I used to rule the floor
They'd comp my room or even more
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the tables I used to own
------------------------------------------------------------
I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in the croupier's eyes
Listen as the crowd would state:
"Now he bet the hard eight! There's a hard eight!"
One minute I bet it all
Next I heard the fatefull call
"Seven out and line away," she said
Oh I feel like I'm done and feel like I'm dead
I hear all the slot machines a-ringing
And I can't stop myself from singing
Give me three cherries or three bars
Or maybe maybe one time three stars
For some reason I can't explain
I know one more pull will end the pain
Just a few dollars more
But that was when I ruled the floor
------------------------------------------------------------
It was the wicked and wild luck
That caused me to be so stuck.
Shattered aces and the rivered straights
People always had nines when I had eights
Now the pawn shop owner waits
For me to sell my silver plates
Just wish they weren't so very dull
Oh who would ever want to gamble?
Because I hear all the slot machines a-ringing
And I can't stop myself from singing
Give me three cherries or three bars
Or maybe maybe one time three stars
For some reason I can't explain
I know one more pull will end the pain
Just a few dollars more
But that was when I ruled the floor
------------------------------------------------------------
I hear all the slot machines a-ringing
And I can't stop myself from singing
Give me three cherries or three bars
Or maybe maybe one time three stars
For some reason I can't explain
I know one more pull will end the pain
Just a few dollars more
But that was when I ruled the floor
------------------------------------------------------------
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Pendleton Trip Report for Nov. '08 #1
This post says that it was posted on November 9th which is a complete lie. I created the post while I was still down in Pendleton but never got around to writing anything in it. Now it's December 3rd so it's getting to the point where I almost don't even remember what happened when I went to Pendleton so I figured it's time to finally write a few blog posts about it.
#1: HORSEing Around Before Pendleton
So for those of you who don't know, twice a year, a casino called Wild Horse in Pendleton, Oregon runs about the biggest poker tournament series in the Northwest. It is held in Spring and Fall and is comprised of about 14 tournaments with buyins ranging from $200+15 to $1000+15, one each day. This year, JD, my roomate Jeff, and I decided to go for the entire two weeks. I had been there 2-3 times before for a weekend or so, once with Jeff, but it was JD's first time.
The weekend before we were going to head down, MSPoker (group of poker enthusiasts at Microsoft) ran a HORSE tournament (Holdem, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8) with the same structure as the one in Pendleton to give everybody some practice. It was a $100 buy in and it attracted about 24 people so the prize pool was pretty decent.
I started out pretty slow and was struggling to pick up chips in the Holdem and Omaha 8 rounds. I was eager to get to the Stud games as they are the games least played in the MSPoker cash games. When we got to Razz (where you try to make the worst hand possible), where people were limping and calling completions with a Q showing, my chip stack started steadily rising.
We got back to Holdem and then through all the games again before we got down to 8 players for the final table, I had about average chips but the blinds were such that any hand that I played to the end would cripple me if I lost it. I was cautious through Holdem and Omaha 8, waiting for the Stud games again. They didn't let me down this time either as I found myself in quite a curious Razz hand:
3rd Street:
P1 brings in with (XX)K
P2 calls with a (XX)Q!
P3 completes with a (XX)3
4 Folds to me and I call with (23)7 to make sure the guy with a Q stays in.
P1 folds
P2 calls
4th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q4
P3 now has (XX)3K
I now have (23)78
I am first to act and bet, P2 raises! P3 looks disgusted and calls and I obviously 3-bet and both call.
5th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q49
P3 now has (XX)3K9
I now have (23)78K
P2 is first to act and checks, P3 now bets out! So I get to raise and P2 calls two cold and P3 calls.
6th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498
P3 now has (XX)3K9J
I now have (23)78KA
P2 is first and checks, P3 checks, I bet, P2 calls, and P3 angrily folds.
7th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498(X)
I now have (23)78KA(6)
P2 looks and then checks and I happily bet (he can't possibly have me beat given his board). He thinks for a bit and finally calls and I scoop the gigantic pot. Being able to get that many bets in with way the best of it was a big morale booster.
After that, I played pretty cautiously, managed to get lucky a couple of times in key spots and also made a few tough calldowns to get to heads up. On the final hand in Stud, I had a big chiplead and my opponent was down to just a few bets left. I found(6J)6 against (XX)A. I decided off the bat that I was going all the way with the hand unless he caught an Ace on 4th street. He completed and I called. On 4th he had (XX)AK and I had (6J)62. He bet out and I raised, he reraised all in and I called. As it turns out he had a K in the hole and made a pair of kings on 4th but I managed to catch a third 6 on 6th street to retake the lead. The river bricked out and I had won it!
It had been a long time since I had won a live tournament and it felt really good. I was ready for Pendleton!
#1: HORSEing Around Before Pendleton
So for those of you who don't know, twice a year, a casino called Wild Horse in Pendleton, Oregon runs about the biggest poker tournament series in the Northwest. It is held in Spring and Fall and is comprised of about 14 tournaments with buyins ranging from $200+15 to $1000+15, one each day. This year, JD, my roomate Jeff, and I decided to go for the entire two weeks. I had been there 2-3 times before for a weekend or so, once with Jeff, but it was JD's first time.
The weekend before we were going to head down, MSPoker (group of poker enthusiasts at Microsoft) ran a HORSE tournament (Holdem, Omaha 8, Razz, Stud, and Stud 8) with the same structure as the one in Pendleton to give everybody some practice. It was a $100 buy in and it attracted about 24 people so the prize pool was pretty decent.
I started out pretty slow and was struggling to pick up chips in the Holdem and Omaha 8 rounds. I was eager to get to the Stud games as they are the games least played in the MSPoker cash games. When we got to Razz (where you try to make the worst hand possible), where people were limping and calling completions with a Q showing, my chip stack started steadily rising.
We got back to Holdem and then through all the games again before we got down to 8 players for the final table, I had about average chips but the blinds were such that any hand that I played to the end would cripple me if I lost it. I was cautious through Holdem and Omaha 8, waiting for the Stud games again. They didn't let me down this time either as I found myself in quite a curious Razz hand:
3rd Street:
P1 brings in with (XX)K
P2 calls with a (XX)Q!
P3 completes with a (XX)3
4 Folds to me and I call with (23)7 to make sure the guy with a Q stays in.
P1 folds
P2 calls
4th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q4
P3 now has (XX)3K
I now have (23)78
I am first to act and bet, P2 raises! P3 looks disgusted and calls and I obviously 3-bet and both call.
