The pitfalls of live poker

With just 24 hours to go before I find myself seated at the Las Vegas Team Challenge III tournament in Birmingham, I feel I should start preparing myself for the big day.

Whether poker can be considered a sport is debatable, but it’s fair to say I won’t be partaking in any of the special preparations that are required of most athletes.

No stretching, no muscle relaxation and certainly no waking up at the crack of dawn to go for a jog after a morning breakfast of two raw eggs. Bleurgh.

Instead, I must come up with a preparation plan for the unique problems any poker player faces when entering a live tournament.

Boredom

Poker is boring. There, I said it. Sitting in one place, folding hand after hand, waiting for something decent can be outrageously dull. More so when you’re playing live and you can’t have multiple online tables open to keep you occupied.

The first day of this tournament is approximately 9 hours of play, with a few breaks. That’s a lot of pots where I won’t be involved. Preventing boredom is one of the key skills of getting better at poker. The more bored you become, the more likely you are to play poor cards at the wrong time just to get some action.

Even professional poker players like Phil Laak can get bored.

Legitimate response: Use the time to study other players when you’re not in the hand. Who’s raising a lot? Who can be bullied out of hands? Every piece of information you gather helps you to build a picture of the quality of the players around you.

My probable response: Drink beer. It’s almost impossible to be bored while drunk.

Cramp/Stiffness

As I’ve outlined above, poker involves a lot of sitting around doing nothing. This can leave even the most flexible of people feeling like they’ve been held captive in a contortionist’s practice box for the day.

This isn’t helped by traditional poker table layouts, which usually crams nine or ten people onto the same table – meaning you are never more than a chronic smoker’s breath away from your opponents. Grim.

Legitimate response: Stretch your legs between hands. Go for a quick walk, check on how your friends are doing or stay by your table if you’re not keen on missing any of the action.

My probable response: Stretch my legs … by walking to the bar.

Body odour

Whether it’s the general lack of a female presence, the extraordinary lengths of time they spend at the table or that they’ve simply spent all of their money on poker rather than toiletries is anyone’s guess – but the fact remains: Poker players stink.

This isn’t the smell of someone who has forgotten to put on deodorant that day. A forgivable, if unpleasant, oversight. This is the overriding stench of built-up dirt and sweat from years, possibly decades, of habitual non-washing.

Imagine a rotting cow carcass, left in the hot sun all day before being gently marinated in the bin juice scavenged from a greasy spoon. That’s the smell of your average poker player. A smell so dense it is difficult to tell whether it’s actually a smell at all, arguably it’s more of a taste in the back of your throat.

Legitimate response: Ignore it. As disgusting as it is, it’s not against the rules to be a smelly beggar. Try to stay down-wind of the worst offenders.

My probable response: Drink more. When the smell becomes unbearable, create an air pocket with my hands and breathe steadily out through the mouth and in through the nose. The sweet aroma of malty hops beats body odour any day of the week.

Annoying drunk guys

Ahem. Okay, obviously the ‘drunk annoying guy’ is usually me. Almost always, in fact. But at the risk of sounding hypocritical, it is really irritating when you have a loud, obnoxious pisshead at the table.

In my defence, I’m a pretty quiet drunk when playing poker, which is not always the case with some of the weekend crowd spotted in some casino poker tournaments.

Harassing the dealer, berating other players and getting irate when their awful play sees them lose a hand, they can disrupt the natural flow of the game. The most annoying are the lucky ones who pick up chips by mindlessly bumbling through hands and hitting miracles on the river.

Legitimate response: Take advantage. These players are normally pretty terrible. Even the adept ones will have impaired judgement. Use this opportunity to collect their chips before they spew them to someone else.

My probable response: Keep one step ahead of their drinking. Drunk people are only annoying when you’re not drunk. It’s almost too simple a solution …

When in Rome ...

Conclusion

Only time will tell what approach I take in the Las Vegas Team Challenge tomorrow: Intelligent, focused and strategic or moronic, drunken and degenerate.

In all seriousness though, I will be playing to win and the top prize of a trip to Las Vegas with a huge chunk of spending money to play in the World Series is a good enough incentive for me to be at my best.

