Texas Hold'em Game Transformation

Over the past several weeks, I've been literally fighting against myself in Texas Hold'em.  My game has evolved from very tight to super loose and then back to variations in between.  For too long, my cards were see-thru.  When multiple people could call my hand, there's a serious problem.  That's what instigated my current situation.


I began changing up my game and that brought win after win after win for weeks.  But then, winning wasn't even satisfying.  My game started being about something more than just winning.  I had nights where I was in the money in all 3 games and I would drive home picking my bad moves a part.  I had one game where I ended up with every single chip on the table, but all I could think about after a while was the game I got 2nd place in.  What if I would have bet big instead of check?  How did I misplay pocket A's so bad?  Did I get bluffed on that one hand?  Why couldn't I see the bluff?  Even with an over-whelming winning percentage, something was wrong.  I still wasn't good enough (and I'm still not).


Then, a series of things recently happened that turned it all upside down.  I played a cash game at Winstar and lost $300 in a rushed effort with my wife waiting.  Then, I went to New Orleans and played 6 hours only to lose $300 more.  And last weekend, I went to Shreveport and lost $100 over several hours.  Lose, lose, lose!!!  I lost $700 in about a month's time, not to mention just barely breaking even in Friday Night Poker.  You would think this probably didn't help matters very much, but it actually changed me.


These cash poker games are very aggressive.  Sitting down with under-sized chip stacks and losing $700 over the course of about 12 hours opened my eyes to the fact that not only could I sit in there with big players, but I'm just on the cusp of being a big player myself.  I feel like I'm very close and I learned that the #1 thing I'm missing is the thing I love most about poker - poker psychology.


I'm missing most of the tells and giving off most of them back to my opponents.  I'm still an open book and my cards are still see-thru, but not for long.  I had a chance lunch meeting with at attorney who just played in the WSOP main event and he placed in the top 10%, getting him into the money.  We hit it off instantly and he recommended that I read Caro's Book of Poker Tells.  In fact, he had it delivered to my office a couple of days later and I read it for the first time that night.  Yes - I read it cover-to-cover that first night.  I couldn't believe how badly I was crippling my game by giving off and not recognizing obvious tells.


So, last night I was playing Friday Night Poker with the guys and I spent most of the evening watching for tells.  I still didn't win either game last night, but I did pick up some tells that saved me a lot of chips.  One guy was sizing up his chip stack after seeing the flop.  He had a good hand and I folded.  He had me beat.  Good fold.  Another guy saw the flop and immediately glanced down at his chips - huge tell.  Then, to add to it, he appeared to be indecisive as to whether or not to bet.  That made up my mind to fold - good fold.  He had it.  Then, my favorite one took a little friendly manipulation on my part.  I had pocket J's and the flop was all cards lower than jack, so was the turn.  I bet fairly big and was raised on the flop and the turn.  So, I said to the other guy, "I have a pretty big pocket pair, so if you're raising me, you must have an even bigger pair."  It took a few seconds before he couldn't hold in his smile.  It took even less time for me to fold my Jacks and he had pocket Kings.  I'll keep watching for tells and I'm going to read the book a couple of more times too.


Finally, tonight I sat down to play a Full Tilt Poker tournament (90 players) and for the 21st time this year, I made it to the final table and ended up in 4th place.  I was pretty happy with that outcome.  My game purpose was to get back to "basics".  I tightened back up some and primarily played a range of about 15 to 20 starting hands.  I raised about 30% of the time that I bet, made some good position bets, and put in some strategic bluffs that paid off.  I even loosened up a couple of times to suck out on the river, which I guess you have to be able to do sometimes.  Tonight, I just needed to be reminded that I could still get it done if I needed to back away from the game transformation.  But then, what am I really thinking?  Back away from the game transformation?  Now, I have a "range" of acceptable starting hands, a calculated % of raises, strategic position bets and bluffs.  My game is evolving to a mix of tight and loose, aggressive and calculated.


I have no idea where my game will go next, but I do know one thing:  I'm very competitive and there is nothing that I hate worse than losing at poker.  But poker energizes me, so I'll weather the losing until I start winning consistently again.  Hopefully a winning streak is coming.

God's Gift to Poker

I was playing on Full Tilt Poker tonight and there was this guy there that was criticizing the other players at the table.  Some people were making stupid bets and calls, but there was no money at stake, so what do you expect.  This guy came out swinging on the chat telling the table what bad players they were.  I looked over and I had more chips than he did and I just sat down at the table.  IDIOT! 