5th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q49
P3 now has (XX)3K9
I now have (23)78K
P2 is first to act and checks, P3 now bets out! So I get to raise and P2 calls two cold and P3 calls.
6th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498
P3 now has (XX)3K9J
I now have (23)78KA
P2 is first and checks, P3 checks, I bet, P2 calls, and P3 angrily folds.
7th Street:
P2 now has (XX)Q498(X)
I now have (23)78KA(6)
P2 looks and then checks and I happily bet (he can't possibly have me beat given his board). He thinks for a bit and finally calls and I scoop the gigantic pot. Being able to get that many bets in with way the best of it was a big morale booster.
After that, I played pretty cautiously, managed to get lucky a couple of times in key spots and also made a few tough calldowns to get to heads up. On the final hand in Stud, I had a big chiplead and my opponent was down to just a few bets left. I found(6J)6 against (XX)A. I decided off the bat that I was going all the way with the hand unless he caught an Ace on 4th street. He completed and I called. On 4th he had (XX)AK and I had (6J)62. He bet out and I raised, he reraised all in and I called. As it turns out he had a K in the hole and made a pair of kings on 4th but I managed to catch a third 6 on 6th street to retake the lead. The river bricked out and I had won it!
It had been a long time since I had won a live tournament and it felt really good. I was ready for Pendleton!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Spreading My Limits
So I've decided to take a break from the 20/40 limit game at least until after going to Pendleton in November. Instead, I've been playing the "spread limit" game for the past week and it has been going really well.
For those of you who don't know, Washington gambling law doesn't allow for true no-limit cash games because the maximum you can bet at one time is $500. So to get around this, the tribal casinos run what is called "spread limit." There are two main games, $3/$5 and $5/$10. So in $3/$5, you can bet anywhere from $5 to $500 at any time and in $5/$10 it's $10 to $500. The other twist is that there can only be a bet and three raises just like in a limit game. So if someone raises the $5 big blind to $15 and another person makes it $30, a third person could make it $45 to go and prevent the first raiser from making a big reraise since the betting is now "capped."
I've always had good results at these games, but I have also had a lot of trouble dealing with the swings. In $20/$40 limit, you can build a $1000 buy-in into $2000 over the course of a session and then hit a rough swing over the next couple hours and fall back to $1000 or even lose it all, but in $5/$10 NL, you could spend several hours chipping up from $1000 to $2000 and then lose the entire $2000 in one hand! That rapid swing of emotions takes its toll on my psyche and, in the past, has caused me to do some stupid things like go to the blackjack tables.
I've been taking it slowly over the past week, playing exclusively $3/$5 to start out. The mistakes these players make are so incredible. They just don't balance their ranges at all. They take such straightforward lines with their big hands and never mix in any bluffs. They give away too much information about their hands by how much they raise preflop. They only bluff in certain predictable spots. They don't fastplay big draws on the flop in the same way as they play their big hands. Basically, they just don't think about how their bets betray their hands. All that you have to do to beat these players is decipher what their bets mean and their hand is basically face up to you. The only reason that these people get away with this type of play is that very few other people are paying attention.
At the $5/$10, there are a few more good thinking players and the "fish" at least err on the side of aggression instead of passivity. The mistakes people make in this game are a bit harder to exploit. The $5/$10 players, in general, don't control the pots well with one pair hands. To exploit this, you either have to pick up a big hand like a set against their top pair and trap them for a big pot, or alternatively, you can make a big move on them by check/raising the turn on a bluff since they most likely can't call with just one pair (the correct play with one pair in NL is often to check behind the turn to control the size of the pot). Getting a set against top pair is hard to do, and making a big bluff requires a lot of guts and risks losing a big chunk of chips when they have a stubborn AA or a set themselves.
I had moved to playing $20/$40 because I felt no-limit cash games were too boring. To a large extent, they are. There's a lot of sitting around waiting for the right spot to come along to make a move. If you're not patient enough to wait for the right hand against the right opponent, you're going to spew all your chips away. But when you find that perfect spot, it feels so good to take all of someone's chips in one hand, or to win a big pot with a well executed bluff. Hopefully I can control my emotions and not get worked up too much about losing a big pot and stay focused on my game. If not, I can always head back over to the $20/$40 game :)
For those of you who don't know, Washington gambling law doesn't allow for true no-limit cash games because the maximum you can bet at one time is $500. So to get around this, the tribal casinos run what is called "spread limit." There are two main games, $3/$5 and $5/$10. So in $3/$5, you can bet anywhere from $5 to $500 at any time and in $5/$10 it's $10 to $500. The other twist is that there can only be a bet and three raises just like in a limit game. So if someone raises the $5 big blind to $15 and another person makes it $30, a third person could make it $45 to go and prevent the first raiser from making a big reraise since the betting is now "capped."
I've always had good results at these games, but I have also had a lot of trouble dealing with the swings. In $20/$40 limit, you can build a $1000 buy-in into $2000 over the course of a session and then hit a rough swing over the next couple hours and fall back to $1000 or even lose it all, but in $5/$10 NL, you could spend several hours chipping up from $1000 to $2000 and then lose the entire $2000 in one hand! That rapid swing of emotions takes its toll on my psyche and, in the past, has caused me to do some stupid things like go to the blackjack tables.
I've been taking it slowly over the past week, playing exclusively $3/$5 to start out. The mistakes these players make are so incredible. They just don't balance their ranges at all. They take such straightforward lines with their big hands and never mix in any bluffs. They give away too much information about their hands by how much they raise preflop. They only bluff in certain predictable spots. They don't fastplay big draws on the flop in the same way as they play their big hands. Basically, they just don't think about how their bets betray their hands. All that you have to do to beat these players is decipher what their bets mean and their hand is basically face up to you. The only reason that these people get away with this type of play is that very few other people are paying attention.
At the $5/$10, there are a few more good thinking players and the "fish" at least err on the side of aggression instead of passivity. The mistakes people make in this game are a bit harder to exploit. The $5/$10 players, in general, don't control the pots well with one pair hands. To exploit this, you either have to pick up a big hand like a set against their top pair and trap them for a big pot, or alternatively, you can make a big move on them by check/raising the turn on a bluff since they most likely can't call with just one pair (the correct play with one pair in NL is often to check behind the turn to control the size of the pot). Getting a set against top pair is hard to do, and making a big bluff requires a lot of guts and risks losing a big chunk of chips when they have a stubborn AA or a set themselves.
