Poker Articles

Stay Sharp at the Poker Tables - Part 2

Fox — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:21:00 GMT

(continued from Part 1)

Stay Healthy

I'm not exactly sure of the perfect model for living a clean and healthy life, but I've gotten a lot better over the years as I've learned how important it is to keep your body healthy in order to keep your brain fucntioning at a high level. If you have followed my advice in Part 1, you can actually take your baseline test and see how well you do on days when you haven't gotten enough sleep, have had too much to drink the night before, or are under stress. You'll almost certainly find that these things hurt your scores, which probably translates to lower win rates at the tables.

Studies have shown that a sedentary lifestyle impairs brain function. Excessive weight, improper diet, excessive drug and alcohol intake, smoking, almost anything that's bad for you is also bad for your brain. This doesn't mean you can't have apiece of cheesecake on Thursday and have a few beers or Saturday night, but don't overdo it, and make sure your drug and/or alcohol intake is far removed from time you will spend at the tables or you'll lose a significant edge.

I actually find that my baseline scores on mental acuity tests are hurt more by hunger than anything else. If I have an apple my tests scores improve significantly within 20 minutes, but when I haven't eaten in the morning (again, after noon) my test scores drop like a rock. I also find that taking my scores from average up to the top of my range is easy to achieve with a little exercise. 20 minutes fo playing with the dog in the backyard or a brief jog of jsut a few blocks and my test scores improve significantly for a few hours.

This anecdotal evidence for exercise is backed up by studies that show 20 minutes of moderate exercise will increase your mental facilities by a significant margin on most tests for a period of 3 to 4 hours. As a primarily cash player I am able to sit out after a few hours and go get a little exercise and some protein to eat before I come back refreshed. Tournament players who are typically playing multiple tables for hours at a time are advised to get some exercise before they start playing and take advantage of synchronized breaks to get their heart pumping a little bit.

Caffeine is one of my occasional vices, so believe me when I say that I understand the desire for a pot of coffee in the morning, but it's not only bad for you, it's not effective. At least not when compared to better ways of waking up and making sure you're sharp. If you really need to wake up, a strong mint or piece of gum, splashing water on your face, eating an apple, or taking some deep breaths are all proven to work faster and be more effective than drinking a cup of coffee and they don't steal energy away from the rest of your day.

I also keep a small bottle of mint oil on my desk for times when I am a little tired or starting to fade and have a good reason to continue playing. This would be especially important for tournament players on a long grind. I don't know what the oil was originally for, some hippy relative probably gave it to me years ago as a cure for some ailment and I stashed it away until finding it one day when I was tired. A good whiff of it woke me right up and cleared my nasal passages up a little too, so I keep it on my desk to use as a wake up call when I really need it.

Keep yourself awake, alert, and fresh, and you'll be a step ahead of your opponents who just stumbled out of bed with a hangover and sat down to join your table. When they have already busted out a couple of times, you'll be ready to quit a winner for the day while they curse their terrible luck and blame it on bad cards. You'll know better because you will be seeing clearly.

Putting it all together

So far, we've talked about some ways to keep yourself sharp, test your mental acuity, and make sure that you are at your best whenever you are at the tables. I'll finish up the article with a few words about how to maintain a regimen, how to make sure you stay sharp, and how to avoid playing when you aren't at your best.

I don't remember to do things on a daily basis very well at all unless I have a reminder. I've noticed that a lot of poker players share this trait with me, very bright but scatterbrained and likely to forget names and places while remembering hands they played years ago in perfect detail. Without a few things set up to help me maintain my regimen every day, the whole regimen would fade away and be forgotten within a few weeks.

I start by keeping the pills I mentioned in Part 1 right on my desk, where I will see them and remember to take them every day. Then I use taking the pills as a reminder to get up and get some exercise before I sit down to play poker right away. If I'm moving very slowly, I may answer a few emails before I get up and get moving, but my rule is that I don't play poker until I have a few minutes of exercise.

I make rules like this for myself because things like tilt, being tired or hungry, or just generally playing at less than your best are very tough to detect on your own. My favorite example of how important it is to make rules for yourself involves drunk driving. I've never driven drunk, and the only reason I am certain of this is that I have a set of rules that I follow explicitly. I love to go out and see live music at bars, and when I don't have someone driving for me I can't take the risk of driving after one too many drinks. Drunk driving is such a good example for this, because just like being on tilt, being a little irritated or tired, or not playing well for any other reason, it is sometimes very tough to detect when you are in bad shape.

The very act of having a few drinks makes it tough to tell whether you are okay to drive, like the fact that you just woke up might make it tougher to tell whether you are too tired to play well. Since the thing that impairs your ability to play also impairs your ability to judge how well you are playing.

When it comes to driving, I have a rule that I can have one beer if I'm going to be at the bar a few hours, and otherwise I don't get to drink at all. If I have two beers I know I have to take a cab home and find a way to get my car in the morning and it's just not worth the trouble so I don't do it. With poker we have the same problem and a similar set of rules.

My first rule with poker is that I can not start playing poker until I've taken my smart pills, gotten at least ten minutes of exercise, and been awake for at least thirty minutes. I also must have eaten within the last three hours and be feeling good. part of these rules require me to quit if I am down 4 buy-ins in a big bet game or 50 big bets in a fixed-limit game in order to help control tilt, but that is for an entirely different article on tilt control. The important point is that you make a set of rules and stick to them.

If you combine all of the things you want to do in your regimen into a routine, and make it a hard and fast rule that you do all of those things before you start playing every day, you can be assured that you will always be in good shape to play before you get started. This gives you a leg up on your opponents, and will help to ensure that you have more consistency, better results and that you learn faster while you're at the tables.

I'll see you at the final table,
Chris Fox Wallace

P.S. Check out my new site at pokerwhip.com

More Articles by Fox

Double or Nothing ICM Calculations Sep 23, 2009
Why Aren't More People Playing Omaha Poker? Sep 07, 2009
Poker College (Part 4) Aug 24, 2009
Poker College (Part 3) Aug 17, 2009
Poker College (Part 2) Aug 10, 2009
Poker College (Part 1) Aug 03, 2009
Taking the Plunge Jun 23, 2005
Wax On, Wax Off Jun 14, 2005
A Damn Fine Week for the Fox Jun 06, 2005
A Quick Update Jun 02, 2005
Thanks to Beanie and Annie May 27, 2005
Killing the Single Tables May 17, 2005
Playing Multiple Tables May 12, 2005
Meeting Beanie and Feldliss May 09, 2005
Still Chasing Bonus Dollars May 06, 2005
A Frantic Week May 02, 2005
Party Bonus This Week Apr 22, 2005
I Learned Something Today Apr 16, 2005
Put On Your Tin Foil Hat... Apr 12, 2005
Whipping the Entire Field Apr 08, 2005
Introduction to Fox Apr 05, 2005

Any Two Cards?

grapsfan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 04:44:00 GMT

It’s a couple hours into a tournament, blinds are 200/400 with a 50 ante, and Player X is on the button with 3-3 and about 15k chips behind. The action folds around to the Cutoff, who shoves for 4,000. Player X isolates the blinds with a re-raise shove.

