Lights! Camera! Action!
February 19, 2007
Up bright and early, a little bit of alcohol still in my system from Saturday night, but I cooked the biggest fried, grilled, poached breakfast ever.
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Sunday and I think I took the word “lazy” to new heights today.
After much thought I couldn’t decide on how best to not do anything, so I ended up doing nothing. Haven’t played a lot of poker since my last entry, played a league Omaha H/L game Saturday early evening and did my usual donation to the kitty. Ate a nice dinner popped open some wine and by 11pm was well cranked. I think opening the new bottle of Absolut during the Omaha game was not the best decision of the day. I remember getting caught with cowboys against rockets and a couple of river suck-outs and that is about it. I am overdue a suck-out or two, let’s hope I got them all paid up last night. There were 6 or so of us on Skype conference chat last night, not sure who was all there, remember a few of them but wouldn’t put my stack on being correct. There was some side bet I had with, I think SvcMgr on two of the players and hmm I think he has to now sleep with his chosen player? Which was Ash, I think? Man, there are a lot of questions marks in these paragraphs? As for poker… I think I am coming to that stage of my game where I need a break again. Not because I am playing badly or on a losing streak or anything, just because, erm I feel like a break. It is about time for me to make some kind of change, maybe not a permanent change, but more of an ‘exploratory’ change in my poker calendar. Here’s how I see it from my position. At the beginning of the year I said t myself OK let’s set a target for the year, nothing silly just a goal to aim for, I decided upon a monetary goal as the best place to start. So at the time I had around $200 in my bankroll and set myself the target of making a $100 a week profit. That was a tight bankroll to make $5000 by the end of the year, so I agreed with myself that I would fund it another $200 if I needed to. So far I haven’t needed to and my bankroll is in excess of $1200 within the first 5 weeks. The bottom line is this, there is a finite amount of premium online time for me to be playing poker and I will be looking to use that finite amount of time to hit the higher stakes games. Also I am predicting that I am only going to be playing maybe 4 sessions a week at most. It is almost another experiment, but this time over 2-3 months. I want to see how by actually playing less hours yet being more selective about my online poker time if it can improve or if it will impair my poker results and ultimately my bankroll. I will try and play at least 1 league game a week and if I am around on a certain night, do not have scheduled games in that night, then I might just click a league game here and there. I am not sure if this is going to work or not, time will tell on that one. I also have this theory kicking around in the back of my head, that playing league games might possibly be detrimental to my overall game, once you reach a certain level of proficiency. Yup this paragraph is going to go down well with some folks. Without blowing my own trumpet (if I could do that I would never leave the house again) I think I have reached that level of proficiency. Some of you league folks reading that will think it is an arrogant statement and you know, I really don’t care. Who in our league is qualified to advise me on whether I am good enough or not to move it on up? I do appreciate advice or a chat about things from anyone, in fact I would really like to hear an opposition argument or any critiques or advice concerning this decision. But at the end of the day I am going to do it and I have to believe in myself and be totally confident to do this. otherwise I may as well not bother trying. I’ll try to publish the results weekly. Right let’s move on… I made the “video”..
For those of you not privy to the chat exchange we had on the forum recently about the mental and emotional aspects of playing online poker. Someone suggested a blog about just that aspect of the game and the very next morning I entered a small $5.00, 9 seater SNG at Full-Tilt and set up the screen recorder to record the whole of the game allowing me to watch back over the game and evaluate my emotional I have to admit I really had to think hard about doing this for several reasons;
There are also a few other reasons that caused me some thought, one being the handle my league players would have over me, maybe, possibly. I mean, I thought it was either a brave thing or a stupid thing to do, opening your game to your opponents. Then after consideration I realised I do not truly consider the league players my opponents, I don’t mind sharing anything with them. For what that “share” is worth, of course. I would have embedded the movie into this blog page, but because of width restrictions in the blog the end result was poor. So go put the kettle on, make some tea, grab a ginger-nut sit, back and be amazed.. well maybe not amazed.. but maybe entertained.. well ok maybe not so much entertained.. but maybe erm.. heck it’s something to watch whilst dunking yah ginger nuts.. The movie will open and stream directly through your web browser. (flash content) Click here to open a new window and play the movie. I’d really like some comments on this, as in the next blog I will be dissecting some of what went on in the recorded game. Good luck on the felt folks. |
Comments
33 Responses to “Lights! Camera! Action!”
Got something to say?
hi paulie i really enjoyed your video.helps me a lot.
