So I was reading the recent issue of bluff magazine and one of their writers reviewed Dusty Schmidt's (aka Leatherass) book (don't remember the name, something about treating poker as a business). Anyway he says a lot of positive things about it and says one of the reasons that aspiring pros should listen to Dusty is because he's done well and probably played more hands online than anyone. I've played some w/ him and he's basically what most good regs make him out to be.. a bumhunter that multitables well and plays solid most of the time. I have nothing against him and would back him in most online cash games if he ever came asking. I do agree w/ a lot of regs that he touts himself too highly and puts himself on too high of a pedestal.
Anyway I was thinking about the comment that he's played more hands online than anyone, ever. Tbh I think I've played more hands online than anyone in the world. I was playing poker professionally before online poker existed. I signed up when the very 1st online poker site started accepting real money (Planet Poker)...heck I played w/ free money on the beta poker sites before they allowed real money play. In the beginning I started putting in half my time online (other half still in brick and mortar poker rooms) then slowly transitioned to online full time , 1st w/ Planet Poker, then Paradise, followed by Party Poker and now Full Tilt and Pokerstars. This span is over 12 years. I'm not sure if they are many pros left from the Planet/Paradise Poker days..I would say the # is very slim. I would also say that I've probably avg'ed the most hands played and money won on an annual basis among guys that have played since the inception of online poker. Obviously guys have made more money than me in a limited time span but I don't think anyone's that's been around since the Planet Poker days have played more hands or made more money than me. Also since I've been multitabling anywhere from 4-16 tables since the beginning (actually the most tables you could play on the 1st couple of years was 2-4 if I remember correctly) I think I've played more hands online than just about anyone in the world.
What's the significance of this? Actually there is none except that I never thought about it and I guess I could pat myself on the back a little for making it through the years through all the different eras of online poker and making a good living doing so. There was no software like PT or HEM the 1st 5-6 years so there is no concrete evidence that I played more than anyone. Also I didn't start using PT until 3 yrs ago or so so I don't have a lot of the hhs I've played over the years.
Early on (starting around 1998 I believe), just like brick and mortar poker rooms, limit hold'em reigned and there were no tournaments online. I remember playing $5-10 or $10-20 limit hold'em games online for a couple of years, mostly on Paradise Poker since that was the big site at that time. Party Poker came unto the scene a couple of years later and I remember Mike Sexton promoting it like hell. When you thought of Party Poker, you thought of Mike, and vice versa (that's how he became a very wealthy man and from what I know, deservedly so for all that's he's done for poker and for being a classy guy overall).
Well Party started becoming the biggest site, mainly because of their affiliate program and rakeback (wow I wish I was more business savvy back then and started my own affiliate program w/ Party...eg Linda Johnson who made a fortune doing so). Anyway I took most of my action there because they had the most limit hold'em games and they had them as high as $15/30! (funny I know, esp. when you look at the biggest stakes online today). I also made the choice of becoming mostly an online player because I liked playing many hands/hr and I made more per hr than I ever did in a live game. Plus I got to stay home and spend more time w/ my wife and kid. I remember grinding several tables of $15/30 limit hold'em for a year or so. Then they introduced $30/60 limit and 6max games and I started playing in those. Grinded those games for another year or so before they added $50/100 and $100/200 limit hold'em games. I didn't play those as much because they were pretty tough. I table selected those games but they're weren't many of those games going. I would like to say that I was one of the biggest winners during that time but idk because no one really knew who was winning how much and who were losing.
Well shortly thereafter the sites started introducing tournaments. I think Paradise started it 1st. I remember thinking..suiiiiiiiiiiite.. because I enjoyed playing live tournaments and felt like I could win lots of money if I ran good in one (which I eventually did when I won a $640 buyin Party Mil on a sunday for $250k in '05). Well they introduced nl tournaments 1st and eventually the sites began introducing nl cash games. I was still focused on limit hold'em games since I was doing well in them and had no idea how to play nl (did well in nl tournaments because nobody knew what they were doing but I just happened to know a little more than most just by instinct and natural ability, I guess). Anyway the biggest games they had were $1/2 nl for awhile. Slowly they started adding $2/4nl and 6max games.
I didn't play in them because I was crushing $30/60 limit hold'em and $2/4 nl was still relatively small compared to $30/60 limit. Anyway Party added higher stakes and when $5/10 was added I started looking into it because the money won/lost was relatively similar to the limit games I was grinding at the time. All the games were 100bb max buyin although there were shortstackers (who invented these guys anyway?). So the limit games were getting tougher and my hrly was slowly going down so I started dabbling in the $5/10 nl games on Party. Right off the bat I did well even though I really had no clue what I was doing. I was just going off my reads and instincts and did well. Looking back at it, I played so fundamentally incorrect but so did just about everyone else. The winners were the guys that had good hand reading ability and didn't tilt (like me). Obv. a guy like Bldswtrs (or whatever) absolutely crushed because he figured out how to play fundamentally correct and knew how to 3bet and 4bet light before anyone else.
I remember multitabling $5/10 nl games for the longest time and doing well. That's when we decided to buy our 1st house (which we still own today and rent out). It was so efficient in the mid 00's. Play $5/10nl, win, cash out to Neteller, have Neteller xfer most of my money to my bank account, repeat (left some in Neteller for deposit bonuses across various sites..believe it or not, but there were actual "pros" that made their living breaking even in poker but taking advantage of all the different deposit bonuses available across the various sites back then).
A little before that time Moneymaker won the WSOP main event and wow what a ripple effect his win caused. NL cash games and mtts boomed. There were so many $5/10 and lower games spread across various sites but Party remained in the forefront. They started adding $10/20 nl games and I think that was the biggest stake they had for a long time. I never played that high on a regular basis because I was content on making what I was at that time (which was a lot) and I was providing a great and very stable life for my family and myself. I do regret not playing $10/20nl back then because I probably could've made more money. I guess I was too content ..meh. Party stuck to $10/20nl and $100-200 limit as their biggest games for the longest time. I remember reading that it was because they were afraid their customer base would shrivel if they introduced bigger games because the few elite winners would wipe out a big % of players if they had bigger games.
