Finally back home after a long trip back from Vegas. The trip was Las Vegas --> Los Angeles --> Sydney --> Melbourne ... three flights, some sleep, lots of waiting, some reading & a few other bits & pieces in between.
Caught up with Theos Rippis again at the airport in Las Vegas. He had a decent time in Vegas, though I didn't get to spend much time with him during the trip (somewhat ironic as we were staying in the same hotel, albeit 9 floors apart). I hadn't seen him for about 5 years & it was good to catch up, albeit too briefly. I also saw Chuck Danielsson (my first Donkcast interviewee) & Jay Rosenkrantz of Deuces Cracked at the airport. The DC guys definitely made the trip more entertaining with their gatherings, whether it was poker, bowling or anything else. Definitely something I would recommend people do if they are heading to the WSOP in the future - although it is most definitely a poker trip, breaking it up with other activities & meeting new people is a definite plus.
The trip home allowed me to finish 'Treat Your Poker Like a Business' by Dusty Schmidt, which I had purchased on the trip. I found the book to be very interesting, primarily for the 'uncool' stuff at the beginning of the book where he examines (with small sections from Jared Tendler & his wife Nicole) the other side of poker - the stuff that happens away from the table. Although it may not have been entirely applicable to my situation, the thing it did was got me thinking about what I am doing with my life, why I am doing it & what I hope to accomplish as a result. Although I can't see myself spending hours online multi-tabling, the need to consider things away from the poker table is defintely something that I need to concern myself with. The strategy section was decent, though not outstanding, however it was the early material that I was most interested in. Something else I am definitely keen to see is the remaining episodes of the PartyPoker Big Game IV, which was recorded in London in April of this year. Not only is it intersting from a poker standpoint, and in particular the performance of David 'Viffer' Peat, but it also featured 20+ hours of commentary from Dusty Schmidt (after playing in the game early in the session).
Another fascinating book that I have started to read is John Fox's 'Play Poker, Quit Work & Sleep Till Noon'. I have only read the first few chapters, but its very much a book from before the era of political correctness, being written in 1977 (I have a printing from 1981), and has some absolute gems in the first few pages. In the chapter 'Who to play with, or how to spot the weakest players' come the following statements (written as main points, followed by a discussion, explaining the reasoning behind his classification):
4 - Do try to play in the same game with beautiful women
Discussion: Beautiful women tend to play badly themselves - even for women. They also tend to attract men into their game who are unfamiliar with it. Such men might come from a smaller game, or even from a totally different game such as lowball. Even if a man comes in from a higher game and possesses a higher level of skill then (sic) the average of the table, he will usually tend to play loosely or erratically in order to 'show off' and because the stakes are trivial to him. Finally, if a beautiful woman is in the game the concentration of all the men in the game will be lessened.
9 - Do play with women, particularly younger women
Discussion: Women are usually bad limit poker players. Contrary to what any other poker books or Sunday supplements may say, if you are interested in wining moneyyou should usually try to play against them every chance you get. Besides beating them personally, you can frequently use them to gain additional advantages over your male opponents. Women find it difficult to hold their cards correctly and frequently expose them.
10 - Do play against young people
Discussion: A player under twenty-five years of age just has not had time to get enough experience. Unless he is very tight, he stands little chance. For some reason, young, bearded, long haired types who you might think would be wild or radical players are frequently super tight.
14 - Do play against tattooed opponents
Discussion: Anyone foolish enough to allow themselves into getting tattooed should be well qualified to lose to almost anybody else.
16 - Do play against chain smokers
Discussion: Considering the state of medical knowledge of this day a chain smoker is obviously either stupid or compulsive. Both of these qualities are good to have in an opponent.
Of course I have to include my personal favourite form the list ...
13 - Do play against ghetto residents
Discussion: A general lack of educational opportunities and a milieu of ignorane and superstition give ghetto residents a handicap that extends even to the poker table.
Ah ... the days before political correctness!
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
More books, WSOP rail, poker & slowrolled by a bus!
