Time sure flies when you're having fun. That being said, off to my thoughts on the week, followed by the mailbag.
Twelve things I think I think (cuz ten just isn't enough)...
1. The race for the CheckRayz Poker Leaderboard Championship is really heating up.
2. I could have went off a dozen more forevers addressing the proposed online gambling legislation and probably will do so a dozen more times until the Bill is killed.
3. This post, by poker blogger FeliciaLee is by far one of the better commentaries regarding poker fourms and blogging I have EVER read.
4. Then again, her poker blog is a great read as a whole, with compelling commentary, strategy, and talk of real life in general. So really, I shouldn't have expected anything less than to find top notch postings! I found her blog through "MissT74's" poker blog, which is also on my top reads listings. These two keep it real and compelling, causing me to "tune in" regularly... Thanks for consistantly bringing it!
5. Speaking of MissT74, she's putting together some great private events, which I have all intentions of participating in.
6. And yet another great post by Sharky, this one regarding improving your poker game.
7. Speaking of great things, I spoke extensively with the rep from River Belle Poker, and suspect there are great things to come courtesy of CheckRayz and River Belle.
8. When surfing around for new poker bloggage, I discovered I won an award for poker blogger of the week in the end of February?
9. Dude would have surely got a link-back, had he made me aware I was in the running or that I was selected.
10. He still can if he sends me an email.
11. Little brother and I are going to be busy pushing updates through the Rayz site.
12. I'm really going to get around to adding a topic archive to this poker blog of mine, honest!
Going from the mind of the drunken madman, to the mailbag of the drunken mad man. No better way to get to know someone other than listening to them ramble then going through their mail, right?
Friday Night Mailbag... *Morning edition (I was up earlier than usual today)
Beer Guy - I really enjoyed reading about the continuing adventures of "SuperDonk." When are you gonna write more about me... errrr I mean him? Signed, "That Guy."
Dear "That Guy" errrr, I mean "SuperDonk"... First of all, your delete key works, if you were trying to be sneaky in attempting to get more press anonymously, wouldn't you have used it, as opposed to changing from first person to third person acting like it was a mistake?
Wait a minute, silly question on my part... you're "SuperDonk" and surely know no better. You probably think that by pressing the delete key, you type the word "delete," which to you, deleting something is about as difficult as laying a sorry-ass hand down preflop to a raise, isn't that right ya Donk?
Beer - When we play a hand "the right play," it is not such a great consolation when you lose anyway. The other day I was in a sng BB at 300, 5 people in the game and I have second largest stack (and was steady all along). I get a KK, I raised, we are in to see the flop, JJ9, I raise 900, the big stack (fairly loose player) re-raises me - I go all in. He had AT, I am worried about the ace and the Ten is no good for him in my mind, only an A, so I feel pretty good. Next card is a Q. And of course, the river brings a K giving this guy the straight. Now if he got an Ace, “ I would have just cursed, but to get the unlikely runner runner straight, that is just too much!
By the way, I guess it is intentional that there is no Bad Beats section on the sharks forum, maybe sharks do not wine and cry, but it does feel good to do so. It takes a load off. Judith
Judith,
Great email! First, there is indeed a bad beat thread in the Shark Forum. If you click on Born!, you'll see his bad beat thread is listed first. Second, the trick of poker, in my opinion is to take satisfaction in knowing you played a hand perfectly, and the cards through some sick miracle came around to beating you. You raised with KK, the big stack should not have got involved with you, being the second stack, while holding A-10. The flop of JJ9 should have been where he'd have made his graceful exit to your flop raise, as his A10 could not possibly be the best hand... Then again, he probably wasn't even aware the world outside his hand exists. When he raised, and you came overtop and pushed allin, once again, you made the correct play.
The difference between a good and great poker player, among a few other things, is that a great player can see that he or she played a hand to perfection and still lost, and won't make adjustments (if it ain't broke, don't fix it). Your read was on, your hand was best, and he won via a miracle, period... nothing to fix. A good player will be inclined to change his or her play because of this "bad beat." Don't do it! Stay the course. That hand plays out from the flop on, you win about 76% of the time, so stick with what you've done.
Other letters:
Beer Dude, Where can I find a good odds chart?
I just came across one, as a matter of fact as I was reading from the pokerstars blog. Here's your odds chart.
Beer, First I wish to say I enjoyed your pokertracker talk. Are you going to talk more on this? Also, doesn't this worry you, breaking down your play for everyone to see?
