I found a kind of interesting article on Card Runners recently by one of their guest pros named Zimba. The piece, entitled “The Myth of the Socially Non Redeeming Activity“, disputes not only the claim that poker is actively harmful but also the claim that it is, “inherently … Read full post
I’ve posted once before about my home game, (but something’s wrong with my permalinks- gonna have to figure that out, stupid Blogger), so I’m going to skip a lot of that introductory material. If you haven’t seen that, you can search for it (it’s in the February archives or under … Read full post
One of my goals for the year was to put some time into improving my play in poker games besides No Limit Hold ‘Em. I bought Poker Tracker Stud and spent a good deal of time in January playing Stud games, but since then I haven’t done much towards this … Read full post
I’ve been trying to balance a ton of stuff lately, between poker, my writing, my work with the Boston Debate League and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues, my finances, etc. I’m also kind of absent minded and procrastinatory, so I’ve started keeping a To Do list. It’s just … Read full post
This hand came up fairly deep in the Poker Stars $20 rebuy. We were well into the money, and I had been playing very aggressively since assumulating a big stack. The player to my immediate left had expressed his frustration with me in the chat box and called or raised … Read full post
Poker Stars has recently implemented some very welcome changes to the structure of some of their most popular tournaments, including the weekly Million Dollar Guarantee and many of their daily guaranteed prize pool tournaments.
For those who don’t know, the ‘structure’ of a poker tournament refers to the number of … Read full post
I started watching the Sopranos after receiving the first two seasons on DVD for Christmas my senior year of college. My roommate, Logan, and I were hooked immediately, and we soon dragged our friend Jen in as well. At that time, Season Four had just come out on DVD, so … Read full post
I elected not to torture myself playing the big Sunday tournaments today, opting instead for Easter brunch with the girlfriend followed by Sopranos with friends in the evening.
Brunch was at the Doubletree Suites in Cambridge. It was a nice spread, with a pretty wide variety of breakfast, lunch, … Read full post
I played this hand early in a $650 WSOP satellite. My opponent seemed to quite loose, having already limped K9s pre-flop, overcalled a raise, and paid off two streets on an AKx board. I tried to take him to value town with a pretty sizeable river shove:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em … Read full post
Yesterday I made a spur of the moment decision (read: gamble) to buy in direct to a $1000 WSOP satellite on Poker Stars. The play was plenty weak, and in fact I doubled up on the first orbit with QQ versus AQ on a Q-high board. Unfortunately, within half an … Read full post
After reading Adam Junglen’s Monte Carlo trip report, I decided to set a little trap of my own with Ace-Jack. It was fairly early in a $50 freezeout on Poker Stars. The table chipleader had open limped from MP1, and then the action folded to me on the CO … Read full post
I came across this pretty cool article about a student I worked with when I was an administrator for the Chicago Debate League. Chime Asonye was definitely one of the most ambitious and talented of the hundreds of debaters in that League, and even after I left Chicago and … Read full post
A lot of you may have read this already, but for anyone who hasn’t, I encourage you to visit Adam Junglen’s blog and read his report from European Poker Tour Monte Carlo. I don’t want to ruin any of the suspense by saying more than this, but he is a … Read full post
In my last post, I talked about playing a big draw and the importance of being the one who puts in the last bet. Today I’m going to look at a hand where I played a big draw in just the opposite way, betting the flop in a situation where … Read full post
Even though it’s not from a tournament, this hand that I played last night illustrates a key concept from my recent article, “The Last Bet“, which appears in the April issue of 2+2 Magazine. In this hand, I flop two overcards and a flush draw against a … Read full post
I’ve got another article in this month’s 2+2 internet magazine, entitled The Last Bet. Please take a look at it and let me know what you think either by leaving a comment here or by posting in my thread in the 2+2 Magazine Forum.
In case you missed … Read full post
Gavin Griffin wins EPT Barcelona, good for 1,850,000 euros, or nearly $2.5 million. Wowowowowow.… Read full post
Getting fancy isn’t the only way to abuse the min-re-raisers.
About 3 hours into a $650 WSOP satellite on Stars. Blinds were 100/200 no ante. UTG+1 raises to 600, MP1 makes it 1400. I’ve seen him min-re-raise KK before. I had about 9000 and he covered. I folded QQ when … Read full post
Warning: shameless brag ahead.
