High On Poker

Photograph taken on 9/11/06 by Wifey Kim

I generally shy away from all things 9/11. I think Tommy Gavin from ‘Rescue Me’ epitomized my stance on the issue when, in Season 2, he knocks over a folding table set up at Ground Zero, from which an accented immigrant is selling 9/11 commemorative t-shirts, baubles and cookies. This shit really happens. In fact, it’s happening as I type.

Because of this crass commercialization of 9/11 and the general need by many people to capitalize in some way from the events, I’ve intentionally shied away from discussing them here. Then I read Mean Gene’s post about where he was when the Towers fell. Reading it brought a chill down my spine. Reading posts like that show me that not everyone is capitalizing on the tragedy. Some people just feel it, and they do us all a favor by sharing. Thanks, Gene.

When I woke up on September 11, 2001, I flicked on the radio to Howard Stern. I had to get my ass in gear for law school, and Howard always accompanied my preparation. At the present, he was discussing something innocuous, like Anna Nicole Smith or Pamela Anderson, but then producer Gary came into the studio and announced the news. At first, I though it was some sort of joke, so I turned on the television. There it was, one tower with a gaping hole in it. I immediately thought it was terrorism. The news announced that it was likely a radar error, and I was relieved for the 2 minutes before I witnessed the second plane collide with the buildings. I sat down and stopped getting dressed. I wasn’t going to school.

That night, I played host to my aunt and her co-worker. They were both stranded in the City after the Towers collapsed. The trains weren’t running, the roads were in gridlock. No one wanted to be in NYC, and I could understand why. I figured that we were only at the start of something. Anyone who could arrange to hijack two planes and fly them into the WTC would be smart enough to have a phase 2. I pictured planes flying into buildings across the US. I pictured car bombs exploding in parking lots under government buildings in the mid-west, and lone gunmen shooting up movie theatres in California. Neither happened.

My apartment at the time was at 34th Street. It was about 3 miles from Ground Zero, by a rough estimate, but to people unfamiliar with the city it was in NYC, and they thought I was right in the middle of it. I wasn’t. I was safe in an apartment building. I could see the plumes of smoke from my rooftop, but little else on that day. I received calls from family, friends, and distant acquaintances. The distant acquaintances, I despised. I couldn’t help but feel like these people just wanted to feel connected somehow, as they searched their mental contact list to find anyone in the NYC area.

Okay, I sound bitter. And I was. But let me offer some further insight into what it really was like in NYC after 9/11.

My buddy Platinum was working for CBS News at the time. On 9/13, after a 72 hour shift, we agreed to meet for food by his office on 62nd street. It was probably a good 5 miles from Ground Zero. On my walk over, I noticed an eerie silence in the City. There were no cars. There were no people. Those who I did see had the same shell-shocked look on their faces. This was after 2 days of fear. If you’ve ever seen Vanilla Sky, there is a scene in which everyone disappears from Manhattan and Tom Cruise is left spinning in the middle, shocked at the vast emptiness. This was Manhattan on 9/13.

Plat and I found a restaurant that was open. It was a hot day, and the big windows that made up the walls of the restaurant were gaping open. While we ate, I smelled the scent of charred rubber, metal, and flesh. We were 5 miles from Ground Zero, but the smell was still strong. I barely touched my plate.

A couple of nights later, I was lying in bed. I could still smell the burnt rubber stench of Ground Zero. My roommate and brother, Keith, was in Florida. In fact, he was there on 9/11, which was a good thing, since he worked in Bldg 7 of the WTC. Knowing Keith, he would have been standing outside the buildings gawking up when they fell. Knowing Keith, a part of him felt like he missed out by being in Florida. Funny how things happen. Anyway, I was alone, and I was still a bit nervous about the WTC. I was about 4 Avenues (in NY-speak, that means 8 blocks, approximately) from the Empire State Building, which was thought to be another major target. I was in that period of half-sleep, where you think you are awake, but you aren’t quite sure. Just then, I heard the explosion. My eyes shot open. I turned on the radio and the TV simultaneously. I waited to hear news that the Empire State Building was bombed. I readied myself to head to the tunnel out of New York, or the East River, where I would swim myself to the safety of Brooklyn through syringe and sewage-infested waters. Nothing appeared on the TV. Nothing was said on the radio. I called my Mom to make sure that I was just dreaming. I don’t think I was ever so nervous to sleep in my life.