On its surface, Player X is basically playing a coin flip. Even if the Cutoff is bluffing, unless he’s bluffing with a 2 or a 3, he has two overcards to the baby pair. From a tournament position perspective, this is the time in which accumulating chips becomes really important, so you can be the big stack at the table as you approach the bubble. In terms of chip equity, this is also a good flip to take, wagering 4,000 to win 5,050. All Player X needs is about a 44% chance to win the pot. This got me thinking.

“How wide of a range did you put him on?” I asked Player X. He replied, “Well, it should be about Any Two Cards.”

“Would you make the play with Q-8 offsuit?” I asked, quoting my standard 50th percentile hand. I was met with the beginning of some mocking reply…but his face changed before his sentence got underway, and he started to get my point.

If you go purely by the numbers, and you know for sure the blinds are going to fold, your range should be any 44th-percentile hand or higher. It’s easy enough to sit down with a tool like PokerStove, or a table like Andy Bloch’s in the FTP Strategy Guide, to figure out what that might be. We’re talking about hands like 9-7 offsuit or J-3 suited, a hand sure to draw scorn and ridicule from the Cutoff when he hits the rail after his beat... hands which are tough to digest as being reasonable to play this way, even after crunching the numbers.

Of course, the assumption the blinds will always fold is valid only in game theory or dopey poker articles. In reality, one of them will wake up with a hand where they can call your shove (AQ+, TT+) about 4% of the time, each. So our 44th-percentile hand actually has to be about a 52nd-percentile hand to be the “correct” play to make…if one other assumption is correct.

This assumption is, of course, the Cutoff is actually shoving with Any Two Cards.

In my experience, it’s a mistake for someone to think the “ATC” range, in its strictest sense, is accurate, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, most players, even some good tournament players, develop a pre-conceived notion about the quality of their hand. By the time the first five players in the hand fold, the Cutoff has been staring at that 7-3 suited or 9-4 offsuit for twenty seconds, maybe thirty. That’s a long time to tell your self, “Yeah, I know these are shit, but I should shove anyway.”

Strangely enough, even though online play is labeled as the destination for loose wack-jobs and crazy play, making a move like shoving with a true “ATC” range is much easier in live poker. You don’t have to look at your cards until it is your turn to make a decision. As the rest of the table starts to act, you can make up your mind: “If it folds to me, I’m shoving.” You look at your hand when it’s your turn out of habit, but since your mind is made up, you’re not really determining what play to make based on what you reveal. Your eyes may not even truly see the cards at all.

A true “ATC” shove should also be avoided because it is most likely not supported by ICM. Situations where these shoves are proper come up most often in turbo SNGs, as the blinds escalate quickly and the mathematics of chip equity v. payout is well-established. The amount of chips in the pot is a substantial portion of the total chips in play. It is relatively easy to figure out the financial reward in picking up the blinds & antes, and a range in which you should be calling or folding based on what happens if you win or lose.

At this stage in the tournament in question, there are still most likely 2-3 levels before they reach the money bubble. The size of the pot is quite small in comparison to the number of chips needed to reap any sort of substantial monetary gain. The bottom line is the Cutoff really doesn’t need these chips badly enough to mean he should have an “ATC” range.

You may also want to consider whether or not you want to project this image. Personally, I know I can make moves independent of my cards if the situation says I should. But I like projecting a tight image for as long as I can, and getting shown to the whole world as a guy who will shove with ATC, or re-shove really light, is a great way to completely screw that up.

Using tools like PokerStove to experiment with various hands against opponent’s ranges is an invaluable tool for tournament success. If you want to know if you made the right shove, or call, or isolation play…let the numbers be your guide for chip equity. And ask your friends about the rest.

Home Games are Better than Casino Poker

Lee Jones — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:05:00 GMT

I just came back from a home game at a friend’s house. And as I was going to that game, and while I was sitting in that game, and when I was leaving the game, I thought to myself:

“Why would anybody ever choose casino poker over a good home game?” Now, I’ve been to some bad home games, and they are really quite terrible – not the least because it’s such a letdown after the expectations that you built up. But let me tell you about this game:

It’s held in the garage of a house that these two ladies own. Yes, the biggest poker junkie in my county is a woman – I’ll call her “Missy.” Missy is a realtor so she knows basically everybody. She certainly knows every poker player in the county. And fairly frequently, she clears out their garage, sets up the custom poker tables which she built, and starts emailing friends.

Driving to this game, you head out into the lower hills of western North Carolina, as the sky is turning a purplish blue over Mount Pisgah to the west. All the western mountains are varying shades of blue, depending on their distance and the light (thus the term “Blue Ridge”). The moon is rising and stars are beginning to twinkle out over the farmland. You say to yourself,
“If I simply turned around at this moment and drove home, this drive would have been well worthwhile.” You don’t end up in a parking lot, with garish lights and busses idling. You end up on Missy’s street, and it’s hard to miss her house, because the garage doors are up, the garage is lit up, and there are two rollicking poker games going on. Other than that, the neighborhood is quiet.

You walk into the garage and shouts of welcome meet you from every direction. People you don’t know stand up and extend a hand in greeting. You get handshakes from some and hugs from others. Missy personally takes your buy-in and gives you a stack of chips. You grab an energy drink or beer from the fridge, toss a $1 chip to Missy for it, and settle into your chair.

Immediately you’re dealt into the game. Posting – what’s that? This is a friendly game, you’re sitting there with chips in front of you; you get a hand. It doesn’t matter if you’re in the cutoff or under-the-gun. It’s $1-1 blind no-limit hold’em. The other table is $.25-$.50 blinds. Halfway through the hand, there is shouting and laughter at the other table – they’ve built a $9 – nine dollar – pot and everybody’s breathless to see who will drag this monster. You finish your hand and the button passes. The cutoff has the responsibility for shuffling the second deck of cards, so there’s no delay in dealing – heck, this is faster than a shuffle machine. The next dealer begins pitching cards across the table.

Did you notice anything missing? Oh wait – the rake. Nobody took the rake! Of course not, silly. We’re guests in Missy’s home and you don’t charge your guests for their entertainment. Home games with rake are, forgive me, second-rate casino games. They’re also quite illegal in virtually all jurisdictions. But rake turns a fun evening of poker into a business. Poker as a business is a fine thing – for example, it feeds and clothes my family and me. But to me, a true home game, in the purest sense of the word, doesn’t have a rake. I mean heck, if you want to all chip in for the pizzas, great. And many of us round down our cash outs at Missy’s and leave the bits and bobs for her. That doesn’t count. But if somebody is reaching in pulling chips out of every pot, you’ve crossed a line.

Anyway, back at the game, basketball games are arranged, golf foursomes put together, and concert travel arranged (there is even over-optimistic discussion about how people might score tickets for U2 in Raleigh). Laughter is frequent – we are relaxing among friends and it’s a good time, even for those of us who are stuck.