I will be posting tweets throughout the day to keep the blog updated with my progress. These should show up in the right-hand side toolbar or can be viewed at my poker Twitter page.

I’ll also do a full review of the weekend on Monday, with pics, videos and maybe some interviews.

 

Summary: Three months in

I’m now three months into the Challenge, so it’s time for another update.

The Challenge

Total profit so far: $163.96

I’m up around $111 from last month’s summary, which is fairly respectable.

Unfortunately, I’ve been hovering around $170 for around three weeks now, with a few swings seeing me drop down as low as $130, before jumping to close to $200.

This means that while I’ve tripled my money in the space of a month, I still feel that I’ve underachieved, because I’ve been stuck around the same amount since early September.

A first-place tournament win has also remained elusive, with a couple of second-place finishes being particularly frustrating because of big chip leads that I’ve squandered.

I didn’t manage to hit my target of $300 by the end of September, although, this was a readjusted target because I destroyed my previous target of $100 in a matter of days, so I’m not massively disappointed.

I’ve now officially started my journalism course, so this is likely to create some difficulties in the amount of poker-playing time I have.

One option is for me to go back to playing cash tables or Sit N Go tournaments, both of which are less of an investment in terms of time, even though I find both very tedious.

I’ll see how it goes over the next month.

Non-Challenge poker

End profit: $58.22

I stopped playing poker that wasn’t linked to the Challenge so this is a bit redundant now. However, I ended up $58.22 in profit – a drop from last month.

I intend to cash this money out and then stick it in PokerStars, as I’ve got a decent enough bankroll to play in some of their tournaments now, and the payouts are immense.

Here is a rough graph of my entire poker winnings online since I began playing again three months ago.

Live poker

Total profit so far: +£139

Since my last post I did play in another live tournament, returning to the G Casino in Salford to try and recapture my glory of shipping their nightly offering.

I played pretty tight (standard) with a tough run of cards and a fairly lively table leaving me pretty happy to sit back and wait.

After a few lucky all ins I pushed with 6-6 and ran into pocket jacks at a 5-handed table.

Despite flopping a set, I was crushed when my opponent did the same, before indulging in some overkill on the river by hitting his last jack for quads.

I finished 11^th or 10^th (there was someone else all-in at the same time on the other table, so I’m not entirely sure), with top 7 being paid. Close, but no cigar.

The £35 in entry, fees and a rebuy now puts me on £139 in profit. Still not a bad run really. Out of the four tournaments I’ve entered, I’ve only busted out early in one and run very deep in the others.

On a side note, I missed my target of playing in the Genting Poker Players’ Championship. The cost was just too high, even for the satellites, which were around £15 entry as well.

Targets

As I failed on most of my targets last month, I will just aim for the same in October.

• Reach $300 in profit
• Win an online tournament

 

Ode to a nit

The word ‘nit’ in poker has evolved in the years since I started playing. When I first heard the term around 2003, it had a very particular meaning that was outlined fantastically by Daniel Negreanu on his blog at the time.

Back then, a nit was someone who took what they wanted from the game but didn’t give back. They would sit down at a table, fleece any novices and then leave, breaking up the game. Always looking out for number one.

I think this is a true description of a nit; a tenacious, bloodsucking insect that is nothing more than a pest. However, this is being used less and less by modern poker players.

Nowadays, a nit is pretty much anyone who plays a tight style of poker, whether it be aggressive or passive, and it is still used as a slur – usually by loose-aggressive players.

And that’s because playing loose-aggressive is seen as “cool”. I’m a massive nit, but I often feel the pressure to loosen up my game, just because playing tight gets such bad press.

After all, taking down a huge pot with 7-2 off-suit on a monster bluff is way more exciting than sitting around waiting for pocket kings.

The thing is, being a nit works as long as you are tight-aggressive and not tight-passive (probably the least successful poker style ever).

Careful hand selection, controlled aggression and giving yourself easy decisions post-flop is a winning strategy for 95% of players at micro, low and some medium stakes games.

Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan are among the best cash game players in the world and they play extremely loose-aggressive because the level of competition they face is very high and they need to avoid being predictable.

