Quad Cowboys

So naturally I was able to come back with some winning sessions. In the last 3 sessions I’m up around $200, including a plus $120 session yesterday. So for the year I am down about $150, but in the last 10 months I am up about $350.

I did turn 4 of a kind on a kill pot and got some callers to the river. I raised pre-flop with KK and got a couple of callers. Hit a set on the flop and still got some callers. The turn brought the fourth K and I checked, and it got checked around. River was a blank and I fired $12 again and still got two callers. Unbelievable. One person had pocket nines, not sure what she put me on. Anyway, it’s nice to turn quads.

I am learning that playing passively loses you money in the long run and not the bad beats. Ace/Jack off suit is a raising hand in middle position, not a calling hand. One time I simply called with this hand, and folded on the flop. I would have ended up making the nut straight. Another time I raised pre-flop with this same hand, and ended up winning the pot with two pair. Play your hands as if there were aces, and you’ll be able to push people of their weaker draws, especially if you built up a table image of winning.

Another time I had AK in late position and raised. Flop came down rags with a 10 high. The person in first position bet, and when it came back to me I raised even though I didn’t even have a pair. Why not? What did he think I had? I kept betting out, and when an Ace hit on the river, I didn’t even get any callers.

If you really watch, it’s amazing how many callers there are in the game. If the person to your immediate right bets, you should almost always raise or fold, especially if there is a large field waiting to act. It’s amazing how many people do not follow this rule. I raised with my draws and hit them quite frequently. People never put me on the draw, and would even bet on the river when the third suit fell.

New Years resolutions for poker are to go back to the tight record keeping. My goal is to double my bankroll for 2008. Overall resolutions are to be nicer to my family, especially my wife. Happy New Year.

Three straight losing sessions

Variance. It’s what poker players call it when you run into a cold deck. It happens to everyone. I’ve just had three straight losing sessions. Too bad the drunk poker had to be in the middle of it.

In the past three sessions I have lost $365. The good news is that since Vegas in October, and my monthly home game, I am up $310 in the past two months. I was able to find some old records for the year, and I’ve filled in the rest. Since April, I am up $210, and since March I am down $50. Not too bad, but again, not winning.

I was reviewing my records in 2006, and the same thing happened. Of course the opposite happens too, and I can win $600 in 3 days. In 2006 I had more winning sessions that losing ones. That is the key.

The drunk session aside, the other two losing sessions were pretty frustrating. I was concentrating, and thought I played well. Probably only made a couple of mistakes. I was getting no cards, and nothing hit. During the third session, I was actually down $150 and about to call it a day. As I was stacking my chips in a rack, I went on a little run and won about $75, so only ended up down $75 for the session. Runs are possible. They in turn help your table image.

I keep telling my self, it is not the number of pots you win, but the amount of money. The right situation at the right time can net a $100 pot. It’s happened before. It will happen again.

Patience and self-discipline

In Doyle Brunson’s book Super System, Bobby Baldwin writes the chapter on limit hold ‘em. He has a great quote on the ultimate success of limit poker players. “Lack of patience and self-discipline is the downfall of many otherwise technically sound players.” Unfortunately for me (and my bankroll) I fall pray occasionally to the lack of self-discipline. One of my goals is to work on this aspect of my play just as much as my actual play. Right now, my A game is pretty good, but my D game is horrible.

I know that I should never play during, or after drinking. I never drink while playing. Every time I go out for a few beers, I get the urge to play poker. It’s kind of like getting the urge to smoke cigarettes while drinking (although my asthma and age helped me kick this urge long ago). Last night I went out for a few beers to celebrate Twisted Jim’s last day at work (his blog to the right). Naturally I got the urge to play. Naturally I lost. It was a pretty frustrating session. I really didn’t get any cards. Had cowboys cracked by two-pair, two-pair lost to sets, boats lost to higher boats. I should have stopped, but I didn’t. I lost the $180 I won a few days ago, so given the winnings in Vegas, still up for the second part of the year.

The players at the table were horrible. If they were good I probably would have lost a lot more. I think that having my iPod at the table will help me drown out the inane dribble of these ridiculous players and concentrate on the game better.

I have such an urge to play sober poker to get this nasty taste of losing out of my mouth. Patience and self-discipline. I know I can do it. I will never play poker after a night of drinking again.

What is your weakest link?

I know we have all heard the expression, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link." I have always liked this phrase because of the team metaphor that it implies. I never thought about how it might apply to an individual until I read Daniel Negraneau's blog entry today on attending the funeral of Chip Reese.

Here is one of the stories that one of the speakers said at Chip's funeral. It was Chip himself who said it to him when asked why he plays with the best in the world. Chip said, “When they are on their A game they are all fantastic players, some probably better than my A game. The thing is, my D game isn’t much different than my A game.”

Think about that for a moment. There is a lot important information in those words. You are only as good of a player as you are on your worst days. Makes sense. I think being able to control your losses may be more important, or just as important, than being able to maximize your winnings.