Now, about the accoutrements of the game – the chips, the cards, etc. In the old days, home games usually had cheap cards – the most impressive were those where somebody had brought home a souvenir deck from Las Vegas. Of course, those cards were what the casino deemed no longer usable, and they were cardboard to begin with. Now, any home game worth the name (and Missy’s game, to be sure) has high quality plastic cards. And high quality chips are also the standard – no more red/white/blue thin plastic drugstore chips. When the big $9 pot broke out at the $.25-$.50 table, those of us in the bigger game laughed about how big a $9 pot used to be to us. “How am I going to stack all those quarters and dimes?” we remembered thinking. Home games have come a long way.

The evening’s over, and we all cash out, help Missy fold chairs and put the tables back against the garage wall. More hugs, handshakes, and promises to get together sooner than later. Yes, it was a poker game, but as much, or more, it was a social gathering that binds us as a community. And that is what makes a home game better than casino poker.

---

Lee Jones is the cardroom manager of Cake Poker and has been in the online poker business for over six years. He is also the author of Winning Low Limit Hold’em, which is in its 15th year of publication.

More Articles by Lee Jones

Pretend It's a Bank Sep 14, 2009

This, Too, Shall Pass Aug 27, 2009

The Arc of a Home Game Jul 14, 2009

Getting What You Want from an Online Poker Site Jun 21, 2009

Lee Jones Podcast - May 21, 2009

---

Book Review: Deal Me In

Wein — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:41:00 GMT

“Deal Me In” by Stephen John and Marvin Karlins, is a collection of background stories by some of poker’s most influential players. The collection is incredibly diverse, from Doyle Brunson to Peter Eastgate, and shows the array of lifestyles that have converged on the poker scene today. It is written in first-person, with tons of photos and bolded details. Combined with the very high level of print quality, it certainly “feels” like it is worth the $24.95 price tag.

Personally, I have always felt that biographies and life experiences are the best way to learn about poker. The game is evolving at an extremely fast pace and I find myself adjusting accordingly and changing my style often. Strategy books that have had to go through writing, editing, and publishing have a very hard time being relevant due to this, aside from basic concepts that hardly change. Biographies and stories however, always have information to draw from and lessons to learn. Barry Greenstein’s “Ace on the River” has become an absolute must to review every few months for me because it discusses the lifestyle and struggles that are associated with poker. Greenstein’s book gives me perspective, and I was hoping for a similar feeling after reading “Deal Me In.”

The book begins with a beautiful synopsis written by Doyle Brunson. This might be more to do with the fact that Brunson is an exceptional writer, but he portrays the unregulated and dangerous world of Texas gambling with imagery and detail. It gave me an appreciation for what poker is today. We can now sit in a casino and play poker without fear of being robbed or getting cheated (unless in very rare cases). For Brunson, every game brought the real fear of a shotgun being pointed at your head, your friends being killed, and all the money you’ve earned being stolen. With Doyle’s chapter being so exceptional, I assumed the rest of the book would follow suit.

Layne Flack’s chapter focuses on drugs, alcohol, women and gambling. It is a very important lesson about vices and not getting caught up in the many awful things the gambling world can present you. Even with his fifth bracelets in 2003, Flack still saw money go through his hands at an alarming rate and his reliance on drugs to be strong. I know personally that when I had my first big wins in January of 2008 the money fell through my hands and I had nothing to show for it. If you aren’t careful, people can take advantage of you. Despite the image that Flack portrays on the table as a fun-loving and carefree man, he is able to portray his inner-turmoil and lack of control in earlier years without being over the top. It is an excellent read, and with his 2008 bracelet in the $1,500 PLO with rebuys for over $577k, there is a belief that he is finally back in form.

Howard Lederer’s slow rise through a New York poker club into a WPT superstar is also intriguing, as is Phil Ivey’s story of using fake identification to play stud in Atlantic City, but the rest of the stories fall short. It seems like every story is pretty repetitive; business or school wasn’t going well, so they turned to poker because they excelled at it. Annette Obrestad, Tom Dwan, and Peter Eastgate all have almost identical stories about leaving school before its completion to pursue poker due to its financial freedoms. Maybe this is due to all three of these young stars (referred to as “young guns”) not being that old or having a lot of life experience, but if that is the case they shouldn’t have been included in the book. Instead, the book is concluded with three very uninteresting story.

I think the biggest negative about this book is that it doesn’t spend enough time discussing the individual player’s backgrounds. Instead of going into detail about the player’s childhoods and interest, it cuts right to how they got into poker and then offers banal advice about tells, betting patterns, and other basic strategy. The book’s cover states to have “twenty of the world’s top poker players share the heartbreaking and inspiring stories of how they turned pro.” If that is the case, why is Tom Dwan discussing the unimportance of tells? There are plenty of strategy books on the market, but I had high hopes of a different experience with this book.

Deal Me In

Know Your Stakes

grapsfan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:39:00 GMT

I was discussing poker with a friend the other day, mostly on the subject of how to remain patient in trying circumstances. Neither of us regularly plays more than 3-4 tables at a time, and often only one or two, so there are gaps in-between decisions. My friend made a fairly innocuous comment, “No Limit Hold’em is pretty boring if you’re card dead,” which I didn’t think about too much during our conversation. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I hung up the phone.

After our chat, I initially dismissed “card dead” as an irrelevant state of being. We have all been told poker is a game of position and people, not the cards in front of us. If we win a pot without going to showdown on the river, it doesn’t matter what are hole cards are. We win with the best bets, not the best hand.

So, who’s right? As with most attempts to nail down an absolute answer in poker, the best I can come up with is: “It depends.” Specifically, the dependency at the heart of the matter is one of table dynamics: how many pots are going to showdown?

At some tables, people seem drawn to play big pots as if their lives depended on it. Every bet is an overbet. Nobody has a “fold” button on his or her poker client. 100 BB stacks get shipped pre-flop in a KQ v. 44 coin flip. Bets on later streets will get called with 2nd or 3rd pair, underpairs, or even Ace-high.

Tables loaded with these players are more often found at micro-stakes…but are no means limited to the smallest buy-ins. The noon (EST) $20+2 MTT on PokerStars plays somewhat faster than Usain Bolt seven days a week, especially break-neck on Sundays. Some tables in the 10 PM $24+2 on Full Tilt are Cinderella at the ball, needing to be done and home by midnight. And the Sunday Majors are full of satellite qualifiers, playing deep stacks like their regular “donkaments”.

In these circumstances, your biggest advantage is getting paid the maximum when you have a hand. Bluffing is less of a skill, and more of a spew, when your opponents will call incredibly loosely. Their biggest thrill is making the hero call, and the best way to compete is to disappoint them in their quest. Your focus has to be on getting value from monsters, not squeezing chips out of pots with air.

In other circumstances, you will come across spots where you can’t wait for the deck to smack you in the face. It might be a turbo, or just bad, blind structure. You might be at a table full of smart players who will notice how tight you are, and are unlikely to pay you off if you only play the nuts. Or you just find a bunch of people who heard about “small ball poker”, but don’t understand it, and min-bet you to death like they’re playing Limit Hold’em.

