MARVELous

You know poker is a big deal when a professional poker player can land a role in a major movie that's not about poker, gambling, or Vegas. My man Daniel Negreanu was in the newest epic movie X-Men:Wolverine. For a professional poker play to be in a large scale movie like X-Men, it shows poker has evolved into popular society.

Out and swinging

Yesterday was a triumphant day. I finished my last mid-term, played a little poker, and won a little change. It was my first time in almost a month. To start I was a little shy but after scooping my first pot I came out swinging. My third hand dealt were Rockets aka Aces. It's funny how the letter A can signify such great things and give one such a wonderful feeling. An A on an exam makes one feel accomplished, while A's in poker makes one giggle. I was dealt them in Big Blind with 4 limpers behind. In a 5-5 game I raised it to $50, Under the Gun called and everyone else folded. UTG is a very aggresive player. Flop came Ah, 8S, 4d. I checked and UTG betted $100, I smooth called. From my thoughts UTG didn't have enough skill to think I had a monster by raising pre-flop out of position then just smooth calling on the flop with no possible drawing flop. Also the way I played so far signified that I probably could have QQ or KK and checked, scared of the ace. Although if I did have either of those I'm a good enough player to fold and know that UTG has an ace and I'm beat. The turn brings a 2c. Another brick. I check and UTG bets $300 and I push my remaining $350 into the middle. He instant calls and flips over Ac,Ks proudly and says, "Ship IT". I reply, "You're drawing DEAD" and flip over my set. He imediately sat down and was muttering, "Check, check, check, how does he have pocket ACES?" By the end of the night I made a grand off the exact opponent alone.

Leasoned to be learned is a check-call most of the time means weakness, but not when there are no drawing hands on the board. Also the opponent could have bet less risking less of his chips to see whether his top pair was really good.

A little late, but something came to my mind. Are there people who are luckier than others? or are we all equally gifted in certain ways? does this apply to card? does this apply to life?

I'm done Mid-terms woooo-hooo, now in just 2 more weeks I start finals haaaa. Messed up eh? Yeah we can all thank the TA's at York University for this blessing of never ending cramming. But the light at the end of the tunnel shall be Vegas baby.

Family and friends have been asking me if I'm ready, especially my father. he keeps asking me, "What makes you think you can win." I tell him, "Well, I'm determined to win and I have the skills, I just need the luck." It's been in the back of my mind for almost 4 years now since the first time I saw the World Series on TV. I must win. For the past year it's all I've thought about. I think about all the strategies I'm going to employ, how fast or slow I'm going to play, who I might play, and what to do in certain situations. Every tournament I play I assess what I've done right and what I've done wrong. I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with the money WHEN I win. First I'm going to buy a house in Las Vegas and Miami because with the current housing market I will be able to afford both for the price of one. Then I'm going to give my friend(a very hard working friend) my car, and buy a Mercedes-Benz CL550, black exterior, beige leather interior. Hopefully I'll still have 2-3 hundred thousand left over. I'll put 100 thousand in the bank for a rainy day, use another 100 for a my bank roll so I can travel and play and use the last 100 to open a small restaurant business for my family. If lucks on my side when I go, everything should go according to plan.

Now my strategic plan.

Since I have no followers as of yet I can discuss how I'm going to play for the tournament. From my past experience in playing no-limit hold'em tournaments, you can not play strictly by the book. In cash games, if you play by the book you should do okay. With tournaments I find the book should be used as a slight guideline. The book tells you to stay patient in the first few stages of a tournament, but everyone knows that now because every book published states that. So I play a lot of pots and gather a lot of chips early. Since I gathered a lot of chips, I can make educated gambles later on in the tournament, since the book is telling everyone they must be more aggressive and play more marginal hands. Now although most of the time I'll have strong hands that are crushing the opponent, they can still get lucky(the reason why so many people think they can play) and I'll have enough chips to make an investment, lose and still be strong in the tournament. Where as the opponent I just beat played tight early and gambled on one hand. I look at poker as a financial investor would. The goal is to win 1st place because that's where almost all the money is. If I get kicked out early on it's better than investing 3-4 days worth of time and effort and not getting a return on my investment. So if I play more aggressive at the beginning, when people are scared of losing, I'll have more of an advantage. Then when people want to gamble, I can leverage my bad beats(when some one wins a hand and the percentages of winning were not in their favour) with the large amount of chips I gathered early on.

Now once in the money, I tighten up and play only premium hands. Why? Even when the books says you should be playing real aggressive. What the book forgets to mention is that everyone has made the money. Most amateurs don't fear losing anymore because they already made a profit. Also pros aiming to win it all also know you must be aggressive to win the whole event. Now books also say that to win you must always play opposite of everyone else, which is true. Therefore if every one's playing aggressive with marginal hands- KQ, Q10 off suit, then my tight hands-QQ, AK, KK will be dominating most of the time. Now books say that blinds will be increasing so fast and will be so high that one can not wait for premium hands as such. This is true, but with the WSOP tournament structure, there will be enough time. Blinds raise every 2 hours, where other tournaments raise blinds every hour. Therefore my strategy is to play opposite of the book's strategy as well as the common strategy.