To start the day I thought I'd make a return to the Gamblers Book Shop, primarily to get John Fox's book 'Play Poker, Quit Work & Sleep till noon' as I'd recently heard some good things about it, along with the fact that it seemed to be a rare book not available in many places. Of course to get there I had to catch two buses - the 202 down Flamingo, then the 110 on Eastern. Sounds fairly straightforward & it should have been. The issue was the transfer between buses - to get from the stop on Flamingo to the stop on Eastern, you need to walk 50 metres to the intersection, cross the road & then walk another 50 metres to the bus stop on Eastern. The first part was easy enough - got off the 202 & as I got to the intersection, I noticed the 110 at the opposite intersection waiting at a red light. Anyway, this means that I, along with the three or four others from the 202 who want to get on the 110, have to wait for the lights to change (and the bus to make it through the intersection to the bus stop) before we can cross the road. All seems to be going to plan - the bus stops & lets people off, the lights change & a group of us walk across the road ... and the bus waits at the stop. Fantastic! The driver has obviously seen that the other bus had just arrived & is waiting for those passengers to get to the 110. Anyway, as I am about 5 metres from the back of the bus (I've gone for the powerwalk option & lead the group fomr the 202) the engine is taken out of neutral ... no problem, I'm almost there. As I get to the middle of the bus it pulls out from the kerb & takes off! Talk about a slowroll! Not only do I get within literally 10 metres of the door, but I now have to wait another 20+ minutes for the next bus! So sick ....
Once I got to the bookshop I found the Fox book I was after & picked up a few other books while I was there, including the Doyle Brunson biography, which should be a good read if I ever get around to it. The return trip was relatively smooth, though I got withing 100 metres of the bus stop before the bus passed me, meaning I again had a 20 minute wait for the 110.
Rather than heading back to the strip, I took the 202 to the Rio, as I had a few mates who had made it through to day three who I wanted to check up on, as well as seeing what day 3 of the main event was like. Of course the two people I was looking for, Theos Rippis & Peter Aristidou, had both busted by the time I arrived, but it was good to see quite a few Aussies still in the hunt. Another disappointment of the day was the fact that the cash game area, which had been buzzing a week or so ago, was now almost dead, with barely 20 tables running ... and those tables were all no-limit holdem. So much for that idea!
After leaving the Rio, I dropped my shopping off in my room & headed to Caesars Palace for some poker (yes, I thought I'd try to fit some in). I found a seat in a $1/3 no-limit holdem game & won a few small pots before (as seems to be a habit) I had my huge pot for the evening. There were two limpers in front of me & I had AhQs on the button & raised to $15. Of course not only did the two limpers come along, but both blinds joined in making it five to the flop. The flop was Qh8h6d & it was checked to the cutoff who bet $40. I wasn't sure quite where I was in the hand, so decided to just call the $40. The blinds folded & the limper who was UTG+1 then made it $140 to go! The cutoff thought for a while before eventually folding. I had $37 left after the $100 raise & the guy who had put in the raise had made some strange plays earlier (including a call down with queen-high that beat his opponent's 8-high missed straight draw). I decided to put the rest of my stack in, hoping he just has a draw or a worse top pair rather than two pair or a set. The fact that he took more than half a second to call made me think I had a decent chance & when the board ran out Kh3s & I showed my hand & he mucked, so I took down a pot worth over $450 with one pair! I stayed for another 30 minutes or so, but was feeling tired, so left with a decent profit for the evening.
Next on the agenda: stuff ... will probably try to get another episode of the podcast done before I leave, though no guarentees. Maybe a tourist stop as well.
Once I got to the bookshop I found the Fox book I was after & picked up a few other books while I was there, including the Doyle Brunson biography, which should be a good read if I ever get around to it. The return trip was relatively smooth, though I got withing 100 metres of the bus stop before the bus passed me, meaning I again had a 20 minute wait for the 110.