Anyway, more and more sites opened in this highly profitable but unregulated market inc. FTP and Pokerstars. Party continued to remain at the forefront and had the most # of tables by far, maybe more so than all the other sites combined. I was chugging along making lots of monies on Party but unfortunately not playing as much as I would and should have. Just plain laziness, family obligations, and being able to make money anytime I felt like it contributed to this.
Then boom! the USA unscrupulously passed the UIGEA (which was attached to a safe port bill that was supposed to prevent terrorism along our ports so just about every politician had to vote yes on it even though most had no idea what the UIGEA was about). Well Party didn't want to get in trouble w/ the US since it became a publicly traded co (on the London Stock Exchange) and withdrew from the US. I remember having money on there and not being allowed to sit down on any of their real money tables. I guess they were ok w/ leaving your money on their site (obv. to accrue interest for themselves) but you were forbidden to play on any real money table if you lived in the US. I remember thinking, well this sucks, and I made plans to xfer my money to FTP and Stars which catered to americans. Alas the games would not be as good as before because a lot of losing players got scared and stopped depositing money to online sites because of the UIGEA. The glory days of Party were over.
So I started grinding on the 2 big sites, mainly FTP because of the rakeback and the software. Then Taylor Caby came along and introduced Cardrunners and made the games infinitely tougher. For some reason I didn't subscribe nor improve my game during this time, maybe because I did well every year prior. Along came all these 20 year old's and college kids who thought poker was the easy way to make good money, and for a few it was. But for every Cole South or Tom Dwan, there are so many kids that fail that no one knows about. So now that's what online poker is nowadays...encompassed by a lot of college kids and 20yr old's and a select few making little to a whole lot of money while a guy like me that has gone through the times is a rarity. Oh but will the games get too tough for me, will I get pushed out by all the 20 yr old's? Obviously it's a very definite no because I've shown that I have what it takes to succeed year in year out and for most, they can't say that.
I've continued to grow as a player and have spent time improving lately as much as I can ever remember at any point in my career. Also I've finally decided that I wanted to aim higher and play as high as I can until I can't beat a particular limit. Heck I have no idea how I will fare at $25/50+ but if I was betting, I would bet on myself to succeed. Along the way I'll continue my expert (maybe nitty is a more appropriate word?) management of my bankroll and never risk a chance of going broke because my obligations to my family and our lifestyles will always come first. This will obviously make me wait a little longer on taking shots at the higher games but I'm young and only in my mid 30s....I have all the time in the world. :)
Also I totally flew under the radar in the world of poker even though I was making more money than just about anyone annually (I'm talking from '98-'08). 1 reason was because I didn't put enough volume in a given year to have a year like Leatherass did and win in the high 6 figs and get recognized. I was content on making a certain amount per year ($150-$400k) while having time for my family and whatever else I enjoyed doing (video games and sports mostly). Also I didn't play much higher than $5-10 mainly because I wanted to make sure I provided a stable life for my family and myself (and making low to mid 6 figs annually made me very content as mentioned before) and didn't ever want to take a chance of going broke (I guess I've always been a bankroll nit, but hey having a family will do that to you, or it should anyways).
Also since I was making such good money consistently year in year out I had no need to play in a bunch of live tournaments even though that was the surest and easiest way to fame as a poker player. Yes I played the occasional live tournaments and some of the WSOP events. I think I've played in about 3 or 4 10k WPT events and the last 6 or so WSOP MEs. Because of the limited # of live tournaments I played I didn't have a big recognized score. I have won $70k a couple of times and ft'ed a WSOP nl prelim (alas one of the few that wasn't televised during the boom) but did not do enough to garner any attention.
Tbh I did not care to become famous, even during the boom. My goal in poker was always to provide a great and stable life for my family and myself, which I have so far. It does bother me slightly that much less successful poker players get so much attention and even more so, secure endorsement deals where they make some kind of passive income or get freerolled into big tournaments while I've won more money and have succeeded on a consistent basis for the past 12 years but have yet to get any kind of offer or affiliation w/ a poker site. Can I live w/o it, sure but obviously would be nice to get some kind of deal w/ a site, especially if you measure success in poker the past decade or so and that there are probably less than 30 people, if that, that have made more money than me (although I realize the reason players get signed nowadays is because of exposure for the sites, not necessarily because how successful you are..meh). Also I've shown that I'm consistent and will win every year inc. all future years, which can't be said for a lot of pros, inc. well known ones. I do what it takes to adapt, learn, and stay one step ahead of the curve always, not to mention I have the intangibles to be successful always.
I will end this post on that note...I noticed I kinda strayed away from the original topic at the end, and ended up hyping myself a little...lol.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
LOL...graph
This has been my month so far... been grinding all $3/6...
So I had a crappy month last month and looks like it carried over early on. I did manage to pull even for the month but as you can see I'm effing $11k below ev! That's fricking 18 buyins! I can post endless hhs where I was ahead when the money goes in but come out on the losing end but it would take all day.
That's the end of my rant. Again I'm proud of how I kept my composure during this bad stretch and got even. Hopefully I can just run at ev (is that too much to ask?!) or better from this point on.
Shout out to my buddy Todd T aka Hellhound who won the $16 badugi scoop. Beat out 2400 entrants and won $5700 (ship the 10% swap!). I played it along w/ the mid $160 buyin but did nothing although I had lots of fun playing them. I do love to play non hold'em games more than hold'em. I just play tons of hold'em because that's where I make the most money.
In other news my buddy Jon F just did another show for cardplayer.com and he talks about changing his goal of making $50k in 6 months to $100k in 12 months grinding online nl games. I think this is better because the WSOP is coming up and I know he'll be busy playing a lot of the events there. He also talks about having a mentor throughout his goal...me. He says how I'm one of if not the best small to mid stakes player in the world. When I saw that I told him idk about that. I said I'm up there but not the best, just the most consistent from a year in year out perspective (yeah, even over Leatherass because I've been winning for many more years than he has). Anyway here's the link if anybody wants to check it out (also talks about sponsorship in poker and chats w Gavin Smith and Jason Newitt and plays softball w/ a bunch of Vegas poker pros)....
http://www.cardplayer.com/cptv/channels/14-under-the-gun/poker-videos/4132-under-the-gun-sponsorship-deals-and-softball
I'm gonna go golfing tomorrow w/ him and Todd so hopefully I can teach them a valuable lesson on the course...jk...I suck at golf (but wait til next year).
