I took a break from playing poker for several months. It was the right thing to do. My judgement had become clouded. I made decisions motivated by ego, a sense of justice, some wierdly wired sense of terrified desparation, manically blurting out a tourettic bet or fold. My game was fundamentally tilted. A kind of poisonously psychotic rage would infect my game. A sense of wounded injustice. Raw fear. And I knew my game was better than that.
So I quit cold turkey. I stopped playing poker. Stopped reading poker. Stopped thinking, talking and writing poker.
I've stepped back in with a clearer mind. I still lose it from time to time. I'll catch myself making the loose and vengeful call preflop. Or betting into an opponent for the wrong reasons (most often boredom, which utterly undermines my game, sometimes arrogance). A variant on this is a form of, I guess, contextual dyslexia. Making context based plays based on the wrong reading, again, as a function of boredom. Bluffs at the wrong time. Middle pair reraises that are going to get called. Reading passivity for weaknesses. Misjudging my image. Encountering situations that I don't adequately understand, and having to react with optimistic ignorance, or pessimism. A necessary condition of the novice.
I take my bad beats with relative equanimity now. Occasionally I blow up, and exhale a diatribe of vicious incredulity. The standard type gibberish most of us rant from time to time. But I sit back down and play my cards, and try to work out how best to use what I've just learned to my advantage. To allow poker to effect my sense of myself is a profound error.
My standard learning structure for most things runs something like this. Learn the basic principles, the guiding rules and laws. Having grasped the fundamentals, I can now construct models of the various contexts, phenomena and situations I am likely to encounter, and see how they work. Failed simulations, models and predictions indicate gaps in my understanding, and I can use these to hone my understanding. It doesn't quite work in poker. Failed models, simulations and predictions come with the territory. Exception is part of the rule. Certainty is not the goal.
To put it another way, playing poker by adage, by rote, is not the way to play poker. Auto-donking, if you will. The lazy supposition of automatic supremacy. Poker seems to be, above all else, a game of context. Sometimes it is a context one in part creates - in terms of table image, preflop raising, targeting specific types of players with specific types of play. Flat calling with a monster against a lag. Sometimes not. The context may be thrust upon you. But it is context that determines what the correct action is. And an adage, or rule is too inflexible a thing to cater to all contexts.
Lets call it the tyranny of the certain over the truth of the probable.
A set of independently simple variables interacting to produce a complex set of contingent systems and contexts. As such, the Holy Grail of poker playing is rarely certainty. Its generally likelihood. At least for someone playing at my level. Its an easy, and obvious thing to say. Its more difficult to understand. Its, for a newbie, even more difficult to see experience re-inforce that understanding.
What I look to do now is to make what is probably the right play in the context. It means I'm paying a lot more attention to whats happening at the table. I'm remembering things, hands and actions of other players, and incorporating them into my actions. With enough knowledge and understanding, I get to consciously influence the context other players experience. I get to apply pressure at the times most advantageous to me. I get to steal, I get to bluff successfully, I get my hands paid off. Enough of the time for me to feel a sense of progress. Enough of the time for me to sense that I am playing a different game to the one I had been.
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Saturday, December 17, 2005
A question of ethics?
Site Lag.
Seems like an obvious, run of the mill, everyday bit of awkwardness any poker site will have to deal with on an occasional basis. Whether its due to sudden, unexpected spikes in site traffic, denial of service attacks, hardware failure. Servers fall over. Players drop off. Games freeze, and life goes on.
It also seems like such a standard hazard in any online environment that any reputable site should have a standard, accessible, and sensible policy for dealing with the inconveniences it causes to their customers. Its how business works. Its why we have warranties on stereos. Its how things are.
Absolute, last week, seemed to be having some sort of bandwidth/instability/ISP/connectivity issues. Players dropped off tables. Tabletalk generated a consistent and low level rumble corroborating the general experience of lag. timing out. Every other hand someone seemed to get booted. Sometimes, c'est la vie. In about 4 days, I dropped off tables about 18 times. Twice on winning hands - a flopped set of 8's against qq and kk, and a flopped set of Jacks against two pair. Once on a hand I was certain I had won - TPTK against the table LAG, and once on a probable winning hand - headsup against the big blind with pocket 10's waiting to reraise on the flop. My all in didn't trigger.
Theres nothing to get upset about here. And I didn't. Its the internet. Lag happens. I'll just ask for a refund. I sent off the hand number, my hole cards, the board cards, number of opponents on the river, time and date, and the betting until the disconnection, and a descriprion of the problem - I had reraised on the river, expecting to be capped and was disconnected, and then autofolded when my bet was not posted. I requested that customer service review the hand, and, if I had won, refund the amount I stood to win, if I lost, then we had nothing to settle. I also mentioned that the all in hadn't triggered, and that my connection was functioning properly at the time.
My first mail was rebuffed. In cases of disconnection, Absolute are unable to offer a refund, it said.The refusal was politely put. But it was a refusal. My second mail further fleshed out my claim, and included (admittedly anecdotal) evidence that connection had not failed at my end - I tested my connection to Absolute, and their servers registered me. I surfed the net while disconnected. My firewall registered incoming and outgoing packets during the disconnection. I checked my mail.
