Online Poker Sucks!

Not really but I thought that would at least get you to read a little farther into this post. As I have not really had the time to go to the casino lately I have been playing a little more online. I enjoy it but not nearly as much as live play. Also, because I don't really want to wire a bunch of money online I only put a few hundred in there and try to walk up the limits to get a game that I would like to play. So right now I play $5/10, $10/20 6 handed tables and try to run it up so I can play higher. That is frustrating in itself because the game is too small to make a difference and the play has to be much more straight forward as people can't lay down second pair, third pair, TP weak kicker, Ace high... you get the idea, you had better make a hand or you are not going to win. You just can't bluff at those limits. Not really that much different than a live game at those limits. It does take away some of the creativity of the game however. So why do I like live play better? Let me list some of the reasons....

Being Physically present allows you gather so much more information and influence the game. You can't pick up on physical tells online. There are some other subtle tells online but they really aren't that reliable. Are they taking a lot of time because they are slow playing a big hand, do they have a weak hand and are thinking about folding, or are they just Multi-tabling 3,4,5,12 tables and just can't react that quickly. I don't mind if players are multi-tabling that much as it means they really are not going to concentrate on one game and will give up a little edge by doing so, but when it really slows the game down it bugs me, just a little though.

You can learn a lot about a persons playing style by seeing what they look like and finding a little about who they are. Why are they playing? Do they need the money, do they dress nice, crappy, what do they do for a living? Are they there to gamble? Are they drinking? Are they young,old? Are they a woman, man? I have talked about this here before but people just play differently against women than men. You can pretend to be a woman online or vice versa depending on what your goals are. I think that if you are a good player and took the persona of a woman online you would actually make more money. Men just play harder at women and pay them off more. I would imagine that great women players earn more online than men. Just a theory, never tested it.

You can't really intimidate people or stare them down online. If that is part of your game, and you have a good physical presence, you can get people to do things differently than if they can not see you. As I mentioned before Aaron really uses this to his advantage with his table talk and comments. You just don't get the same reactions online. Another aspect I find negative online is that people will type crap they would never say live into the chat box. You see people swearing, telling you they want you to die, etc. What is up with that crap? You would never get away with that live. I would turn the chat off, but you do get some info that way, so I just ignore the crap. Sometimes I think that I am playing against a 12 year old, and because we are online I might be.

I have never really trusted online poker. I know this is unfounded, silly, and not true but it still sticks in the back of my mind. They are offshore businesses, and could just disappear with the money if they wanted to, and there is absolutely nothing anyone could do about it. There is also political risk that congress finally figures out a way to make it really illegal, as opposed to today which is just kind of illegal, and shut down poker sites to US based players. Now I think this has a pretty low chance of happening, but there are some bills moving through congress right now to limit online gambling. I think they die in committee before even getting to the floors, but it could happen. I think they should be doing just the opposite. They should stop fighting the online gambling and legalize it so they can tax the sites. Think of all the tax revenue they could make if it were legal. The the sites could come back to the US, lease up space in US datacenters and be subject to US laws, which would make me feel a whole lot better, and pay some taxes. Of course that is too obvious for our government to think that helping our economy grow, creating US tech jobs, and increasing tax revenue is a good idea. Instead they want use the issue as a political football to prove who has higher morals, GTF out of my life and focus on getting the economy on solid ground. I even mostly vote republican, but this is just a BS issue and the republicans should just drop the social issue shit and move on to more important stuff and stop wasting our time and money on this if you are not going to get on the legalize it side.

Another aspect to not trusting online poker is that it is really easy to collude. I know it happens, how can it not. It is too easy to pick up the phone and talk to your friends also playing online. The Zee Justin thing did shock me a bit. I would think the sites could be a little more diligent tracking down players with multiple accounts playing at the same time. This is not really that tough to detect with the right technology. These sites make enough money to invest in that part of the system. But if there is enough money to be made someone will figure out how to beat the system. I am sure there are a ton of Zee Justins out there that have not been caught One more reason to not really have that much money online and play in a big game.

