I'm in Sydney at the moment, spending some time with the family over Christmas. I'm sure I'll catch up with many of my Sydney friends while in town as well.
I've also got a few things happening over the next month ... two chess tournaments - one in Melbourne (the Canterbury Summer Swiss) & one in Sydney (the Australian Open) ... a poker homegame (let me know if you're interested in attending) ... as well as the Aussie Millions!
As far as the chess stuff goes, I would like to do some sort of blogging/podcast type thing around it. I suspect this may involve setting up another blog, though it might also end up here, but either way I'll let you know.
As for the 'you' ... there's been 8 downloads of the latest episode, which only went up about a week ago, so I suppose that means there's at least 8 people who read the blog & listen to the podcast (or perhaps fewer readers/listeners who have trouble downloading & need to download multiple times ... but I'll go with the optimistic numbers!) ... one would almost call it a following, although I think such terms should be reserved for times when you run out of fingers when counting.
As for the Deuces Cracked 50,000 hand challenge, I'm currently around 11,500 hands in and down about $40. I've been going in the right direction lately playing micro-NLHE, which has seen something of a recovery from my earlier efforts with Rush poker & limit holdem, where I ran horribly. At the moment, I think the leaders in the challenge are up around $300, so I'm not entirely out of the running yet, although the graph needs to keep heading in the right direction.
I'm sure I'll also be playing some poker while in Sydney & I'll let you know how it goes.
If I don't get around to updating beforehand ... have a great festive season!
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Showing posts with label update. Show all posts
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
A poker update: Online & live
I've tried playing a lot more online this week, with varying degrees of success. Overall I'm slightly ahead (and by slightly I mean <$20 ahead), but I'm really struggling to come to grips with the differences between live & online play. The extra hands & multi-tabling hasn't been much of a problem as I've only been playing limit poker (mostly holdem, though I did manage about an hour of 2-7 triple draw as well), so its simply fold, call/check, bet/raise ... no need to concern myself with how much to bet or raise, stack sizes, stack-to-pot ratios, and other assorted issues of no limit holdem. The main issue for me at the moment is using a HUD. I briefly used a HUD when I was playing about 1.5-2 years ago, but I was only playing one table at a time then & online poker developed into more of a thing to pass the time rather than a serious money-making venture, so I didn't feel there was much of a need. Obviously since then, and adding the fact that I want to take my online poker more seriously, I realised that a HUD would be something necessary in order for me to progress online. With this new development comes issue ... yes, I now have a bunch of numbers on my opponents at the table ... the issue is how to use that information - what do the numbers mean, how do they help categorise opponents, how can they be used to develop ranges for opponents, etc. I feel like I need to re-learn poker for this 'new' environment.
Guess its something for the future ...
The other issues with online poker are two-fold ... I'm on a computer with the internet running ... this means that distractions are literally a mouse-click away ... whether it is Facebook, YouTube, ICC (chess), Settlers of Catan or something else, there's always the possibility of doing something else immediately ... I suppose this issue can be solved by discipline & making sure that when I'm playing poker, that is all I'm doing!
The other issue is that live poker is so much more profitable! Add in the fact that its something I'm far more comfortable with & it seems like a no-brainer! Why slave away in front of a computer for hours, only to come away say $30 to the good (and of course the money is 'online', with further hoops & hurdles to overcome before it becomes cash in hand), when you can go for a drive to the casino & do nothing special & almost definitely lock up a win of some kind, which is often in the $300+ mark.
This leads me into a big hand I played tonight at Crown int he $2/3NL game.
There was a limp from UTG+1, limp from the hijack & I raised in the cutoff to $12 with AcQd. The button, SB, BB & the two limpers all called to make it 6 to the flop. KcJc6s & it is checked through. I didn't feel the need to c-bet on this flop as I'm only going to get called by a hand that I'm behind & there are a lot of cards that could get me in trouble on the tun if I were to bet & inflate the pot with just ace-high.
Anyway, the turn is the Tc, so there is a flush possible, though I now have a broadway straight (with the re-draw to the nut straight). Of course at the time I didn't realise I had the Ac ... I just knew I had Aqo & had turned broadway. Anyway, it is checked to the hijack (an old guy who had been playing fairly snugly) who bet $15. I raised to $35 & was called by the SB (a regular in the 2/3 game who is a decent, solid player, but also capable of making a move from time to time). The old guy folds & we are heads-up to the river.