Again, a polite refusal, stating that they had reviewed the hand, and that disconnection had occured at my end, either due to inactivity on my part, or a connectivity problem with my ISP, or because my desktop had crashed. Which struck me as a somewhat bizarre response.
My next mail included further evidence, aimed to put beyond a shadow of a doubt that disconnection had not occured at my end (by this stage I was logging my connectivity, and monitoring my traffic with updates every three seconds, using two separate monitors, and readouts), and that Absolute were having a general problem with lag and connectivity with a wide variety of players, that the disconnection was most certainly not my fault, or the fault of my ISP.
I received a 2 dollar refund, the value of the money I had supposedly spent on the hand. Circa a 10 dollar pot was waiting, and I received a 2 dollar refund. Just this once we will refund you the money you have invested in the hand, was their reply.
I could provide independent evidence that disconnection - and hence a monetary loss - had not occured through any fault of mine or my ISP. Absolute, without admitting responsibility, agreed, after three emails, and a considerable amount of effort on my part - setting up and running two monitors to keep an eye on my connection traffic - agreed to refund, partially, my loss.
I decided to see what it would take to get Absolute to admit full liability. Hell. I pay rake. I've been accomodating, and I can prove that I am correct, and acting in good faith. Lets see what it takes to get them to step into the breach.
I wrote back, with four complaint hands. Two of which I had won, and collected no money from, two of which I probably won, and was willing to accept either a zero refund on, if I lost, or a full refund of potential winnings (sensibly calculated) if I won. At no stage had an all in been triggered on my behalf.
I recapped my case - I have offered to provide the monitor logs proving my ISP stability and connectivity at all the times we are discussing, I have tested my connection and seen the live graphical display of incoming and outgoing traffic on both internet monitors I use while disconnected from Absolute. I have had these monitors, and my connectivity witnessed by a third party. Who is a customer services rep. At a rival poker website. I have noticed that my pc has not crashed or frozen. By still being able to use it. To do all the things I've already mentioned. I have also taken the time to note that within my jusrisdiction, all correspondence I receive in electronic or paper form is my property, with which I can do what I like. Which includes publishing it. Which I will. While doing what I can to publicise this particular issue. By the way. I wonder what your Six Nations gaming Licence has to say on the matter. I'll find out when they finish their database maintainance, and put the site back up. I'll mention it in the review I'm writing.
12 hours later I received an apologetic reply. Absolute are investigating ongoing connectivity problems for our clients. We suspect we may be having some ISP problems. In order to refund you, we will need the relevent hand histories.
Its quite some length to have to go to to get a refund. Independent witnesses. Running system monitors to guage incoming and outgoing traffic. 5 emails. Sure, Absolute had to be sure that my claim wasn't fraudulent or fictional. But their refusals seem to have gone beyond that. It took quite some polite bullying to get them to do the right thing.
One wonders how many others have been done out of a refund they had every right to but for Absolutes intransigence.
And heres the ethics of the situation, in a tight, wraparound, service-provider type contractual nut. I pay Absolute for a service. If I suffer through their incapacity, inability, malfeasance, error or accident, I am entitled to compensation commensurate with any monies I have lost and inconvenience I have incurred. And so are you. Anything else is not worth the rake you or I pay for it.
Absolute have not yet agreed to refund potential winnings - I'm combing my hand histories for the relevant hands to submit. But I'm pretty hopeful.
So, I'm curious. What other sites fail to pick up the tab for their fuck ups?
Seems like an obvious, run of the mill, everyday bit of awkwardness any poker site will have to deal with on an occasional basis. Whether its due to sudden, unexpected spikes in site traffic, denial of service attacks, hardware failure. Servers fall over. Players drop off. Games freeze, and life goes on.
It also seems like such a standard hazard in any online environment that any reputable site should have a standard, accessible, and sensible policy for dealing with the inconveniences it causes to their customers. Its how business works. Its why we have warranties on stereos. Its how things are.
Absolute, last week, seemed to be having some sort of bandwidth/instability/ISP/connectivity issues. Players dropped off tables. Tabletalk generated a consistent and low level rumble corroborating the general experience of lag. timing out. Every other hand someone seemed to get booted. Sometimes, c'est la vie. In about 4 days, I dropped off tables about 18 times. Twice on winning hands - a flopped set of 8's against qq and kk, and a flopped set of Jacks against two pair. Once on a hand I was certain I had won - TPTK against the table LAG, and once on a probable winning hand - headsup against the big blind with pocket 10's waiting to reraise on the flop. My all in didn't trigger.
Theres nothing to get upset about here. And I didn't. Its the internet. Lag happens. I'll just ask for a refund. I sent off the hand number, my hole cards, the board cards, number of opponents on the river, time and date, and the betting until the disconnection, and a descriprion of the problem - I had reraised on the river, expecting to be capped and was disconnected, and then autofolded when my bet was not posted. I requested that customer service review the hand, and, if I had won, refund the amount I stood to win, if I lost, then we had nothing to settle. I also mentioned that the all in hadn't triggered, and that my connection was functioning properly at the time.
My first mail was rebuffed. In cases of disconnection, Absolute are unable to offer a refund, it said.The refusal was politely put. But it was a refusal. My second mail further fleshed out my claim, and included (admittedly anecdotal) evidence that connection had not failed at my end - I tested my connection to Absolute, and their servers registered me. I surfed the net while disconnected. My firewall registered incoming and outgoing packets during the disconnection. I checked my mail.