Rather than heading back to the strip, I took the 202 to the Rio, as I had a few mates who had made it through to day three who I wanted to check up on, as well as seeing what day 3 of the main event was like. Of course the two people I was looking for, Theos Rippis & Peter Aristidou, had both busted by the time I arrived, but it was good to see quite a few Aussies still in the hunt. Another disappointment of the day was the fact that the cash game area, which had been buzzing a week or so ago, was now almost dead, with barely 20 tables running ... and those tables were all no-limit holdem. So much for that idea!
After leaving the Rio, I dropped my shopping off in my room & headed to Caesars Palace for some poker (yes, I thought I'd try to fit some in). I found a seat in a $1/3 no-limit holdem game & won a few small pots before (as seems to be a habit) I had my huge pot for the evening. There were two limpers in front of me & I had AhQs on the button & raised to $15. Of course not only did the two limpers come along, but both blinds joined in making it five to the flop. The flop was Qh8h6d & it was checked to the cutoff who bet $40. I wasn't sure quite where I was in the hand, so decided to just call the $40. The blinds folded & the limper who was UTG+1 then made it $140 to go! The cutoff thought for a while before eventually folding. I had $37 left after the $100 raise & the guy who had put in the raise had made some strange plays earlier (including a call down with queen-high that beat his opponent's 8-high missed straight draw). I decided to put the rest of my stack in, hoping he just has a draw or a worse top pair rather than two pair or a set. The fact that he took more than half a second to call made me think I had a decent chance & when the board ran out Kh3s & I showed my hand & he mucked, so I took down a pot worth over $450 with one pair! I stayed for another 30 minutes or so, but was feeling tired, so left with a decent profit for the evening.
Next on the agenda: stuff ... will probably try to get another episode of the podcast done before I leave, though no guarentees. Maybe a tourist stop as well.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Some books, some poker and why walking in Las Vegas is bad!
An interesting day today. I started off with a trip to the Gamblers Book Shop (yes, as opposed to the Gamblers General Store) where I picked up a few books, including Dusty Schmidt's 'Treat Your Poker Like A Business'; Jon Turner, Eric Lynch & Jon Van Fleet's 'Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time Volume 2'; a biography of Johnny Moss as well as some others. Although its a pretty small place, it is filled with all things poker & gambling, and has pretty much anything you can think of in relation to things you find in a casino.
Following the shop visit, I headed downtown, intending to play the 2pm satellite at Binions for the main event there. Of course I managed to miss the bus down Fremont Street by about a minute (the bus I was getting off pulled up at the stop just as the bus I wanted to catch left the stop on the cross street), so I decided in my infinite wisdom to walk down Fremont Street ... which sounded like a good idea at the time ... but of course this was before I realised it was about 1.50 in the afternoon in a desert! Anyway, long story short ... I managed to get to Binions at around 2.30, with a stopover at 7-11 for a drink, and *somewhat* sweaty! Of course this was not the best state (or time) to play a 2pm tournament, so after grabbing a seat to cool down, I took a seat at the $2/4 limit holdem table in the Binions Poker Room, planning to stay there until 5pm, when there was another Main Event satellite running. The limit holdem session went a bit better than expected & I managed to pick up over $100 in a little over 2 hours! Yep, the standard 13 big bets per hour ... just like Sklansky says! Anyway, this profitable session meant that the satellite was effectively a freeroll. The tournament had 68 runners, which meant there were 6 seats up for grabs, with some cash for 7th place. My tournament was going pretty well until my final hand. Although in hindsight I played the hand badly, I'm not too unhappy with the play given the structure of the tournament. I started the hand with 9600 playing 300/600 blinds. With 20 minute levels & blinds about to go up to 500/1000 there was a raise from early position to 1700. I looked down at AKo in the small blind & decided to re-raise to 4500. In hindsight I probably should have just shoved my 9600 in the middle, but I was looking to double up rather than simply picking up the blinds & the raise. I thought that the fact that I had put about half my stack in would be a sign to my opponent that I was not folding & expected my opponent to either re-raise (he had my covered by about 1500 or so) or fold. Of course this thought was completely wrong & my opponent decided that calling the 2500 extra would be a good play, so we went to the flop. I had mentally committed to the hand & the flop itself was (in theory) a pretty decent one for my hand - 585. Being a paired board, with such a low card being paired, meant that it was likely I had the best hand. The fact that he didn't re-raise suggested that he didn't have a pocket pair (unless I was already crushed with AA, but even that wouldn't make too much sense with the blinds going up so quickly) & it that was the case, he needed either a 5 or 8 to be in front of me ... and even if he did have an 8 I still had 2 overcards with 2 cards to come (not the best shape, but still with a reasonable chance. Of course my opponent had the good old 9d8d for top pair. A standard flat call pre-flop obviously ... and of course the dealer put another 8 out on the turn, removing any hope I had of winning the pot & sending me on my way from the 'place that made poker famous' in around 40th place.