Lastly, the bad beats seem to come more often. Now this is because of a few things. First, there are a lot more bad players that are calling down to hit all kinds of hands. They do get there and they do hurt. This should not hurt your overall earn rate but it will increase your variance a bit. Second, the hands are coming much faster as well, so the beats seem to occur more often, but not really any more frequent, just closer together in time because of all the hands you are playing.

I think this post has gone on long enough. I hope to maybe play next week live and will talk to you soon. Hope you are all winning....SJ

Aaron out at Reno WPT

Bummer for Aaron again. Made it to the last level of day one and got all his chips in with KK before flop and called by an AQ. An A right on flop and out. Better luck next time. Aaron can just not get over the hump in these things lately. Too bad. I guess there is always the big one in Vegas coming up. Rather win that one anyway. Talk to you soon..SJ

Rooting Post

Aaron is playing in the WPT event in Reno today. Just a quick post to root on the big A. He needs a win or at least a good showing. Go Dude. SJ

Death in a Heartbeat

Well the fun(pain) this year won't stop. I took my trip to the Muck on Tuesday this week as normal and the list for the $50/100 game was massive for that game. Ten names on the list. The good news for us was that there were some higher limit players in the room so we asked the floorman if we could jump the $50 game and start a $100/200 three handed. To my surprise he actually agreed. Now this was a shock because they rarely are customer friendly here but I guess you can always change your ways.

So we start the game with Aaron myself and Chris. Not the best spot in the world to make money, but I figured if we started it we may get one or two others. We did pick up one player right away and stayed 4 handed for a while. I got stuck right out of the gate. Aaron was playing his super aggressive style and hit me with a 9,7 offsuit three bet raise when I had A,Q. Flop came 7,7,10. I checked he bet and I raised, he three bet the flop and I called. Now I could have just laid it down right there putting him on a real hand like a big over pair but I did not. I put him on a pair of 55, 66, maybe 99's but nothing big. The turn came and A. Trouble card for me. I check raised him in that spot and he three bet me again. OK trouble. I called again with the intention of check calling the river as now the pot was too big to lay down to him as he has it well within his playing style to bluff here in that spot, but I had a feeling I was in deep water. The river came Q, so now I had top two but still decided to check call the river as he was representing a big hand, and yes he showed me the 9,7 off for a flop trips. Nice hand sir. BAM stuck. I worked my way from stuck to even to stuck to even all day. The table actually got up to 7 handed at one point, and a few guys hit and run, but of course I went nowhere.

The end of the night came quickly. Aaron after running it up over $8,000 then went on a terrible run of big hands matching up against weaker hands that hit the flop or the river and he lost back all his profit plus another few thousand. He was super pissed, and in a grouchy mood so he quit leaving me to play with Tommy(pro player) has won some events in LA and now owns the Midway casino up here in Seattle and another Asian dude who was just a horrible player with a lot of money. I figured it was still a good spot for me so I decided to play for a little longer. I was dead even at 1:00am and stuck a rack and 1/2 by 1:10am. I lost 5 big pots in a row to the Asian guy when he hit me with great match ups every time. I had a A,10 flop two pair and he flopped a straight. I flop top pair and he would flop second and get there. Last hand of the night I had Q,6 suited in the SB and he raised on the button, I called out of the blind and hit top pair on a Q,9,5 flop. Now I know some of you are saying you dumbshit Q,6 out of the blind. This can go either way in a three handed game. It was the bad Asian player and I figured I could get away from the hand if I missed or out play him. Turned out to be a really stupid idea. Mucking would have been a much better option. I bet out to see where I was and he called. Turn a 6, perfect for me I thought, I bet our again, he raised now, I three bet and he capped. Shit trouble again??? river a 9, I check call and he shows me pocket 55's for a flopped set. Ouch. I quit now stuck and pissed. I have just been running horrible for over three months. I have only played a total of 14 sessions this year and really only 11 as the others were $8/16 and $3/5 blind no limit just goofing around and have lost 8 out of those 11. None of them have been big losses, but a loss is still a loss. I am getting really sick of this.