Again, a polite refusal, stating that they had reviewed the hand, and that disconnection had occured at my end, either due to inactivity on my part, or a connectivity problem with my ISP, or because my desktop had crashed. Which struck me as a somewhat bizarre response.
My next mail included further evidence, aimed to put beyond a shadow of a doubt that disconnection had not occured at my end (by this stage I was logging my connectivity, and monitoring my traffic with updates every three seconds, using two separate monitors, and readouts), and that Absolute were having a general problem with lag and connectivity with a wide variety of players, that the disconnection was most certainly not my fault, or the fault of my ISP.
I received a 2 dollar refund, the value of the money I had supposedly spent on the hand. Circa a 10 dollar pot was waiting, and I received a 2 dollar refund. Just this once we will refund you the money you have invested in the hand, was their reply.
I could provide independent evidence that disconnection - and hence a monetary loss - had not occured through any fault of mine or my ISP. Absolute, without admitting responsibility, agreed, after three emails, and a considerable amount of effort on my part - setting up and running two monitors to keep an eye on my connection traffic - agreed to refund, partially, my loss.
I decided to see what it would take to get Absolute to admit full liability. Hell. I pay rake. I've been accomodating, and I can prove that I am correct, and acting in good faith. Lets see what it takes to get them to step into the breach.
I wrote back, with four complaint hands. Two of which I had won, and collected no money from, two of which I probably won, and was willing to accept either a zero refund on, if I lost, or a full refund of potential winnings (sensibly calculated) if I won. At no stage had an all in been triggered on my behalf.
I recapped my case - I have offered to provide the monitor logs proving my ISP stability and connectivity at all the times we are discussing, I have tested my connection and seen the live graphical display of incoming and outgoing traffic on both internet monitors I use while disconnected from Absolute. I have had these monitors, and my connectivity witnessed by a third party. Who is a customer services rep. At a rival poker website. I have noticed that my pc has not crashed or frozen. By still being able to use it. To do all the things I've already mentioned. I have also taken the time to note that within my jusrisdiction, all correspondence I receive in electronic or paper form is my property, with which I can do what I like. Which includes publishing it. Which I will. While doing what I can to publicise this particular issue. By the way. I wonder what your Six Nations gaming Licence has to say on the matter. I'll find out when they finish their database maintainance, and put the site back up. I'll mention it in the review I'm writing.
12 hours later I received an apologetic reply. Absolute are investigating ongoing connectivity problems for our clients. We suspect we may be having some ISP problems. In order to refund you, we will need the relevent hand histories.
Its quite some length to have to go to to get a refund. Independent witnesses. Running system monitors to guage incoming and outgoing traffic. 5 emails. Sure, Absolute had to be sure that my claim wasn't fraudulent or fictional. But their refusals seem to have gone beyond that. It took quite some polite bullying to get them to do the right thing.
One wonders how many others have been done out of a refund they had every right to but for Absolutes intransigence.
And heres the ethics of the situation, in a tight, wraparound, service-provider type contractual nut. I pay Absolute for a service. If I suffer through their incapacity, inability, malfeasance, error or accident, I am entitled to compensation commensurate with any monies I have lost and inconvenience I have incurred. And so are you. Anything else is not worth the rake you or I pay for it.
Absolute have not yet agreed to refund potential winnings - I'm combing my hand histories for the relevant hands to submit. But I'm pretty hopeful.
So, I'm curious. What other sites fail to pick up the tab for their fuck ups?
Monday, December 05, 2005
Swing Low Sweet chariot
After a long hiatus, a return to the tables. Currently signed up with Absolute Poker for their 100% bonus.
Absolute have reasonable software. Its functional, the lobby updates frequently enough - about every minute or so - tables deal, muck and showdown quite quickly, and hand histories are easy to recall (and available to pokertracker, if thats your thing). Note taking vcan be glitchy. Specifically if you have the hotkeys en abled. Specifically, while typing in the note taking dialog box, if the action comes around to you, the dialog closes. And if you're still typing...well. Did Ireally want to reraise with k9 suited from middle? Multiple table selection is somewhat fraught - having taken a seat at a table, my name is generally removed from any other tables I'm on the list for. Site notices, and (admittedly rare) ads popup over the table action, and have to be manuallly dismissed, resulting in my having to play the turn blind on one occasion. Overall though, its functional.
The low limit HE ring and 6 max games are quite juicy, and they have a reasonably large player base - last Friday night, GMT, ran to about 9000 players online. Tournament play at the lowest levels is predictably loose and maniacal. Which is excellent. And low level Limit ring games exhibit little sophistication. Which is even better. Quite a lot of calling, passive play, and a good number of LAGs. A brief inspection of the low buy-in No limit tables gives a similar impression, which I've yet to confirm by playing. Omaha and Seven Card stud are supported, (and both can be played for in the FUN section, useful for someone who has never played em, like me) but the player base for them seems quite small.
The bonus grinds out quite slowly - 100% of initial deposit to a max of 200, an extra 10 dollars credited free gratis - at low limits, requiring a 10 dollar pot for each bonus points are awarded. They also have a points scheme for restricted tournament entries or bonus products, which is also rake dependent, but is accrued and spent separately to the deposit/retention bonus scheme. Prize funds for the dailes are between 50 and 250 dollars, and play is loose.
