[ ] Using WSOP observations and applying them during the rest of the year makes you a critical thinker

more boc answering people's questions, less random chatter!

BTW, people use optimal for a nash equilibrium strategy because that's how the word is defined in MOP.

Even if theoretically there might exist a maximally exploitative strategy vs an opponent ("optimal" in the sense that it will win the most money), I think it would be impossible to ever find it, because it's based on psychology which is fluid.

A nash equi "optimal" strategy is something that you can find using mathematics and sufficiently advanced computers. That is why finding it is interesting, and also why using the term "optimal" for a max. exploitive strat doesn't really make sense cause you could never get to that point so why even bother naming the concept.

this, I mean this is the boc4life well, where is boc

ok ok ok, I hope you guys are ready for this well to continue for at least a couple more weeks. I got a little bit overwhelmed, and have been shooting for a skillgambler-esque VPP pace this month.

This is kind of a weird either/or. They're both important for different reasons. If you want to be a professional for a long period of time, discipline and mental fortitude will need to play a major role. If you want to succeed at higher limits, it'll probably take some creativity and ingenuity.

As far as the second part of that statement goes, I don't want people to read that and think that to ever win at higher limits you need to take crazy "creative" lines and completely change the way you play. However, it's definitely important to be able to think outside the box. Challenge yourself and the way that you think about the game. I frequently see narrow-minded, simplified, "for dummies" thought processes in posts on here, and I think it's very important expand your thought process sometimes. When people say "no one ever folds a pair in a blind battle", I cringe. When people say "it's a live game, he raised the river, that can never be a bluff", I roll my eyes. Be willing to try new things, don't be afraid of looking stupid at a poker table. One of my biggest eye-opening moments at LHE was when I realized that I didn't really need to semibluff with every single openended straight or flush draw. Another was realizing the value of passive lines in position. Very basic stuff in hindsight, but stuff that didn't come to me very "naturally". Getting into a rigid, rote strategy will certainly keep you from becoming the best player you can be.

Wait, didn't I beat you at foos?

I like LV...Sort of. For poker, I think there are obviously much better cities to visit. For strip clubs, LV is definitely one of the best, but the open all night/high prices thing is a dangerous combo for me. It's a great city to drink and party in, but in the future when I visit, I'd like to focus more on the drinking and clubbing, less on the strip clubs and live poker.

I assumed the original question was something like "what winning regular plays the worst?" as opposed to "who's the biggest fish on pokerstars?" It's a tough question to answer. I'm just not gonna touch it anymore.


Never heard of Tim Hortons tbh


lol, I operate on a rotating sleeping schedule. I really just sleep when I'm tired, whatever time of day that happens to be. My favorite hours to be awake are definitely from midnight til sunrise though, working hours during the week suck.


distajo is awesome, Cole sucks. Taylor Swift is hot, and I'm willing to put my hands over my ears and buy into the "nice girl" gimmick.

Really? From what friends have told me, Vancouver and Toronto flat out crushes Vegas. And in San Fran, while they may not look quite as good as in Vegas, you get a much more "interactive" experience, if you know what I mean.

[QUOTE=pig4bill;22117281]Really? From what friends have told me, Vancouver and Toronto flat out crushes Vegas. QUOTE]

a) I doubt boc's been to Toronto or Vancity strip clubs

b) As a resident of Toronto (and 6 time visitor of vancity) This is just flat out, not true. Vancouvers mediocore at best. Toronto is good... But vegas is better. Girls are much hotter.

Montreal gives vegas a run for it's money.. 10$ lap dances from reputable establishments is pretty incredible. Rare to find vegas quality girls tho.

This cracks me up and makes this well so awesome.

Really?? This is the first time I've heard this.Hmmm...

I'm told Montreal has actual sex clubs, not just the pretense of strip clubs.

re: quality - I've seen listings of Montreal hookers that give up nothing to Vegas strippers on looks. Maybe in Montreal the best looking are hookers instead of strippers?

Don't forget about the Falls.

I havent seen any, but wouldnt be surprised..

It's certainly illegal tho... It's not like a brothel in nevada/Amsterdam where the can openly advertise.

I know there's an exclusive swingers club here in Toronto where people **** openly in the club..
But there's no prostituion going on... You gotta be a member to get in (submit a picture, and they only accept attractive people lol)

It usedto accept couples only, but I think its starting to accept singles

what is the best for you to learn the game?
what do you think improved your game the most (posting, reading, coaching, other).
do you use a poker friend on a regular basis/coach?

I didn't mean it that way. I meant there were "entertainers" on a stage. Mid-day buffet sometimes included.

How come you are so easy to beat in HUHU sng's?

If online poker goes away tomorrow, what do you do next? ie, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Is this the boc well, or everyone but boc post thread?

I can't handle experts at HUSNGs.

fwiw, I don't mind other people discussing stuff in this thread... I realize everyone is looking to pick up some expert boc advice from this thread and finally hear my poker story and such but it takes me a while to do these batches of answers. Working on one now.

[ ] true
[ ] false

i'll throw a softball while we wait

glad I've finally gotten to the villain Qs. Tons and tons of thought are going into these.

