84 Posts and 336 Comments
July 2009 - Posts
-
By
dtools22
-
Jul 30 2009, 03:41 PM
This week I've been juggling around a ton of stuff so poker has unfortunately had to take a back seat for a bit. I'm normally ok taking a few days off, powering down, and coming back fresh in a day or two. This time around however I'm on a major upswing and have to cool my jets a bit. This past Monday I got myself to two FTs, finishing 3rd in the $5.50 PLO at 20:45 for $196 and winning the $2.25 Cubed at 21:35 for $541. Since my nights have been ridiculously busy the past couple of days I've been trying to pick my cash game session up a bit during the day and I'm having ok, not great results. I've been playing the $25NL level for a little while now and I've been grinding along so far. My basic strategy for cash game play is to grind out for 2-4 hours a day, 5 days a week, and grind out on average 1 buy in a day. With my recent MTT success I've been playing much longer into the night so the next day I need a little recovery time before I hit the felt again. As a result my recent cash game sessions have been very brief, maxing out at around 1-1.5 hours per session and only 3 sessions a week. I am still having ok success, but my volume is not what it needs to be. I have no real way of knowing if my system is working, if I'm improving, or if variance is just playing nice for the time being. When I have been playing I'm also noticing a frustration that has been setting in during the session. I'll win a big pot or two, go up a couple of buy ins, then I'll slowly bleed some back over the next 45 mins against a variety of coolers and the occasional bad call. Often times I find myself just getting up before more frustrations set in and my play really starts to suffer. The strange part for me is that I don't have this issue in MTTs right now. If I take some hits early, it doesn't have nearly the same effect on my mental focus that it does in the cash games. My theory is that this stems for the very basic principal that cash games take a different skill set and mentality and you have to be willing to sit there, take your lumps, stay patient, and then hammer your opponents when the time comes. The caveat here is that this only happens when playing sessions online. I've played a bit more live over the past few weeks and I have had none of these issues. I have no trouble shaking off a bad beat, dealing with a loudmouth at the table, or just simply staying patient with players worse than me. I don't think this is a big issue as I am still winning in the games online, but I do think it's something I need to fix before it escalates into something that will effect my play over the long run.
As a side note, my post about Ivey has left a lot of people questioning my sanity. As a result I think it's time to put up or shut up. I am willing to listen to suggestions about bets for the 2010 WSOP. Here's what I have so far: Ivey not winning a WSOP bracelet - I'll take against Ivey Ivey v another player of my chioce - This could be done with POY points, FTs, Cashed, Bracelets, etc. The only thing is somehow a tiebreaker has to be established. Ivey v another player over the next 5 years - This one is something I'm going to put on the board here, but I'm really not sure how this would work. I'm not sure if I'll still be trolling the forums 5 years from now (could always go broke) nor can about 85% of the people on these forums. I'm willing to listen to suggestions here but I doubt this one will go down. BTW, I'm NOT hating on Ivey and I'm pulling for him to win the WSOP ME harder than almost anyone else. If you want to know what this is about, check out my post: http://www.pocketfives.com/dtools22/ivey-s-not-the-king-yet-4508603
|
-
By
dtools22
-
Jul 27 2009, 09:12 PM
I had a big week on the virtual felt here in the waning days of July. I was able to right the ship at the $25NL tables on week's end, which will be huge if I can continue my 5+ buy ins a week win rate (from what I've seen and heard, this shouldn't be too bad). I was also able to KO a Full Tilt red pro in route to another successful, albeit FT-less, week on the MTT front. All in all things have picked up for me this summer from the drag ass sessions I was having not 6 weeks ago. And yet even with all this success, the biggest part of last week for me had nothing to do with poker. I have been working hard as a member of an independant film company called Broken Wall Films. This summer we've been trying to pump out a web series featuring some characters we've been working with over the past year. This week marked the 5th episode now up on the web for all to see and the project has really been coming together nicely. The shots look crisp, the actors are growing and building great chemistry on camera, and the jokes have been home runs in recent weeks. Check it out for yourself at http://somethingremote.com. The story surrounds our three main characters Erik, Mat, and Neil. Our trio are roommates living in the city that like to share the finer things in life: pizza, TV, and lounging around aimlessly. However with Neil having a girlfriend, who just so happens to be fucking crazy (story checks out), he's been finding it harder and harder to hang with his friends back home. Each episode is approximately 4 minutes in length and since it is comedic and dialogue heavy each episode moves pretty quickly. Of all the things we've filmed things we've filmed so far I have to say this is by far the one I am most proud of. We've been getting a lot of very positive feedback from people who've watched it and now I'd love to hear some opinions from you guys. Anything you like, don't like, think needs work, don't understand, etc please comment below. Most importantly, enjoy the show!