Yesterday, I was talking to wifey Kim about how people feel connected to 9/11. We all have our stories, but it can sometimes be difficult to hear someone from the west coast talk about how their cleaning ladies’ nephew was near the Towers that day. Others talk about how that morning they were thinking, Gee, I think I’ll go to the Towers that day, but never did and were lucky because of it. These same people live 150 miles from the City and have never been to the WTC, and rarely, if ever, come to the City on a week day. But then I realized something. For the last 5 years, I’ve felt disgust for these people, but they were not wrong. We WERE all affected by 9/11. They may make their connection through some tenuous string of people or possibilities, but they do it because they were genuinely affected. I’m sorry I’ve been so bitter. It really just seems silly now.

I now live less than 4 blocks from the gaping hole that used to be the Twin Towers. I used to go there for lunch when I worked on Wall Street. My coworkers and I would sit in the middle of the towers, on the rim of the fountain, and eat our lunch while we shot the shit. Now, the area is fenced off. Nearby buildings are almost done with their repairs, but the hole remains. Opportunistic Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants sell their NYPD hats and 9/11 photographs, the kind that change when you move them left and right, like some sadistic Cracker Jack toy. Those people can all go fuck themselves, as can most of the people who buy from these opportunistic slags. But the rest of you, god bless. The loss of the World Trade Center rocked us all in different ways. I know that I have changed in ways that I cannot express to you in words. It’s a sad day in New York. Thank you to the rest of the US for being with us that day. Thank you to the terrorists for being so short-sighted in their planning. I’m no Bush supporter, and we haven’t caught Osama Bin Laden, but we haven’t been attacked again on US soil either, and that’s got to count for something.

This upcoming weekend, I will be in beautiful Florida to celebrate my grandparents’ anniversary. One week later, though, I will be shirking my Judaic responsibilities in favor of the consumption of mass amounts of alcohol with a dash of charity. Yes, the Bash at the Boathouse is coming along quickly, and while I will sadly miss out on the Friday night festivities, I will be live and in person on Saturday. Saturday will likely be light on the poker. The Charity Tournament will be taking place, and I look forward to getting a good view, but the bar cannot allow other games to occur because of the usual whiny “gambling is illegal” nonsense. I don’t blame them, of course, but I do suggest that players brush up on their Chinese Poker, since its a game that does not require chips (its easy to keep track of scores on paper and settle up after) and can be played on the fly. Yep, I’ll be drinking in a corner with TripJax and a deck of cards, trying to get the unexpecting to play some poker from the Orient! Cause that’s how I roll…

Onto other things. It was barely 18 months ago when I was looking to increase my bankroll by playing .25/.50 Limit exclusively. In that short period of time, I’ve made my way (slowly) up the ladder to the point where I’m comfortable with 2/4 limit and $100 max no-limit. However, with that increase comes something that is a bit harder to get used to: the greater swings.

Now, don’t laugh. I know some of you are used to winning or losing $1000 in a night. I know that I am a NYC attorney, so there are obvious assumptions readers make. But whatever the case, I’ve always maintained that my anal retentiveness has kept my addictive personality in check. By that, I mean that I was never playing with anything I couldn’t afford to lose, and I never could afford to lose much. Now, I have about $1500 or more online. A couple of days ago, I lost $260 in one night. $260! And yet, the idea of spending $260 on anything else is mindboggling to me.

Adjusting to higher stakes can be a difficult process. At this point, my mind is numb to a $60 loss (see yesterday). I was at Roose’s and we were sitting on his balcony when I came to that realization. Roose was steaming about two suckout losses in a $20 and $10 MTT. I thought for a moment and replied, “I’m down $60 for the day, and I don’t even feel it.” It was less an admonishment of his steaming then it was amazement at my complacency. “For me to feel it,” I continued, “I have to lose about $150.”

