Mind Games

Vorpal reads book. Vorpal pwns hard. Nuff said. ♠_cool:

Originally posted by jbpatzer
Vorpal reads book. Vorpal pwns hard. Nuff said. ♠_cool:

No NLHE feedback on results?

Originally posted by jbpatzer
Vorpal reads book. Vorpal pwns hard. Nuff said. ♠_cool:

Originally posted by EmanuelC16

Originally posted by jbpatzer
Vorpal reads book. Vorpal pwns hard. Nuff said. ♠_cool:

No NLHE feedback on results?

I've not played NLHE for a few weeks.

I've come to realize that I totally suck at it.

Over all poker room, at all limits, over 3 years, I am down 9000 big blinds.

OK, so it is only 9 BI at whatever limit, and I had 2 20 BI downswings in that time, but my approach to the game is wrong.

I need to approach NLHE like I did 5CD.
I'll be doing that shortly.

♦  My player notes on 5CD are concise, comprehensive and useful.
♦  I understand 5CD relative hand strengths.
♦  I have a feel for when bluffs will be useful, and when not.
♦  I can guess opponent ranges accurately most of the time.

Now I need to get my NLHE game to that level.
I'm going to go through the book again with the intention of applying the principles there to my play.

After watching Pleno's coachings I recovered several BI, but tended to overdo it. I don't have his intuitive grasp of other players' ranges.
Yet.

In the book JB early on suffered from "random acts of aggression"
I am more or less the same. My red line is more or less flat or rising for most sessions. Whether I have a winning or losing session is determined almost entirely by my blue line.

I'm going to showdown > 30% of the time, with ( obviously ) hands that are below par.

I've just got myself a brand-new account at William Hill, and once my deposit is ready, I'll be playing there.

Results oriented? Yep, that's me. I just have to live with it. But since I am, I'll post them here.

Well now, that's different

I took a couple of forays into the dark side over the past few day.

I signed up with William Hill through PokerStrategy.com, and played in a PokerStrategy.com freeroll on Wednesday.

Cashed. $0.28 WooHoo!
Finished 64 out of a few thousand.
Busted out when my K9 on the btn flopped KK3 and slammed into pocket 3s

So it goes.

I played a single table of NL4 tonight to get HM2 all set up for the new room.
Played only 38 hands, but up over 2 BI

Winrate: 779 bb/100
[ ] Sustainable.
[ ] Sample size.

Who would have believed the Vorpal Swordsman winning at NLHE
It's only one 38-hand sessions, but I'll take it.

I very trepidatiously told Mrs Vorpal last night that I had not had a losing 5-Card Draw session since Feb 27.

I fully expected the doomswitch to be thrown, but today, once again solidly in the green.

I still haven't figured out a sensible way to regulate BvB bluffs.
In the SB I will raise pairs 22-77 about half the time, and AQ AK about 1/4 of the time. So that is OK I think.

In the BB though, I've been calling w/ JJ-AA about 2/3 of the time and raising the other third. I have also been raising or 3Betting w/ 4-Broadway hands as bluffs from the BB.

I don't know if that is sufficient, but for now it seems to be.

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

I still haven't figured out a sensible way to regulate BvB bluffs.
In the SB I will raise pairs 22-77 about half the time, and AQ AK about 1/4 of the time. So that is OK I think.

In the BB though, I've been calling w/ JJ-AA about 2/3 of the time and raising the other third. I have also been raising or 3Betting w/ 4-Broadway hands as bluffs from the BB.

I don't know if that is sufficient, but for now it seems to be.

Is this 5CD? You should be opening really wide BvB. My default is to open AKxxx +, and I have been mocked for being a nit by certain PS 5CD enthusiasts. That's about a 50% range. You need to be very alert to how BB reacts and adjust accordingly.

If SB plays like this and you're in BB, a 25% range is TTxxx+, so you can think about 3betting that for value.

Lots to report
First off, Mrs Vorpal went to our favourite Thai restaurant today for a cooking class.

She learned how to make one of their specialities, so I'm in for a yummy supper tonight.

Poker
I've been playing as many of the "astronomer" freerulls on Pokerstars as I can manage.

