Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Updated Poker Blog Listing

I have added five more Poker Blog links to my site. You should go and read each of them. They are either informative, entertaining, slightly off-center, or some combination thereof. I have learned quite a bit from them so far.

In alphabetical order they are: Dead Money = AlCantHang, FeliciaLee, Genius of the Poker, Poker Grub, and Tao of Poker.

If drinking SoCo and playing Poker are your thing, read AlCantHang.

If you want excellent reports and the truth of what goes on behind the scenes, read FeliciaLee.

If you like trip reports and good poker advice, go to Genius of the Poker.

If you want to test your ability to read hands, Poker Grub.

If you just want to read something that is very well written from a published author, Tao of Poker.

Phil Hellmuth Pimpin' on the Radio

I heard Phil Hellmuth on the radio this morning. He called into the local morning show and was pimping. He pimped his new book, his old book, his video, and his phone poker.

He also talked a little bit about how he began playing professionally in either 1986 or 1987. He said he decided to quit college and play full time after he won over 6K in one night.

Phil gave the standard "Five minutes to learn, a lifetime to master" speech. But then he said if you read the first chapter of his first book you would be pretty good at low limit holdem. [I have not read the book, but I find that very hard to believe.]

The host mentioned that he [the host] hated Chan, and Phil said Chan was a pretty good guy. Phil then went into how he was trying to breakdown the jealosy between the top Male [Phil's emphasis. Slam at Annie Duke?] Professionals. One way said he was doing this was by bringing in endorsement money. Phil said that he told other players that if Nike calls him then you can be sure Reebok will be calling someone.

Phil then talked about wanting to become the Best Poker Player of All Time. He said he is up there with Chan and Brunson. He talked about how Doyle had won a WPT event at 71. Phil lamented the fact that he has yet to win a WPT, but that he has come close numerous times. Phil talked about how the age factor will be working in his favor as he has at least 30 more years of playing ahead of him.

He said his biggest cash was 750K when he won WSoP in '89. He said his biggest loss was at a side table where he went down 135K.

This is all I can remember right now. If I remember any more I will put it up.

Monday, October 25, 2004

More later, I promise...

I had a very busy weekend. More later.

I will be adding substantially to the blog roll. More later.

I had a strange poker-related dream over the weekend. More later.


Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Closer, Closer

Last night, with the time I had available, I opened a Neteller Account. Hopefully tomorrow I will fund it and step into the shallow end.

PS: I won't be there, but don't miss the big Blogger and Blog-reader tournament tomorrow (10/21/04). See Guiness and Poker for all the details.

Monday, October 18, 2004

At Some Point...

... I will be going with Real Money. I plan to hit the loooow limit HE at Party when I do. I will need to use what I have learned so far. It will be interesting to see how the real money low limits differs from the play money at Party, UB and Yahoo. My guess is that there will be a difference at least as great as the difference between Party Play Money and Yahoo.

THANKS Maudie, for reading and giving me some advise. (I just hope I can follow it!)

My life has been very busy lately. I live in one state and work in another. My commute is about 1:45 each way. (The pay is that good.) My wife is a teacher and has been chosen to write state-wide curriculum. (I am very proud of her!) We have two very smart, active children ages 4 and 2. They can be a handful for any two parents. Needless to say my time is limited. I decided in the beginning that my playing (grinding) would not take anything away from my family. So I get an hour or two to myself after they have all gone to bed. It has been a struggle with everything to find time for poker. But find it I will.

Here is another poker blog I read. Some may say it is the king of all poker blogs. I can not disagree! Read Iggy! The man is a poker-playin', blog-writin', Guiness-drinkin' machine. (If you hear him or anyone else tell it.)

More to follow...

Thursday, October 14, 2004

Maudie's Home Game

Check out Maudie's Blog for her write up of her latest home game. Sounds like a good time was had by all. Looks like it too, at least from the short video she provided. I love her blog. It is always entertaining and has helped my meager game a bit.

More on my journey later.

Tuesday, October 12, 2004

Haven't Gotten Real Yet

Too much to do over the weekend.

Finally things settled down last night and I was able to play with play money at Party. Yes I know you bloggers out there look down on play money, but I say it is good for trying out different styles of play.

Anyway, I sit down in the middle of a hand and right away I can see that this is a 5/10 limit loose table. 9 call the flop, and 8 go to the river. The winning hand is A4o who made a pair of aces on the flop.