To an extent, I think the recent downturn (currently over, thankfully) was exacerbated by the fact that the losses were affecting me. The new $150 or higher rule is just that, new. A few weeks ago, a loss of $80 would upset me, but that was only 20 BB at 2/4, or less than a buy-in at $100. I suffered losses like this almost constantly for a couple of weeks, watching my bankroll deflate along with my mental fortitude. It was only after I posted several $100+ day wins that I came to realize that I actually gained something great from my losses: perspective. At 2/4 Limit and $100 max NL, losses aren’t going to be $11 or even $40. They may be like that sometimes, but they won’t always be like that. $100+ losses are going to happen, and the only thing I can do is take them with a grain of salt.

Perspective is key. Going forward, I now know what to expect. A couple of days ago, I posted a $260 or so loss because I busted in two $100 max tables. In one, I had AKo and raised. My opponent went all-in and I thought for a moment before putting him on AQ. Sure enough, I was right, but the Q on the flop (with no K) left me shocked. My perfect read did not pay off. I was down $100! But, um, I didn’t care. Why should I? The decision was right, the outcome was wrong, but I did everything I could do to ensure success. The rest was out of my hands. When I busted on the other table, I thought to myself, “I can’t believe I’m down $200.” And then I thought, oh yes, I can believe it. That’s all there is to it.

I’m excited for when the swings get even bigger. $250 is a pretty penny, but when the roll grows, it’ll feel like $25 eventually. At least I’m growing my thick skin. Without it, any gambler is bound to be ruined from exposure to the gambling environment.

No significant wins this weekend. No significant losses. Until next time, make mine poker!

I want to thank Chipper and SlimeFace for being so quick with their DADI banners. After tweaking my banner, it occurred to me that I should give some guidance as to what I am looking for. First, humor and eye-catching counts. Second, the more information you can fit, the better. Specifically, do your best to incorporate date, time, place, the game (HORSE), buy-in ($10+1), and the password (pokertrust; incidentally, I left this out of my first banner). Also, it would be a great sign of support to our sponsors if you mention them as well (VegasPokerPro.com and PokerOnAMac.com). Both companies have offered so much to DADI in the past and future, and without them DADI would just be another tournament. So show the love, and thank you for your submissions so far.

Just one of many you can find by CLICKING HERE.

Thanks SlimeFace.

Too Low Brow for Me? This I got to see!

Thanks Chipper.

Yee haw! DADI is BACK after a one month vacation and better than ever. This month, we’ll be paying homage to five different and delightful games as we make our way from H to E on our very own hobby HORSE. For the uninitiated, HORSE is a mixed game where the game changes after a certain amount of hands. H is for Limit Hold’em, easily the most boring of the games. O is for Limit Omaha Eight or Better (i.e., Hi/Lo). R is Razz, a version of 7 Card Stud where you seek the lowest possible hand (straights and flushes don’t count). S is 7 Card Stud regular. And E is Stud Eight or Better (i.e., Hi/Lo). I’d be glad to offer additional information on how to play the various games, but since most of my readers have a vague idea, just send me an email at highonpokr AT yahoo DOT composte heap. And remember to leave off the last E for +EV!

As usual, we at DADI strive to provide you with the most exciting promotions around! That’s why VegasPokerPro.com has provided another 2000 VPP points for this tournament, a true Paul Bunyon of generosity. Also, PokerOnAMac.com has donated an iPod shuffle in what is apparently PokerOnAMac.com’s attempt to be the Johnny Appleseed of the iPod shuffles! As of now, the winner will recieve the iPod shuffle, second place will receive 800 VPP points, third place will receive 400 VPP points, the bubble will receive 400 VPP points, and a 400 VPP points bounty will be placed on VPP_Dave. Thank you PokerOnAMac.com and VegasPokerPro.com for their continued support!

Also as per usual, this cowpoke has come up with a couple of side contests. Since DADI is less than 2 weeks away, we could really use your help getting the word out. Therefore, we are having our first ever BANNER CONTEST! It’s this simple: You create a banner for DADI 9 and post it on your site. Then let me know. On September 20th, me, TripJax, and GCox will meet at the DADI Ranch and determine who we think did the best job. The winner is freerolling at DADI 9! The best part is, no one even pays attention to these contests, so a quick crappy banner may just win the day, and if I know you, you’ve got at least one quick, crappy banner in you…of course, I don’t really know you.