Anyways, it reminds me of the time I was at the Bellagio and the guy sitting to my left thought he was God's gift to poker.  Every time someone beat him, he was talking trash.  Every time he won, he was talking trash.  This guy must have thought that it was his God given right to win at poker.  I don't personally have that right so I have to work at it, but this guy was tuned in with God.  Lucky bastard!

If you're reading this, let me tell you the truth:  it is not your God given right to win every hand in poker.  I highly recommend that you play smart, play the odds, and know yourself and your opponents.  I mean seriously, do you really think you should win every hand?  The odds aren't in your favor for being a 100% winner.  Did you know that?

I love the comment, "keep playing like that and you won't win very much."  My thought is that if you keep thinking like that, neither will you.  Luck happens at a poker table.  Like it or not, you were not born to win in poker.  I know that's a big shock to you, but you should really consider your position as God's gifted poker champion.  I have news for you man:  you are going to get beat.  Then what? 

I sat next to this guy at the Bellagio and I enjoyed taking his chips from him.   Tonight at Full Tilt Poker, I felt the same, except there was no money involved.  If you're reading this, you are not God's gift to poker.  You were not born with a destiny to win every hand you play.  Sometimes you're going to lose.  My advice to you is simple and sound:  shut the hell up and keep your head in the game.   Everyone loses hands from time to time.  Stop believing your own hype.

If you're truly better than the other guys at the table, then play like it.  Understand the other players at the table.  Play accordingly.  Don't be a jerk.

Avoid Mis-Played Poker Hands

I just finished watching some of day 2 of the WSOP on ESPN.  The broadcast really highlighted Daniel Negreanu who was bleeding chips.  One thing that I love about the WSOP is that over 6,000 people pay $10,000 to play for a chance to win nearly $9 Million, and this means that lots of amateurs are playing along side serious pros.  What other game / sport does that happen in?  I'm never getting subbed in for Marion Barber and I won't soon be dishing it off to LeBron, but I could find myself sitting next to Negreanu at a poker table.  If that ever happens, as much as I like Negreanu's playing style, I hope he plays like I just saw him playing tonight.

He mis-read his opponents' hands and mis-judged at least one guy's stomach for calling his large bets.  I've said this before, but it applies here as well.  KNOW YOUR OPPONENTS.  If you can do this, you can anticipate what they MIGHT do, especially in response to your moves.  Why bet $6,000 at a pot when you have NOTHING, NOT EVEN A PAIR, when your opponent is showing a propensity to call?  Sometimes your beat, even by an amateur, but at least it can be a beat from laying down your cards and not your chips.

And when you're hemorrhaging chips, know yourself.  A little self-awareness comes in handy.  Know when you're pushing it too much.  Know when you're making bets that don't make sense.  Know when you're out of rhythm.  A lack of self-awareness will cause you to miss-play hands.

Finally, when in doubt, understand the basic odds of poker.  What are the best and worst starting hands?  What is the likelihood that someone has a bigger pair than you do?  What's the likelihood that someone has a better starting hand than you?  Flush draw?  Straight draw?  What are the odds of hitting?

So, that's the lesson.  To avoid mis-played hands:

1. Know your opponents.
2  Know yourself.
3. Understand the odds.

Poker Momentum

In Poker, momentum can be a killer - to you or to your opponents.  It's hard to explain how you get momentum or how you keep it, but losing it seems so easy.  You win a hand.  Then, you win another and another until you're almost not even playing the cards in your hand as much as you're just playing the other players and reading their bets and other playing styles.  Sure, the cards dealt to you can cause your momentum, but keeping it often is completely independent of cards.  The other players may "sense" that you just keep somehow getting cards, so they fold.  Or, they start measuring the size of their hands compared to yours, and that makes them fold.  But, then you lose it.  You get out of rhythm or you don't notice the "zone" that you're in.  Maybe someone else starts picking up hands and you don't have enough good sense to fold a few and you lose too much to ever get momentum back.  Sometimes when you lose it, you have to get really patient, hang on, and wait for a really good hand, then get it back.  Then, wait for another really good hand.  Next thing you know, you're back on a role.  A huge chip stack can do wonders for momentum.  You have more to risk than other players have in front of them all together.  You might get called a bully, but when you're winning, it's OK.