It’s irrational, I know, but like a few others, I have a real hatred for the min-re-raise. I guess I should be more tolerant since it’s really an awful play, telling your opponents you have a monster hand while simultaneously giving them good direct + implied … Read full post
This hand comes from yesterday’s $300 6-max tournament on Full Tilt. This would be a great tournament if it got more runners, as 6-max tables make for deeper stacks and more opportunities to play pots. Anyway, I don’t remember exact stack sizes, but blinds were around 250/500, and we each … Read full post
I’ve been wanting to improve my trickiness/creativity on the river, and in particular I think I need to add more checkraise bluffing into the mix. I like being able to check-raise the river for value, just because there are situations where that’s the best option. However, if my river check-raises … Read full post
I’m very fortunate that Bond18 from 2+2, who had been dominating online tournaments lately as milwkid on Poker Stars and muckthenuts on most other sites, has chosen a hand history that I submitted to him as one of the ones he will review. Basically he put out an open call … Read full post
You may have noticed that I’ve updated the links section in the left sidebar. In particular, I’ve added some good blogs that I’ve started reading and deleted a few that hadn’t been updated in ages. This isn’t in any way a sleight to the authors of those blogs, who in … Read full post
When checking out the 2/4 NL games on FTP today, I saw that Full Tilt pro Lynette Chan was playing on several of them. I didn’t really know anything about her, but with a few very important exceptions (Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius), FTP pros tend not to be particularly good … Read full post
I played a few tables of 2/4 NL last night while finishing off the last tournament of a block I started in the early afternoon. I ran into another player who was intent on playing mediocre hands out of position against me, so I took the opportunity to experiment with … Read full post
Full Tilt has had a Beta version of its software available with resizable tables for some time, but it’s now been officially released. This might seem like good news for someone who plays up to eight tables of poker at once, as this will make it easier to fit them … Read full post
If you haven’t already, you should check out this article from Phil Galfond (2+2’s Jman, one of the best NLHE players online) in the latest issue of Bluff magazine. It’s an excellent discussion of how to think in terms of ranges of hands and how mixing up your range can … Read full post
I woke around 6 AM this morning so that I’d have time to shower, eat, and make the two hour drive to Foxwoods and arrive by 9AM. Though the $2,000 tournament didn’t start until 9, I needed to get a Wampum Rewards card (lost my old one) and register, and … Read full post
Saturday was the fourth Boston Debate League tournament of the 2006-07 season, the last before our two-day City Championships event. It got off to a rocky start. I had to bring coffee, donuts, awards, a computer, and a printer with me, which meant that I had to borrow my girlfriend’s … Read full post
Since I’m going to be getting up early tomorrow and hopefully spending the entire day playing the $2K at Foxwoods, I decided to pass on playing the big Sunday tournaments today. Another consideration was that the Sunday Million on Poker Stars today was a $1000 buy-in, which I didn’t really … Read full post
Got off to a good start in a bunch of stuff today but ended up cashing in nothing (well, I got my money back in the WSOP double shoot-out). I don’t even really remember any interesting hands, I guess this one kind of was from the UB $100:
Blinds are … Read full post
I found myself playing some 2/4 NL heads up games yesterday and really enjoying it. From time to time, I’ve gone through phases where I was really into heads up play. I think these are periods where I’m improving a lot as a poker player, because heads up really does … Read full post
I had some Mandalay Bay chips that I forgot to cash in on Saturday, and since I needed to go there anyway, I decided to check out their game. The guy keeping the wait list when I first got there didn’t seem to speak English very well, and I couldn’t … Read full post
Joe, Logan, and Darren all left on Sunday, which meant we had to check out of the Venetian. I was staying another night, but at the MGM, so the plan was for them to move all of their stuff into my room there. Since they didn’t get in until like … Read full post
Although it was after 5AM Saturday morning when we went to bed, I woke up in time to play the $500 Noon tournament feeling not the least bit hungover. It may have been better if I slept through it, though. Early on, I made a classic internet donkey mistake and … Read full post
I woke around 8AM Friday morning, it being 11 AM my time. When I finished showering and dressing, Logan was awake as well. Together we went across the street to the Mirage buffet.
Though the selection at breakfast wasn’t great, the food was quite good for a buffet. The bacon … Read full post
Ugh, I started working on this yesterday and somehow managed not to save what I had done. My apologies if laziness and irritation compel me to write less well than usual.
My friend Logan, his roommate Joe, and a regular from our poker game named Darren had been planning to … Read full post
I usually have poker night with friends on Wednesday, but as they left for Vegas yesterday (I’m leaving tonight to meet them out there), it was cancelled, giving me a rare opportunity to play the Stars Wednesday $150K guarantee.
Since I was playing that, I signed up for a whole … Read full post
I’ve been wanting to right for a while about an interesting concept I came across on Tommy Angelo’s website, in an article entitled Reciprocality: The Cause of Profit in Poker. The idea is that the long-term profit that a good poker player makes doesn’t come from suckouts or … Read full post
I dropped a bunch of money on tournament buyins yesterday, and today I’ve got nothing to show for it but one shallow cash. If I recall correctly, I played:
Bodog 100K
Stars $1.5 Million
UB whatever their guarantee is
FTP 400K
Stars WSOP satellite
Stars Second Chance
FTP Mulligan
I … Read full post
I won the Poker Stars $100 deep stack last night for about $7000. The structure on these is phenomenal: I had over 100 BB’s for more than half the tournament, including much of the final table. Playing a deep stacked final table is really a great experience, and a good … Read full post
I put in another session of 8-tabling 1/2 NL yesterday. An interesting situation came up where my lack of familiarity with the standard of play at these stakes may have hurt me.
