CardRunners

I’ve been thinking about tilt recently.  Specifically, I’ve been trying to come up with common situations that happen at the table which throw me off my game and figure out what it is about that situation that causes the reaction it causes. 

Once again I turn to “The Bible” to begin looking for guidance:

“Tilt is any deviation from your A-game and you’re a-mindset, however slight or fleeting.

There are two reasons to define tilt in this way.  One is standardization.  All A-games are identical.  Anyone who is playing his A-game is making the best decisions he knows how, and his mind is as right as it ever is.  That’s what A-game is.  So by defining tilt from the top down, we can draw a line for ny player that cleanly divides his tilt from his non-tilt.

The other reason is that we aren’t just playing with words here.  We are using them as shovels to dig for gold.  And by using the word tilt to focus on our best, instead of our wors, we hit a lode:  Tilt is non A-game.  Tilt is anything less than your utmost.”  (EoP, 55-56)

Tommy then defines hard tilt and soft tilt.  These days, when I’m playing 6-12 tables of 200NL, I don’t think I tilt hard, but I’m sure there are plenty of instances where I experience soft tilt.  So … what causes me to tilt softly and why?  Let’s look at a few situations.

Situation 1:  You raise KK from early UTG + 1.  An aggressive 3-bettor from the button re-raises you.  You decide to make a small 4-bet and he thinks for a bit and then 5-bet ships it in.  You snap call, and bam – there is that dreaded Ace on the flop.  You can’t see his cards just yet due to the site you are playing on, but sure enough, once the board runs out and the cards are flipped, he scoops the 200BB pot with AJo.

Situation 2:  You raise Kd Td from MP and a station calls you from the SB.  The player is clearly the target at the table.  The flop comes Jd Qc 4d.  He checks, you c-bet, he calls.  The turn is a 7c.  He checks again and you bet again to continue building a pot in case you hit.  Once again, he calls.  The river is the 8h.  He checks, you check behind and he shows you T8o for a missed gutter, but his pair of 8’s is still good enough to take the pot.

Situation 3:  An loose 64/25 type sitting on a 150 BB stack min-raises from early position.  You are sitting on rockets, 110 BB stack, and since this guy has been in just about every pot, you make a big re-raise to 24 BBs.  He insta-calls your raise and checks a Q75r flop to you.  You bet 60% pot and he calls rather quickly.  The turn is the T with no flush draws out there.  He checks again and you bet again – this time around 60% pot to set him up for a river jam.  He once again calls rather quickly.  The river is a 3 and he checks.  You shove and he quickly calls with 33 for a rivered set.  He types in the chat “Wow – I put you on AK.”

Situation 4:  You open AK from the button and a solid regular 3-bets you.  He defends his blinds a lot so you 4-bet for value.  As this is happening you pick up JJ on another table in the BB.  It’s folded around a solid regular in the SB who opens for pot.  You 3-bet him.  You attention shifts back to the first table.  Now the regular shoves over your 4-bet and you call.  On table 2, you are now faced with a 4-bet yourself and you ship it in with your jacks.  As the hands run out, you end up losing both – the first to QQ when the board runs out low and the 2^nd to AQ on a turned queen.  This puts you down 4.5 BI’s for the day.

Situation 5:  An aggressive regular opens the button and you 3-bet him from the SB with AK.  He calls and the flop comes 57Jr.  You c-bet 60% pot and he min-raises.

Situation 6:  You’re 190BBs deep with a solid regular.  He opens in early position and you flat call in the CO with 88.  The flop comes 8h Jh 2s.  He c-bets $10 into $12 and you raise to $32.  He thinks for a bit and 3-bets to $100. He’s got $280 behind and you cover.  You decide that the board is too draw heavy to peel so you shove.  He calls and you end up being on the bad end of a set-over-set and his jacks have you drawing to 1 out or backdoor hearts – neither of which get there. 

Situation 7:  You are 240BB’s deep with a massive fish who is playing 90% of hands and potting every street.  The waiting list at the table is 14 deep and you have position on him.  You pick up KK on the button.  It’s folded around to the fish who raises for pot.  You 3-bet him to $24 and he makes it $70.  You elect to flat call.  The flop is Kh 7s 2d.  He pots it right into you for $140 and you flat call.  The turn is the 2h.  He now shoves and you call.  The river is a harmless 8 and you scoop a massive pot in which your kings out-flopped his aces.  He sits out and leaves. 

Situation 8:  You open 9Ts from the button and a 30/10 player from the BB calls.  The flop gives you the nut straight:  8c Jc Qs.  He check/calls your $10 c-bet.  The turn is a blank – 4s.  He once again check/calls your turn bet.  The river is the Kc.  He thinks for a bit and pots it into you.

Situation 9:  A super-aggro (35/31) player raising UTG and you flat with 88 on the button.  The flop comes 8h 6h 2d.  He c-bets to $10 and you raise to $32.  He flats fairly quickly.  The turn is the 5h and he checks to you.  He checks, you bet $40 into the $70 and he calls.  The river is the Th and he shoves.  You hate life and decide to make the fold.  He scoops the pot and shows you Kc Jd. 

