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Current Competition Compilation

Well, after the tournament a couple weeks ago, I started playing in a home game with a few of the guys that were in the tournament. Last week, I didn’t do so well. I lost 30 bucks in 3 hours (it was a 20-dollar buy-in) and just didn’t seem to be able to win a hand. So, I thought about it all week and decided upon a strategy that I thought could be used to beat this home game. It’s simple: I don’t raise before the flop (there’s simply no point in trying to drive anyone out before they see the cards in this game), I slow-play almost everything and I’ll play drawing hands only if it’s really cheap to draw. This week, I won 35 bucks, so I made back what I lost last week and then 5 bucks bonus. I only played about 6 hands in 3 hours, but that’s because I just didn’t need to play any more than that.

I’m probably going back next week and I’ll see if the strategy is legitimate or if I was just experiencing the large swings that come with a loose aggressive group of players.

Basketball: Game 6

Well, we’re now 3-3 after starting 3-0. We lost badly tonight, 51-29, or something like that. I only scored 5 points, but that’s about my share since we had 6 guys. We just couldn’t execute in offense and we got outplayed. However, I felt I played pretty well. I certainly could’ve shot better and put up some more points, but I ran Point Guard for most of the game and I did it pretty well. I was playing very aggressively because they were playing a high 2-3 zone. That meant there was a huge soft spot about 18 feet out, all the way around the arc. I felt like I was finding open men and making passes to set them up for open looks, but we simply couldn’t hit our shots. I only had one turnover and probably 3 assists, but that assist number really should’ve been higher.

The last few games, our biggest weakness has been simple offensive execution. We just didn’t put the ball through the hoop, and we had plenty of opportunities. I really hope we can get back on the winning track before the playoffs in a couple weeks. Until then, we have one more regular season game against the first team we played. I expect we’ll win, but it’s hard to say with this team. We’ve shown that we can be very inconsistent.

Time to sleep.

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Good night for poker

Well, the tourney was tonight. There were 17 people, each of whom bought in for $50. The top 4 spots paid out: 1. $425 (50%), 2. $255 (30%), 3. $130 (~15%), 4. $40 (~5%). I finished 2nd, which was fine by me.

Here are some of the highlights (at least from my perspective):

  • First person I knocked out (pretty early on): I had pocket Aces and put in a large raise. Guy to my left declares he’s all-in. Obviously, I call. He has pocket Q’s. My A’s hold up and I move up to about second largest stack
  • First big hand: I flop bottom 2-pair and put my opponent in for about 75% of his chips. He goes all-in and I call. He has top pair with a K kicker. He catches a K on the turn and a 9 on the river for a boat to beat my 2-pair. Tough beat, but it left me with about 2/3 of chips.
  • I’d been hovering around the starting amount for a while and needed to make something happen because my stack was getting smaller and smaller. Person to my right makes a raise about half the size of my stack; I go all-in with AK. He calls with 99 and I catch a lucky K to win it.
  • Later, I’m against the guy who busted my 2-pair. I flop bottom 2-pair, he makes a reasonable bet and I push all-in. He thinks and calls. He missed his straight draw and I knocked him out.
  • We’re down to 3 guys and I’m in a situation where I could basically triple up my money. I matched a K on the flop for a K with a weak kicker. The guy to my left immediately goes all-in. The guy to my right is clearly debating a flush draw and a call. I decide I’m not calling and muck out of turn. This was a good play because I think it saved me $130. I have a feeling I would’ve been way behind to a K with a better kicker if I’d called. The flush draw ended up folding to the bettor.
  • We’re down to heads-up. I briefly held the chip lead, but am now down about $3500 to $5000. I’ve been playing ultra-aggressively calling all-in about every other hand (the blinds are $150/$300 and raising to 200/$400 in 5 minutes). I’m staying in the game by stealing blinds and otherwise playing pretty tightly. I sense weakness on my opponent (he’s Big Blind), so I move all-in with K5. He thinks for about five minutes and calls with A5. He catches A5 and beats my 5’s with a K kicker with Aces up. Game over, I’m in 2nd.

