Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Winstar Trip Report: 09/06/09
One will note that some time has elapsed between the trip and the report. Consequently, most of the details (valuable as they may be) have been lost due to my travels in Arkham Asylum. Seriously, the new Batman is a fucking ridiculously good game. The gameplay is good to great, the cutscenes are phenomenal, and the artwork is astonishing. We'll have to see whether it has replay value.
Wait, I'm supposed to be talking about poker. Back to that. Arrived at the casino with 3 buyins at 9pm. Waitlist was amazingly short - 8 people. And the Holy Grail of table selection fell upon me: THEY OPENED A NEW TABLE AND CALLED MY NAME.
I wonder if anybody realizes how valuable this is in a live setting? Nominally, it's ridiculous -- brand new donks buy in, and the more experienced players can eat up their money, and be relatively deepstacked by the time other good players get to the table. Getting in at the ground floor does the most for us in terms of the natural evolution of table dynamics, as retards don't survive long. So you can imagine that I was pretty psyched, and it showed.
I established myself as the verbal table captain ASAP, after identifying each players with tight/loose vs strong/weak, and mentally assessing the best way to attack these foes in position and out of position. And wow was I licking my chops when seeing some donkeys win 45bb pots with 95o and J6o in the early going.
Reality bit in when I realized that I was going on fucking TILT. WHY??!!
1) Rookie fucking players couldn't move the game along. They had to be constantly told that it was their turn, that no, they couldn't raise, that a straight loses to a flush, etc. One can only gently prompt the biggest fish even twice before the table catches on that you're a shark, so after a few smiling comments I had to stew in my own impatience.
2) Incompetent dealers that were holding up the game by regaling stories and teasing players instead of DEALING CARDS. It didn't help that this brand-new table lacked an automatic shuffler, slowing the pace down even more
3) I moved positions to sit behind the only big stack at the table (300bb), and he left 45 minutes later, leaving me with 125bb amongst 90-50bb stacks.
4) I couldn't catch a hand, which was the ONLY WAY I was going to get paid against a table of mostly loose-passive rookies that couldn't understand why their middle two pair was no good on a four flushed board.
So after 2.5 hours at this table (OMG AS SOON AS I MAKE TOP PAIR I'M GONNA BUST A FOOL!! damn, 72o again?!!), I busted over to a new spot with a competent dealer, automatic shuffler, deep stacks, and better players. ahhhh.
Sitting in the 1 seat (to the dealer's left), I resolve to move as quickly as possible, as I can't observe opponents! Naturally, I move behind a 500bb stack ASAP, and proceed to see an Asian LAG sit in my seat and THREE TIMES cold call a PF 3bet with AXs, get it all in on the flop vs a 3bettor, catch his flush, and run his $100 stack up to $800 in 45minutes. Nearly shit myself with the "omg i would have had those cards!" thought, but then I realized that I would NEVER have played them like that.
No real pots. Pretty much took down the few pots that I raised and fired Cbets with, and the combination of blinds + the times that I missed kept me floating at 125-150bbs for most of the night. Combination of the (incorrect) looseness of the 4 deep stacks at the table and cold decks kept me mostly in line.
However, by 2am, the usual insane limpfests had started. Compounding the situation was the New Guy at the table, who had won $2700 at 2/5nl earlier and was now open raising to $20 and 3betting to $40 with air at our table.
So after folding my evening away, I was sitting on a 200bb stack and find TdTc UTG. Balla. UTG (a math teacher TAG, decent player) with 400bb opens to $7, and I reraise to $35.
LatinoLAG calls in LP (100bb), New Guy calls in SB (400bb stack), UTG calls (400bb stack). With a pot of $140, we see a flop of 742r. Not a bad flop. In fact, I'd definitely be committed if I were in a HU pot, as this flop is the best possible flop I could hit, lacking a T. Factors for post-flop play
- SPR (excluding the LatinoLAG) is 2.6, which is perfect for an overpair (i have ~$370 behind).
- LatinoLag has $160 left. Obviously, if the LL gets all in with no other callers, I'm in there with him.
- New Guy (~$700) is ridiculously wide here. He just wants to play huge pots. Any suited, any pair, any broadway is good enough for him to cold call my 3bet. I CRUSH his range.