I am not going to play next week so I may be sparse in posting. Hope you are all having a way better year that I am so far. Talk to you soon. By the way Aaron will be playing in the WPT event in Reno this weekend. Good luck dude, you could use it as bad as I can. SJ

Negative Year Continues

I can just not get off on a winning streak this year. I win, then the next session I loose. As was the case on Tuesday I lost after I booked a win last week. This is getting depressing. I have not played that many sessions this year so I guess you can not say this is a trend yet, but it sure sucks. I feel like a complete donkey right now. Nothing is going right and I am now starting to question my game. Time to reassess my game. Here are the gorey details.

Same game, same night, Muck $50/100, Tuesday. I play for 4 hours and go nowhere. Can't get cards, go up and go down. I watch a new young guy who has joined the game the last few weeks 4 bet AK three times into a field of at least three people and one time out of the BB. What happens, he hits it all three times with two pair and it holds up? Wow, first I hate the play all three times and then no one actually has the big pair to beat him. Now that is running good. I of course can't pick up a hand and just sit there and try to stay positive. Then I get my run of cards. KK's flop top set with three spades, they bring the 4th spade on the turn and I loose to AA's with the A of spades. I know I was a 4 to 1 dog before the flop but did I have to hit my set? Very next hand I get AA's flop comes 5,7,8 rainbow. Lots of action on flop, turn comes 9, early bet and I just fold. Lost to K,6 out of the BB, nice. Then a few hands later I get KK's again and run in to AA's out of the blind on a 10 high board, of course I paid that off as well. Then I get A,K, and an A hits the board with two low cards. I bet, get raised on the flop. I check call the turn when the board pairs, and then a Q hits the river. I did not like that card putting my lone opponent on A,Q so I check call the river as well. What does he show me but pocket QQ's, nice two outer sir. I guess I don't like my lack of aggression here, but this guy would not have gone anywhere as he was paying off all night with second best hands and I would have just lost more. Finally I get QQ, and run into AA's AGAIN on a 9 high board. WOW great run of cards into the "perfect storm" I hate those. FLUSH there goes a rack and 1/2 half in about an hour and I decide to call it a night early. I was now in a shitty mood, and knew it was most likely not going to turn for me tonight.

On a side note I bumped into Dr. Chako. Go check out his blog at www.pokerdoctor.blogspot.com. I just linked him up so you can go to the link on the left. Sounds like he had a great short night. I can't even remember what a good run feels like, nice to see someone else hitting it. Also, don't worry about stopping by to see me when I am playing. Winning or losing it won't bother me. It's only money, just wish it was coming my way instead of moving away from me. Hope you are winning, talk to you next week.....SJ

Poker with Friends

So I finally ginned it up on Tuesday to go play at the Muck. The usual cast of players that had a guest appearance by none other than my good friend Aaron. I talked him into playing just to go have some fun and play a little. He begrudgingly agreed but I think at the end of the day he had a good enough time to think about maybe doing this on a somewhat regular basis with me. I don't know if that is a good thing or not as he is a great player and I don't think I want him in the game all the time. One of the unique things last night was that I had two good friends in the game with me. Sean was there too and I feel badly when any one of us lose, but of course some of us have to. I play hard against all players, including friends, and they will play back at me, but of course I would rather get my money elsewhere in the game, and you get your cards when you get them so you play them the best you know how. I HATE when players play soft against friends. It borders on cheating when there is pile of action with two friends in the pot and then when it is down to heads up they check it down. That said off to the game.



