Some Random Rants...

Well since mid February I have been running fairly descent but definitely not getting smoked in the head with the deck. Pretty much just standard and not making a lot of mistakes but since Saturday I have just been bitch slapped in every tourney I've played. Saturday was the tourney at the Beau which I felt even though I was unlucky I still felt ok about the way I played. Well Sunday was a totally different day! I had plans of hangin out and playing tourneys on PokerStars all day, well for the most part I did do that. Problem was that I played way more tournaments than I wanted to b/c I kept busting out. On the whole day I played 4 tournaments and 5 sngs. I managed to only lose $3 on the day that was impressive in it self. Busted from the first sng when I found AA with KK. Then played a tourney and was minding my own business and not really playing a lot of pots. I raised with 10c8c and got one caller, flopped a 10 and flush draw and bet and got called. Turn brought and 8!...I bet got raised, I three bet and we got it all in and I made my flush on the river b/c of course the board paired and he had 10's full!..I love busting like that! I then play another sng and on the second hand i have QQ and find KK and I'm done for that. Play the 6 max tourney and make it to the first break and then come back and lose half my stack with an all in preflop with my AK vs. A9 (he of course made a straight)..then I bust with 99 vs. 10,10. I then played two sngs and won one and finished second (finally something positive). That was short lived as I proceed to not even stand a chance in the next tournaments I played.

Decide to shrug it off and be happy that I kinda free rolled on the day. Sunday was the first time I've understood how ppl break their computers. That was first time the laptop almost went flying across the room with retarded beats I was taking. I can handle losing my chips on a bad bluff or a big call from someone but these are situations that I'm not/can't fold or get away from. I didn't play Monday night. I started reading Josh Hamilton's book....he's the guy who went nuts in the home run derby this past year...he was also the number draft pick out of high school in '99 and got 3.96 million signing bonus with Tampa Bay and then found himself doing a ton of drugs and blowing almost all his money. He was able to turn his life around and now he's in the majors again....pretty mind blowing story...pretty easy read too, I'm almost done with the book.

Tuesday I attempted to play. Played a sng and busted pretty quick. Davey was gonna buy some action on me in the $55 6-max but I declined and went run some errands with the girl and take a break from online and get ready to battle Wednesday night. Boy that was short lived too!...I played a sng waiting for the 6-max to start at 8:15 and the sng went just like I thought it would, TERRIBLE! I limp with A,10d and the big blind minraises...that's pretty dumb and I just couldn't see him doing that with anything good so I three bet and he minraises that and I move in and he snap calls 1200 more with KhQh. Flop is nothing, he turns a flush draw and you know how this one ends and I'm done. Play the 6-max and catch JJ four times in 20 minutes and 0-4 with it. One time I actually flopped a set on the button and it went, bet..raise, all-in for more than what I had. One guy had 8,9 for low end of straight, other guy QUEEN, QUEEN...for top set and the other guy had AK for the nuts....can't believe I actually folded that...oh yea, remember this is 6-handed!...this is kinda shit that makes you wonder about online poker. I then have Ad,9d and call a raise from the BB and the flop is q,j,10 two diamonds. I check-call an average bet and the turn brings an A to go with my straight and flush draw. The river is the jack of diamonds...he can't be full..XXXXXX, wrong answer..he most definitely is full. I bet and he raises all in and I call, drag your pot A,J. I then move all in for 500 with 9d,7d and get called by A,J and flop open ended and of course I miss the draw and I'm done.

I know this is a lot of bitching but not much else to do, I'd love to be saying how great I'm doing and how I cash in every tournament but that just ain't happening. The plan is to get back to battle Thursday night. Was watching American Idol, which I've basically concluded is the TV version of crack. Good gawd what kinda shit is Paula Abdaul on??..that bitch is tanked and I think if she ever actually completes a sentence I may fall out my chair. My stepbrother lives in LA and is an actor...he's also a magician which can appear lame but he does a lot of the David Blain stuff that he does walking around and all...I know they have a name for magic done right in front of ppl but I can't think of it.....anyway, he was hired to do that at a party in LA and he had an encounter with Ms. Abdaul where she was amazed by the magic and hanging on him and every other guy that talked to her...she could barely talk and almost couldn't stand up and was just an absolute idiot from what I gather. Anyway, that's my six degrees of separation for her.