- UTG (~$760) is frustrated, and wants to catch New Guy and Latino Lag. He's a competent player, and understands the value of position. I expect him to 4bet QQ+ and maybe AK when he's OOP vs other deepstacks, so when he flats here I'm only really worried about JJ.
So really, what I want is to get the money in the pot as quickly as possible, as there isn't really a turn/river card that I want to see with this vulnerable overpair. Obviously, I would be treading much more carefully vs TAG-type players, but I felt that the ranges of the players I was involved with were WAYYYYY behind me.
So I fire $75 into the $140 pot. This bet leaves me (assuming 1 caller) with just a PSB behind, yet I'll have the option to fold if I get RR'd here. (although for the record I don't think I could EVER fold, given how much I had committed to the pot and the others' ranges. Maybe if I bet, got two callers and the last guy shoved over all of us, MAYBE).
LatinoLAG calls, New Guy calls, UTG grumbles and folds. Turn 6d, $365 pot, I have ~$290 remaining. I jam, LatinoLAG calls, New Guy folds, he shows A7o, river K, both folded players flip AKo, I drag monster pot (~$600). Now I'm trying to drum up a situation that I could have folded on, but OPs on a raggedy board when I've 3bet and gotten 3 callers? Dicey. Especially OOP.
That was pretty much it. Table broke shortly after and got filled up by fresh players, who started chatting me up and nearly licking their lips. Realizing my best was almost behind me (I was still playing my B game but felt imminent doom), I left with a $400 profit and drove back to Dallas.
Wait, I'm supposed to be talking about poker. Back to that. Arrived at the casino with 3 buyins at 9pm. Waitlist was amazingly short - 8 people. And the Holy Grail of table selection fell upon me: THEY OPENED A NEW TABLE AND CALLED MY NAME.
I wonder if anybody realizes how valuable this is in a live setting? Nominally, it's ridiculous -- brand new donks buy in, and the more experienced players can eat up their money, and be relatively deepstacked by the time other good players get to the table. Getting in at the ground floor does the most for us in terms of the natural evolution of table dynamics, as retards don't survive long. So you can imagine that I was pretty psyched, and it showed.
I established myself as the verbal table captain ASAP, after identifying each players with tight/loose vs strong/weak, and mentally assessing the best way to attack these foes in position and out of position. And wow was I licking my chops when seeing some donkeys win 45bb pots with 95o and J6o in the early going.
Reality bit in when I realized that I was going on fucking TILT. WHY??!!
1) Rookie fucking players couldn't move the game along. They had to be constantly told that it was their turn, that no, they couldn't raise, that a straight loses to a flush, etc. One can only gently prompt the biggest fish even twice before the table catches on that you're a shark, so after a few smiling comments I had to stew in my own impatience.
2) Incompetent dealers that were holding up the game by regaling stories and teasing players instead of DEALING CARDS. It didn't help that this brand-new table lacked an automatic shuffler, slowing the pace down even more
3) I moved positions to sit behind the only big stack at the table (300bb), and he left 45 minutes later, leaving me with 125bb amongst 90-50bb stacks.
4) I couldn't catch a hand, which was the ONLY WAY I was going to get paid against a table of mostly loose-passive rookies that couldn't understand why their middle two pair was no good on a four flushed board.
So after 2.5 hours at this table (OMG AS SOON AS I MAKE TOP PAIR I'M GONNA BUST A FOOL!! damn, 72o again?!!), I busted over to a new spot with a competent dealer, automatic shuffler, deep stacks, and better players. ahhhh.
Sitting in the 1 seat (to the dealer's left), I resolve to move as quickly as possible, as I can't observe opponents! Naturally, I move behind a 500bb stack ASAP, and proceed to see an Asian LAG sit in my seat and THREE TIMES cold call a PF 3bet with AXs, get it all in on the flop vs a 3bettor, catch his flush, and run his $100 stack up to $800 in 45minutes. Nearly shit myself with the "omg i would have had those cards!" thought, but then I realized that I would NEVER have played them like that.
No real pots. Pretty much took down the few pots that I raised and fired Cbets with, and the combination of blinds + the times that I missed kept me floating at 125-150bbs for most of the night. Combination of the (incorrect) looseness of the 4 deep stacks at the table and cold decks kept me mostly in line.