I had moved to playing $20/$40 because I felt no-limit cash games were too boring. To a large extent, they are. There's a lot of sitting around waiting for the right spot to come along to make a move. If you're not patient enough to wait for the right hand against the right opponent, you're going to spew all your chips away. But when you find that perfect spot, it feels so good to take all of someone's chips in one hand, or to win a big pot with a well executed bluff. Hopefully I can control my emotions and not get worked up too much about losing a big pot and stay focused on my game. If not, I can always head back over to the $20/$40 game :)
Sunday, October 19, 2008
LA Trip Report for Oct. '08 (Cliff's Notes)
- Le almost got us killed by driving into oncoming traffic on an off-ramp.
- The Commerce poker rooms are incredible.
- I played a lot of 20/40 and did well.
- I folded KK preflop in the first Bike tournament.
- I went ballistic at the 25/50 Hustler game.
- I suck at 40/80.
- I finished a little over even after expenses for the whole trip.
Monday, October 13, 2008
LA Trip Report for Oct. '08
Day 1:
Le and I arrived in LA and got our rental car and headed to the hotel using Le's Garmin GPS system. Nothing notable other than Le almost got us both killed by driving through a stop sign on an off ramp into oncoming traffic (luckily there was no one in the right-most lane).
Checked in and dropped off our stuff (the room was pretty decent). Went over to Commerce Casino. I have been to Commerce before but it always amazes me every time I walk in. There is a gigantic WSOP Pavilion-esque room full of poker tables and they are all cash games. And that's just the first room, they have two more of close to the same size! One for low limits (1/2 NL, 4/8, 9/18, etc.), One for high limits (20/40 to 1k/2k and 10/20 NL and 20/40 NL), and one for ultra low limits (1/1 NL, 1/2 Limit). Le and I played the 20/40 for a few hours and I managed to leave up almost a rack.
Day 2:
We went to the Bike (which was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel) to register for the tournament later that day ($100+20 + 1 rebuy) and get a safety deposit box. We had asked the day before about getting one at Commerce, but they didn't think we were "high roller" enough so they didn't let us have one. Thankfully the Bike either has more boxes or lower standards...
We then went to Commerce (since the Bike has like 1 20/40 game) and played until 6PM. I managed to book another solid win of a little over a rack.
From there we headed back to the Bike for the tournament. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I folded KK preflop early in the tournament incorrectly. Blinds were 50/100 and UTG with 3300 limped, old guy with ~10k limped, 1-2 other limpers. I raised to 600 with KK from the SB(I had 10k as well). UTG paused for a while and finally shoved. Old guy behind him overshoved for the full 10k. Folded to me and I sat there in utter disbelief at what just happened. I couldn't think of what possible hand the old guy could have to shove after a SB raise and a UTG shove other than AA. But he limped in after a limper! So I had to balance those to illogicalities. In the end, I decided it was not worth the chance he had AA since it was early and the blinds were so low and folded. UTG showed JJ and old guy showed AKs! Ugh, I was pretty frustrated but I still managed to get to 20k after the first 3 levels.
Went on a bad streak after that and made a questionable river call with TT on a JJ468 board and got shown J3o. Won a short stack all in with K9 > KQ and then lost 77 < 66 to bust.
Day 3:
Today we decided to make a tour of all the other casinos in the LA area. We played a bit of 25/50 at Hawaiian Gardens. It was odd playing a different chip structure than I'm used to (20/40 is a 4 chip/8 chip structure where 25/50 is 5 chip/10 chip). I've gotten in the habit of shuffling together 3 SBs worth of chips so I'm always ready to 3-bet preflop or bet the flop and turn. So I had to start using 15 chips instead of 12. Anyway, the game was pretty good and I left up half a rack.
We then played 25/50 at Hustler. I started out hot up almost two and a half racks and then had two painful hands and lost 620 in 10 minutes. The first hand there is a MP raiser and a couple cold callers. I call with 98o in the BB. Flop is T76 with two hearts. I check, MP bets, LP calls, I raise, MP 3-bets, LP cold calls, I call. Turn Ts. I check, MP bets, LP raises! Now LP was a pretty tight straight-forward player, but I couldn't imagine he wouldn't cap the flop with a set or two pair. I felt he had to have T9 or T8 so I called him down and he showed me 66. I shoulda just gone with the tight guy + raise turn = nuts and folded. So I was pissed a bit about that hand.
Then, a couple hands later, I raise Qs8s on the button and the SB calls and the BB raises and we both call. The flop is QT8. SB checks, BB bets, I raise, SB cold calls, BB 3-bets, I cap and both call. Turn is an ugly Ace. SB checks and BB donks. I really should have folded here, but I didn't. I call and now the SB raises! Well he obviously has a straight at this point. BB calls and I decide to call to draw to a boat as the pot is gigantic at this point. River is a Q and SB bets and BB now raises! I quickly go through the possible hands that BB can have and decide that TT is the only hand I beat but the pot is like ~$1100 and cry-call and SB calls and BB rolls AQ. I was so pissed at myself for playing both those hands too far and basically lighting $500 on fire so I stormed away from the table. On the bright side, I managed to still be up about a rack after all of that.
Day 4:
We slept late until 3pm and then drove to Santa Monica and rested a bit on the beach. We played a bit of 15/30 at Hollywood Park for an hour and then got a call from a friend who now lives in LA. Went to have a drink with him and then we went to the Commerce and played some drunken 1/2 NL.
Day 5:
Slept in and then went to Commerce and played 20/40 all day and ended up almost two racks (this was the perfect day of the entire week).
Day 6:
Started off the day at Hawaiian Gardens and dropped almost 3 racks. We then went to Commerce and I made the questionable decision of sitting at the 40/80 game instead of 20/40. Managed to last a long time but eventually lost the 2 racks (of $10 chips, not $5 chips). This was definitely a sobering experience as the rest of the trip had gone so well.
Day 7:
This was the comeback day after losing so much the day before. I started at the 20/40 and ran super hot right off the bat and was quickly up 2 racks. I then decided to give the 40/80 another shot as I feel like I will play better when winning at the 20/40 as opposed to moving to 40/80 after a losing session. Ended up breaking even at the 40/80 by 6pm when we had to leave for the tournament at the Bike.
