Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Gareth quits his job. Nate folds an overpair. Andrew agrees to let Gareth come back on the show.
Gareth’s last appearance on the show was Episode 123. For those who don’t know who he is, his first appearance was Episode 6.
Timestamps
0:30 – hello & welcome
46:10 – strategy: folding an overpair
Strategy
Blinds 300/600/75. Hero (12K) opens to 1450 with Kd Kh. Late middle position (15K), SB (10K), and BB (20K) call.
T96cc. Check, check, check, 3000, fold, shove for 15K, Hero folds.
What book was Gareth talking about?
The one that didn’t fall out of the trunk after all.
The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien
Bought.
I’m also very interested in All Nate’s Hands Revealed. It’s possible to imagine it in a range of sparkly formats, but I’ll say this: it’s an awful lot easier to listen superficially and not take in strategy in almost all formats that aren’t the written (& diagrammed) word. As much as I love the strategy on this podcast and elsewhere, reading isa a more active mode of engagement and hence more naturally conducive to concentration than listening/watching,
loved this interview, Gareth is a funny guy, could be a stand up comedian. I wonder what drugs he is on, I think its not just weed. He sounds quite different than on his other appearances. Wish him all the best in his pursuits.
Coffee is drug of choice. I don’t touch bud tbh. Sometimes I have too much red wine.
I was a bit more giggly I think in a bit of an off mood for sure, nothing synthetically altered :). Thanks for the good wishes.
Gareth, funny video for you in Norwegian:
Women’s World Cup 2015: Norway women make spoof documentary
http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/33212249
I’m really looking forward to getting Nate’s book. I think a PDF is fine, but I’d be willing to shell out a few extra dollars for a autographed copy, in the style of a mimeographed zine.
Re: the strategy hand, you said that you had just gotten done shoving and had a stack where you want to go back to normal raises. Do you have a particular BB cut-off for this or is it table dependent?
Gareth,
Well done on the marathon (I’ll let you spoil it for the TPP faithful).
However it turned out, I think the payout should be doubled if in person, so as to cover more than one round.
Nate,
I’d read that in any format, but I have terrible retention. Picture books are my favorite.
I can confirm that Gareth was indeed murdering ice-cream prior to his race.
Can a man really be #nitcast approved when he voluntarily resides in Norway? The cost of living is rough
Gareth is Ferris Bueller. Discuss….
GC, You didn’t like the job. You haven’t committed to or created any other human being who would require you to do something for money that you otherwise wouldn’t want to do. This alone seems like a good enough reason to do what makes you happy.
Retire early and often.
Nate, in the KK hand,
Were you more worried about LP’s hand than BB’s? I imagine that since his tells are so pronounced, you definitely could have gotten a strong read on him once BB shoved just by tanking a bit then glancing left again.
So much wisdom.
Thanks my man.
Honestly on this one I would also point the blame at university/high school and the indoctrination I was subject to as towards their necessity and merits. Propaganda by people pretending to knowledge they couldn’t possibly possess. I thought, I didn’t finish school, I have no degree, when am I ever going to get a job opportunity like this again given that I am a second class citizen in the job market? How could I throw away a job the people my age who actually graduated would kill for?
I would be lying if that didn’t go through my mind. While it may not have been dominant, it was a factor.
But as time goes on, not once have my high school teachers or professors been vindicated. At every turn they are proven to be pretenders to true knowledge, telling other people how to live on the basis of regurgitated ideology. So entitled they are, they get paid to teach and think people who have already paid up must be compelled to listen to them on top of that!
Couple of things.
First, I agree for the most part with what you say about teachers. I have the benefit of having been on both sides of the fence. Part rebellious student. Part practical advise giver for hire. Even when I was a teacher trying to play the straight and narrow game, I eventually said fuck it and quit to play poker. Woulda been tough for me to advise my students to do differently.
Second, your post reminds me of a story from the 4 Hour Work Week…
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.
The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”
“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”
“Millions – then what?”
The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
This story, that book, and all you evil poker players changed/saved my life. Keep bangin on the system G.
Nice comment!
LP looked alert and interested while I was thinking. It didn’t change my assessment of the situation. I heartily agree that not looking back at LP would be a real mistake here.
I enjoyed the episode.
From one virtually unemployable college dropout to another, I’d like to wish Gareth the best of luck with his writing and traveling. Keep on running!
Nate’s e-book project sounds great too, so I hope that reaches fruition.
By the way, I’ve been using ProPokerTools to study the strategy hand a bit. A few conclusions:
(1) As we discussed on air, it really matters *a lot* that BB can have any two or close to any two. More specifically, the fact that (IMO) he can have any Ten or any suited hand puts me in much better shape. I do think it’s a mistake to say he’ll always play every ten this way, but OOP I think k/r is the best default assumption. Moving the BB’s preflop range from wide to almost-any-two changes my equity in a 3-way all-in something like 3-5%.
(2) With very pessimistic assumptions–LP never has JJ; LP calls every time; BB doesn’t play most of his pair + draws like this; LP would have folded his KT-type hands before the flop but would have called with medium-or-better pairs; you can make this fold breakeven or good. That’s just a fancy way of saying: if LP has it almost every time, and if he can’t have most of the one-pair hands that “it” includes, then KK is in trouble. That is not very realistic. The worst equity I got for KK in a sort-of-realistic 3-way scenario is 27%. KK has about 20% in situations where it goes up against the “has-it” part of a reasonable-ish LP range and a wide BB range.
(3) BB’s preflop range is so wide that the times when I end up heads-up by calling are really good for me. I still think that LP isn’t folding all that often, but it’s enough to affect the EV of calling significantly.
All make sense imo.
Cool episode. Gareth, you got no kids or wife and stack of cash, so go do it and don’t look back. Props. Don’t burn the bridge though, leave the job gracefully and thoughtfully. It’s been good to you and you never know how life goes. Maybe by not having that job you will reignite some interest in playing poker. What a life, traveling and writing, grinding when you feel like it. You’re not a kid going to degen, hell you gotta go for that for a year or two at least! good luck. BTW, I recommend Cuba, soon. Hasta!
– R