Must read. Thank you for that review.

Commerce



Call it fate, luck, randomness. The same day that I finished Hunting Fish, the poker road-tripping book that ends with the 10/20 games at the Commerce, I drove up to that very casino to check out the games for myself. If Jay Greenspan could play 10/20, why couldn't I?

I surveyed the high-stakes area and spotted my game. In the two seat, wearing his usual blue surfer shades, sat Mark Newhouse, the November Niner who just made back-to-back final tables. The one seat was open. I sat next to Mark, took out my entire bankroll--about five grand--and plopped it onto the felt. I could feel Mark eyeing me from behind his shades.

"Name's Bob," I said. "But you can call me The Punisher."

By the end of the night, the stacks told the story:


Fine. I didn't play 10/20. But Mark Newhouse and a bunch of other "name" pros were there, I promise!

The pic above is my meager stack from the 5/5 game. After a brief descent into poker hell at Oceans Eleven--a 40min/100max NL--there was no way I'd put myself through that again. So I decided to hop into the 300 min/500 max and nit it up with my $300 buyin. And nitty I was--in part because of my stack, in part because the table was playing extremely loose and splashy. There were three action players at the table; two of them were atrocious, and 90% of pots were being opened to 25-30.

Hand One

Q9o in the BB, 5 players call a minraise and I flick in 5 from the BB with Q9o.

Flop Q34 ($60), checks around. I bet 30 into 60 on an 8 turn and get one caller, we both check the river and his 56 is good.

Hand Two

250 effective, EP raises to 20 with one call, I fold 55 from the sb. This is right on the border between a call/fold, I need about 15:1 or more to flat this profitably.

Hand Three

250 effective, fold 55 utg. With my stack and the table dynamic, the situation was great for a limp/jam, but I thought 55 was a bit too weak. Not limp/calling or limp/raising here, so I just mucked.

Hand Four

300 effective, I raise AQo from the SB to 25, BB and limper call. I check/fold 567 rainbow.

Hand Five

300ish effective, I raise QQ utg, a donk flats, new asian villain who hasn't played a hand in two orbits makes it 55 from the CO. I hadn't played a hand either. I tank/fold. This seems weak to me now, but all decisions seem crappy.

Hand Six

250 effective, I look at AA UTG. At this point I've been a complete nit, haven't won a pot and have rarely raised. The table is less crazy than when I sat down but still active. I limp, anticipating a raise, and it comes--from a fifties Hollywood producer, complete with a beanie and wrist tattoo, who's been quite loose. Surprisingly no one else calls, so I continue to underrep and just flat his $30 raise.

Flop Q43 ($65), I check/raise his 35 to 85, he ships I call and beat KK.

Hand Seven

K6o in the SB, I lead 20 into 25 on kj6, get one call from a TAGgy/tricky young asian who had been running well. I bet 50 on a brick turn and take it down.

Hand Eight

500 effective, I raise AA (no club) to 30 otb over a bunch of limps, Producer and Asian guy from the last hand call, Flop J94 (100)

Asian leads 50, I call, Hollywood folds. He checks the 2 turn and folds to my 125 bet.

Donk limps, I raise AJo to 20 from the HJ, 4 calls, flop AQ4, same Asian guys leads 50 again, I just call again, others fold.

Turn Q ($200), check/check.

River 6, he leads 140, I call and lose to AQsooted.

Things got crazier--much crazier--at Hawaiian Gardens the next night. Stay tooned.

My pleasure, hope you enjoy the book.

It would seem that the best narratives about poker tend to focus on the people around the scene rather than the author's journey, unless, of course, the author is consciously personified as a type, as, like you say, Holden does to great effect. Without a doubt it's interesting that you seem to be coming to the conclusion that narrative itself is not really suited to documenting the poker lifestyle because readers already know the "end" before they "begin" the story: poker is a lonesome grind, not for everyone, there are better options in life, etc.,. I'm not sure if I've said this before, but I reckon some of the most realistic and effective writing about poker is the repetitious type of journal keeping you find in the PG & C forum, largely because there is no pretence of much else happening apart from the daily grind.

Hey Bob, jokingly sent this following link about Cyber games in Korea to my gf, for she has been binge-playing a video game for the past couple of days... Anyhow very interesting article about compulsive gaming and I thought you would like it :

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2...ies/korea.html

Good assessment, with interesting comments. I wrote a review for 2+2 years ago in one of the poker book threads.

