It’s been a while, but with only one month left in the year, it’s time to assess my progress on my goals for the year and consider how I should allocate my remaining time.
Goal 1: Average 15 Hours/Week Playing My “Regular” Games
My latest poker strategy article, Joseph Cheong WSOP Final Table “Blow Up“, has just been published in the December 2010 issue of 2+2 Magazine. It’s an in-depth analysis of the complex factors at play in the infamous A7 vs. QQ hand, many of which have been overlooked by … Read full post
Sunday’s Washington Post ran an article on high school poker clubs, after-school activities where teens learn math skills by playing poker:
… Read full postFletcher had been on a tear during the past few meetings of the high school poker club – part of a nascent effort nationwide to take the game
I recently asked for reader opinions regarding a hand where I had top pair until the river, which brought an Ace but also missed a possible flush draw. Here I’m posting the results and my thoughts. If you haven’t already offered your own thoughts, please follow the link above … Read full post
Happy Thanksgiving! Here in the US, today is a day for reflecting on all that you’re thankful for in life. Here’s my poker list:
10. Sharron Angle- Thanks for being so goddamn crazy that you couldn’t even get elected as a Republican in Nevada during the 2010 midterms. If anyone … Read full post
Sometimes Villains just spaz out and throw crazy bluff raises at you:
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (BB) ($2289.50)
SB ($2098.50)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 4
, 4
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40
Flop: ($120) A… Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (2 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (BB) ($3307.50)
SB ($2010)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 3, 3
SB bets $60, Hero calls $40
Flop: ($120) 5
, 4, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, SB bets $100, … Read full post
We had some fun rivering quads, so let’s play this game again.
Villain views me as aggressive but not crazy. It is extremely unlikely that he is checking behind either a strong made hand or a strong draw on the flop, and he knows that I know that. Other … Read full post
Villain tells me had 6d 4d, which seems plausible:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $20.00 BB (6 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP ($7477)
CO ($2314)
Hero (Button) ($6720)
SB ($6379)
BB ($2207)
UTG ($9558.50)
Preflop: Hero is Button with A, K
1 fold, MP bets … Read full post
I started things off with a solid cold decking, and within minutes I was 3rd overall:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em Tournament, 10/20 Blinds 3 Ante (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG (t6043)
UTG+1 (t6006)
MP1 (t6253)
MP2 (t5929)
MP3 (t5889)
CO (t5949)
Button (t5949)
SB (t6133)
Hero … Read full post
One of my criticisms of Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time, which I generally liked, was that the authors neglected opportunities to play Ace-high for showdown value and turned such hands into a bluff too frequently. Today I had the misfortune of having one of the authors … Read full post
Gary Wise’s new article on ESPN.com, Choosing Between Career and Home, about the recent decisions by Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars to forbid residents of Washington state from playing on their sites. Obviously this decision, made to comply with a long-standing Washington law making online poker a felony, … Read full post
A lot of players are torn about what to do when they know an opponent is frequently betting the flop without a hand. Is it better to float, or to bluff-raise? I’ve written a strategy article on the subject, but in the 1K FTOPS tonight, I had the chance to … Read full post
This wasn’t anything that I planned from the get-go. It was just that on each street, I kept feeling like he could be weak enough for an underbet to show a profit. I almost shoved the turn, and then I was like, “Screw it, 80% of what he folds to … Read full post
Before I became a serious poker player, I loved to watch poker on TV. Now, I can hardly stand it. I did watch a few episodes of this year’s WSOP broadcast, mostly from the days I expected to be on there and for the final table coverage. It’s clearly increased … Read full post
About 3 hours into today’s $300 6-max, I got moved to a table with two Pocket Fives superstars. One was to my immediate right, and one two seats to my left. We tangled in a few interesting spots, and while I definitely got the best of the one on my … Read full post
Finished a very frustrating 12/500 in this, capping off a long and shitty day of poker. I was in very good shape approaching the bubble, then got scooped in two sizable pots to get busted down to average as we approach the final two tables. Cyndy Violette took two more … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP3 ($126.70)
CO ($508.10)
Button ($470.80)
SB ($443.50)
Hero (BB) ($823)
UTG ($469.40)
UTG+1 ($793.10)
MP1 ($400)
MP2 ($376.90)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 9, 10
1 fold, UTG+1 bets $12, 4 … Read full post
…and it isn’t me. Or you. Unless Jonathan Duhamel is reading this, in which case, congratulations, bro!