So I had a crappy month last month and looks like it carried over early on. I did manage to pull even for the month but as you can see I'm effing $11k below ev! That's fricking 18 buyins! I can post endless hhs where I was ahead when the money goes in but come out on the losing end but it would take all day.
That's the end of my rant. Again I'm proud of how I kept my composure during this bad stretch and got even. Hopefully I can just run at ev (is that too much to ask?!) or better from this point on.
Shout out to my buddy Todd T aka Hellhound who won the $16 badugi scoop. Beat out 2400 entrants and won $5700 (ship the 10% swap!). I played it along w/ the mid $160 buyin but did nothing although I had lots of fun playing them. I do love to play non hold'em games more than hold'em. I just play tons of hold'em because that's where I make the most money.
In other news my buddy Jon F just did another show for cardplayer.com and he talks about changing his goal of making $50k in 6 months to $100k in 12 months grinding online nl games. I think this is better because the WSOP is coming up and I know he'll be busy playing a lot of the events there. He also talks about having a mentor throughout his goal...me. He says how I'm one of if not the best small to mid stakes player in the world. When I saw that I told him idk about that. I said I'm up there but not the best, just the most consistent from a year in year out perspective (yeah, even over Leatherass because I've been winning for many more years than he has). Anyway here's the link if anybody wants to check it out (also talks about sponsorship in poker and chats w Gavin Smith and Jason Newitt and plays softball w/ a bunch of Vegas poker pros)....
http://www.cardplayer.com/cptv/channels/14-under-the-gun/poker-videos/4132-under-the-gun-sponsorship-deals-and-softball
I'm gonna go golfing tomorrow w/ him and Todd so hopefully I can teach them a valuable lesson on the course...jk...I suck at golf (but wait til next year).
Monday, May 3, 2010
April Results
So April was one of my 2 worst months ever. That says a lot considering poker's been my job for the past 12 years. Tbh like any other poker player, I don't like posting my results when I've had a bad month but I want to be honest w/ everything in my blog and post bad results along w/ my good ones. Also I can share w/ readers the experiences of having a bad downswing and how to deal w/ them. Also poker is just one long game and even for the best players there will be extended downswings. Anyway here are my April results...
I elected to show my graph in big blinds because it's a more accurate depiction of how I'm actually running. I ran like crap at $3/6 and worse at $5/10. For the most part I'm happy w/ how I played. I just ran into opponents' top of ranges so often as well as running $7k below ev. It's funny because I do feel like my game's become better after the month because the losses made me think a lot when I wasn't playing. Downswings are a good time to take a step back and reflect on your game and I did that and think my game is better for it. Hopefully my results will reflect that in the future.
I did win $3400 over 3k hands at hu so I'm still crushing at hu. I think that's good because I'm planning on playing bigger games down the line and the higher you play, the more hu you gotta play. I did play this hand hu at the end of the month and pretty much summarizes my month...
No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($1878.95)
Hero (BB) ($1137.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with K
, A
SB bets $15, Hero raises $48, SB calls $36
Flop: ($108) K
, 4
, 3
(2 players)
Hero bets $65, SB calls $65
Turn: ($238) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets $170, SB calls $170
River: ($578) 9 (2 players)
Hero bets $425, SB raises $1589.95 (All-In), Hero calls $423.50 (All-In)
Total pot: $2275
Results:
SB had 9, 8 (two pair, nines and eights).
Hero had K, A (one pair, Kings).
Outcome: SB won $3015.95
Villain is a reg as well so not sure what the hell he was doing floating the flop w/ a hand where he has almost no equity most of the time.
Couple of more points regarding my month. As you can see 100k hands is not a large enough sample size to depict how good/bad you are in poker. I've been one of the biggest winners at my stakes coming into the month yet I lost $20k over 120k hands. So next time you win x amount over x hands and consider going pro, make sure you have a large enough sample size to guage how you really stand among everybody else. Also I did manage to profit in mtts. Made about $4k in profits. I don't know what's more unlikely...me having a losing month in cash games or having a winning month in mtts (over 50+ mtts). W/ +$4k in mtts and another +$6000 in rakeback + races I finished the month down about $11,700. Tbh that is not that bad considering how bad I ran.
I did manage to log in about 125 hrs playing cash games so I'm happy about that. Too bad most of that was while I was losing. I did lose most of my money when I was playing past midnight so there may be a connection there. I was probably tired and not focused 100%. Therefore I will try to avoid playing past 2am and to play more during the day. I managed a +$10k day last day of the month where I started around 11am and played 2 different sessions before 10pm so I'm going to try to schedule my days like that going forward. I will have to have a good month if I want to play in all the wsop events I'd like starting next month. Considering I don't have a backer (and never had one), and also w/ my overhead, I will need to be selective of which WSOP events I play.
Anyway I've been busy recently. My kid had her birthday over the weekend. She's been sick lately so she didn't get to enjoy herself that much. We did take her and her friends bowling so they enjoyed that. I seemed to have lost my bowling bag w/ my ball and shoes in it so that sucks. I'm an ok bowler..probably avg. around 160-165/game. Obviously like to gamble on it (most poker pros like to make prop bets or bet on just about anything and everything). I did win $200 on the Mayweather-Mosely fight sat. night. Laid $400 to win $200 that Mayweather would win by decision. Hated my bet during the 2nd round when he nearly went down. Considering I paid $65 for the fight (on HD), I'm glad I won the bet.