Agreed. And yet, overwhelmingly, most narratives emphasize the author's journey--an "I" narrator--rather than people around the scene. Why is this?

To me, this shortcoming has to do the author's unwillingness or inability to get close to his subjects. This may be the result of the secretive nature of poker as a "closed" community. It may have to do with the difficulty of understanding all the nuances of poker, especially in-game strategy. Or it may be because poker itself, with its emphasis on deception, misdirection, and masks, makes this task nearly impossible.

Whatever the reason, poker nonfiction is almost entirely lacking in descriptions of rich interior lives apart from the author (who, after all, knows enough about himself to make up for his lack of knowledge of others).
Maybe the novel is better suited for this task--although, if you consider the best poker novels out there--King of a Small World, Shut up and Deal--these too follow the consciousness of a single protagonist.

What we need imo is for Faulkner to come back to life and write a poker version of As I Lay Dying.

There's no question that, for me, the best descriptions of the poker lifestyle are found right here in the PGC.

Thanks Dubn. I'm guessing the more immersive these games get, the higher danger of addiction. I've stayed away from Starcraft because I'm afraid it might be too fun to resist!

Here's another good recent article on competitive gaming: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/11/24/good-game

Thanks for pasting it here. Looks like we came away with similar impressions. a low-rent version of Big Deal--that's a spot-on description.

Hawaiian Gardens, part one

The game got crazy fast. 3/5NL, 300 max I sit for three.

I have one general question about completing from the SB. This was the first time in a while that I've played in 2/3 or 3/5. A bunch of times 4 or 5 players would limp and I'd be looking at trash getting like 14:1 from the pot. What's your limping range in these spots?

Hand One:

complete K9o from the Sb, five of us see a K62 flop (25), I bet 20 and one guy, a terrible sleepy drunken black dude, calls with 80 behind.

turn K I bet 40, he calls. River bricks I shove he folds.

Hand Two

I raise AK to 25 over a limper and get three calls. The limper, a middle-aged asian woman, looks uncertain and bumps it to 125, I fold.

Hand Three

I raise AJo to 15 from the HJ, button calls. Bet 20 into 35 on qt6cc, he folds.

Hand Four

I raise TT to 15, 4 callers. Ch/Fold on AK7

Hand Five

Sleepy Donk with 200 raises to 25 one call I fold QJhh

Hand Six

Limp 44 otb after limper fold to 30 from sb

Hand Seven

I raise AA to 30 from BB, 4 calls

J78 (120)

shortie has 50, I have 300, Asian lady covers, I bet 50 Asian calls.
I ship A turn, 250 into 220. Not thrilled about this turn sizing.

Hand Eight

Fold 78cc utg+2 with 500ish effective and a mix of small and big stacks.

Hand Nine

550 effective flat utg's 25 w 22 fold J59dd

Hand Ten

Limp A7hh UTG+2.

Hand Eleven

Limp a9ss on button after two limps fold to big raise from sb

Hand Twelve

Raise TT to 20 UTG, button (150) and BB (300) call, Flop TT7 (60), ch call button 60, BB calls.

Turn 7 (240). Checks thru

River 3, BB leads 75, I shove button and BB folds. He has a seven here always, a minraise might be better.

Hand Thirteen

Limp 78o otb after 4 limps

Hand Fourteen

Raise 15 utg with 99 4 calls fold to donk bet on AQ5

Hand Fifteen

Raise AT to 15 from CO, three calls. Bet 40 into 60 on AJ4 rainbow and win.

Hand Sixteen

Raise JJ to 25 over limp

Hand Seventeen

Fold Aqo otb to 20 open from sleepy donk with 200 effective.

Hand Eighteen

Raise A2 to 15 from the HJ, 3 calls.

Flop AQK (60), checks thru. 3 on turn, I bet 30 only the button calls. River A, I bet 30 he calls with KJ

Hand Nineteen

400 effective flat 30 with 44 from sb fold flop

Hand Twenty

Flat button raise to 20 from BB w 88, ch fold a64

Hand Twenty-One

This hand is interesting. New player, young asian guy, had just check/raised a 7 hi flop with top pair and shoved turn when he picked up a flush draw with Q7 to stack AA. So I know that he's willing to make moves/play draws aggressively. Villain has 600, I cover.