After reading the Shannon Shorr blog and Shaniac's response I think I side more with Shaniac. I get what SS was saying but come on, give me a break. Poker is an industry..just like football, baseball, basketball, golf, etc... The people in charge want to brand their sport/competition. Poker is treated no different when the bottom line is profit, tv ratings, and any other thing that draws non-poker industries to the game. Lets just not be naive about where we all stand in the poker world. I know that thinking your better than people and being better than others are two different things and that SS has proved that he doesn't just think it, he's been consistent but has done nothing to let ppl know he's around and doing well. People can't stand Hellmuth but even though he's a prick he kinda gets "it" as far as making himself bigger than he is. Even if he didn't have 11 bracelets no doubt he'd still be a polarizing figure in the poker world with people having strong opinions on both sides. It's the "Tiger Effect" in golf...which is probably the best sport to use to compare poker. It's individual based, these guys have to hustle to get sponsorships to help with travel and on top of marketing themselves for additional income...they then have to perform consistently. Poker has some parallels with this, they have the elite players that always cause a draw and guys make a good living just with sponsorships and aren't forced to play every tournament stop. The proof they belong in the celebrity or showcase type tournaments is because we all know them by Daniel, Doyle, Barry, Jennifer, or Durrrr or Jesus. These are the ones that have elevated their status not only through play but the occasional smart business decision. The key thing is that the HeadsUp Poker Championship is NOT about recognizing who had the best year. It's about will I tune in to see Russo vs. Seed or two guys that have a good year? No one said this has to be fair, it's just gotta move the rating needle and put people in the audience and get BMW to pay for commercial spots. I understand both arguments but I just don't fully understand how SS could be disappointed by not being selected. If they're willing to put Don Cheadle and Orel Hershiser in this field of 64 obviously it's not about merit. All in all it would be cool if he got to play in it one year but I don't think this would be that year based on what the tournament is really all about.

I'm listening to Colin Cowherd (which is best sports talk show on the radio) and he's talking about Travis Henry...this guy has NINE KIDS!! He has to pay over 100k in child support a year and is complaining that it's too much money...he also just got about 7million two years ago and said he has ONLY spent about 200k on jewelry "which ain't a whole lot"(actual Travis Henry quote) He says he only has 3 cars. He claims that he has a big heart and takes care of a lot people but never really could get a grasp of that whole saving thing....what a freaking idiot. Some people are just impressively dumb and Mr. Henry...you are one of those people. Well I'm done with this little rant. Not sure if I'm gonna have poker going on this weekend, gonna play some Thursday night online...Friday I'm gonna be boiling some crawfish and Saturday I'm undecided if I'm going to the casino for some cash or some online tourneys. Hopefully the next few days go a lot better than the last couple. I was kinda all over the place on this one but that's what happens when I day dream.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A Night at the Beau

