Coaching Brag

One of my primary goals when coaching poker is to help my students think more creatively and situationally, to consider all of their options rather than just doing what they think is “standard”. They learn to find value in places they hadn’t thought to look for it by thinking through … Read full post

Three Barrels, King-High

Villain had high Attempt to Steal and post-flop aggression. I debated 3-betting, since I’m well ahead of his pre-flop range, but I didn’t want to fold to a 4-bet, and I think getting it in pre is kinda light. It’s probably slightly +EV, but I hate giving away the advantage … Read full post

‘Tis the Season to Make Donations

No, I’m not talking about my mixed games dabbling. At least in the United States, December 31st is the deadline for making charitable donations that you can write off against your 2011 income. That means that the government is functionally matching some portion of your donation. What poker player doesn’t … Read full post

Leverage, Son

I tanked for a bit before calling this pre-flop, because it is a little light given our positions, but the dynamic was right. It wasn’t what I was going for, but when he checked the flop I realized that the tank-call may, in his eyes, increase the likelihood that I’m … Read full post

What’s Your Play? Top Two on the River

This hand occurred at a PokerStars deep table, meaning that the maximum buyin is $1500 and there’s an ante ($0.60 I believe) in addition to the blinds. I’ve never seen Villain before, but he seems both very aggressive and very good. He’s 36/21 with 8% 3-bet. I haven’t seen him … Read full post

On Not Being an Asshole

I don’t play pit games, I don’t go to strip clubs, and I don’t get table service at Las Vegas nightclubs. Whole Foods is my leak.

Last night I was there for the second time in two days. My girlfriend has been cramming for the GRE and just had her … Read full post

Tournament Seminar Announcement: Advanced Flop Fundamentals

I’ve now got three Thinking Poker Tournament Seminars under the belt, and they keep getting better every time. The next seminar will be held at 11AM Eastern time on Monday, December 19. The topic will be Advanced Flop Fundamentals, and it will take one of my most popular … Read full post

Quick Bluff Catcher

Sorry for the recent lack of posts; it’s been a busy week. I don’t have a lot to say about this one, it’s just a fun hand that I played today:

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $6.00 BB (6 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($618)
UTG ($884.80)
Hero (MP) … Read full post

What’s Your Plan?

This week I’ve got a slight variation on the usual “What’s Your Play?” Villain is a TAG regular playing 18/17 with an 8% 3-bet over a large sample. He’s a small winner at these stakes but not very tricky or creative, just generally more of a mass multi-tabler than a … Read full post

Seminars Make Me Better Too

One nice side benefit of teaching is that forces the teacher to crystallize his own knowledge and learn concepts more thoroughly in the process. In my recent Big Bluffs seminar I talked about how people will usually bet a flush draw on the flop if they have one, which means … Read full post

Mailbag: Using Poker Stove

Thinking Poker MailbagQ: How would you recommend using Poker Stove to get better? Especially since I can only play live these days.

A: Your caveat at the end there threw a wrench in my plans for building a post around what I think is an innovative idea for the popular no-limit hold … Read full post

Tournament Seminar Announcement: Playing Out of Position

The next installment in the Thinking Poker Tournament Seminar series will be on Saturday, December 3rd, Noon-2 PM Eastern. The topic will be Playing Out of Position: Value Betting, Bluffing, and Getting to Showdown. Virtually all of the toughest spots in poker arise from playing out of position, … Read full post

Return of the Red Spade Open

I can get jaded about poker sometimes, so wrapped up in improving and maximizing my hourly rate that I lose sight of what is fun about this game and what is remarkable about its internet incarnation. Then PokerStars rolls out something like the Red Spade Open that, if you stop … Read full post

Mailbag: The Learning Process

Thinking Poker MailbagQ: What’s your process for improving as a player?  Do you review your hand histories or take notes while you play?  Or have a master list of tips that you review regularly?  Like most “normal” people, I have a family and work full time and must do the bulk of … Read full post

What if My Mother Played Poker?