However, by 2am, the usual insane limpfests had started. Compounding the situation was the New Guy at the table, who had won $2700 at 2/5nl earlier and was now open raising to $20 and 3betting to $40 with air at our table.
So after folding my evening away, I was sitting on a 200bb stack and find TdTc UTG. Balla. UTG (a math teacher TAG, decent player) with 400bb opens to $7, and I reraise to $35.
LatinoLAG calls in LP (100bb), New Guy calls in SB (400bb stack), UTG calls (400bb stack). With a pot of $140, we see a flop of 742r. Not a bad flop. In fact, I'd definitely be committed if I were in a HU pot, as this flop is the best possible flop I could hit, lacking a T. Factors for post-flop play
- SPR (excluding the LatinoLAG) is 2.6, which is perfect for an overpair (i have ~$370 behind).
- LatinoLag has $160 left. Obviously, if the LL gets all in with no other callers, I'm in there with him.
- New Guy (~$700) is ridiculously wide here. He just wants to play huge pots. Any suited, any pair, any broadway is good enough for him to cold call my 3bet. I CRUSH his range.
- UTG (~$760) is frustrated, and wants to catch New Guy and Latino Lag. He's a competent player, and understands the value of position. I expect him to 4bet QQ+ and maybe AK when he's OOP vs other deepstacks, so when he flats here I'm only really worried about JJ.
So really, what I want is to get the money in the pot as quickly as possible, as there isn't really a turn/river card that I want to see with this vulnerable overpair. Obviously, I would be treading much more carefully vs TAG-type players, but I felt that the ranges of the players I was involved with were WAYYYYY behind me.
So I fire $75 into the $140 pot. This bet leaves me (assuming 1 caller) with just a PSB behind, yet I'll have the option to fold if I get RR'd here. (although for the record I don't think I could EVER fold, given how much I had committed to the pot and the others' ranges. Maybe if I bet, got two callers and the last guy shoved over all of us, MAYBE).
LatinoLAG calls, New Guy calls, UTG grumbles and folds. Turn 6d, $365 pot, I have ~$290 remaining. I jam, LatinoLAG calls, New Guy folds, he shows A7o, river K, both folded players flip AKo, I drag monster pot (~$600). Now I'm trying to drum up a situation that I could have folded on, but OPs on a raggedy board when I've 3bet and gotten 3 callers? Dicey. Especially OOP.
That was pretty much it. Table broke shortly after and got filled up by fresh players, who started chatting me up and nearly licking their lips. Realizing my best was almost behind me (I was still playing my B game but felt imminent doom), I left with a $400 profit and drove back to Dallas.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Winstar Trip Report: 082109
Shit was hot.
Things That Went Well
The Mental Game: Relaxed, excited, and happy. The realization that I was rock solid came in the following hand:
I open Js9s in UTG+3 (with a $400 stack) to $10, and get two callers downhill. The BB checks to me on a Jc9s8c flop, I fire out $25. Folds back to the BB, a loose passive older player with a $200 stack (CALL!!), and the others fold. After weighting his considerable calling range PF to draws and weak J-hands based on the flop action, we see a turn.
6d. Not too bad.
He checks, I fire for $75 and he thinks and calls again. River 7s. He looks at me wide-eyed, and says, "I check...you can bet if you want," and before the second phrase is out of his mouth, I'm checking my top two back to him and getting shown KdTd. He rakes in the ~$225 pot, getting some snarky comments from the peanut gallery about 'pot odds', to which he stalks off for a smoke break.
As he leaves, I smile and say to them, "That's fine. I was ahead the whole way. I WANT him to play exactly like that," and I mean it. A slight flinch, a ding to the scarlet towers, but back on the balance beam straightaways. This is when I felt invincible.
Another note came from a TAGfish-type who liked to berate people and show off his knowledge (poor as it was). In a straddled, bloated pot, I called his C-bet on a T72r board with ATs in position, caught an A on the turn, and shoved over his turn lead. I put my head down as he started going over his thought process out loud, ending with him folding his JJ face up (getting 4:1 pot odds on my last $70, lol).
