well said carnivore..keeping things fresh and staying motivated have to be two of the most important skills in any job, but esp in poker. glad to hear youre enjoying the grind and seeing the world. ill be traveling a bit too in the fall , can't wait! if you swing through nola/the gulf coast, be sure to hit me up.

glad youre enjoying the thread, i look forward to reviving it in the coming months.

Back to Houston



"Health is life lived in the silence of the organs" --19th century French surgeon

The pic above was taken at sunrise near Freeport, Florida, when I pulled off the road for a nap. A young man, about 20, was there too, hitchhiking his way from Alabama to Freeport. He was deeply tan, wore a backwards baseball cap, and was making the trip on a rickety bicycle.

"Where you headed?" he asked.

"Houston," I said.

"Where's that?"

Hopefully he made it to his dad's house, even if his knowledge of national geography is lacking! I'm happy to report that I made it safely to Houston after an eventful month in Georgia. The month was filled not just with all things related to Flannery O'Connor--25 of us lived in the dorms at Georgia College, Milledgeville, to study her work--but also, unfortunately, a pretty terrible bike accident. I took a spill on my way to the gym, fractured my arm, and spent four days in the Macon hospital. Fortunately I'm healing well and should be fine, though I'll have to rock this cast for a bit.




When it comes to injuries and good health, I've been extremely lucky. This was my first trip to the hospital, and I'm thirty-two. One of the ironies of the month for me was that I came to Milledgeville to learn more about O'Connor's failing health (she had lupus and died at 39) but I was forced to learn about my own. Definitely thankful that I've made it home more or less intact.

Had a chance to play some live pokers for the first time in a while, too. Was at a crazy table at the Ebro Greyhound Track in Florida. The villain in this hand, a bald guy in a Brazilia tshirt, was one of the most aggro players I've seen.

V1 (1K+) aggro monkey. had raised his button straddle every time to 25.
hero (700) TAG
V2 (350) donk

villan straddles the button, I raise A5 to 17, V2 calls, V1 makes it 125, I fold, V2 shoves. V1 pauses, glances at the pile of red chips in the middle, shrugs, and calls. V2 shows A9off. V1 waits for the board to run out and flips 63off for the winning hand

Aesah on why you shouldn't leave your job to be a poker pro: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/sh...postcount=4131

online poker gets a lot of play in Newsweek's feature article, "How Washington Opened the Floodgates to Online Poker, Dealing Parents a Bad Hand." The piece has already generated quite a bit of conversation in the poker community. Two responses here--one a rebuttal (http://www.onlinepokerreport.com/134...line-gambling/) the other an overview of the debate: http://hardboiledpoker.blogspot.com/...on-online.html.

Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion, the Texas Gangster Who Created Vegas Poker by Doug Swanson

interesting nonfiction book came out recently by Doug Swanson, an investigative crime reporter for the Dallas Morning News. The reviews I've seen so far have been strong. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Here are a few: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ype=blogs&_r=0

http://online.wsj.com/articles/book-...son-1408129181

The 10 Most Important Poker Books and Why They’re Essential

Nolan Dalla, the author of One of a Kind, a bio of Stu Ungar, recently blogged about his top ten poker books. http://www.pokernews.com/news/2014/0...ooks-18198.htm

This is poker nonfiction, not strategy. Here's his list and my thoughts:

10. Cowboys Full: The Story of Poker by James McManus (2010)
9. Lost Vegas: The Redneck Riviera, Existentialist Conversations with Strippers, and the World Series of Poker, by Paul McGuire (2010)
8. Shut Up and Deal by Jesse May (1998)
7. According to Doyle by Doyle Brunson (Original Edition 1987 — Reprinted 2008)
6. The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time by Michael Craig (2006)
5. Positively Fifth Street by James McManus (2004)
4. The Biggest Game in Town, by Al Alvarez (1982)
3. Ghosts at the Table, by Des Wilson (2009)
2. Poker Faces, by David Hayano (1983)
1. Big Deal: One Year as a Professional Poker Player, by Anthony Holden (1992)

not surprised at any of the inclusions. All of them are deserving. I wish King of a Small World got more love--if Shut Up and Deal can be included as nonfiction, than Bennet's book certainly could.