Button limps, I raise 99 from the SB to 20, villain calls from BB and button calls, Flop K79. I bet 45 into 60 and villain makes it 125.

Would be interested to hear how to proceed in this spot.

Hand Twenty-Two

Straddle and 3 calls, I raise to 50 otb with AK, four calls.

Flop Q54 (250), new players shoves for 110, sleepy donk calls off for 70, I call and bink a king

That got me up to here before

A good SB limping range is all suited connecters/gappers, suited aces, pairs, broadways that aren't in our raising range. I don't believe it is +EV to complete the blinds with trash because we will still be out of position for the remainder of the hand. Sure there is more money in the pot but also more opponents to get through.

I like to 3bet flop vs an agro donk on a wet board with a range that is ready to get it in (like a set of 9s, in this case). It holds the double advantage of taking back initiative, making him pay to see the turn and might induce him to shove light over a smallish 3bet...

so on the K79, you bet 45$, he raised to 125$, I like to make it in the neighborhood of 255$, leaving him with a bit more than 300$ behind on the turn. I think flat calling OOP on the flop is a mistake, as you will not extract more from a top pair sorta hand anyways, but let him realize his equity on his draws.

The only drawback to such a play, is that you are only value orientated (and thus never balanced). I would 3bet here with as little as 108 and AK with 125bbs effective.

There's definitely scope for widening your raising range from late position. While I can understand limping from EP (e.g. pps/suited connectors and aces), these should be raised from late position. Hands 6, 11 and 13 are perfect examples, in which you can gain a strategic advantage from the difference between your perceived and actual range. With your pocket 4s in hand 6, you might even find the SB flats rather than raises, and, obviously, you can flat if SB chooses to 3bet (so long as stacks are deep enough, that is). If you're not comfortable raising into 4 limpers with a weak hand like 78o (hand 13), then I would just fold; however, if you decide to raise, then I would be actively thinking about your perceived range and how you'll play certain flop textures (i.e. which you'll c-bet, which you'll check behind with the option of betting turn, etc.,). Raising a hand like 78o from LP might feel a little spewy at first, but after a while you'll find ways of using position to your advantage, since you're more likely to be in a heads-up situation, where your opponent's range is transparent.

Well written Dr. ...

sounds like this range is constant? Three identical scenarios: four limpers to you in the SB, the only difference is the blind structure:

1/3NL: (16:2 or 8:1 or 11%)
2/3NL: (16:1 or 5%)
3/5NL: (28:2 or 14:1 or 6.6%)

I'm wondering if an 11 to 5 equity difference should lead us to tweaking our limping range, ie adding more hands. I think my default will be to play a range similar to what you're suggesting.

At this point the guy could have been an aggro donk or a creative tag. He hadn't played many hands in two orbits but had spazzed once--so the jury was still out..

To me the two biggest factors were stack sizes and being OOP. My feeling was that he wouldn't be raising top pair in this spot but big hands, semibluffs, and bluffs. The problem with flatting and checking the turn is that we let him check behind with all FD/SD hands that are in decent shape vs us. I considered flatting and donking out on safe turns. The problem with this line is that we prevent him from bluffing.

As played I took the exact line you suggested--clicked it back to 250 and he snap folded.

Interesting to think about my range in this spot. I would be fast-playing nut flush draws, QJ and sets--that's about it, maybe AA some of the time. I'm probably bet/calling Kx hands. So I actually like his raise in this spot deep, which puts a ton of pressure on me.

thanks for this post, this is a definite problem area for me. I have plenty of experience with these situations online, but they can't always be easily mapped onto live play. I have noticed that villains will often flat raises with hands that, in a limped pot, they'd raise themselves.

that's why they call him Tha Dr!

Hawaiian Gardens, part 2

Hand 22

Limp after 2 limpers w 66

Hand 23

limp/fold QJo from the HJ

I can't remember either of the hands above, but they continue the theme of limp/folding instead of raising IP and driving the action. Something to keep in mind moving forward.

By now, the table is an all-out action donkfest. Every raise, regardless of sizing, is being called in 4-5 places. Stacks are deep.

Hand 24

I raise 20 utg+1 with AQ, 3 players call, flop

A98 ($100).

I bet 70, one call from the CO, a young Asian woman who started the hand with 500 (I cover). She's been stacked twice already and has casually rebought for the max.

