Midlife Crisis? What Midlife Crisis?

jbpatzer · 2010-06-24T10:48:39Z

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...

conall88

Joined: 02.01.2009

Posts: 1,714

23.04.2012, 20:17 0

Originally posted by doctorkgb
I bet they discuss Omaha strategy already ♦

They may not be squirrels, but i'm pretty sure they like the nuts

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_Anonymous_

23.04.2012, 21:46 0

Originally posted by trickybob

Originally posted by ihufa
Hello Karl Pilkington ♦

♦

Mr Pilkington should also check out the Will Self novel Great Apes.

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jbpatzer Topic starter

Joined: 23.11.2009

Posts: 6,972

23.04.2012, 23:13 0

I'd have to say that NL25 is going pretty well at the moment.

It's funny to see so many familiar names playing it. There's no escape from ihufa and his bloody turn check raises. Next time I bet the turn against him, I'm going to make sure I have the goods. :f_mad:

Here are two hands that I think are against fellow Pokerstrategists. No names, for obvious reasons. In the first one, I suspect this was a good thing (maybe I'll type 'I have a set' into the chat next time), in the second one, I knew he was full of shit on the turn, and I would have folded the river to some random. That'll teach me to slowplay. Just bet ffs! :f_mad:

PokerStars - $0.25 NL (6 max) ZOOM - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

BTN: $76.68
SB: $49.52
BB: $82.09
Hero (UTG): $54.65
MP: $26.33
CO: $34.21

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has J♥ J♦

Hero raises to $0.87, fold, fold, fold, fold, BB raises to $2.90, Hero calls $2.03

Flop: ($5.90, 2 players) J♣ 5♠ T♥
BB bets $1.50, Hero raises to $7.40, BB calls $5.90

Turn: ($20.70, 2 players) 2♦
BB checks, Hero bets $17.79, BB raises to $71.79 and is all-in, Hero calls $26.56 and is all-in

River: ($109.40, 2 players) 3♦

Spoiler

BB shows A♠ A♣ (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 80%, Flop 10%, Turn 5%)
Hero shows J♥ J♦ (Three of a Kind, Jacks) (Pre 20%, Flop 90%, Turn 95%)
Hero wins $107.40

PokerStars - $0.25 NL (6 max) ZOOM - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

Hero (BTN): $27.36
SB: $25.00
BB: $25.00
UTG: $13.47
MP: $26.13
CO: $32.03

SB posts SB $0.10, BB posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) Hero has K♠ A♣

fold, fold, CO raises to $0.75, Hero raises to $2.30, fold, fold, CO calls $1.55

Flop: ($4.95, 2 players) 4♣ 8♥ A♦
CO checks, Hero bets $2.36, CO raises to $5.30, Hero calls $2.94

Turn: ($15.55, 2 players) 3♣
CO checks, Hero checks

River: ($15.55, 2 players) 5♠
CO bets $24.43 and is all-in, Hero calls $19.76 and is all-in

Spoiler

CO shows 2♥ 2♠ (Straight, Five High) (Pre 53%, Flop 10%, Turn 14%)
Hero mucks K♠ A♣ (One Pair, Aces) (Pre 47%, Flop 90%, Turn 86%)
CO wins $53.07