The typical low- to mid-stakes tournament online has a wide variety of players. Contrary to popular stereotype, there are always some solid, experienced players scattered in the field of a $4+.40 180-man or an $11 freezeout. The percentage of runners in a low-stakes MTT who are winners, grinding out $5-20 games for a hobby or a spare-time job, has never been higher. If you can’t pick these guys out from the masses who can’t fold once they put a chip in the pot, you’ll never find the proper spots to accumulate the chips you need to go deep.

But how? Well, use your time wisely. After all, if you’ve got enough gaps between decisions for boredom to creep in, you’ve got enough time to be doing other things. Many of us choose to fill that time with a game on TV, a Web page to browse, an AIM chat to carry on. Use this time instead to put the people in each hand on ranges. Don’t try to guess exactly what they have; rather, think about what they might be playing.

What you’re looking for, specifically, are hands that simply don’t make any sense, either in the story they’re telling, or in their response to the story the other player is telling. Will they 3-barrel bluff? What do they call with when other players take the lead on all three streets? Do they consistently get value from their hands? If not, do they dramatically overbet or underbet?

At some tables, the exercise may be futile, as not a lot of hands will be shown down. It’s OK. Not all good habits help you every single time. But knowing what’s in front of you, and around you, at the table will be beneficial in the long run. No one can afford not to take advantage of every opportunity.

Stay Sharp at the Poker Tables - Part 1

Fox — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:05:00 GMT

We're all looking for an edge at the tables; that's what the game is all about. In any competitive endeavor, it's important to get a leg up on the competition any time you can (within the rules, of course). One of the ways I get an edge is to make sure my brain is always functioning at a high level when I play.

If I run into a player who is just as smart as I am, and has studied just as hard, I need a new edge to beat him. My edge often comes from the fact that while we may have the same weapons, I keep mine as sharp as possible. In this series I'll talk about ways to keep your mental weapons razor sharp.

Standard disclaimer - I'm not a doctor. Everything I recommend here is over-the-counter stuff, safe for most people. If you are going to go on a serious regimen of smart nutrients and supplements, you probably want to talk to someone with a medical degree, or at least do some of your own research.

Your brain uses chemicals in electrical reactions to store and process information. When the supply of chemicals gets low, things start to slow down or even misfire. Because poker demands so much of our brains while we work, we can easily run low on those chemicals and start to slow down. To prevent this from happening, I take the following nutrients and supplements.

A quality multi-vitamin - Study after study has shown that vitamins are important to mental processing, mood (read: tilt) control and overall health. A healthy sharp poker player in a good mood is a tough opponent...exactly what you want to be. Get a good multi-vitamin at your grocery store or online and take one every other day. The recommended dose is higher than most people need, and I actually take a single two-a-day vitamin every other day to get my vitamins.

Years ago, I did some research into smart drugs and nutrients, things that speed up or enhance processing power in the brain. The number of things proven to increase cognitive function in one way or another is amazing, and for myself, I came up with a list of which nutrients appear to work very well while having very little risk. There are some drugs that help too, but I don't want to be on a drug all the time and have to deal with potential side effects, when I can get most of the benefits from a much safer route.

When I decided to get some "brain pills" for poker, I hunted for something inexpensive, with most of the supplements that I was looking. I found a product called Focus Formula which I now use regularly. The product is sold in most GNC stores for around $15 for 60 pills, or online at the Amazon marketplace for $9 for the same 60 pills. I take one in the morning of any day I'm going to play poker.

The only thing I thought was really missing from the Focus Formula was Choline, commonly available as Choline Bitartrate. Choline is a very important fuel for your brain, so I take an extra 250 milligrams a day to make sure I never run low. You can find this dosage at most any drugstore or online and it's very inexpensive. I take the Choline whenever I take the Focus Formula so when the formula gets my brain functioning at peak efficiency, I know there will be enough fuel.

In somewhat non-scientific research on my own, within two hours of taking the two supplements mentioned above, my scores on a quick mental agility test improve by about 3%. In keeping up with complex logic problems over a long period of play, I can only imagine it would make even more difference, but that's just a guess on my part. I know I feel better and stay sharp longer, and the cost is very minimal (my regimen costs me about $18 a month) so it's definitely +EV.

Mental Exercise

Once you have the fuel, you also need to keep the engine running strong. A car sitting in the garage for a few years doesn't usually run well right away, and there is no way to predict how well it will perform. Your brain works much the same way. If you don't use it and keep all the parts moving, they will take some time to get warmed up and operating well. If you do a few mental exercises to keep your mind sharp, you can also use these as a baseline to determine how well your brain is working at any time.

When I first sit down at my computer in the morning (let's be honest, it's almost always after noon) I run through a timed set of mental exercises on my iGoogle page just to get my brain warmed up and see how I'm doing. If you use iGoogle, the widget I use is called Brain Tuner. Lumosity.com has an excellent set of brain exercises as well, and I drop by their site a few times a week to play a game or two and sharpen my mental faculties. Anything with simple math or logic problems, presented in rapid fire succession, is probably a good way
to start a poker session.

When I go through the Brian Tuner every morning, I know how long it is supposed to take me, and how my performances have been in the past. If my time is slow then I may take a little time off, get a cup of coffee and come back and try it again. If my time doesn't get better, then it's lower limits for me for the day, or I just do other work instead of playing poker. If my time is very fast and I feel good, then I am likely to spend some hours grinding because I know I'm sharp and have a larger edge than usual.

I also like to have a poker book or two on my desk at all times. I try to have a good book on the game I'm playing and look through it occasionally to pick up anything I may have missed reading it in the past. This keeps me thinking and considering other opinions while I play, as well as getting my brain working beyond the same old grind.

And let's not forget: any good personal trainer will tell you breaks in your exercise schedule are important. Taking a break every hour will bring you back to the table refreshed and prevent burnout, while taking a day or a weekend off from the game will give you a new perspective on the game. I also try to take a week or two off from the game a couple times a year, and feel I play my best poker after these long breaks. I may not be sitting at the tables during any break, but I am certainly thinking about the game. I've done some of my best thinking about poker with a rum drink in my hand, basking on an island off the coast of Central America.

If you can establish a baseline for a mental exercise, keep your brain running smooth, and give it an occasional break, you'll be well on your way to staying sharp at the tables and playing your best game.

Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 3

Cre8ive — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:55:00 GMT

A couple hours after we finished playing Day 2 the chip counts and tables were posted for the remaining 86 players. I was surprisingly 14th in chips even though I was up to 175k at one point on Day 2. I was entering Day 3 with 126k in chips. The top 45 players would make the money, so today was a very important day. We were playing down to 36 players and that is when the tournament goes to 6-max for the duration of play. When I received the seating assignments, I immediately wrote down all the names at my table. I recognized one name who was sitting in the eight seat, Phil Hellmuth. My seat was the nine seat and I had position on him. I was excited about having Phil at my table because I think he creates a lot of interesting table dynamics. He might keep players tight and in line which would work out in my favor. I researched the other players at my table that night and went to bed, ready to make a run to make it to Day 4.