I wasn't planning on the making the trip but a little bit of arm twisting by southpawrounder and we were off to the coast Friday evening. We got there around 7ish and we wanted to eat before we starting playing so being the good Catholic boys we are we couldn't eat meat and ventured across the street to the Waffel House where I got some "pre-meat chicken"....which are eggs. This was our first of two WH experiences on the weekend. With very little debate SPR and I agreed that WH is prolly the state restaurant of Mississippi. It's impossible to drive more than 10 miles without seeing a WH sign of some type. After the meal we went to the poker room and were seated right away at different tables. I bought into the 1/2 game for $300 and the game was kinda weird. When I first got there I was in the one seat and a regular named Tom was in the two with a young guy in the three and an ornery old baster in the 4, there was also a lady in the 9 who was in EVERY POT. Well the guy in the two was one of these guys who was very sure of himself and just knows that it's not luck when he makes hands. Well I don't have a problem catering to these types of guys ego's b/c it can be quite amusing. And of course he talked to every dealer like he knew them and picked on every cocktail waitress and was "that guy" who has his wife sitting behind him while he plays and she's just as clueless as can be. He's showing her every hand and she's just thinking that her hubby is the best darn card player this side the Mississippi River. Well as he's just running over the table and playing almost every hand b/c he will eventually make the nuts on the river I start to make some conversation with him and his wife if for anything that maybe it might prevent him from running me down. Well I make my first raise and feel the wrath of Tom and his running good ability. I make it $14 with AcJc and he calls as well as a couple others. Flop is A,3,6 and I bet $45 and makes it $100 right behind me. I contemplate and wait for him to start talking as he does in every hand he plays. I feel like if I can just get him talking a little bit he will let me know that he's very strong or just seeing if I'm full of shit. He says to me, "I got lucky...You don't wanna call" thanks for the info and I fold and shows me A,3 for two pair. Now I'm pumped b/c I haven't played live in a while and the first time I raise and make top pair I get smoked. Now the goal is to not go into a shell and get gun shy.

I then finally make a hand to build some confidence and was never under my buyin after this pot. Grumpy old man in the 4 raises and I call with about 4 others and flop a set of tens on an Ace high board. I bet right into the raiser and he calls with another guy. I set the old guy in on the river and he folds to save his $50 and I won a nice pot. I then witnessed some of the most retarded hands I've ever seen. Tom in the two seat decided he was going to put on a show and had about $600 in cash $1200 in chips in front of him and of course they were all in stacks of $50....Ok guys, lets have some chip stacking 101. Whenever you see a guy with stacks of $50 chips, he's not a good player and usually a guy who plays too many hands and when he has a lot of money in front of him is very self conscious of this...the good thing is that he will hemorrhage. Well the bad thing about this guy is when he's running good he thinks he's superman and will run you down. Well I watched Tom make every hand he wanted to. A couple that just blew my mind went down like this. He raised to $20 and got reraised to $50. Guy who reraised bet the flop, turn, and river with $50 on every street and got called except on the river when the back door heart draw got there and the board double paired...Tom raised him $50 more and the guy called. Tom promptly turned over his FLUSH and the other guy mucked. Now that's balls when you minraise on the double paired board and get called and still know you're good!...maybe this guy knows something I don't know? Then the other hand of amazement was when someone made it $15 and reraised to $50 and got called by two ppl and flopped a set of 4's and snapped someone. I jokingly told him he needed to teach me how to do that and he said with a straight face and 100% serious that when you have played as much poker as has and play as often as he does then you just know when to make raises like that. Point taken sir, are those triple strap velcro shoes you have on?? So I then was curious and decided to be amused and keep egging him on while his wife said there so proud that her husband was mentoring a younger man in the game her husband was so finely skilled at.