I had my friends over to grind mtts yesterday. I did ok breaking even over 15 or so mtts. I cashed in 7 of'em but none of'em for more than $400. It was a pretty big day for tournaments yesterday w/ the 1st day of scoop and the final day of ftops. I cashed in the $216 scoop me but busted midway through the ftops me when I held 99 on a Q93 w/ 2 flush flop and we got it all in and villain had QQ (had an above avg stack at that point so that sucked). I felt like I was freerolling twice in that mtt though because I won my seat playing a $100 supersat (buyin was $640 or so) and I laid down 33 on a 953A7 rainbow board to same villain (well known and successful online mtt player) at riv for all my chips where I felt the line he took was indicative of a set.
Finally I'm gonna hold off on buying the Escalade until after June. I want to see how the UIGEA legislation impacts online poker. It goes into full effect June 1st and I guess the consensus is that it will make depositing money into online sites much tougher. I don't have to worry about that too much but I do have to worry about how much tougher the games will become because of that. If bad players have a harder time depositing money (which they do often) they may stop playing altogether. Let's hope and pray that the US will wise up and decide to legalize and regulate online poker (that's my hope and prayer anyways).
I elected to show my graph in big blinds because it's a more accurate depiction of how I'm actually running. I ran like crap at $3/6 and worse at $5/10. For the most part I'm happy w/ how I played. I just ran into opponents' top of ranges so often as well as running $7k below ev. It's funny because I do feel like my game's become better after the month because the losses made me think a lot when I wasn't playing. Downswings are a good time to take a step back and reflect on your game and I did that and think my game is better for it. Hopefully my results will reflect that in the future.
I did win $3400 over 3k hands at hu so I'm still crushing at hu. I think that's good because I'm planning on playing bigger games down the line and the higher you play, the more hu you gotta play. I did play this hand hu at the end of the month and pretty much summarizes my month...
No-Limit Hold'em, $6.00 BB (2 handed) - Hold'em Manager Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($1878.95)
Hero (BB) ($1137.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with K
, ASB bets $15, Hero raises $48, SB calls $36
Flop: ($108) K
, 4, 3 (2 players)Hero bets $65, SB calls $65
Turn: ($238) 8
(2 players)Hero bets $170, SB calls $170
River: ($578) 9
(2 players)Hero bets $425, SB raises $1589.95 (All-In), Hero calls $423.50 (All-In)
Total pot: $2275
Results:
SB had 9
, 8 (two pair, nines and eights).Hero had K
, A (one pair, Kings).Outcome: SB won $3015.95
Villain is a reg as well so not sure what the hell he was doing floating the flop w/ a hand where he has almost no equity most of the time.
Couple of more points regarding my month. As you can see 100k hands is not a large enough sample size to depict how good/bad you are in poker. I've been one of the biggest winners at my stakes coming into the month yet I lost $20k over 120k hands. So next time you win x amount over x hands and consider going pro, make sure you have a large enough sample size to guage how you really stand among everybody else. Also I did manage to profit in mtts. Made about $4k in profits. I don't know what's more unlikely...me having a losing month in cash games or having a winning month in mtts (over 50+ mtts). W/ +$4k in mtts and another +$6000 in rakeback + races I finished the month down about $11,700. Tbh that is not that bad considering how bad I ran.
I did manage to log in about 125 hrs playing cash games so I'm happy about that. Too bad most of that was while I was losing. I did lose most of my money when I was playing past midnight so there may be a connection there. I was probably tired and not focused 100%. Therefore I will try to avoid playing past 2am and to play more during the day. I managed a +$10k day last day of the month where I started around 11am and played 2 different sessions before 10pm so I'm going to try to schedule my days like that going forward. I will have to have a good month if I want to play in all the wsop events I'd like starting next month. Considering I don't have a backer (and never had one), and also w/ my overhead, I will need to be selective of which WSOP events I play.
Anyway I've been busy recently. My kid had her birthday over the weekend. She's been sick lately so she didn't get to enjoy herself that much. We did take her and her friends bowling so they enjoyed that. I seemed to have lost my bowling bag w/ my ball and shoes in it so that sucks. I'm an ok bowler..probably avg. around 160-165/game. Obviously like to gamble on it (most poker pros like to make prop bets or bet on just about anything and everything). I did win $200 on the Mayweather-Mosely fight sat. night. Laid $400 to win $200 that Mayweather would win by decision. Hated my bet during the 2nd round when he nearly went down. Considering I paid $65 for the fight (on HD), I'm glad I won the bet.
I had my friends over to grind mtts yesterday. I did ok breaking even over 15 or so mtts. I cashed in 7 of'em but none of'em for more than $400. It was a pretty big day for tournaments yesterday w/ the 1st day of scoop and the final day of ftops. I cashed in the $216 scoop me but busted midway through the ftops me when I held 99 on a Q93 w/ 2 flush flop and we got it all in and villain had QQ (had an above avg stack at that point so that sucked). I felt like I was freerolling twice in that mtt though because I won my seat playing a $100 supersat (buyin was $640 or so) and I laid down 33 on a 953A7 rainbow board to same villain (well known and successful online mtt player) at riv for all my chips where I felt the line he took was indicative of a set.
Finally I'm gonna hold off on buying the Escalade until after June. I want to see how the UIGEA legislation impacts online poker. It goes into full effect June 1st and I guess the consensus is that it will make depositing money into online sites much tougher. I don't have to worry about that too much but I do have to worry about how much tougher the games will become because of that. If bad players have a harder time depositing money (which they do often) they may stop playing altogether. Let's hope and pray that the US will wise up and decide to legalize and regulate online poker (that's my hope and prayer anyways).
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
UTG
So my friend just got his own web show on www.cardplayer.com . His name is Jon Friedberg and a former WSOP bracelet winner. Just watched the 1st episode..pretty good content. Link here...
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/8965-under-the-gun-poker-tv-show-premieres-with-baldwin-mizzi
The name of the show is Under The Gun and I guess he is gonna focus on the lifestyles of poker pros while adding other elements such as strategy discussion and his pursuits of poker related goals. His 2 goals in poker are to win a seat into the WSOP ME (which isn't that difficult) and to win $50k+ in online cash games over the next 6 months (pretty difficult). The reason why it is difficult is because he doesn't have much experience when it comes to online cash games having been primarily a tournament pro. I do think he's got a shot though because I've spent time w/ him playing poker (mainly mtts) and he's got a good poker mind. Also I will be helping him out w/ his cash games so that boosts his chances. He also tells me that he wants me on his show from time to time to discuss strategy so if anyone wants to put a face on this blog, check out the show when I'm on (or check it out all the time and obviously I will post here when I'm on).
