Guess sometimes learning can feel all awkward and unpleasant - with all the new situations, and having to improvise on the fly, and having stuff take a wrong turn?

Guess stuff eventually starts to feel more familiar after a while, and not so overwhelming - and then it can be kind of cool to look back at where things started off and how far things have come, and then it usually feels so good to be able to feel like it was worth it to take that risk to try something new?

Am really looking forward to that hopefully happening with this tourney learning - because right now am feeling a bit roughed up!

So many things to try and keep in mind at the tables - guess will try my best and give things time, see how things go?

Thanks SA - that made me feel better

Hey you know what, a couple of weeks ago was scrolling through twitter on the 4th of July to look at all the ways everybody was celebrating the holidays - and besides seeing all the usual bbq spreads and fireworks clips, someone had posted a pic of a girl wearing the tinest red, white and blue outfit, slapping her butt, and that made me think of you!

Was going to stop by your thread and posted it for you because i know how much you like a patriot Then started to wonder if maybe it was you who posted it in the first place, so maybe there was no need?

Guess the holiday's already passed - will have to keep my eyes out for it next year


Always such a treat to have you stop by to say hi SA - hope you're having a really great summer! Thanks!!

i can't think of anything more patriotic than a red white & blue minidress. and butt-slapping is a key part of baseball, which is america's national past time. so, definitely, definitely appropriate. such a truly american sight, it might even compel our president to publicly remark on the lady's physical fitness, even though he himself is an obese elderly pig.


take some more pictures this summer! i like seeing canada; i may want to flee there some day.

something that helped me a long time ago when i was trying to figure out tournaments on poker stars after learning and playing cash for years, was i wanted to figure out short stack theory first because that's most different from cash and you're short stacked a lot in tournaments, so i played a lot of hyper turbo satellites for extremely low buyin, just for the purpose of getting very comfortable with short stack strategy, then without moving up in limits i taught myself to play 24 tables at once, and THEN i moved to single table sngs then i moved to mtts

idk where you're at rn, but definitely reviewing hand histories after your sessions is the #1 key in improving so don't stop doing that. anyway gl and keep in mind that every mtt is a long shot so don't get down on yourself if you go on a long cold streak because it happens to the best of them.

Wow, it sounds like you put so much time into poker SA - Black Friday must have been terrible for you?

Was lucky enough to get into poker a couple of months before the curtain came down, and that gave me the chance to join the learning league at PS while all the Americans were there - which was lovely, because there were so many nice friendly people who would offer tips. Back then the tips for me were like, 'sometimes those face cards sure can good, can't they Sam - but those J2o don't seem to win as much as one might expect' ... stuff like that!

Now that Americans can no longer play, have no one at the tables giving me tips any more - everybody just wants to take my money! Or wait for me to spew it away in fantastic fashion, as has been the case in recent days!

So thanks so much for the tips SA - it's a bit like old times when was first starting out, because guess ya really am just starting out with some of the tourney stuff Those are great tips about focusing on short-stack play - and then finding a way to practice lots, maybe with hyper-turbos or sit n gos as an alternative to small mtts.

And then following up with the HH reviews is a great one too - was maybe going to not play yesterday and look even more at some of the hands from the day before, but now have two days worth of hand histories to look at - so that was a great reminder that should definitely be making time to follow through with looking those over ... probably worth doing before playing any more.

And then, that's true - guess there's only so much one can do, and maybe sometimes it'll just be variance.

24 tables is a lot! Your hand history reviews must have taken a long time

Thanks SA!!

PS. More pics of Canada to follow

Guess like poker tournament series, there's car race series that travel from city to city? Have seen that one in Monaco shown on tv before, because the scenery's so beautiful ...

There's an Indy race happening in my city this weekend, and they had a practice day today, that was open to the public - missed seeing the Indy race cars, but they seem to have some side events, with other types of cars?