|
-
By
dtools22
-
Jul 24 2009, 10:53 AM
With Ivey making the November 9 this year the poker world is buzzing with talks of Ivey being the best in the world. I'm not totally sold on him being head and shoulders above everyone else however I do think he has to be in the top 5 in the world right now when you factor in cash games, tournaments, holdem, and non-holdem games. The easiest comparison to make to Ivey is the self proclaimed best poker player in the world, Phil Hellmuth. While I cannot disagree that Ivey is all around a more proven player than Hellmuth, I do think the legend of Ivey has become greater than the player and he does get just a little too much credit. Now again before you start thinking about the flaming you're going to drop on my ass when you finish reading this blog post remember this, I am not saying Hellmuth is better than Ivey. The argument I am going to put forward for you is specific to tournament poker and for the most part the WSOP. In this isolated set of conditions, I do think Hellmuth has the edge over Ivey and there are a few reasons why. 1) At the start of the WSOP 2009, Ivey had 5 bracelets to Hellmuth's 11. Adding the two Ivey won he is still short 4 WSOP wins. He certainly has the age advantage being about 12 years younger so he has some time to make up the 4 bracelets but I don't think Ivey is going to be gaining much ground in the next few years. 2) During the poker boom era coming into the WSOP 2009 Hellmuth lead all players with 4 WSOP bracelets between 2003 and 2008. A whole host of players had 3 in the last 6 years with Ivey trailing them all having only one WSOP bracelet in that time. Factoring in his two bracelets this year he still is one shy of Hellmuth, who has proven he is year in and year out the guy you want to bet on to win a WSOP bracelet. 3) Hellmuth has 11 WSOP bracelets in some form of Texas Holdem (limit, NL, and PL), Ivey has none. No one is going to argue that HE makes up by far the majority of the events played at the WSOP which gives Hellmuth a better chance again year in and year out to win a WSOP title than Ivey. 4) Ivey is a huge regular in Bobby's Room during the WSOP. He plays the biggest stakes in town on a regular basis and even more so during the WSOP. He has a hard time taking even $10K events seriously and there is no way he is motivated enough on his own to play in the $1500-$3000 buy in events without putting in action on the side. All of Hellmuth's wins since 2003 have been from buy ins $3000 and under, which means the fields are much larger and yet he has still been able to rack up more wins than Ivey. Hellmuth also plays many more events on a regular basis than Ivey. 5) While Ivey has been very close before to winning a WSOP HE bracelet, he has not been any closer than Hellmuth has been in winning a non-holdem bracelet. It's only a matter of time before Ivey and Hellmuth break through and get some wins in events they have yet to conquer at the WSOP.