As he'd done before, he started to berate, telling me that I needed to work on my handreading if I was going to be calling his bets on the flop when he OBVIOUSLY HAD AN OVERPAIR. Unfortunately, I told him that I had his chips, he didn't know my holdings, and berating people lacked class. Then I snidely said his thought processes were wrong, but he still needed to practice them until he wasn't saying everything out loud like a sixth-grader doing his multiplication tables.
This didn't go over well.
I had to make sure that I forgave the guy before I lost my mental balance again. This didn't involve kissing his ass or shaking his hand, but understanding where he was coming from, and chastising myself internally for getting drawn into his tilty little world. By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this.
After sending him back what was rightfully his (unbeknownst to him), I was free to focus on the whole table and not on a personal nemesis. Cue the end of the "Fuck That Guy" story.
Technical Stuff
I adjusted well. Didn't get involved in the everlasting family limpfests that happen late-night. Kept my image squeaky clean with zigs. ONLY ZIGS. Once a few of the better, more observant players saw me make +EV plays and drag pots, only then did I start to zag. Manipulating my image (and playing directly to the left of the aforementioned loudmouth that BROADCAST my image to the table) let me pick up some pots without the benefit of premium holdings...because really, we can wait all day for those.
My experiments in limpfests OOP indicate that players just won't fucking fold to Cbets late night; they start to chase. So I've start checkraising the everloving fuck out of the loose-passive ones, who aren't likely to come back over the top with their draws and TPWK-type hands. This resulted in some good profit, but we also have to realize that I ran into the optimal part of their range, and that my player-type assessment had to be spot on. So it's both luck- and strong-mental-game-dependent.
I also started to abuse players' bluffs. Case in point:
I check my option in the BB with Qc9c, creating a 5-way pot. Flop comes Qs3c5s. I lead for $10, and get a call from the loose passive older player, others fold. Turn comes 8h. I lead against for $25 into the $30 pot, and he calls. River hits with an Ah.
Huh. All draws missed. And I have him (based on prior play, he'll raise to protect his Qx / two pair / sets) again on a missed draw. So I check. And he fires $50 out.
Damn. Cold feet. I tell him out loud, "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac," and call. And he shows Tc6c, and the entire table becomes a little more afraid of me. And my avalanche gains strength, and my footsteps rain terror, and my hands rake chips, until it's time to change tables again, now with a $1k stack.
Quitting Well
My last seat, 5:30am. Got here at 9pm. I'm sorta tired, but high on octane. This last table has bubbly people with HUGE stacks. Directly to my left, a $350 stack, then a $1.5k stack, then a $6k stack. AT 1/2 NL. WTF. Two 100bb stacks finish off the table at my right, and I take my spot, knowing that it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to establish the loose-aggressive image necessary to succeed with super-deep stacks, out of position and only at 75% efficiency.
Fortune smiles on me. I flop a flush and liquidate one of the 100bb stacks who blearily gets it all in on a mono board with the NFD. Blammo. The other 100bb stack loses 25bb in a confrontation with the Big Stack, then 4bets all in PF, HU with me.
She's tired, loose, and Asian (sorry baby). I call with AhJh for 80bb, and run out a KJJAT board to crush her QQ. And that's it. I'm done. That's a fine call for 40bb, but NOT 100bb, as my 'read' is over only 20 minutes and 5 pots, just one which I'm involved in. I've only got one foot on the balance beam, but I got lucky...time to go.
Gas to get to Winstar: $10
Money used to bankroll: $600
Taking people's money: cool
Crushing people's souls: PRICELESS
Things That Went Well
The Mental Game: Relaxed, excited, and happy. The realization that I was rock solid came in the following hand:
I open Js9s in UTG+3 (with a $400 stack) to $10, and get two callers downhill. The BB checks to me on a Jc9s8c flop, I fire out $25. Folds back to the BB, a loose passive older player with a $200 stack (CALL!!), and the others fold. After weighting his considerable calling range PF to draws and weak J-hands based on the flop action, we see a turn.
6d. Not too bad.