Was a bit surprised to see the cars lined up so close to like the snack trucks, as they got ready for their practice run! Was able to get a good shot of the cars before they went zooming around the track!

There's lots of barricades around the actual track though, so this photo's a bit grainy because it was taken from much farther away ...

And here's a gif of the cars speeding by:

Nice that it only rained a little bit, and then the sun came out - the sky was looking pretty gloomy down by the lake a little bit earlier in the day ...

Guess Honda as the sponsor of the event foots the bill so everybody can come see the practice runs today, and they were asking for donations for the Make a Wish Foundation. But it didn't seem like a lot of people were making donations, because donors were being given a sticker to wear, and not a lot of people seemed to be wearing the stickers? It was a pretty neat opportunity to go see things up close though, and Honda was even doing a donation match, so hopefully Make a Wish got lots of donation money, even if not a lot of people seemed to be wearing the stickers ...

Tomorrow's the art show - wonder if there'll be anything for sale for less than $100?

The annual art show at City Hall's quite popular - guess it's always nice to have somewhere to stroll around and look at pretty things, and it's free of charge so the price is right

There were lots of paintings and pottery, and homemade jewellery for sale ...

There were even a couple of paintings for $100 for sale - and they were landscapes like what was hoping to find! Only one artist though, so just picked up a card today, and will keep looking around to see am able to find others on the internet?

This pottery wasn't the prettiest of the show - but it's pretty special, because this artist made a set that was used at a dinner PM Harper hosted for a Pres. Obama visit - there's a pic of them eating off of them in front of the plates for sale!

Was a bit shocked to see quite a few paintings with $3k price tags - especially since a lot of them seemed a bit out there? Like animals wearing royal garb, or everyday products like a collection of electric fans ... guess that's like modernism or something, not sure?

Have also seen paintings for sale on the internet from artists sort of on the fringes of the Group of Seven that were also in the $3k range that were gorgeous, and seem like they may have more investment value, not sure?


Anyways, pretty day out! Hope everybody's having a nice day!!

So weird - my internet gave out in the middle of a half-price Sunday Story satty while was 4/4 in chips ... and when my internet came back, found myself seated at the half-price Sunday Storm

Am usually the one getting outlasted by sitters - so this is a pleasant change to have the shoe on the other foot, or however the saying goes




Not sure there's much room to get creative at a full ring table, over 100bbs deep - guess will see what things are like a little later on, if am able to make it that far?

So many people at a full ring table Also, this half-price Sunday Storm is a much higher stake than my usual <$1 tourney - but guess there's still been some opportunities to try and take a chance on things ... hope this was an okay spot?

Guess was lucky for it to have worked out - if had gotten called, would have a much smaller stack for trying, so guess that's where the higher variance can maybe come in with the taking more chances?

Nice when it works out though, because haven't been running super super lucky - and now my stack's a similar size to the other big stacks who who have a wtsd over 30%, w$d over 60%?

We're still in the late registration period - so will have to be careful once we get deeper in the tourney and closer to ITM, because that's been where my spew has started to happen the past couple of times, and am still not totally sure why that's been the case ... besides me sucking

Would be lovely to make ITM, but guess will have to get lucky - gl to all of us playing today!!

Hope we make itm in the next 20 minutes or so?

This sounds really flaky, but may sit out at 4:30pm and go to the store, because someone's selling these Duracell usb car chargers for 99c apiece, and was hoping to pick up a bunch to give out as stocking stuffers over the holidays. They're regularly $10.99, so it's a fantastic deal!

Actually, shouldn't get ahead of myself - only have 16bbs, so there's a chance the tourney may still not be ITM by 4:30pm, and will already be out

Just got dealt JJ with 14bbs - here goes nothing ...

Finally got around to looking through the MM tourneys to see what's available - and it looks like maybe the night time schedule in the Americas might have been set with the Brazilians in mind ... so lots of turbos starting at 6pm EST, instead of 9pm? Guess would have preferred for it to be the opposite, so only found one other MM tournament that for sure will probably play, unless it's raining out one day?