Turn J (240). This is a pretty ugly spot. I tank and bet 100, planning to fold to a shove.

"You have big ace? I have small ace," she says. Then she calls.

River Q (440)

I check, she bets 200, leaving 60 behind. "You raise all-in I call," she says.

"I thought you had a small ace," I say.

She smirks. "I forget."

I tank for like four minutes and fold.

Hand 25

I raise to 30 otb with KQ over four limpers, who all call.

Flop JT9 (125), checks to me. I bet 100 and the asian kid from before flats from UTG, everyone folds.

He started the hand with 500. This is the same guy who raise/folded vs. me from the BB, and who semibluffed with a pair/fd.

Turn 2 (330), he checks, I tank and ship for 350, he


I'm assuming that he'd raise smaller flushes on the flop, which leaves Axhh combos, JT, 78ss, maybe 99. Even if he has hands that we want him to have --QT, Q8ss, KJx (and these are unlikely, given that he c/c 30 from UTG--KQis a dog vs his range. I think turn is a check/evaluate river.

Hand 26

Very next hand, in straddled pot, two limpers and I raise to 50 with AQ from the CO, guy with 200 calls on my direct right.

Flop 247 (125). He checks, I decide that a shove could be interpreted as tilt so I bet 50 planning to call a shove, he folds.

So the night ended on a crappy note. With the exception of the two hands above, which seem pretty damn bad, I felt like I played decent. My final LA stop would take me over the Bike casino.

The Bike and Talking Stick

My final two sessions of 2014, at The Bike and Talking Stick, were ying and yang. The Bike's games were pretty crappy, I played poorly, and I ran poorly. A lot of this was the function of just being tired and having played a lot of poker for the last three days. Need to get these lackluster sessions out of my system.

The standout moment of the day--certainly a lowlight--involved an altercation between an enormous Latino boy-man and a muscular black guy wearing an arm cast. The big guy had just been at our table, playing and acting in an atrocious manner. Of course he'd been winning. And every time he won a pot, through a bold bluff or call, he insulted the loser.

"Loser. You lose," he'd say, jabbing a chubby finger in the direction of his opponent. In between hands he wolfed down a plate of shrimp and rice, leaning back and tilting the plate's contents down his throat in a manner that reminded me of Jabba the Hut.

Eventually, and inevitably, he started to lose. He dusted off ten stacks of reds and left the table, just as he ordered another shrimp plate.

We thought he was gone until, walking back from the bathroom, Jabba waddled towards our table, stooped behind the black guy's seat, plopped a finger into the guy's already-eaten soup bowl, and fished out a leftover pickle from the tepid broth.

I started chuckling and locked eyes with another player who, like me, had witnessed Jabba snatch some grub. "Did that just happen?" he asked. I assured him that it had.

Once the black guy learned what had happened, he bounded across the room towards the thief. Even though he was a foot shorter, the guy leaned menacingly in Jabba's face, pointed his good finger dangerously close to his face. Fortunately the situation didn't escalate any further.



Talking Stick was awesome, as I expected it would be. The room was as nice as I remembered, and I was pleased to see that a throne for 2+2er Duke, the resident King of Talking Stick, had been installed in the far corner of the room.

The games were good, I played better, and I ran so-so. A mid-forties Latina had 1K in front of her and was running over the table, playing like a 95/2 style (Limp everything except AA in which case you minreraise!). I learned that, having been at the casino from the previous night, she was still down 1.5K. Soon I got direct position on her and she auto-doubled me when she flopped a pair and I flopped a set. Wasn't able to get much going after that.

Thus ends the second leg of my poker trip--yet another great time.
I have some thoughts that I'll write up as a year-in-review.

In the meantime, have a great holiday, everyone!

Bob,

Good to meet you at CSD. Hope we meet again before you head off to the steaming jungles of SE Asia (but next time we'll make it at TSR).

Happy holidays,

Jim

A Christmas Present from Scansion

Merry Christmas phellas. I spent the day watching NBA bball and hanging with the fam. And reading one of the best trip report threads on 2+2: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...op-tr-1224895/

Part Two: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...equel-1366126/

Scansion, or Zach Jiganti, writes about his summer at the WSOP with a dramatic flair that's rivaled only by Matt Moore. Check it out if you haven't.