Each game type is named for a different astronomer -- for example, right now I'm playing "Ptolemy's NL 2-7 Freeroll"
Each one has around 3K entrants, and gives the top 65 or so a ticket to a "Weekly Round 2" freeroll, which are unfortunately Holdem or Holdem/Omaha.

Out of 10 or so tourneys, I've snagged 5 tickets.

Have I mentioned I suck at Hold'em? I do.
I played the Hold'em Round 2 today, and was a few hundred off the money, when I checked/called on a 442 flop holding AK.
The turn was a 9, so I figured I'd push him off the pot, and bet about 3/4 pot.
He had 99

It doesn't matter -- I have 4 more tickets, and they're easy to get .

No-Limit Hold'em
I've signed up for William Hill through PokerStrategy.com, and have played on 2 freerolls and cashed in both.

5-Card Draw

Still going strong.
I had planned to enter Wednesday's MicroMillions NL 5-Card Draw but it runs at 04:00 in the freakin' morning in my time zone.

<sigh>

I'll play a few sats, and if I win a seat, I'll take the day off work and play it.

I played one today for 50 FPP, but my 3 4s ran into 3 JJ and a drawn flush.
Nice payday for the flush.

My Thai dinner is just about ready, I I'll shove in my 2-7 freeroll and take what comes.

and I won.

All the best!
--VS

You write well my friend. I'm going to follow along to see how you are doing. ♦

Thanks!

As much as I whine about sucking at Hold'em I do have my moments.

I just satted into MicroMillions Event 025

This is a weird format with blinds of 5/5 and antes that start at 10 and go up by 10 every 10 minutes.

Pots pre-flop are huge.

Should be fun!

Originally posted by VorpalF2F
As much as I whine about sucking at Hold'em I do have my moments.

I just satted into MicroMillions Event 025

This is a weird format with blinds of 5/5 and antes that start at 10 and go up by 10 every 10 minutes.

Pots pre-flop are huge.

Should be fun!

I promise to stop whining about sucking at Hold'em.

Finished 46th of 7000 or so.

This hand gave me a cushion from which I could be a bit more picky with hand selection.

Poker Stars, $3 Buy-in (5/5 blinds, 2,000 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 9 Players

SB: 150,331 (30,066.2 bb)
BB: 192,943 (38,588.6 bb)
UTG+1: 51,205 (10,241 bb)
UTG+2: 382,209 (76,441.8 bb)
MP1: 174,885 (34,977 bb)
Hero (MP2): 83,535 (16,707 bb)
MP3: 266,706 (53,341.2 bb)
CO: 56,716 (11,343.2 bb)
BTN: 137,191 (27,438.2 bb)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:d K:s
2 folds, MP1 calls 5, Hero raises to 4,975, 2 folds, BTN calls 4,975, 3 folds

Flop: (27,965) K:c J:s K:h (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN bets 5,555, Hero calls 5,555

Turn: (39,075) 6:s (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN checks

River: (39,075) 3:c (2 players)
Hero bets 20,980, BTN calls 20,980

Results: 81,035 pot
Final Board: K:c J:s K:h 6:s 3:c
Hero showed K:d K:s and won 81,035 (47,525 net)
BTN mucked 9:s 9:d and lost (-33,510 net)

This is a very weird structure.
Notice how MP1 limps 5 into an 18K pot.
Some players would raise here -- to 4 even 10 (shudder) big blinds!

I tried out different opening raies. In this case, betting around 1/5 of the pot, but I eventually settled at around 1/2 pot for openers.

Did I mention I suck at Hold'em?

WooHoo

Nicely done.
♦ ♦

Originally posted by TheMarxBros3
You write well my friend. I'm going to follow along to see how you are doing. ♦

+1

Here is another amusing hand from last night.