In honor of the event’s conclusion, we’ve now got up a page with links to my 2010 WSOP trip report plus interviews and ESPN appearances.
Maybe next year…… Read full post
FWIW I shouldn’t have 3-bet this guy pre-flop because he rarely calls but often 4-bets and KQs isn’t quite so good that I’m happy about 3-bet-calling it (although I did after remembering who this guy was).
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com… Read full post
28 players remaining in the FTP Friday Night Fight, 27 places pay. As soon as I saw this flop, I told myself that if the pre-flop raiser made a continuation bet I’d have to either check-call or check-fold. I just didn’t see him betting this board into two players with … Read full post
From the team that brought you The R4v3n comes another excellent, fully produced and animated poker poem, “The Ballad of Jackie Mayfair”:
It takes a little while to get going, but I was pretty into it by the end. Enjoy!… Read full post
This Poker Stars commercial is pretty awesome. Just a warning: there’s a lot of graphic violence, so possibly not suitable for work/children:
I witnessed this hand in weekly $1K on Stars. BTN underbets the river, SB tanks for a while and then check-raises about 75% of his stack, BTN snap-shoves, and SB folds. Now in all likelihood SB was bluffing, but I feel like he could fold some pretty strong hands like … Read full post
My latest poker strategy article, Standard Bet Sizes, has just been published in the November 2010 issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt to give you an idea of what the article is about:
… Read full postThe ability to size your bet based on the situation and what you hope
Instead of grinding the Sunday majors today, I donned a clown costume cobbled together from accessories at the Halloween store and visited “The Corn Maize”. Yes they spelled it Maize even though Corn is already in the title, and yes, there was an obligatory use of “A-maze-ing”. Still, it was … Read full post
Following hot on the heels of last week’s “What’s Your Play?”, here’s another hand where there’s a full house on the board and I beat it. This time I did go for the overbet just because in this case my range looks a lot stronger and my opponent … Read full post
This hand generated some really interesting comments and discussion both at Thinking Poker and at Cardplayer. Thanks to everyone who participated. Some of you have seen the results already, but for those who haven’t, here’s what happened:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool … Read full post
Second hand of the Stars $300. I figured I was going to take it easily on the turn because there just aren’t strong hands in BB’s range. I figure randoms raise 2-pair on the flop like 80% of the time at least, and he’s not checking AA/JJ preflop. By the … Read full post
The Freakonomics blog reports that an Israeli lottery last week picked the same six winning numbers that had been picked three weeks prior. Predictably, this seems to have led to speculation of fixing, as
… Read full postLottery officials denied allegations of rigging: “We are in the business of luck, and when it
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (CO) ($2068)
Button ($1200)
SB ($1140)
BB ($2034)
UTG ($1082)
MP ($872)
Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q
2 folds, Hero bets $30, Button calls $30, 1 fold, BB calls … Read full post
I finally got around to buying a new phone today, after having run out my contract with Sprint months ago. I’d been wavering between a Droid and an Iphone for a while, and then Full Tilt went and made the decision for me by releasing a Beta version of Rush … Read full post
You guys put me in my place earlier this week, so let’s see what you think of this one. All of the Villains, but especially the big blind, are among the tighter and more straight-forward regulars who play in this game.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (7 handed) – … Read full post
A friend recently sent me a link to an article entitled “Big Game Theory” in Discover magazine. It’s about the phenomenon of physicists getting interested in, and having success at, poker. Author Jennifer Oullette cites Michael Binger, Michael Piper, Liv Boeree, and Marcel Vonk as examples and offers … Read full post
A lot of you probably get these “pro tip” e-mails from Full Tilt from time to time. I’ve glanced at a few and they were always very rudimentary and sometimes wrong. The title of this one caught my eye, though, and while it’s not a very sophisticated concept, it’s well-executed:… Read full post
Someone e-mailed me this question recently, and as I began to compose an answer, it occurred to me that it could make for an interesting blog post:
… Read full postRecently a friend of mine and I were batting around a question about the pros.