I arrived at the table and un-bagged my chips. My seat at the table was great. I had position on the other two players that had big stacks. I told myself that I wouldn’t let Hellmuth’s antics get to me and I wouldn’t try to abuse him too much unless I knew I could get away with it. So many people go after Hellmuth and I knew that wouldn’t be smart. He only had about 30 big blinds so he wasn’t a huge threat. The first pot I played actually was against Phil.

He opened the cutoff for a raise to 5k. The blinds were 800/1600 (200 ante). His raise was a little more than 3x and I looked down at QJo on the button. I feel like I know a lot about Phil’s game, so I decided with a playable hand and position, as well as him having a shorter stack, I could call here profitably. I called his raise and the blinds folded. The flop came Q J 7 and he checked to me. I bet 7,300 and he called. When he checked the flop to me he tapped his fingers on the table three to four times. When the T fell on the turn he tapped his fingers about seven to eight times. I was a little worried to be honest. I wasn’t sure if that was a tell. AK got there and that could definitely be his exact hand since he raised a little more than 3x preflop and just check called the flop. I have never personally played with him but I’ve definitely seen enough coverage of his play and one of his books was the first poker book I read. Phil had a pot-sized bet behind and I decided the best play was to move all-in on the turn.

When Phil didn’t snap-call I was pretty happy to know he didn’t have AK. He started looking around the room for the camera crew while peering back down at his hand. I asked him “Do you want the cameras to come Phil?” and then I hollered to the camera crew “Come over here! Phil Hellmuth has a big decision and wants the cameras here!” I know Phil doesn’t like to call off his chips in a tournament so I figured he was most likely folding, but I tried to mess with him anyways. He made a couple comments about me being a bigger camera hog than him ha-ha (I’m pretty sure that’s impossible) and he decided to fold what he said was K 8. It was nice to win my first pot, especially off of Phil and my stack had grown to 140k.

The button opened for a raise. I played with him for a couple hours on Day 2 and I played really solid while he was at the table. He was really active in late position so when I looked at A8o in the big blind I thought a 3-bet was the right play. He instantly folded and I won another pot.

Under the gun I was dealt 99 and made it 3,900. The 2nd position player called as well as a player in middle position and Hellmuth in the big blind. The flop came 2-7-4 rainbow and I bet 7,800. I didn’t love my position in this hand in a 4-way pot. It was still relatively early in the day and I didn’t have too much information about the players yet. I was hoping everyone would fold so I wouldn’t get in a tough spot. The 2nd position player folded but the player in middle position called. The turn came the J and we both checked. When we both checked the turn, I felt the player had a pair like 55/66/88/TT. He would have bet a set on the turn along with over pairs. The river was the A and I bet 11,600. This might have been a bad bet since he probably won’t hero call me too often. I should have check-called and gotten more value if he decided to bluff because I think the only hand in his range I couldn’t beat was TT. I was now up to roughly 175k.

Eric basebaldy Baldwin had arrived at the table about 5-8 hands prior. He was three seats to my left and would have position on me for the majority of the orbit. During this time, Hellmuth was complaining about me being in every pot and how he should have called me because I was so aggressive. This wasn’t what I wanted from Phil and his table talk. I wanted him to keep the table tight, not chatter about how many pots I was playing. I opened the cutoff with A 8 to 3,800. Eric was in the small blind with a big stack. He had about 160k in chips.

Since we both were probably top 10 in chips and he would have position on me in a lot of pots throughout the day, I thought he would often 3-bet me light. He 3bet me from the small blind to 10,200. I already assumed that Eric would put me to the test in a lot of pots and I thought this was one of those times. We are the two big stacks at the table and there are plenty other weak spots in the tournament. In my mind, I thought he was 3-betting out of position lighter because it would look stronger to me. I decided to 4-bet to 23,800.

I expected this raise to take down the pot a high percentage of time. He called my raise. At this point I had his range at TT-AA and AQ. I felt like he would move in with AK preflop and just call with AQ as well as trap with AA/KK and play out of position with TT-QQ since he was getting a decent price. The flop came Q J 3. He thought for a little bit and checked to me. At this point I felt like his 3-bet/call range was very polarized to the range above and that flop hit his range pretty hard. I was ready to give up on the pot and I checked the flop as well. On the turn came the 3. He checked to me again. I was a little confused by his check this time and I decided to see how he would react to a bet of 24,600.

I thought this would help me eliminate some hands from his range. He thought and called. At this point, I was pretty positive he didn’t have QQ or JJ. I think he would almost always bet the turn or check-raise the turn and try to play for stacks. I felt like his range on the river was TT with the Ts or KK with no spade I didn‘t really consider AA because I had an Ace. The river came the 9, putting four spades on board. He checked again. This time he checked quicker and I could tell from his facial expression and body language that he was a little nervous. I thought for a while. There was about 95k in the pot. I had 120-125k behind and he had 110k behind. I thought about moving all-in but decided that a bet of 55k would look stronger to him. I slid the chips out and Eric went into the tank.

The first thing Eric said to me after I bet was “I don’t think I can fold with your image.” I didn’t move. “I don’t think you check queens or jacks on the flop. You could have AK with the A or K. If you’re bluffing, you look good doing it.” He was trying to get information from me. He had a tough decision and I didn’t want to give him anything extra. In my mind, I also didn’t want him to take my strength for weakness and I decided to give him a couple fake tells. I smirked at him and about 15 seconds later looked back at my hand. He thought for another minute or so and called. I tabled my bluff (A 8) and he showed A A. Amazing call Eric.

* Editor's Note: To listen to Eric basebaldy Baldwin's recount of this hand, tune-in to this week's PocketFives Podcast.

I normally forget about hands the day after, but this hand still haunts me a week later. I really wish I moved all-in on the river instead of betting 55k. He might have called me because of the smirk and looking back at my hand. I’m not sure. He had my range only on A or K and made a great call. I still had 65k in chips and wasn’t about to give up on this tournament yet!

The cutoff raised to 4k at 800/1600 (200 ante). Hellmuth was now down to 16k in the small blind and contemplated calling before declaring “I don’t have enough chips to just call. I’m all in!” I looked down at K Q in the big blind and re-shoved all in. The cutoff folded and Hellmuth turned over JJ. I lost the coin flip and was down to 50k.

My bust out hand was pretty brutal. An Internet player in 2nd position made it 3,500 and I called in middle position with 77. This player had commented earlier about me having position/stack on him and I felt like he would play a little passively against me. The flop came Q 8 2 and he bet 5,500. I thought he would give up on a lot of turns if I floated so I decided to float. The turn was the 7 and he checked to me. I turned my set and bet 7,700. He raised to 30k total and I moved all-in for my last 40k. He turned over QQ and I was eliminated when I missed the last 7 in the deck.

I had a great time in Aruba and felt like I played some amazing poker for three days. I wish I would have done better, but I am still learning and trying to implement new thoughts and ideas into my game. Day 3 didn’t go my way and I was pretty disappointed in my showing. I will do my best to continue to improve my game and hopefully next time when I’m in a good position deep in a big tournament I can make it to the end and be victorious. Good luck at the tables everyone.

-- Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 1

-- Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 2

*Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade is a professional poker player and instructor from the state of Florida who has over ten Top 3 finishes in high-stakes online tournaments so far in 2009.

Recent Scores for Cre8ive

$46,115.00

$1000 buy-in, $1K Monday on FullTiltPoker. 07/27/2009, 3 place for 46,115.00

$14,938.20

$109 buy-in, $109 NL Hold'em [1R1A, turbo, $25,000 guaranteed] on PokerStars. 08/29/2009, 1 place for 14,938.20

$13,375.00

$100 buy-in, $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) on FullTiltPoker. 08/04/2009, 1 place for 13,375.00

Read Cre8ive's blog

Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 2

Cre8ive — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:08:00 GMT

It was the morning of Day 2 of the Aruba Poker Classic Main Event and I woke up with plenty of time to eat breakfast and get to the casino. I was staying at a small resort on the other side of the island which was about a 20-25 minute drive to the casino. The other poker players that were staying at the resort were also awake and ready to play Day 2. We left a little later than I wanted to and hit real bad traffic on the one lane road through Aruba. I was twenty minutes late to the tournament. As soon as I walked up to the table an online player I knew said, “Here comes Cre8ive to ruin our lives.”

I was just getting settled in to the table. My bag just hit the floor and I was still shifting in my chair to get comfortable. A player in middle position limped for 400 and I looked down at JJ on the cutoff. I raised to 1,600. The big blind (who was the Internet player with the comment above) then 3-bet me to 4,100. The limper then moved all-in for 7,500. Wow. I was in a pretty sick spot psychologically. I had to react according to first impressions. The limper was a South American guy. I figured the 3-bettor could definitely be light here since I just sat down at the table. I had him covered by about 30k in chips, and decided to move all-in. The 3-bettor folded and the limper turned over QQ. I really expected to see 77/88/AJ type hands but with no information on the player or the table who knows. It later turns out that the player was pretty loose and amateur tendencies, so it was still probably the right call. I was down to 55k after the very first hand.

A couple hands into the 300/600 (75 ante) level, a tight player limped UTG with a 30bb stack. The player in 4th position made it 2,150. I was in the big blind with QQ. The isolator had about 30k behind and he seemed pretty tight/amateurish as well. I thought calling was the best plan and just flatted. The UTG limper folded. The flop came Q-9-4 rainbow. I checked and the player bet 3,325. I raised to 7,775 total and he thought for a minute and moved all-in for roughly 30k. I called and he showed 77, drawing to runner runner quads. It was a nice present for me and my stack increased to 90k.

An Internet cash game player raised the cutoff to 1,500 at 300/600 (75 ante). I flatted the button with KJ and the big blind called as well. The flop came A-Q-5 rainbow. The cutoff bet 1,850 and I thought this was a great flop to float to take away on the turn or maybe improve with my 4 outs. I called and the big blind called as well. The turn was the T, giving me the nuts and putting two hearts on the board. The big blind checked and the cutoff bet 4,200. I thought that just calling here was risky but in a three way pot I figured it would disguise my hand and I would get more value from the two pair combos or Ax combos like AJ/AK. I also had the big blind behind who might put in a raise. The big blind folded... so much for that plan. The river was absolutely horrible. It was a Jack, meaning a King was the nuts and putting a four card straight on the board. The cutoff bet 9,450 and I raised 10k more. He moved all-in for his last 12k and I knew we were chopping the pot. I called and he turned over KQ. I like how I played this hand and maybe would have gotten more value on the river from a bluff if he missed.

The next pot was the biggest pot I played on Day 2. The blinds were 400/800 (100 ante). An Internet player made it 2,200 in 3rd position and the button called. Before I looked down at my hand in the big blind, I thought this would be a great spot for a squeeze. When the small blind folded, I glanced down at Aces. Wow, talk about good timing! The initial raiser had about 60k and the button had around 30k. I thought a 3-bet of 6,800 was good sizing. The Internet player called and the flop came A-J-5 rainbow. This flop was a great flop for me to continuation bet regardless of my holding and I fired 8,700. I didn’t want to check the flop because I think it puts me in a more awkward spot since the flop is such a great flop for a continuation bet from a squeeze regardless. I also wanted to build the pot and have a chance to stack him. He called my flop bet and the turn came the K. Two spades were now on the board. I felt like Kings were in his range and he would have to bet the turn if he was floating me. He bet 15k with roughly 30k behind. I thought for a while and decided moving all-in would give me the most value. I shoved and he thought for a short time and called with his underset of 55.

Two hands after that massive pot, I picked up AA again, this time on the button. A really loose South American player limped UTG and I raised to 3k on the button. The flop came Q-4-6 rainbow and he check called my 3,600 bet. The turn was 7x and we both checked. I could have probably went for three streets of value against this player but I decided to keep the pot small. I didn’t want to give such an aggressive player who had position on me more chips. The river brought a King. I didn’t love the river but once he checked to me I knew I had the best hand and bet 6,500. He called once again and I was one of the chip leaders in the room with a 170k stack.

Gavin Smith was moved to my table. I have never played with him but I know quite a bit about his game from watching him on television. He limps his first hand for 800 in 2nd position and I made it 3,100 in 4th position with K K. The player to my immediate left instantly moves all-in for 11k total. He was a really tight player. I raise folded 88 to his 12 big blind re-shove an orbit before because I knew he either had AK or a pair higher than mine. I still liked my chances in this pot and called his all-in. He tabled AA and the flop came T 5 2. I had life to win the decent pot and put a brutal suck out on him, but the turn was Q and the river was 2. He won the pot and my stack slipped to 156k. Luckily he didn’t have more chips or I could have lost a lot more in this situation.

It folded around to me on the button and I limped with 7 4 for 1k at 500/1000 (100 ante). The blinds were two good players with big stacks and I thought this limp would throw them off a little. The small blind completed and the big blind checked. The flop came 9-7-4 rainbow. The small blind led for 2300, the big blind called, and I raised to 7,900. They both called. This was pretty surprising to me actually. I thought the small blind had 9x type hands a lot and the big blind was on a draw with either 65/T8/86 type hands. The turn was the 6 and the small blind led again for 5,200. The big blind put in a big re-raise and I made the easy fold. They got it in on the turn and both turned over T8 unsuited. This was a pretty interesting pot because there was actually a lot of money on the flop between three big stacks. After this pot my chip count was at 176k.

Towards the end of the night things didn’t go my way. I started to lose a lot of small pots and went really card dead. I didn’t mind. The structure was so slow, I could happily fold and I had plenty of chips. With about ten minutes left in the night I played a pot vs. another big stack. I played this hand very poorly and was real mad at myself to end the day like that. I made it 2,800 in 2nd position with A J. Two players behind me, a good player called. The flop came A K 6x. I checked to him and he bet 5,600. My first mistake I think was checking this flop. I thought his flop bet was real strong actually. I just had that feeling because his sizing was so big and he normally bet around half the pot. I called and the turn was the 6. Now I would chop against AQ, but had lost all value against all other aces. I checked once again and he bet 9,400 this time. I called once again and the 2 landed on the river, completing the flush. I checked once more and he bet 13,400. I was in a pretty bad spot. I misplayed this hand on every street. On the river I was almost positive he either had AK or was turning a hand into a bluff. His bet sizing on the river made me think he didn’t have a flush. I made the crying call and he showed me AK.