Paulie, regarding the bet. It was quite funny actually.
If you remember, well, maybe you don’t, Netty came into the Skype conference. I think it was Ash, Lippy, You, me, Bigjock, Larry, and Netty.
This was the bet, but I don’t think Netty really understood it.
You and I both picked someone who we thought would win. I picked Ash and you picked Netty.
You decided that the bet would be “whoever looses, has to sleep with the person they pick”.
Now, I am thinking there was maybe, a little hidden agenda in there since you picked Netty and I picked Ash but no comment was made at the time of the bet.
I just knew that Ash better win or the tourny needed to last long enough so those Absolute’s would kick in and you wouldn’t remember the bet.
Well, guess what. Ash won the tourny. So, you lost and you now have to sleep with Netty.
I am really sorry you lost the bet……lolololol
Netty was in the conference when the bet was made but I don’t know if she realized the ramifications of this.
She should probably be contacted by you to inform her of her loss and her subsequent commitment.
Since it was a bet between you and me, I think I will need some sort of proof that the bet was paid. Pictures or even a video will suffice as proof of payment.
Now, the others in the room heard the bet, BUT they didn’t participate in it so I think Ash and I are the only ones entitled to recieve said proof mentioned above.
The “proof” will be kept secure by Ash and myself and will only be mentioned if we are in a game against either you or Netty and we need a slight “edge”.
If Netty would like to try this type of bet again, I would be happy to participate but I would pick her next time.
Let me know when Ash and I can expect payment.
By the way, we were playing NL not Omaha so maybe that had a little to do with it……lol
Well, how nice it is to have an insight on how you play! But as I said to you before, you are more than capable of changing your approach to a game when you know the people playing. Its not held you back so far!
To me, you have shown everyone not so much your style of play, but a good pointer as to how these sit and go’s should be played. Aggressive – sometimes overly aggressive – seems the best way to go. But always, during that particular game, you were concious of what was going on with the other players. You really highlighted the need to get a ‘read’ on the players at the table and punish them for their misgivings. As you know, a lot of the time it is not about the cards you play, but the player.
A very benificial video, especially for the less experienced out there – and the experienced too. Keep up the good work Paul, but I would advise you stick to just the one video. You don’t want all your secrets out!
@SvcMgr..
Erkk we didn’t tell Netss? Was she there when we made the bet? Why on earth did you agree to the bet lol.. And it was Hold’em yup but the earlier game when I opened the bottle of Absolut was Omaha..I think?
@Gopher..
Thanks for the input Gopher! Nearly 100 views on the video and you are the only person to actually come back with some input.. go figure.
You are correct of course this was a style that was right for that particular table. There were only a couple of aggressive players on the table and they were very loose and soon gone. The remaining players may have been tight aggressive but maybe they didn’t get a chance to open up.
I was going to do a follow up video dissecting that game pointing out the why and where and what etc.. But yanno if folks ain’t interested enough to make the small effort of writing a few lines of feedback then I guess I aint got the effort in me to do a follow up either.
See yah on the felt Gopher
I believe I made a post in PC’s forum on the video….you may copy and paste it here if you like…and my conversation with you on the matter I figured was already a given…..arrrrrgh!!!!!
“.arrrrrgh!!!!!”
What’s that all about then?
Yeah I read your posts on the forum mate.. thanks for the thumbs up on the blog.