All in all a decent site.
No Mercy at the Lord Admiral
For any Isabelle Mercier fan out there a trip to the Lord Admiral archives is a must. A damned fine interview with the fearful Belle Dame herself, running to fifteen minutes of the show. I've enjoyed listing to Stacks and Cincinatti Sean for the past few months, and they've wrung the best interview I've yet heard out of Ms Mercier. I'll take an amateur enthusiast over a tired professional anyday.
These guys seem to love what they do, and their guest seemed to key right into that vibe and and really settle in. Lord Admiral. No frills, no shills, a shakedown free zone. No botox tanned smiles of leatherskinned professionals. No slime, no talking heads yammering in the grip of an ersatz professional pep. Nope. Its the real thing, its genuine, and it shines through as comfortably as if they were sitting in your living room chugging down beers across cards and a table.
- No Mercy Mercier sings sweetly at The Lord Admiral
Absolute have reasonable software. Its functional, the lobby updates frequently enough - about every minute or so - tables deal, muck and showdown quite quickly, and hand histories are easy to recall (and available to pokertracker, if thats your thing). Note taking vcan be glitchy. Specifically if you have the hotkeys en abled. Specifically, while typing in the note taking dialog box, if the action comes around to you, the dialog closes. And if you're still typing...well. Did Ireally want to reraise with k9 suited from middle? Multiple table selection is somewhat fraught - having taken a seat at a table, my name is generally removed from any other tables I'm on the list for. Site notices, and (admittedly rare) ads popup over the table action, and have to be manuallly dismissed, resulting in my having to play the turn blind on one occasion. Overall though, its functional.
The low limit HE ring and 6 max games are quite juicy, and they have a reasonably large player base - last Friday night, GMT, ran to about 9000 players online. Tournament play at the lowest levels is predictably loose and maniacal. Which is excellent. And low level Limit ring games exhibit little sophistication. Which is even better. Quite a lot of calling, passive play, and a good number of LAGs. A brief inspection of the low buy-in No limit tables gives a similar impression, which I've yet to confirm by playing. Omaha and Seven Card stud are supported, (and both can be played for in the FUN section, useful for someone who has never played em, like me) but the player base for them seems quite small.
The bonus grinds out quite slowly - 100% of initial deposit to a max of 200, an extra 10 dollars credited free gratis - at low limits, requiring a 10 dollar pot for each bonus points are awarded. They also have a points scheme for restricted tournament entries or bonus products, which is also rake dependent, but is accrued and spent separately to the deposit/retention bonus scheme. Prize funds for the dailes are between 50 and 250 dollars, and play is loose.
All in all a decent site.
No Mercy at the Lord Admiral
For any Isabelle Mercier fan out there a trip to the Lord Admiral archives is a must. A damned fine interview with the fearful Belle Dame herself, running to fifteen minutes of the show. I've enjoyed listing to Stacks and Cincinatti Sean for the past few months, and they've wrung the best interview I've yet heard out of Ms Mercier. I'll take an amateur enthusiast over a tired professional anyday.
These guys seem to love what they do, and their guest seemed to key right into that vibe and and really settle in. Lord Admiral. No frills, no shills, a shakedown free zone. No botox tanned smiles of leatherskinned professionals. No slime, no talking heads yammering in the grip of an ersatz professional pep. Nope. Its the real thing, its genuine, and it shines through as comfortably as if they were sitting in your living room chugging down beers across cards and a table.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
I give up.
For the momet, I'm beat. Beat. Tough week. Damned tough.
My play had been holing up until today. But now, I can't pick up a premium pair without wondering what in the hell I should do with it. Mucking would've saved me money this week. The days of seeing pocket Kings being a welcome sight are passed for the moment.
Tough week. And I'll have to quit for the moment. The beats are getting to me. Undermining my ability to play well. I'm getting the fear when the turn comes. Any turn. And the river has me curled up in a foetal ball. And its affecting my play.
Perhaps the best lesson I can draw from this week is to quit before that happens. And retain the confidence I've carefully built up to use another day.
I've looked at the hand histories, checked out the odds I've been up against. Preflop, I've been consistently, hugely consistently, exactly where I want to be. In the showdowns I've seen, I've generally been either a firm favourite consistently, or on a draw where the odds have justified it. In short, I've generally being playing the type of game I've been learning to for the last several months. The game I've been able to grind out a profit in on a regular basis.
In short, insofar as I understand good play, I've been adhering quite well to it. I'm aware of my mistakes, and am still making them. I've been creating situations which are in my favour. Isolating raises preflop to hit heads up against a LAG. Checkraising to minimise odds where my hand necessitates it. Watching for the steal opportunity and taking it. Betting draws for value when I can. Playing aggressively on flops where I think I have the advantage. Playing to induce bluffs to make more profit.
Time to think out loud.
