A Real Sense of Family (pot) Values

The Emmental Game

2009-08-20T02:47:00.000-07:00

I know I am cheesy but it was a big surprise to find out that my current poker game is a large slice of Emmental cheese. I have more holes to plug than an Afghan paddling pool.

So I bought a PC, bought HEM, loaded up Skype, bought a mic/headset, added a few little tools and sat down to load up the 7000 hands I have been holding in a top secret location on my work laptop. I waited while HEM uploaded, I waited with a smile on my face, not a care in the world, I waited like I was about to be presented with an Olympic medal. THEN.....SMACK, something punched me in the face.

I am a poker loser, I am not a break even merchant. I have been leaking cash for the last year and I didn't even realise it. Ok, I have not lost thousands but the few hundred $ I am down was more than I imagined.

Panic sets in, I get straight on the phone, I need someone to explain this labyrinth of stats to me and no one better than my mate Dog, an accountant by trade and a stats master like no other.

Observations immediately. I am not fucking tight, I play loads of hands, I have a ridiculous range. Yet I sit at the table feeling like I haven't played a hand for an hour. I am aggressive by nature and I do take that to my game but my stats were boarding on Ted Bundy or Earl Strickland (not sure who is worse). I also get to showdown more than I should although my win % is not that bad.

Lets take some positives from it though and something to build on. I obviously have a good idea of position and I play the cut off and button pretty well, my 3bet stats were solid. I have something to build on but the first thing to do is realise where my basic leaks are are start trying to fix them.

Time for a session. I tightened up my range, got my new HUD in place which made the tables look like a pizza delivery boys face and st down ready for some serious play.

FUCK ME, it was a grind, I didn't hit anything bigger than 2 pair for 4 hours and I got KK and AA twice which were all folded round. I ground out 1000 hands by 1am for a grand total LOSS yes LOSS of $23.

However, I am very positive, I spotted the situations where I would have normally lost more and avoided them. I kept in there, I was stealing blinds which was the most I could hope for. I avoided some slow playing AA and late in the evening folded a set to a straight which I was proud of.

So, the first night is out of the way, I have taken my faults on board and I realised that although it was a small loss I had actually steadied the ship. Before yesterday I could have lost a lot more on a night like that. HEM proves that.

I know where I am, I know the brutal truth, I am no longer living in this delusional dream world.

Now I can kick on and improve.

Gee

Red Tomatoes OR Green Peppers

2009-08-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

Thought I would post my recipe before bed tonight. I somehow doubt I am a housewife favourite like Ainsley Harriet but in years to come I may have gold cladded, Guici wearing poker chicks drooling after me..........Sorry, dozed off for a second there.

Ok, so the way I see it (and please post a note if I have missed anything) I need 2 lists. A lost of "things I need" and a list of "things I do". This should give me a Hannibal type action plan that I will love when it all comes together (see what I did there).

Things I need - well I use a work laptop which is pants for mulitabling and I cant load all the software required on so i am starting with a new PC and a decent size screen. I need a decent HUD and I have been reliably informed that HEM is a must. This is also important to keep my DB safe and assist me in my new forced addiction.
I need a Bank Roll which is tucked away ready and I need information. I am a member of Twoplustwo and Weaktight, I have loads of other reading material and I have just finished digesting Doyle Brunsons Supers System 2 for the second time. I cant fix the burst water mains in my game by myself so I need to get some serious coaching and no recommendation has come higher than this man http://www.bazclef.blogspot.com/ although I believe he is actually fully booked. So if there are any credible coaches/pros that have a space on their books then please contact me.

Things I do - Well after straining my eyes reading every possible thing I can find, after calling every decent poker player I know (thats 1) here is the plan.

I have been flitting about like a humming bird on speed between 50bb and upwards with no real goal and no real bank roll management. Although I have had mild success at higher limits I am going to stick with 50bb for the time being. I am not going to play more than 2 tables at a time for a month and try and get some sort of bankroll going. I have a starting roll that will cover at least 20 buy ins and if after a month I am doing well then I will take it under advisement as to whether I move up or not. I am going to speak to the Pro's about my weaknesses and get there opinions early in the process as I see little point getting coaching once I have lost all my cash. I am also going to make sure I make as many player notes as possible.