As for poker, this month's been very trying to say the least. Still down about $18k in cash games and barring some sick heater over the next few days, looks like I will have a losing month in cash games. I will talk more about losing after I tally up the final totals at the end of the month. It's all good though because all of this comes hand in hand w/ being a poker player (and I am still up $140k or so for the year). The only thing it's really affected is my decision on whether to buy a new Cadillac Escalade to replace my Honda Pilot right now. I found out my Pilot repairs were about $2500 so it may not be worth it to pay that and better to just go w/ a new car. My wife and kid love the Escalade (fully equipped w/ nav, dvd player, and 22" alloy wheels) but I'm not sure if I want to shell out that much money (will be putting a hefty down payment if I purchase it) w/ the WSOP right around the corner. But oh does the car look pretty (actual pics of the one I'm considering)....
http://www.cardplayer.com/poker-news/8965-under-the-gun-poker-tv-show-premieres-with-baldwin-mizzi
The name of the show is Under The Gun and I guess he is gonna focus on the lifestyles of poker pros while adding other elements such as strategy discussion and his pursuits of poker related goals. His 2 goals in poker are to win a seat into the WSOP ME (which isn't that difficult) and to win $50k+ in online cash games over the next 6 months (pretty difficult). The reason why it is difficult is because he doesn't have much experience when it comes to online cash games having been primarily a tournament pro. I do think he's got a shot though because I've spent time w/ him playing poker (mainly mtts) and he's got a good poker mind. Also I will be helping him out w/ his cash games so that boosts his chances. He also tells me that he wants me on his show from time to time to discuss strategy so if anyone wants to put a face on this blog, check out the show when I'm on (or check it out all the time and obviously I will post here when I'm on).
As for poker, this month's been very trying to say the least. Still down about $18k in cash games and barring some sick heater over the next few days, looks like I will have a losing month in cash games. I will talk more about losing after I tally up the final totals at the end of the month. It's all good though because all of this comes hand in hand w/ being a poker player (and I am still up $140k or so for the year). The only thing it's really affected is my decision on whether to buy a new Cadillac Escalade to replace my Honda Pilot right now. I found out my Pilot repairs were about $2500 so it may not be worth it to pay that and better to just go w/ a new car. My wife and kid love the Escalade (fully equipped w/ nav, dvd player, and 22" alloy wheels) but I'm not sure if I want to shell out that much money (will be putting a hefty down payment if I purchase it) w/ the WSOP right around the corner. But oh does the car look pretty (actual pics of the one I'm considering)....
Friday, April 23, 2010
Random Musings
I'll get to poker in a min. Well, my buddy and I managed to squeak out 1st place in our 1 dime NBA roto league. With the win + sidebets, looks like we won about 30k. I've been running super good in fantasy leagues the past 12 months. A 1st in our 8 team NFL league (won about $3k + even better a T-shirt proclaiming me champ which I'll be wearing often next season), 3rd in the 3dime 12 team NFL league (+$60k or so split up 3ways), a 1st in our 14 team NBA league (+$700) and recently 1st in the 1 dime 10 team NBA roto league (+$10k for my share). If you guys need any coaching on how to manage a fantasy league team, let me know. I did pass on joining a MLB league because it would be too tedious managing the team on a daily basis w/ the sheer # of games played.
Also watched nearly the entire NFL draft tonight. I've never really watched it before...just checked the results when they finished but I was interested this year because the draft is pretty deep this year and I've been following college and NFL closer last couple of years (coincides w/ managing a team in fantasy football as well as betting on games). Not too many surprises except Jax reaching for a DT at #10 and probably the biggest surprise, Tebow going to Denver w/ the 26th pick while Clauson and McCoy were available. Personally I'm not too high on Tebow as an NFL qb although he does possess a boatload of intangibles and is genuinely a good guy. Also I agree with most experts saying Ndamukong Suh will end up being the better player than Sam Bradford over the long haul. I watched the Texas-Neb Big12 title game and I've never seen a lineman dominate a game like he did that game...it was amazing to watch. If you can't tell, I can't wait for the season to start already. This time I will grind some poker during the season (unlike last year where I played almost no poker at all during the season).
Where I run good in fantasy leagues, I run bad in automobiles. Just took my Benz in for a standard oil change and found out the gas tank had a leak and the ac was not blowing out cold air. The car's about 5 years old but runs and looks good still so I never bothered with getting an extended warranty. Total damage $2500...meh. I think it's more expensive to fix the upper end cars as well. Tomorrow I'm taking my Honda Pilot in as well. The back ac is not working as well but I was told it would cost only about $270 or so to fix that, so that isn't bad. We've had this car for 7 years now and I can honestly say it's been a great car over the years. Very few problems and great for all our family needs. With that said I'll be looking to trade in one of my cars for a new one later this year and then the other one next year. My personal choices are Audi for the Benz and Range Rover for the Pilot. My wife differs greatly though..she want's higher end Benz's for both cars. I tried explaining to her that they are charging a premium because of the brand and the other cars are more bang for your buck (well not really sure about Range Rovers tbh) but I guess it's hard to change a woman's mind when she likes certain things.
As for poker, I'm contemplating moving the bulk of my play over to Pokerstars. I just think it makes sense for me. There are more tables to play on and choose from at the stakes I play. Also getting to supernova then supernova elite would pay me a lot more than the standard rake back on FTP. I won't be trying to get sne this year but will probably try it next year barring some weird things happening (eg uigea on June 1st screwing up online poker). As for which site is tougher, I think they are close but I'm beginning to think Stars may be a little softer because some of the mass tabling regs are playing robotic to try to achieve sne whereas you don't see that at FTP. Also Stars being the biggest site seems to attract more fish. I do prefer the FTP software but I don't mind Stars' software. I guess I will need to use Table Ninja as well to be efficient.