Next on the agenda: Being a tourist with the exhibitions at the MGM & Luxor still to see! Maybe some poker as well ... for a change! Of course this is before the weekend of UFC!!
Following the shop visit, I headed downtown, intending to play the 2pm satellite at Binions for the main event there. Of course I managed to miss the bus down Fremont Street by about a minute (the bus I was getting off pulled up at the stop just as the bus I wanted to catch left the stop on the cross street), so I decided in my infinite wisdom to walk down Fremont Street ... which sounded like a good idea at the time ... but of course this was before I realised it was about 1.50 in the afternoon in a desert! Anyway, long story short ... I managed to get to Binions at around 2.30, with a stopover at 7-11 for a drink, and *somewhat* sweaty! Of course this was not the best state (or time) to play a 2pm tournament, so after grabbing a seat to cool down, I took a seat at the $2/4 limit holdem table in the Binions Poker Room, planning to stay there until 5pm, when there was another Main Event satellite running. The limit holdem session went a bit better than expected & I managed to pick up over $100 in a little over 2 hours! Yep, the standard 13 big bets per hour ... just like Sklansky says! Anyway, this profitable session meant that the satellite was effectively a freeroll. The tournament had 68 runners, which meant there were 6 seats up for grabs, with some cash for 7th place. My tournament was going pretty well until my final hand. Although in hindsight I played the hand badly, I'm not too unhappy with the play given the structure of the tournament. I started the hand with 9600 playing 300/600 blinds. With 20 minute levels & blinds about to go up to 500/1000 there was a raise from early position to 1700. I looked down at AKo in the small blind & decided to re-raise to 4500. In hindsight I probably should have just shoved my 9600 in the middle, but I was looking to double up rather than simply picking up the blinds & the raise. I thought that the fact that I had put about half my stack in would be a sign to my opponent that I was not folding & expected my opponent to either re-raise (he had my covered by about 1500 or so) or fold. Of course this thought was completely wrong & my opponent decided that calling the 2500 extra would be a good play, so we went to the flop. I had mentally committed to the hand & the flop itself was (in theory) a pretty decent one for my hand - 585. Being a paired board, with such a low card being paired, meant that it was likely I had the best hand. The fact that he didn't re-raise suggested that he didn't have a pocket pair (unless I was already crushed with AA, but even that wouldn't make too much sense with the blinds going up so quickly) & it that was the case, he needed either a 5 or 8 to be in front of me ... and even if he did have an 8 I still had 2 overcards with 2 cards to come (not the best shape, but still with a reasonable chance. Of course my opponent had the good old 9d8d for top pair. A standard flat call pre-flop obviously ... and of course the dealer put another 8 out on the turn, removing any hope I had of winning the pot & sending me on my way from the 'place that made poker famous' in around 40th place.
Next on the agenda: Being a tourist with the exhibitions at the MGM & Luxor still to see! Maybe some poker as well ... for a change! Of course this is before the weekend of UFC!!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
New Logo! Oh ... and some poker
The Donkcast now has a logo! Many thanks go to a former student of mine, Diarmaid Murray, who decided to spend some time with photoshop ... and the results are at the top of the page! Hope you like it.