More on Jiganti here: http://www.bloombergview.com/article...-grizzled-vets

Happy holidays to you too! I'm around for the next two weeks and would enjoy meeting up again. Let me know when you're around.

Year in Review

Life

2014 has been a good year. I found increased direction and fulfillment in my work, and traveling for the last few months has allowed me to reconnect with friends and family. The lowlight of the year would have to be my bike accident, although it did give me greater perspective. Nothing will make you stop and think about what really matters like a bone poking through your arm.

Poker

Bob's Bankroll: 4.8K

I logged 143 hours from October-December, winning about 13 BB/hr. Even across this lol small sample, I've learned a few things about myself and how I've handled the live grind.

Session Length

I tend to lose steam after about four hours, when I need to either quit or take a break. If I'm in an excellent game I'll sit for longer, but in general I start feeling (and playing) worse after 4-5 hours. In addition, my desire to play went down after playing multiple sessions/days in a row.

I'll need to work on my endurance, but I don't see this as a big problem. I'll probably be playing only 20-25 hours a week, and splitting a full day into two four-hour sessions seems like a good strategy.

Confidence/Ability

For most of the trip I've forced myself to play TAG, in part to acclimate myself to the live grind, in part because solid fundamentals are the best way to beat 1/2 NL. Having played in twenty-two casinos across the country (), I've seen a lot of rooms and player pools. I'm still confident that I can beat 1/2 over a long sample, but it's clear that I have a ton of room for improvement. I've found myself in countless spots where I have no clue regarding the best line to take.

Priorities

I have a somewhat weird orientation to poker. My poker goals aren't mainly, or even chiefly, about increasing my hourly or turning pro. A bankroll is a means to an end: sitting in bigger games, meeting a wider range of players, and learning more about poker culture in order to write about it. One thing I've discovered in the last few months is that I enjoy thinking more about issues surrounding poker--the poker lifestyle, metagame, literature, interviews--than in-game strategy. These two interests overlap less than you'd think. For example, I don't believe that reading, say, Positively Fifth Street will help me win more at poker.

Should I read one of Ed Miller's books or a poker novel? Should I watch a Cardrunners video or listen to a podcast about poker culture? In general I've opted for the latter option, resulting in less study. I'll need to come up with a structured study routine to improve so that I can beat higher limits. I do enjoy strategy discussion, even if, like ballhandling drills or weightlifting, it's tedious sometimes.

Moving Forward

I'm spending another week or so in Arizona before heading on a trip to Asia, most likely Hong Kong and Thailand. I'll be sure to visit Macau for some poker, but I won't get many hands in during January. The pokering will start in February, when I (finally) reach Nola.

Best wishes from Bob in the New Year!

What do you do for work Bob?

I greatly enjoy reading this thread

gl in 2015!

I'm heading up to TSR today - if you happen to be there I'll buy you and Duke a beer.

Thanks for the scansion links. Reading those became my chief Boxing Day activity. (That's Dec. 26 for you Yanks!) He manages to produce a fascinating story arc out of diary-like postings, is unusual in his ability to make individual hand histories interesting -- and provides some occasional, and surprising, self-reflections.

I teach English. Also writing a bit, now that I'm between gigs.

tx for the good wishes! I enjoy your thread as well...glad to see you're making the successful transition to 2/5. Hopefully I won't be far behind you.

Glad you liked it, part of me wants to go back and reread Matt Moore to see which one I prefer.

Link for that thread?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/10...-tl-dr-659480/

Some Podcast Tidbits

Listened to two recent Thinking Poker Podcasts, and a few tidbits jumped out regarding Poker Purpose--that is, the "why play?" question.

Here's Nick Wealthall, the English poker commentator:

"Poker's the best game on the planet--and it is the best, let's put that to one side--and it's a game. So the reason anyone plays a game is for fun and enjoyment. Now you might get your fun and enjoyment from the intellectual challenge, or because of the money, or because you like to gamble, or because it's just a laugh, and you can have a drink and play with your friends. But I think the reason poker has done well in the face of a lot of obstacles is the amount of enjoyment it gives the people who play it."

http://www.thinkingpoker.net/2014/12...ick-wealthall/

And here's David Einhorn, the investor who's made a few deep runs in the One Drop and Main Event: "I like solving puzzles, and I think solving a poker table, let alone a poker hand, is a great exercise in puzzle solving."

http://www.thinkingpoker.net/2014/12...david-einhorn/