She doesn’t and wouldn’t, but PokerStars Team Online member Adrienne “Talonchick” Rowsome (though not nearly old enough to be my mother) is the next best thing. Both are occupational therapists, both are avid yoga practitioners, and though I’ve never met Adrienne in person, she comes across in this short documentary … Read full post

Fun Little Call

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $4.00 BB (2 handed) – PokerStars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

BB ($819.50)
Hero (SB) ($1000)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6♥, J♣
Hero bets $9.60, BB calls $5.60

Flop: ($20.80) 2♠, 5♣, 5♦ (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($20.80) K♦ (2 … Read full post

Turning Jacks Into a Bluff

I’m confident putting Villain on a very tight range pre-flop, maybe even just AA and KK but possibly AK and QQ as well. Obviously this is a good flop for many of those hands but not for KK. Once he checks twice, KK becomes a big part of his range, … Read full post

Seminar Announcement: Big Bluffs

Yesterday’s inaugural Thinking Poker Tournament Seminar was a great success. I think all the participants got a lot out of it, and I learned a few things that I can do to make future seminars even better. So thinking of future seminars, the next one will be on Tuesday, November … Read full post

Quick BCPC Day 3 Update

Awesome day today, most fun I’ve had playing poker in a while. For most of the day I shared the table with three really entertaining guys. I’m not ready to post the full trip report yet, but I told one of the guys that I’d put his picture up on … Read full post

Quick BCPC Day 2 Update

I don’t have time to write a full TR this morning, but I made it through Day 2 with 128K, average is about 105K. There are like 63 players remaining with 47 paid. The field started off soft but these last few tables are pretty thick with good players. Blinds … Read full post

Happy Halloween!

Just carved this today and wanted to take a picture at night, so I guess most of you won’t see it until after Halloween, but it’s the post date that counts! Speaking of Halloweeny things that are worth doing well into November, if you’ve never seen “The R4v3n“, … Read full post

Cool River Check-Raise Bluff

This is from the PokerStars $150 6-max Sunday tournament. People are often surprised by calls that I make out of the big blind when I’m getting very good odds. I don’t know how helpful it is when I say things like, “The more you feel that you have a skill … Read full post

Announcing Thinking Poker Tournament Seminars

I’m excited to announce my newest poker coaching offering: Thinking Poker Tournament Seminars. These seminars are pre-scheduled, small-group discussions focused on the most common mistakes and skills gaps that I see in my NLHE tournament students. Each two-hour seminar costs $150 per person and is capped at five participants, … Read full post

Mailbag: Playing a Suited Flop

One topic that I would appreciate some comments (and possibly something posted on the blog for discussion) are techniques for playing, in comparatively low-staked NL games, a flop of three suited cards. In particular, for those circumstances where there has not been a lot of pre-flop action, and you are … Read full post

My Last Day in Europe

After a low-key Friday night, Nico and I resolved to live it up on my last night in Madrid. We started off having dinner and watching the Barcelona-Seville game at a restaurant/bar across the street from his apartment. It was a bit of a dive but had surprisingly good food … Read full post

Second Pair = Nuts

I didn’t expect Villain to much Kx in his flatting range. Then again, I wouldn’t have expected him to flat the hand he showed up with, either, so maybe that’s a bad read. In any event, I felt I was in very good shape versus his betting range but a … Read full post

One Night in Paris

My flight from Madrid back to North America includes an overnight layover in Paris. I get in at 11:10 PM and don’t leave until 10:30 AM. Obviously it’s an awkward time to see the city, but ideally I’d like to get out a bit rather than sitting around the airport … Read full post

The Universal Language

We left Cannes yesterday and drove to Barcelona where we saw an FC Barcelona game and spent the night with a friend of Nico’s. She’s at work and Nico’s in the shower now, so it’s just me hanging out with her boyfriend and his friend. They speak no English and … Read full post

PokerStars Launches Time Tourneys

Edit: Apparently I misunderstood how these tournies work. Unfortunately a lot of what I wrote here is irrelevant in that format, so I’ve deleted it. Sorry for the confusion.