At least I am winning again..albeit not much. 1st week of april I won $14k, 2nd week lost $40k (yikes!), and the past week I'm probably up about $8k. I'm still running way below ev and still feel like I'm getting on the wrong side of coolers more than usual. I can say that because I've played several million hands in my lifetime and have a feel for how often I should be getting coolered and vice versa. Oh well, all I can do is try to play my A game consistently and let the chips fall where they may.
Couple of interesting hands from recent sessions (also illustrates some about how I've been running)...
FTP, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $618
UTG: $4,216.55
CO: $1,498.30
BTN: $621.90
SB: $600
Pre-Flop: K
J dealt to Hero (BB)
UTG raises to $18, CO calls $18, BTN folds, Hero calls $15, SB folds
Flop: ($60) A Q 7 (3 Players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $45, CO folds, Hero calls $45
Turn: ($150) K
(2 Players)
Hero checks, UTG checks
River: ($150) Q
(2 Players)
Hero bets $125, UTG raises to $4,153.55 and is All-In, Hero calls $430 and is All-In
Results: $1,260 Pot
Hero mucked K J and LOST (-$615 NET)
UTG showed A A
and WON $4,855.55 (+$4,237.55 NET)
I elected to slow play my hand this time. I hated facing the river shove as this villain is a good reg and not getting out of line too often. Tbh his line confused me because I would've expected sets and aces up to cbet the turn ip but didn't rule it out when he shoved the riv. I tanked forever and considered folding but let's face it, it would've been extremely difficult considering we both underrepped our hands by checking the turn. I guess I could've c/called the river. Chalk it up to being on the wrong end of a cooler (or maybe I suck and should've folded to the river shove).
I do like the way I played this hand though... (note: converter messed up..villain was utg and not bb)
FTP, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BTN): $743.25
SB: $600
BB: $624
UTG: $666
MP: $600
CO: $600
Pre-Flop: 8 7 dealt to Hero (BTN)
BB raises to $21, 2 folds, Hero calls $21, 2 folds
Flop: ($51) 6 2 4 (2 Players)
BB bets $33, Hero calls $33
Turn: ($117) 5 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80
River: ($277) A (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks
Results: $277 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 8 7 and LOST (-$134 NET)
BB showed J Q and WON $274 (+$140 NET)
Again vs a solid reg. Flop and turn are standard although I guess I can raise the flop sometimes. The river is where I feel like I played it well. When he calls the turn, his range are 2prs, sets, and bigger flush draws. If I bet the river I don't think he calls me w/ his 2prs and sets because the board is terrible for those hands and bigger flushes will check shove and I'll be hating life when I face that (again). So this time chalk it up to being on the wrong end of a cooler, again, but being smart enough to lose the minimum.
Also watched nearly the entire NFL draft tonight. I've never really watched it before...just checked the results when they finished but I was interested this year because the draft is pretty deep this year and I've been following college and NFL closer last couple of years (coincides w/ managing a team in fantasy football as well as betting on games). Not too many surprises except Jax reaching for a DT at #10 and probably the biggest surprise, Tebow going to Denver w/ the 26th pick while Clauson and McCoy were available. Personally I'm not too high on Tebow as an NFL qb although he does possess a boatload of intangibles and is genuinely a good guy. Also I agree with most experts saying Ndamukong Suh will end up being the better player than Sam Bradford over the long haul. I watched the Texas-Neb Big12 title game and I've never seen a lineman dominate a game like he did that game...it was amazing to watch. If you can't tell, I can't wait for the season to start already. This time I will grind some poker during the season (unlike last year where I played almost no poker at all during the season).
Where I run good in fantasy leagues, I run bad in automobiles. Just took my Benz in for a standard oil change and found out the gas tank had a leak and the ac was not blowing out cold air. The car's about 5 years old but runs and looks good still so I never bothered with getting an extended warranty. Total damage $2500...meh. I think it's more expensive to fix the upper end cars as well. Tomorrow I'm taking my Honda Pilot in as well. The back ac is not working as well but I was told it would cost only about $270 or so to fix that, so that isn't bad. We've had this car for 7 years now and I can honestly say it's been a great car over the years. Very few problems and great for all our family needs. With that said I'll be looking to trade in one of my cars for a new one later this year and then the other one next year. My personal choices are Audi for the Benz and Range Rover for the Pilot. My wife differs greatly though..she want's higher end Benz's for both cars. I tried explaining to her that they are charging a premium because of the brand and the other cars are more bang for your buck (well not really sure about Range Rovers tbh) but I guess it's hard to change a woman's mind when she likes certain things.
As for poker, I'm contemplating moving the bulk of my play over to Pokerstars. I just think it makes sense for me. There are more tables to play on and choose from at the stakes I play. Also getting to supernova then supernova elite would pay me a lot more than the standard rake back on FTP. I won't be trying to get sne this year but will probably try it next year barring some weird things happening (eg uigea on June 1st screwing up online poker). As for which site is tougher, I think they are close but I'm beginning to think Stars may be a little softer because some of the mass tabling regs are playing robotic to try to achieve sne whereas you don't see that at FTP. Also Stars being the biggest site seems to attract more fish. I do prefer the FTP software but I don't mind Stars' software. I guess I will need to use Table Ninja as well to be efficient.
At least I am winning again..albeit not much. 1st week of april I won $14k, 2nd week lost $40k (yikes!), and the past week I'm probably up about $8k. I'm still running way below ev and still feel like I'm getting on the wrong side of coolers more than usual. I can say that because I've played several million hands in my lifetime and have a feel for how often I should be getting coolered and vice versa. Oh well, all I can do is try to play my A game consistently and let the chips fall where they may.
Couple of interesting hands from recent sessions (also illustrates some about how I've been running)...
