantel (I'm just pretending to have a mantel), but I'm still happy that I powered through a rough start to play well in the second half of my day and muster up some results.

The way I exited the Second Chance was a bit frustrating. First prize for this one was 55K. You can get a lot of free hugs for 55K. However, I was eliminated in 25th-ish out of about 1600 entrants. Still good for over 1K. I was top 5 in chips for a long while when things started to unravel like a runaway roll of toilet paper. And once it starts to unravel, you can never get it rolled back on like it was originally, you know? Frustrating. Poker can be the same way. Anyway, one cooler (not the kind you load up with beer), then one bad decision and I was out. If you don't know what a cooler  is, you'll soon find out. I got dealt Q-Q in the cutoff position (one before the dealer) and a mid-position player with about half my stack size raised. I re-raised which is pretty standard. He flat called and the flop came A-3-3. Blah, pretty ugly flop for me. He could easily have an A, obviously. He checks to me though, so I'm happy to check and see a free card. Just because he checked, I did not rule out the possibility of him having an A (like A-K or A-Q). The turn was a blank, say a 5. He checks to me again. Hmmmm ok, well at this point I'm happy just checking it down. He could have a hand like J-J and is also scared of the A. The river is a Q. I hit my gin card, and now certainly have the best hand. However, if he does have a hand like J-J I'm not going to extract any more chips from him. The only way is if he is holding an A and was slowplaying it. He checks to me again, so I have to bet to try extract some value from my hand. So I bet a small amount to try entice a call, and he raises...raises?! He flat calls pre-flop, checks the flop, checks the turn, then check-raises the river? The only 2 hands that beat me are A-A and 3-3. He doesn't have 3-3. I don't care how good you are, you can't put somebody on 4 of a kind and fold a full house, the odds of that happening are so small that it would just be silly. My first instinct was that he was just making a play at me, thinking I didn't have anything. I was just tickled to throw my entire pile at him....and he INSTA called me. When he called that fast, before his cards even turned I blurted out "darn" (or something less PG), and *drum roll*...he turns over AA. He slowplayed it the whole way, and it turned into a total cooler when I nailed the river. A cooler is when you lose with that hand that's impossible to get away from since it'll be the best hand, say, 97% of the time in that situation. Big hit to my stack but I'm still alive. Reflecting back on the hand, of course his checks make sense because with his hand and that flop he wasn't going to get much action unless I catch a piece on a later street (which I did, sigh). He could see 3 of the aces, so the chances of me also holding one were slim, and I obviously didn't have a 3. He played it well, he disguised the fact he had A-A by flat calling me pre-flop and not re-raising. Of course there is some risk involved in his play, but it can pay off big sometimes if you have the guts to do it.

My elimination hand I was dealt A-Q in early position. I raised and the player on the button, who was playing aggressively and had a MONSTER stack, re-raised me. I just figured he was being a bully so I re-raised all in. He snap called me with K-K and his hand held. A good percentage of the time my play is a profitable one, but I didn't think it completely through. With our stack sizes and the amount he already put in the pot, he was basically priced in to call me with whatever hand he hand, so even though my hand was fairly strong I'm taking a bit of a gamble knowing that he's going to call no matter what. It's called fold equity (having enough chips to make someone mathematically fold) and I didn't have it, but didn't think long enough to realize it. I'm still torn on the play, I think a good percentage of the time A-Q is ahead there since he'll be re-raising light with his big stack. It just deserved a bit more consideration at that stage of a big tournament.

The rest of the weekend was spent mountain biking, golfing, and playing guitar. The mountain bike trails were rather moist and I returned home covered in mud. Went out to Jumpingpound for an easy ride and got a bit more than I bargained for. The golf was good (except for the cold, wind, and rain), second round of the year and I hit the ball really good. I was 1 under through 7 holes but then my short game abandoned me and I made 6 bogeys stumbling in to shoot 77. Still an awesome day even though the score tailed off a bit. The guitar playing is slowly coming along. Still sounds like wounded puppies caught in a train wreck at times, but it's sounding more like music than it did 3 weeks ago when I first picked it up. Maybe I'll post a tune once I really master one...just to prove I've actually been practicing and not just carrying my guitar case around trying to impress chicks. Don't hold your breath though.

That's all for now, hopefully you've all been keeping fit and having fun.

Josh