After reading endless blogs by students and 20-somethings, some of which are very entertaining, I thought it might be nice to write my own, focussing on the what it's like to try to play poker when you have stuff going on in your life that tends to get in the way. Reading blogs by people like TwiceT just makes me feel simultaneously jealous, old and also relieved that I'm not that young any more (this will only make sense to the over 40's).
I have
a) A wife
b) Three kids, ages 3, 8 and 15. Anyone like to guess which one is the most troublesome?
c) A full time job
d) 44 years of wear and tear, both mental and physical, to cope with.
e) An unfortunate tendency to compile lists.
About me
---------
I'm a maths professor at a British University. I'm not going to say which, as I want to stay anonymous. I'd be horrified if any of my students worked out that this is me. However, it's a very good university, and if you do work out which one it is, you should definitely encourage your teenage children to come here. I specialise in mathematical methods and modelling, mainly continuum mechanics, but I'm trying to learn some game theory in a feeble attempt to improve my poker (more on this later). I used to be a keen and quite good sportsman (cricket and badminton) but dodgy ankles have recently caught up with me, and I'm slowly expanding (think Jabba the Hut!). Poker does not help much in this regard.
I've always been interested in games. My grandparents taught me a rummy-like game called Kalooki (just googled this and found there's a web site! Can't believe it!) and we used to play for Licourice Allsorts, so I suppose I have a history of gambling from an early age. Remember, no video games and no internet when I was a kid. I also used to play Bridge (badly) when I was a teenager, mainly because my friend and I could play at the Bridge evening at our local tennis club when we were too young to get into the pub, and get served at the bar (50p a pint!). There was one memorable occasion when we went to the Young Chelsea Bridge Club (so many wanky posh kids there!) to play a duplicate tournament, and my mate wandered off to the bar mid game, and had to be dragged off the fruit machine claiming he was too pissed to carry on. We finished exactly half way and earned Bridge Master Points. Who says it's a game of skill! Anyway, I haven't played Bridge for years, but I've always been a keen chess player and still turn out for my local team (current grade 170 BCF = 2000 ELO for those who know about these things. County standard for those who don't.).
Edit: For all you Americans, 'pissed' means drunk. We say 'pissed off' when you say 'pissed'.
Me and Poker
-------------
I always thought that poker was a game invented in Westerns as an excuse for people to shoot each other, and that it was now mainly played by Texans in silly hats and gangsters. Of course, I was right, but it turned out that normal people can have fun playing it too. I discovered this last August when my brother-in-law showed me that you could play Zynga poker on Facebook. I quickly became hooked, and after about 6 weeks could even reliably remember that a full house beats a flush.
I have a shed load of books on chess, so it seemed only natural to get some on poker. Started with the books by Harrington (brilliant!) and Moshman (also brilliant, but what a dreadful writer. His style makes the average scientific paper look like it was written by Nick Hornby.). Then found I could win tons of chips on Zynga using Moshman's SnG tactics. I decided it was time to play for money. I deposited $50 on 888 poker, nearly lost all of it immediately, but fluked my way into 3rd place in a new depositer's freeroll for $50. Managed to build my BR up to $100 playing cash and SnGs, then withdrew my initial $50, and haven't deposited since. This is an essential element, as my wife thought I was going to become addicted to gambling and throw away all our money. I assured her that I am addicted to poker, not gambling. This does however mean that my BR management is very conservative, as I will be in big trouble with her if I ever have to redeposit, and I want to keep my gonads intact for now.
Discovered pokerstrategy.com last November, eagerly claimed my $50, and started playing on FT. I've tried lots of different games on there and had some success with super turbos, rush and steps. I also continued playing on 888 and came 2nd for $150 in a $2 MTT. Once my bankroll reached $350, I deposited on Pokerstars and, inspired by chenny's TableNinja video, have been 12 tabling $3.40 SnGs to try to clear my bonus ($110 so far, and as a nice side effect, gold status. I'm going to have a break to read some gold articles and watch some gold videos over the next couple of weeks).