We all love to hate Hellmuth and slobber over Ivey but the stats are there to set some people straight. Ivey is not racing with Hellmuth for the most bracelets of all time because he has too much ground to make up. Can he make things interesting absolutely, but let's not forget that this is the same guy that has one win in the 6 years leading up to his monster year in 2009. Let's see how he does in 2010 at the WSOP, if he can keep things moving on the right track then maybe people will have an argument. Right now there's just not enough there to say Ivey is King at the WSOP.
|
-
By
dtools22
-
Jul 21 2009, 05:27 PM
I've been having some very promising success lately. My MTT
grind has finally produced a $1K score which I then followed up with
another FT in the $2.25 Cubed on FTP. Cash games were solid last week
and I've now got pleanty to move up to grinding the $25NL level. I even
managed to squeeze in a Foxwoods trip and in one of the most insane
1/2NL games I've ever played in I managed to double my buy in and walk
away $304 winner. With my poker-griping now firmly put on hold I think
it's probably a good idea to bring some more humor back to the blog and
I saw a gem of a convo from some randoms in a cash game that will make
you all cry laughing.
I don't it's a news flash for me to say that people in $25NL are not
exactly "elite" poker minds. There is a reason there are players that
just mass multi these things and make an ok living off of a micro
stakes buy in. A buddy of mine actually encountered one of the "stars"
of the $25NL stakes last week and I have to say this guy is absolutely
priceless. The hand in that sparked this all was a preflop all in 4
handed. The villain was the 2nd person to shove preflop holding QQ and
the weakest player at the table called the shove for all his chips as
well with TT. He rivers a T and scoops all but a few pennies on the
end having almost everyone else in the hand covered. Our villain then
went so far as to educate our you friendly fish here when my buddy
stepped in. Hilarity ensued:
Villain said, "what the f are you doing"
Villain said, "pushing 10 10 in a multi way pot"
Villain said, "all in #"
Villain said, "idiiot"
Hero said, "um...dont you want him to do that when you have QQ?"
Villain said, "of course not Hero .."
Villain said, "there was one all in previous to me"
Villain said, "Im all in"
Villain said, "wtf is the novice calling with 10 10 for"
Ok so far you can just chalk this up to a guy with his panties in a
bunch. So he doesn't like to get the money in as an 80/20
favorite...he can't be thinking straight. He's pissed at the beat and
I think we've all been in his shoes enough times to forgive him saying
something stupid in the heat of the moment...oh if it only stopped
there.
Hero said, "I say again....why would you not want him to call when you have QQ?"
Villain said, "do you know poker"
Hero said, "no, just started yesterday
Villain said, "because if not , Im not wasting my time explaining to you"
Hero said, "seriously..if you get upset when worse hands call you, it is clearly you who doesnt understand poker"
At this point it's probably a better idea if our Hero lets the fishy
swim in his pond, not fully understanding that was he just said has
earned him a dunce cap and 10mins in the corner for his classmate to
laugh at...but sometimes it's hard to help yourself.
Villain said, "if there are two all in bets previous , then you are
shooting to a two outer with 10 10 , and you are clearly playing poker
against the odds"
Story at least checks out there...
Villain said, "meaning"
Villain said, "my QQ loses value , the more players you have in the hand"
Ugh...now my brain hurts. The QQ loses no value in the hand, you
may not be as big a favorite, but the pot odds become bigger which
makes your hand GAIN equity rather than lose it. The more players that
get involved the better your chances are for long term profit. The old
expression at this point comes to mind, "Better to have people think
you're a moron than open your mouth an remove all doubt." The is an
idiom that our villain never bothered to understand.
Villain said, "answer me this"
Villain said, "you are holding AA .."
Villain said, "you raise pre flop .."
Villain said, "you get one caller , then another all in , then another
all in bet .. three players acting after your AA raise .."
Villain said, "do you call your AA then ?"
Hero said, "absolutely"
Villain said, "then you do not understand poker odds yet"
Villain said, "I suggest you go read some and chat to players"
Ladies and gentleman...we have a winner. Not only does our villain
have the wrong idea here, but he goes so far as to rip the hero for
giving the correct answer. This thing reads like a damn comic strip.
The conversation just keeps escalating right along through to the
punchline and the best part is the villain has no idea he just turned
his screen name into a joke...that is unless he's a P5er and sees his
name in lights in the blog-a-sphere.
|
More Posts Next page »
|
|