Eventually he left and gave back about $500 and got up with around $1200 profit off the $200 he bought in for. I on the other hand grinded away and got my stack up to almost about 1k and then took some uneventful swings that and turned an ok profit. SPR moved games and played most of the night sitting next to me and had more hands to play than I think anyone would want. He worked his ass off to lose $30. We finished our little marathon and went for round 2 at the WH...this time just for early morning snack before finally getting some rest. Hung out with Wild Bill for a while and we all decided to play the tourney Saturday morning and this wasn't exactly the most fun I've ever had playing a tournament. I get to my table and the tourney starts and I think there was almost 90 players and in the level and a half we played before my table was broke we never played more than 8 handed and we busted 4 ppl off. That's pretty impressive. The hand before we all get moved I picked up a nice pot and was somewhere near 11k in chips. The very first hand at the next table I flop and opened ended straight draw and a flush draw and don't improve and end up giving some old guy about $2400....o well, not a lot I can do about that hand. The next hand I played was about 9 hands later and I was on the button with QQ and it folded around to me and I made it $350 (blinds 50/100) and the SB and BB both call. Flop was 5,7,8 and the SB checks and the BB just moves all in for over 7k and now I'm flustered. This guy wasn't a complete moron. I couldn't really talk to him too much b/c there was a guy behind me. The ONLY thing that made sense was that he had a pair and a draw. If he had a set or two pair or anything he would have tried to trap me, if not then this was a hell of a play with a ton of reward if he had a set or two pair or a straight. Well I eventually come to the fact that he's not strong and just wants me to fold, well I call knowing that I'm prolly against a draw and before he turns his cards over he asks me if I have Jacks and turn over my QQ and he then pats himself on the back b/c he knew I had a hand like JJ or QQ...well no fucking shit!...what else would I call u with right there..AK, pocket 2's??...I'm pretty sure if I had a set I woulda snap called. Well he shows his 6,7 and now it's time to pray I can hold up. Well a 10 on the turn and then a 9 on the river and congratulations for getting it all in with your pair and a draw. I couldn't hold my tongue on this one after he kept telling everyone he knew I had a big pair. I asked how he knew I had a pocket pair when I raised and he said he just knew. So from me putting $350 in the pot from the button after it was folded to me he knew I had a big pair...his response was that he said I had JJ or QQ...whatever dude, I'm pretty sure anyone with a half of brain would have guessed I had a big pair after I called a 7k bet into a 1k pot. Anyway, I wasn't out and had about $700 and now it was time to get lucky and pick the right spots. I find a way to hang in there and double up and get some chips and make it to the break with over 5k in chips. Well the first hand back I have KK and end up having to fold after I get outflopped. After losing a hugh pot early I managed to last and bust out with about 38 players left when I ran my 55 into AA. It was disappointing and I was one double up away from giving myself at least a fighting chance. The guy who got lucky early actually came shake my hand when I busted and told me he would have never made that move against me if he knew I was that solid of a player....haha, thanks for the compliment but at I would have rather you make the move and my hand just hold up.

Davey didn't fare very well and had a nice little stack until the first level ended and never won a pot after the first level. Bill didn't last too long either, I wish I woulda made a last longer bet with them. I made it back to NOLA and went to the Hornets game with the girl and watched Chris Paul just take over the game when he feels like it. The guy is sick, the refs were terrible and that's the only reason Oak.City hung around. How gay is the name "Thunder"...not sure who sold them on that as their mascot but it sucks. It was an ok weekend as poker goes even though I didn't cash in the tourney. As I write this I'm playing the 4k gtd. 6max. Hopefully this turns out ok for me.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

Theory Proving Strong

Well after my last post on Tuesday I played a couple tournaments on Stars. Decided to lay low and not do anything on Mardi Gras except enjoy my day off, the nice weather, and play some tourneys. Woke up pretty early b/c the girl and her friends rode in the Krewe of Argus in Metairie and I went drop them off at the beginning of the route. Well once I got back I decided to see what PokerStars had to offer and signed up the $5 10k gtd. I continued to use the limited distraction game plan and put the iPod on and turned the tv down and had the parades on in the background. Well it started off pretty good and I was accumlating chips from the start. Made a flush on the first hand after flopping a pair and a heart draw...raising on the flop and hitting it on the turn to win a pretty good pot and then won the next two hands after that. Busted a guy w/ AK who rerasised me preflop and then decided to overplay the hell out of 66 on a King high board. Needless to say it was nice to get chips early and I was able dictate all action at my table for the first 3 hours of the tournament. I was moved tables and there was one guy who had the same amount as me and we had about double of any player at the table with around 25k or so. He was pretty weak and I had reraised him several times preflop and he folded everytime....I knew this could turn out to pay off HUGE for me.

