So, one more week and I'm finally at the true start of my poker career. I've been waiting so long for this. I've quit the game so many times before but now I'm ready to give it my everything. I realize I cannot grow attached to the people in my life, especially since this profession is such a risky one. But I know I'm meant for this. Poker is a part of me, plain and simple.
Up to this point I've made some pretty poor decisions with my life, but this is my chance to change things. I wish I had someone to rely on for everything. I have to understand though, this is the business we have chosen and for those of us following this path, all we have is ourselves. Everyday is a constant mental struggle, a battle against myself, a battle against wills.
Anyways, needless to say I'm ready, this is what I want. I wish I could show you what its like. Everything else seems so empty. People I grew close to, feel more distant. Not because of my decisions but I think its just the way the world is right now, everyone is on edge. Trust doesn't come easily. I wish he would open up to me though. I wish at the end of the day it would always be just me and him. I fear my greatest fear is slowly coming true. Again, everything just seems empty.. maybe I'm being over dramatic.
In other news, I haven't played as much this week as usual, the tournaments I've played I've come up short in every single one, although still getting a small return. My headsup game has improved tremendously and I've found I'm making better decisions in each situation, and taking the time to analyze them better. Here are a few notable hands:
Headsup 2/4 dollar NL 400 dollar buy in- vs. a very loose aggressive opponent.
Cake Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00 BB (2 handed) - Cake-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($506.50)
Villain (BB) ($396)
Preflop: Hero is SB (Button) with 4c, 5s
Hero bets $12, Big blind calls $8
He had been actively raising on the button with a very wide range, his big blind defense range was tighter, but he had reraised with his super premium hands in this spot before as well as some of his weakest hands to mix it up. I was putting him on something that wanted to see the flop, with some possible showdown value too.
Flop: ($24) Ad, 4h, Qd (2 players)
Big blind checks, Hero bets $24, Big blind calls $24
he checked here, so I immediately figured he did not have an ace, as the board is very draw heavy and if he had even mid pair or any small to medium pocket pair he would continuation bet for sure. By now I had a good guess he either had KJ, J10 or 910 of diamonds, looking to get a free card. He called my pot size bet thinking that I had hit the ace, since he hadn't seen me bluff hardly at all so far, but he also knew that I was capable of taking advantage of his weakness in checking.
Turn: ($72) 2c (2 players)
Big blind checks, Hero checks
The turn is a blank, and I was never putting him on 35 based on his play, he had been a lot more aggressive with those weaker hands in my past matches with him, so I had no reason to think otherwise. I wanted to keep the pot at a decent size so checking behind seemed appropriate, in case he did hit on the river I didn't want to have too much of my stack committed to the hand.
River: ($72) 8h (2 players)
Big blind bets $42, Hero calls $42
Here, he instantly bet out half the pot. Now I was positive he missed a draw, nothing else made sense.. I took a moment to replay the entire hand in my mind before calling.
Total pot: $156 | Rake: $0.50
Results:
Button had Kc, Jd (high card, Ace).
Hero had 4c, 5s (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Hero won $155.50
-----------------
Same match. Six uneventful hands later.
Cake Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $4.00 BB (2 handed) - Cake-Poker Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com
Hero (SB) ($645.80)
Villain.( Big blind) ($366.30)
Preflop: Hero is SB with 5d, Ad
Hero bets $12, Big blind calls $8
Here he defended his blind again, I was putting him on something like Q10 J9 K9 K10. He never slowplayed anything so I figured I had the best hand preflop.
Flop: ($24) 6d, Js, 6s (2 players)
Big blind checks, Hero checks
A good flop for a steal, since he didn't bet into me I didn't really think he hit this flop, I still believed I had the best hand but I wanted to get some extra value out of it, I hoped for a good turn where he would be inclined to value bet my hand for me. I'm pretty sure he wasn't giving me credit for much here either, possibly putting me on 9 10, 9 7 or q 10.