He checks, I fire for $75 and he thinks and calls again. River 7s. He looks at me wide-eyed, and says, "I check...you can bet if you want," and before the second phrase is out of his mouth, I'm checking my top two back to him and getting shown KdTd. He rakes in the ~$225 pot, getting some snarky comments from the peanut gallery about 'pot odds', to which he stalks off for a smoke break.
As he leaves, I smile and say to them, "That's fine. I was ahead the whole way. I WANT him to play exactly like that," and I mean it. A slight flinch, a ding to the scarlet towers, but back on the balance beam straightaways. This is when I felt invincible.
Another note came from a TAGfish-type who liked to berate people and show off his knowledge (poor as it was). In a straddled, bloated pot, I called his C-bet on a T72r board with ATs in position, caught an A on the turn, and shoved over his turn lead. I put my head down as he started going over his thought process out loud, ending with him folding his JJ face up (getting 4:1 pot odds on my last $70, lol).
As he'd done before, he started to berate, telling me that I needed to work on my handreading if I was going to be calling his bets on the flop when he OBVIOUSLY HAD AN OVERPAIR. Unfortunately, I told him that I had his chips, he didn't know my holdings, and berating people lacked class. Then I snidely said his thought processes were wrong, but he still needed to practice them until he wasn't saying everything out loud like a sixth-grader doing his multiplication tables.
This didn't go over well.
I had to make sure that I forgave the guy before I lost my mental balance again. This didn't involve kissing his ass or shaking his hand, but understanding where he was coming from, and chastising myself internally for getting drawn into his tilty little world. By buying into his "i'm right" mindset, I ended up making a withdrawal from this man's Personal Checking Account of Tilt. We don't need investments like this.
After sending him back what was rightfully his (unbeknownst to him), I was free to focus on the whole table and not on a personal nemesis. Cue the end of the "Fuck That Guy" story.
Technical Stuff
I adjusted well. Didn't get involved in the everlasting family limpfests that happen late-night. Kept my image squeaky clean with zigs. ONLY ZIGS. Once a few of the better, more observant players saw me make +EV plays and drag pots, only then did I start to zag. Manipulating my image (and playing directly to the left of the aforementioned loudmouth that BROADCAST my image to the table) let me pick up some pots without the benefit of premium holdings...because really, we can wait all day for those.
My experiments in limpfests OOP indicate that players just won't fucking fold to Cbets late night; they start to chase. So I've start checkraising the everloving fuck out of the loose-passive ones, who aren't likely to come back over the top with their draws and TPWK-type hands. This resulted in some good profit, but we also have to realize that I ran into the optimal part of their range, and that my player-type assessment had to be spot on. So it's both luck- and strong-mental-game-dependent.
I also started to abuse players' bluffs. Case in point:
I check my option in the BB with Qc9c, creating a 5-way pot. Flop comes Qs3c5s. I lead for $10, and get a call from the loose passive older player, others fold. Turn comes 8h. I lead against for $25 into the $30 pot, and he calls. River hits with an Ah.
Huh. All draws missed. And I have him (based on prior play, he'll raise to protect his Qx / two pair / sets) again on a missed draw. So I check. And he fires $50 out.
Damn. Cold feet. I tell him out loud, "The only hand I'm afraid of has the Ac," and call. And he shows Tc6c, and the entire table becomes a little more afraid of me. And my avalanche gains strength, and my footsteps rain terror, and my hands rake chips, until it's time to change tables again, now with a $1k stack.
Quitting Well
My last seat, 5:30am. Got here at 9pm. I'm sorta tired, but high on octane. This last table has bubbly people with HUGE stacks. Directly to my left, a $350 stack, then a $1.5k stack, then a $6k stack. AT 1/2 NL. WTF. Two 100bb stacks finish off the table at my right, and I take my spot, knowing that it will be EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to establish the loose-aggressive image necessary to succeed with super-deep stacks, out of position and only at 75% efficiency.
Fortune smiles on me. I flop a flush and liquidate one of the 100bb stacks who blearily gets it all in on a mono board with the NFD. Blammo. The other 100bb stack loses 25bb in a confrontation with the Big Stack, then 4bets all in PF, HU with me.