Viva Las Vegas

So... the World Series of Poker is a month and a few weeks away. With the first event commencing May 27th, I have my flight and hotel booked, courtesy of Expedia.ca. I will be playing in 2 bracelet events, which are lower stake tournaments. Although these are lower stakes winning one holds the highest prestige because the WSOP is the oldest tournament running to date. Whoever wins the tournament will receive a gold bracelet along with the title of champion and a large sum of cash. Personally, I would rather win a ring, but the bracelet will do hahah

Who are you in the poker world?

What's up shooters? Here goes my first theoretical article.

So for all those who have read a few poker books, you all know that an important aspect to becoming a good player is to know how the players around yourself play. Every player has a different style, but knowing these styles is vital for success. Now every book I've read has addressed how to play against the different styles, but I've noticed not many go in depth on how to actually identify the different types of players.

There are different approaches I use. When playing a live game, I usually try to conversate with others around the table. By talking about how the hands that have passed. For ex. after a hand I would probably ask an opponent how they would have played the hand. Maybe I would ask the opponent whether odds were involved in the hand. If they reply yes than maybe they would be a descent player. If they answered with a response of "implied odds was a factor" than I would label the player as a more knowledgeable and better player. If they say, "I don't know" I would think they don't know anything and they don't think about other hands than theirs, or they don't want to give away information, which is an extremely strong player.

Another way I assess a player's abilities is by watching what they do with their chips. If they know chip tricks other than shuffling, I can categorize them as an experienced player because it takes time to learn how to perform chip tricks. This process of assessment I find is quite reliable because one doesn't practice chip tricks unless they're at a poker table regularly, are obsessed with poker and practices in their spare time, or are magicians. If a player is at the table a lot, they must gain a lot of experience, which can define their abilities as above average. If a player can perform chip tricks because they are obsessed with poker, then they definitely are very knowledgeable and must watch for them. Lastly if they can perform tricks because they are a magician, then I just leave because I don't trust a player that can make my chips disappear haha.

Welcome

Hello Shooters(cool name for poker players) and welcome to my blog. Here I am going to say whatever is on my mind that's related to poker and maybe sometimes we can discuss current events in my life.

Well, I guess I can give you a little background about my self.

I will be turning 21 in May and graduating in September from university with an honours Administrative Studies degree in Marketing. I come from a pretty large family. Every one's ethnic background is very diverse. No one is a pure bred. I enjoy sports. Until I started university I was heavily involved in the highest level of competitive baseball in Ontario, Canada. Then I encountered an arm injury which stopped me from playing. In my spare time I like to watch TV, play video games, and go out partying or to eat. I also Love to play poker.

What intrigues me the most about poker is that it's so dynamic because it's a game about people. If you've read enough about poker you will learn that it's not about playing the cards, it's about playing the person you're playing. I was introduced to playing poker in my high school cafeteria. Ever since I won my first pot with a bluff I was hooked. Every lunch after that all I would do was play poker. Back then I didn't know anything about poker except what the hand ranks were, pocket aces are the best starting hand, and to always push "All-in". My skill level has come a long way from that cafeteria.

Back then I would play poker like bingo, with no strategy involved and reckless. The turning point when I changed my outlook in playing was a little after I turned 19. In Ontario one needs to be 19 to enter casinos. The first few times I went to play poker at the casino I accumulated a loss of $1000. At the table I was embarrassed because some of the players I lost to made fun of me and called me names like "donkey" and "fish". One person told me to go read a book. At this point I told myself either I learn how to play right or I don't play anymore because I did not like being humiliated.

After my first few casino experiences I went to the library and borrowed all 8 books on poker and read them from cover to cover. After reading a few books I went back to the casino and started experiencing some success. It was then I realized I can make some serious money playing poker. So I figured I would try to make enough money to finish paying for school. I emerged myself in poker completely. I was reading more poker books, then my school books. I was researching every forum, website, and blog about poker tips and strategy. I was eating and sleeping poker. After a year and a bit I was able to accumulate enough money through poker to pay for the rest of my tuition. Now this success came with a cost. Since I was so busy with poker I didn't concentrate on my scholastic commitments. I was put on probation because of my low grades. I again had to make a wise decision. NO MORE POKER UNTIL I GRADUATE- well at least not everyday. Now I only play in between semesters and one Friday a month, just to make sure I don't get too rusty. My last semester was my best semester with a B+ average.

I have decided after I graduate that I will try playing poker semi-professionally until I make enough money to move to Vegas or the Bahamas. If that fails I can always become a Brand Manager haha.

My next post will contain all poker