 

Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey are both considered loose-aggressive players

 

Most players do not have these restrictions. Whenever I sit down at a micro-stakes online poker table, I can be pretty sure that around 30 per cent of the people I’m playing with rode the special bus to school.

The chances they are able to process any information other than the two cards directly in front of them is minimal, so there is no real need to balance my range by playing anything other than the complete nuts.

I’ve lost count of the number of times at 888 Poker where I haven’t played a hand for an hour, I reraise with pocket aces and someone pushes on me with absolute garbage.

There is no need for subterfuge here, they don’t consider the fact I haven’t played a hand in an hour. They don’t think the reraise is suspicious and they don’t recognise how bad their hand is.

Time to take the bus to Value Town

Once you move up the stakes, you’ll find this doesn’t work so well and it will be important to vary the way you play to avoid becoming easy to read.

Until then, be nitty and proud.

 

Challenge back on track

Summary

Challenge: +$42.41

Total winnings so far: $175.25

For the last couple of days, I’ve been running deep in about 90% of the tournaments I’ve been entering, including three final tables.

Only one of these is really worth mentioning though – a second-place finish in Bwin’s Lucky Dollar tournament for $40.

 

I made it to the final table as chip leader

 

The blinds were going up insanely fast, although it made no mention of it being a turbo in the lobby. This meant that despite being in first place when I made it to the final table, I only had 20 or so big blinds.

Commence shovefest. I stayed out of the action while all the short stacks committed hari-kari, although I was able to extend my lead so that I was still a fairly comfortable chip leader with 7 to go.

Then I got pocket kings. I’ll cut to the chase and say that the other big stack at the table made a bad preflop call and ended up hitting a two-outer on me. On the river.

Despite the setback, I got to work amassing chips as the remaining players tightened up to squeeze higher in the rankings.

The ridiculous blinds ensured it wasn’t too long until it was me and the guy who had fluked me on the river heads-up.

This lasted around … 3 hands? I shoved with A♦ 7♦ and he tanked for ages before calling with my nemesis hand – A2.

I’d already lost with a better ace against A2 twice in this tournament, so it was a fitting tribute to bust out on it again.

 

A wheel on the turn leaves me needing a 2 or 6 on the river. Fat chance.

 

And so I fall short of winning a tournament again. To a suckout, again.

On the one hand, it’s nice to get back up to the $175 region, wiping away most of the last two weeks’ worth of losses in one foul swoop, whereas on the other hand, it sucks ass to keep coming second and third.

I’ve been playing pretty solidly though, and I have done well to take a break every time I get unlucky so that I don’t start tilting.

Unfortunately, I naturally deviate towards the fridge on my breaks, meaning a long stretch of beats could result in me becoming diabetic. Totally worth it.

 

 

 

Dealing with a downswing

The hardest thing about playing poker is dealing with a downswing.

Whether you are a professional who puts in twelve-hour days or just an amateur who plays a few tournaments a week, there is nothing more soul-destroying than when the poker gods decide to have a laugh at your expense and give you a shitty run of beats.

Poker is probably one of the only professions in the world where you can put in a full day’s work, give it 110% and come back with less money than when you started.

The problem is that when you are winning you feel invincible. All of your raises are getting paid off, you’re hitting flops and taking down pots as big as your head.

Amateurs start thinking their pipe dreams of making a living off the game aren’t so far fetched after all.

Unfortunately, the euphoria of these hot streaks quickly wears off when the odds starting catching up to you.

And this is where I find myself now. It’s only been a week since I posted that I was running like Jason Mercier and the downswing I predicted at the time seems to be coming to fruition.

Since that last post I’ve cashed in just two tournaments out of 19, both of which were minimum cashes, meaning the Challenge bankroll has taken a bit of a hammering over the week.

These are still early days and downswings can go on for weeks, months and even years in some cases – but I believe you learn more about your play during the low periods than you do when you’re running good.

Here is a list of things I try to do when the cards are running bad.

Don’t Tilt: Not tilting is easier said than done of course, but I take a break if I start playing like a tool

Review my hands: It’s easy to blame the cards but am I playing hands perfectly? Unlikely

Put it in perspective: Remember that everyone has downswings, no one can run good forever (except Mercier)

Don’t change my game: When the cards are running bad, it is tempting to tighten up or get more aggressive. I become an absolute rock. However, it’s always best to stick to an existing winning style

Stay positive: I’ve worked $0 into $140 in around 2 months, so I should stop bitching

Failing all that, I could always sell all my possessions and retire to a Buddhist monastry for the next five years like Andy Black.