Well after about 4.5 hours we were approaching the bubble around 270 players or so and I was in full mode to pick up some unwanted chips from bottom money feeders. It really blows my mind the ppl who tighten up so much in online mtt when the buy in like so little, but hey..maybe it makes these guys feel good about themselves. Anyhow, I'm not there to cash for $9 and be happy with those results. Well with about 285 players left I just get beat down. Get two pair counterfieted twice. Flop top pair and get a short stack all in and he hits his two pair on the turn and I go from twice the table avg. to right about even with everyone. Well the big stack who I was having a little fun with is now all alone at the table with biggest stack but I didn't let up. I raised a pot and he reraised (i guess he was making his stand) and I shipped it with AK and folded....I was really shocked by that fold and I was actually begging for a call. With a double up I could have still be able to take advantage of tight bubble play. Well the big stack finally got his revenge in the form PokerStars software. I open up a pot (which has been a trend for me..haha) and he repops me this time. Well I decide to just call and "let him make his stand".....well the flop comes jack high and I bet half my stack which is an overbet. He ships it and I call, congratulations you found my KK with your AA. UGH!!!!!!!!!.....He actually had the nerve to pop off in the chat box about setting me up!...give me an f'in break, people like this guy should be punched in the neck. I'm sure he's 'that guy' who wears his texas hold'em playa shirt and all. I actually asked him if he was serious and said "yea, i've been letting u reraise the whole time just to get all your chips at once"....give this guy a fucking helmet and some velcro shoes..de da de!

Anyway, I was happy that I played well....can't really do anything about other ppl's good luck. I then played 3 sngs and won two and finished 3rd in the other. Later that evening I played in the $2.20...2k gtd. Continued to use the iPod and started off the way I have been. I was able to play exactly how I wanted to and accumulated chips. I put myself in good situations and had southpawrounder sweating my $2 run. We were talking on IM and picking each other's brains about online play. He has more experience than me and quite a few cashes I'm definitely open to his opinions and advice about online mtt. Well he would occassionally tell me to slow down and make comments about how many hands I was playing but it was working and I have become fairly comfortable with that style. I ended up running pretty deep and had some sick swings with about 60 players left. Eventually I busted with AJ vs. AQ where there was no real escaping from that. I finished 44th for an astounding $8.49!!!!

I've been happy with my results in the last two weeks of online (which is pretty much when I actually made my first deposit). I know they're some things that I'm struggling to understand with online play and somethings that I have found easier to exploit online rather than live. I'm also moving up the pocketfives.com leader board in the Houma area. I've actually passed up Gene in the rankings who was sitting at number 10 for quite some time. Now I have Ruttley in my sites and look to do something about LT.Dan.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.

A 'Little' Grind

I haven't be able to get to Grandma Harrah's house lately or any other casino for that matter, but I have had the itch to play a lot. Well there's really only one option and that's online. I haven't been the biggest fan of online mainly b/c I just can't seem to take it serious and find myself playing on the internet or watching tv or killing a bug that got in the house, just some type of distraction that doesn't allow me to pay attention like I should. Well I finally decided to do something about that to help me stay focused b/c if I am gonna start buying into online tournaments then I have to give myself a real shot. Well two Saturday's ago I was in Houma with nothing to do during the day. The girl and I went to Houma to enjoy some Mardi Gras parties and hang out with friends. Got there Friday night and went to the Hercules parade where I was one of the only one of my friends that didn't ride this year...that sucked. Well Saturday all my friends were hung over during the day and didn't feel like doing anything, the girl ended up going to the jewelry show in NOLA with her mom. My parents were out and about and I had nothing to do except watch college basketball on a rainy day. Well aside from the fact that I've never really had any success playing online I wasn't going to start buying into $50+ tourneys. So I signed up for a like $2 tourney and tried to get prepared to take it serious. I was chillin in the living room with the tv on and decided to put my headphones on and listen to the iPod and put the tv on mute with just the basketball game on in the background like in the casino where you only pay attention when you look up and not when you hear the commentators or crowd.