FTP, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BB): $618
UTG: $4,216.55
CO: $1,498.30
BTN: $621.90
SB: $600
Pre-Flop: K
J dealt to Hero (BB)UTG raises to $18, CO calls $18, BTN folds, Hero calls $15, SB folds
Flop: ($60) A
Q 7 (3 Players)Hero checks, UTG bets $45, CO folds, Hero calls $45
Turn: ($150) K
(2 Players)Hero checks, UTG checks
River: ($150) Q
(2 Players)Hero bets $125, UTG raises to $4,153.55 and is All-In, Hero calls $430 and is All-In
Results: $1,260 Pot
Hero mucked K
J and LOST (-$615 NET)UTG showed A
A and WON $4,855.55 (+$4,237.55 NET)I elected to slow play my hand this time. I hated facing the river shove as this villain is a good reg and not getting out of line too often. Tbh his line confused me because I would've expected sets and aces up to cbet the turn ip but didn't rule it out when he shoved the riv. I tanked forever and considered folding but let's face it, it would've been extremely difficult considering we both underrepped our hands by checking the turn. I guess I could've c/called the river. Chalk it up to being on the wrong end of a cooler (or maybe I suck and should've folded to the river shove).
I do like the way I played this hand though... (note: converter messed up..villain was utg and not bb)
FTP, $3/$6 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
Hero (BTN): $743.25
SB: $600
BB: $624
UTG: $666
MP: $600
CO: $600
Pre-Flop: 8
7 dealt to Hero (BTN)BB raises to $21, 2 folds, Hero calls $21, 2 folds
Flop: ($51) 6
2 4 (2 Players)BB bets $33, Hero calls $33
Turn: ($117) 5
(2 Players)BB checks, Hero bets $80, BB calls $80
River: ($277) A
(2 Players)BB checks, Hero checks
Results: $277 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 8
7 and LOST (-$134 NET)BB showed J
Q and WON $274 (+$140 NET)Again vs a solid reg. Flop and turn are standard although I guess I can raise the flop sometimes. The river is where I feel like I played it well. When he calls the turn, his range are 2prs, sets, and bigger flush draws. If I bet the river I don't think he calls me w/ his 2prs and sets because the board is terrible for those hands and bigger flushes will check shove and I'll be hating life when I face that (again). So this time chalk it up to being on the wrong end of a cooler, again, but being smart enough to lose the minimum.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Still on the wrong side of variance
So these past 8 days or so have been terrible for me poker wise. After starting the month up $14k, I'm now down $23k in cash games. I did final table 2 mtts the past 2 sundays for about $8k total though I spent about $3500 in buyins. So I'm down about $17k total for the month now (closer to $14k if I include rakeback). This has to be one of the 2 worst stretches of poker I've been on playing online for the past 8 yrs or so. I am just getting constantly coolered, having 2nd best hands and running about $14k below ev. Again I went through nearly all my hhs to check for mistakes and for the most part I played ok. It just shows you how much variance is in this game. I've been playing mostly $5/10 w/ a little $3/6. I'm actually up about $5k at $3/6 for the month but just getting crushed at $5/10. I do not think it's because the games are tougher, although they are to some degree. I've just been running terribly at $5/10. FML!!!! (jk)
I've had success over so many years playing poker yet I'm still not immune to the feelings and emotions that come w/ such bad downswings. I am, like everybody else, human. I've questioned whether I might be doing some things wrong and even had thoughts of whether I can succeed but quickly threw those thoughts out the window when looking back at my 12 years of success in poker. I guess it's all part of human nature though. Question things and lose confidence when things are going badly. I will continue to play my normal game and hope to finish w/ over 120hrs for the month (at about 65hrs so far). All I can do is just try to play to the best of my abilities and try not to worry or care about the results because they'll take care of themselves at the end.
I am proud of the fact that none of my poker losses have affected how I act in the real world. I do not get more angry, ignore family, or just be in a bad mood because of my downswing. I do know of people that do when losing, including some of my friends (you guys know who you are and please try to be more professional in the future). Heck, if you were family or close friends you would not even know that I was on a really bad downswing unless I mentioned it. Also, being the spiritual and positive person I am, (and this will sound Hellmuthish), I'm lucky to be in the position I am today...w/ a great family, nice big house, nice cars, good health (although I need to work on that constantly now), and a job I'm happy to have. I have no doubt that things will turn around from a results standpoint.
With that said, this past week has been a very busy week for me. I had my birthday then got to do my taxes and ship Uncle Sam some more money. I am still trying to get my new desktop all set up. For some reason I can only seem to get 2 monitors working simultaneously and not all 3. I'll still need to figure that out although it doesn't really interfere w/ my online play. I gave my kid my old desktop and ordered her a cool 24" monitor and spent some time setting that up. She could be one of the most spoiled kids on earth but what can I do...she is the only child and I didn't have much growing up so I didn't want the same for her. Plus she excels in school (so far straight A's through 3rd grade) and her extracurricular activities. She also knows how lucky she is and is just a great kid overall so I don't mind spoiling her as long as it doesn't get to her head.
This also happens to be the beginning of an extra dimension in my poker career. I'm set to be on a buddy's online poker show from time to time (I'll provide more details when it happens), contemplating joining an instructional poker site to produce videos and possibly get into coaching more (again will provide details if I decide to go through w/ this), and a couple of more things on the horizon which may or may not trump these latest ventures. I also have the WSOP coming up in a few weeks and am planning on playing a big slate of events (and hopefully doing very well...again my goal is to win a bracelet..or 2). I'll have my fingers crossed, but then again, if I work hard and play well, I should be ok :)
I've had success over so many years playing poker yet I'm still not immune to the feelings and emotions that come w/ such bad downswings. I am, like everybody else, human. I've questioned whether I might be doing some things wrong and even had thoughts of whether I can succeed but quickly threw those thoughts out the window when looking back at my 12 years of success in poker. I guess it's all part of human nature though. Question things and lose confidence when things are going badly. I will continue to play my normal game and hope to finish w/ over 120hrs for the month (at about 65hrs so far). All I can do is just try to play to the best of my abilities and try not to worry or care about the results because they'll take care of themselves at the end.