Turn: ($24) 8d (2 players)
Big blind bets $20, Hero calls $20
Perfect! He bet out exactly what I wanted. he didn't bet the size of the pot so I was figuring the 8 did not help him. I now have a flush draw, so I figure maybe if I smooth call here and hit, the river will help him too. I wasn't ruling out the possibility that he hit the 6 on the flop from the beginning either, although I wasn't extremely worried. The pot was still reasonably small. Yes I understand a raise may have been the better play here, but I didn't want to get into an out of control pot with Ace high either.
River: ($64) Qd (2 players)
Big blind bets $48, Hero raises to $140, Button raises to $334.30 (All-In), Hero calls $146.30
Nice! the nut flush. I was certain I had this, but how much more value could I pull out of him, I still figured him for being fairly weak having hit a Queen at best...If he had air he would have slowed down on that scare card, but maybe he hit the rivered straight... hah well I was lucky he hit the second to nut flush. I got maxxxx value and stacked him.... :D
Total pot: $636.60
Results:
Button had Kd, 9d (flush, King high).
Hero had 5d, Ad (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: Hero won $732.10
That was a fun match. There were a few other tournament hands that really stood out to me but I'll post them later. I feel much more confident playing headsup than I have in a long time, and I have the results to prove it. Still, I have a lot to prove and I feel pretty alone in this...in everything..
-Sydney
"This is the business we have chosen."
-Hyman Roth. The Godfather.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Its been awhile
I had planned to try to write and post at least every other day so that I could learn more about myself. Writing is such a powerful tool. I wish I could get back to where I was constantly writing, it allowed me to put my thoughts down without seeming silly or troubling anyone else. It was my own little world on paper and the possibilities were endless. To put yourself out there, to lay everything down for someone to see, it takes strength.
Anyways what does this have to do with poker? A lot. If I am constantly learning, if I am always honest and open with myself, then I can apply that to my game, information is power and once you know yourself, once you know your tendencies, your purposes, your complexes... you're able to know and understand everyone else. That's why I want to write more, observe more, so that I can continually improve. I never want to stop approaching things with a humble, willing to learn attitude. How you view yourself and others, affects the way other people view you too. That's what poker is all about. Its not the cards, its the people. Its always the people, how you react and deal with each individual, but most importantly how you react and deal with yourself.
Sigmund Freud once said "A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them: they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world"
If we could get into a rhythm with our intricacies, with ourselves, it would make finding the rhythm of other things and manipulating that so much easier. To get into someones head and predict how they will react, what they will do, wouldn't seem so hard if we could first be able to know and react to ourselves completely. This is what I want to strive for.
Then we could take this idea a step further, and take all this knowledge that we have and get creative. To use your imagination with sound logical knowledge.. I believe that is the most powerful concept that needs to be fully understood. Knowledge is limited, so putting that together with your imagination.. you can create a whole world of possibilities, you can reach so many levels that you never thought possible.
Basically its just using your right brain and left brain together. Your left brain to process information and come to logical conclusions, and your right brain to push the boundaries that your left brain has set, to think of all the outcomes, to see all the possibilities that your single action can create. To always have a purpose with your actions, by using sound principles, facts and observations ..you then take that action further by stretching it with your imagination, being able to create so many possibilities for your single purpose. Then you use the process of elimination to find the perfect action, the correct method to accomplish your purpose for the specific situation.
Poker is a combined art and science. Knowing what to do, which is the science, is part of it, but the most important part is knowing how to do it at the exact right time and that is the art. To bring two generally conflicting things together. To use both your left and right brain. Knowledge and Imagination. Logic and Intuition.