For right about 3 hours I played solid. Dictated the action on the table, got called down on almost every big hand I had. Didn't catch great cards but I wasn't card dead by any means. I was able to create my own luck in a few instances. I know the poker played can't be all that great at the micro level but the level of play isn't really great in 1k buy in tourneys either (at least live). Everything was going according to planned and I was not being distracted. Then all of a sudden I knew I was about to lose all my chips. My phone for some reason does not work worth a crap in Houma. I didn't get a phone call or a text message for about 4 hours and then all of a sudden I got 3 voicemails and a dozen texts all at the same time. Apparently at&t was helping me not be distracted or something. Well once all the phone calls and texts were taken care of I was in the money and double the average chip stack. Well friends were trying to get in touch with me to make plans for the night and the girl was almost back at my dad's house from NOLA and then all of a sudden my dad and them walk in the door and I knew it was all over right there! Everyone was back at the house and it was getting late early and we were going to the parade. I pretty much tried to win the tourney with 200 players left....that's actually a pretty difficult thing to do.

I was happy with the way I played and bummed that I kinda "had to" lose my chips. After all I wasn't in town to sit in front the computer and play a micro tournament. I was just happy that the game plan seemed to work. The next step was to test the limited distraction theory as soon as possible. Got home Sunday evening and was instant messaging Davey and Ruttley and they were playing the $11 5k gtd. Davey transferred me the money for a 60%-40% split and we all 3 joined the tourney. I was playing well and chipped up to a good stack relative to the blinds and rest of my table. There was two guys on my table who had absolutely NO respect for my raises and it became somewhat of their mission to bust me or just catch me speeding. Well that never happened, I busted one of them and the other got extremely lucky against me and I double him up when he called me down with bottom pair and then made a 4 card straight on the river to smoke my set of kings. After that I started to give him shit about calling me down and the very next hand I flop a set with 99 and double right back up and erase that set of kings hand. Then the guy who got lucky really wanted to be my friend which doesn't really bother me when ppl want friendly conversation, I then proceeded to abuse his blinds for the remainder of the time we were at the same table. I eventually busted when I misplayed a hand and got really short and didn't really have a chance to recover from that....here's the situation. I raise with 8,9 and get called from a limper. Heads up to the flop and I have position. Flop is 10,9,3 and it gets checked to me and I bet (I think blinds were somewhere around 200/400 ante?) It was a standard raise and I had about 10k. CB about 1000 and get called. I wasn't exactly trying to play a huge pot here but I did have second pair and there was a good chance I was good. He calls and the turn is a 7 and this is where I really messed up! He checks and I bet 1600 and he minraises me..SHIT!...I have to call b/c the pot is just to much to fold that there. I brick on the river and he bets and I fold. I was so annoyed b/c I SHOULD have checked the turn. I bet the flop with second pair and picked up a draw on the turn. If I just check and take the free card with my new draw I do a couple things. I'm not over extending myself with second pair and it's not like I HAVE TO win that hand, and it also lets me control pot size. It wasn't a crucial point, it was just me playing and being a little open with raises and doing what I had been doing the whole tournament. On top of that, if I check the turn and miss on the river and I would be completely willing to call a normal sized bet with my second pair. I just don't see the benefit in my betting the turn, especially when I'm not that strong. I don't have to win every hand I play. Anyway, that hand pretty much did me in and I busted not that long after about 50 away from the money. Davey and Ruttley on the other hand both cashed.