She's tired, loose, and Asian (sorry baby). I call with AhJh for 80bb, and run out a KJJAT board to crush her QQ. And that's it. I'm done. That's a fine call for 40bb, but NOT 100bb, as my 'read' is over only 20 minutes and 5 pots, just one which I'm involved in. I've only got one foot on the balance beam, but I got lucky...time to go.
Gas to get to Winstar: $10
Money used to bankroll: $600
Taking people's money: cool
Crushing people's souls: PRICELESS
Saturday, July 25, 2009
food for thought
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/117/medium-high-stakes-full-ring/cleaning-house-live-1-2-2-5-nl-369739/
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Another Leak
I've noticed that I don't make the best use of stats.
Meaning that there's a disconnect between: recognizing that the guy on my left has a 57% VPIP and actually putting that on a range of hands.
i.e. 57% VPIP means any AX, any suited, any pair, down to 1-gap nonsuited connectors.
I don't really see how I can be making +EV decisions without this information?? I mean, whether we are earning value or not in a hand depends on the play we're making against the opponent's perceived range, right?
ie I have bottom set vs opponent's fd, IP, 100bb deep. I'm nearly 75% on flop, assuming he has a FD, 5& vs bigger set, 85% over a bigger set, 96% vs TPTK, etc.
I think right now, I'm operating qualitatively (he's loose, he's tight, he's weak) as opposed to quantitatively (he plays 45% of his hands from this position, that means he could have { hands that = {set/2pr/FD/TPTK}).
Need to keep in mind that putting somebody on TPTK is inferior to putting them on exactly two cards. Had too many episodes pop up lately when turns/rivers improved opponent hands and I didn't account for that when I put them "on a FD", and the river A ended up giving them something more than that. Get specific, OGC.
So what's the best way to do this? Start practicing %s with PokerStove? I was wondering about reviewing some of my hands with PStove open, and putting a range of hands into it when I looked at them, them comparing my hands and adjusting as the hand went on.
Might give me a better idea of whether or not I'm +EV. And it will definitely help focus decisions on "is this a good decision NOW" vs "What play will help me win this pot?". Process-based decisions.....
...ok, coffee-rant over. Enjoy your Friday.
Meaning that there's a disconnect between: recognizing that the guy on my left has a 57% VPIP and actually putting that on a range of hands.
i.e. 57% VPIP means any AX, any suited, any pair, down to 1-gap nonsuited connectors.
I don't really see how I can be making +EV decisions without this information?? I mean, whether we are earning value or not in a hand depends on the play we're making against the opponent's perceived range, right?
ie I have bottom set vs opponent's fd, IP, 100bb deep. I'm nearly 75% on flop, assuming he has a FD, 5& vs bigger set, 85% over a bigger set, 96% vs TPTK, etc.
I think right now, I'm operating qualitatively (he's loose, he's tight, he's weak) as opposed to quantitatively (he plays 45% of his hands from this position, that means he could have { hands that = {set/2pr/FD/TPTK}).
Need to keep in mind that putting somebody on TPTK is inferior to putting them on exactly two cards. Had too many episodes pop up lately when turns/rivers improved opponent hands and I didn't account for that when I put them "on a FD", and the river A ended up giving them something more than that. Get specific, OGC.
So what's the best way to do this? Start practicing %s with PokerStove? I was wondering about reviewing some of my hands with PStove open, and putting a range of hands into it when I looked at them, them comparing my hands and adjusting as the hand went on.
Might give me a better idea of whether or not I'm +EV. And it will definitely help focus decisions on "is this a good decision NOW" vs "What play will help me win this pot?". Process-based decisions.....
...ok, coffee-rant over. Enjoy your Friday.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
On the subject of Tilt
So
Today I shattered some personal misconceptions about tilt.
Old Paradigm: Tilt is when I'm pissed off and not thinking clearly!!! HOW COULD I LOSE WITH A STRAIGHT FLUSH DRAW VS TOP PAIR TOP KICKER!!! RAAAAR.
New Paradigm: Tilt is when I've ceased analyzing myself or my opponents.
Here's the difference: prior to recognizing this, I would set out a 3 hour block to play. Let's do this. 3 hours. I can handle this, I can focus this long. This is the time I've set up to play, and I'm GETTING THESE HOURS IN.
