General Poker Articles
Atlantic City and The Eternal Question.. East Coast vs West Coast
Today I’m blogging from NJ. I am a New Jersey native.. born and raised in South Jersey. My boyfriend moved here in High School and that’s actually when we met. His twin is marrying an elementary school friend of mine this weekend so we’re both staying with our folks.. anytime I visit my mom I have no choice but to travel the 30 minutes down the Parkway to Atlantic City.
Pokering
- Post on more then one forum 4 to 5 times a week.
- Watch 3 to 5 hours of videos per week
- Play more games that I have an edge in.
- Be more selective of the cash games I play, pay attention to the players.
Running bad and wondering where it goes
Lately I’ve been playing the 1/2 NL games on Pokerstars. I’d been warned that 1/2 is a pretty big jump from smaller-stakes games, and the warnings are fairly accurate I think. The average regular is far better than at lower stakes: looser, more positionally aware, better at bet-sizing and better at hand reading. Most don’t stack off too light, and can put you in very tough spots on later streets. Squeezing pre-flop is really common, too much so I think but I’m pretty sure cardrunners has convinced people that it works with any two cards.
Status Report
I’ve been sucked into poker vortex, and I’m lovin’ it. I’ve managed to win enough in my PLO cash games to fund all of the events that I’ve played at the WSOP. I haven’t had any tournament cashes though. Some poker smarty once said that in tournaments, “all you can do is play well in enough to put yourself in a position to get lucky when the blinds and antes start getting high.” I’ve been within fifteen from the money five times only to run into a sick beat or a cooler. Which is frustrating, since it’s maximum effort and time commitment for no return, but I have been bringing my A game, and I feel good about that.
Thoughts on variance
Before I continue my little WSOP trip report, I’m having a few existentialist thoughts on variance. No, I’m not having a losing streak, but several of my friends are. Yeah, variance can be brutal in this game, when all your opponents’ 2-5 outers seem to come in and you start doubting, whether to raise your AQs in the BB when there’s already 5 limpers in. But at what point is it not variance anymore? At what point it is you who’s playing bad? Maybe you were on a heater before? Maybe you are tilting because of your downswing?
Just hammered
I have taken about 2 months off after the birth of daughter number 2. While its been more work - since now we are down to man to man coverage instead of zone…its also much easier. Anyone who has had #2 will agree.
Finally got through some much needed work and my focus on that aspect of my life has paid off dearly. Just recently I made 2 big scores and hope its the start of something great. I have found that taking time off from the poker grind has made me enjoy my little forays into the poker world so much more enjoyable.
Congrats Johnny Neckar, John Phan
Aaargh sooo tilted right now I was grinding stupid $2/5 cash today while 50 feet away from me a FT was happening with a poker acquaintance that I have sweated and played with before.
Johnny Neckar finished 2nd to John Phan today in the $3k NLHE tourney - it was a marathon heads up match and I could hear the screaming from my table. Unfortunately, I was too stupid to check it out and missed out on seeing this kid. After sweating his $5k mixed limit cash, I told him I’d sweat him if he went deep again but I missed it and just found out that he FTed after I came home and checked out pokernews.
Gone but not forgotten
Just wanted to drop a line and wish all my fellow Poker Sifters a great WSOP. Will be very excited to see or hear someone take down an event. The poker career has been on hiatus as I take care of my 8 week old. Adding another gal to the stable has been a lot of work as we moved from zone to man on man.
Not to be forgotten - I’ve been given the Harrington on Holdem Cash game books which I hope will elevate me.
I’ll be back….
Three Card Brag
A few friends of mine have decided to start playing three and five card brag at our weekly homegame. Two games and hundreds of dollars later I have concluded that i need a little help.
Does anyone know anything about this game and how to play it well? I know the basic rules, by i need to know how to play the game well.
Day 3 of WSOP week. Observing on Mt. Hopkins
You know, when you are observing, there’s not that much to do. You sit around the computer, analyze data and enjoy the beautiful view. Then again, time flies by so quickly, you wake up at 1pm, still groggy from last night and at 5 you go up again for another night. So between 1 and 2, I did what any poker degenerate would do in a groggy state of mind: Play some HU limit Hold’em online… and lose 190$ (200$ - 10$ bonus). grrr…