I played 180 player sng during the week and made the final table on that with the limited distraction theory proving to work fairly well. Sunday night I was hanging out and made plans to play a couple tourneys on the micro level. the 2k gtd, the 2500gtd. and 3k gtd. Well I played whichever one started first and Davey decided to play as well. We both ran pretty deep and Davey was in the top 5 chips for quite a while with about 200 left. He ran into some monsters and I'm not sure where he busted. I was cruising and got around avg. and then above and took a really crappy beat when I flopped a set after I raised and bet the flop. Guy called and picked up a flush draw on the turn and hit it on the river to put me on life support. I then went on a sick run and won about 7 out of the next 10 pots and was back over a 100k with the average at 80k. I then ran my A,Q on a queen high flop into AA from the guy who was 3rd chips overall. I didn't go broke but wasn't able to really recover from that...I think I finished 55th or right around there. Not a whole lot of money for as long as I played but none the less it's always fun to run deep in tournaments.

I plan to continue to play tournaments online and prolly keep battling on the micro and eventually win a few hundred bucks and start playing in the low level tourneys. I've been able to maintain my little online bank roll with the few cashes in mtt and winning some buy in money in some sngs. It's been fun and has me really wanting to play tournaments more and more. I'm pretty pumped too b/c I'm headed to Vegas in June and the WSOP and the Venetian Deep Stacks will be going on. I plan on pretty much just playing tournaments when I head out there.
Till Next Time.
Keep It Real Homies.

The Whole on Holes

I've been procrastinating for the most part and haven't sat down to write what I've been thinking about for the last couple weeks. Well I stated that I somewhat had a moment of clarity on what may have been my problem in tournament style poker that isn't just due to rust. To put things bluntly I've been playing like a bitch. Just over thinking and playing scared and not committing to a strategy. Ever since I've been playing I have had a style of play that made me comfortable at the table. From sitting around a kitchen table w/ friends for $20 buy-in sngs to playing in bar room tourneys and playing in $500+ buyin tourneys I've managed to find success for all. Well lately I can't seem to get out of the rut I put myself in b/c I don't take the approach I need to in order to win. I just couldn't figure out exactly what I was doing wrong but I knew I was doing a whole lot of it! It wasn't just strictly in tournament poker, it was also affecting my cash game play which is something that I've almost never had a problem with. Well while watching the 'dead money' final table and talking to Davey and Ruttley I told them that I've just been playing bad and making decisions that just don't make sense and I know I have been playing scared.

They're different ways of playing scared and it's not just playing tight or not making a move. The worst kind of playing scared is having a plan and attempting it and then vacating it once resistance is met. That was my problem, I couldn't stick to my game plan and my adjustments weren't exactly good ones. Throughout the time I've been playing this game I have altered my style of play and been successful, every time I have changed my style it has basically been due to my game and skills evolving and developing a comfort level with each style. From sitting around the kitchen table and just learning I was extremely tight and no originality in my game whatsoever, but the style worked b/c my friends were playing every freaking hand dealt to them and I quickly realized that was not the correct approach and it worked out for me. As I learned my weak tight style changed to more of a protective style where I over raised with big hands and made weak flop bets with monsters and most of my opponents were not seasoned players so it was successful. Naturally that evolved into playing those hands better and knowing pot size and how much I should bet relative to the pot which eventually got me interested in knowing the odds and percentages of hands. This allowed me to better know what the other guys cards might be. Sooner or later I was able to play more position and apply more pressure. So over the years I've been able to adjust my style to fit my comfort and skill level. Being able to play my way through these stages naturally gives me a way to classify people I play against and I'm pretty sure this is where that over used term "switching gears" comes from. In order to switch gears you first must have had these gears.

Well I found myself playing a style that allowed me to be aggressive by raising more and forcing action through me and playing a lot of hands. This can be dangerous but I was comfortable with it. I would occasionally change it up and play "Gus" style and limp all day and just try to take as many flops as possible and taking advantage of position and weak players. I've used the small ball approach and haven't been too great with that simply b/c most of the tournaments I play are not very deep stacked and that style is geared more towards deeper stacks and longer levels. Anyway, I've said all these styles of play and how I've progressed and where am I now. I'm clearly not on my best game but I do have one advantage over myself that I didn't have when I was playing my best and that's just simply time. With the risk of sounding like an old man, I'm older and every time I play it just adds to the amount of hands I've seen it should make me smarter and sharper but we know that's always the case for some (myself included......well prolly not myself included..haha).