What does surprise me is that Dalla ranks Holden and Hayano so highly. Big Deal is much less memorable to me than McManus's similar first-person account of the WSOP. And Hayano's book, while informative, is pretty dry. There are no personalities, only personality types.

Dalla also offered a list of the best strategy books: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2014/0...ooks-18297.htm

good blog post today by Sam Grafton about Dan Colman, silence, and the relationship between poker players and the poker media: http://www.runitonce.com/chatter/poker-and-silence/

Thanks for the book list and the article, looks like I have some reading to do ...

you and me both!

Let the Pokering Begin!

Let's see...the last time I did a life update I was more or less out of commission with a broken arm. Happy to report that the arm's doing much better now. Hopefully will start weight-bearing PT soon.

The main update, though, has to do with the shape of this blog in the coming months. With my postdoc officially over, I have time to put the poker project on the front burner. Which means more pokering. I see myself at phase 2 in this process now--having read a bunch (but no means all) of the poker literature, I know what kind of book I want to write. The key now is to gather raw materials, which means playing, writing, meeting players I want to include in the book, writing, interviewing, writing, playing some more, writing some more...you get the idea

The upshot is that you can expect more frequent posting about strategy in this blog. One of my convictions is that you can't write about poker from the outside--you have to be there, in the thick of things. So part of my challenge will involve surviving at the (low limit) tables. At this point I've beaten 1/2NL over a decent sample, and I strongly believe that I can consistently beat, and maybe crush, that limit. But I have virtually no experience at 2/5 and above. Which means that it's time for...

Bob's Bankroll-Building Bonanza!

I'm assigning myself 1K to start with. Once I approach 7Kish I'll start shot-taking 2/5. If anyone could recommend some good bankroll-building threads, I'd appreciate it.

I'm heading to Biloxi tomorrow thru the weekend for the WSOP Circuit Event. I'll be grinding 1/2 and looking to meet fellow 2+2ers, so feel free to shoot me a PM if you'll be in town.

The pokering will begin in earnest in October. So let's see how I do

good luck

Nolan might not know that "King of a Small World" was basically non-fiction - just the names were changed but most of that stuff really happened in PG County.

Just FYI, I'd rank "Ghosts at the Table" higher on the list. It's #1 imo.

Thanks jrr, I'll bump ghosts further up the list.

Biloxi trips going well so far, trip report in a few days. Meeting some cool people. I broke my record for most $ lost In a day but am hanging in

Really enjoyed his articulated post, thx! Good luck in your bankroll building and writing project. Any scoops on what aspects you will look into in your future novel?

thanks, Dubn! Had a fun first trip this weekend that I'll be writing up shortly. As for the book, there are many aspects of the game that I plan to include. The basic idea is to tell the story of a poker room through a handful of its players, focusing less on strategy and more on stories--the history of the room/city, the personalities and goals of the players, and my own experiences. The book will be nonfiction, not a novel, and will hopefully turn out to be a compelling mix of history/ethnography/journalism.

How are you poker travels treating you? Do you have any plans to make it to the US/the gulf coast?

Bob's Bankroll-Building Bonanza in Biloxi: Part One


Any of you have a job? --drunk donk, scanning faces at the table
A better question: do any of you have a life? -- dealer

just returned from a fun trip to Biloxi with short stops in Nola and Baton Rouge. This was my first poker trip in long time--the hands and sessions all blur together; fortunately I took notes--and I came away with a lot of respect for the grinders who can consistently put in good volume. I have a long way to go (As an aside, Duke0424 is in the middle of a ridiculous prop bet where he's trying to average like 15 hours a day for the month of Sept.The idea of playing 15 hours for even one day is pretty unappealing! It's unlikely he'll make it but he's battling ):
:http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/17...poker-1376971/.

Most of these hands happened at the IP, where the WSOP Circuit Event was wrapping up. I had the change to meet some grinders, including Bill, co-founder of one of the best sites on Gulf Coast poker: http://www.gulfcoastpoker.net/.



