Weekend Poker

My poker weekend got off to a bad start. We initiated my new chips in a game after work on Friday. Only one of the guys plays with any regularity, and that only on the play money tables at Party. It was exactly the kind of game one would expect from inexperienced players, the kind you can take to the cleaners given enough time or the right cards. I had neither. Ended up the big loser, down $40 in less than two hours.

I realized I take my poker maybe just a bit too seriously when the near constant ring of cell phones and people leaving the table to take calls started to really irritate me. Getting nothing but folding cards probably didn't help.

I've started reading How Good Is Your Limit Hold'em? by Jacobs and Brier. If the book is any indication, I may have a better understanding of why I'm not winning at limit. I'm not sure I can fix it, but at least I have some idea of what's broken.

Overall it seems a worthwhile read, but I do have one critical comment concerning the format of the book. They talk in the opening of their more natural presentation of hands, going from start to finish on each hand rather than splitting the book up into separate discussions of pre-flop, flop, turn, and river, as do many other books.

I can buy into the basic premise, but then they change direction three or four times in each hand. They mix "hypothetical" scenarios for the hand in with the "actual" play, resulting in a confusing mess. After two or three hypothetical twists on the flop play, I find it very difficult to get back to the actual hand, and the physical presentation in the book doesn't make it easy.

For instance, they'll have something like this. You're dealt A♠ 9♦ in the cutoff.
Mr. Aggro UTG raises. Mr. Telephone in MP calls.
Question #1. You (a) fold, (b) call, (c) raise.
Reverse the positions of Mr. Aggro and Mr. Telephone. Mr. Telephone UTG calls, Mr. Aggro in MP raises.
Question #2. You (a) fold, (b) call, (c) raise.
Reverse the betting. Mr. Telephone UTG raises and Mr. Aggro in MP calls.
Question #3. You (a) fold, (b) call, (c) raise.
The flop comes A♥ 6♠ 4♠. Mr. Aggro bets and Mr. Telephone raises.
Question #4. You (a) fold, (b) call, (c) scratch your head trying to remember who's sitting where and who did what before the flop.

It gets worse as further scenarios are discussed on each street and the problem gets spread across three or four pages of the book. (This was an example of my own making which doesn't really do justice to the issue.) I think they would have produced a better book if they'd stuck with their original idea of presenting each hand as it is actually played. If they wanted to do variations, put them after the complete presentation of the original hand. I have enough trouble trying to figure out the answers without being confused about who's sitting where and who did what when.

I can't say that the first four problems in the book have had a significant impact on my limit poker. I played a few hours on Saturday and again on Sunday, still trying to clear as much of my Full Tilt bonus as possible. And I continued losing a lot faster than I'm earning bonus. I got so frustrated with the suckouts at limit that I switched to NL on Sunday. I can't play four tables of NL like I can limit, so the bonus clearing takes a big hit, but I usually walk away up at least a bit so I think I'm probably better off sticking with NL. I won about $40 in an hour of $0.25/$0.50 NL, much of it due to somebody running KK full speed into my AA.

I also played a few more of the $8+$0.70 turbo $26 Tournament Ticket SnG's. If you can get any cards at all these things are pretty easy. Unfortunately, I was card dead on the last two. I did win a ticket in the first one I played. I guess that leaves me down $0.10.

It's amazing to me how a "turbo" tournament can attract so many incredibly slow players. Every time I play I end up at tables with people who take close to the maximum time on every decision. I could almost see how this would play to your advantage if you'd doubled up early, but not when you haven't won a single pot. Given my recent connection problems from the hotel I should be the last one to complain about others being slow, but when I delay the game I'm not doing it on purpose or out of a lack of attention. It's very annoying to see people with no apparent connection problems continually delaying the game.

Tonight, once again, is Mondays At The Hoy, PokerStars, 22:00 EST, password hammer. Please join us.