Well, at some point, tilt happens. Maybe a fish that I've been setting up stacks me. Maybe I'm getting 3-bet relentlessly by a LAG on my immediate left. Maybe I'm tired and my best poker is behind me, but I'm not ready to quit.
POW. Here we are again.
The surprising part: it has NOTHING TO DO with my currently emotional state (happy/sad/angry). Nor is it entirely dependent on my win/loss for the session. It's a state of mind, determining process, not outcome.
We can easily recognize extremely negative tilt: My ears are red and flushed. My face feels hot, and my neck is tense. That's difficult, but not impossible to get away from, because I have physical tells on being upset. What I didn't recognize before the relationship between emotional state and logical state!
So when I was winning pots through a combination of skill/luck, with a positive mental state, yet not thinking analytically....I was never aware of the situation.
Of course, I would lose a huge pot, and point to THAT MOMENT, as when I Tilted. No. Not at all. Actually, half an hour earlier, I removed my proverbial seatbelt, and then complained when a car hit me out of nowhere.
If I'm not tilting, I recognize that I got my money in as a favorite with the straight flush draw, shrug it off, and keep on playing. If not, my emotional state drops out in addition to my lack of logical thought. Bankroll bloodbath.
Next:
How best to recognize the absence of analytical thought? Penny Arcade, as always, is best here. I'll have to work on a solution of my own.
more later
-OGC
Today I shattered some personal misconceptions about tilt.
Old Paradigm: Tilt is when I'm pissed off and not thinking clearly!!! HOW COULD I LOSE WITH A STRAIGHT FLUSH DRAW VS TOP PAIR TOP KICKER!!! RAAAAR.
New Paradigm: Tilt is when I've ceased analyzing myself or my opponents.
Here's the difference: prior to recognizing this, I would set out a 3 hour block to play. Let's do this. 3 hours. I can handle this, I can focus this long. This is the time I've set up to play, and I'm GETTING THESE HOURS IN.
Well, at some point, tilt happens. Maybe a fish that I've been setting up stacks me. Maybe I'm getting 3-bet relentlessly by a LAG on my immediate left. Maybe I'm tired and my best poker is behind me, but I'm not ready to quit.
POW. Here we are again.
The surprising part: it has NOTHING TO DO with my currently emotional state (happy/sad/angry). Nor is it entirely dependent on my win/loss for the session. It's a state of mind, determining process, not outcome.
We can easily recognize extremely negative tilt: My ears are red and flushed. My face feels hot, and my neck is tense. That's difficult, but not impossible to get away from, because I have physical tells on being upset. What I didn't recognize before the relationship between emotional state and logical state!
So when I was winning pots through a combination of skill/luck, with a positive mental state, yet not thinking analytically....I was never aware of the situation.
Of course, I would lose a huge pot, and point to THAT MOMENT, as when I Tilted. No. Not at all. Actually, half an hour earlier, I removed my proverbial seatbelt, and then complained when a car hit me out of nowhere.
If I'm not tilting, I recognize that I got my money in as a favorite with the straight flush draw, shrug it off, and keep on playing. If not, my emotional state drops out in addition to my lack of logical thought. Bankroll bloodbath.
Next:
How best to recognize the absence of analytical thought? Penny Arcade, as always, is best here. I'll have to work on a solution of my own.
more later
-OGC
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy New Year
Been mucking around at 50nl for the last few weeks -- the last time I moved up, I got slaughtered via tilt and over-aggression. Had the mistaken idea that players were going to be 'better' and I had to be extra-tricky!! Resulted in jamming into the nuts time and time again.
LoL not this time.
Before I play again, I'm going to have to keep reading and analyze some of the hands that I played over break. Too much catch-up to do at work to get hands in. Best to spend the time in studying/review, I'd say.
I leave you with your Zen of the day before I get cracking, alone in the office, on this, the first Friday of 2009.
Godspeed.
túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.
LoL not this time.
Before I play again, I'm going to have to keep reading and analyze some of the hands that I played over break. Too much catch-up to do at work to get hands in. Best to spend the time in studying/review, I'd say.
I leave you with your Zen of the day before I get cracking, alone in the office, on this, the first Friday of 2009.
Godspeed.
túrána hott kurdís by hasta la otra méxico! from Till Credner on Vimeo.
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