Black took a five year break due to the emotional lows of poker

Summary

Challenge: -$16.33

Total winnings so far: $145.62

My downswing at 888 Poker

 

Alcohol and poker: Round II

A couple of weeks ago I won a tournament after having several beers. After the win, I discussed the pros and cons of drinking while playing and I reached the conclusion that, in moderation, alcohol can be beneficial in adding a bit of aggression to your game.

With that in mind, I went to the G Casino in Bolton and played in a £20 tournament. Unfortunately, I didn’t stick to my own advice and got absolutely hammered.

Instead of playing better, I was much much worse. I was so drunk that I was unaware of what the blinds and antes were, meaning I over-raised on loads of hands, needlessly committing extra chips.

I also managed to under-raise when I was trying to steal the blinds with Q4 off-suit. This meant I flat called instead of raising. Luckily, the flop was favourable and I was able to take it down with a later bet.

Normally, beer would make me play more hands, but because I didn’t trust my judgement, I was being really nitty and folding some fairly big hands in position.

Despite all this, I managed to reach the final table through an amazing run of luck in showdowns – including being all-in with KJ against AK and hitting trip jacks.

I even went to the final table as one of the larger stacks and would have been an overwhelming chip leader if I had held up on a coinflip with pocket 3s just before the break.

Me and my friend Michael (Mick) made it to the final table

I’d gone with two friends and one of them, Mick, also made it to the final table.

Here is where my insobriety really punished me. I sat in the wrong seat! Mick and I were the last two to the table and I ended up sitting in his seat.

It was only the day after that we noticed what happened, to my great chagrin – particularly as he made it to 5th and got £200, whereas I busted out in 9th and got just £85.

Despite my poor play, I actually did manage to get my money in good on the last hand. Someone pushed with Q9 and I picked up AQ.

However, karma reared its ugly head and I found myself getting beat by trip 9s. An almost identical hand to where I sucked out with KJ earlier.

At least, this is what I’ve been told happened. You see, I was so drunk that when I woke up the next day I could barely remember anything from the final table and I’ve had to ask my friends to fill in the gaps so that I could write this post.

Here are the positives and negatives from the tournament summarised

Positives

• For the first two hours, I played some pretty good poker. I made a couple of nice plays that I was very pleased with
• I’ve made two out of two final tables in live tournaments
• I didn’t really feel there were any players that were a massive threat

Negatives

• I played way too tight. I did suffer from pretty polarised hands in that I had either premium cards or absolute crap, so I ended up playing a standard tight-aggressive style
• I got too drunk (obviously). This not only meant I was guilty of some horiffic errors in judgment, it also ate away any profit I made on the night (the £40 profit I made all went on beer)
• I was lucky. I was all-in about 3 times when we were down to the last 15 or so entrants and my hand held up every time

The biggest lesson I’ve learnt is to make sure I limit the beers I have when I’m in a tournament like this. No more than 4 pints over the course of the night.

It’s gutting to think I could have made 5th or better if I had just sat in the right seat. Mick had started with less chips than me too. Only a few big blinds worth less, but with the blinds at 3,000/6,000 and 500 antes, it could have made the difference.

The top prize was around £900, although some of this was shaved off to give money to the person who finished 10th, as originally the format only paid people who made the top 9.

Better luck next time.

As a side note, I’m suffering a bit of a downswing on the Challenge recently through a mixture of bad luck and a few poor decisions.

It’s probably not worth making a whole new post about it, so I will summarise this week’s losses here instead.

Summary

Live poker profit: +£40 (The tournament was £25 entry, with one £20 add-on and I won £85)

Total casino profit: £191

Challenge: -$17.50

Total Challenge profit: $161.95

 

Reading poker tells: Over-rated or an important edge?

Online poker has dominated the scene over the last decade or so, giving birth to a new breed of young, aggressive, mathematically focused players that are able to play 20+ tables at once to extract maximum profit.