Consider this: If you're taking in everything possible versus your opponent, and considering all the variables in the current situation you must be using all the levels of thinking. Meaning, you're not only thinking of what you have and what you are doing but you're thinking of your hand in relation to other hands, you're taking into account the possibilities of what your opponent has. Then you take that information and ask yourself what do they (meaning your opponent) think that I have, what am I representing? Next comes, What does he think that I think that he has, what does he think that he is representing and making me think. What does he believe he is trying to portray for me to believe? And yes, it even goes a step further. What does he think that I think that he thinks I have? Its quite hard to explain. When you accomplish all this, you're thinking at the highest level possible. You're playing world class poker. You're getting inside your opponents mind. You know him almost better than he knows himself. That is the level I want to achieve.
But it all starts with yourself.
"Poker is so much more than a game where one set of cards is compared to another with the better hand winning. It is a game of personalities. Unless you know yourself better than anyone else does, you will be at a disadvantage."
"At the table, your worst enemy is yourself"
-Stu Ungar
I guess I just wrote my first psychology article. There is just so much to this game called Poker.
-Sydney
Anyways what does this have to do with poker? A lot. If I am constantly learning, if I am always honest and open with myself, then I can apply that to my game, information is power and once you know yourself, once you know your tendencies, your purposes, your complexes... you're able to know and understand everyone else. That's why I want to write more, observe more, so that I can continually improve. I never want to stop approaching things with a humble, willing to learn attitude. How you view yourself and others, affects the way other people view you too. That's what poker is all about. Its not the cards, its the people. Its always the people, how you react and deal with each individual, but most importantly how you react and deal with yourself.
Sigmund Freud once said "A man should not strive to eliminate his complexes but to get into accord with them: they are legitimately what directs his conduct in the world"
If we could get into a rhythm with our intricacies, with ourselves, it would make finding the rhythm of other things and manipulating that so much easier. To get into someones head and predict how they will react, what they will do, wouldn't seem so hard if we could first be able to know and react to ourselves completely. This is what I want to strive for.
Then we could take this idea a step further, and take all this knowledge that we have and get creative. To use your imagination with sound logical knowledge.. I believe that is the most powerful concept that needs to be fully understood. Knowledge is limited, so putting that together with your imagination.. you can create a whole world of possibilities, you can reach so many levels that you never thought possible.
Basically its just using your right brain and left brain together. Your left brain to process information and come to logical conclusions, and your right brain to push the boundaries that your left brain has set, to think of all the outcomes, to see all the possibilities that your single action can create. To always have a purpose with your actions, by using sound principles, facts and observations ..you then take that action further by stretching it with your imagination, being able to create so many possibilities for your single purpose. Then you use the process of elimination to find the perfect action, the correct method to accomplish your purpose for the specific situation.
Poker is a combined art and science. Knowing what to do, which is the science, is part of it, but the most important part is knowing how to do it at the exact right time and that is the art. To bring two generally conflicting things together. To use both your left and right brain. Knowledge and Imagination. Logic and Intuition.
Consider this: If you're taking in everything possible versus your opponent, and considering all the variables in the current situation you must be using all the levels of thinking. Meaning, you're not only thinking of what you have and what you are doing but you're thinking of your hand in relation to other hands, you're taking into account the possibilities of what your opponent has. Then you take that information and ask yourself what do they (meaning your opponent) think that I have, what am I representing? Next comes, What does he think that I think that he has, what does he think that he is representing and making me think. What does he believe he is trying to portray for me to believe? And yes, it even goes a step further. What does he think that I think that he thinks I have? Its quite hard to explain. When you accomplish all this, you're thinking at the highest level possible. You're playing world class poker. You're getting inside your opponents mind. You know him almost better than he knows himself. That is the level I want to achieve.
But it all starts with yourself.
"Poker is so much more than a game where one set of cards is compared to another with the better hand winning. It is a game of personalities. Unless you know yourself better than anyone else does, you will be at a disadvantage."
"At the table, your worst enemy is yourself"
-Stu Ungar
I guess I just wrote my first psychology article. There is just so much to this game called Poker.
-Sydney
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