So, I guess the question is this: Would I have done anything differently, especially at the end? I think probably not. He was playing moderately aggressively and I simply wasn’t catching cards. I was moving in when I detected weakness, just waiting to detect strength when I had a superior hand, so I could move in and maybe get a call. I actually thought I had him with K5, but he just made a great call with A5. I had probably moved in on him 15 times by now and we were both ready to see some fireworks. I haven’t figured out if he outplayed me, or if I just lost. Maybe there isn’t a difference.

All that being said, I can attribute most of my success tonight to one book–Tournament Poker for Advanced Players by David Sklansky. I picked it up a week ago, finished it about an hour before the tournament and was constantly surprised by how much useful information I gained from reading it. I won’t go into details, but I can confidently say that $255 is a fantastic ROI for a $30 book purchase.

So, I’ve played three tournaments now and finished 3/8, 2/8, 2/17. I feel that’s a pretty good record, but I still haven’t got a win. Hopefully, these guys will continue playing tournaments and I’ll find some other tourneys around to play in. After tonight, I feel that poker is something I can actually be pretty good at. I also realize I have a lot to learn. I think I’m going to re-read all my poker books. I think there’s a lot of information I missed the first time through and I can now see that book-learning is a powerful weapon at the poker table.

End rambling about poker.

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Poker Tourney comin’ up
 
Well, I haven’t played poker since April and that was the first time I’d played since December… so, I figure to get back into the swing of things, what’s better than a tournament with a $50 buy-in?  A friend from work told me about it, so I figured I’d ante up and see how it goes.  Of course, I’ve been reading up to try and refresh my memory and I finally finished Sklanky’s Theory of Poker.  In fact, I picked up his Tournament Poker for Advanced Players the other day and I’ve started into that.  I don’t know if any of it’ll stick in time for the tourney Saturday, but I’m also hoping I don’t forget that a flush beats a straight.  I’m afraid I’ll be pretty rusty and my poker face and reading ability might be a little shaky.
 
Mom’s visiting this weekend
 
My Mom will be in town for an annual conference next week, so I’ll get to see her this weekend.  It’s been a long time since we hung out or spent any quality time together, so I’m looking forward to it.  But, I’m afraid she’ll show up and be bored of my humdrum life in about an hour.  Oh well, she’s always got the conference to anticipate.
 
Not much else going on
 
I haven’t posted in a while ’cause there hasn’t much happenin’ here.  Obviously, I’m gonna’ have an action-packed weekend, but that’ll be the exception to the rule.  Acting is going well and I think we’ve found a comedic monologue to use, so I’ve just been polishing that up and getting it ready to perform.  Doing the monologue in a few venues is the first baby-step toward getting an agent.  Man, this stuff takes a lot of patience.

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B-ball league starts tomorrow

Well, our team has been practicing for a few weeks and, aside from a guy we picked up yesterday, we all know each other pretty well. I feel that our practices have gone well and that we have a well-rounded team with a decent about of basketball knowledge and athleticism. Unfortunately, none of us has any idea what the competition will be like, so we won’t know until tomorrow evening if we’re any good in this league. I feel like we’ll do very well and that we’ve put together a great team, but the scoreboard will either verify or disprove that tomorrow.

Gettin’ that poker itch

It’s been about 6 months since I played poker regularly and I’m startin’ to get really antsy. I’ve been able to put it off for a while, but I’m starting to miss the challenge and intellectual exercise, so I think I’ll be getting back into it soon. First, I need to set a monthly amount that I can play with, so that if I lose, I don’t go dropping a bunch of money on a hobby. Once I’ve established a reasonable monthly amount (probably like $50), I’ll write it down somewhere and see if I can’t get the ball rolling. I’m looking forward to it.