In this environment, the skill of being able to read tells has been reduced to noticing specific betting patterns or hand ranges.

With so many tables open, most players rely on software such as Poker Tracker to collect information, allowing them to make decisions based on a variety of different statistics.

Obviously, being stuck behind a computer screen prevents you from seeing how your opponent behaves during the course of a hand, making it impossible to extract information on the strength of his cards other than to judge how he plays them.

However, in live tournament play, picking up tells can be a powerful weapon to add to your arsenal, particularly when you are playing at low-stakes games.

Even at the highest stakes, there are enough amateur players entering (and running deep) to make it a worthwhile skill to possess, even if it isn’t exactly foolproof.

Let’s look at some examples. What makes these quite interesting is that they are from televised final table events with huge prizepools, meaning tells can still be evident at this level.

#1 Looking disinterested

If someone looks disinterested in their hand it is often a pretty big tell that they have a monster (unless they fold preflop of course, sometimes people are just bored!).

In the most extreme cases, this can be accompanied by a yawn, a big sigh or gazing around the room to give off the impression they are weak.

Here is an example from series eight of the World Poker Tour involving amateur Jeremy Brown and online heads-up specialist Olivier Busquet.

There are a number of tells Brown shows throughout this hand, with most of them picked up by commentators Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten.

40-46 seconds: Brown shakes his head at the flop, but has a massive grin

58 seconds to 1:05 minutes: Brown looks around the room, supposedly agonising over his decision

1:06 minutes: Big sigh … “How can I possibly call this”

This should definitely get the “Monster Alert” sirens going, but amazingly Busquet misses all of this, probably because he spends the hand looking at the felt rather than his opponent.

A general rule of thumb in poker is that players will often act strong when they are weak and vice versa. So also be on the look out for people shoving in their chips aggressively – this could mean they are on a marginal hand or a draw.

Now, these tells were pretty obvious and they are certainly something to watch out for when you’re playing.

However, you should also be aware that some people will try and pull the wool over your eyes by putting on an act.

For example, they will be thinking “I know that he knows that people act weak when they are strong, so I’ll act strong when I’m strong.”

This makes tells like this pretty unreliable, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Particularly in local tournaments where it is unlikely the above kind of levelling is going on.

#2 Microexpressions

For me, microexpressions are a much more reliable poker tell than other behavioural changes. I’ve not actually read or heard anything about microexpressions in relation to poker, so I’m making this up as I go along, but I definitely think there is some merit in the idea.

Microexpressions (if you couldn’t be bothered clicking on the link) are exceedingly brief, involuntary changes to a person’s facial expression that usually display happiness, disgust or fear.

What makes them important in a poker context is that they are very difficult to fake and almost as hard to hide.The problem is that they are almost imperceptible, meaning they are easily missed.

Here is an example, again from the World Poker Tour. This time between 2-time WSOP bracelet winner Mark Seif and Dan Heimiller.

Blink and you might miss it, but at 1:51, when the 9♦ comes on the river, Heimiller nods slightly and smiles for the briefest of seconds. I think this is a microexpression.

Now, I’m willing to admit I am probably over-analysing. It’s easy to make these comments when you have the luxury of knowing his cards (plus I can rewind and watch it again), but I certainly think it is worth examining your opponents when the dealer brings new cards out, just to see how they react. You may save yourself money.

Note: Even if he missed this tiny tell, I think Seif made a pretty poor call here. Seif is an excellent player, far better than me, but I think he should make the tough laydown when Heimiller bets the river.

The lead out bet on the river is so strong, it reeks of a boat or flush, and I think the chances of Heimiller floating to the river with air are pretty slim. That puts the hands Seif can beat down to a busted spade flush.

Ultimately, I would say being able to read tells is an excellent skill to possess as a poker player, but it is definitely overshadowed by other, more important, skills.

Having a good basis in maths will definitely give you a bigger edge over the long term, as will the ability to analyse a hand step by step to try and isolate your opponents’ hand ranges.

It’s just a shame I suck at those.

 

Running like Jason Mercier …

Summary

Challenge: +$50.10

Total winnings so far: $179.45

For those of you who are a little lost with my post title, Jason Mercier is a professional poker player who has been tearing up the tournament scene for the last couple of years.

