Originally posted by jbpatzer
Honestly, The Poker Mindset is just a load of completely obvious psychowank, imo. Small edge = high variance, yes, yes, yes, I get it, now fuck off and leave me alone Mr Hilger! ♠_evil:
LOL I THOUGHT THE EXACT SAME THING!
"Tilt = bad. Not concentrating = bad. Gambling your winnings = bad" No shit, sherlock.
It felt like I was doing an epic-fail first year Psychology course all over again.
I finished The Poker Mindset, and tbh there were a few interesting things in there. Well, just three actually (I sense another numbered list coming).
i) Classifying opponents in scales of loose/tight, passive/aggressive, straightforward/tricky, is good, but you need to try to understand why they play that way to get a more subtle insight into how they play. Tbh, this is easier said than done, but it at least made sense to me, and was something I hadn't thought of in that way before.
ii) I'd heard about level 0, 1, 2 and 3 thinking before, but it hadn't occurred to me that you have to be thinking exactly one level higher than your opponents. In other words, if he's just thinking about his cards, there's no point in trying to, for example, represent a flush you don't have, when the flush card comes on the river, because he's just thinking 'Ooooo. I paired my Ace!'. Therein lies the cause of Fancy Play Syndrome methinks.
iii) When they map their seven principles of The Poker Mindset over to advice for real life, I was struck by the fact that they pretty much hit upon the way I've always tried to live my life anyway (again easier said than done), which is perhaps both why I'm attracted to poker, and games in general, and why I thought a lot of what was in the book seemed fairly obvious.
I always try to picture my passage through life like swimming at sea (watch out, it's Sunday morning, I need to replace a broken hook on the bedroom door and a broken light fitting in one of the bedrooms, so I'm in 'avoidance activity' mode, and am about to get all philosophical). There are lots of interesting and enticing islands that I could visit, but there are also lots of currents in the sea. There's no point in trying to swim to Playboy Island if the current's flowing strongly the other way. You have to be realistic about which currents are weak enough to swim against, and which you just have to allow yourself to be pulled along by, always bearing in mind that most currents that are easy to float in end at dangerous waterfalls. I hope that made sense to someone.
Whenever I think about this analogy, I always think of Professor Sir James Lighthill, one of the great Fluid Dynamicists of the last century, and a Ronny Barker lookalike.
His hobby was swimming around islands, using the currents to help make it easier. And even better, he always used to swim on his back. He carried on doing this literally until the day he died aged 74 when he washed up on a beach after having a heart attack. Not a bad way to go, doing something he loved. I met him a couple of times, and whenever I told him about my research, he always went, 'yeeeeeeeeeerrrrrsss'. Never said anything else. Better than talking to a typical Russian professor. They usually tell you that Kolmogorov did that back in the 50's (he didn't). And a final story. About 20 years ago, I was at a conference, as was a fellow PhD student, and massive arsehole, who got pissed, went up to Sir James, and started telling him that he'd made a mistake on page 103 of one of his books ('yeeeeeeeeeerrrrrssss'). I, and several now distinguished colleagues, were peering at this from a distance to judge Lighthill's reaction. Didn't see how it ended as we all did a runner to get away from Captain Arsehole and avoid having to spend the evening in the pub with him. Anyway, 
to Sir James and his huge swimming trunks.
Suppose I have to fix that hook now. 
OK. Hooks attached. Light fitting replace. Am DIY God!
Just wanted to post this, as I was so amazed by it last night. I hate Britney Spears, I don't fancy this bloke, and my record collection is not exactly overflowing with CDs by men with acoustic guitars (I hate David Gray!). But this was just the best performance I've ever seen on the X factor. (Missed out a couple of sets of SnGs last night to watch this. I'm a pro!).
Of course, it's mainly crap on the X factor.
Just noticed that my next post will be my 1000th, so best not waste it. I'll save it for something special.
And I got nominated for member of the month! Lol. Vote jb here. Apparently if I win I get..............drumroll!...........a T shirt! Picture Gordon Brown in a tracksuit, or Angel Merkl in lycra, and you'll get the idea of how handy a T shirt would be for me. At least if I win my life will be complete, and I can stop posting in my blog and start being a miserable, unhelpful bastard again. 
Personally, I'm voting for ihufa and his 'nice attitude'. 
Originally posted by jbpatzer
Picture Gordon Brown in a tracksuit, or Angel Merkl in lycra,
It's times like this PokerStrategy needs a fish spewing smiley.
