Just like the last time I stayed late after work, planning to go to the casino....
Let's hope I actually get to play some poker this time!
Maybe Rush and Zoom MTTs should be my game, although I'm not very motivated to play anything much online at the moment. However, I am writing some bonus maths material for the book's website, as I know that the general poker playing public's appetite for mathematics is insatiable.
Speaking of how cool maths is, I read this news story on the BBC this morning. I wonder what would happen if they fed my blog into their marvellous machine?
I played an MTT at the casino last night. It occurred to me while I was playing that the structure, in terms of hands per level and the rate at which the blinds went up, was far worse than the Rush MTT I played in my office. I think I'm going to have to give these fast live MTTs up, as it's so frustrating to have such a big edge and never get to see anything from it.
I did play one amusing hand against one of the 'better' players (and by 'better' I suspect I mean 'loud young regular'). He limps UTG and I raise with JJ. It folds round to him and he calls. The flop comes low and rainbow. I had just over a pot sized bet left, and I'd previously been caught squeezing with KJo, so I just shoved it in. He instacalled with 65s (limp/calling with teeny, tiny suited cards is clearly the new fashion from UTG), which gave him middle pair and no redraw, and I doubled up. Inside I was 'hahahahahahah!', but even this guy's muscles had muscles, so I was on the outside. A few minutes later I heard him discussing the hand with his mate, and he had literally 'put me on AK'. Awesome.
Later on, after a couple of failed cbets and the sort of card dead period that breezes past when you're playing Rush, I shoved 15bb effective from the button with KTs over a loose passive minraiser, who did indeed fold, but only after SB had called it off with JJ, and that was that.
I have a real dilemma about what I should play.
i) Live MTTs: Anything on a weekday evening is super fast, and still takes until the middle of the night to finish. Another option is to satellite in to a higher buy in MTT, but these tend to run on Saturday and/or Sunday and start in the afternoon, and that's really family time.
ii) Live Cash: Doesn't get going until gone 9.30 at Gala, a bit earlier at DTD, but with twice the rake. I do really enjoy playing live cash, but if I play during the week, I have to get up for work the next day, and at the weekend I'm firstly not getting to spend the evening with mrsjb, and secondly any chance of staying in bed a bit later the next morning usually runs aground on the shallow rocks that are my children.
iii) Online MTTs: Tempting, but not ideal. They take so long, and therefore have a lot of the problems associated with Live MTTs. It also means that I can't be interrupted. Rush/Zoom MTTs are tempting. The one I won yesterday took just over 90 minutes, but there were only 167 entries.
iv) Online Cash: The problem with this is that I am pretty fed up of sitting there grinding it out. The book was hugely motivating for me, but I really am flagging by the time 9pm rolls around nowadays.
v) Chess: Strictly for saddos. May be a good option.
I suspect that I will shamble along aimlessly playing whatever I fancy for a while and see whether inspiration will strike me at some point in the, I hope, not too distant future. Maybe playing a variety of formats in a variety of places is something that I should embrace rather than feeling that it indicates a lack of purpose, but I am very mindful of the advice that lessthanthree (I think) gave me here ages ago when he said that doing this just leads to you playing with a tiny edge, if indeed you have an edge, and eventually getting frustrated and giving up, although I suppose he would say that.
Manu and TT want me to make a video so that I can be on their coaching the weekend after next, so I'll be playing some cash before then I suppose, although I'm going to have to cross my fingers that I can get a working laptop with both HEM and Camtasia on it by some reasonable time next week.
Finally, I have decided that I think, and may Steven Wilson strike me down with a bolt of lightning for saying this, that Jolly are even better than Porcupine Tree. There. I've said it. There must be something wrong with me.
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I have a real dilemma about what I should play.
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I hesitate to suggest this, but have you ever had a shot at the pokerstars SNG? - 9 seat / 18 seat / 27 seat / 45 seat all finish in a relatively short time compared to the open entry MTTs or the 90/180 seat SNGs
If you do, I would prefer you go to low stakes or higher, or play 6 handed, so I can avoid you at micro stakes 9 seat SNGs. I want the people with edges to play at different games.
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I have a real dilemma about what I should play.
...