I'm going to post hands that are nonstandard or trouble spots. Comments much appreciated as always.

Game and Stake: NLHE - 1/3

Hand One:

Hero (300$) limps UTG with A5, the button, an old man (175$), raises to 10. I call along with one other player

Flop ($33) - KT9

c, c, Button bets $25, I call, players to my left folds

planning to donk into him on a diamond, Q, or J

Turn ($83) - 5 c, bet 30, call

same plan for the river.

Hand 2

Reads:

Button (400$)is a tiny, fortyish Asian lady who has been playing very passively preflop, limping and calling raises for any amount, and spazzy-aggro post. Her stack size has been swinging wildly.

Hero (covers) has been active.

Preflop - Hero raises to 10 with 88, Spazzwoman flats, one other caller from BB.

Flop 862 rainbow (30$)

Hero checks, Spazzwoman bets 25, hero calls.

Turn K (80$)

c, bet 55, hero calls

River 5 (210$)

c, bet 75, hero shoves,

Hand 3

Reads:

EP: Spazzwoman (2K)
CO: super loose/passive black dude ($400)
B: Hero ($700)
BB: Face-up roly-poly kid from Houston (300)

four limps to hero who limps along with 58. Roly-poly makes it 15 more, five players call.

marginal but don't see how I can fold being in position and this deep.

Flop 894 (108$)

c, BB checks, Spazzwoman bets 25, CO calls, Hero raises to 75.

raising to fold out overcards, slightly better hands, and weak draws that will call the 25$ bet. I felt that this was a good spot to make a play in position with a bloated preflop pot.

My first session felt good. I played for about seven hours and called it a night. Came back the next morning and got punished.


Hand four

Reads

UTG: Twenties headphone-wearing black guy (200$), seemed pretty tight but bluffed an Ace high 3 spade board with the K so I know that he's sometimes capable of moves.

Button: Hero (covers): just sat down.

Preflop: UTG limp, CO limp, Hero raise to 15 with QJ, they both call

Flop (49$): T45 c, c, hero bets 25, UTG calls.

Turn (99): 7, c, Hero bets 55, UTG shoves, hero calls and

Hand 6

Reads:

EP: chubby white guy (350$) who plays loose and may be tilting.
SB: Hero (covers) playing snug at the moment. We had played two pots where I had raised, he had called from the BB and donked into the field for full pot. I folded both times.

Button straddle, hero limps 33 from SB, EP raises to 20, folds to hero who calls.

Flop 347 rainbow (50$), c, EP bets 30, hero c/r to 80

He has overpairs in his range and doesn't like to fold. I want to play for stacks and a flop c/r looks less believable than turn c/r

turn 9 (210), hero bets one bill (yes, hundos play in Biloxi. can make it hard to tell stack sizes but that's another story), EP calls

river 8 (410), hero shoves for 125, EP calls with

Hand 7

Reads: BB: ABC Geezer (500+) with a floppy pink golfing hat
Hero (300$): TAG

Preflop: Geezer attempts to raise, sees it's his BB, and waits for the action to fold around. I look down at QQ and make it 15 over two limps. BB and the limpers call.

Flop 8T8 (61$): c, c, hero bets 40, BB calls limpers fold

Turn 3 (141$), c, Hero bets 100, BB calls.

River A (341$), c, c, BB shows

Hand 8

Reads

CO: busty woman in a tight-fitting Saints shirt who's been friendly with the dealers, playing loose/passive, definitely a reg, probably a losing player.

Hero: nitty

Preflop: limp, CO limps, Hero raises to 15 with 7T

often limping behind here, but the table had been playing tight, I had been tight, and raising in position is good They both call obv

Flop AJQ (48$), c, CO reaches for chips and checks, I check

Turn 7, c, CO leads for 30, I call

River K (118$), CO checks, Hero

The second batch of hands happened on Thursday, when I broke my record for most money lost in a day (a bit under a grand). The question: how would I respond?

