I recently rented and rewatched the movie Rounders. For those of you who don't know, Rounders is a great poker movie, maybe even one of the best made on the game. It features Matt Damon as a good card player with the ability to read what his opponents are holding. This got me thinking of some Daniel Negreanu videos I've seen on YouTube.
Daniel Negreanu, like Matt Damon's character in the movie, has the uncanny ability to predict his opponents pocket cards in Texas Hold'em. A tell when picked up will often give clues to the strength of an opponents hand. However, to be able to accurately foretell the exact hole cards as these two do is something else entirely. So how do they do it? Is it some kind of 6th sense as the commentators seem to claim, or is it through absolute observation and a knowledge of the game.
It certainly would be an excellent skill to have and would allow you to win many poker tournaments. However online poker is quite different from live poker games, as the person is not there to observe and pick tells from. Tells are only in the form of betting strategies, and time taken to bet. In addition to knowledge of their game play.
Check the Vids Below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qv2C_m0D-gY&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO8k47_lP0M
That first one is my favorite poker clip of all time. They're playing 7cs, which is my game. Damon does a great job of deducing the hands and it is very realistic if you know how to play stud and understand the thinking that goes into reading hands. What is also cool is the fact that he makes his bets with 0 regard to what he holds himself. He's making the betting decision based on what the other players hold.
Now... this wouldn't work in the low limits vs. imbeciles. The guy with 2 pair would never fold! Ahh well... 10/20, this could happen though. Of course, at 10/20, you'll rarely have that many people seeing the river!
FYI - the big difference in these two videos is the game being played. Negreanu's ability to read people in holdem is much more amazing, IMO. But then again.. I'm a stud player, so reading stud hands is something that comes a lot easier to me now. I'm still a holdem noob.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Lightning Fast Update
I need to sleep. This'll be short and sweet.
1. I'm trying to get to the platinum level in the Absolute Poker FAME program this month. It requires 2500 fame points. I'm at 2475, so should close that out during my next session. I generally only play about 40 hours a month, but this month it'll be well over 100 hours.
2. You'd think with all the extra hours I'm putting in, it would mean a big boost to the roll. Wrong. After bumping up to about $1100 and then dropping a bit, I've been treading water at about $800. I'm probably playing a bit fatigued with a newborn and doubling the amount I usually play. But I really feel it's just variance. Looking at my PT stats from today's session where I dropped about $100, I lost with AA, KK, QQ about 75% of the time. That's not normal. The problem was not catching that 2nd pair. I lost count of the times my split aces would go down to 88 66 or some such garbage. Frustrating.
3. After I get to the 2500 points, I may take a week off. I just wanted to do it to see how much of a pain it would be. Proves quite the pain at 1/2 and 2/4 stud. If there was a regular 5/10 game, it would be a cinch. The 5/10 7cs level would be perfect for FAME points. Rarely do you see a "good" 5/10 game going though. 2/4 does decent, but the games grow/die/grow/die all day. 1/2 is really the only constant.
4. Surprisingly, I've been able to work and play, even with the newborn. He's not got any of the issues that Dylan had that kept us both up practically every night 2 years ago. Muchas gracias Dios!
So that's about it. As testament to a warped month, my PT stats show me earning a big 1.27 BB's per 100 hands. Meanwhile, I'm minus $6 bucks for the month. Funky eh? Really crappy albeit short 5/10 session a couple nights ago is the main reason for that. My earnings this month have been bonus and rakeback. Blah. Here's hoping for a stellar final week of July (if I play much at all at the end of the month!)
1. I'm trying to get to the platinum level in the Absolute Poker FAME program this month. It requires 2500 fame points. I'm at 2475, so should close that out during my next session. I generally only play about 40 hours a month, but this month it'll be well over 100 hours.
2. You'd think with all the extra hours I'm putting in, it would mean a big boost to the roll. Wrong. After bumping up to about $1100 and then dropping a bit, I've been treading water at about $800. I'm probably playing a bit fatigued with a newborn and doubling the amount I usually play. But I really feel it's just variance. Looking at my PT stats from today's session where I dropped about $100, I lost with AA, KK, QQ about 75% of the time. That's not normal. The problem was not catching that 2nd pair. I lost count of the times my split aces would go down to 88 66 or some such garbage. Frustrating.
3. After I get to the 2500 points, I may take a week off. I just wanted to do it to see how much of a pain it would be. Proves quite the pain at 1/2 and 2/4 stud. If there was a regular 5/10 game, it would be a cinch. The 5/10 7cs level would be perfect for FAME points. Rarely do you see a "good" 5/10 game going though. 2/4 does decent, but the games grow/die/grow/die all day. 1/2 is really the only constant.
4. Surprisingly, I've been able to work and play, even with the newborn. He's not got any of the issues that Dylan had that kept us both up practically every night 2 years ago. Muchas gracias Dios!
So that's about it. As testament to a warped month, my PT stats show me earning a big 1.27 BB's per 100 hands. Meanwhile, I'm minus $6 bucks for the month. Funky eh? Really crappy albeit short 5/10 session a couple nights ago is the main reason for that. My earnings this month have been bonus and rakeback. Blah. Here's hoping for a stellar final week of July (if I play much at all at the end of the month!)