The game was good as usual, with some soft spots and some good players. Aaron changes the dynamic of any game he is in. The first of which was that we kicked up the usual $50/100 game to $75/150 because he kept insisting we play higher. Second, he is super aggressive, and playing at a limit well below what he normally plays this allowed him to amp up his aggressiveness even more and feel totally comfortable. The final aspect to his game is he is a non stop talker and loves to complain and whine and tell you how well he played a hand and how poorly you played a hand. This is just part of his game and if you are not used to that in a game it can really get to you. He actually drove Pete out of the game I think because he just did not want to play in that atmosphere. He will put you on tilt fast, and his personality will create confusion, anger, and the need to feel like you need to pay him back. He will bluff you out of a pot when you have the best and then you will pay him off when he has the nuts. He clouds the game with his persona, it is a wonder to see. The other thing the criticism does is that if you listen to it you start to play tighter and more predictable which plays right into his hands. He will play a marginal hand aggressively, and if you are playing tight and predictable he can put you on a hand or assume a big hand, but you will not be able to put him on a hand. I have played with him enough to ignore the comments and actions, but I too fall victim to some of his tricks every now and then. I don't think he is doing this on purpose it just is the way he plays, part of his natural style. He also maximizes almost all pots that he has the best hand in. He gets check raises in spots I would bet out, and raises on the river when no one has the nuts but he just knows he has the better hand. Getting those extra value bets and raises really add up over the course of a night. I am working on making better reads and value betting hands better on the river, but still don't have it to his level in my game. I also am a work in progress on not paying off on the river when I know I am beat. He actually errors on the paying off too much side, but because he wins so many marginal pots with bets and bluffs this works for him and is probably positive EV in the game for him. One hand last night that I watched at the end which still confounds me and wrapped up a hole lot of what Aaron is in a nut shell.

Aaron raises from early position and I think he gets 3 or 4 callers. That is a lot of callers in this size of a game, but because he has been fairly aggressive over the course of the night and because of his personality he gets called. I did not start watching this pot until the turn so I am a little foggy on the details before the turn but Flop comes I think 9 high clubs and he bets out and gets raised by a late position player. Aaron of course three bets and gets called by the one late position player. Turn came a Ks, Aaron bets, LP raise, A three bets, LP cap. River some low and meaningless card also not a club. Aaron checked, LP bet and Aaron now raises. LP thinks for a long time here and then FOLDS. WHAT?? I thought LP was thinking three bet or call, fold is not even an option here. LP is getting over 15 to one or so on the river bet to pick off a bluff or some other draw. I don't know what either party held nor am I going to believe either one when they tell me, but you have to pay off the river check raise. Once you decide to put that much action in on the turn and make the pot that big you must call one more bet even with A high. Wow he can make people do some strange things.

Also, I learned a new term last night. I love the concept. Aaron coined the phrase "Value Cheating" a play on the value bet or value raise. This is when you pretty much know you are behind on the turn and have a draw, second pair, or overcards and make a play at the pot and check raise or raise in LP and then hit your hand on the river and bet out and get called. It achieves two goals, #1) You get more money into the pot so when you hit you have won a bigger pot. #2) You put you opponent on tilt because you raised with the worst hand and hit your 2,3,9 outer on the river and completely pissed them off. This is just hilarious.

So how did I do? I sat there and played pretty tight, I had Aaron to my direct left which could have not been a worse spot to have him in, but hey that happens. I did not get too out of line because I knew he was going to be super aggressive and if I raised with a goofy hand hoping to get a few callers and hit a well hidden hand he was most likely going to three bet me and drive all the value out of any goofy hand I played. So I sat and watched most of the night and played my big hands hard. I ended up the night up just short of a rack which was cool and went home happy. Aaron ended up the night good winner, he stayed after I left and played 4 handed with two really bad players and one good one. I am sure that was fun to watch, they had no chance. They could be put in that spot with Aaron and lose 9 out of 10 times. The only chance they would have is luck.

Fun night with friends, hope we get to do it next week. Hope you are all winning and talk to you soon...SJ

Aaron Out

It was a quick day for Aaron as he took two stupid beats on the way out. No luck for him in a tournament that required luck at the beginning to get going. Bummber for him. I also put up two more blogs that I have started to read. Pretty good stuff. Hope you are winning...SJ