Can totally understand why the MM schedule at night revolves around Brazil though, because oftentimes at night the lobbies of the mini-stakes tourneys will wind up looking like this

It's too bad PS doesn't have any regional promos any more, or have competitions by country like they have in the past? Recall having so much fun with those - everyone would get so into things, even when they were just play money

Oh well - will maybe have a chance to play an extra MM or two if it rains, and there's the turbo at the end of the month, so that should be fun

Mini Hand History Review - WSOP Edition*


Used to maintain my blog over at Poker School Online, where they used to run a parallel series to the WSOP called the PSOSOP - which was a lovely chance to have a little bit of the Vegas experience from the comfort of home, for a fraction of the price (most of the buy-ins were $0.25 or less )

One day, somehow managed to sign up for some sort of mixed game by accident instead of the NL game was hoping to play Then at the time, remember getting a real kick out of hearing that people do that at the real WSOP as well

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrustySam

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrustySam;

Oh dear, oh dear ... just registered for tonight's PSOSOP, and got dealt 4 cards ... have no idea what we're playing!!

There was a fun story that got posted over at 2+2 - it looks like someone in the *real* WSOP did the same thing of signing up for a tourney that wasn't NL, and had the same reaction when he got dealt 'too many cards' ... but then he went on to win the bracelet!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alizona

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2015/0...bles-21869.htm

"I thought I had registered for the $1,500 limit hold'em," Pham said with a big smile on his face as he looked down at the bracelet he had just won. "I would've unregistered if I knew what the event was."

"When I got to the table, and when I got dealt five cards, I realized that something was wrong," he said. "I said, 'Oh my god!' because in Minnesota they don't have this game."

Pham currently resides in St. Paul, MN and continued by saying, "This was the first time I played this game, but I tried to learn the game at the table from the people at the table."

Pham's mistake reminded me of mine - unfortunately his exit hand from this year's WSOP Main Event also reminds me of me as well

Guess the spots that took me from big stack to bust were a little bit coolerish - but maybe poor stack management too?


Taking Risks, vs Pulling Back

Was listening to some tips from Dnegs and PH during the WSOP stream, and they were both saying that they felt people were taking too many chances for this stage of the tournament (when the money at stake is so much and the pay jumps are so huge)?

Dnegs also gave a tip about bluffing, and talked about how important it is to keep monitoring peoples' responses to your play - so as soon as they start to see you as a bluffer, you need to stop.


Folding

Then saw these posts in the WSOP Stream thread - do these seem like good tips?

Quote:

Quote:

Originally Posted by z44

Quote:

Originally Posted by .isolated
But a 6 outer is only 14% to hit. You need > 5:1 to call. I realize you said almost but it seems pretty bad.

In this spot I'd go based on my percentage in the tournament. He's got like 12 bigs left if he folds so tiny percent chance to make the FT or even the 18th place pay jump. If he hits he's got 20 million and 50+ percent to make the FT. Just gamble and hope to spike.

If you remember back to like 5 years ago Jon Duhamel made a call knowing he had like 10 outs on the river getting 3 to 1 for a massive pot. If he folded he still had like 70 bigs. But I loved his gamble because if he lost he'd still have 30 bigs and if he hit he'd have an overwhelming chip lead. He went for it, spiked, and won the tourney.

Guess when there's no auto reload after each hand (), maybe helpful to consider how our stack will turn out if we call and win, call and lose, shove, or fold?


Some helpful tips - and they were all free


* WSOP edition means will post Pham's hand as an example instead of one of mine, which are tooo embarrassing!!

By the way, still have more leaks to list - oh yes, there's more!!

Took the day off from playing yesterday to watch the wsop, so was eager to play today - guess will have to leave the Hand History Review, WSOP Edition Pt 2 until tomorrow

My internet's been quite patchy - hopefully it'll still be working later if my hand history review is ready?