While waiting for the tournament to start, I played a bit of 20/40 and got AA on my second hand and it held up in a 6 way pot for a nice $300 profit. The tournament was a big field and the structure was pretty good. I started off slow and steady and built up chips but couldn't get any real big hands. Around the 4th-5th level I had ~19,000 made a raise to 1700 with blinds 300/600 with a 100 ante with 64o in MP and the button and BB called. Flop was 432, with two diamonds. BB checked, I bet 3600 and the Button insta-shoved. BB folded and I thought about if for awhile and decided he almost always has a diamond draw in this spot and called. I was right and he had AdJd and it was a flip (I'm slightly ahead). The turn was a Qs and the river was a crushing Ace and I was out. I'm happy with how I played though.
Afterwards, I played the 20/40 game and continued to run well and ended up over 1 and a half racks. It felt good to make a nice comeback after such a bad day the day before.
Day 8:
Today was the wind down day as we were leaving the next morning. We played a bit at the commerce and ended up almost a rack each. After that, I met up with an old roommate from college who was living in LA and we ate at this Mexican Seafood place which was pretty good. Then Le wimped out and stayed in the hotel while my friend and I roamed a couple bars in West Hollywood and then ended up at the Bike playing some more 1/2 NL. I finally got back to the hotel just in time to wake Le up to head to the airport.
All in all this was a good trip and I really like the poker scene in LA. I just need to stay away from the 40/80 game until I can be comfortable with the stakes and play my best at it.
Le and I arrived in LA and got our rental car and headed to the hotel using Le's Garmin GPS system. Nothing notable other than Le almost got us both killed by driving through a stop sign on an off ramp into oncoming traffic (luckily there was no one in the right-most lane).
Checked in and dropped off our stuff (the room was pretty decent). Went over to Commerce Casino. I have been to Commerce before but it always amazes me every time I walk in. There is a gigantic WSOP Pavilion-esque room full of poker tables and they are all cash games. And that's just the first room, they have two more of close to the same size! One for low limits (1/2 NL, 4/8, 9/18, etc.), One for high limits (20/40 to 1k/2k and 10/20 NL and 20/40 NL), and one for ultra low limits (1/1 NL, 1/2 Limit). Le and I played the 20/40 for a few hours and I managed to leave up almost a rack.
Day 2:
We went to the Bike (which was about 3-4 blocks from our hotel) to register for the tournament later that day ($100+20 + 1 rebuy) and get a safety deposit box. We had asked the day before about getting one at Commerce, but they didn't think we were "high roller" enough so they didn't let us have one. Thankfully the Bike either has more boxes or lower standards...
We then went to Commerce (since the Bike has like 1 20/40 game) and played until 6PM. I managed to book another solid win of a little over a rack.
From there we headed back to the Bike for the tournament. I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that I folded KK preflop early in the tournament incorrectly. Blinds were 50/100 and UTG with 3300 limped, old guy with ~10k limped, 1-2 other limpers. I raised to 600 with KK from the SB(I had 10k as well). UTG paused for a while and finally shoved. Old guy behind him overshoved for the full 10k. Folded to me and I sat there in utter disbelief at what just happened. I couldn't think of what possible hand the old guy could have to shove after a SB raise and a UTG shove other than AA. But he limped in after a limper! So I had to balance those to illogicalities. In the end, I decided it was not worth the chance he had AA since it was early and the blinds were so low and folded. UTG showed JJ and old guy showed AKs! Ugh, I was pretty frustrated but I still managed to get to 20k after the first 3 levels.
Went on a bad streak after that and made a questionable river call with TT on a JJ468 board and got shown J3o. Won a short stack all in with K9 > KQ and then lost 77 < 66 to bust.
Day 3:
Today we decided to make a tour of all the other casinos in the LA area. We played a bit of 25/50 at Hawaiian Gardens. It was odd playing a different chip structure than I'm used to (20/40 is a 4 chip/8 chip structure where 25/50 is 5 chip/10 chip). I've gotten in the habit of shuffling together 3 SBs worth of chips so I'm always ready to 3-bet preflop or bet the flop and turn. So I had to start using 15 chips instead of 12. Anyway, the game was pretty good and I left up half a rack.
We then played 25/50 at Hustler. I started out hot up almost two and a half racks and then had two painful hands and lost 620 in 10 minutes. The first hand there is a MP raiser and a couple cold callers. I call with 98o in the BB. Flop is T76 with two hearts. I check, MP bets, LP calls, I raise, MP 3-bets, LP cold calls, I call. Turn Ts. I check, MP bets, LP raises! Now LP was a pretty tight straight-forward player, but I couldn't imagine he wouldn't cap the flop with a set or two pair. I felt he had to have T9 or T8 so I called him down and he showed me 66. I shoulda just gone with the tight guy + raise turn = nuts and folded. So I was pissed a bit about that hand.
Then, a couple hands later, I raise Qs8s on the button and the SB calls and the BB raises and we both call. The flop is QT8. SB checks, BB bets, I raise, SB cold calls, BB 3-bets, I cap and both call. Turn is an ugly Ace. SB checks and BB donks. I really should have folded here, but I didn't. I call and now the SB raises! Well he obviously has a straight at this point. BB calls and I decide to call to draw to a boat as the pot is gigantic at this point. River is a Q and SB bets and BB now raises! I quickly go through the possible hands that BB can have and decide that TT is the only hand I beat but the pot is like ~$1100 and cry-call and SB calls and BB rolls AQ. I was so pissed at myself for playing both those hands too far and basically lighting $500 on fire so I stormed away from the table. On the bright side, I managed to still be up about a rack after all of that.
Day 4:
We slept late until 3pm and then drove to Santa Monica and rested a bit on the beach. We played a bit of 15/30 at Hollywood Park for an hour and then got a call from a friend who now lives in LA. Went to have a drink with him and then we went to the Commerce and played some drunken 1/2 NL.
Day 5:
Slept in and then went to Commerce and played 20/40 all day and ended up almost two racks (this was the perfect day of the entire week).
Day 6:
Started off the day at Hawaiian Gardens and dropped almost 3 racks. We then went to Commerce and I made the questionable decision of sitting at the 40/80 game instead of 20/40. Managed to last a long time but eventually lost the 2 racks (of $10 chips, not $5 chips). This was definitely a sobering experience as the rest of the trip had gone so well.