In three days play, my two pair - on the flop, turn or river have held up once. I've lost money on KK and QQ. Quite a bit. Cowboys cracked 4 times in one session - J6o catching a runner runner flush on the river with no pair, J6o again catching a runner runner straight on the river, with no pair, Q7o spiking a 7 on the river for two pair, and capping all the way, 55 making a straight on the river, capped betting. Running up against quad nines against my premium pair twice in one session, which, oddly, strike me as the most reasonable losing hands. I've been outkicked a bare handful of times in top pair situations, which I read as a good sign. I'm concistently domimnating LAGS headsup, and isolating them when I feel I need to. I've been minimising the odds for draws, and mixing up how I play my hands, with mixed results. IE my mixing up has occasionally meant weaker hands have called and caught up as they suspect a bluff. Quite a number actually.
There have, in addition, occasions when I've been outplayed. People have read the undermining of my play correctly, and I've been pushed off pots where I shouldn't have been- something I sat down to deal with today, and worked on during the week as well. People have seen me play weakly into pots and taken advantage, giving free cards I quite often would not when I'm on top of my game. Hence quitting until I can deal with it. I've run up against smart LAGs who've outplayed me, making me fold where I shouldn't, and call or bet when I'm beat. Situations like this have occured, but they have not been the dominant trend. And my current losing context has served to exacerbate the problem. That said, it still needs work - picked up Millers book this week to help me reorient in these situations.
Its one thing to play well when good play is rewarded. Its another to maintain that discipline when under consistent stress. Yet another weakness to address.
So a couple of days off, and a change of scene are required. And then back to the grind, to take advantage of the copiuos notes I've accrued in these savage few days.
My play had been holing up until today. But now, I can't pick up a premium pair without wondering what in the hell I should do with it. Mucking would've saved me money this week. The days of seeing pocket Kings being a welcome sight are passed for the moment.
Tough week. And I'll have to quit for the moment. The beats are getting to me. Undermining my ability to play well. I'm getting the fear when the turn comes. Any turn. And the river has me curled up in a foetal ball. And its affecting my play.
Perhaps the best lesson I can draw from this week is to quit before that happens. And retain the confidence I've carefully built up to use another day.
I've looked at the hand histories, checked out the odds I've been up against. Preflop, I've been consistently, hugely consistently, exactly where I want to be. In the showdowns I've seen, I've generally been either a firm favourite consistently, or on a draw where the odds have justified it. In short, I've generally being playing the type of game I've been learning to for the last several months. The game I've been able to grind out a profit in on a regular basis.
In short, insofar as I understand good play, I've been adhering quite well to it. I'm aware of my mistakes, and am still making them. I've been creating situations which are in my favour. Isolating raises preflop to hit heads up against a LAG. Checkraising to minimise odds where my hand necessitates it. Watching for the steal opportunity and taking it. Betting draws for value when I can. Playing aggressively on flops where I think I have the advantage. Playing to induce bluffs to make more profit.
Time to think out loud.
In three days play, my two pair - on the flop, turn or river have held up once. I've lost money on KK and QQ. Quite a bit. Cowboys cracked 4 times in one session - J6o catching a runner runner flush on the river with no pair, J6o again catching a runner runner straight on the river, with no pair, Q7o spiking a 7 on the river for two pair, and capping all the way, 55 making a straight on the river, capped betting. Running up against quad nines against my premium pair twice in one session, which, oddly, strike me as the most reasonable losing hands. I've been outkicked a bare handful of times in top pair situations, which I read as a good sign. I'm concistently domimnating LAGS headsup, and isolating them when I feel I need to. I've been minimising the odds for draws, and mixing up how I play my hands, with mixed results. IE my mixing up has occasionally meant weaker hands have called and caught up as they suspect a bluff. Quite a number actually.
There have, in addition, occasions when I've been outplayed. People have read the undermining of my play correctly, and I've been pushed off pots where I shouldn't have been- something I sat down to deal with today, and worked on during the week as well. People have seen me play weakly into pots and taken advantage, giving free cards I quite often would not when I'm on top of my game. Hence quitting until I can deal with it. I've run up against smart LAGs who've outplayed me, making me fold where I shouldn't, and call or bet when I'm beat. Situations like this have occured, but they have not been the dominant trend. And my current losing context has served to exacerbate the problem. That said, it still needs work - picked up Millers book this week to help me reorient in these situations.
Its one thing to play well when good play is rewarded. Its another to maintain that discipline when under consistent stress. Yet another weakness to address.
So a couple of days off, and a change of scene are required. And then back to the grind, to take advantage of the copiuos notes I've accrued in these savage few days.
Thursday, July 21, 2005
The Gaming Room
Terrible. Terrible. Terrible.
I quit pokerroom.com - the site I started on, after about 3 months of mildly profitable play (x2.5 my inistial deposit, excluding a 27 dollar bonus spent on a book), and decided to chase bankroll building bonuses for a while. I checked out Scurvydogs online guide (recommended) for some ideas, and settled on the gaming room. You'll notice I haven't linked it.
The bonus structure is not bad. Quite good in comparison to most sites I've scanned. Up to 300 on a 20 dollar initial deposit, with a mximum amount earnable per limit. Wanna earn more...move up a limit. Above 1/2, theres no need to move up.
I'm sticking with 50/1 limit for the moment. Players are considerably tighter than pokerroom. Average players per flop run at around 35%, but play seems to loosen up slightly as evening comes on. The biggest pot I've seen in about 15 hours of play is 13.40. As a result, table texture is an intereesting mix of the amazingly tight - preflop raising is quite often rare - and aggressive, fairly fearless players who are happy to three bet bluff, and seem to come out ahead. Smart loose aggressives. The idiot to intelligent player ratio is comparatively low, thusfar. The games are tougher than the pokerroom norm, for instance, at this level.
