The Best Poker Post I've Read....

...in some time. I've been saving this one for a rainy day.

Bodog Ari is one of the best NLHE tournament players, period. In this post from last December, he writes about the pain in poker:

"The nature of proper tournament strategy is such that you should be experiencing
the "pains" of poker, much more often than the joys. (Playing a 500 person
tournament, even if you are double as good as the average player, you should
only win it 1/250.) Even highly successful players are not immune to this, so
the sooner you/I realize the daily fustrations of tournament play will never go
away the better it is. In my 1500+ tourneys on Stars, (where I have been highly
succesful) I have suffered streaks of 15 or more straight out of the money
finishes on 20 occasions. I once went 38 straight tournaments without
cashing. On the flip side, I have never cashed in 4 tournaments in a
row.

Getting used to all this losing is very very very very
very hard. In fact, I'm not sure I ever will. And there is no doubt that
negatively effects my other results. I have gotten better, but am always looking
for new tips in dealing with the constant losing- while winning."

Whenever I'm feeling "bad" about my play, I'm reminded of this post. Even the best players experience the same peaks and valleys.

I've picked up my play this past week. Free money on UB is always nice. I had my worst Razz showing ever, finishing 47 of 48. (Razz tourneys are now graveyards, even on Stars.) I'm having cash games success, especially at PLO8.

Bots, Blood & Buildings

I guess I missed out on the 2+2 bot controversy. ANYONE playing online poker should expect to encounter bots, especially in HE ring games. Why are people surprised by this?

Repeat some of my poker mantras and chill out about the bots:

"I will learn all of the poker games, not just hold 'em."
"Learning all of the poker games will improve my hold 'em play."
"Bots have no advantage over a human opponent in tournaments."
"Game selection is the important first step to playing well."

I watched the Lost finale last night. Charlie went from one scene bloodied like an overripe tomato, to the next scene with no blood or puffiness on his face (getting the code), to bloody again in his last scene. Methinks the Abrams family is mailing it in the rest of the way. I did like Hugo saving the day. Also, Jack called Kate "Kitty" in the last scene - I don't remember that before.

Not only is there a casino being built in downtown Buffalo, but there might be another one in my back yard. This would be awesome, not having to drive 1-2 hours to play live. Also, Turning Stone is a no alcohol facility, which equals no drunk tourists in the poker room.

The local farmers staved off sovereignty around Cayuga Lake, but the federal agreement in place will allow for gaming somewhere in CNY. Cayuga county needs the economic boost the gaming resort would provide. You farmers can't have it both ways - taking federal subsidies to pad your wallets, while trying to block the same government (helping you) from making this deal for the county.

And poker players can't have it both ways - playing live and bitching about the rake, while playing online and bitching about bots.

The Blahhh Post.

I've made several drafts in the past two weeks, but my current funk has prevented me from finishing any posts. My head is not in a good place right now.

I've played one session of poker since my return from the road. Truth be told, my only poker desire right now is to play more Razz. So it will be back to Stars at some point, since no live Razz is spread within 600 miles of here.

But my funk is deeper than poker right now. I've always been a "disaffected voter" - alienated by the political landscape. (BTW, I do vote.) I feel as though our political machine is broken, and the only way I can help fix it is to make oodles of money and buy my way into a position of influence.

I'm also alienated by our media - especially our advertising media. I feel like I'm inundated by advertising, and it's getting harder to filter out the ads from the content. It's so difficult to watch or listen to any programming. Even the sporting events I love so much are plastered with ads. (Yes, call me a hypocrite for having ads on my blog.)

Back to our news media. Every issue is either polarizing or sensational. "This just in - Everything might be bad for you - Stay tuned for our special report at six". The PSA test is no longer considered a good indicator of prostate cancer, but I still have to pay out the wazoo for one - or so says my health care professional.

Our nation is at a crossroads. Beyond morality, we are now legislating behavior. The government is deciding if I can (blank), where I can (blank) and when I can (blank). They're also considering taxing my (blank) and recording all of my (blanks). How far away are we from legislating bigger things like religion (or other belief systems)?

Shit, we couldn't even legislate the metric system in the 1970's.

This also used to be a country where people could make a comeback from a mistake. Not anymore. P.T. Barnum and Colonel Sanders would have horrible FICO scores, and we never would've had KFC or the Tom Thumb review/circus. Would Thomas Edison have enough venture capital left over after his cement pianos failed to make the light bulb or phonograph?

The dreaded "permanent record" is actually here, folks. Don't think that thing you did way back when can't be re-discovered.

I actually feel sorry for the children growing up in our world. They have Wii at home, but they also have school shootings and amber alerts. They fight obesity and sub-standard public education. The cost of college degree will be astronomical and will not guarantee job security. I never want to bring a child into this world I find so disappointing.

Are there still 1000 points of light? I'm still looking for the rays of hope in our land. If it really came down to "love or leave it", I think I actually would leave it. The only thing really keeping me here is family. If my family ties were to be broken, an expatriate I'd become.

[ETA: (blank) = SMS text message, not whatever you were thinking.]

Fantasy vs. Reality

Actually, that should read "Fantasy is my reality." I was reading the UGIEA last month and was curious about the carve-out for fantasy sports. I was jones-ing to wager on a baseball game and decided to see if there was a fantasy game I could play.

Instead of a season long fantasy team, what if there was a one day competition? Put your money up, pick your players, and the best score at the end of the day takes the cash. Just like a poker SNG.

After a little research, I did find a site that offers these games. I'm not posting the site here - they don't offer an affiliate program, and I think I could create a better offering. (So any web site developers, if you read this CONTACT ME!) But Whoa Nelly, the games are fun and LEGAL. Paypal gladly accepted and cashier transactions are instant.

So the reality of the situation is fantasy baseball has moved poker to the back seat of my short bus. I've been somewhat successful with the fantasy sports, winning 2 of every 3 contests entered. I honestly think it's a skill based game that takes much less time and mental energy than poker. And it makes watching the games great fun. I've never rooted so much for a Devil Rays player.

The only drawback is I've only been able to play 1-2 contests each day. Hopefully this will change as the traffic (and my bankroll) increases.

I've only been playing poker about one session each week since the fantasy bug hit. However, I'm pursuing teaching a poker class this fall at the local learning center. A way to keep my head in the game and make some extra cash.