So … those were some of the situations going through my head.  None of these actually happened as such at the tables, but these are definitely representative of situations that happen all the time.  In my next blog post, I will try to break down what it is specifically about these situations which could/will put you on tilt. 

For now, let me know which one of these would tilt you the most.  Also, please leave a comment in which you describe a hand (real or imaginary) that can/has caused you to feel really tilted. 

So as Katy and I are making dinner, I told her that I am about even for the day.  I was quite proud of this since at one point I was stuck more than 5 BI's.  She asked if I was getting it in good (hold the jokes please) as this is a concept we've often talked about as it relates to expected winnings.  I told her "well ... kind of."

I got KK in pre-flop and ran into AA.  So ... I'm getting it in with 18% equity, and thus mathematically I'm getting it in badly.  But ... vs. the player's range, (he opens MP, CO cold-calls, I squeeze KK on the button, he 4-bets, I shove) I am getting it in very good.

In another hand, I cold-call 99 on the button vs. a loose CO open.  The flop is A 6 9 with two hearts and a club.  He bets, I raise, he calls.  The tuns is the 2c.  he checks, I bet enough to leave about a PSB left for the river and he calls.  The river is the 3c.  He checks, I shove for value and he snap-calls with A7c for a backdoored flush.  So here I got it in with 0 equity, but the play was correct.

Finally, I have QQ in the BB 140BB's deep.  Button (19/18) raises, SB (48/21) flats, and I 3-bet from the BB to $30.  Button folds and SB ships it in.  I snap call, spike a queen, and put a bad beat on his KK.  This is one that I acutally did wonder about. I'm still not good enough to fold  QQ here vs. a 48/21 type player in a obvious squeeze situation.  I've seen players shove AJ in this spot before.

Finally, consider this:  You get AA in pre-flop 6 times and win all six hands.  What most players forget is that you are now running above expection.  Whenever your hands hold up vs. other player's non-zero equity, we are "running good" - even if we continue getting it in with great odds.  Thus, I'm starting to think less and less about "running above or below equity" and just start focusing on making optimal plays vs. other player's ranges.

I did end up putting in an evening session and finished up about 2.5 BI's on the day making a very nice comback.

This puts me at 11,243 hands for the month and 5,585 VPPs so I feel like I'm taking care of business.

This has been my one goal for 2009.  Put in the time at the tables.  Today I got off to a good start and played close to 5K hands over five and a half hours.  This is exactly what I want to do this year.  As the years progresses, I want to put in between 6-8 hours 5 days a week.  I also picked close to 2.5K VPPs which is another way I will track my volume.

The thing about playing poker full time is that an eight hour day is not the same as an eight hour day at most other jobs.  The swings, the highs, and the lows make it so that I can't (shouldn't) play for more than two hours.  Even Tommy Angelo says this in his book:  

"A set is the amount of time between sitting down and standing up.  Think of your poker life as a series of sets.  A set is typically an hour long.  Shorter than an hour is fine.  Longer than a hour might be fine.  But longer than two hours is never fine.

A session is one or more sets groups in time.  Long sessions are fine, but only for as long as you are fine, and only if done in sets.

A break is the time between sets.  To take a break, remove yourself physically from the game, and also mentally.  What's critical is that you stop the poker thinking, even if it's only for a few seconds.  "  (EOP, p. 34)

As Katy and I were walking our dogs in the evening, we were discussing the fact that I ran well (i.e. - my good hands were holding up, I was hitting good flops and people were paying me off) but wanted to keep on playing.  She said "why not quit for the day when you're up as much as you are?"

I told her that I cannot have my daily goals being financial - it needs to be about volume of time I spend at the table.  This is truly the only thing I have control over.  Thus, at the end of the day, I am accountable for the amount of time I spent playing.  Whether I'm up or down is for the most part going to be out of my control.  Yes, I do have a financial goal for 2009, but that's more abstract on a day to day basis. 

That said, I did have my first 4-figure day of 2009 which was a nice bonus :)

So yesterday I had a nice 5 BI winning day.  I decided to walk away and call it a successful day.  Then I started reading some blog on CR and watching some of the hands that people posted and decided that poker is too profitable of a game to just sit out.  I'll just open up a table or two ...

And thus I get drawn back in after I've already called it quits for the day.  And I quickly drop close to two buy-ins.  Why did I even sit back at the tables?  There was really no reason for it.  I end up at two 6-max tables playing with a REALLY aggressive player HU who then sits out after a third person sits in.  I ask if he wants to play at the HU tables and since he's up about a buy-in on me he agrees.

We fire up two HU tables and after I take a little over three buy-ins from him he just types "lucky donkey" and leaves me.  He cold-called a 4-bet OOP with T8s a few hands before this happened.  It's funny how everyone is Phil Ivey when they play 100NL and below.

So ... I end up quitting having won about 6 BI's on the day, but why did I even sit back down?  

Also, I was looking at my 100NL stats for this month:



Yeah ... the HU and 6-max are fairly small sample sizes, but just from the feel of it I think I have the biggest edge in short handed games.  It also helps that I have been playing at most 10 tables whereas I ended up playing 18-24 when I played Full Ring.