Mehhh, internet just came back - oh well, am still sort of pondering spots, trying to get ideas ... guess it wouldn't hurt to take an extra day to ponder stuff a little more?

Better post this quickly before my connection goes out again ...

Am getting quite excited for the show tonight!

Looks like it doesn't start until 9pm though? Guess there should be plenty of time to tun out to the store to get some corn on the cob - looks like the first harvest of the season has just hit the stores?

Hey Sam just wanted to say hello.
You answered a question I posed about a year or so ago about if part of my brain was rascist? I'm not sure why but I had assumed you were a guy. I think I was confusing you with another Sammy I was seeing a lot of posts from at the time, even tho now I think about it you both have great styles but theyre positively miles apart. Even with your Lisa avatar I didn't catch on. It's true, I'm not always the quickest on the uptake :/

Iv been seeing your posts more and more and I believe you actually may be the first user I subscribe to follow, just due to the great attitude you always have. You seem so positive and warm and interested in the world. Not sure Iv ever seen even a hint of negativity in your writings. It's truly refreshing.
I have enjoyed this thread on the down low for a while now too.

Anyhoo, Iv just been reading the wsop final table thread and noticed a few comments of yours. Iv just checked the schedule and its not showing on ESPN here till 9.30 this eve (5 more hours) so I cant read any further as I was nearing the spoilers and that's what brought me here, with a question..
When you get upset do you really say "oh fiddlesticks" ?


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A visitor! Hello marke. - welcome, welcome!!

Gosh, has it really been a year already since that conversation? Time flies

Totally remember your post expressing concern about the possibility your subconscious might secretly be harbouring some biases. And remember taking the time to respond with some reassurances, because you struck me as an exceptionally thoughtful and considerate person, who wasn't at all the way you were concerned you were.

Are you now wondering about sort of the same thing again? Guess my posts don't sound especially girly - maybe sometimes there's a little bit of a difference, like with the fiddlesticks ... boy was sure ever in a lather yesterday, lol!

It would seem to make a lot of sense to assume something unless there's info to indicate something else - and it sounds like you totally did picked up on a bunch of stuff! It totally makes my day to hear that you find my posts refreshing - especially when most of the time my posts are really quite silly So thanks for stopping by to post that marke.


Have a couple of spots from the WSOP that was able to run through an ICM calculator - may post them after dinner before the stream starts ... hopefully the full stream will be on tv tonight, so i won't have to lose my mind and start throwing that 'f-word' around again?

Are you enjoying the show marke.? Really enjoyed not having to wait 6 months to see the table go from 10 to 8 (missed Sinclair's exit) - also, it's quite striking to see how different the play seems now that players haven't had those 6 months to get tutored by all the best pros in the world. At first, thought the lack of break might hurt Hesp, but now wonder if it might have helped him? Guess it's hard to know ...

Anyways, going to go grab some dinner - tonight should be good!

Oooh, my internet was down for the past half hour

But it just came back!


Hopefully it stays on, so will be able to do my pre-show ICM post

ICM Spot from the WSOP


Was mentioning to someone in the WSOP thread yesterday that sometimes like to check spots from tourneys with an ICM calculator, because if were to wait for final table spots of my own to try and practice ICM, it'd just take waaayy too long

Guess a couple of us were wondering about this spot here?

When first put all the info into the ICM calculator, guess SNG Wizard gave Saout a 14% range, which is about what he was shoving? And with that sort of range, guess Sinclair was only supposed to be calling with like KA, and not K8?

Maybe worth mentioning though, that SNG Wizard said it was okay for Saout to be shoving a 100% range on the button as the short stack - and if he was shoving that wide, then guess Sinclair's call would have been okay? So guess whether the K8s call was okay depends a lot on Saout's range?


Got my SNG Wizard for free, for registering to play on 888 - not sure if anybody else still uses SNG Wizard, but guess it's nice to have as a recreational player - it makes it easy enough to come back and check little spots here and there, after seeing them on a stream

9pm - time for the show!!