I know that is true for me as a poker player, but I think it is also true for people in life. I know this may not be an original theme either, but it got me thinking about it today. Anyone can have a good day. What are you like in the face of adversity? A man is best measured by how he reacts in the face of a challenge, and not when all is going well.

Michigan not able to close the deal on a coach

It seems that U of M is just not able to close the deal on getting a new coach to replace Lloyd Carr. Here is an interesting article from Bill Dufek, the son of a U of M assistant coach. He has called the search for a new coach "a debacle extraordinaire."

Dufek and another former teammate, Mike Leoni, said they believe Carr sabotaged the pursuit of Miles because of personal animosity, or "petty jealousies," as Dufek said. Dufek said he, too, feels that Michigan still may be able to bring Miles to Michigan and begin healing the wounds of search process gone awry. "This is an embarrassment to the Michigan alumni family nationally," Dufek said. "It's gonna take a while to get over.

Apparently Rutgers coach Greg Schiano was just using Michigan to boost his standings with Rutgers. Fifteen minutes after saying at a news conference, “I haven’t spoken to anyone about any job,” Schiano was speaking to the Wolverines about theirs. Schiano turned down Michigan's offer to stay at Rutgers. The search continues.

How do you close a deal? Perhaps this video will refresh your memory.

Peter Rometti sings the Star Spangled Banner

I just heard about this on the morning radio show I listen to, and thought it was so cool that I looked it up on the internet. Here is what transpired...

June 30, 2007 was Disability Awareness Night at Fenway Park. Peter Rometti, a young man with autism, sang the Star Spangled Banner before the baseball game at the invitation of Horace Mann Educational Associates (HMEA) of Massachusetts, a nonprofit that serves children and adults who have disabilities. Halfway through the song, Rometti began giggling, or stuttering, perhaps laughing nervously. Initially the crowd cheered and clapped Rometti on, and then when it became apparent he might not complete the song, the fans sang with him as he composed himself and finished the song. The New England Sports Network later interviewed Rometti and described him as "moved" by the experience.

See the Video.

When I heard this on the radio this morning, I started to get tears in my eyes. I actually found this video at a random blog called Thingamababy from a father who writes a blog about his baby and being a dad. Blogs can be whatever you want them to be and I find diaries a fascinating look into people's minds. I find writing them a great release of the thoughts in my head, and I am willing to share for anyone who wants to read.

So, in the same post, there is another video, a public service message called Children See, Children Do. I was floored by this video. Thank you Thingamababy for opening my eyes. Here is an excerpt from the rest of the blog.

I assume you already generally treat people with love and respect. But what about the car in front of you that you saw traveling very slowly toward the stop sign and sluggishly responding as the line of cars ahead took turns proceeding through a 4-point intersection, and then you watched that slug of a driver sit at the the stop sign with no opposing traffic anywhere in sight for what had to be a whole 5 seconds, and then a few choice words shot from your mouth in extreme frustration as you realized your 3-year-old daughter was sitting in the backseat. Me. Yesterday.

If I can't handle a stop sign, how will I teach my children to face real challenges?

My point is a question for you: How do we convey to our children to live with hope, face challenges with strength and see a future that lays beyond today's troubles? Doesn't that require you to be at your best, and to start making changes in your own life the day you see your baby's wondrous eyes?

Rest in Peace Chip Reese

David “Chip” Reese, the three-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, longtime cash-game star, and member of the Poker Hall of Fame, has died today. He was 56.

Reese was admitted to a hospital last night with symptoms of pneumonia and passed away in his sleep.

Doyle and Tood Brunson issue statement on his passing.

Check out Barry Greenstein's Audio blog on Chip Reese

Chaos doesn't legitimize ignorance or stupidity

By sheer accident, nothing more, Ohio State and LSU will play Jan. 7 in the Allstate BCS National Championship Game. A few days ago it was supposed to be Mizzou vs. West Virginia. And before that, Kansas vs. LSU. Ohio State reached the national championship game by doing nothing more strenuous than clicking the TV remote. Congrats.

Why is Oklahoma left out? They are 11-2 and beat the number one ranked team in the country on a neutral field by 21 points. Chaos doesn't legitimize ignorance or stupidity of flawed system. Any season that has the not-head-football-coach of Michigan Les Miles proclaim his team is "undefeated in regulation play" confirms the craziest college football season ever. However, college football deserves better than simple bedlam.

Mizzou went from No. 1 to a non-BCS bowl (the Cotton) in less than 24 hours. Meanwhile, Kansas, which lost to Missouri late in the season and failed to reach the Big 12 title game, was invited to a BCS bowl, the Orange. Georgia, which is 10-2, was in the BCS title game discussion despite not winning its division or conference championship.

SEC commissioner Mike Slive, who doubles as the Bowl Championships Series coordinator, says, "I don't see what I would call an NFL-style playoff in the offing." Someone needs to remind him that it isn't an "NFL-style playoff" we're talking about. It's an NCAA-style playoff, the kind of elimination tournament seen in nearly every NCAA sport and every NCAA football division except Division I-A. SEC schools won two of those "NFL-style" playoffs last season. They're called Final Fours.

Is this any way to determine a national champion?