I should also give a plug for Diarmaid's blog while I'm singing his praises http://anydaytuesday.wordpress.com/
In other news I played the 1pm deepstack tournament at the Rio today, ran horribly and busted early (yes, I was out before the first break). Of course I ran TT into AA on a 7-high board; rivered trips into a rivered flush; AK into AK to chop; and finally lost a race when my TT could not hold up against the might that is AK.
With that over I decided to head to the WSOP shop & picked up some gear (a hoodie, t-shirt, cap & magnet) before heading to the cash tables. I began with some limit holdem. Of course I continued the trend from the tournament, with players finding ways to beat whatever hand I had. Of course it would feel much worse because they would raise & bet with their draws, which inevitably got there on the river ... yet when I tried the same I simply got called down & missed, tabling the 'queen-high, I missed' or similar on the end, only to see the pot being shipped elsewhere.
I thought it was a good thing to be called for my HORSE table, however a combination of having similar things happen there, combined with some poor play on my part meant that I left the Rio tired & with a lighter wallet than I had arrived with. Of course mentally I keep telling myself to avoid problem spots, yet somehow I still keep finding myself in them after not following my own advice. T865 with a suit in Omaha hi-lo ... yes its been raised in front of me, but there are two callers & I'm in the big blind ... so rather than making the simple play & folding the hand like I should, I find the evil voice putting thoughts like 'well I am getting 7-to-1'; 'what if I flop a straight & it holds'; 'a ten-high flush might scoop a big pot' and the like, so I play the hand, wind up with some kind of dodgy draw (or even worse a dodgy combo draw), which either misses, or worse still, gets there & is no good ... and the chips I work hard for at other times seem to disappear twice as fast! Such is the dilemma of the poker player ...
**Correction** In yesterday's blog I said that I went to the Gamblers Book Shop, when in fact I went to the Gamblers General Store ... yes the first place does exist (and I might make a trip there some day), but it wasn't the place I went to.
Next on the agenda: Something relaxing (considering the Titanic Artifacts exhibition at the Luxor) or another bookshop trip, with some poker mixed in before another Deuces Cracked meet-up, this time at O'Sheas
I should also give a plug for Diarmaid's blog while I'm singing his praises http://anydaytuesday.wordpress.com/
In other news I played the 1pm deepstack tournament at the Rio today, ran horribly and busted early (yes, I was out before the first break). Of course I ran TT into AA on a 7-high board; rivered trips into a rivered flush; AK into AK to chop; and finally lost a race when my TT could not hold up against the might that is AK.
With that over I decided to head to the WSOP shop & picked up some gear (a hoodie, t-shirt, cap & magnet) before heading to the cash tables. I began with some limit holdem. Of course I continued the trend from the tournament, with players finding ways to beat whatever hand I had. Of course it would feel much worse because they would raise & bet with their draws, which inevitably got there on the river ... yet when I tried the same I simply got called down & missed, tabling the 'queen-high, I missed' or similar on the end, only to see the pot being shipped elsewhere.
I thought it was a good thing to be called for my HORSE table, however a combination of having similar things happen there, combined with some poor play on my part meant that I left the Rio tired & with a lighter wallet than I had arrived with. Of course mentally I keep telling myself to avoid problem spots, yet somehow I still keep finding myself in them after not following my own advice. T865 with a suit in Omaha hi-lo ... yes its been raised in front of me, but there are two callers & I'm in the big blind ... so rather than making the simple play & folding the hand like I should, I find the evil voice putting thoughts like 'well I am getting 7-to-1'; 'what if I flop a straight & it holds'; 'a ten-high flush might scoop a big pot' and the like, so I play the hand, wind up with some kind of dodgy draw (or even worse a dodgy combo draw), which either misses, or worse still, gets there & is no good ... and the chips I work hard for at other times seem to disappear twice as fast! Such is the dilemma of the poker player ...
**Correction** In yesterday's blog I said that I went to the Gamblers Book Shop, when in fact I went to the Gamblers General Store ... yes the first place does exist (and I might make a trip there some day), but it wasn't the place I went to.