Still 100 views on the movie and counting and? And a couple of thumbs up on the forum. I gotta ask myself if I wanna put the time in on it anymore. I wouldn’t care if all the comments were negative yanno.. but as usual we see the same thing as we see on the forum.. listless, unenthusiastic, cant be bothered attitude, selfish, take, take, take… etc.
Don’t think I am gonna waste my time anymore. All you are likely to see in this blog from now on, are my results.
Yes, Netts was there. But, like I said, I don’t know if she knew what she was getting into.
There was no WE in the bet. We did discuss picking someone since we we were on the rail but then YOU came up with the idea on what the bet was to entail. Since there were six of us on there, I didn’t get a chance to say anything about it. Also, Ash is way over the pond so getting me to pay up would be difficult at best..
Like I said, I think you had an ulterior motive. If you remember, Netts wasn’t even in with us originally, you talked her into coming in.
It was all in good fun and I had a good time
Comments on the video – I haven’t made any yet because I am still thinking about the whole thing. I just watched it the other night. Off hand, it was played like I play EXCEPT for some pre flop activity that I need to get better at.
I also have another comment but I haven’t formulated what I am going to say yet. It has to to with putting you into a tougher decision making thought process.
I have to watch the video again but it kind of sticks in my head that you didn’t get re-raised or challenged a lot by the other players. There was one or two times where the Monkey put up a fight but it was a Monkey so the decision was easier.
Anyway, before I get into it deeper, I need to watch it again and watch closer.
I also am thinking about how I would play against someone like you and have some thoughts on that but I will try to put them all together with the other stuff.
I really liked the video. It is a great look into another player and it helps give me perspective on how I think at the table vs how others react. I think you can tend to get into your own thought process while playing and it is refreshing and helpful seeing a different approach.
Thanks,
Ok.. *hangs head* I was very drunk and probably flirting like a $2 dollar whore..
Re; the video.. You’re right the only time I got reraised they had a monster. There was a touch and go moment early on against a monkey, but there was no way I was going to sit there for an hour dodging his wild play. AK in the hole was enough for me to push real hard and either eliminate him or get sucked out and move on to the next game ASAP.
Like the LipMan, I have put my initial thoughts up on the forum. I have watched the video 6 maybe 7 times and I pick up something each time I view it.
You went way beyond the call of duty to make this for all too see and I know you are aware of my level of appreciation, but I too thought you would get many more Atta-Boy’s for your unselfishness.
I also feel honored that you would ask my opinion before publishing it. I hope I made the right decision on your behalf, but now I wonder if your efforts will be acknowledged, I can only hope so, but time will tell.
I’m glad to be able to call you a friend and I will gladly play poker with you, watch you play poker or have you watch my game any time we can get together. Hell, it’s more of a party than a game most of the time anyway and you know I love too party. lol
Take a little time and let this video sink into our poker friends minds, I’m pretty sure you will get the feedback you want.
I will cover this video in depth here on your blog before the week is out.
See Ya on the Felt
Kind words Dog and appreciated.. But I ain’t looking “atta-boy’s” I was looking for critique, dissection, questions, views.. yanno what I mean?
I have seen a few people say “oh I play the same”.. What parts of the game do they play the same what parts do they play differently? And why?
I even had a couple of people tell me they learned something from the video but refused to share what they learned with me? Go figure! One thing I am not mate and that is a mug…
I have just about shared every experience I have of poker to anyone who wanted to listen or who asked, with this video I left myself vulnerable to poker league members who play against me, simply because I was trying to share something and help people.
Now some folk have watched it and THINK they have a handle on me and rather than share what they learned from video their only thought is to how to use it to get a handle on me and refuse to share back.
What’s funny Dog is the people acting so dishonourably have not got a chance of making that strategy work, it isn’t monkey see monkey do! They think they can just go ahead and copycat what I did, that ain’t gonna work, they are also going to have a shock if they think they got a handle on me.
Paulie,
I too very much appreciate what you have done. I am still thinking about this whole thing and if I ever get my thoughts together enough to write down all I have gotten from this, I will write them down.