So the first hand I am dealt is KJh. I am in early position and call. Flop is KsJd9h. I am first to act and I bet. It is capped before it even gets to me with only 1 folding. Turn is 2h and again the betting is capped before it come to me. At this point I have 2 top pair and a flush draw. And the river? Ah. 3 fold around and then I cap the betting and over 700 (play money) is mine.
The next hand I get is 83o which I fold.

The third hand I get is ATs on the SB and I am ready to go again. Flop comes AdKhJc. Again I have top pair and I bet agressively. The turn is Qs and there are still 6 in there betting! Ain't play money grand! I have the nut straight. I will at least get a big piece of the pot. The river comes: Qd. Gee if this were real money I would wish someone had Queens. But since it is play money, 3 others call my cap of the river. One showed K7o, one showed pocket 10s and the other mucked. I pick up my second big pot in only 4 hands!

At this point I decide to play very tight and try to guess what the other people had. After a while it was fairly easy to figure out by the turn who was representing a big had and most of the time I could put them on specific cards.

I ended up this session up 70BB. If only it was real money. Oh well! It was good practice and of course I put certain players on my buddy list. I will be able to look them up when I need to do some fishing.

Real money soon! I promise. I think I am ready. (Famous last words....)

Friday, October 08, 2004

It's Friday Baby!

Yes! The weekend is here. Hopefully I will be able to find time to get my Party account funded tonight or tomorrow. If I can sqeeze time between chores, it will get done.

In the meantime, I have been playing with Play Money. I seem to do OK there. I average about 6 to 7 BB per hour. My estimate is that it will drop down to 3 to 4 BB per hour when I move to real money.

When I started reading Poker Blogs about a month ago. One of the first I came across was Chris Halverson. I enjoyed his current stuff so much, I went back and read all his archives. My poker level seems to be somewhere in the area of his first postings. If you haven't read this Blog, I strongly suggest you do. It is clear that he has come a long way on his Poker Journey.

About once a week (maybe more often), I will be adding Poker and other links to this Blog. Look for them soon.

Hopefully I will be able to report on my real money experience soon.

Later!


Tuesday, October 05, 2004

Still Waiting

I have not yet started playing real money online. Life has gotten in the way a little bit lately. Mrs. one has not been feeling well lately and a lot of the housework has come down on me. I don't regret any of it and I don't resent it. I am however a very itchy fishy. I have a powerful urge to play with real money and see if I can out-swim the guppies and sharks and whales. Maybe tonight I will get my deposit in.

More later.

Monday, October 04, 2004

Ready to Jump Into the Shallow End

Hopefully when I make this jump from play money to real, I will be jumping feet first and not head first. At this point I think I will be starting at Party Poker. I am used to the interface, and the general level of play. All I have to do at this point is get my money to them and I will be ready to go.

I know that I will need to play my game, choose my starting hands carefully, and get a feel for the other players at the table.

If any of you out there have any suggestions or warnings. Let me know.

Sunday, October 03, 2004

Yes, I'm a New Fish

Oh, I can hear the saliva dripping from some of the more established bloggers now. "A new fish!! Oh boy!!"

Well, maybe not. First I have to start playing with real money, then you have to find me.

I have learned so much during the last three months just playing with play money at Yahoo and Party. Yes, I here bloggers snickering. Here is what I have learned so far:
1. You need to set limits. This means in money you bring to the table. How much you are comfortable losing in a session. How much time you have to spend on a session.
2. You need to learn to stick with playing good starting hands. Even if everyone else at the table does not... Especially if everyone else at the table does not.
3. You need to adjust your play to the table you are playing. You play a tight table different from a loose table. You play a passive table different from an aggressive table.
4. You need to learn to read the other players at the table. See where the calling stations are. See which idiot raises no matter what he/she is holding. See which player only raises when they have the nuts.

I have learned even more that this so far, but it is late and I have other duties to attend to this evening.

Friday, October 01, 2004

First Post

Greetings,

How to start? How to start? Well I will just jump in. My internet name is mortal_one. I am a 43 year old father of two. I live in a state where casinos and even home games are illegal. I got reacquainted with Poker this past summer when I was channel surfing and saw an episode of WSOP. I think it was 7 Card Stud.
The whole thing fascinated me. This was not the poker I played in college - penny-ante 5 card draw. I sucked back then.
Since WSOP I have tried to watch about all the Poker on TV I could find. I found a "version" of Texas Hold'em on Yahoo Games (more on this later). I downloaded Party and UB and played with Play money (more on this later). I downloaded articles (more on this later). I started reading Poker Blogs (more on this later).
I don't know where exactly my Poker Journey will take me, but I enthusiastically look forward to it.

More to follow.