I am committing to at least 2 hours blog, forum and book reading each week to make sure I am filling up with as much useful information as poss. I am going to post difficult hands in the right places to get ongoing feedback about tight spots.

My close friend http://www.doggystylepoker.blogspot.com/ is going to rail me on the odd occasion to help along the way and to have general chit chat with and just to have someone reliable to swap ideas with.

At this point I have no idea of how many hands I play in a given session so I all I can estimate with is time. I estimate roughly 10 hours a week to start maybe more depending on work.

Finally I have set myself some golden rules. These may change depending on the opinion of the coach.

1. Lose no more than 2 buy ins in any given session. Lose 2 - log off
2. Due to having a weakish deep-stack game I am going to leave the table once I am 2 buy ins up. I have a nasty habbit of building a big stack at the table and losing it all in one stupid hand. lol
3. Spend at least 10 minutes having a quick review of every session and trying to see where I could improve.

So, thats it. Off to buy a PC and then get cracking. Ill be back in a couple of days to let you know I am set up and how its going.

Wish me Luck

Gee

Inspired By A Dog - Mullered By A Fish

2009-08-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

Over the years I have worked hard and earned a living in the highly boring, mind numbing, wrist slitting IT industry. I got bored, I moved job, all is good for a while then I get bored again and move job. Then being slower than the average tortoise on barbiturates it dawned on me. "I Hate my career" I am stuck in a rut selling IT solutions to pokey nosed pen pushers. Then the day dreams started "I could have been a pro footballer, an astronaut, I could have been born an American and been in CSI and so on.

You speak to family and friends and you get comments like "just change job then" "Do something that makes you happy" "Where there is a will there is a way" At his point I normally reach for the knuckles dusters that are in my pocket, however, the thought of being front page news for beating your own Aunty to a mushy pulp over your Christmas Lunch is somewhat off putting and I slide the dusters neatly back away.

The reality is: I am 32, I have a house to run, 2 children to care for. I have been selling IT solutions of some sort since I was 17 and for me to stop, retrain and re-align my life is just too hard. I could go to night school but then I don't see the kids grow up for the next 5 years. ENOUGH is ENOUGH. The next 86 year old man that tells me there is no such way as making easy money and I have to work in the coal mines to understand the true meaning of work is going to get my highest pitched scream in his hearing aid and a slap with his own stick across his highly developed hemorrhoids.

So - The Quest for a New Life

I am not asking to be a multi millionaire, I am not asking for it to be easy, I am definitely not asking for it to be handed on a plate. What i am asking for is this.

To earn my current salary doing something I enjoy. And seeing as I am too old and crap at football this just leaves me POKER.

Be under no illusion. I am not yet good at poker. I am a low stakes part time hobby player who loves the game to bits. I have not made much cash playing before, I have not one any major events and I am not crushing any online levels. I am a basic, normal, box standard player. I play NLHE, 6max cash games. Some days at 10c/20c and some days at 50/$1. I also attend the odd competition, the odd Casino and the odd "fleece a mate night" at friends houses. I do ok, I don't lose much, I don't win loads and I am normally in the mix.

I play in a couple of Poker leagues and I am normally on the final table and near the summit of the league and I am a master of breaking even online. That is the full extent of where I am.

So the quest starts to find out, do I have what it takes to take me from a normal, very average poker player to a player that is crushing a decent level online and winning a few better live events. And earning a normal living.

DO I HAVE POKER POTENTIAL

In order for this to work there has to be preparation, a list of prerequisites, coaching, feedback and a whole load of other stuff.

I am off to compile a list of what is needed and I'll be back soon.

If I am too green for you and you want to follow someone with the same mission but further down the line I recommend my inspiration for this www.doggystylepoker.blogspot.com

This is a win win situation for those who follow this blog. In 3 years time you could have a bible of how to give up work and play poker for a living and it could be priceless.

OR

You could have a whole list of shite not to do and a whole book of methodollogy to avoid.

GEE