I don’t think the video gives away too much on how you “think”.
You have given a prime example on how to play solid, sucessful poker.
Anyone who understands this game will recognize that if you watch the table, play smart, tight, aggressive poker you will be sucessful.
I don’t know how to verabize this but, the video shows good poker. It could have been anyone. By that I mean I don’t think you bluffed or gave away any “Blagger” plays. Do you know what I mean?
The video could be shown to anyone learning the game as to how to play this game correctly.
I don’t think it gives any “personalized” fine tuning you have done to your game.
Also, you can adjust your game if needed. I think Doyle was asked that after he wrote his books. He said he had to adjust for a while but went back to his normal play after a while because it worked.
Your worked too!
Great job!
Dave and the rest of yah, you know who I mean when I say that, yanno I am not referring to you when I am whinging.
I knew there would be some that would take the whole thing selfishly, I was just quite.. ‘piqued’.. at the time after coming off a couple chats with people who by their refusal to mention what it was they took from the video.
They were basically implying to me that ‘hey I got something on yah now’, and that is of course totally selfish and not at all within the spirit of the thing.
I’ll calm down and probably carry on being an idiot.
OMG! OK yes me was there when the bet was made and i did get what you betted rofl Wether we do payoff is for us to know and you …. well …. probably not find out rofl! Maybe there’ll be a tour? or maybe not!
And i say it again about the video. You don’t reveal anything that gives us an upper hand on how to beat you at the table. You shift gear and so-on all the time that the only result i come up with is confusion on what you really got on your hand. But i did learn on some small things to change in my own game. For that i really thank you!
BIG HUGS!
As I said in my last comment mate, this video to me only gave an insight to how you play, but I know, and several others, that you can change your game plan in the blink of an eye. You are unpredictable at the table – well in any games I’ve played you – so those who think they have a handle on you will be in for a suprise.
I’ve only watched the video once so far and based my previous comments on this one viewing. Once I get the chance to view it again, I’ll let you know exactly what I think/how I would play certain hands. But on first impressions you made probably only 2 or 3 mistakes which you yourself picked up on.
Don’t get stressed by people refusing to discuss this with you mate. I think a lot of people have watched the video to get tips on taking on the sit and gos’s as opposed to getting a handle on your playing strategy.
As always I’ve put a few lines about your blog on my own blog. I have to reitterate though that this has to be one of the most selfless acts I’ve seen from a league member. But you did it so well, I think this is a superb training tool for everyone interested in poker.
Ohhh and by the way i for once really want you to do more videos so i can learn more.
i have really use for them in the cup i’m in now
HUGS
OK Paulie, here we go.
I watched again and made some notes. I will list the note I made then make a comment.
1. Dominate from the start – This is one of the first things you said. To me, that tells me you were mentally going to be agressive. Maybe more than usual (since you mentioned it). I think this puts a player in a more heightened state of mind. Looking for places to take advantage, etc. I don’t normally do that. I just play for a little and try to see if I should adjust based on the table.
2. 80-350 – I think that one was a note on the blind versus your “probing” bet. To me, it is high but it worked for you.
3. Pushed PP 4’s against SB – I think the small blind was the monkey. You were in the BB with PP 4’s and pushed pretty hard. I don’t think I would have raised so much. If, he had called (you never know with a monkey) he would have probably had over cards which would have put you in a race situation.
4. Called 6’s – You just called on the 6’s. I also think you were middle position. I probably would have folded them.
5. J,10 os on button pushed – You pushed the blinds with a J, 10 os. I would have called.
6. Called raise w/8,6 off – You called a raise from the BB with a 8,6 off. I wouldn’t have done that. If he had been watching, he would have seen you were pretty agressive. For him to raise the BB after a call by you, I would have given him more credit for a hand.
7. 9,7 off not a bad hand – You said this during the commentary. To me a 9,7 off is a bad hand.