As a big of an introduction, I should say that the tables yesterday were not nearly as juicy … Read full post
On Thursday I final tabled both the $160 double shoot-out and the $30 rebuy WSOP satellites but couldn’t seal the deal, finisihing 5/81 in the shoot-out and 7/169 in the rebuy. These winner-take-all satellites are really brutal. Although theoretically they do give an edge to the best players in the … Read full post
I was 8-tabling 1/2 NL on Wednesday, something I’ve decided to do for a while because I’ve been running kind of bad and it’s starting to stress me a bit and influence my decision making. Also, I’ve wanted to improve my multi-tabling skills for a while, and I don’t want … Read full post
Every day that I play poker, I’m going to try to post at least one interesting hand here along with my thought process. I hope some of you will respond with questions or criticism.
The first one will be a quick one that probably did not matter at all in … Read full post
A piece that I wrote, entitled “Attacking and Defending Dead Money in Tournament Poker“, appears in this month’s issue of Two Plus Two Internet Magazine. Although getting published in an internet magazine isn’t quite as prestigious as appearing in print, Two Plus Two Publishing is the largest … Read full post
In the wake of last year’s legislation, there was some concern that Harrah’s would not accept internet qualifiers into the World Series of Poker this year. Then again, this has apparently technically been their policy for a long time, and the sites have simply had some third party pay the … Read full post
First, it sounds like Full Tilt will once again be able to offer withdrawal by check to its US customers. According to FTPSean, their rep on the 2+2 message boards,
“Starting this week, our check service will be upgraded in the following ways:
* Checks delivered by regular mail should … Read full post
I know I said I wasn’t going to use the blog to whine about stuff, but I’m making an exception, you’ll see why. The last few Saturdays I’ve either been out of town or had Boston Debate League obligations, so this was the first time in like a month that … Read full post
My friend Logan is a third-year law student at Harvard and hosts a poker game most Wednesday nights. This is the third year he’s had it, and it’s evolution has been interesting. Three years ago, it was a $.25/$.50 Pot Limit Hold ‘Em game with a $25 buy-in. I remember … Read full post
After my most recent post about trying to limit the influence that day-to-day poker swings have on my mood and emotional state, I found two interesting comments on the blogs of other poker players. The first is from Curtains:
“Probably the true key is to stop getting happy when … Read full post
I’m just back from a week out West with Emily. Though we flew in and out of Vegas and stayed there Friday night, I didn’t end up playing any poker. Mostly we were there hiking, enjoying some warm weather (while Boston was getting nailed with the worst they’ve had all … Read full post
I wake early on Saturday morning in order to get to Faneuil Hall by 8:45. The event doesn’t start until 11, but I’ve arranged for the debaters to come in early in order to work with some volunteers who will help them “put finishing touches” on their presentations. This is … Read full post
Some quick background for those who don’t know this already: I was a nationally competitive debater in high school and college. In a lot of ways, I credit debate for making me the person I am now: confident, smart, socially conscious, well-read, and ethical. Debate helped me in school and … Read full post
No Vendar Flores
I didn’t get to bed until 4AM last night, but I suck at sleeping in and wake around 9. For once there is no rain, and I am really not bummed about busting on day 1 of the tournament, since I now have two more days to … Read full post
I show up early at the casino to make sure I have time to register, and who should be next to me in line but Yurian? We’ve got time to kill, so we get lunch along the waterfront. I let him choose the place, and he selects what is essentially … Read full post
Once again I awake to pouring rain, but yesterday the precipitation tapered off by mid-afternoon, so I don’t stress about it and just go downstairs to see what our free breakfast buffet looks like. My understanding was that the continental breakfast you get at an American hotel (coffee, juice, pre-packaged … Read full post
The Rain in Spain
When I wake up, it is morning, and we are about to land in Barcelona. I meet up with 10K-in-Clay, whose real name is Dan, and his girlfriend, Danielle (Dan and Danielle… cute, but maybe a little too cute). Dan is a 19-year old Canadian about … Read full post
I take a short flight from Boston to Philadelphia, then a long one from Philadelphia to Barcelona. 2p2’er 10K-in-Clay is on this flight and has told me I should be able to recognize him because he’ll be with his purple-haired girlfriend. I introduce myself briefly, agree to split a cab … Read full post
I qualified for EPT Barcelona largely by chance. After having a great time and cashing at the WSOP, I had the desire to play more big live tournaments and the bankroll to take some shots at them. Unfortunately Poker Stars runs most of their satellites on weekends, and I rarely … Read full post
I get back to my room about 2AM Friday night, exhausted from another long day of poker, but there are no more days off, and I need to be in my seat at the Rio and ready to play at noon on Saturday. I wake at 9AM, head down to … Read full post
About 1150 players begin play today, and 873 will win a prize. Obviously no one wants to finish 874th, and so an interesting dynamic will develop: some players, especially those with the fewest chips, will tighten up considerably, passing up even rather favorable opportunities for fear of going home empty-handed. … Read full post
Thursday night I’ve got a meet-up with a contingent of online poker players with whom I regularly discuss poker strategy. This is my first time meeting most of them in person, and it was a blast. Unfortunately, I had pre-paid $55 for the event, which was to include entree (salad, … Read full post