If you win just order that T-shirt for your oldest son or something :f_thumbsup:...
Voted!
Voted on you. Loved the analogy with the currents, very cliché but still good. Voted on you for originality, the british humour and for seeing your posts on every thread I read (meaning you help around a lot). Keep it up. Lets hope you float on a strong current towards royal flush island next time you play.
Heard some interesting stuff on the radio on the way in to work today. Apparently there's a new bit of modern art that consists of wax models of the heads of all the MPs who lost their seats at the last election impaled on spikes. This made me laugh, and sounds much better than most modern art which, frankly, seems like a load of pretentious wank to me. I reckon I could nail an old pair of underpants to a canvas and call it art if I had the right qualifications. Anyway, I think I'm going to suggest that we do the wax heads on spikes thing with all the undergraduates who fail their first year exams. This would act as a deterrent to the next lot. Of course, if I had my way I'd really put their heads on spikes, but fortunately I'm not in charge.
I also discovered that firemen in the UK are planning to go on strike on Bonfire Night. Don't be surprised if all UK bloggers go quiet on 6th Novemebr, as the whole country may burn down. I used to play badminton with a chap who was a retired firemen (bad back), and he told me that their initiation ceremony was something called the Dance of the Flaming Arseholes. Apparently they used to have to strip naked, clench a rolled up newspaper between their buttocks, and then run once around the room with the newpaper on fire. I am rarely surprised by anything that firemen get up to after hearing this, although I suppose there may be some fire-related situations in which this skill would come in handy.
Speaking of dances, I also heard some poncy dance bloke whinging about the BBC not taking dancing seriously. I don't really understand dance, and the only time I ever went to the ballet with mrsjb was at Sydney Opera House (we're such predictable tourists), where we saw a bloke in tights spinning furiously on one leg for improbable amounts of time with what looked like a pair of socks shoved down his pants. If he'd had the burning newspaper in place too, I would have been more impressed.
Reminded me of this.
Oh, and poker! Well, mrsjb was out at West Midlands Safari Park with the kids yesterday, and didn't get back until late, so I got to play three sets of 10 SnGs for a profit of about $30. I realised yesterday that if I play one set of 10 $6.50s on 20 days each month I get bronze Iron Man (Grrrrrr!) so that seems a reasonable volume goal to set myself. I didn't know when she'd get back, so I decided to play a bit of SH NL10 after the SnGs. Huge mistake! If you've just been playing shallow or push and fold, playing deep stacked cash straight afterwards requires a huge mental adjustment which I failed to make. 10 hands and 2 BI later I decided to stop. No more cash for me untill I make a clean break from SnGs to do it properly.
Oh, and don't to forget to vote for me for member of the month. I tried to persuade Basic Boris to do this, but apparently he can't because he's, well, basic! If I lose by one vote, I will blame him and, as far as I'm concerned, he'll owe me a T shirt.
Originally posted by jbpatzer
where we saw a bloke in tights spinning furiously on one leg for improbable amounts of time with what looked like a pair of socks shoved down his pants. If he'd had the burning newspaper in place too, I would have been more impressed.
Epic win.
Originally posted by jbpatzer
Oh, and don't to forget to vote for me for member of the month.
done, sir!
Originally posted by jbpatzer
And I got nominated for member of the month!
lol. nice one. you have my vote
Just noticed that I'm one vote behind in the member of the month thingie. I almost hope it stays like this so that I can wind up Basic Boris about it for a considerable period of time. I even offered him a share of the prize (I suggested a sleeve would be enough), but to no avail.
Hi jbpatzer,
I was "forwarded" here by Waiboy because of a certain question, but read through your blog, and it is awesome! Keep it that way like forever, and you have one more reader for sure.:)
So my main reason for being here is that I'd like to start a Stud/Mixed Games Skype Channel, and Waiboy (and a thread in other variants forum) told me to ask you, if you're interested or not.
Thanks for your time and all!
madorjan
I'm interested, but am currently trying to prove to myself that I can stick with one game at a time (I have attention span issues to resolve). You can add me though. I still dabble occasionally, despite my best efforts. My top secret Skype name is 'jbpatzer', to match my top secret identity, 'jbpatzer', on FT, Stars,...... 
That's some good news! I'll add you right now!
However, I think we work for the same secret agency, because my Skype, FTP and Stars name is madorjan as well. Strange...♦)