Day 7:
This was the comeback day after losing so much the day before. I started at the 20/40 and ran super hot right off the bat and was quickly up 2 racks. I then decided to give the 40/80 another shot as I feel like I will play better when winning at the 20/40 as opposed to moving to 40/80 after a losing session. Ended up breaking even at the 40/80 by 6pm when we had to leave for the tournament at the Bike.
While waiting for the tournament to start, I played a bit of 20/40 and got AA on my second hand and it held up in a 6 way pot for a nice $300 profit. The tournament was a big field and the structure was pretty good. I started off slow and steady and built up chips but couldn't get any real big hands. Around the 4th-5th level I had ~19,000 made a raise to 1700 with blinds 300/600 with a 100 ante with 64o in MP and the button and BB called. Flop was 432, with two diamonds. BB checked, I bet 3600 and the Button insta-shoved. BB folded and I thought about if for awhile and decided he almost always has a diamond draw in this spot and called. I was right and he had AdJd and it was a flip (I'm slightly ahead). The turn was a Qs and the river was a crushing Ace and I was out. I'm happy with how I played though.
Afterwards, I played the 20/40 game and continued to run well and ended up over 1 and a half racks. It felt good to make a nice comeback after such a bad day the day before.
Day 8:
Today was the wind down day as we were leaving the next morning. We played a bit at the commerce and ended up almost a rack each. After that, I met up with an old roommate from college who was living in LA and we ate at this Mexican Seafood place which was pretty good. Then Le wimped out and stayed in the hotel while my friend and I roamed a couple bars in West Hollywood and then ended up at the Bike playing some more 1/2 NL. I finally got back to the hotel just in time to wake Le up to head to the airport.
All in all this was a good trip and I really like the poker scene in LA. I just need to stay away from the 40/80 game until I can be comfortable with the stakes and play my best at it.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Brief Update
So I haven't posted a blog in awhile. This has partly been because I've been playing almost every day for the past couple weeks and also because nothing spectacular has occurred recently. My sessions have been going well, though.
I'm heading to LA for a week and will give a full trip report when I get back.
I'm heading to LA for a week and will give a full trip report when I get back.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
A First Time For Everything
So I just had something happen to me on Friday that has never happened to me before.
I was at the local tribal casino registering for an upcoming tournament and I decided to play a bit of craps. Now I haven't played any non-poker casino games in quite awhile and am trying to avoid them as much as possible. For whatever reason, I decided to take $200 and try and double it up. This is when, for the first time, someone placed a bet for me. And it wasn't just one bet, nor was it a $5 bet. It was multiple $20-$45 bets on the field (wins 1:1 when a 3,4,9,10,11 is rolled and 2:1 when a 2 or 12 rolls). I didn't quite know how to interpret this. He was obviously drunk and was making martingale (doubling the bet with each loss) type bets on the field. He managed to always win when he had increased his bet up to $300 or more. I was the only one that was cheering for him when he won which may be what prompted him to make some bets for me (I also think he had more money in front of him than he knew what to do with). These bets ended up working out very well for me as they helped me turn my original $200 buy-in into $900 before leaving.
This whole ordeal got me thinking about why anyone would ever do this for someone else. He was basically giving me, a complete stranger, money to bet with. Then I realized that there are parallels between this and when people make calls in poker when they know they're beat or play in a way that is obviously going to lose money in the long run. It must mean that making money is not the primary reason for what they do. They enjoy the thrill of the game, and if placing those bets on the field for me increases this craps player's enjoyment of the rolls of the dice because he has someone to cheer with, then to him, it's worth it.
This line of thinking makes me realize just how important it is to let the bad players enjoy themselves at the poker table. If they make a bad play against me and suckout, I should cheer for them. Let them enjoy stacking my money, because I want them to keep playing this way. I want them to be entertained by playing badly. If they're not entertained by playing badly, maybe they will decide to play better or, heaven forbid, leave the game!
It amazes me how many people out there get so upset about bad beats from bad players. They must not understand how the game of poker works.
I was at the local tribal casino registering for an upcoming tournament and I decided to play a bit of craps. Now I haven't played any non-poker casino games in quite awhile and am trying to avoid them as much as possible. For whatever reason, I decided to take $200 and try and double it up. This is when, for the first time, someone placed a bet for me. And it wasn't just one bet, nor was it a $5 bet. It was multiple $20-$45 bets on the field (wins 1:1 when a 3,4,9,10,11 is rolled and 2:1 when a 2 or 12 rolls). I didn't quite know how to interpret this. He was obviously drunk and was making martingale (doubling the bet with each loss) type bets on the field. He managed to always win when he had increased his bet up to $300 or more. I was the only one that was cheering for him when he won which may be what prompted him to make some bets for me (I also think he had more money in front of him than he knew what to do with). These bets ended up working out very well for me as they helped me turn my original $200 buy-in into $900 before leaving.
This whole ordeal got me thinking about why anyone would ever do this for someone else. He was basically giving me, a complete stranger, money to bet with. Then I realized that there are parallels between this and when people make calls in poker when they know they're beat or play in a way that is obviously going to lose money in the long run. It must mean that making money is not the primary reason for what they do. They enjoy the thrill of the game, and if placing those bets on the field for me increases this craps player's enjoyment of the rolls of the dice because he has someone to cheer with, then to him, it's worth it.
This line of thinking makes me realize just how important it is to let the bad players enjoy themselves at the poker table. If they make a bad play against me and suckout, I should cheer for them. Let them enjoy stacking my money, because I want them to keep playing this way. I want them to be entertained by playing badly. If they're not entertained by playing badly, maybe they will decide to play better or, heaven forbid, leave the game!
It amazes me how many people out there get so upset about bad beats from bad players. They must not understand how the game of poker works.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Starting Off Stuck
Starting off stuck sucks.
The last three sessions I have played, I have started off stuck at least $1000.
In the first one on Sunday, I had just come off my three "perfect" sessions and I feel like I played really well to only lose $1500 in the first 6 hours of the session considering the bad luck I was experiencing. Hand after hand of losing the minimum still results in losing, though.
Around 2am (I started the session at 6pm) I found myself to the direct left of one incredibly loose player and another loose aggressive player. And to MY left, were two of the tighter players in the game. So things were looking up. My big hands started holding up, finally, and I caught a few lucky breaks and actually managed to end this 12 hour session up $1400!
