Liar Dice - Diary of a Bean Counter!

Tim64 · 2009-04-03T17:06:50Z

Liar Dice – Or, How I Became A Poker Addict Well, it's time to add to the madness. Here it is... the one you've all been waiting for... Cue drum roll crescendo… ... my... poker... blog. I'm not sure how often I will post, but if you like what you've read, check back from time to time and I will try to let you know how it goes. I daresay there won't be anything especially new or revolutionary in the ramblings to come. No reason for you to read this blog over any of the other excellent diaries already available on this site. Perhaps it's more for me; so that I can chart my progress (or record the downward spiral into one more crazy addiction...). Background: I'm 33 years old (edit: 35 now :rolleyes: )(re-edit: 36? :facepalm: )(re-re-edit: hang one more year on the line) (oh ffs, I'm 39), originally from London, England. In the life that came before this one I was a high-powered lawyer in a big law firm doing very well for myself indeed. There was only one snag: I was stressed out all the time and not very happy. So me and Mrs Tim64 junked our jobs and went travelling. When we got back I spent another year writing a book (maybe it will be published some day – but probably not). And now I'm back on the job market, looking to do something less crazy than what I did before - and by now used to scraping by on a lot less money. And, most importantly, much happier. I had always been vaguely aware of Poker - my dad and I used to play Liar Dice when I was a kid (a simple poker related dice game based on chance and bluff). Sometime towards the middle to end of 2008 I discovered online poker and specifically thefreepokerroom.com. I remember one time not long ago, sitting up in the early hours of the morning watching Obama getting to the White House and playing poker for imaginary chips, and thinking: "how cool is this?". A long time ago, when I had more money to splash around, I occasionally went to casinos on work trips. I only ever played blackjack and always strictly according to 'basic strategy'. Sometimes I won; sometimes I lost. Overall (of course) I lost... a little bit. Whatever strategy I tried to employ (like betting 2 chips instead of 1 after winning a hand etc.) fell foul of the fundamental truth about all casino games: they are mathematically rigged in favour of the casino. It's impossible to win in the long run - unless you card count or something (and I'm nowhere near intelligent enough for that). But, as I started to get more interested in poker, another realisation hit me: in this game you're not pitting yourself against the casino; you are pitting yourself against other players. And these other players have no intrinsic advantage over you -- it just comes down to your skill and theirs. In principle, if you can play better than them, it is theoretically possible for you to make money. Beginnings: Being a nervous type and not one to take chances, I didn't want to risk any of my own money before I knew a bit more about the game. So one day I Googled 'poker strategy' and - surprise, surprise, - came across a site called PokerStrategy.Com. And the rest is history. I passed the quiz, deposited £15 of my own money (by mistake – because Party Poker is set up to make you think you can't get the $50 bonus without also making a deposit :) ) and got the first $50. And I started the slow grind playing SSS on NL10 at the end of January this year (2009). I had a really good start and immediately started fantasising about being the next Negreanu. A few days later my winnings had disappeared and my bankroll was back where it had started. So I posted hands and grinded some more and eventually I was back to making a very slow but very steady profit. I managed to clear the $50 bonus and then, eventually, the extra 100$. Once I had cleared that I decided to try my hand at SnGs. I found SSS alright but just not involving enough. Only when you were the big blind and got a free play did you ever get the chance to evaluate the flop and play what I considered to be 'real poker'. It seemed too depressing simply to have to fold almost every hand or, with great hands, to try to get all your money pre-flop. No real ability to make decisions of your own. So now I'm playing 3$ SnGs on Party Poker and getting royally screwed by their outrageous rake (20%!?). As so often happens I benefited from ridiculous upwards variance in my first few tournaments and had an ROI of about 300% after 10 or so trnys. I knew the figure would come down but still I had that mistaken aura of invincibility that comes with an early upswing. After a while I started losing more than I was winning and so once again it was time to get back to the books: articles, posting hands and ICM training. After another 200 or so SnGs, I have at last recouped my losses from when I was playing like an idiot, and have managed to get my ROI into positive territory...

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VorpalF2F

Super Moderator

Joined: 02.09.2010

Posts: 45,056

01.09.2024, 05:52 +1

Originally posted by Tim64
August Update:

So I'm 1 month into my new job as a bean counter (aka accounts assistant) for the luxury travel company based in my hometown.

I sure hope that job comes with travel perks!

Bizarre hand? Post it in Hand of the Day!!
Mind Games: My blog
As in life, so in a game of hazard, skill will make something of the worst of throws from Moonfleet by JM Falkner

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Tim64

Joined: 03.11.2008

Posts: 8,122

10.10.2024, 19:16 0

September update

Didn't play much. Lost about $200.

Settling into the job at last. See you all next month!

Coaching with Tim64
Blog: Liar Dice
SNG Coaching
Twitter: @Timonthestoop

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