8. Called 8,9 off – I usually would not call with a 8,9 off.
9. Probing bets normally were a semi-bluff, you had a piece – What I meant by this was quite a few times when you bet to see what the other guy had, you had a piece of the flop. It wasn’t top pair or anything but it was a piece. At a tight table, betting the flop when it is likely not to have hit anyone is a good way to get chips because tight players will normally fold (like in the league games).
10. Called 6,7 suited on the BTN, again had a piece – I haven’t had too much luck with mid to low suited connectors so I don’t play them very often. Especially low ones. You got a piece of it on the flop and no one else did. Usually when I play them, I am the one who misses so I tend to lose money with them.
11. Bumped Q,9 three handed – I wouldn’t have bumped a Q,9. I would have called.
12. 10,4 played well – You played the 10,4 great. You did take a chance and bet into a possible flush, but it worked.
13. J,9 called raise on tight player – I probably would have folded a J,9 on a raise from someone who I knew was playing tight.
14. Rasied Q,9 off heads up – I don’t know why I wrote this down. I probably would have done the same thing.
The hard thing about commenting on the video is that you played it so well that I feel like my comments on what I would do different would sound more like “this is what I would have done to screw it up”.
I was also thinking from the other side and if I was one of the other players, what would I do to get you.
I don’t think you got called down when you put out your probing bets. I would have been watching this very closely. If you got called down and I saw you were pushing with bottom pair, etc. I may have tried re-raising you sometime during the tourny or calling the raise if I had a marginal hand.
You got some real good cards during the tourny too. One day, I would like to sit with you and watch you play with a colder deck.
I have a HUGE way to go to get to even an “average” status. So, I learned a lot about aggressiveness. Not just any aggressiveness, smart agressiveness. Being normally a tight – passive player, I really need to improve this portion of my game to get better.
So, don’t beat me up too bad about my comments. My ego is very fragile…lol.
Thanks for the help!
First off I would like to apologize for making the comment ” I know how ya play now”…Please believe me when I say it was totally in jest and was my own lil way of running a psych…..I sincerely hope ya know this Paulie….lippy
Heck lippy never occured to me bud.. yanno how I play anyhow yah have trolled the sites with me on more than one late night session
Nice one Dave.. I’ll debate those points with you on the next blog entry!
Be nice to me Paulie. You will win that one pretty easy.
If you look at the stuff I said I would do, most of it revolves around LESS aggression.
Less aggression is not winning poker.
Since you spent all the time doing this, I thought I would at least give YOU some feedback instead of you just putting it out there.
Actually, what I wrote will probably hurt me more in the League games than you since your game is better than mine but it also doesn’t mean I am not learning and applying along the way.
I am REALLY interested in watching you play (no video, just watching) and Larry too for that matter when the deck is cold or when there are other aggressive non monkey players in the game.
Patience and aggression, I think, is winning poker. I sure got the patience part down.
Aggression is easier when you have figured out the table and determined the table is tight/passive.
I am interested in learning more about aggression vs. aggression and playing with a cold deck.
Will you be my teacher???
Heck bugger all this poker talk Netss just indicated I got a half chance at getting my bet settled.. lol..
Dave would you rather I ‘pm’ yah with my reply?
Though I gotta admit your points are exactly what I was looking for, to help dissect and analyse the hands.
Thing is I see the video as self explanatory up to a point. As I said above it is not a monkey see, monkey do thing.
I knew people would watch the movie and recognise the style and probably nod their heads etc. But, I think the real meat and potatoes of the matter will be in the dissection.
Good tight aggressive tables can be right old chess games! As Slansky says ‘if you find yourself out of your depth a bit or you are on a tight aggressive table of good players and you are not sure what to do, how to play it, etc. Then your best move is to come out betting more times than not’.
I have found if the players are hard seasoned players (tight aggressive), quite often that one of the best moves is to almost reverse play the hands. This is a difficult concept to explain in few words but, again it is fuel for the next blog entry.