Essentially it came down to this:
“Do pros
Thanks to all the commenters who have contributed to some very good discussion this week. Let’s keep it going!
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Button ($518.20)
SB ($490.30)
BB ($276.80)
Hero (UTG) ($773.50)
UTG+1 ($1109.10)
MP1 ($154.10)
MP2 ($1936.65)
MP3 ($943.80)… Read full post
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (5 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($1703)
BB ($743.05)
UTG ($600)
MP ($201.05)
Hero (Button) ($609)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 7, 7
UTG bets $18, 1 fold, Hero calls $18, 1 fold, BB calls $12
Flop… Read full post
An overbet seemed like a good idea at the time…
PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($471.10)
MP ($497.25)
CO ($380.70)
Hero (Button) ($445.15)
SB ($1167.20)
BB ($400)
Preflop: Hero is Button with 10, K
2 folds, CO bets … Read full post
Sorry I’ve been slow in getting the link up, but I was actually on the ESPN WSOP broadcast again the week after the clip I already posted. The hand is around the 12:00 mark in this clip. It’s Eric Baldwin doubling through me with KJ vs. my A4. Apparently … Read full post
I tried to play some small stakes games while taking Amtrak from Boston to New York yesterday. There were too many tunnels for the aircard to be reliable, but I played this hand before giving up on it.
I was going to check-shove the turn. When Villain didn’t bet turn, … Read full post
Sorry for the lack of posts recently. Life’s been hectic in both good and bad ways. Some friends from college were visiting us in Portland over the weekend, which kept us busy but was a blast. I’m about to fly to Boston for a funeral this weekend, though. A long-standing … Read full post
I’ve bragged about some creative bluffs recently, so here’s one where I got owned:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
SB ($434)
BB ($160)
UTG ($400)
UTG+1 ($641.60)
Hero (MP1) ($1081.40)
MP2 ($418.40)
MP3 ($1143)
CO ($131)
Button ($402)
Preflop: … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP2 ($872.90)
MP3 ($1010.20)
CO ($389.50)
Button ($628.80)
SB ($444.90)
Hero (BB) ($1552.50)
UTG ($442.60)
UTG+1 ($401.20)
MP1 ($1206.60)
Preflop: Hero is BB with 2, 2
2 folds, MP1 bets $12, MP2 … Read full post
I’ve just finished reading and reviewing Harrington on Online Cash Games, certainly one of the most anticipated poker books of the year. Here’s the two-minute version:
… Read full postHOCG is the single best resource I’ve seen for anyone just starting out online or still learning to beat the microstakes games (i.e. stakes
The indefatigable Tony Dunst has just been named as the host for a new segment on the World Poker Tour broadcasts called “Raw Deal” which will apparently feature “an edgy, yetinsightful look at hands from the week’s broadcast”.
Although he sounds like a caricature of a marketing hack when he … Read full post
The exciting conclusion of my 2010 WSOP Main Event trip report, covering Days 5 and 6, is now appearing in the October issue of 2+2 Magazine. Here’s an excerpt:
… Read full postMy Day 6 felt like what the World Series of Poker is supposed to be about: a battle of wits and
In theory, you ought to be wholly focused on the table(s) when you are playing poker. Even online, there are so many little things to pay attention to that can help you make better decisions in future hands. Who hasn’t raised from late position in a while? Who makes thin … Read full post
Following my 3rd place WCOOP finish, someone commented, “Congratulations on the win. Seems a little weird though that you have your best day ever and your just kind of meh. You should look into that.”
In fact, I was mostly proud of myself for the even-keeled way in which … Read full post
As I predicted, my huge post-flop coin flip against David Baker made Tuesday’s ESPN broadcast.