Last night, I was watching the opening WSOP event of 2010 and it came down to 2 final players:  a Russian named Vladimir Shchemelev, who said in an interview that he never loses in poker and that Russians can win at anything if they just want to take it seriously, and an American named Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi.  It started out really bad for Mizrachi.  He badly lost his momentum, one hand after another.  He just kept betting and raising and calling - with the worst hands, until finally he got a huge hand  (Ace high flush) and the Russian over-played his momentum right into an all-in bet that crippled his chip stack.  It was beautiful!  From there, "The Grinder" chipped away at his opponent until he won over $1 Million for first place.

Momentum was on display in a big way last night.  Mizrachi lost it.  The Russian over-played it.  Mizrachi got it back and finished with it. Momentum can be awesome, but it can be a killer.  Use it or lose it (or until you lose it).

My Son Aaron - Future WSOP Winner

I'm sitting here watching a re-run of the 2009 World Series of Poker final table with my 9 year-old son Aaron.  He's talking strategy and rooting for his favorite player, Phil Ivey.  It makes me think about how much my son likes poker and how good he is and how much better he's going to be. 

I walked into my living room a few months ago and he was at the coffee table with some poker chips and a deck of cards.  He was playing 8 hands of Texas Holdem by himself.  He was the dealer and all of the players, and he knew which hands were winning and which hands were folding.

I set him up to play online at one of the major online poker sites where he can play poker for fun (and for free).  You're supposed to be 18 to play on those sites, but I'm over 18 and I'm letting him play.  Usually, he gets on there, starts with $1,000 and ends with anywhere from $11,000 to over $30,000.  He's playing against adults and he's handing them their butts and making them say thank you.

One day, he was home sick from school and I stayed home with him. I just got finished watching the movie, "21" a couple of days earlier and I thought I would learn how to count cards in Blackjack.  I eventually figured it out, then I decided to teach Aaron to do it.  He has a huge brain and I wasn't surprised that he learned how to count cards in Blackjack in about 30 minutes.  After I taught him, he counted a whole deck of cards 5 times with zero errors.

Anyways, with all of that said, here we are watching the 2009 World Series of Poker and I asked him how much money he was going to win in Poker when he grows up.  His answer was, "$10 Million".  I believe him.

WSOP Final 9 - Really?

I L-O-V-E to watch poker on TV, especially the World Series of Poker.  It's so much fun to see the big name players go at it.  Ivey, Hellmuth (who hasn't made a November 9 since I started watching), Brunson, Negreanu, Phillips, Mercier, Cada, Tran, Eastgate, and the list goes on.  In the WSOP 2010 Main Event though, WHERE ARE THESE GUYS?  Here's the final 9, along with their chip counts, for the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

Seat 1: Jason Senti (7,625,000)


Seat 2: Joseph Cheong (23,525,000)

Seat 3: John Dolan (46,250,000)

Seat 4: Jonathan Duhamel (65,975,000)

Seat 5: Michael Mizrachi (14,450,000) - happens to be #1 in 2010 WSOP earnings.

Seat 6: Matthew Jarvis (16,700,000)

Seat 7: John Racener (19,050,000)

Seat 8: Filippo Candio (16,400,000)

Seat 9: Soi Nguyen (9,650,000)


Don't get me wrong - one day, I hope to be one of these guys that nobody has heard of yet, but seriously - where are the big names?  The cost of entry into this No-Limit Texas Holdem is $10,000 and in 2009, over 6,500 entered into the Tournament.  That's 10 times the number of entrants just a few short years ago!  I don't yet know how many entered the tournament this year, but I'd be willing to be that it's more.  The field is getting younger.  More "youngest players ever to win" are winning.  In the world today, the poker cream is definitely rising to the top.

But, with player volume, comes watered-down names, and famous players sell.  They sell me for sure.  I just hope that the 2010 final 9 doesn't disappoint.  The winner will take home over $8 Million.  2nd place - over $5 Million.  Nobody at the final table gets less than a million.  What?  Everyone gets to become millionaires?  OK nevermind.  Let's just watch some poker.

PS:  For anyone who wants to tell me that any of these final 9 could beat me.  Maybe.  The cards sometimes fall funny ways.  Just ask Ivey, Hellmuth, Negreanu, and the others.  You just never know.