Day 2 had now ended and I finished with 126k in chips. I was 14th in chips with 86 players remaining going to Day 3. I was surprised at my chip position, considering I lost 50k within the last level and a half, but still excited to be advancing to Day 3. -- Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 1

*Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade is a professional poker player and instructor from the state of Florida who has over ten Top 3 finishes in high-stakes online tournaments so far in 2009.

Recent Scores for Cre8ive

$46,115.00

$1000 buy-in, $1K Monday on FullTiltPoker. 07/27/2009, 3 place for 46,115.00

$14,938.20

$109 buy-in, $109 NL Hold'em [1R1A, turbo, $25,000 guaranteed] on PokerStars. 08/29/2009, 1 place for 14,938.20

$13,375.00

$100 buy-in, $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) on FullTiltPoker. 08/04/2009, 1 place for 13,375.00

Read Cre8ive's blog

Aruba Poker Classic Trip Report - Part 1

Cre8ive — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:22:00 GMT

Recently I went to Aruba for the UltimateBet Aruba Poker Classic. There were a series of poker tournaments being held and I participated in the $5,000+500 buy-in Main Event. Four hundred and seventy five people registered to play the Main Event with a first place prize of $753,330. We started with 15,000 chips with 90 minute blind levels. The structure for the tournament was absolutely awesome. There was a lot of room for play throughout the tournament. I decided to play Day 1A because most of the people I spoke to were going to play on Day 1B, so I figured it would be a softer field.

When I arrived to my table I didn’t recognize anyone. This is typically a good sign but with a tournament hosted by a poker website I expected a lot of good Internet players in the field. The age to play live poker in Aruba is only 18 so I expected a lot of good players under the age of 21 to come test their live poker skills as well. The table was pretty active and I originally loved my starting table. It seemed like it was going to be an easy table to accumulate chips. The first big pot I got involved in was at the 25/50 blind level when I raised in second position with 55 to 150. The active big blind called and the flop came K-9-5 rainbow. He checked to me and I bet 225. He called instantly. The turn was the 9, putting two clubs on the board. The big blind check called again, this time I bet 650. The river was the 7 and he led into me for a bet of 1k. I really thought he had a '9' at this point or a strong king like KQ. I decided to put in a hefty raise and made it 3,425. He called and showed his AK as he threw it into the muck. My stack was now up to 19,200.

One of the most interesting hands I played on Day 1 took place at the 50/100 level. The table had gotten a little tougher. Some players busted and young Internet players replaced their seats directly to my left. I raised UTG to 300 with A Q. One Internet player called three seats behind me and the button re-raised to 1,300. The button was an Internet cash game player. It was his first 3-bet of the day, but I thought it was a good spot for him to squeeze light. I had already chipped up to about 22k so I decided to flat out of position. I thought it would look real strong and he would give up a lot of flops/turns. The flat caller then re-raised 4,650 more to 5,950 -- leaving himself with 10k behind.

The button thought for a long time, agonized over his decision and ended up mucking his hand. I thought he might have folded QQ/KK or AK. It was now my action and the hand didn’t make much sense to me. The table wasn’t actively 3-betting preflop so it made little sense for the flat caller to call my UTG raise with AA or KK here. I also thought he wouldn’t choose that 4-bet sizing if he did have AA or KK. I eliminated those hands from his range. I also didn’t think he would play JJ or QQ in that fashion so that left his range to be only AK or bluffs. I thought about the hand for a while as well. I decided to fold because AQ plays horribly against his calling range in this spot which is strictly AK. Of course, he would just fold if I moved in and he was bluffing, but the only possible hand I thought he could have here and call me with was AK. If I had a hand that played better vs. AK like 65s suited or pocket fours, I would have moved all-in. I ended up folding and the player was paid $500 to show his hand. He turned over T 7 and the button folded AK.

About halfway through the day, I was involved in another big pot. At 100/200 a real active player limped UTG and I limped in middle position with T 6. The cutoff also limped, the small blind completed, and the big blind checked. The flop came T 6 5x. It checked around to me and I bet 850. It folded to the small blind who re-raised to 2k. This player had played very solid/tight/straight-forward all day. I thought his bet sizing was a little weak on such a draw heavy board. I figured that putting another bet in on the flop was the best thing to do for my hand, so I made it 4,850 and he called. When he called my re-raise his range was really polarized.

I thought he was the type of player to get it all-in on the flop with TT or 66, but possibly just call with 55. I also knew that he would only raise me on the flop and call my re-raise with real draw-heavy hands like 8 7 / 4 3, etc. The turn brought the 5. This was the absolutely worst card in the deck. There wasn’t one possible hand I could beat in his range. Every diamond combo got there, if he had a worse two pair he is now good, and 55 is unbeatable. I could tell from his body language that he liked the 5 on the turn, and he thought before he checked to me. I checked back. The river was the Q and he bet 4k. I made a pretty easy fold after asking him if he had quads. He later told me he had 6-5 and I was now down to 17,000 tournament chips.

The blinds were now 100/200 with a 25 ante. UTG limped and the tight player from above made it 700 in third position. The player behind him called and I called with 7 6 on the button. We went four to the flop which came J-8-3 with one diamond. The tight player led for 1,300 and it folded to me. The board was a really dry and with the previous history from the T 6 hand I felt like I could get away with a raise here versus this player. I made it 3,250 and he called. At this point, I knew his range was strictly AA or KK, with QQ in the mix a small percentage of the time. He called pretty quickly and on such a dry board I think he would have put more thought into folding a hand like AJ. He played real straight forward and after the hand we played earlier, I think he knew I wasn’t going to mess around with him.

The turn was the 7 and he checked to me. I picked up showdown value but I knew he had AA/KK the majority of the time and I really felt like he would make a big fold to me because of our history. I bet 5,400 on the turn with around 12k behind. He thought for a long while. He asked me If I had a set and folded KK face up. I won another small pot after that and my stack was now at 30,500.

After busting my first player, my chip count was up to about 41k. In 2nd position, I raised to 800 at 150/300 (50 ante) with K J and a good Internet player to my direct left flat-called me. We went heads up to the flop which came Q 9x 4. I checked to him and he bet 1k. I raised to 2,750 and he called. The turn was the 7, giving me the second nut flush. I bet 5,725 and he thought for a little while and called. The river was the 3 and I decided to put a big bet in. I made it 16,075 and he thought for a little bit and called. I won the biggest pot at the table so far.

The immediate hand after, I raised QQ UTG to 800. On the button an Internet player squeezed to 2,100 with 15k behind. The small blind moved all-in for 3,500 and I decided the best play was to move all-in as well. The Internet player had gotten more active lately and with all the dead money in the pot I felt like it was the right play. The small blind had AK and the board ran out J-T-9-T-K. I won the coin flip and now had 68k in chips.