In this one, BB bets on every street with bottom pair

Poker Stars, $3 Buy-in (5/5 blinds, 450 ante) No Limit Hold'em Tournament, 8 Players

CO: 40,941 (8,188.2 bb)
BTN: 11,429 (2,285.8 bb)
Hero (SB): 36,470 (7,294 bb)
BB: 43,222 (8,644.4 bb)
UTG+2: 46,748 (9,349.6 bb)
MP1: 32,240 (6,448 bb)
MP2: 30,821 (6,164.2 bb)
MP3: 28,079 (5,615.8 bb)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 4:s K:c
UTG+2 calls 5, MP1 calls 5, MP2 folds, MP3 calls 5, CO folds, BTN calls 5, Hero checks, BB checks

Flop: (3,630) K:d 2:s J:c (6 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 5, UTG+2 calls 5, MP1 calls 5, 2 folds, Hero calls 5

Turn: (3,650) J:d (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 5, UTG+2 calls 5, MP1 calls 5, Hero calls 5

River: (3,670) 5:d (4 players)
Hero checks, BB bets 5, UTG+2 calls 5, MP1 folds, Hero calls 5

Results: 3,685 pot
Final Board: K:d 2:s J:c J:d 5:d
Hero showed 4:s K:c and won 3,685 (3,215 net)
BB showed 3:c 2:h and lost (-470 net)
UTG+2 mucked 7:c A:s and lost (-470 net)
MP1 mucked and lost (-465 net)

Did he think he had fold equity with a 1/734 pot bet?
Does this set a world record for "thinnest value"?
He has me covered, so I'm not going to bet the farm on a K w/ no kicker and no draw, but for 734:1 heck I'll chuck in a chip!

Inquiring minds want to know -- or will when they stop laughing.

Update
I played a satellite to Wednesday's NL 5-Card Draw MicroMillions tournament.

Busted out early taking 3 3s into 3 Js

I'm a bit annoyed at myself, too, since it was a terrific opportunity.
3 places paid, and only 12 in the satellite.

So it goes.

So afterwards I played some normal 5-Card Draw FL $0.25/$0.50

Along the way I passed a milestone that I would have considered out of reach 6 months ago: $100 at this limit.

The 5-Card Draw graph now looks this:

I realize that this looks more impressive than it is.
The steep section is at a higher limit, so 1 BB is 2.5x what a BB is on the lower-sloped section. My winrate at FL $0.25/$0.50 is considerably higher though, so part of it is due to a higher winrate -- but not all of it.

I've been observing the $0.50/$1.00 tables.
There is v little traffic on them -- and when there is, it mostly consists of the same people I'm playing now. Hmmmm

I've decided that I will play at this limit until I've played 20K hands (7K to go), then take a shot.

Have a great week!
--VS

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

I've been observing the $0.50/$1.00 tables.
There is v little traffic on them -- and when there is, it mostly consists of the same people I'm playing now. Hmmmm

I've decided that I will play at this limit until I've played 20K hands (7K to go), then take a shot.

Just go for it. You will crush.

Originally posted by jbpatzer

Originally posted by VorpalF2F

I've been observing the $0.50/$1.00 tables.
There is v little traffic on them -- and when there is, it mostly consists of the same people I'm playing now. Hmmmm

I've decided that I will play at this limit until I've played 20K hands (7K to go), then take a shot.

Just go for it. You will crush.

Thanks for the confidence.

At one time, I was extremely cautious -- I wanted to know absolutely everything about something before trying it.

I had a computer business once, and was being interviewed by a potential customer -- the IT dept manager for a major brewery.

He asked, "Can you write a program that will reboot a computer at a set time every day."
I said, "I'm not sure. Let me research that and I'll get back to you".
He replied, "Wrong answer. The answer is, 'No problem, it will take me about 2 weeks, and cost $xxx. Then you get started and find out how as you go."

I wrote the program.
It was a DOS-based system, and I wrote it in a language I didn't even know at the time he asked the question. (80386 assembler)

He later hired me to work full time.

That answer changed the way I thought about almost everything.
It is how I approached poker in the beginning, but I have apparently suffered a relapse.

I'll keep you posted.
--VS

I really appreciated reading your blog and feel obliged to give you something good. I dont know how to post links, but just google Norman Zedahs article in Operations Research. Somebody probably said, that, in life ((poker)), good intentions (( mental attitude)) is fine, but knowing what is right ((mathematically correct)) might be necessary. And good luck.

News

Woohoo! After futzing about since last October trying to find a contractor to build my deck we finally found one about two weeks ago.

Today the workmen were here all day and now Vorpal Manor is deckless.

Hopefully, they'll be in business long enough to replace it.