The next day, I played in a game full of people who thought they knew what they were doing. Now this might seem like a bad game, but I'll let you in on a little secret: most of them were horribly mistaken! But as it is occasionally in this game, you can make every correct decision and still end up stuck $1000 in 4 hours. This used to get to my head; it used to make me play badly. I feel like I'm getting better at shutting these feelings out and focusing on playing every hand as best as I can. It helped to look around the table and see at least one person steaming about a bad beat. Each hand it was a different person, whoever lost the previous hand. All the while I was sitting there unaffected.
As is the case with the previous day, around 1-2am things finally started to turn around. I was stuck about $600 before this fateful hand. I raise QhJh in middle position after 2-3 limpers. It folds around to the SB who calls as does the BB and all the limpers. The flop is QdJd4h (a.k.a GIN!). Checks to me, I bet, SB (Tight aggressive player) raises, 1 cold caller, I 3-bet, SB caps and all call. At this point I'm trying to figure out what SB has as I'm quite confident the cold caller has a diamond draw. The SB could have the same hand as me, a big draw, or 44. I decide to wait for the turn to think any more about this. The turn is the Th giving me a flush draw now. SB bets out, 1 call, I raise, SB 3-bets, 1 cold call, I cap and both call. This cap might be a little suspect as SB has shown incredible strength so far. I probably wouldn't have capped without the flush draw or without the other person in the middle. With both of these, I figure that I have some extra odds in case SB has 44. The river is a beautiful 2h giving me a flush. SB bets, middle guy folds his diamonds angrily, I raise, SB says "Do you have AhKh?" and calls. I show my hand, and he shows AsKh! His comment is somewhat humorous considering that he has the Kh himself, but what is more shocking is that he managed to cap the flop with just a gutshot draw, get there, and then still lose. I talked to him a couple days later and he admitted that his flop cap messed up the hand. That pot (probably my biggest at $20/$40) was around $1200 with me contributing $360 of it and turned -600 into +200. I went on to push that to +$800 before leaving at 5am.
Over my "weekend" (Monday and Tuesday are now my weekend) I did some chores and took a break from poker. I got back to the casino at around 5pm on Wednesday and promptly was stuck $1000 at about 10pm. Same ole' same ole' right? Not quite. I feel I played this session really badly. I was missing bets and missing folds all throughout the night and was really at a loss for where I was in a lot of hands. I missed out on a spot to steal a multiway ~$800 pot with a well timed turn raise and made a few dumb turn checks that ended up costing me a few pots. A lot of this could be blamed on bad luck, but if I had played the hands correctly, my opponents would not have had the chance to get lucky. As it is when I play badly, I tend to stay longer than I should. At two different points in the night, I made it back to even (one time I was even +$200) but I didn't leave.
Amazingly enough, after a 21 hour session, I managed to leave at +$6 due to hitting a Royal Flush to win a $500 high hand (I consider this part of my poker winnings because I am forced to consider the $2 rake they take for this promotion as part of my poker losses). So all in all I'm relieved (maybe even exhilarated) to finish a session this long back to even, but also worried that I played so terribly throughout the day.
Hopefully I can avoid starting off stuck today :)
The last three sessions I have played, I have started off stuck at least $1000.
In the first one on Sunday, I had just come off my three "perfect" sessions and I feel like I played really well to only lose $1500 in the first 6 hours of the session considering the bad luck I was experiencing. Hand after hand of losing the minimum still results in losing, though.
Around 2am (I started the session at 6pm) I found myself to the direct left of one incredibly loose player and another loose aggressive player. And to MY left, were two of the tighter players in the game. So things were looking up. My big hands started holding up, finally, and I caught a few lucky breaks and actually managed to end this 12 hour session up $1400!
The next day, I played in a game full of people who thought they knew what they were doing. Now this might seem like a bad game, but I'll let you in on a little secret: most of them were horribly mistaken! But as it is occasionally in this game, you can make every correct decision and still end up stuck $1000 in 4 hours. This used to get to my head; it used to make me play badly. I feel like I'm getting better at shutting these feelings out and focusing on playing every hand as best as I can. It helped to look around the table and see at least one person steaming about a bad beat. Each hand it was a different person, whoever lost the previous hand. All the while I was sitting there unaffected.
As is the case with the previous day, around 1-2am things finally started to turn around. I was stuck about $600 before this fateful hand. I raise QhJh in middle position after 2-3 limpers. It folds around to the SB who calls as does the BB and all the limpers. The flop is QdJd4h (a.k.a GIN!). Checks to me, I bet, SB (Tight aggressive player) raises, 1 cold caller, I 3-bet, SB caps and all call. At this point I'm trying to figure out what SB has as I'm quite confident the cold caller has a diamond draw. The SB could have the same hand as me, a big draw, or 44. I decide to wait for the turn to think any more about this. The turn is the Th giving me a flush draw now. SB bets out, 1 call, I raise, SB 3-bets, 1 cold call, I cap and both call. This cap might be a little suspect as SB has shown incredible strength so far. I probably wouldn't have capped without the flush draw or without the other person in the middle. With both of these, I figure that I have some extra odds in case SB has 44. The river is a beautiful 2h giving me a flush. SB bets, middle guy folds his diamonds angrily, I raise, SB says "Do you have AhKh?" and calls. I show my hand, and he shows AsKh! His comment is somewhat humorous considering that he has the Kh himself, but what is more shocking is that he managed to cap the flop with just a gutshot draw, get there, and then still lose. I talked to him a couple days later and he admitted that his flop cap messed up the hand. That pot (probably my biggest at $20/$40) was around $1200 with me contributing $360 of it and turned -600 into +200. I went on to push that to +$800 before leaving at 5am.
Over my "weekend" (Monday and Tuesday are now my weekend) I did some chores and took a break from poker. I got back to the casino at around 5pm on Wednesday and promptly was stuck $1000 at about 10pm. Same ole' same ole' right? Not quite. I feel I played this session really badly. I was missing bets and missing folds all throughout the night and was really at a loss for where I was in a lot of hands. I missed out on a spot to steal a multiway ~$800 pot with a well timed turn raise and made a few dumb turn checks that ended up costing me a few pots. A lot of this could be blamed on bad luck, but if I had played the hands correctly, my opponents would not have had the chance to get lucky. As it is when I play badly, I tend to stay longer than I should. At two different points in the night, I made it back to even (one time I was even +$200) but I didn't leave.