The river is the 2c, making the final board KcJc6sTc2c. The SB now leads out for $60! I tried to remain composed as I re-raised to $130. The SB thought for a little while and then moved all-in! I had about $275 behind & he had me covered! I considered my options ... I had the nut flush right? No paired board ... what could beat me? Qc9c? That was it. Could he have the straight flush? I actually said out load 'do you *really* have Q9 of clubs?' & after another 10 seconds thought said 'call' ... only to be shown the hand I feared ... Qc9c for a straight flush! Ouch!
With the value of hindsight, I should have been able to either a) just call the river (yes, a sick call, but a good one); or b) fold to the shove (and be really sick & fold the Ac face-up!). What makes me say this? Simply because we have played with each other before & I respect his game & he seemed to respect my game. With the Ac in my hand & the K, J & T of clubs on the board ... what POSSIBLE hand could he be betting the river with? After I have shown strength from the turn & river (as well as pre-flop), could he REALLY be confident betting the river with just the bare Qc? Possible, but unlikely. With no paired board, there is no full house possibility ... and he did just check-call 2 bets on the turn & lead the river ... end result: he MUST have either the straight flush or air ... and is looks like a really bad board to be betting air! Guess that was my Mike McDermott moment for the evening ... I didn't properly think through the hand at the time & it cost me a big pot. I managed to win much of what I had lost in that pot back by the end of the night, but still left slightly down for the evening. Oh well ... guess I'll think it through better next time!
Guess its something for the future ...
The other issues with online poker are two-fold ... I'm on a computer with the internet running ... this means that distractions are literally a mouse-click away ... whether it is Facebook, YouTube, ICC (chess), Settlers of Catan or something else, there's always the possibility of doing something else immediately ... I suppose this issue can be solved by discipline & making sure that when I'm playing poker, that is all I'm doing!
The other issue is that live poker is so much more profitable! Add in the fact that its something I'm far more comfortable with & it seems like a no-brainer! Why slave away in front of a computer for hours, only to come away say $30 to the good (and of course the money is 'online', with further hoops & hurdles to overcome before it becomes cash in hand), when you can go for a drive to the casino & do nothing special & almost definitely lock up a win of some kind, which is often in the $300+ mark.
This leads me into a big hand I played tonight at Crown int he $2/3NL game.
There was a limp from UTG+1, limp from the hijack & I raised in the cutoff to $12 with AcQd. The button, SB, BB & the two limpers all called to make it 6 to the flop. KcJc6s & it is checked through. I didn't feel the need to c-bet on this flop as I'm only going to get called by a hand that I'm behind & there are a lot of cards that could get me in trouble on the tun if I were to bet & inflate the pot with just ace-high.
Anyway, the turn is the Tc, so there is a flush possible, though I now have a broadway straight (with the re-draw to the nut straight). Of course at the time I didn't realise I had the Ac ... I just knew I had Aqo & had turned broadway. Anyway, it is checked to the hijack (an old guy who had been playing fairly snugly) who bet $15. I raised to $35 & was called by the SB (a regular in the 2/3 game who is a decent, solid player, but also capable of making a move from time to time). The old guy folds & we are heads-up to the river.
The river is the 2c, making the final board KcJc6sTc2c. The SB now leads out for $60! I tried to remain composed as I re-raised to $130. The SB thought for a little while and then moved all-in! I had about $275 behind & he had me covered! I considered my options ... I had the nut flush right? No paired board ... what could beat me? Qc9c? That was it. Could he have the straight flush? I actually said out load 'do you *really* have Q9 of clubs?' & after another 10 seconds thought said 'call' ... only to be shown the hand I feared ... Qc9c for a straight flush! Ouch!
With the value of hindsight, I should have been able to either a) just call the river (yes, a sick call, but a good one); or b) fold to the shove (and be really sick & fold the Ac face-up!). What makes me say this? Simply because we have played with each other before & I respect his game & he seemed to respect my game. With the Ac in my hand & the K, J & T of clubs on the board ... what POSSIBLE hand could he be betting the river with? After I have shown strength from the turn & river (as well as pre-flop), could he REALLY be confident betting the river with just the bare Qc? Possible, but unlikely. With no paired board, there is no full house possibility ... and he did just check-call 2 bets on the turn & lead the river ... end result: he MUST have either the straight flush or air ... and is looks like a really bad board to be betting air! Guess that was my Mike McDermott moment for the evening ... I didn't properly think through the hand at the time & it cost me a big pot. I managed to win much of what I had lost in that pot back by the end of the night, but still left slightly down for the evening. Oh well ... guess I'll think it through better next time!
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