Anyway, back to Davey and I's conversation. I told him I had a huge hole in my game he agreed and it clicked. We discussed what he was seeing and what I was thinking. The agreement came based on me playing scared. I was trying to do too many things and justifying my bad play. I was making lay downs b/c I felt I was a good enough player to hedge the chip loss by simply being a better player. The problem is that I was leaving myself short and not allowing myself to play the style that best fits my preferred style of play. There was a point where I felt like I as wide open at the table (tournaments) and raising a lot and trying to win every hand dealt and Davey and I talked about it and he helped calm me down on that..this time he was telling reassuring what I thought and that is that I'm a better off being loose than tight (of course within reason). Well I had a grasp of what slowing down meant and I was still winning. It wasn't exactly going to stop me from raising and stop me from being aggressive but just tone it down. I was at a point where I could raise enough to draw attention and give off the more aggressive than I really am look and that was my comfort zone. I didn't mind people plotting in their 'helmet protected' head of how they were gonna snap me off. I've also been able to bounce back and forth with the limp a lot method and manage to stay under the radar that way. Basically the conversation came down to me realizing that people have been exploiting my timid play lately. I have not had the opportunity to play a whole lately so when I have been playing I've been playing a little tighter than normal and not b/c the table is wide open and I need to lay back but b/c I'm just happy to be playing and don't wanna bust out early b/c my chances to play have been limited. This was causing me to limp call raises b/c I didn't wanna voluntarily risk my chips with a raise. This was making me bet the flop, get called, and then check fold on the turn b/c I was scared to play a big pot. I was only trying to win the small ones and stay low key at the table, but the problem is that the pots where I didn't take it down right away I was losing more than I should and not picking up enough small pots to justify my play. I was too willing to fold and save a few chips instead of making the aggressive play and putting the decision on my opponent. It's important to remember that I need chips to splash around with and play my most affective style of poker and when I back my own self down in a corner and basically take chips out of my own stack b/c I'm a pussy, it makes it really difficult and almost impossible to recover from that. I refuse to be blinded out of a tournament, been there done that and those days are long gone! If you blind out of a tournament then you should have won a bigger pot or lost a bigger pot somewhere else in the tournament.

I kept thinking to myself that I need to open up more and have action go through me more. I've been pretty good at becoming friends with the weak players and letting them know that I'm a better player than them and they need to chill out when playing hands against me. (as arrogant as that sounds I know I'm not the only one that knows exactly what I mean...so be careful when people are trying to make friends with you, they may just think you're a weak player). I've also been able to be the villain or make someone the villain. This isn't like a big plan I have when I'm at the table to do this, I'm not thinking about it but it just kinda happens.

Anyway, I'm glad I was able to figure out what my issues were and since this I was able to play two cash sessions in which I decided to be more of the aggressor and open pots instead of limp calling and it turned into two wins and has me feeling good about playing. I've also been messing around on pokerstars the last couple weeks and playing some multi-table sngs and some mtt...nothing with any big buy-ins are anything but just something to get me straight and knock some rust off. Also tried to do some fun things and force myself to play hands by playing in the micro level cash games and playing every single hand. Weather it was a raise or a limp, I had to put money in preflop every hand but I could fold to raises that were greater than 4x's. It was interesting and I actually was winner after playing about 6 sessions like that. I also played some 6 handed tourneys which I really enjoy b/c tight play just gets steam rolled in those things. Could be my favorite type of tourney to play. On the whole I'm glad I was able to shed some light on what I was doing wrong and now I've definitely got the itch to play some tournaments and I'm looking at making a trip out to Vegas in June.
Till next time.
Keep It Real Homies.