In the PC, the mighty PC...

... the problem persists further.

My PC is busted. After two reformats with "all the fixins", there were still substantial errors on my hard drive. This is sucky. Although, after the second reformat my sound drivers were installed incorrectly, so all the sounds acquired a Floydian reverb quality. Playing FreeCell was like listening to an interactive "Dark Side of the Moon".

I sent it in for repairs to some guys who have a shop at the creepy end of the U District. They seemed to be bullshit-free so, I like my chances of getting it fixed. They said Friday at the lastest. Yay.

Still, I have played more than a little. And I have been KILLING IT. I have made up for my Full Tilt Downswings by ripping up pokerstars. I've been playing a few things:

• $25 and $50 NL. I have been grinding it well there. Who knows if I am playing differently or just running well. Right now, I'm just glad for the change.
• $15+$1 Turbos on Stars. These games are a cakewalk compared to turbos on FTP for a couple reasons: one extra level of blinds, antes instead of a blind up, and a more even distribution between poor players and multitabling grinders. I can beat the entire group of them, but with many more poor players around there's more money lying on the table. Thanks both to my edge in play and a huge amount of good luck, I am running up and down these games 30% ROI over the month... 15% higher than my expected result on FTP at the same stakes. I am in the money in 9 table games 42% of the time and finishing first more than half of those.
• Baby stakes pot limit Omaha. I don't understand why people like a game that plays the same as big bet poker but gives professionals an even bigger edge. I am nowhere near to "grokking" play in this game but it is fun. A few observations:

1. The change in hand value from preflop to flop is enormous. But, that is a relative thing. If two hands of the same type, their relative value seems to stay the same or increase in difference most of the time. A wet flop favors the wettest hand that hits it pretty hugely.
2. Nobody gets the outs in this game at the microstakes. Not nut outs are not outs, they are minus outs for your opponents. Which is about the same for bluffing, but way different for calling.
3. Showdown value changes radically. Hands can basically become worthless in one card.
4. Position is superhuge. Because of the radical change in hand values, position is an even bigger premium than in big bet hold 'em.

• Badugi. This game is ridiculous. It's structure like hold 'em, but with no board cards. The goal is to make the "worst" four card hand. Hand rankings are always in combination (like razz), except that suits matter. All hands with four different suits beat all hands with three and so on. Aces are low, so the best hands are four suit A234, A235, A245, A345, 2345, A236, and so on. Given the number of draws, the complexity of hands, and its format, it is basically lesson in hand reading, pricing opponents in, and pot odds.
  
• HORSE. I am pretty good at playing weak tight and fishy opponents in all these games. I will be good enough to get winner in the "for a living stakes" pretty soon.
  

I have been watching a ton of poker videos. I was home sick the past two days, so I just got through a ton. The "intermediate poker course" on stox has been fantastic. They have basically isolated and dissected the two most difficult concepts in playing deep stack big bet poker and hammered them out. The first is recognizing where villains leave value on the table to allow you to bluff and draw. The second is finding good value bets. A good example of how well this informs your game can be found here.

I also watched a few cardrunners freebies and this one by OMGClayAiken, poker supergenius. Although his site has the least content of any of them. 1/2 of them are by Galfond himself. I love the way he plays and thinks, so I am consdering joining up.

I'm feeling better- well enough to plan and meditate, at least. So hopefully once I get my hard drive fixed, I can resume my game and get back to work.

The Revenge of the Sleepy Lion.

I uber-overslept yesterday, so I decided to stay up all night to get back on schedule. Of course, I played some poker. Specifically 25 NL at Stars and FTP. Some observations:

1. The aggression level of the regulars: much higher preflop at FTP, much higher postflop at stars.
   
2. It is much easier to valuetown for stacks at FTP, but much harder to get to a flop in position with the best kind of hands. Much easier to avoid valuetowning at Stars: the regulars are so very fit or fold.
   
3. I have acquired new insight into the nature of my "losing play" at micro-NLH.

• I typically lose focus on the toughest parts of multi-street no limit play: position, hand range, and table image.
  
• I start using the HUD data to justify wreckless decision making.
• I make one really bad decision and this either:
• (1) cascades into multiple bad decisions, OR
  
• (2) forces me to shut down my session.

I lost two really brutal pots through no major error of my own.

1. I open on the button with Qh2h for 3 BB, awful player in the big blind with 50 BB calls.

The flop comes Kh7h3s. The villain has been check-raising or folding most of the past few times we have confronted each other. I doubt my hand stands up to his check-raising range but has many ways to improve. I check.

The turn is the 3h. The villain leads out for 4 BB. I mistakenly interpret this for a small bluff or a bet with 3 of a kind. When the villain's hand improves greatly, he generally bets a large amount. Because I see him as weak, I raise slightly- 6BB. Villain calls.

The river is the Ah. Villain leads for 4BB again. I view his hand now as a mediocre flush. I expect him to pay off any bet I make. I shove all-in.

Villain calls with two black aces in the hole.

2. A forgettable semiTAG player, recently won a big pot from me when I check raise shoved with the nut heart draw on an As9s9c board. He called and showed 9d7s. I improved to a flush and he rivered a boat. Now we are 150 BB deep. He opens in the hijack for 3.5 BB. I reraise to about 12 BB with Ks4s hoping he'll just fold. He tanks a little, then calls.