He has cashed more than $1 million in tournament winnings every year since 2008, an enviable feat that has spawned the term “I’m running like Jason Mercier”.

Well, I lack the two World Series of Poker bracelets, the inherent skill and the consistency of Mercier, but for the last month at least I’ve shared some of his luck.

I managed to reach another final table yesterday in 888 Poker’s $800 guaranteed tournament. On the way there I got my money in good about half a dozen times and held up, as well as getting it in bad and sucking out once.

I made it to the final table in third

It’s been a bit of a trend of mine recently to play quite aggressively at the final table and surge into first place, and this was no different. I was sitting in 1st place with 5 people left.

Unfortunately, all of my tournament suckouts came back to haunt me, as my flopped nut flush was mercilessly crushed by a rivered full house.

A few hands later I over-played pocket fours and I was out. In 5th place. Again.

While I missed out on the top prize ($200+), I added another $54.15 to the Challenge account, which is looking pretty healthy after some solid results recently.

In fact, it is doing so well that I’ve pretty much stopped playing freerolls. I played the Bwin $1,000 freeroll on Sunday and it was such a grind. I made it to 150th out of 5,000 entrants and got a $1.20 ticket.

It seems silly to stop playing them (after all, they are free), but I’m finding it difficult to maintain the same concentration and focus I exhibited when I needed to place in them to get the Challenge off the ground.

I’ll probably continue to enter them if I happen to be already playing at the specific time they are on, but otherwise I don’t think I will be going out of my way from now on.

My 888 Poker winnings so far

 

Summary: The first two months

It’s been approximately two months since I started the Challenge and after having a week of no poker due to spending the week in Lincoln for a wedding, I decided now might be a good time to do a summary of my overall progress.

(Also, my Poker Tracker runs out in a couple of days, so I’m trying to get as much use out of it as I can, although I’m pretty sure I will end up buying the software as it is invaluable for improving your play).

The Challenge

Total profit so far: $52.10

Since my last post I’ve actually played very little for the Challenge. I’ve been playing in $1.20 tournaments at Bwin and apart from a few small cashes I’ve not achieved much progress, resulting in a loss of around $5.

Annoyingly, due to my wedding commitment I also didn’t get the chance to participate in the World Poker Tour Freeroll Qualifier which I had landed a ticket for. The top prize was an all-expenses paid trip to a WPT event in France – a package worth around €15,000 in all.

While it is supremely unlikely that I would have won, it is still irksome that I could have potentially cleared the Challenge, won entry into a huge live event and potentially won a WPT title to boot! Admittedly, this is pretty far-fetched but stranger things have happened.

Overall, just over $50 isn’t bad for the first couple of months, although I’m keen to increase the number of tournaments I’m entering, as well as securing a far more lucrative first-place finish. I may have to consider attempting cash tables as a more flexible alternative to multitable tournaments, as I’ll be pretty busy again next month.

Non-Challenge poker

Total profit so far: $74.96

To keep myself sane during the early days of the Challenge, I decided to dedicate some funds to a separate bankroll for recreational play. Originally, I intended to deposit between $50-100, but instead I used $8 I got free from 888 Poker when I signed up to start me off and I’ve not actually had to dip my hand in my pocket since!

I’m way more liberal with this fund, entering tournaments that are way too expensive to be considered sound bankroll management, as well as playing a variety of different games to keep my brain occupied while trudging my way through the day’s itinerary of freerolls.

I’ve not been keeping a proper running count of this particular bankroll and have arrived at the winnings total by simply taking my overall tournament profits from Poker Tracker ($127.06) and taking away the Challenge money. I think it might be slightly lower than my true total (for some reason, Poker Tracker doesn’t track winnings at Bwin, you have to manually enter them yourself, which I haven’t been doing for piddly placements).

Anyway, here is a graph of my total online winnings exported from Poker Tracker

This is my online profit over the last two months

Live poker

Total profit so far: £151 ($250)

I’ve only played live once over the last two months, so this section is pretty short, although it is by far my most profitable one.

I’m not really setting a bankroll for live poker, as I’ll just use money I would usually be spending on beer. Although keeping tabs on my winnings/losses should be pretty easy due to the lack of frequency in live tournaments.