Bluffing is quite often intelligent, with a willingness to let go, and well constructed in terms of reads and flop and turn texture. I've seen a lot of isolating reraises against the few non smart loose aggressives. You can tell I'm having problems with it. Chasing is considerably less of a problem, which is a pity, and I'm having to up my average game standard to break even. Which is not a bad thing. I'm playing unexcitedly ubertight, and selecting my bluffs carefully. Which is not working out, but I am getting my money in with the best of it. I'm happy enough with my play, and I'm pretty sure its the correct strategy.
Software wise, the site has some problems. Hand histories are stored on your hard drive, and available in .txt format only, and on request on a time as opposed to hand number basis. The lobby is badly organised, and infrequently updated. I've clocked at least a seven minute delay between updates on aregular basis. Table stats are displayed, but I'm guessing they are inaccurate also, re players per flop, and average pot size . It certainly seems that way when I check my own table stats against what I see at the table.
Session stats are not provided, but you can reset your statistical history (covering all sessions played) on a session by session basis. Showdowns display for about two seconds. Additionally, the dialog box scrolling at the right of the screen is useful for about 90 seconds. After that, it displays an unbroken slot of white space with the single last table action at ther top. The text scrolls up. Resetting it will buy another 90 seconds. Annoying.
All this adds up to a dearth of information while the game is in progress. And information is money. And for no good reason, I don't have enough of the stuff to play optimally. A frustrating experience, considering how hard I've worked at developing observation as part of my game.
All in all, the software is singularly annoying. And for no good reason.
So I reckon I'll finish up my bonus - I've no idea how far into I am, theres no way to check - and quit the site. Because of the software. Because the software is terrible. Because I have no interest in paying rake to play on a site which undermines my ability. Because I don't want to spend my Saturday morning bellowing obscenities at a cathode ray tube while trying to work out who won the last hand, and with what. Its far from an enjoyable experience.
Customer support takes a little time. I've had three dealings with them. Average 8 hour turnaround per enquiry. Too busy not working on their software to talk to me, I guess.
Because Belle Rock Gaming are lazy, lazy people.
Next stop, Paradise, I think.
I quit pokerroom.com - the site I started on, after about 3 months of mildly profitable play (x2.5 my inistial deposit, excluding a 27 dollar bonus spent on a book), and decided to chase bankroll building bonuses for a while. I checked out Scurvydogs online guide (recommended) for some ideas, and settled on the gaming room. You'll notice I haven't linked it.
The bonus structure is not bad. Quite good in comparison to most sites I've scanned. Up to 300 on a 20 dollar initial deposit, with a mximum amount earnable per limit. Wanna earn more...move up a limit. Above 1/2, theres no need to move up.
I'm sticking with 50/1 limit for the moment. Players are considerably tighter than pokerroom. Average players per flop run at around 35%, but play seems to loosen up slightly as evening comes on. The biggest pot I've seen in about 15 hours of play is 13.40. As a result, table texture is an intereesting mix of the amazingly tight - preflop raising is quite often rare - and aggressive, fairly fearless players who are happy to three bet bluff, and seem to come out ahead. Smart loose aggressives. The idiot to intelligent player ratio is comparatively low, thusfar. The games are tougher than the pokerroom norm, for instance, at this level.
Bluffing is quite often intelligent, with a willingness to let go, and well constructed in terms of reads and flop and turn texture. I've seen a lot of isolating reraises against the few non smart loose aggressives. You can tell I'm having problems with it. Chasing is considerably less of a problem, which is a pity, and I'm having to up my average game standard to break even. Which is not a bad thing. I'm playing unexcitedly ubertight, and selecting my bluffs carefully. Which is not working out, but I am getting my money in with the best of it. I'm happy enough with my play, and I'm pretty sure its the correct strategy.
Software wise, the site has some problems. Hand histories are stored on your hard drive, and available in .txt format only, and on request on a time as opposed to hand number basis. The lobby is badly organised, and infrequently updated. I've clocked at least a seven minute delay between updates on aregular basis. Table stats are displayed, but I'm guessing they are inaccurate also, re players per flop, and average pot size . It certainly seems that way when I check my own table stats against what I see at the table.
Session stats are not provided, but you can reset your statistical history (covering all sessions played) on a session by session basis. Showdowns display for about two seconds. Additionally, the dialog box scrolling at the right of the screen is useful for about 90 seconds. After that, it displays an unbroken slot of white space with the single last table action at ther top. The text scrolls up. Resetting it will buy another 90 seconds. Annoying.
All this adds up to a dearth of information while the game is in progress. And information is money. And for no good reason, I don't have enough of the stuff to play optimally. A frustrating experience, considering how hard I've worked at developing observation as part of my game.
All in all, the software is singularly annoying. And for no good reason.
So I reckon I'll finish up my bonus - I've no idea how far into I am, theres no way to check - and quit the site. Because of the software. Because the software is terrible. Because I have no interest in paying rake to play on a site which undermines my ability. Because I don't want to spend my Saturday morning bellowing obscenities at a cathode ray tube while trying to work out who won the last hand, and with what. Its far from an enjoyable experience.