I hesitate to suggest this, but have you ever had a shot at the pokerstars SNG? - 9 seat / 18 seat / 27 seat / 45 seat all finish in a relatively short time compared to the open entry MTTs or the 90/180 seat SNGs
If you do, I would prefer you go to low stakes or higher, or play 6 handed, so I can avoid you at micro stakes 9 seat SNGs. I want the people with edges to play at different games.
I used to grind SnGs of all sizes and speeds. Small edges, monster variance. It's a mug's game unless you're a real machine like lessthanthree or Basic Boris, and even then you have to put in some really serious volume to realize your edge. My preferred approach to SnGs is one or two at a time with a cup of tea and/or a sandwich, or just the one on my iPad while watching something undemanding on TV.
Originally posted by TwiceT The Education of a Modern Poker Player 2
Where we lose TWICE the amount we earned in part one, sounds like a legit project
The offer to stake me to play PLO is noted.
I will open a thread on the staking board. I mean realistically, I don't have a big enough bankroll to pull that alone.
If you think of it as paying for entertainment, I'm sure it would be value for money, but I'm not sure that it's a form of entertainment that I want to provide.
Originally posted by TwiceT The Education of a Modern Poker Player 2
Where we lose TWICE the amount we earned in part one, sounds like a legit project
The offer to stake me to play PLO is noted.
Rockstar status awaits JB:
An incredibly boring song, but the video was strangely compelling. I'm not entirely sure why. When I used to play in bands it was just like that, but nobody had tatoos in those days. It reminded me of this.
My advise about playing live is to firstly look at the hours. Ask yourself what time would you, ideally, want to leave home and arrive back. Naturally these hours will differ in the week and weekend. (Personally I find leaving 19h30 (kids bed time) and arriving home midnight the best.)
Once you have an idea about the hours see which game will suit your hours the best and give that a go.
It is a real pitty that the game normally starts so late there by you. Is that because the tables open late or because people arrive so late?. If it is the latter then maybe you will find that there are some evenings when the game does start a bit earlyer. On the hole friday nights are always the best. The first friday after "pay-day" should never be missed.
I agree that the one-night MTT's are super turbo. They are generally designed to go from 40-odd players to finish in 4 or 5 hours (Read 120 -150 hands). However IMHO they can still be worth while playing and if they best suit your hours. There is no reason why you should not give them a go.
btw Wednessday's tourney starts at 19h30 so just let me know what time i have to get you at the airport ♦
Originally posted by mineriva
My advise about playing live is to firstly look at the hours. Ask yourself what time would you, ideally, want to leave home and arrive back. Naturally these hours will differ in the week and weekend. (Personally I find leaving 19h30 (kids bed time) and arriving home midnight the best.)
Once you have an idea about the hours see which game will suit your hours the best and give that a go.
It is a real pitty that the game normally starts so late there by you. Is that because the tables open late or because people arrive so late?. If it is the latter then maybe you will find that there are some evenings when the game does start a bit earlyer. On the hole friday nights are always the best. The first friday after "pay-day" should never be missed.
I agree that the one-night MTT's are super turbo. They are generally designed to go from 40-odd players to finish in 4 or 5 hours (Read 120 -150 hands). However IMHO they can still be worth while playing and if they best suit your hours. There is no reason why you should not give them a go.
btw Wednessday's tourney starts at 19h30 so just let me know what time i have to get you at the airport ♦
I will give this advice some thought. One problem is that DTD and Gala are five minutes drive from my office but 50 minutes from where I live.
I'm going to have to give your MTT a miss. Wednesday night is when I wash my hair.
Overheard during my daughter's swimming lesson this morning...
Swimming Instructor: And you! You need to stop sinking!
Originally posted by mineriva
JB what is it about you and hair?...nevermind i dont think i want to know
Hair and maths - twin obsessions.
Speaking of maths, if you haven't visited the website for the book recently, you should, because you'll find that there are downloadable tidy write ups of the three hands that TT has discussed here over the last month or so, and also, and of course much more importantly for all you maths hungry blog readers, some additional stuff that I've written about game theory for toy poker models.
![:]](https://www.pokerstrategy.com/_forum-runtime/wp-content/uploads/wpforo/emoticons/pokerstrategy-legacy/basics/pleased.gif ":]")
I mean realistically, I don't have a big enough bankroll to pull that alone.