I think in 2009 I will play a mixture of 6-max, FR, and HU.  It's just silly grinding for bonuses which are a small fraction on the hourly rate that I'm sacrificing by playing too many tables at stakes where my edge isn't optimized.

Also, here is the # 1 secret to winning at poker:  Bum hunt.  Look at all the big winners.  It's what they do.  For example, since I've been grinding 100NL on Stars, I've been following the big winners:

http://www.pokertableratings.com/topwinners.php?si...
I won't got into a lot that I see them doing, but watch what both Rennwurm and jrockhaf do - what tables they sit on and what tables they stay on.  Oh yeah ... they do their best at bum hunting :)

Ever since I've decided to take the 2008-9 year off and play poker full-time, I've been pretty disappointed with myself.  I found myself not playing as much as I would like, jumping around different games (HU, 6-max, 50NL - 200NL), and wasting too much time (I have a very bad habit of just checking my e-mail every few minutes).

The results have thus reflected my disconnected and unfocused approach.  I've won money but it hasn't been nearly as much or as consistent as I would have liked.  I feel that if I am truly going to be a professional, my approach needs to be methodical and direct.  Nothing short of giving it my all will be good enough.

Thus, I need to start with the things which have kept me from playing up to my potential:

A)  I am often tired.
B)  I waste too much time at the computer on things which don't improve me as a player.
C)  I play too many tables and/or autopilot
D)  I don't put in consistently long hours (~8 per day as I would on a normal job)

By far my best results have been when I 2-tabled HU.  Towards the end of the year I 20-24 tabled FR and it's pretty clear that this will not be the way to go for 2009.

Where do I want to start?  Well, results wise I would like to cash out $100,000 by the end of 2009.  This includes money I win as well as bonuses I grind out.  Now ... more importantly ... how do I get there?

Let's start with the three issues above.  First of all, I'm often tired.  For as long as I don't remember, I have not slept well.  I wake up often through the night and by the time 4:30 or 5:00 rolls around I'm awake and laying in bed waiting for a remotely decent time to get up and not wake Katy up.  This often fails and she asks what time it is.  I sheepishly say something like 5:30 or whatever.  Meh.  I have no problem actually going to bed - I go between 10:00 and 11:30 and usually fall asleep right after I lie down (this is a sign of sleep deprivation I think).

Thus, the fatigue issue needs to be addressed.  How can I get myself to get a good night's rest?  If I don't, how can I fit in good naps during the day so that I'm not dragging myself and just trying to make it to 10:00 so that I can go to bed and face another restless night?

1.  I exercise regularly (running, pull-ups, pushups) so I don't think that's an issue.  
2.  I've never been able to meditate (I get antsy too quickly and lose focus), but maybe not doing any computer related things at least an hour before going to bed is something to try.  I usually go downstairs to my bedroom RIGHT after I get of the computer.  I also usually go upstairs to the computer first thing when I wake up.  Maybe both of those things are causing my restlessness.
3.  Katy is vegeterian so by default I mostly eat vegeterian stuff at home as well.  I do think that diet is a big part of my overall energy level and fatigue though and will have to mess with that a bit.
4.  I have allergies, but for the most part they have been under control recently.

This is the # 1 issue which will keep my from achieving my potential poker wise and one that I need to really think about and come up with a plan for before January 1st.

I don't want to keep this blog too long so I will continue with the other parts in the next entry.

So I've been running a bunch of numbers recently as far as what I will need to do for 2009.  For one, I want to get a lot more volume at the low stakes full ring.  I will be playing a lot of tables (16 - 24) and a lot of hours each day.  Right now I'm comfortably rolled for 100NL but have been seriously thinking about playing some 200NL.  I don't have enough on Stars to play that given the number of tables I want to play, and thus for the first time in my life I've started debating getting a partial stake in my play.

Right now I have in mind a stake of $6K.  Payouts would go as follows:  

1.  First 2K goes to the backer.
2.  After that every 2K we split 50/50 until the backer makes back $6K.
3.  Daily stop-loss of 3 BI's.
4.  If I lose a total 10 BI's (2K) then I think we should call it quits.
5.  The backer can pull out completely at any time he or she chooses.
6.  If I play 100NL then that does not count towards the backing total.

Having been involved in numerous stakes in my play so I will keep my backer informed about everything going on.  So basically it's risking 2.4K in order to win $6K.

There are a couple of reasons why I've debated doing this.  First of all, you get 33% more VPPs on Stars at 200NL than you do at 100NL.  Secondly, I want to reduce the individual variance of playing a level higher.  This is the key I think.

If you are interested and would like to see some stats from my 100NL full ring play, please contact me directly (I do not want to publish them on this blog) and feel free to amend any of the details above.  I've put the rules together in a way that I thought would be most fair given my experience with backing, etc.  I plan to post my general plan for 2009 a bit later on ...

Addition:  I'm also considering doing a partial stake from a few people, with the same rules above (payouts in %) but that would be more work.  It might be better since that reduces everyone's individual risk that's involved and makes the amount easier to gather.  If that's the case I might re-do some of the details.