I am also providing a Revenge Bounty. It’s a new concept that I was toying with. Here is the basic idea. There is a bounty on whoever knocks me out. If you avenge me, you win $11. Sounds good? Good.

DADI 9: Back in the Saddle. See you then!

First, thank you all for your comments. While I was tweaking HoP, some folks were kind enough to give me their honest opinions on the site design. It wasn’t sitting 100% well with me either, and this is the result. Back to the same old colors, but with a cleaner design and some larger text. Of course, not as large as the debacled He-Man referenced post from yesterday (which has consequently been removed after it messed EVERYTHING up), but nonetheless, a smoother site. I have to give a huge thanks to TripJax for setting me up with everything I need to make HoP the beautiful eye-sore that it is.

Since the He-Man inspired post is down, let me give a quick recap for those who may’ve missed me tempting the poker gods. In the last five days, I’ve won about $500, mostly from small MTTs and SNGs. I placed 4th out of 30-something players in a $50+5 MTT on Mansion. I won two $20 SNGs and took third in another. I took over $100 off of a NL DreamPoker table in no time. And this was after weeks of losses, due in large part to the perils of variance. I’m not just blaming variance. That won’t help anyone. But I did have more than a few good hands turn bad, so a comeback was much needed.

I played in Mookie’s charity tournament last night and lost most of my stack to a donkeylicious semi-bluff reraise and subsequent call with second or third pair. My opponent flopped a baby set (2s) and she wasn’t letting go. However, I’m proud to announce that Iakaris dealt the death blow (TT v. Q2 when I had all of 90 chips), and he wins my bounty, a freeroll in DADI 9. Now all we have to do is actually schedule the damn event.

After that, I played some Dream Poker, only to lose $1. So be it.

But now onto some random pontification of this silly game we call Poker.

After re-reading You Decide #42, I think both of my plays were contingent on one concept: at what point is it acceptable to take the worst of it when you have a chiplead. For the most part, we’ll be focusing on preflop decisions, since that is where you will ultimately decide whether to play your hand or not. I think we all can agree that there comes a point at which you outchip your opponent so much that you don’t mind making a call with the worst of it. I’m not going to focus on the You Decide #42 hands, but I do want to discuss where that line is where taking the worst of it is the right move.

This really works in any tournament situation (and potentially in some odd cash game situations), but for the sake of ease, let’s just look at heads-up. Assuming that both players start with 1k in chips, when one player eventually has 1900 and the other has 100, the player with the lead will call any all-in by the player with 100 chips. The same could be said for an 1800/200 split.

But when does it lose its economy. Clearly, when you are even in chips and you have a bad starting hand, calling an all-in is NOT the correct move. I’d say that universally we can agree that for the most part, until you have a 3 to 1 chip lead (i.e., 1500/500) calling with the worst of it is definitely a bad play. At least when you lose with the worst of it when you have 1500 or more chips, your opponent cannot take the lead from you.

We also have to ask ourselves, how bad is the “worst of it?” I am confident that it is rarely a good time to take the worst of it with a low pocket pair facing a high pocket pair preflop. However, you rarely know what your opponent has exactly (especially preflop), so we are really dealing with a range of hands. In some cases, your decision to take the worst of it might be tempered by the possibility that your opponent actually has a worse hand. For instance, calling an all-in with AT may not necessarily be calling with the worst of it when you think your opponent is likely to push with KQ or even A2. In those situations, your range includes some hands that you are ahead of, so calling is easier, although you may be facing a lower pocket pair (at which point you are barely behind) or a dominating ace. But what about when you have Q9 and your opponent pushes. He probably has Q9 beat, but the question is, by how much?