Having already read most of these, I decided to download McGuire's Lost Vegas. It was engaging at first but I soon found myself getting tired of (and at times irritated by) the author's persona and writing style. This isn't so much about poker as it is about the life of a professional poker blogger, describing his 5-year career in Vegas (and elsewhere), his rise to success, and (most of all) his Hunter Thompson-like indulgence in drugs, alcohol, and strip clubs. He's 33, but he writes with the sensibility of a testosterone-fueled, and not very mature, 23-year-old. Some good historical anecdotes get recycled but if you've followed the poker scene they're familiar. To this he contributes some new anecdotes (about Ivy, Helmuth, Matusow, etc), which if unfamiliar in their particulars are also unsurprising in being more of the same.

After I finished, it occurred to me that this book was published just before Black Friday (which meant that poker bloggers not only had less of an audience but also less funding from the sites). Wondering what had happened to McGuire since then, I went to his Tao of Poker site and discovered he had closed it down in 2012 with a striking mea culpa, in which he says such things as:

Of course, reform is always relative, since I also see that he then started a new website called The Tao of Paulie, which featured a podcast called "Dope Stories." But as of about a month ago he ended that due to lack of funding.

I've been to Paulie's website and listened to him on The Thinking Poker podcast when he was a guest plugging his own show. Didn't realize that it's defunct. Lost Vegas sounded like a second-tier poker book even before your description of it, one I imagine I'll read when I get through some other, more important ones.

Your description of (and dislike for) Paulie's persona reminds of "Bad Jim" in Positively Fifth Street, which I recall you liking very much. McManus also references Hunter Thompson. How does McManus succeed where Paulie fails?

"Dislike" may be too strong, but certainly lack of patience for ...

Part of the problem is a demographic one. I'm too old (and have read too much, a lot of it on 2+2) to be thrilled by tales of "then I chatted up a hooker, then I did some blow and followed that with other drugs, then I stood next to a famous pro at a urinal ..."

But a large part of it is the level of writing. McGuire is competent but he doesn't create the narrative intensity of either Thompson or McManus.

hah...you mean you don't like reading about bump-ins with famous pros at the urinal? I've heard McManus is working on another poker book, will be interesting to see what he comes up with.

Bob's Bankroll-Building Bonanza in Biloxi: Part Two

After Thursday's woeful session, I took some time to relax and review my play.



I came back to the IP Friday morning ready to turn things around. Spazzwoman was back, placing ten bills on the green baize across the table. Wearing a Houston Texans t-shirt, Roly slid into the seat to my right, his belly jiggling like an enormous water balloon.

I got off to a good start when I defended my $6 button straddle with AJ against a young kid raising UTG to 26. After seeing a J43 board, I called his $40 cbet, checked the 2turn, and made a $50 value bet on the 4c river. He called, nodded, and mucked. A few hands later, after he had moved to the other side of the table, I three-bet his $15 open to $45 with AA, which he quickly called.

Flop Q43 rainbow (95) c,c.

Turn 7, he check/calls a $50 delayed cbet.

River J, he check/calls a $75 river bet and mucks.

I managed to build my stack up to about $600 when I began tangling with a portly businessman, Carl, who sat at the far end of the table, one seat to Spazzwoman's left. He too was at about $600 in chips, and seemed to be a decent thinking player. He was raising into any pot that he entered to $7, and seemed too loose, so I took the opportunity to 3-bet him for wider value and with speculative hands. The first time I squeezed his UTG raise with AK to 30, getting three callers. On an A32, Carl bombed 125 into 120 and stared me down. I'm pretty much hating this spot with stack sizes; best case scenario he has AQ or the same hand. I considered peeling one but decide to fold. He later told me that he had

Soon after that, I three-bet his $7 open again, this time to $25, with A3.

"Hunnerd," he says, sliding a stack of reds across the betting line. I instafold and he flips QQ.

Soon after that, I make it $20 over two limps with XX and Carl in the BB.

"Hunnerd," he says, sliding a stack of reds across the betting line. I instafold and he flips QQ.

These hands provided a context for our only serious showdown of the afternoon, when Roly limped UTG and I opened AA to $20. "You better watch out, son," he says, riffling a stack of reds. "I might have to raise you without looking." He squints down at his cards, glances at his stack, and eyes me from across the table. "Hunnerd," he says, sliding a stack of reds across the betting line.