Customer support takes a little time. I've had three dealings with them. Average 8 hour turnaround per enquiry. Too busy not working on their software to talk to me, I guess.
Because Belle Rock Gaming are lazy, lazy people.
Next stop, Paradise, I think.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
17th July, 2005
I've spent my first 3 months playing at pokerroom.com, and its time for a change of scene. Time to concentrate on building a bankroll. Let the bonus hunt commence. Just call me Ahab.
I guess its time for a quarterly review.
From an initial deposit of $127, I'm current at $300. Its not a wild profit, Its not a tearaway success. Its a hell of a lot of work for very little money. But thats fine. The profit is largely bonus free, which is how I wanted it. I've been more centred on education and experience than bankroll building up to now, and quitting the bonus trail gives me an uncluttered and honest perspective on how I'm doing. Its also an incentive to learn. I've done ok. I could do a hell of a lot better.
It has been educational. The losing streaks, the balls out raging tilt, the bad plays, bad habits, bad mindsets. Limiting up, and crawling back down again. Each one an almost inevitable, and valuable experience.
I've read books, forums, online articles. I've thought I understood them. I've lost, and I've read em again. And again. I've bored several of my friends with poker talk, strategy, odds, rehashed hands played both badly and well.
So what am I doing well, and what am I doing badly?
Hand selection: still needs tweaking, but I'm much happier than I had been. I still need to peractice, think about, and read about mixing up my hands in certain situations. Specifically, hand selection in playing against LAGs. When to reraise to isolate. My current thinking is too unsubtle. Tight in early, looser selection in late when the opportunity to reraise to isolate presents itself. When the opportunity isn't present, reraise only with premium hands preflop. At the moment, I'm finding smart loose aggressives are dictating too much of my play to me. A subtler understanding of the texture of the table is required. I need to pay more attention to my position relative to the action, and let that factor more into my decisions. I can reraise the LAG in late with AJo and be happy I probably have the best hand. But if the Rock of Gibraltar UTG has called, the texture of the hand is different.
Aggression: I've done a hell of a lot of work on this of late, and yielded some good results. Developing the aggressive side of my play has helped my hourly rate overall. Bluntly put, when I properly apply it, it contibutes significantly to my hourly rate. I'm more aggressive with pocket pairs. I'm less agressive in certain situations with AK, AK, AJ, KQ. When applied improperly, its disastorous. Its a good addition to my play. I'm more aggressive in certain situations with drawing hands, re valuebetting, or semibluffing. I'm less aggressive on the river, and more on the flop. Again, I'm having some problems in this regard recently with LAGs. Both varieties. Again with the need for subtlety.
Observation: Another area I identified that I wanted to work on. I think of observation, aggression and hand selection as essential to one another. I don't use pokertracker (though I will pick it up for record keeping, hand history and personal play trend analysis) or gametime to watch whats happening at the table. Its my preference not to. And I have had a hard time developing the patience to sit tight and watch whats happening for the next 40 minutes of folding. But I've worked on it, developed it, and the skills and patience I have gained have helped feed into the advantages I'm gaining from working on other parts of my game.
My jump to The Gaming Room has presented me with a variety of new challenges. Play is noticeably tougher than I'm used to. The LAGS are smarter and willing to lay down. The rocks are tighter. Its tougher to find and exploit the weaker play I've become used to. Pots are smaller, showdowns are rarer, and in general, players seem to be more observant. Its an interesting challenge, and one I'll have to master to move on. My game is at the stage where my best game can beat the tables I'm playing at. So time to knuckle down and beat it then. I'm down 50 dollars so far for 20 hours. Some mistakes. Some bad laydowns, and some bad bets. And some bad beats. But even still, I'm playing well enough to come out ahead. Just. If I bring my A game.
So time to hit the books and brush up on my game. Time to work on heads up aggression, player targeted strategy, and the best course of action against loose aggressive players.
I guess its time for a quarterly review.
From an initial deposit of $127, I'm current at $300. Its not a wild profit, Its not a tearaway success. Its a hell of a lot of work for very little money. But thats fine. The profit is largely bonus free, which is how I wanted it. I've been more centred on education and experience than bankroll building up to now, and quitting the bonus trail gives me an uncluttered and honest perspective on how I'm doing. Its also an incentive to learn. I've done ok. I could do a hell of a lot better.
It has been educational. The losing streaks, the balls out raging tilt, the bad plays, bad habits, bad mindsets. Limiting up, and crawling back down again. Each one an almost inevitable, and valuable experience.
I've read books, forums, online articles. I've thought I understood them. I've lost, and I've read em again. And again. I've bored several of my friends with poker talk, strategy, odds, rehashed hands played both badly and well.
So what am I doing well, and what am I doing badly?
Hand selection: still needs tweaking, but I'm much happier than I had been. I still need to peractice, think about, and read about mixing up my hands in certain situations. Specifically, hand selection in playing against LAGs. When to reraise to isolate. My current thinking is too unsubtle. Tight in early, looser selection in late when the opportunity to reraise to isolate presents itself. When the opportunity isn't present, reraise only with premium hands preflop. At the moment, I'm finding smart loose aggressives are dictating too much of my play to me. A subtler understanding of the texture of the table is required. I need to pay more attention to my position relative to the action, and let that factor more into my decisions. I can reraise the LAG in late with AJo and be happy I probably have the best hand. But if the Rock of Gibraltar UTG has called, the texture of the hand is different.