Aww thanks for the kind words again. You've obviously not seen all my posts here . Whilst I try to never intentionally offend anyone unless I strongly dislike what they're doing/saying, I have a tendency to call things as I see em and I'm probably not always as compassionate to others as I could be.
Yea loving the coverage so far. I didn't enjoy seeing Hesp blow up last night though and I would have maybe liked to have seen Lambs' one raised eyebrow side stare a lil longer.haha.
The 3 hands in quick succession that took most of Hesps stack were brutal to watch. He's such a lovable joyful guy and his whole demeanour changed instantly(as it would with most). When he moved all in with the AT he was sure he was good and it was heartbreaking to see him go from the highest of highs to that soul crushing feeling of disbelief an instant later.
I had a friend come by and missed the last hour or so and was worried I would wake this morning to the news he was out. Very happy to see he's still there with a shot though, and even happier that we are back to live here now and he's returned to his usual good spirits.
I always have soft spot for the underdog in these situations and even though I'm aware he's a massive one here I'm still sending him all my good juju. It's way too cold for me here today (sans a snowboard strapped to my feet) so just been out for a nice big brekky and looking forward to spending a few hours on the couch watching along with the action.
Who's your hot pick at this point?


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Yeah, it seemed like everybody was rooting for Hesp, so it kind of seemed to take the wind out of everybody's sails when his stack took that enormous hit.

Guess with his short stack it seemed like he could go at any time - so that was pretty exciting to see him stick around for all of today and make it all the way to 4th. 4th is like the recreational player's equivalent to a 1st! Was positively over the moon when i came in 4th ... that one time

Fun to see someone have the run of a lifetime


Oh, is it winter for you now - are you in Australia or New Zealand? Nice that you can watch the WSOP and eat breakfast - guess the timing must be much more awkward with the SHRB and the WSOP for people in Europe ... and those are the two best shows of the year!

Hoping to see Pollak have his turn at getting lucky with some cards tomorrow - so the stacks even out a bit more, and the game lasts long enough to see lots of interesting spots! Hoping for another good show tomorrow!

Stopped playing those freerolls over at 888 a while ago because the prize pools got much smaller - lately though, they've been seeming like a really good deal, since all we have to do is spin the Wheel of Ra to get those 8c or 9c tickets ... PokerStars makes us play a whole week just to get that much from a chest

The Pharoah freeroll even had this lovely Egyptian table theme - it felt a bit like being transported away to the Great Pyramids in search of treasure!

Guess it's an opportunity to get some practice in with tournaments as well

Still have a couple of spots from the WSOP that caught my eye - guess will try to post those tonight?

Oh I agree, it was great to see Hesp hang around to get 4th and for sure it's a massive win for a rec. I think I saw earlier in the tourney him saying he considered it a win when he made the final 1000 so to end where he did is amazing.
Yea I'm in Sydney so timing of final table was great for us here. I'm pretty sure it's the first time it's been shown live and in full on ESPN(here) and weather was perfect to spend a few days inside too. Unfortunately for me tho yesterday I was feeling terrible. I think a touch of a cold/flu mixed with some perhaps slightly dodgy Indian food on Sat night was not a good mix and I spent most of the day napping on the couch whilst watching. I saw the first couple of hours and both knockouts tho so seemed my naps were pretty well timed.
I too was hoping Pollak would make a late run, but in the end, despite the fact he was running so well I think Blumstein deserved his win. The 3 barrel bluff was incredibly brave and if called he was in a fair bit of trouble chip wise with a tilt factor I think. That was probably the best move I'd seen at the table and you've got to give him big props for it. The Q high flush fold too showed he was probably playing the best outta everyone when it mattered.
Now, I can tell from posts you've made including the one above, you spend a lot more time studying and working on your poker game than I ever will so you and others may view it differently but that's my take. And I'm sure you've done better than a 4th one time too. So why so modest?!

Hope you had a great weekend


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