troutsmart

A no limit player can play tight or loose, and twenty shades in between, but that isn't what is important. Success has little correlation to whether a player is loose or tight, and much more to do with making correct decisions. The greatest players make the greatest decisions.

I don't like the fact that at times I've made insulting or brash comments, that though provoked, were not deserved. My second distaste for poker has to do with live play in casinos. I'm not a smoker, and have no problem with smokers, until I walk into a casino and get suffocated, not to mention smelling horrible if I go to a nice restaurant or movie later. I do like the fact that most of the poker rooms are becoming smokefree, but being twenty feet from the slot machines, there is no way to avoid the smoke. Of course, it is my choice to go in the casino, so I have no room to argue this.

Professor Plum in the library.

Amazing how the pros just keep winning. Guess there is some skill in these games afterall. Congrats to Phil.

My current bankroll started with $17 won in a freeroll...after an enormously ugly run of of over 20,000 hands (I didn't think it was possible), I stand at $1600. This wouldn't constitute a fraction of a big roll though. Ask me this again in a couple years.

400 hands is an average session for me 3-tabling. If I'm on a great table, I'll play longer, but otherwise I'll be done with it for the day. I average about 1.5 sessions/day.I have respect for those who can regularly play longer sessions online.

2005-06-24 23:44:00 Title: Mark Seif Wins Event #22 ($1,500 No-Limit Hold'em) Log: Hand 184 - Nguyen has the button, he limps, Seif raises to $100,000, Nguyen raises to $600,000, Seif pushes all in, and Nguyen calls. Nguyen shows Ad-10d, but Seif has pocket kings (Kc-Kd). Nguyen is the shorter stack, facing possible elimination on this hand. The flop comes Kh-7h-4c, and Seif has flopped a set of kings. The only way Nguyen will survive is if he catches a jack and a queen on the last two cards for a straight. The turn card is the 9c, and Nguyen is drawing dead. Minh Nguyen is eliminated in secon

Congrats on the win and we wish you more in the future, which we know will surely happen.

Now as for the decline of the World Series of Poker, there are some things happening that are a concern.1) Ten handed tables are changing the pace of the events. Warren Karp makes this point in a cardplayer.com interview.2) The structure isn't very forgiving in many events. If you don't win pots early, you're in the hot seat. 3) Logistically speaking, if you make it deep into a tournament, it can keep you out of two other events. A few events have had long first days, short second days, and then come back the final table on the third day.4) Many fans are interested in watching the event

Why do I look forward to the World Series of Poker?1) The competition between established pros to add bracelets (ex. Erik Seidel and Allen Cunningham adding to their collection)2) The open nature and multiple methods provide anybody to find their way to a final table and potentially win (ex. Chris Moneymaker)3) It is at the world series where we identify the "players". There are many highly-skilled players that are unknown or have achieved some success, yet remain off the minds of the vast majority of poker followers. Due to the extensive media coverage, and prestige of the events, we are a

My initial thought when reading this post was, "Oh no! I can't reveal how pathetic my results are to all these esteemed players." Further thought leads me to believe that my numbers might reflect a certain percentage of those reading and I might not be alone. I keep very accurate records, to the point I'm probably overly anal about it.From March 13-June 13-- Online profit of $583.92 798 hrsFrom March 13-June 13-- Live game profit of $261 23 hrsTherefore, I'm a winning player and have shown a profit, though very small for the time spent. Considering I was playing 50c/$1 limit on Ma

crazy hand, but this should have been a massively huge pot if any player played their hand correctly.

And Kirill, the Matt Damon lookalike who finished 2nd in a WPT event, is his poker coach.

I might be naive in asssuming this, but if Daniel Negreanu has respect for a player's game, then I think I'm safe assuming the player is pretty damn good. I personally thought Josh was a disgrace to sportsmanship upon my initial impressions, but have since gained more respect for him by reading his blog and learning about him in Daniel's blog.

lol...that is pretty comical when I think about it. That might have me quitting a lot of sessions. It does always feel good to get back after being stuck a bunch.

What do you do on those days that you're stuck?I play hours, as advised in one of Daniel's early articles in cardplayer, but sometimes find myself stuck early in the session. When looking at my records, I've noticed that I've had a few semi-catastropic sessions. I wonder if it wouldn't be best to have a stop loss to control these nightmare sessions. Say 30BB. Your thoughts?

dumb of me not to see the straight and additional outs. I still like a raise here in many cases, though if I knew my opponent to be a rock or pretty straight forward, I might opt to fold.

Depends on my opponent largely. However, if I feel I'm behind, but my ace or king is good, then it becomes a pot odds problem. Feeling that my opponent has a made hand and no flush draw and my A and K are good.52 cards in the deck - 6 known = 46 cards46 cards - 6 good cards (3 Kings, 3 Aces) = 4040 bad cards/ 6 good cards = 6.7 to 1320 (pot)/40(bet to call)= 8 Based on the math, you're good to go.However, I might disagree with the previously mentioned play of raising here, and the statement that such advise should cause you to throw the book away. I don't necessarily think raising is bad p

I just finished reading The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King . Very interesting read, with interesting insight into the big game with Andy Beal. Lots of information about Doyle Bruson, Todd Brunson, Chip Reese, Howard Lederer, Ted Forrest, and Jennifer Harman, along with several other top pros. I would like to have seen more information on the mathmatics that Beal used to counteract the pros ability to read hands. This was only lightly touched upon, yet seemed to be a major part of the success Beal had at times. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book, and probably rate it

An element of this style is related to game theory and creating random betting patterns. An example of game theory relates to coordination of an action(bet) to an inanimate object(coin). If I were to bet everytime I flipped a coin and it landed on heads, and checked-called everytime it landed tails, there would be no distinguished pattern to my betting. I'm not saying Gus is flipping coins, but an element of his play is based on such randomness I would assume. Barry Greenstein classifies Gus as an active or loose player vs. the common perception of hyper-aggressive. An active or loose p

From my observations of both of your styles, starting out at dead even, i believe you could take him heads up daniel. Not because i am on your board telling you this, but your style is a lot more agressive than his, and there is no worse of an opponent you want to face in limit hold'em than someone who is aggressive. In heads-up limit, Howard might be one of the most aggressive players out there. Whether he or Daniel would be more aggressive, I have no idea how it would play out. Many percieve Howard to be a tight player, based on his T.V. airtime, which could make any player appear tight or

Nah, that was a great post.Thank you...glad to hear that the wind is appreciated.

No problem...though I tend to be long winded :-)

First thought was "American Idiot" by Green Day. I thought it about it, and even I was offended by my accusation.Second thought was "Logical Song" by Supertramp. That might be going to far though.Third thought was "Behind Blue Eyes" by the Who, but my eyes haven't been blue since I was 6 months old. I just liked the image, which would fit Dan Harrington.Then I thought of "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, as that pretty much sums it up. Though the Sid Vicious version might be a little more accurate depiction.

Congratulations! It always feels good when we pass those certain milestones. For many on here, those milestones are at $100, then at $200, $500, $1000, $5000, $10000, etc. One great thing about poker when played in a winning manner, is that is measurable. We progress through limits and increase our bankrolls as we succeed. We sometimes have to step down a level or two, when we run into variance or start to play inferior to our opponents. These are often the very frustrations that lead many players to make poor bankroll management decisions which lead to catastrophic results. I commend a