I played one more hand towards the end of the day, where I three-barrel bluffed someone who had flopped a set. Overall my Day 1 went great and things worked out in my favor. I didn’t make many mistakes and was very happy with how I played. I ended the day with 65,000 tournament chips.

*Tristan "Cre8ive" Wade is a professional poker player and instructor from the state of Florida who has over ten Top 3 finishes in high-stakes online tournaments so far in 2009.

Recent Scores for Cre8ive

$46,115.00

$1000 buy-in, $1K Monday on FullTiltPoker. 07/27/2009, 3 place for 46,115.00

$14,938.20

$109 buy-in, $109 NL Hold'em [1R1A, turbo, $25,000 guaranteed] on PokerStars. 08/29/2009, 1 place for 14,938.20

$13,375.00

$100 buy-in, $33,000 Guarantee (1r+1a) on FullTiltPoker. 08/04/2009, 1 place for 13,375.00

Read Cre8ive's blog

Poker in Macau - A Different Experience

idoru99 — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:31:00 GMT

“Poo-Kah?” asked the puzzled Chinese floorman, clearly struggling with the English language. “Yes, no-limit Texas hold’em” I implored. The floorman pondered the words for a few moments and then issued his response. “Sorry. We have not that game.”

I was flabbergasted. No poker at the Venetian Macau, the sister casino of my favorite place to play in Las Vegas? There were seas of baccarat tables in the casino, but not a single poker table.

I had to come to Hong Kong on business and jumped at the chance to spend a weekend in Macau. The rates at the Venetian were cheaper than the Intercontinental in Hong Kong, where I originally planned to spend my time. I could satiate my wanderlust, get in some poker AND save my employer some money on my hotel bill. But now I was wondering if I was going to find any poker at all. If the Venetian didn’t spread poker, who would?

I did a bit of internet research before I left the United States to try and find out which casinos spread poker, what games were spread and at what limits. The casino web sites were useless. I found no references to poker... Located Southwest of Hong Kong on the South China Sea, Macau was under Portuguese rule for several hundred years until it was handed over to the Chinese in 1999. Today it is a “special administrative region” of the People’s Republic of China and as such enjoys a high degree of legal autonomy along with retaining much of its’ Portuguese heritage.

I pondered my plight while waiting for a table at the Venetian’s fantastic dim sum restaurant. During the wait, I chatted with a couple from Hong Kong. Although not poker aficionados, my new acquaintances had played Texas Hold’em once in Macau – at the Grand Lisboa, a casino owned by Stanley Ho and his families’ Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau. They didn’t really enjoy the game, and several of the players seemed to know one another. Uh, oh I thought. Semi-pro grinders from Hong Kong? Still I needed to take a look.

A quick cab ride deposited me in front of the Grand Lisboa. It is located in a group of hotels, making it a convenient starting point for sightseeing or game hopping. I immediately found a floor person who had in fact heard of the game of poker and directed me to the 2nd floor. There, on one end of the casino, I found about 30 tables set up as the PokerStars Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau event was in full swing. They were midway through Day 1 of the $10,000HK (US $1,400) event and attracting a bit of a crowd. I wandered over to the brush, who filled me in on poker at Grand Lisboa and gave me a glimpse at the rest of the poker scene.

The Grand Lisboa is regularly home to 12 cash-game poker tables. They spread NLHE ranging from $10/$20HK (US $1.30/$2.60) with a $1000HK minimum buy-in, up to $250/$500HK. No limit or pot-limit, and nothing other than Hold’em. The game is identical to that played in the US, except the dealer button is rectangular rather than round. I am a recreational player with a modest bankroll, so I was primarily interested in the $10/$20 game. Unfortunately, the list was 36 people deep. I put my name on it but realized that it would be many hours before my name got called.

A common stereotypical view of Asian players is that they tend to be loose, aggressive and more than willing to gamble it up. That was not the case here, at least on the tables I observed. I found the play to be a bit on the passive side, especially preflop, but even at the $10/$20 games I saw lots of very solid post-flop play. Very few, if any players drink alcohol at the table, preferring instead to drink tea with milk – a happenstance not conducive to wild play. Based on my dim sum-eating friends’ information, I expected primarily ex-pats from Hong Kong to be playing. But there was an eclectic mixture of mainland Chinese along with Hong Kong, European and Australian players. While I observed one or two weaker players, even the lowest-limit games were made up primarily of solid, tight nits. No one was given their money away, at least not this evening.

After observing the tables for 30 minutes and having my name move up only 1 spot, I continued my discussion with the brush. Most of the poker played in Macau takes place in 3 casinos – The Grand Lisboa, the Wynn and Star World. While a few other casinos occasionally have a table or two running, these are the only casinos with regular games. Confident that I could explore the surrounding area and not miss being called for a game, I headed off in search of the Wynn and Star World. Luckily these casinos are in very close proximity, so I didn’t have to bear the sweltering heat and humidity of Macau in August for too long.

The Wynn in Las Vegas is also one of my favorite places to play, and its sister casino in Macau does not disappoint. Considering the architectural and decorating details of the property, there is no doubt that this is the Wynn – from the combination fire and fountain show in the man-made lake outside the casino to the impressively appointed interior, this casino is the definition of opulence.

After a short walk from the main entrance I found the poker area. Like the Grand Lisboa the Wynn has 12 tables, but four are reserved for VIP players – higher limits and by invitation only. Poker at Wynn is a bit pricier than that at the Grand Lisboa – they spread from $25/$50HK (US $3.25/$6.50) no-limit hold’em up to $400/$800HK (US $52/$104) regularly and will occasionally spread a $2000/$4000HK game. At the highest limit table I counted one player’s stack with about $40k US in it. There were several players in the VIP section dressed in online poker-site garb - taking the day off from the APPT scheduled events at the Grand Lisboa to focus on cash games.

Next I headed north to the Galaxy Entertainment Group’s premier property, the Star World casino. With plenty of APPT signage in the lobby I expected this room to be in full gear. Strangely this was not the case. I found two separate areas on the 2nd floor with six tables each but all of them were unoccupied. When I inquired about the state of their poker room, the floor person directed me to the 12th floor where a VIP game would be starting soon.

Star World casino hosts some of the biggest table games in Macau, but all high-end gaming takes place in VIP salons well above the main casino floor. As I stepped off the elevator I was presented with 3 lounges. I took a quick tour of each and here high denominational rectangular checks replace the common round chips found on the main casino floor. While the high-limit poker game had yet to attract any players, there was plenty of high-limit baccarat action going on. Plenty of $10,000HK ($1300 US) and $100,000HK ($13,000US) checks were in play.

If you are looking for nearly endless soft low-limit games and lots of tournament options then you will likely be disappointed with Macau. But if you are looking for an exotic locale and high-end gaming against quality competition in an environment that rivals anything Las Vegas has to offer, this glimmering jewel of the east beckons. It is accessible via ferry from Shenzhen and Hong Kong and air from several major cities including Shanghai, Taipei and Seoul.