Amazingly enough, after a 21 hour session, I managed to leave at +$6 due to hitting a Royal Flush to win a $500 high hand (I consider this part of my poker winnings because I am forced to consider the $2 rake they take for this promotion as part of my poker losses). So all in all I'm relieved (maybe even exhilarated) to finish a session this long back to even, but also worried that I played so terribly throughout the day.
Hopefully I can avoid starting off stuck today :)
Sunday, September 14, 2008
On a Roll?
So I've now had three "perfect" sessions in a row. I've played a total of about 7-8 hours of 20/40 in the last three sessions and am +$1550.
This last one has me a little worried though. It wasn't really very "perfect" at all other than being short and ending up a rack. I feel like I lost a bit of value in a few spots and made some bad call downs but had a big +800 surge right at the beginning so I was able to leave +500. Along with that, I was planning to play a long time today, probably through the night and into Sunday morning, but I was playing a little too scared; I didn't want to lose back my early profit. I need to stop myself from thinking this way because it definitely leads to missed value. The table I was at was not the greatest so maybe it's not so bad that I left it.
In the next session I play I'm going to try to keep the amount I'm up or down completely out of my mind when I'm in a hand.
This last one has me a little worried though. It wasn't really very "perfect" at all other than being short and ending up a rack. I feel like I lost a bit of value in a few spots and made some bad call downs but had a big +800 surge right at the beginning so I was able to leave +500. Along with that, I was planning to play a long time today, probably through the night and into Sunday morning, but I was playing a little too scared; I didn't want to lose back my early profit. I need to stop myself from thinking this way because it definitely leads to missed value. The table I was at was not the greatest so maybe it's not so bad that I left it.
In the next session I play I'm going to try to keep the amount I'm up or down completely out of my mind when I'm in a hand.
Friday, September 12, 2008
The First Day of the Rest of My Life
So I just stepped both feet out of my office building after handing off my badge. I took a few deep breaths of the fresh air and walked out to my car; now I'm officially a professional poker player.
It was quite a hectic day approaching this moment. When I came into the office this morning, I expected to clean up my last few things, have a long lunch with some work friends, and then have my exit interview and be on my way. But, as fate would have it, there was an issue with something that I would be most familiar with. It felt good to get something important done even in my last hours on the clock.
After that was resolved, I cleaned out my computer and headed over to my exit interview. I made my way though the maze of hallways to arrive at the interviewer's office only to find that no one was there! Did I have the time wrong? No. The room number? No. What's going on here?!? I learned from the interviewer's office neighbor that she was apparently out of office today. What the heck? I guess they really don't want me to leave! What an ingenious loop hole: if the exit interviewer is always oof, the I can never actually leave the company, right? I have to say, of all things I had considered as possible occurrences today, having the exit interviewer be oof was not one of them.
Turns out she was at a Day of Caring event helping clean up a school so I guess I can let it slide this time. I had the interview rescheduled for later in the day and that is what I have just left as I breath in this wonderful fresh air. It smells like freedom, like endless possibilities. I feel like going on a long walk today and just taking everything in.
Let my new life begin!
It was quite a hectic day approaching this moment. When I came into the office this morning, I expected to clean up my last few things, have a long lunch with some work friends, and then have my exit interview and be on my way. But, as fate would have it, there was an issue with something that I would be most familiar with. It felt good to get something important done even in my last hours on the clock.
After that was resolved, I cleaned out my computer and headed over to my exit interview. I made my way though the maze of hallways to arrive at the interviewer's office only to find that no one was there! Did I have the time wrong? No. The room number? No. What's going on here?!? I learned from the interviewer's office neighbor that she was apparently out of office today. What the heck? I guess they really don't want me to leave! What an ingenious loop hole: if the exit interviewer is always oof, the I can never actually leave the company, right? I have to say, of all things I had considered as possible occurrences today, having the exit interviewer be oof was not one of them.
Turns out she was at a Day of Caring event helping clean up a school so I guess I can let it slide this time. I had the interview rescheduled for later in the day and that is what I have just left as I breath in this wonderful fresh air. It smells like freedom, like endless possibilities. I feel like going on a long walk today and just taking everything in.
Let my new life begin!
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A Perfect Session
I just had what I'd like to think of as a perfect session of $20/$40 LHE yesterday.
I came in and there was an end seat waiting for me right away. Good start! There were 2 unknowns to my direct right and everyone to my left were predictable players. I fold a few hands, win a decent pot with KK, and chop a pot with J8 after my two pair gets counterfeited.
Then, the guy to my right leaves. I look for who the replacement will be and it's a tight predictable player so I quickly move my chips to the right and let him in to my left. I proceed to fold a bunch of hands and then 3-bet KQo on the button after an aggro EP2 raise and the CO calls. The BB is a player who "never cold calls 3" so he caps and we all call. Flop is 974 with two hearts. Checked to me so I naturally bet. All call. Turn is the 2h. Checked to me and I bet without looking back at my hand (I'm hoping there's a heart there). Only the BB calls my bet. River is the 6h. BB checks and I bet. He pauses for a long time and folds. I look back at my hand and find the Kh and am upset.
Then, the guy to my left leaves for the main game. I spot the aggro guy that is replacing him and quickly slide my stack left. A round or so later, a tight EP raise gets 4 callers. I squeeze out the Th4h and decide to make a (somewhat?) loose call in the BB. Flop is KT4 with two diamonds. SB checks, I check, EP bets and gets 3 callers. SB raises and I instantly 3-bet. Amazingly, the 4 other players all fold leaving me with position on the SB. The turn and river are blanks and he calls me down with KQ.
So just like that I have amassed around a $850 profit in a half an hour with relatively no effort at all. Then, as if the poker gods are testing me, I go on an hour and a half run of the worst cards ever. I basically fold away $180 in blinds. I decide to finally play a hand and raise the Jh9h in LP. One cold caller behind and the SB three-bets (uh oh). We both call. Flop is AQ2r. SB instachecks which basically means KK. I decide not to try and steal it and we check the whole way down on a 2 turn and Q river and he wins. Maybe a missed opportunity but more likely a missed chance to spew off $100. Later, an EP2 limps, I raise KK in MP, folds to him, he calls. Flop A23 rainbow. He check/calls. Turn 3, check check. river 7. He bets and I instacall and lose to his 45s. No big deal.
So after happily folding another two rounds of hands, I leave at my BB up $500 in two hours and completely unstressed. If only all of my sessions could go like this.
I came in and there was an end seat waiting for me right away. Good start! There were 2 unknowns to my direct right and everyone to my left were predictable players. I fold a few hands, win a decent pot with KK, and chop a pot with J8 after my two pair gets counterfeited.