This very situation happened to me recently. It was the last hand of a full table SNG, and I had been trading barbs with my opponent since about the 5th hand in the tournament. So, I had him somewhat acting over aggressive, because he had something to prove. I had taken and kept the chip lead and had him outchipped about 8.5k to 5k after he sucked out all-in with his 56c vs. my K6o. A few hands later, with Q9 and some momentum, I raised from 600 to 1800. He raised on top of me, and I decided to call with the worst of it. My thought process was that he likely did not have a pocket pair, and that was all that mattered. At the very worst, he had a Q or 9, but more likely, he had two random cards, at least one of which was above a Q. In fact, he had AKo, and was a 65/35 favorite to win…until the Q9x flop.

In hindsight, I don’t like taking the worst of it there. If I lost, I would be down to 3.5k vs. his 10k. But I also had confidence in my ability to come back to a chiplead.

I’m not sure that I will come to any grand conclusion, but I do have some general theoretical ideas I want to throw out there. If you are a 35/65 dog consistently, you will statistically win at least once within your first three attempts. If you outchip your opponent on each of these three situations, you will eventually bust him (assuming you are all-in on each occassion). This is the very reason why you don’t mind calling all-in when you have 1500 to 500 (or a bigger margin). You are using one of your three attempts to knock out your opponent. If you miss, get back to accumulating chips so you can try again. And if you completely dominate (think 1900 to 100), then you couldn’t give two flying fucks what your opponent has, since you can call his all-in at least three times without breaking a sweat.

In the Q9 case, I had recently lost the K6 v 65, and I felt that I was due to win. It isn’t a smart move, but if the situation was slightly different (say, if I had a 9.5k to 4k lead), then I wouldn’t have batted an eye at the play.

I’m sure that my opponent saw my Q9 and thought I was fucking nuts. I’m sure he was also pissed at his “bad beat”. But the reality is that in tournaments, we have a zero-sum game. You are trying to win everything and leave your opponent with nothing. Sometimes, it is CORRECT to take the worst of it, because even though your odds of winning the hand is worse than your opponents’ odds, the benefit to you is greater, namely winning everything. Your opponent gets no retries. He just gets to think that he suffered bad beat.

To recap, I think the most important points are these: (a) the any two unpaired cards against any two other unpaired cards is at worst a 30/70 dog and that assumes that your opponent has suited connectors and you have unconnected cards with at least one from their suit; (b) if you dominate in chips and can comfortably call an all-in three times, you will most likely bust your opponent within those three calls; (c) if you are confident that you can fight your way back to a dominant position, calling an all-in with the worst of it may be a very smart move; and (d) there is added value that must be considered when you are calling an all in which may knocking out your opponent (in a tournament, generally heads-up or when near or in the money).

Is any of this helpful? I dunno. All I know is that I got poker on the brain. Until then, make mine poker!

Hey Bitches and Bitchettes! It’s time for another edition of You Decide. This time, we will be looking at two different hands, so let’s consider them Hand A and Hand B. Without further adieu, Hand A:

We are in the $20k Guaranteed on Full Tilt. Let me just say that aside from the small poker sites which sometimes have to contribute their own money (overlay) to reach a guarantee, I don’t see the point of a guarantee. I’m talking to you, FT and Stars. I mean, really. I guess it just tells you how many people to expect, at a minimum. But I digress. Back to the hand.

We are at low blinds, 30/60, and I have 2,080, from a starting stack of 1,500. I’m in the BB with Q9s. It folds around to the SB, Buffet, who has 620. He limps.

The flop is 8d 7s Kd. Nothing special there. Buffet acts first and bets 60, which is pot. Now, I have him well covered, so I push all-in on what some might call a stone-cold bluff. I, however, see it as opportunistic poaching.

To my surprise and dismay, Buffet decides to call (500 more). He shows 69h, for an open ended straight draw. The turn and river miss him, and he’s gone.

Now, clearly my push was a gutsy play, and if we were results oriented, we’d all be praising the great play. But poker is not a results-oriented game. It’s decision oriented. So my question is, given the fact that he had 1/4 of my stack and looking at his betting pattern, was my push such a stupid move? I’ll let you decide.

Now onto Hand B. While I was playing the 20k “Guaranteed,” I also entered a $5+.50 tournament on Full Tilt. We were at 400/800 blinds, with 100 antes, and I held a whopping 36k. The nearest competition at the table had 29k, and after him, 19k, 16k and then 9k, so I’m whooping ass and taking names.