I am proud of the fact that none of my poker losses have affected how I act in the real world. I do not get more angry, ignore family, or just be in a bad mood because of my downswing. I do know of people that do when losing, including some of my friends (you guys know who you are and please try to be more professional in the future). Heck, if you were family or close friends you would not even know that I was on a really bad downswing unless I mentioned it. Also, being the spiritual and positive person I am, (and this will sound Hellmuthish), I'm lucky to be in the position I am today...w/ a great family, nice big house, nice cars, good health (although I need to work on that constantly now), and a job I'm happy to have. I have no doubt that things will turn around from a results standpoint.
With that said, this past week has been a very busy week for me. I had my birthday then got to do my taxes and ship Uncle Sam some more money. I am still trying to get my new desktop all set up. For some reason I can only seem to get 2 monitors working simultaneously and not all 3. I'll still need to figure that out although it doesn't really interfere w/ my online play. I gave my kid my old desktop and ordered her a cool 24" monitor and spent some time setting that up. She could be one of the most spoiled kids on earth but what can I do...she is the only child and I didn't have much growing up so I didn't want the same for her. Plus she excels in school (so far straight A's through 3rd grade) and her extracurricular activities. She also knows how lucky she is and is just a great kid overall so I don't mind spoiling her as long as it doesn't get to her head.
This also happens to be the beginning of an extra dimension in my poker career. I'm set to be on a buddy's online poker show from time to time (I'll provide more details when it happens), contemplating joining an instructional poker site to produce videos and possibly get into coaching more (again will provide details if I decide to go through w/ this), and a couple of more things on the horizon which may or may not trump these latest ventures. I also have the WSOP coming up in a few weeks and am planning on playing a big slate of events (and hopefully doing very well...again my goal is to win a bracelet..or 2). I'll have my fingers crossed, but then again, if I work hard and play well, I should be ok :)
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Downswing
It was inevitable. I was running well and this whole year's been going smoothly for the most part so it's no surprise that I was due to hit a downswing sooner or later. Mind you it sucks and I'm not immune to the "god I feel like crap" feeling you get 
after such a bad downswing.
This is for the past 4 days. The 1st 2 days I lose close to $25k then the next 2 days I run like total crap even though I win some back. When I take such big losses I like to go through all my hhs where I won or lost $200+ and see if I made any mistakes and what I may have been doing wrong. I was somewhat happy in the fact that I did not make any big mistakes during this downswing. I did make about $5k in mistakes but they were not big obvious mistakes...eg calling a $1k shove on turn on a J hi board w QQ and running into KK.
I sorted out how much I could've saved if I played perfectly (which again was about $5k) and how much I was destined to lose no matter how perfect I played. This is during the 1st 2 days in the midst of the $25k downswing. Here is a brief list..
-KJs flops or turns 2nd nut flush and run into nut flush and both times 250bbs deep..total -$3500
-6x aipf w/ overpr vs underpr and lose..total -$4k
-Run KK into AA aipf 4x all at 5/10..total -$4k
-Get money in w/ big made flush vs set and lose..total -$3500
-Various hands getting in good or just typical coolers (set over set, etc.).. total -$5k
So that's about $20k worth of losses that I really couldn't do much about. Obviously I've been running like crap the last 2 days as well although I've been winning. Just standard hands like aipf w AA vs KK or QQ and losing, KK vs AK and losing, etc. With the recent downswing I am down $7k for the month now so I'll have to really crank up the hrs if I want to finish with a good month. There's still about 20 days left so I'm capable of going on a heater and hopefully not in reverse like 3-4 days ago. I have been playing more hrs than usual which I'm happy about. Not much more to say about poker other than that these downswings happen and just gotta weather through them and try to play your A game consistently.
Irl saw Clash of the Titans and Date Night. Titans was meh and fairly disappointed. Liked the original better. Date Night was surprisingly very good and had us laughing throughout the movie. Pretty well written as well. Been watching the Masters as well and am rooting for Tiger. I wanted to bet on Tiger to win it all at around 7 to 1 but forgot about it. Happy now because he's a long shot to win it but I wouldn't be surprised if he did come back and win it tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, can I ever luckbox in an mtt?? We'll see as well.
after such a bad downswing.This is for the past 4 days. The 1st 2 days I lose close to $25k then the next 2 days I run like total crap even though I win some back. When I take such big losses I like to go through all my hhs where I won or lost $200+ and see if I made any mistakes and what I may have been doing wrong. I was somewhat happy in the fact that I did not make any big mistakes during this downswing. I did make about $5k in mistakes but they were not big obvious mistakes...eg calling a $1k shove on turn on a J hi board w QQ and running into KK.
I sorted out how much I could've saved if I played perfectly (which again was about $5k) and how much I was destined to lose no matter how perfect I played. This is during the 1st 2 days in the midst of the $25k downswing. Here is a brief list..
-KJs flops or turns 2nd nut flush and run into nut flush and both times 250bbs deep..total -$3500
-6x aipf w/ overpr vs underpr and lose..total -$4k
-Run KK into AA aipf 4x all at 5/10..total -$4k
-Get money in w/ big made flush vs set and lose..total -$3500
-Various hands getting in good or just typical coolers (set over set, etc.).. total -$5k
So that's about $20k worth of losses that I really couldn't do much about. Obviously I've been running like crap the last 2 days as well although I've been winning. Just standard hands like aipf w AA vs KK or QQ and losing, KK vs AK and losing, etc. With the recent downswing I am down $7k for the month now so I'll have to really crank up the hrs if I want to finish with a good month. There's still about 20 days left so I'm capable of going on a heater and hopefully not in reverse like 3-4 days ago. I have been playing more hrs than usual which I'm happy about. Not much more to say about poker other than that these downswings happen and just gotta weather through them and try to play your A game consistently.
Irl saw Clash of the Titans and Date Night. Titans was meh and fairly disappointed. Liked the original better. Date Night was surprisingly very good and had us laughing throughout the movie. Pretty well written as well. Been watching the Masters as well and am rooting for Tiger. I wanted to bet on Tiger to win it all at around 7 to 1 but forgot about it. Happy now because he's a long shot to win it but I wouldn't be surprised if he did come back and win it tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, can I ever luckbox in an mtt?? We'll see as well.
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