Then, the guy to my right leaves. I look for who the replacement will be and it's a tight predictable player so I quickly move my chips to the right and let him in to my left. I proceed to fold a bunch of hands and then 3-bet KQo on the button after an aggro EP2 raise and the CO calls. The BB is a player who "never cold calls 3" so he caps and we all call. Flop is 974 with two hearts. Checked to me so I naturally bet. All call. Turn is the 2h. Checked to me and I bet without looking back at my hand (I'm hoping there's a heart there). Only the BB calls my bet. River is the 6h. BB checks and I bet. He pauses for a long time and folds. I look back at my hand and find the Kh and am upset.
Then, the guy to my left leaves for the main game. I spot the aggro guy that is replacing him and quickly slide my stack left. A round or so later, a tight EP raise gets 4 callers. I squeeze out the Th4h and decide to make a (somewhat?) loose call in the BB. Flop is KT4 with two diamonds. SB checks, I check, EP bets and gets 3 callers. SB raises and I instantly 3-bet. Amazingly, the 4 other players all fold leaving me with position on the SB. The turn and river are blanks and he calls me down with KQ.
So just like that I have amassed around a $850 profit in a half an hour with relatively no effort at all. Then, as if the poker gods are testing me, I go on an hour and a half run of the worst cards ever. I basically fold away $180 in blinds. I decide to finally play a hand and raise the Jh9h in LP. One cold caller behind and the SB three-bets (uh oh). We both call. Flop is AQ2r. SB instachecks which basically means KK. I decide not to try and steal it and we check the whole way down on a 2 turn and Q river and he wins. Maybe a missed opportunity but more likely a missed chance to spew off $100. Later, an EP2 limps, I raise KK in MP, folds to him, he calls. Flop A23 rainbow. He check/calls. Turn 3, check check. river 7. He bets and I instacall and lose to his 45s. No big deal.
So after happily folding another two rounds of hands, I leave at my BB up $500 in two hours and completely unstressed. If only all of my sessions could go like this.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Long Sessions
I play too many long sessions.
And by long sessions, I don't mean 10-12 hour ones or sessions where you get tired and exhausted and delirious and then leave. I mean sessions where you get tired and exhausted and delirious and THEN play 10-12 hours more. I mean sessions where you play a significant amount of time with someone, they leave for the day, you're STILL playing when they come back, and you play another “session” with them. I mean sessions where you close your eyes for a moment after folding a hand and then it's suddenly the next hand with the action on you and the guy next to you just poked you awake. I mean sessions where you don't just lose track of what time it is, you lose track of what day it is. I mean sessions where you promised yourself that you were going to leave before the next big blind... but that was 8 hours ago. I mean sessions where finally getting unstuck is all that matters to you because ending a session this long back to even would be exhilarating. I mean sessions where you're in a great game, but you're terrified of losing back your profit because ending a session this long back to even would be devastating.
I play too many long sessions.
And by long sessions, I don't mean 10-12 hour ones or sessions where you get tired and exhausted and delirious and then leave. I mean sessions where you get tired and exhausted and delirious and THEN play 10-12 hours more. I mean sessions where you play a significant amount of time with someone, they leave for the day, you're STILL playing when they come back, and you play another “session” with them. I mean sessions where you close your eyes for a moment after folding a hand and then it's suddenly the next hand with the action on you and the guy next to you just poked you awake. I mean sessions where you don't just lose track of what time it is, you lose track of what day it is. I mean sessions where you promised yourself that you were going to leave before the next big blind... but that was 8 hours ago. I mean sessions where finally getting unstuck is all that matters to you because ending a session this long back to even would be exhilarating. I mean sessions where you're in a great game, but you're terrified of losing back your profit because ending a session this long back to even would be devastating.
I play too many long sessions.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
One Foot Out the Door...
So I just sent out the email to my coworkers that I am leaving.
I'm really leaving. It's hard to believe sometimes and I occasionally find myself thinking how crazy this is. I'm in a stable job making good money. There are a lot of good reasons to stay. A couple times I'd gone down this train of thought I almost convinced myself not to leave.
But then I think about what my true passion is. What motivates me to try harder every day and learn something new. And that's poker. If I never take this leap into the unknown, I will never know if I can make it. If I look back at my life when I'm 40 without ever giving myself the chance to turn my passion into my career, what will I think?
It's a risk, but it's a risk where the downside is not the end of the world. If I have grossly over-estimated my skills, or if fate frowns on me and throws me into a spiral of bad session after bad session, where will I be? I'll be a 25 or 26 year-old with a Computer Science degree from a leading university looking for a job.
But enough of the worst-case scenario talk. What's the best case? Well, fortune smiles upon me, I crush the 15/30 and 30/60 LHE games and build my bankroll up. I play some $200-$600 tournaments and make a big score in one. I push my bankroll up to 6 digits. I play a $1500 WSOP event and make a final table. I get lucky with AK against QQ and become a dominant chip leader which leads inevitably to my first bracelet and a heaping pile of cash. And that's just the beginning .
Which way will my life turn from here? I'll let you know when I get my other foot out there.
I'm really leaving. It's hard to believe sometimes and I occasionally find myself thinking how crazy this is. I'm in a stable job making good money. There are a lot of good reasons to stay. A couple times I'd gone down this train of thought I almost convinced myself not to leave.
But then I think about what my true passion is. What motivates me to try harder every day and learn something new. And that's poker. If I never take this leap into the unknown, I will never know if I can make it. If I look back at my life when I'm 40 without ever giving myself the chance to turn my passion into my career, what will I think?
It's a risk, but it's a risk where the downside is not the end of the world. If I have grossly over-estimated my skills, or if fate frowns on me and throws me into a spiral of bad session after bad session, where will I be? I'll be a 25 or 26 year-old with a Computer Science degree from a leading university looking for a job.
But enough of the worst-case scenario talk. What's the best case? Well, fortune smiles upon me, I crush the 15/30 and 30/60 LHE games and build my bankroll up. I play some $200-$600 tournaments and make a big score in one. I push my bankroll up to 6 digits. I play a $1500 WSOP event and make a final table. I get lucky with AK against QQ and become a dominant chip leader which leads inevitably to my first bracelet and a heaping pile of cash. And that's just the beginning .
Which way will my life turn from here? I'll let you know when I get my other foot out there.
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