Movie: In the serious category, I'll go with Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction. I like that movie a ton, and her part is definitely the best.

For the stupid category. Ben Stiller as Tony Perkis (Heavyweights)/White Goodman (Dodgeball). Pretty much the same character, and it's a character that exudes greatness and makes for great movies.

"Bad guys" who aren't really villains:




Wrestling: Best villain in the days I watched wrestling was definitely Vince McMahon, with a special mention for Shano Mac. In the annals of pro wrestling, I'm sure those guys aren't high in the pantheon. So I'll add in that Ric Flair must have been an amazing villain before he turned all old-guy fan favorite.


Poker: Jean-Robert Bellande. Always portrayed on televised poker as a total buffoon who the audience should be cheering against. I suspect he's good for games, and his whole "broke millionaire" thing is pretty awesome. Also, this leads me into my bonus villain category...

...Favorite Survivor Villain: Jean-Robert Bellande. My favorite TV show to watch entire seasons of while grinding deserves a category. JRB was given one of the worst edits anyone's ever been given. His portrayal on American TV certainly set back the perception of poker players to the audience of Survivor. Edited on Survivor just like he's edited on poker TV: Lumbering buffoon you're supposed to love to hate.


Hey armor, sorry it took me so long to get to this...

1) You've nailed some of it already. The first key difference as you move up limits is definitely increased aggression. Learning to deal with increased aggression is not a trivial thing, and absolutely the most important aspect of learning to beat bigger games. That's a very vague answer, and I know you're hoping for some deeper insight, so let me see if I can provide some more for you.

A common thing that you'll hear is that "As you get into tougher games, everyone starts to more or less play the same, and what separates the breakevens from the big winners is tilt control". Overall, I think that statement is a little bit incorrect. There's still plenty of variation in different players' styles, tilt control isn't the ONLY thing that's holding back the breakeven players. But tilt control is really, really important. Working on the mental side of your game is a terrific thing to do, especially as you're moving up to limits that you may not be totally comfortable playing yet. Moving from 10/20 - 15/30 to 30/60 - 50/100, the up and down swings are going to be much bigger than you were previously accustomed to. Everyone recognizes that it's important to handle the downswings without going on lifetilt, but it's also important to keep an even keel through the upswings.

Really, what it comes down to, is stay in good games. When you hit large downswings, you'll be tempted to stay in bad games to try to win back what you've lost. When you hit large upswings, you'll be tempted to play in any game that runs, because your confidence will be high and you'll feel like the best player in the world.

After typing this out, I re-read your question and I see that I didn't actually answer it. You asked what the differences between the levels were, not for a game selection lecture. I'll list a few differences for you quickly:

1) The players are better
2) There are fewer fish
3) The fish are usually more of the "aggrotard" variety, rather than the dead money loose-passive
4) Nits go from being annoying EV suckers in the raketrap limits, to being straight-up dead money. Small stakes players see a 24/17 TAG and say "whatever, I don't really want that guy in my game". High stakes players see a 24/17 TAG and lick their chops, saying "Let's play shorthanded, preferably with that guy on my left."


2) This is a tough question. What sets me apart? I dunno really. I'm willing to put in lots of hours, though that's not always the case, and some grinders put me to shame. I have a ton of experience with upswings and downswings, and feel like I keep an even keel better than most. But I've made plenty of mistakes with long, tired, tilty sessions, and while they're less frequent than they used to be, they still occur today, though for the past several months it's only happened to me at non-LHE games.

I'm sure I have tons of technical leaks. There's no way I'm playing any sort of "perfect LHE". I don't spend nearly as much time as I should running Stove, calculating equity vs ranges, or any of that stuff. I also feel like playing millions of hands of LHE with very little play of other games turned me into a bit of a robot, and held back my ability to think critically and understand poker. Playing other games has brought some new views to my LHE game, and only time will tell whether that's a positive or negative thing.

Mentally, though, I do feel very strong. A year or so ago, I realized that the only way I was ever going to start playing tiltfree was if I held myself accountable. I feel like a lot of people assume that they're "supposed" to get angry when they run bad, or at least that's the way I used to feel. It actually is possible to take bad luck in stride, to laugh it off, and move on. But you're going to have to be the one to make that happen, no one else is going to do it for you.

I'm sure there are a lot of people reading this who have seen me go off in chat, and are thinking that all of this is a load of BS, and that I tilt as hard as anyone else. Well, to those people....Maybe you're right. But it's something that I feel deserves as much work and attention as anything else in your poker game.

^^great post!

+1. Thanks Boc

Funny, he seems to think you are almost a lock to show, he was thinking of putting it on the invites.

And don't worry about the costume, if it's like last year, everyone will be half naked by midnight anyways.

I can confirm this.

You're doing a swell job, boc. I've enjoyed reading your well.

boc, moving out of penn state this weekend and back to jersey, been hearing tons of 80/160 amazing ho and hoe games have been running, any chance you are going to try and get on those or with sne chase do you have to pass them up?

lol, I was gonna come to State College this weekend, but the plans just fell through like 2 hours ago.

I wouldn't be opposed to making an AC trip, but I don't have a ton of cash and I really should be SNE grinding. We can be in touch.

was that discussed on this thread already, or it just takes time?