Flop is Qs8s4h. Villain checks to me and I bet 20 BB. He insta-minraises me to 40 BB straight. I insta-call (mistakenly) without tanking.

The turn brings the Js. This is a great card for me, completing my flush. The villain checks, indicating a desire to show the hand down. I put him on an overpair, set, or AQ. There is room for one heart in his hand. I bet 65 BB, hoping to induce the villain to shove the rest. Villain just calls with ~40 BB behind.

The river is the 6s. The villain thinks for a little bit, then puts the rest of his chips in. I reluctantly call.

The reality is, we were both committed on the turn. He cannot fold if a non-spade comes, or he has allowed me to run an incredibly profitable 2-street bluff (think about it: if I did this move with the Ks4c and he folded when a Tc came off, he'd be a huge dork).

But shit, this guy was kind of clumsy and I considered that his hand was very likely live. I should have put his money in way ahead.

Crashzors

The old PC crashed this weekend. My power went out- possibly related?- and then when I rebooted, everything was running slow . After 10 ' the PC eventually froze. When I restarted, the system said that a core process was unable to start due to corrupt data.

So, I was forced to reformat my hard drive. Adios poker data! Everything else I own is safe from such an event. This makes me think I really, really need a backup system for my shit.

On the downside, I can no longer look at and pine after my exceptional success at $100 NL 14 months ago. On the upside, I can forget my altogether awful results in $25 NL this year.

I have been playing without a HUD, 4 tabling and pushing edges as hard as I can. It is tremendously easy to straightforwardly semibluff and cajole mediocre tags out of marginal pots. Observant fish pick up and become incredibly amenable to setmining as a result.

On Shippopotamus' recommendation I have signed up for the stoxpoker intermediate hold em video series. Just watching Ed Miller talk about selective, exploitive aggression is a breath of fresh air. Lovely.

In the next week, I am hoping to grind some more and press my edges in the sit n gos. I think I will finally switch to stars, in an effort to get FTP to give me rakeback.

Played some sit n gos tonight, made 1 or 2 glaring errors and ran poorly on and around the bubble. I broke even nonetheless. Good to be back!

Best chatbox EVAR. Found via pokergrump.

mbolt1

I am watching this guy's first stoxpoker video. So far, I like him.

March! A month of plans.

February was a pretty crappy month for the Sleepy Lion. Fatigue, listlessness, and a total lack of motivation dogged me nearly every day. (Actual) work, poker (work), exercise- they all seemed impossible. Fortunately, the issue has resolved.

I feel good and I'm eager to get things rolling.

Poker Goals for March

1. Grind up for 1k. I cannot predict outcomes, but making some money this month would be nice. My earn in side games should be $15/hr, in tournaments I should make 25/hr. I want to put these numbers to work. At 20/hr, I should play 50 hours this month to make my due. So there's the real goal.
2. Establish fixed playing times. From now on, I plan to play every Saturday from noon-3 no matter what, Wednesday 5 PM- 6PM and 8PM-10 PM no matter what, and Thursday 6PM- 9 PM no matter what. I hope to add an additional 5 hours flex time per week.
3. "Coaching", writing, and Video watching. I need to talk to other people are playing to win more regularly. Hopefully through posts, conversations with friends, and sweating with shippopotamus, I will get enough insight. I will try to update my blog more often as well- every Tuesday and Saturday. I also plan to use some frequent player points and free demos for coaching sights besides cardrunners and stoxpoker.
4. Winning approaches. I need to improve my perspective on playing well. I will implement a "cool down routine" beginning this week. For every 30 minutes I play, I will review it for five. By the end of the month I want to establish a warm-up routine and an exercise program to improve my health and focus.

Some Insights: the crappy month has taught me a few things.

1. There can be no focus without perspective. I had virtually no perspective this month and I did next to nothing productive. My colleagues remain detached from such things and my girlfriend is no help. I only got a hold on myself once I took the time to gather my thoughts. I only had the courage to do this once my organization scheme deflated and got chewed apart by wild dogs.
2. Tom Dwan is a savant, but Phil Galfond is a genius. In his interview with 2+2 pokercast, Galfond talks about his perspective on things. He is focused, disciplined, and clearly considers everything carefully. I want to check out his poker videos very much.
3. The more a poker player wins, enjoys his/herself, has a positive attitude, and/or understand the dynamic tension between thinking and doing, the more likely he or she is fond of Tommy Angelo.
4. There is no price too high for a good perspective. If you want to improve your poker play, talk to other people about it. If you want to improve at something else, talk to other people about it. If you don't know what to talk about, take a step back and remove yourself from the equation.
5. If you don't know how to remove yourself from the equation, meditate.
6. Have a plan. It's much easier to amend a plan than draft one. This goes from the highest level to the lowest.
7. Video sites and poker software are a steal at twice the price. I wholeheartedly endorse stoxpoker and cardrunners. I have heard good things about one or two others.
8. I hate being fat, but I love eating. Who's fault is that?
9. I'm excited for the Durrrr challenge. How can a smart guy stand to lose if a bunch of halfwits get into heads-up poker.
10. I really want to Super Sattelite into two WSOP events.