Well, I wouldn't say I am exactly the same. I do care about what I am learning, but it is still a game for making the grades. And some of the required classes will be all about the game. I care quite a bit about learning Chinese and not just doing enough to win the grade. Winning for me is fluency.

1. Really? Seems so absurd that Tom would ever be bluffing in that spot w/ that betsizing. I mean wtf do I know, he's a sicko, but in Tom's spot I wouldn't think 77 or 88 pay me off (99 isn't really an option since the turn was a 9) and 33-66 will probably even fold otf. I agree that Tom played the hand perfectly though.

2. So you're snapcalling also? No worries about JJ+?

1. SNGs were always boring as hell. They were also ridiculously easy to learn how to play at least reasonably well. This meant that games got harder and harder. I still did well, but I saw a lot more opportunity in cash games, and finally decided to stop being lazy and learn something new. I think the hardest part was moving away from something I had ‘mastered’ and had always done well at. If I wasn’t very good, I would have quit them way sooner.

2. I started at 3-6 NL.

3. No. Everyone still sucked then.

4. I played maniacally. I had to tighten up a bit after a while. It was good starting out that way because I got in a lot of dicey situations and learned what works and what doesn’t a lot faster. I would imagine most people making the transition from sngs to cash games start at full ring and play like they would in level 1 of a sng. Definitely not the way to learn how to play cash games imo. I always stuck around and played short handed (before there were HU tables) and really enjoyed going to battle with people.

1. GSP ldo

2. Couldn't believe it, so sick.

3. Jones, Silva is over the hill. Hasn't looked great in his last couple fights and Jones looks unstoppable.

1. Yea, it seems absurd he would be bluffing, but it is also absurd to fold for 50k into 200k.

2. Of course I am worried, I live in fear, but if he doesn't have JJ+ better than 1 time out of 5, I am pissing away money by not calling.

Yeah I'm obv calling there also, I was just puzzled by Tom's reaction at Elky not instacalling. Was very cool to get your insight on the hand, I thought it was a pretty interesting one.

Great well btw, top 3 threads on 2p2 as far as I'm concerned. Good luck with all your future endeavors.

Raptor, your a boss. Thank you for giving up some of your free time to do this.

Don't mean to derail... Real quick, does Strassa have a well?

Not really a well, but http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/19...ayers-1031429/

1. ya boy don't finish fights though! haha, he will dominate you strategically and win the dec

3. not convinced yet with his standup, machida won the first rd with standup....anderson ko's him rd 1 imo

Do you think you would be a significantly better than break even player in 2011 high stakes sngs on stars or do you think the technical skill levels have advanced so much since your early sng days that you couldn't now beat the games?

I probably wouldn't win right away, but it is hard to imagine that I would still be losing if I played them nonstop for a few weeks. I used to consider myself among the best of the sng guys and there is only so much room for growth with so many solved positions.

thanks for doing this, and for taking questions from everyone, not just HSNLers. great well.

1. You've mentioned getting coaching from Tommy Angelo. How did you find the experience? Did it change the way you thought about poker/life at all? (I ask because his series on DC had a big impact on the way I saw everything, treated situations IRL and in poker in a big (and very positive imo) way.)

2. How many 5 year olds?

1. Tommy is great. I had a lot of issues when I went to see him that were about dealing with being a poker player. It is hard to explain the effect he had, but it was very positive for me. I think it changed my outlook a lot. It sounds like hippie bs but my attitude about the game changed after I got coaching from him. I haven’t seen the DC series but I should probably check it out.

2. Millions

how many times have you played with a proven long-term winner at highstakes and thought "how can this guy possibly be a winner?"

on an unrelated note, have you played with dragons1974?

which is your preferred library to work in at columbia?

when i was there, i tended to work in lehman (conveniently close to all the social sciences stuff i was working on in the SIPA building), uris (b-school students don't give death glares if you make noise, great if you are working with other people) and avery (the total opposite of uris, but good for isolation, plus the main floor just gives off that ivory tower feel that you want from an ivy league school in a way no other library does). i had a hard time finding a spot where i liked working in butler

I vaguely remember you having a lot of difficulty against __FullFlush1__... and, if I'm not mistaken, you may have even quit him. Was he as tough as it seemed, or did he just run good? Also, do you think you have an edge over him over the long run?

1. I dno how you would ever verify a proven longterm winner at high stakes. I have played with a lot of people at 25-50 and been like well, this guy doesn’t seem very good. I think that at 200-400 sometimes as well, but it probably takes a lot of hands to really know, and it is hard to get volume there. It isn't uncommon for someone to run up a million without being a real killer.

2. Yes.

Butler is awful, my soul gets sucked out of me any time I walk in there. Sipa feels like a dungeon, and there aren’t a ton of plugs (I always at least listen to music on my laptop). I used to work in Uris a lot but I tended to socialize more than actually get work done there (though I was in there today, obviously not getting tons of work done). They opened up a new building called ‘the northwest corner building’ (I assume they are waiting on a big donor), and the library is the Science and Engineering library. It has maybe 80 cubicle like study holes on the second floor with great lighting, comfortable chairs, and individual plugs. It gets crowded sometimes, but I get there early on weekends and can always find a spot. It is by far the best for getting stuff done. Very quiet and you can block out everyone around you the way the desks are set up.

The only time I have been in Avery is to get food at Brownies in the basement. I will attempt the ivory tower experience at some point in the near future.

We only really played once, and he definitely got the best of me. He did a lot of unconventional stuff that no1 really ever does as a bluff, as a bluff. And that really ownd me. I would have liked to play him more. He ran well, but he also outplayed me, and I don't generally like that

can't you verify to some degree with PTR? and yeah i meant mostly 25/50ish, i imagine hardly anyone has a decent sample at 200/400.

regarding dragons1974...not sure how to put this...what's the deal with him? he does so much stuff that seems weird/bad at face value but has very solid results. if possible, without breaking down his game in any way that would be considered bad manner, can you should any light on this mystifying player? if that's asking too much feel free to ignore : )

I remember playing with him a lot, but honestly I remember nothing other than that. My dog puked in my computer and destroyed all my hand histories. If I looked it up I would remember, sorry I can't help ya here :/

You mentioned you play magic online? Are you a well known magic player? I used to play magic a ton going to pro tours and stuff before I got into poker, wonder if we might have bumped into each other - so basically have you been to protours/worlds/gps and what is your first and last name? :-)

99% sure david benefield never played a pro tour or at least no day2 of a pt

David, you stated that Durrrr played the hand near to perfect.

Can you elaborate on why his flop bet (around 22k into 100k) was perfect? What does betting this amount accomplish? How often are you utilizing this type of betting?

I cant express my gratitude for this well, thanks

No, I am horrible. Some of my friends are very good and I am just trying to learn.