Paulie,
You are more than welcome to post your reply here. Maybe ppl will learn something.
But, further practice/learning as mentioned above I would like to do with a limited group like you, dog, etc.
I played with Dog last night for a while. Boy, I can sure learn loose aggressive play from him..lol
Do some thinking and post it.
Well yah can learn tight aggressive from Dog too. Some night’s Dog is more about partying and having fun rather than playing rock solid poker and there ain’t nuttin wrong with having fun sometimes. lol
You go play with Dog when he is handing in one of them $26 dollar coupons and see how loose he plays.
I’ll talk about your points in the next blog entry Dave, which I’ll make later today.
YYYEEEEAAAAA HHHHAAAAAWWW!! LET’S PARTY !!!
Was a fun night last night with a bunch of players coming in and out of the skype conference and I did get into the beer and bag a wee bit to much. I did manage to break even at Full Tilt due to the 2nd or 3rd in the 90 man 1 buck tourney. Not being sure where I finished should give you an idea of just how trashed I was. lol
Then Dave and I went off to Vegas and played some more I think cause I got more money there now than I had yesterday. It was a fun night, too bad I can’t remember most of it. (sigh)
And yes Dave, I was a bit looser than normal but as I said while raising big with those trash hands like 9 6 off, They Don’t Know What I Got. LOL and I showed some powerful hands on a regular basis just to keep them from being too sure of themselves.
Again it was a great night but I wouldn’t advise playing as wild as I did unless you’re just there to have fun.
Dog, you placed either first or second at the Omaha H/L pot limit game. I went out earlier so I went to a $2 sng NL and won.
You are right, it was FUN.
I just remember you “fell off the wagon” regarding the DOG hand (K 9) and played it.
God forbid they were suited, then you had the Pedigree Canine. You called an All in bet with that which woulda put you out but you hit a flush. Man that was great! All I heard for the next few min. was hoopin and hollerin about the DOG hand. I was laughin my butt off.
I told you by the end of the game you probably had about three or four notes on ya that were blue in color…lol
Of course, it wasn’t like that every hand. You play very well and I learned a lot.
You had everyone at the table so confused, they didn’t know what to do.
It was wildly played but well played at the same time.
It was FUN!
Did I say I would update later today? Well I really meant in the morning lol
I fell asleep on the couch and am gonna be tucked up and snoring in about 5 mins flat. zzzzzzzzzzz
OK mate! Had another look at the video and took some notes…. 35 to be exact, but I’ll shorten it a little. I’ve not read the other comments on the game yet as I didn’t want to be influenced in my observations. I will be commenting only on a few hands. Most of this will be observations. So here goes….
Before the game started you explained what you were going to try and do – DOMINATE! You had your mind set on your startegy. I don’t know if it was because it was a low buy-in and so you knew what the play would be like to go with this strategy. You can tell us!
First hand – Q 10 – folded in early/mid position as you didn’t know what the players would be like. Good decision. A lot of people would play this hand, but it’s not really worth it when theres a distinct possibility of a raise after you. As you said, you didn’t have a handle on anyone at the table.
Taking notes on players. Very good advice. You never know when you will meet them again. Just remember that by the next time you meet them they could have improved. THEY might have watched the video and recognised the game!
You pushed strong hands hard, with what some consider as overbets preflop. But if the other players don’t have that good a hand, 99% of the time they will fold.
A7 suited – folded in mid position. Good fold. Too many players will play any Ace, and particularly any Ace suited and come a cropper to a higher kicker. Being suited means very little. OK, A7 could be a raising hand during short handed play.
66 – limped in after a couple of callers. Good move, especially as it cost you next to nothing to see the flop with pot odds of 7/1. Nothing hit for you so easy fold.
10 J off – You called this on the button and after a flop of 4AA it was checked around to you. You raised after a good read that if someone had hit the flop they would have bet out. Easy pickings at this stage!
10 10 – UTG you raised 8x the BB and got one caller. A good fold after the J on the flop was bet. A lot of people would have called just in case the next card happened to be a 10, but the odds of it happeneing are very low.