Despite this, I am keen to play in more casinos, primarily because my style has always favoured a reads-based approach and I had a number of leaks in my play that need to be plugged as much as possible.

I’m setting my sights on entering the Genting Poker Players’ Championship next month, with the onus being on me qualifying online through a satellite in order to gain the extra 2,000 starting chips – not to mention bypassing the rather steep £165 buy-in.

Overall profit across all poker: $377.06

Looking at my profit over the last couple of months, I can’t be anything but pleased. Especially as I’ve not deposited a single penny to achieve it (apart from $10 to clear bonuses in my Bwin account).

August has also been a particularly busy month, as I’ve had lots of external commitments with work, travelling, weddings and applying for my Masters course in journalism, which has prevented me from putting in any solid sessions.

However, by the end of September I want to have achieved these targets

• The Challenge: Stabilise at $100 (around 3 months quicker than Ferguson)
• Non-Challenge: Win at least one tournament
• Live poker: Play in the Genting Poker Players’ Championship (buying straight into the tournament is going to be tough for me, so qualifying may be my only chance)

I’m confident completing the Challenge is possible, I’m just concerned about how long it may take … particularly in light of me starting a Masters in September, meaning I will be back to doing almost a 9-5 day during the week, peppered with freelance work to keep me in booze and skittles.

My original timeframe was to have it completed within a year, so July 1st 2012 is my tentative target. Ten months to turn $50 into $10,000? Piece of cake…..

Adios for now

 

Alcohol and poker: The good, the bad and the ugly

I’ve been known to enjoy a drink every now and again. Mostly though, I like to have more than one drink, several, in fact. A dozen ideally.

However, apart from a few beers while enjoying the company of friends during a home game, I rarely mixed alcohol and poker – until Monday. I had been reduced to around 7BB after a terrible bluff on my part and I decided to buy a beer that I could savour while I waited for my inevitable knockout. It was my second beer of the tournament, as I’d bought one before the tournament started, but it was my first in a couple of hours.

I doubled up, continued to drink, and the rest is history. By the end of the night I’d probably had about 6 pints and I was pretty sozzled. So did alcohol help me to victory? If you ask most professional poker players, they would say booze is a definite no-no, and will eventually be a serious detriment to your expected value.

But is this true of everyone? Scotty Nguyen and Men ‘The Master’ Nguyen are just two players who are renowned for drinking while they play poker. The latter was famously paid $500 per hour by Johnny Chan not to drink when they were playing heads up – The Master agreed and then lost consistently for an hour until he backed out of the deal. Layne Flack is another player known for becoming more dangerous after sinking a few beers.

Scotty regularly drinks alcohol at the poker table

And is it really that surprising? What happens when we drink? We become more confident, more aggressive and less predictable. All qualities that make a good poker player.

While I won’t go as far as to say it allowed me to win my tournament, I could definitely sense an improvement in my play. I was making more moves, I was less afraid of being eliminated and, crucially, I was having more fun. Engaging the locals in a bit of banter gave me a little bit more information on the kinds of hands they had, something I doubt I would have done stone-cold sober.

But, and there is always a but, it is important to realise your limit. Once I’d had about 5 beers, I was on a slippery slope. Not least because I had broken the seal and was nipping to the toilet every half an hour. This may not seem too bad, but I missed at least half a dozen hands, including an absolute monster I would have flopped on my big blind had I been at the table (the dealer was nice enough to rub my nose in it by showing me my hand when I came back).

Also, I was probably lucky to win when I did, because any more drinks and I definitely would have suffered a loss of judgement. I was already becoming over-aggressive and risked busting out on a silly bluff.

Ultimately, I don’t think you can make a blanket statement of whether drinking while playing is bad practice. My ridiculously small sample of just one tournament could easily be a blip, but I’ll definitely be sinking a few casual pints when playing in the future – at least in live games.

That’s the Good and the Bad, so what about the Ugly side of drinking? Well, I’ll leave you with Scotty Nguyen’s infamous WSOP 2008 HORSE final table appearance where he was drunk as a skunk. All in all, it was a pretty classless performance … although, the astute of you will notice one thing. He won didn’t he?