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
New Arrival!
Zachary was born at around noon today (7/7/08). 6 lbs 14 oz. Perfectly healthy, 10 fingers, 10 toes, etc. Mom is healthy too, so we're counting our blessings today. :)
Speaking of blessings, I'm coming home in the late evenings to get Dylan to sleep (he's our 2 yr old). He's watching Zoboomafoo, and I just finished a very good session of 1/2 and 2/4 stud. Over $200 profit. Played 3 tables and saw profit at all three. That's nice!
Bankroll counting bonus is back to over $1000 after tonight. I haven't got my June rakeback in yet either, so that'll bump it a bit more.
Sooooo...anyone up for a friendly wager on how long before another "gotta have it" expense pops up?
Man, Dylan is on a good poker schedule. Goes to sleep around 3 a.m., sleeps till noon. He gets his 9-10 hours of sleep daily, so I don't suppose it's a problem. It'll be interesting working in a 2nd little munchkin. He's laying his head down and reaching for my ear now though. For whatever reason, he loves to rub an ear lobe while going to sleep. We have some 3d ultrasound pics of him in the womb, and he always had both hands up on his ears, so it makes me think it's a comfort habit of sorts that started before he was even born.
Linus has his blanket. Dylan has daddy's ear lobe. We need to switch things around here.
Time for bed. Thank God for modern medicine, baby boys, and poker donks. They've made 7/7/08 quite a nice day.
Speaking of blessings, I'm coming home in the late evenings to get Dylan to sleep (he's our 2 yr old). He's watching Zoboomafoo, and I just finished a very good session of 1/2 and 2/4 stud. Over $200 profit. Played 3 tables and saw profit at all three. That's nice!
Bankroll counting bonus is back to over $1000 after tonight. I haven't got my June rakeback in yet either, so that'll bump it a bit more.
Sooooo...anyone up for a friendly wager on how long before another "gotta have it" expense pops up?
Man, Dylan is on a good poker schedule. Goes to sleep around 3 a.m., sleeps till noon. He gets his 9-10 hours of sleep daily, so I don't suppose it's a problem. It'll be interesting working in a 2nd little munchkin. He's laying his head down and reaching for my ear now though. For whatever reason, he loves to rub an ear lobe while going to sleep. We have some 3d ultrasound pics of him in the womb, and he always had both hands up on his ears, so it makes me think it's a comfort habit of sorts that started before he was even born.
Linus has his blanket. Dylan has daddy's ear lobe. We need to switch things around here.
Time for bed. Thank God for modern medicine, baby boys, and poker donks. They've made 7/7/08 quite a nice day.
Friday, July 04, 2008
WSOP 2008 - Pro's Revenge? + Bankroll Update.
Bankroll is ~850 again, after withdrawing it down to under $400. Another good start to a new month. I'm liking the new FAME program at Absolute Poker. At the 7cs tables, I get points very frequently, so credits pile up quick. Still clearing bonus about the same rate, but the overall credits are good, and if I play as much as I think I can I'll probably be able to score a $100 gas card every month courtesy of AP's loyalty store.
Regarding World Series of Poker '08, I read that up to the main event, 7 out of 10 events were won by pro players. Wow. Big change from the past few years. Population at the WSOP is still very strong, but with a lot more entries from Europe I think.
I think it'll make for better TV. I had really lost interest in watching WSOP over the past couple of years, in favor of shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes on GSN. One of the biggest draws to televised poker, IMO is the player personalities. It's like reality TV. You get hooked watching a 'character' either because you like them or hate them. Watching a bunch of no names at the poker table is interesting for some of us, but for most, watching card playing for card playing's sake is rather boring. Gotta have that storyline.
Kudos to the pros for lighting up the tables this year, and here's to some interesting WSOP on ESPN this year. Oh, and while I understand all the collusion concerns and stuff with the delayed final table, I do think it will be great for the entertainment aspect. It'll turn it more into a superbowl of poker. I think by the time the main event coverage rolled around in the past couple of years, everyone was about sick of watching from all the other events.
Regarding World Series of Poker '08, I read that up to the main event, 7 out of 10 events were won by pro players. Wow. Big change from the past few years. Population at the WSOP is still very strong, but with a lot more entries from Europe I think.
I think it'll make for better TV. I had really lost interest in watching WSOP over the past couple of years, in favor of shows like Poker After Dark and High Stakes on GSN. One of the biggest draws to televised poker, IMO is the player personalities. It's like reality TV. You get hooked watching a 'character' either because you like them or hate them. Watching a bunch of no names at the poker table is interesting for some of us, but for most, watching card playing for card playing's sake is rather boring. Gotta have that storyline.
Kudos to the pros for lighting up the tables this year, and here's to some interesting WSOP on ESPN this year. Oh, and while I understand all the collusion concerns and stuff with the delayed final table, I do think it will be great for the entertainment aspect. It'll turn it more into a superbowl of poker. I think by the time the main event coverage rolled around in the past couple of years, everyone was about sick of watching from all the other events.
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