I’m pretty happy with how I came off, though I wish I hadn’t been calling for cards. I don’t ordinarily do that, but when the cameras are on, I always feel like I need to … Read full post
Different opponent from yesterday’s hand, but similar situation where a guy is simultaneously pissing me off and making it very obvious that he doesn’t have the nuts. I contemplated floating, but this is a really good hand to just ship on him:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) … Read full post
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
UTG ($424.85)
UTG+1 ($167)
MP1 ($435)
Hero (MP2) ($1165.50)
MP3 ($638.40)
CO ($753)
Button ($744.75)
SB ($606.60)
BB ($433)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 5, 5
3 folds, Hero bets $8, 4 … Read full post
Amidst all the excitement of the WCOOP Main Event yesterday, I also final tabled the $250 monthly tournament on Cake Poker. I wish I could say there were interesting hands, but honestly the structure is so bad that pretty much every pot I played consisted of me either min-raise-folding, min-raise-calling, … Read full post
It was a good table draw but a bad tournament for me. The only player I recognized from the start was Jason Strasser, who is of course very very good but was thankfully seated two to my right. Everyone else was solid enough but not spectacular.
The table was active … Read full post
Believe it or not there weren’t too many interesting hands from yesterday’s WCOOP. I was always at really aggressive tables, so generally the best strategy for me was to hunker down and play good cards. Here was one sort of neat spot with one very short-stacked player all-in:
PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post
After 14.5 hours, I managed to take 3rd out of 1066 runners in the $500 1 Rebuy 1 Add-on. It was a very very tough tournament from start to finish. I at least felt like I had a much more difficult time than in the FTOPS that I won. Of … Read full post
Chris Moneymaker was on my immediate left for most of the $500 rebuy today. To my surprise, he mostly played pretty well. He was probably a little too loose-aggressive pre-flop, but that’s far from the worst leak to have and something that it’s very difficult for me to exploit from … Read full post
UTG and I have been together for a few orbits now. This is the third time he’s raised from this position, and he once showed down A8s (for the nut flush vs. my second nut flush, which amazingly didn’t cost me my stack), so I’m assuming his range is relatively … Read full post
I enjoy Stud/8 and all, but… it’s my birthday, bitches! No poker today. Good luck to those of you playing.… Read full post
Despite nearly 2000 runners, there was actually $44,000 of overlay in this one. Perhaps fewer people used their rebuy than Stars expected? I made a bit of a run, finishing 90th. I liked the structure on this one a lot. It felt deep the whole way but at least after … Read full post
I thought it was me.
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (MP2) ($1886.10)
MP3 ($505.70)
CO ($1569.40)
Button ($400)
SB ($145.90)
BB ($188)
UTG ($1787.10)
UTG+1 ($400)
MP1 ($562.60)
Preflop: Hero is MP2 with 8, 8
UTG bets $14… Read full post
Players were matched with our Round 5 opponents last night, so I had the chance to google my adversary. He looked to be a Pocket Fives guy who used to play some big MTT’s like the daily 100r and such but lately had been playing a lot $16 hyper-turbo sit … Read full post
We played four rounds today. The first one started at 13:00 and I finished a little before 20:00, though many tables were still playing for some time thereafter.
My first opponent was by far the toughest. He’s a regular with a in biggest NLHE games on Poker Stars, not as … Read full post
… Read full postMy Two Minute Review: Given the choice between Travis Steffen’s Peak Performance Poker and Eric Beck’s Poker Mindfulness, Steffen’s is the better book by far. Whereas the latter consists mostly of uncontroversial platitudes and little practical advice, the former is a helpful book packed with practical, actionable advice for
I’ve posted a few hands recently where I floated AK and ended up bluffing the river to get an opponent off of a pocket pair. Here’s another:
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (9 handed) – Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
MP2 ($587.50)
MP3 ($867.20)
CO ($182.90)
Button ($316)
SB … Read full post
The Wired blog yesterday reported on a recent experiment in which robots “learned” deception autonomously, without specific instructions from their programmers:
Two robots — one black and one red — were taught to play hide and seek. The black, hider, robot chose from three different hiding places, and the red,