Next on the agenda: Something relaxing (considering the Titanic Artifacts exhibition at the Luxor) or another bookshop trip, with some poker mixed in before another Deuces Cracked meet-up, this time at O'Sheas
Books & Limit Holdem
Today was a relatively quiet day. Caught up with Theos Rippis, a mate from my chess days in Sydney who has also become something of a poker player (he cashed in a $1500 NLHE at the 2008 WSOP) & spent some time at the Gamblers Book Shop. I picked up two books, the new David Sklansky essay-based book 'DUCY?' & 'Tales of Old Las Vegas' by Sam O'Connor, which I'm hoping can compare to 'When the Mob Ran Vegas' by Steve Fischer, which I picked up on my last trip to Las Vegas. When the Mob Ran Las Vegas covered for the most part Las Vegas in the 1950s & 60s & explained the growth of Las Vegas, from a desert into a thriving tourist destination. It was surprising to learn about the mob connections (from multiple parts of America) to many of the casinos in Las Vegas (including places like Caesars Palace & the Riviera) & interesting to discover some of the people & personalities of Las Vegas in those days. Another interesting part of Las Vegas of the 50s & 60s was the mob-enforced principle that no murders were to happen in Las Vegas, because it was not good for tourists & tourism, so any hits that were arranged by the mob were conducted outside Las Vegas. Really makes you wonder why some people who were on the hit list ever left Vegas ... but they did ... and often never returned.
Turning to poker, I played a session of $10/20 limit Holdem at the Rio. Nothing too eventful, though I did manage to run into runner-runner quads, with my AJ being no match for QQ on a A22QQ board. Also managed to repeat my trick from the other night, binking a set on the river on a board of AT83Q after getting four callers on the flop, checking the turn (I was the button) & getting in a raise on the river against a guy who I assume held AT by his reaction. I also had my name down for a mixed game, but was already at the limit table by the time I was called & was feeling tired, so just left the Rio when I got up from the holdem table, rather than taking a (now open) seat in the 415/30 mixed game.
It was also good to see another familiar face at the Rio, with Peter Aristidou playing a $2/5 NLHE game. I had a talk with him at the table while waiting for my name to be called. Peter played the Razz event earlier in the day & said he got nothing going & was out early. He was impressed with the Venetian (where he is staying with 'Carwash' George Cotaidas) & staggered at the standard serving size of meals over here, though he is missing good coffee! Although I didn't mention it, Peter would be a great interview of the podcast ... might see what I can do on that front.
Next on the agenda: Probably looking to play the 1pm Deepstack event at the Rio, with the backups options being cash games at the Rio, or the Pokerati/Deuces Cracked night at the Hard Rock Casino, which features a $1/2 PLO/NLHE mix
Turning to poker, I played a session of $10/20 limit Holdem at the Rio. Nothing too eventful, though I did manage to run into runner-runner quads, with my AJ being no match for QQ on a A22QQ board. Also managed to repeat my trick from the other night, binking a set on the river on a board of AT83Q after getting four callers on the flop, checking the turn (I was the button) & getting in a raise on the river against a guy who I assume held AT by his reaction. I also had my name down for a mixed game, but was already at the limit table by the time I was called & was feeling tired, so just left the Rio when I got up from the holdem table, rather than taking a (now open) seat in the 415/30 mixed game.
It was also good to see another familiar face at the Rio, with Peter Aristidou playing a $2/5 NLHE game. I had a talk with him at the table while waiting for my name to be called. Peter played the Razz event earlier in the day & said he got nothing going & was out early. He was impressed with the Venetian (where he is staying with 'Carwash' George Cotaidas) & staggered at the standard serving size of meals over here, though he is missing good coffee! Although I didn't mention it, Peter would be a great interview of the podcast ... might see what I can do on that front.
Next on the agenda: Probably looking to play the 1pm Deepstack event at the Rio, with the backups options being cash games at the Rio, or the Pokerati/Deuces Cracked night at the Hard Rock Casino, which features a $1/2 PLO/NLHE mix
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