Thanks for the commentary on my pokertracker commentary. I have to say... I am not the least bit worried about discussing my ring game stats nor tourney strategery on this blog. I feel that my game is strong enough that breaking it down for the world to see isn't going to statistically impact my overall results in a negative manner at all. Additionally, I've found that by talking strategy, I've not only helped other people to make adjustments to their game, but I also make myself a better poker player because I force myself to reflect on my game... Reflection on one's actions and strategy is definitely a good thing.
And finally...
Beer, Why's your tourney listed as "C-Rayz" on Titan?
Simple, Titan's new policy is to make it difficult for private tourney hoppers to hop poker league sites, which in turn puts them on to different poker rooms, which results in Titan giving business away... Or, at least that's how I interpret it. Personally, I'd prefer the poker tourney to be listed as CheckRayz. C-Rayz, however, works... for now.
Mike
Bonus section:
In comments, Sirfwalgman asks:
Do you really like that move with KK? Guy could have easily had Jx, especially if he is a donkey. I think I would have found a better spot.
To which, I retort:
I like that move for the following reasons (keeping in mind that I did not have the complete context of the hand or tourney, other than that the loose big stack called the second largest stack preflop or the actual amounts bet or the true details, for that matter).
Judith was first to open, which she showed strength. Flop comes JJ9. Judith continues her bet, which is a somewhat logical play whether or not the board hits. Loose bully boy comes over top of her. Could this be a steal attempt? Did the flop help him? If so, how much did it help?
That being said, let's think about what makes most sense here. We know what Judith has preflop. Big donk calls cleanly. To me, this suggests small pp or Ax as the MOST logical reason to call. I'm not worried about A-big at this point, nor am I worried about big pp's.
Flop comes, board is paired with jacks. I'm not AS worried about A-J, KJ. While these two hands are possible, I don't think the clean call preflop makes sense, I think loosey-goosey reraises with those hands, though we'll consider it a possibility no less.
Rounding out the logical hands that could both call a preflop raise AND come over top of her, being a steal move or not... we'll look at AA (would have most likely reraised), KK (highly unlikely), QQ (possible but wouldn't he have reraised?), JJ (also unlikely), 1010, 99, maybe 88. Also, AK s/u (would have likely reraised), AQ s/u, AJ s/u, A10 s/u, A9s, KQs/u. If he is a huge donk, he could even be making this move with 77-22, though moreso unlikely.
Reads he has on her, and likely or unlikely hands aside, let's compile the "logical hands" he could have and how we fair against them. As for pp's, we're behind to AA, 99 but on the redraw. We're dead to JJ. We're ahead of QQ, 1010, 88-22, though they're subject to redraw with two cards to come. Queen ten suited is highly unlikely, but we'll consider it.
We're pretty much well ahead of AKs, AKu, AQs, AQu, A10s, A10o, each needing two cards to come, and ahead of KQs. We're also leading against A9s, though he's thinking he's ahead if this is the case, I'm sure, cuz that is how a donk would think (call with A-mid, bet out or raise up if the board hits him in the kicker).
So quick count, she's ahead against about 17 logical hands, and subject to redraw with two or more outs if the tables turn. Drawing dead to one hand JJ. Behind with 99 or AA as her opposition. And against an unfavorable draw if against Q10s, though it could be worse and you're not holding two of the four outs he's counting (your KK) if he even considers that you have cards in your hand. That being said, there are three hands that are beating her right now, one of which drawing dead, two of which she's subject to redraw.
With a very quick count of 17 ahead, three behind (this is a rough count, by the way, just going through my progression here --- not an exact count or an exact science for that matter, so please pardon any math errors or hands I missed --- unless we find thirty hands she's behind in, of course).
He comes over top of her raise. She really has two choices, reraise to allin or fold. My guess is that the pot odds, combined with the odds above (17 ahead, three behind, one drawing dead), make the allin an overwhelming favorite of a move for me... I personally do not see myself folding there, especially considering the hand I give him the most probability of holding is Ace nine suited, cuz that makes most sense given his weak call preflop.
Just my thought though. And I'm thinking that if I'm at the table, putting in a preflop raise, which is called, and then I bet out, he comes over top of me, coming over top of him and will win this hand to showdown much more often than not.
Just my opinion though.
Thoughts on Poker
CheckRayz Mailbag