I debate whether I should raise or flat with stacks at a tad over six hundred. I doubt that Carl would reraise me light here, regardless of his speech. Plus there's a chance that he'll think I'm frustrated. I decide to click it back. "Two-twenty-five total," I say, and assume my tanking pose: one hand supporting my scruffy blond hair, eyes on the center of the table.

Carl creaks back and forth in his chair. He cuts out calling chips, counts what he'd have left if he's wrong, talks to himself, to the table, to me. "You have a hand, son? No queens this time for me. You show if I fold?" I say nothing. After a few minutes he holds his cards over the betting line, poised to fold, and asks me one last time if I'll show. I say nothing.

"Cain't believe I'm doing this," he says, and he folds



I played another significant pot vs Spazzwoman when I raised $20 over a limp with KQ. Four of us see the flop:

K97 ($80) c, c, c, I bet 50, only she calls from the BB. I have $700, she covers. '

Turn 5 ($180) she donks 50, I call.

I can raise here for sure. Decide to flat to keep bluffs in her range and manage the pot size.

River 9 ($280), she donks 150, I snap call and she shows

That hand got me up to my high-water mark for the afternoon:




Wish I could say that the session kept going well, but I ran into some tough spots later in the day.

Reads

SB: fifties woman ($225) who hasn't been at the table much. When she has she's been quiet.

UTG ($500): Roly, still playing loose and face-up

Hero (covers): Roly has openly commented that I'm running over the table, that I always have it, that he can't beat me.

Preflop:

UTG limp, CO limp, Hero raises to 20 with AK, SB, UTG and CO call

Flop A56 rainbow ($83), SB donks for 35, fold, fold, Hero calls.

Turn: A ($153), SB donks 45, Hero calls

River 8 ($243): SB Shoves for a bit over 100, I call and she flips

Hand 2

Reads:

UTG ($215): Middle-aged bald guy who has been yucking it up with the table but who seems to be playing tight

CO ($175)
SB ($500): Roly
BB ($150)
Hero ($500): same image as above

Preflop: UTG raises a $6 straddle to 15, hero calls with AQ

Especially interested to hear about thoughts on preflop, I considered all three options here

five of us see an AQ4 flop ($80), c, c, UTG bets 90, Hero calls and the action folds around

Turn: 7($260), UTG ships for 100, hero calls and is up against

And that was that. The good news is that I bounced back from a rough second day, and a ton of coolerish hands, to finish about even for the trip. I'll be in Houston for a few more weeks; not sure if live poker will happen until I head to Florida in the beginning of October. Onward!

dreamed that I was out in Vegas with Antonio Esfandiari and Phil Laak. Went somewhere to play poker, Jim McManus sits down with 1K and I cover. He raises, I reraise with AA, he 4bets, I fivebet, he shoves, I doublecheck my cards and actually have 46o. I call anyway, He has A4o and wins.

I told Antonio the story in the limo drive back, but he didn't seem impressed.

Yeah, my travelling is going fine : I will be hitting some APT events this winter. By gulf coast, you mean the gulf of Mexico?

My folks own a place in Florida, so I do spend a few weeks every couple of years, but I can definitely see myself grinding the 2-5 at the HardRock in Tampa, while taking shots in the 5-10 on the WE...

Did not realise you were on the road Dubnjoy.

Dreaming about poker Bob? At least dreaming about winning!

[QUOTE=DiggertheDog;44659959]Did not realise you were on the road Dubnjoy.
QUOTE]

Yeah, have been for a while. I told you that I studied in literature in university... but alas!, being the romantic that I am, I preferred to travel around and do some writing instead of focusing on the academic side. Poker ultimately provided me with personal and financial freedom that I was seeking.

But I don't want to derail this thread any longer...

Yea...to me the gulf coast means Texas, Louisiana, Western Florida. Hope your travels are going well. I'll be on the road myself for a bit. Stopping first in Florida and will be playing at the Hard Rock a bit.