I’m in the SB with K2d. It folds to me and I raise to 2400. The BB is RockHammer, and he’s my closest competition with 29k in chips. He calls. So, the pot is 4800 (our bets) + 900 (antes), or 5700 total.

The flop is Kh Qh Js. It certainly looks pretty. I hit top pair, but I have the shittiest kicker possible. There is a flush draw, but I’m not too concerned. I’m more concerned with the fact that people may play KQ, QJ, and KJ in his situation. I’m also confident that lesser pairs like 88 might call my preflop bet. I decide to bet out 4,000. RockHammer calls.

The turn is a 8c. I don’t think he has an underpair (like 8s) anymore, because he wouldn’t have called the 4k flop bet against the only person who could bust him with an underpair to a KQJ flop. I bet out 6400 to see if I can shake him from the hand. He calls.

The river is a 7c. Now, at this point, we have a monster pot. It’s over 25k, if my math is right. I bet 8k. At this point, I’m pretty sure it’s either a value bet or a defensive bet, but I’m happy with either one. If he has me outkicked (but not two pair), this should get a mere call. This is preferable to checking and being bet out of the pot, at which point, I’d spend the rest of the evening wondering what he had. On the other hand, a Q or a J who couldn’t let go might also just call here. My only concern is a raise, but if he raises, it’s likely that he has been slowplaying or hit two-pair, so I’m okay with folding (although I don’t love it). He calls and shows down Q9s, for middle pair, Queens. I take the pot (over 42k).

What happened here? Was I a bit ballsy and got lucky? Was I stupid to go charging forward against the only other significant stack at the table? Were my bets too weak (i.e., I could’ve gotten more, or I could’ve gotten less but in a safer way by pushing him out of the hand? You decide.

Until then, make mine poker.

The new digs at DADI got the DADI braintrust going again. We are still scoping out a date for the next event, but September 21st is a frontrunner. The game of choice will probably be the game of the hour: HORSE. VPP is on board, which is always a pleasure, and we have our feelers out to other entities to see if anyone else would like to juice the pot. I just got word from PokerOnAMac.com that they will be donating another iPod shuffle. I may also include a vengeance bounty, where I place a bounty (likely the $11 buy-in) on whoever knocks me out. What I do for my players…

On that note, the creative juices have been flowing and I’ve been working on a new banner to greet my readers when they come to HoP. Unfortunately, the more I work on a new banner, the more I appreciate the old one. Where is DuggleBogey when you need him? What I’m down to is this, and aside from a possible font change, similar to the current font, I think I have my eventual winner:

Maybe I’ll tweak the colors on the tag line too. An artist’s work is never done.

On the poker front, I’ve continued the less-is-more mentality. I’m trying to revert to my old attitude, when an SNG would satiate me. The winning still isn’t coming. I busted in the Bash tournament pretty early. I then made it to 6th in the WWDN Not before hitting the rail. I think I have to thank Surflexus for that. More on him later. I played two HU SNGs and lost one on a brutal KQ v K7 suckout. The other was a blur. I did win $24 or so at 1/2 HORSE…and then later lost about $21 or so at 1/2 HORSE. In the end, I lost $25 for the night, ignoring the $25 that I paid to get into the Bash, since there was no prize money to be won. Yes, shady accounting! I feel like a big corporation!

The office seems like it will be quiet today. Everyone and their sister is on vacation, leaving me and two partners, one of whom is in the library all morning (the actual library, not the bathroom, you dirty dirty reader). I’ve got much to do, but at least I can do it in peace. This weekend will consist of going to the Shake Shack with wifey Kim tonight. It’s a random, well, shack, in the middle of one of NYC’s parks which supposedly has amazing food. Done and done. Tomorrow is the grandfather’s birthday on LI, and with the popularity of poker, I wonder if I can get a game going. It’s at my family’s house on LI, so at least I know where my emergency chips are hidden. I kid you not. Otherwise, I’ll be popping up online here and there. Keep an eye out for me and I’ll gladly join your for a cash game or SNG. Until then, make mine poker!