After trying lots of different formats, I feel I want to concentrate on SnGs and MTTs. My current BR is $530 and my plan is
i) Clear bonus on Pokerstars
ii) Move to FT and grind $6.50 turbos
iii) Use my FTPs to buy step 1 tickets, turn them into step 3 tickets (super turbos are the way to go for this) and play occasional $24 MTTs with them. Maybe try for the odd step 4 ticket.
iv) Grow BR to $2.5K so that I can play $10 and $20 MTTs and whatever SnGs seem most profitable.
v) Take out $500 whenever BR exceeds $3K.
You know, I get paid quite well, but have five hungry mouths to feed, and there never seems to be any money left over at the end of the month, so any extra would be very welcome!
Things I ought to do for my 'poker development'
----------------------------------------------
i) Play some NL10 and NL25 to improve my early SnG play. Maybe at shallow stack tables, as you're never really deep stacked in a SnG.
ii) Learn how to play stud (why not?!)
iii) Play some more Omaha and Omaha HiLo (because it's fun)
iv) Watch more PS videos and read more books
v) Play some live poker. Have so far only played with my wife and teenage son. My wife only just learnt and hasn't passed the 'bluffing by calling on the river' stage yet. I strongly suspect that in a while she will completely own (too old to write 'pwn') me, as she reads me like a book! She's still probably a better player than Jennifer 'check the turn and river IP for value' Tilly, or Norma Snockers as I call her (if you haven't seen it, you must watch this video. It's hilarious!). My son thinks he's Phil Ivey and is destined to lose vast amounts of money playing poker, if and when he grows up. I live a 30 minute drive away from Dusk Till Dawn, but have never been there. Am planning to take a group of mathematicians there soon to try our luck in a beginners' MTT. Sadly, I feel I may be 'crawling with tells like ticks on a deer' (can't remember where I read that expression, but it seems right. Maybe 'Kill Everyone'?).
Things I like about poker
------------------------
i) It's so much more human than chess. I like to think that a combination of social and maths/analytical skills is what is required, so why shouldn't I be good at it? If I was as good at poker as I am at chess, I think I'd be a winning player.
ii) I think the theory is still in it's infancy, particularly for MTTs. If you read 'Winning Poker Tournaments One Hand at a Time' (excellent book) and 'The Poker Tournament Formula' (also excellent and much more entertaining than your average poker book), you'll realize that there are lots of different ideas out there. I think the combination of analysis, hand reading, person reading, stack/blind ratio and tournament structure considerations makes MTT poker a unique, and potentially lucrative, challenge.
iii) There's lots of scope for mathematical analysis. I tried this with some success in the recent 'Maths Question' thread in the forum. I'm going to offer undergraduate projects on poker related themes next year (e.g. ICM and alternatives, AKQ game and extensions). 'The Mathematics of Poker' will be required reading for this (really interesting book, but horribly badly written. Even I thought there were far too many equations in it!).
On the difficulties of having a life
------------------------------------
Things I have to do
i) Keep my wife happy
ii) Play with kids
iii) Produce at least three good scientific papers a year
iv) Manage applied maths department
Things I like to do
i) Keep my wife happy
ii) Play with kids (but not as often as they want me too)
iii) Poker!
iv) Chess
vi) Read
vii) Listen to music (Porcupine Tree are the best band in the world! Saw them in Wolverhampton last year, and it was both the best gig I've ever been to, and I've been to a few, and the nearest I'm ever likely to get to a religious experience. Any other fans out there?)
viii) Watch movies
ix) See friends
How can I fit poker into my life? Sometimes I say to the kids 'Daddy's just going to play an hour of poker, then he'll play with you'. This rarely results in a winning session, as they are unable to leave me alone, and if they do, they spend the hour screaming at each other. Even after they've gone to bed, if my wife is out, there's often a cry of 'Dad!' when I'm approaching the bubble on about five tables. This is -EV. If my wife is at home, 'I can't go, I'm playing poker' doesn't really play too well with her either. Mind you, when I won $150, she was quite pleased, at least until I told her it was poker money and not real money, and therefore not available for spending!
Here's my graph since I started using TableNinja on the $3.40 turbos on Pokerstars. A massive heater followed by slow decline. I review my hands after each session, and regularly post them in the forum (thanks for all your help chaps), so I think I can turn this around. Watch this space!
I'd be interested to see how many of you are in a similar situation to me. Let's show these youngsters we can do it too!
)