Here’s more from PokerStars about how Time Tourneys work:

Tournaments last for a set amount of time (min: 15 minutes, max: … Read full post

WSOPE Party

The rest of the trip report will have to wait until the next 2+2 Magazine, but here’s a little write-up from the WSOPE party, which proved pretty amusing:

The night before the start of the main event, the WSOP hosted what they called a beach party that actually took place … Read full post

Busto

Edit: Fixed the flop in the Vanessa Rousso hand, I didn´t river a full house obviously.

Busted third to last hand of the night, been going back and forth a lot for the last half hour about whether I like my call, but we´ll get to that in a second. … Read full post

WSOP Europe Trip Report Part 1

After all the hassle, the money did successfully make it to Cannes, so I am all bought in and ready to go! Play starts in a little over two hours, but I´m already having a great trip and have the beginnings of a trip report to share with you. … Read full post

Aller a Cannes

Sorry I haven’t posted much this week, it’s been busy with moving from Canmore to Vancouver and sorting out logistics for the WSOP Europe. The good news is that I got to spend the night at the mansion occupied by fellow PokerStars Team Online member Kevin “Wizard of Ahhs” Thurman … Read full post

Larch Madness

We’ve left Canmore and are now en route to Vancouver, but before departing we snuck in one more hike that proved to be one of the best we’ve done. There are these trees up here called “larches” that are like pine trees except that they turn yellow in the autumn, … Read full post

Selling WSOP Europe Action

Edit: Corrected the prices below, forgot to update them when copy/pasting.

Almost immediately after moving to Vancouver, I’ll be heading to Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe, most likely just the main event. Although I never considered this event worth traveling for in the past, I expect that … Read full post

Ode to the WCOOP

Three weeks gone by and thousands spent,

I fled my homeland for this event,

matched wits with the pros and the keyboard droolers,

but fell to a series of beats and coolers.

Pay attention, friends! Don’t let those eyelids droop,

as I sing to you of my WCOOP.

 

On … Read full post

WCOOP Main Event

I suppose my main event was a fitting end to the series and a paradigmatic WCOOP experience. In the early stages I plundered the satellite qualifiers, going on an early rush that made me chipleader with 1400 players remaining. Over time the table got tougher and tougher, with 3-bet pots … Read full post

WCOOP $500 1R1A

This was one of the more frustrating events I played, probably because it came on the tail end of so many other frustrations. I played for nearly 7.5 hours and finished in something like 140th place with 108 paying. This is the hand that I went out on:

PokerStars No-Limit … Read full post

WCOOP Omnibus Post

Sorry for the lack of posts on here. It’s just that I’ve been playing so much poker that when I’m finished I don’t feel like spending another half-hour at the computer putting together a blog post.

Also I haven’t done anything of great interest in any of the recent WCOOPs. … Read full post

WCOOP Event 38: $530 Heads Up NLHE

Round 1

My first opponent was a guy I didn’t recognize from China. Before cards were even dealt, he typed “lololol pro so cool”. Based on that alone, I predicted that he was going to give me no credit and try to outplay me.

Picking up JJ on the first … Read full post

WCOOP Excitement

The biggest news is that fellow PokerStars Team Online member and old-school MTT forum member Shane “Shaniac” Schleger won the 2-7 Triple Draw WCOOP yesterday! My excitement for him was tempered only slightly when I double-checked the terms of our staking arrangement and confirmed that I had 20% of him … Read full post

WCOOP 8-Game

I don’t have much of interest to report from the other WCOOPs I’ve played recently, which were the $1K NLHE and the $500 NLHE Triple Shootout. I registered 2.5 hours late for the 8-Game but ended up running up a big stack almost immediately but running well in PLO, Triple … Read full post

WCOOP 4-Max

I’m really upset at myself for spewing off my stack in the 4-max. It’s such a fun tournament, especially in the early stages when everyone is really deep and trying to play loose aggressive. Many otherwise good tournament players are just clueless about playing wide ranges super-deep and seem to … Read full post

Two Tragic Anniversaries

I deliberately didn’t write any kind of 9/11 retrospective yesterday because I don’t have anything interesting or original to say on the subject. I felt it should be a day for those affected by the attacks (not the aftermath, which of course affected the entire world, but the attacks themselves), … Read full post