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...

jbpatzer Topic starter

Joined: 23.11.2009

Posts: 6,972

27.05.2012, 23:39 0

The strimmer is up and running. After taking two big chunks out of my hand starting it, I read that you should always wear gloves. Fml. But mrsjb was pleased, although I think I showed less than the required enthusiasm for putting on safety boots and strimming her allotment (that's not a euphemism), as it was very hot and the cricket was on the telly. Having started my cricket viewing career watching the West Indies duffing us up in the hot summer of 1976, I always enjoy watching us do the same to them.

Manu went through the big hands from my last NL50 session with me. There were some silly things, but I think we concluded that I didn't run great. He's basically giving me free coaching, so I'm very grateful. He's a good chap considering he's a foreigner and very young. He certainly donated some rungood to me if tonight's session is anything to go by.

And here's, Spurs finally putting one over on the Gooners. ♦

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

jbpatzer (BTN): $25.35
nuninho545 (SB): $15.47
adytzoy (BB): $25.92
Peelze (UTG): $23.50
tahurpoquer (MP): $52.55
DannyG13 (CO): $25.00

nuninho545 posts SB $0.10, adytzoy posts BB $0.25

Pre Flop: (pot: $0.35) jbpatzer has 8♣ 8♥

fold, fold, DannyG13 raises to $0.75, jbpatzer calls $0.75, fold, fold

Flop: ($1.85, 2 players) K♠ 2♦ 8♦
DannyG13 bets $1.30, jbpatzer calls $1.30

Turn: ($4.45, 2 players) 4♦
DannyG13 checks, jbpatzer bets $2.97, DannyG13 raises to $7.90, jbpatzer raises to $23.30 and is all-in, DannyG13 calls $15.05 and is all-in

River: ($50.35, 2 players) K♣

DannyG13 shows 7♦ K♦ (Flush, King High) (Pre 33%, Flop 29%, Turn 80%)
jbpatzer shows 8♣ 8♥ (Full House, Eights full of Kings) (Pre 67%, Flop 71%, Turn 20%)
jbpatzer wins $48.35

I'm not sure about my river shove. I think against an unknown I have the implied odds to call, but he was typing some Gooner nonsense in the chat, so I thought 'Bah! Look at the size of my balls!' and let him have it!