Aggression: I've done a hell of a lot of work on this of late, and yielded some good results. Developing the aggressive side of my play has helped my hourly rate overall. Bluntly put, when I properly apply it, it contibutes significantly to my hourly rate. I'm more aggressive with pocket pairs. I'm less agressive in certain situations with AK, AK, AJ, KQ. When applied improperly, its disastorous. Its a good addition to my play. I'm more aggressive in certain situations with drawing hands, re valuebetting, or semibluffing. I'm less aggressive on the river, and more on the flop. Again, I'm having some problems in this regard recently with LAGs. Both varieties. Again with the need for subtlety.
Observation: Another area I identified that I wanted to work on. I think of observation, aggression and hand selection as essential to one another. I don't use pokertracker (though I will pick it up for record keeping, hand history and personal play trend analysis) or gametime to watch whats happening at the table. Its my preference not to. And I have had a hard time developing the patience to sit tight and watch whats happening for the next 40 minutes of folding. But I've worked on it, developed it, and the skills and patience I have gained have helped feed into the advantages I'm gaining from working on other parts of my game.
My jump to The Gaming Room has presented me with a variety of new challenges. Play is noticeably tougher than I'm used to. The LAGS are smarter and willing to lay down. The rocks are tighter. Its tougher to find and exploit the weaker play I've become used to. Pots are smaller, showdowns are rarer, and in general, players seem to be more observant. Its an interesting challenge, and one I'll have to master to move on. My game is at the stage where my best game can beat the tables I'm playing at. So time to knuckle down and beat it then. I'm down 50 dollars so far for 20 hours. Some mistakes. Some bad laydowns, and some bad bets. And some bad beats. But even still, I'm playing well enough to come out ahead. Just. If I bring my A game.
So time to hit the books and brush up on my game. Time to work on heads up aggression, player targeted strategy, and the best course of action against loose aggressive players.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Oh My indeed....
"Most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time.
Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely
concerned with the movements of small, green pieces of paper, which is odd,
because on the whole, it wasn't the small, green pieces of paper which were
unhappy. "
The clawback dull as death grind from the desparate edge of bankroll busting horror continues.
Frankly, being profitably bored makes a pleasant change from being scalp crawlingly, teeth shatteringly, monitor throwingly(its a word....its a word...) terrified, but broke. And with that sentence, I say goodbye to my youth forever.
For there was a time when I was a fan of fear and terror. When I gobbled it down in fistfuls, and stomped upon the earth. When youth meant the measure of myself was the measure of what I could contain. Be that beer, vodka, whiskey terror, rage, laughter or ideas. When the abyss and I were on friendly terms, and were happy to gaze into one another for hours at a time. There were rumours. There were scandals. There were awkward social situations. There were partners who just didn't understand.
But the abyss and I were never more than just good friends.
These days I tend not to contain too many things. I've found you can catch all sorts of infections if you try too much. I'm measued in intangibles - money I never see, paid for work that doesn't actually make anything, for people who don't really want it anyway. They say you can't take it with you when you're dead. The 20th century seems to have updated this idea. I'm having a damned hard job of it trying to get my hands on any of it while I'm actually alive. I play poker against people who aren't actually there. Even the chips I use, which are supposed to represent money which isn't there, arent there. They're representations of chips. They're not even real simulacra. They're fake fakes.
I studied philosophy in college. And for that reason, that sentence really screws with my head. Puts me in mind of the day I saw an add saying "genuine fake Mexican furniture for sale". And they meant it. Quite a lot of the world stopped making sense right then.
Its becoming increasing difficult to believe, in the modern world, that anything outside of reality television, media trials, Medieval Total War and grapefruit are actually real.
Which makes me wonder why I get so wrapped up in losing money online when it happens. And why I have such a feeling of wellbeing when I don't. Money Money Money Money.
Money. Fiduciary or Fiat Issue. Literally "Faith Issue". The magic of money. Its worth is a function of the community of belief. Now thats the power of positive thinking for you. Theres a very real sense in which it deosn't exist, unless we all really really want it to. Some countries wanted to believe in it so much that the penalty was death for refusing to accept it in trade. Ir represnents something which isn't actually thre. It represemts our willingsness to believe in it.
Money has never meant that much to me, which is an odd statement for a poker player to make, I guess. Its a thing worth mentioning only in its absence, and not important enough to talk about for its own merit.
So why do I get so wrapped up in it?
For this reason, and its a wrong one.
Money is a problem to be solved. And like most of us, I exist in a community of belief that binds us together in some sort of reasonably workable civilised manner. And wrapped up in the social contract is an acceptance of several common currencies, the common currency of politeness, beahviou, conduct an manners. The currency of morals. of toleration, and the balance with freedom. The currency of charity, where we accept we are linked by a common bond within which we exercise our responsibilities to one another. And the currency of finance. All composite parts of the project of civilisation that frames our lives.
But with money, its so easy for the means of life to become an end. To measure ones worth with it in any meaningful sense is a self defeating exercise. It lacks the language. It lacks the words. Its vocabulary is too slim a thing to contain anything but its simple self, and to measure oneself by it is to lose too much in translation.
And these are good thoughts to remember when the cards run cold.