It was at this point that I noticed that you had a handle on all the players at the table. You knew the monkeys that were left, and you knew the tight players that could be dominated because of their tight play.
A couple of the next few hands were where mistakes were made. Holding 86off you checked after the flop with a straight draw handing the advantage to the other player. However, you knew you had made the wrong play. After he bet out you were wise enough to fold. The very next hand you hit the check button by accident after hitting top pair, but got lucky that a low card hit on the turn giving you a second chance to take the pot down – which you did.
Then came three Q9 hole crads in a row. Played the first two great then hit that check button by mistake on the 3rd hand. This just goes to show that you were doing too much at once – playing the game while recording and giving the voiceover!
77 UTG – Pocket 7s aren’t that great a hand, and I might have folded this instead of limping in. But after the raises after you you folded without losing very much. Definately not worth a call after the raise and caller.
You folded a few dodgy hands after this and commented on it too. You are correct in what you said – no point in loosing chips when you don’t need to.
JJ on the button. Bet big to put the remaining monkey all in… and he obliged with J9. Very good read on him.
At around this stage you know that you can bully the table and you did so, betting mid and bottom pairs – even just with information bets, but that was enough to get the others to fold.
52off – Why did you fold this??? Its a great hand! Only joking! As you know its one of my favourite hands but only for limping in on the blinds. A no-brainer fold in your position.
Q9 (again!) on the button. You limped in here with no callers in front of you. With just the blinds to go I would have raised them.
Near the end of the game I noticed how many connecting hands you played. You also noted that there was no need for the big bets at this stage. 4x the BB raises still looked like big bets to the others. Good strategy. Information bets are always useful and you played them quite a bit throughout the tournament. If someone came with you, at least you had sense to play cautious. You didn’t try to push them off the hand which could have been costly.
Heads up, you were very eratic with your betting. This worked a treat as I think you really had the other guy totally lost. You did play a 92off at one stage heads up when you didn’t really need to.
Lastly, the one thing I did notice was that you NEVER should you hand no matter if you had a winner or a bluff/semi-bluff. Why give players an advantage of any kind.
I think you played the game almost perfectly. Fair enough you did get your fair share of playable hands but you took down many pots with what I would call ‘middle-of-the-road’ hands. I think your success here was mainly down to the read you had on the players at the table at a very early stage. Through this you knew when to push and when to slow down.
In the end it looked rather easy, or should I say, you made it look very easy. A great learning tool mate for all novice/intermediate poker players. Now I’m off to see what others have written!
“Q9 (again!) on the button. You limped in here with no callers in front of you. With just the blinds to go I would have raised them.”
Lol.. how many times do yah want me to raise with that hand.. to be honest mate i had just come off like 4 or 5 hands of pushing strong and just thought I’d give them a breather.. If yah over-push they will just throw it all in at yah eventually.. and Q9 ain’t that good a hand
No way on the 92.. sheesh.. lol even I have my limits on open book.. that was a BB I was on and it was checked to me..
Pretty nice synopsis there Gordon, stole my thunder.. now what am I gonna write in the next blog entry?
Interesting to get the views coming in though and how they differ or not etc..
Nice replies Dave and Gordon, Now what am I suppose to write? lol
One thing that has sorta been overlooked, unless I missed it, is that Blag had the stack to push in those information bets. Without a decent stack we all have to play a little more passive and therefore fold some hands that might have drawn out.
Oops, my bad… I thought you were on the SB with that 92 mate, not the BB.
As for the Q9 again…. by that stage of the game you had them running scared. Thats why I would have raised them.
You should get a differing opinion on the game as we, the viewer are kind of watching a ‘WPT show’ with just the selected highlights, so we don’t know the real story of the game. Don’t get me wrong, your commentary helped as you explained the situations as much as you could, but its still not the same as seeing the game in its entirety. In saying that, I think you edited it well for your viewing public!