5-Card Draw
I played a very short session tonight, with one table of $0.25-$0.50, one table of $0.50-$1 and one table of <gulp> $1-$2

As I mentioned some of the same people were at each of the tables. I didn't see anything too scary.

To finish off -- just for Auld Lang Syne -- I played a couple of orbits of $0.10-$0.20

It is important for me to think in terms of Big Bets. If I start seeing $2 coins flying about then my inner cheapskate starts to get the wiggins.

Big Bets are pocket change, however $2 is oh, yeah -- In Canada $2 is pocket change.

NLHE
Fresh off my 46th place finish in MM Evt 025, I posted 4 of the niftiest hands you ever saw in the MTT Han devaluation forums, just to see how I played them. I won substantial pots with each of them, but apparently I misplayed all but one.

I'm not surprised. My assessment of the tournament was that it was my turn in the luckbox.

I believe the phrase for my playing style is:
"random acts of [stupidity | insanity | genius]"

Tomorrow morning 04:00 Pacific (11:00 GMT)
I won a seat in MM 056 NL 5-Card Draw <== Yeeee Haaawww[1]

There are currently 139 player registered -- many of them well known to me.
There are 33 satellites, with 5 players regged in total. Not the most popular game, this.

18 Places paid.

So I'm off to bed with the alarm set.

[1] I SO miss having American players at the tables.

Originally posted by norab
I really appreciated reading your blog and feel obliged to give you something good. I dont know how to post links, but just google Norman Zedahs article in Operations Research. Somebody probably said, that, in life ((poker)), good intentions (( mental attitude)) is fine, but knowing what is right ((mathematically correct)) might be necessary. And good luck.

I found quite a bit on Mr Zadeh, actually.

Thank you very much for that, and for the kind words about my blog.

I'll look up some of the articles, but not tonight -- as I've mentioned above, I'm off to get my beauty sleep.

I told my kids as they were growing up, "The only two things a human being has to offer are attitude and effort. All else stems from these".

They hated hearing it.
I almost fell over laughing the first time I heard one of them say it to one of their kids.

All the best,
--VS

MicroMillions-056

Out in 541 330 paid 2476 Entrants

Had a good time though.

I'll put the hands in spoilers so this doesn't get tl;dr

#1:
Short Version: win w/ drawn flush over drawn str8
This hand got me going. It might have done some damage, though, because as you'll see later, I called a few shoves I should not have.
I really felt sorry for villain, though. Assuming he kept A:hK:h he must have really liked his chances here.

#2:
Short Version: Dilemma: Snow or semi-bluff the flush draw?
Since the flush draw also had high-card potential, I decided to go with that.
Since I hit the flush, this ended up more semi than bluff -- but I'll take it

#3:
Short Version: Dead Man's Hand #1
Pretty standard -- I was playing my 2-pair hands fairly cautiously, since last 5CD Tournament I lost it was 2-pair hands that did me in.

#4:
Short Version: Vorpal gets stupid, and misreads player
He had just sat down to fill a vacancy, had exactly 5000 chips, made a bet against the odds, and lost.

I interpreted the shove as "awww, wuddafug, I'll get it over with"
Ooops

#5:
Short Version: Quads ftw!

I had bled off a portion of my stack having to b/f a few times, and this put me back in the running for a place ITM

#6:
Short Version: Pat Hand c/c

This is a cool spot. I had just been moved to this table, and this was less than 3 hands in.

Villain plays an interesting move: He donks -- which is essentially a blocker bet -- and it worked.

He has trips -- which is a legit hand to call a pat with, ans a lot of players will snow w/ 2 pair.

From my point of view:
I have a mediocre straight, and since he draws 3, hitting quads and boats are possible and even better straights are possible (see above).

If I shove here, I'm toast or he folds -- I'm getting no more out of him anyway.

So I just called. WP him, I think

#7:
Short Version: These first of two that crippled me. I expect they were both folds

#8:
Short Version: Dead Man's Hand #2 -- and yep, it dang near killed me

I picked up a few small pots after this, but it was pretty much all she wrote by this point.

Wow -- I've been up for 4 hours, and this is just about the time I'm getting to work. I've got a lot to do around Vorpal Manor though -- with the deck agone I have a 10-sided amount of clean up to do!

All the best,
--VS