Secrets of the Amateurs

Good interview with Patrik Antonious on Pokertube. Those of you who don't spend most of the day watching cats chase squirrels might not have time for the whole 50 minutes, but if you do I recommend it. If not, do check out the last 10 minutes where PA gives Harrahs and the WSOP both barrels. And quite right too, if only more of the top players would take a stand like this. The problem is that the most high-profile players (not at all the same thing as the top players) are highly dependent on their bracelet count to keep the endorsement money rolling in. Obviously Hellmuth is the prime example. I mean I've probably said enough about Hellmuth by now but, in a nutshell, the guy is a fucking joke. He only plays WSOP and TV events now and, by all accounts, he plays them terribly. What tilts me the most is that he is almost certainly the highest-profile, most recognisable player in the world. How did it come to this ? That the most well-known player of this awesomely cool game is a) not even very good at it and b) such a whining pantywaist ?

Anyway, /derail. I don't think Durrr gives a fuck about WSOP bracelets ; Antonious, see interview ; Ivey a bit more so but I have to wonder how much WSOP he'd play without the prop bets. What PA says about Harrah's making the schedule to suit their own ends (the very fact that it's in June/July in the first place for one) and no TV money coming back to players is spot on. I consider the "name players" to be as much part of the problem (see Players Advisory Committee) as all they want to do is perpetuate the myth that results 10 years ago, hell even 5, entitle them to more recognition than the swathes of better players who have come into the game since then (I don't include myself in that by the way).

So, think globally, act locally. I know I say this every year but ... I really don't think I'm going out this year. I really shouldn't, that's a fact. As for practical arguments, I'm pretty sure I have a better expected earn sitting in my front room, and I don't need a big score because I'm not broke. Enjoy if you're going but include me out this year.

One good thing about playing these tournaments is I've had a chance to chat with a few of the online guys - Moorman, johne147, railtard, rivermanl and probably a few more I've forgotten. It's very refreshing to see how well these guys and a lot of the younger players conduct themselves, as well as play. In part, I think it's because they realise that one tournament in isolation is just a massive luckfest and they don't take it too seriously ; but it's mostly because they're smart enough to realise that sending out bad vibes all the time is bad for your EV in the game and, more importantly, bad for yourself personally.

One thing a lot of them do is insta-fold in situations where they've been caught bluffing and have no other option left. Now, a lot of live pros never even think about showing some consideration for other people and keeping the game moving so I don't expect them to buy that argument. What they need to realise is that insta-folding is much better for your image than fake-tanking. It's much better to send out the message "I'm either bluffing or I'm not in these spots, and you have to guess" compared to "My range contains a lot of medium-strong hands that I've raised without thinking the consequences through and am now going to tank-fold". Then again, aforementioned live pros would also have to a) have some basic grasp of the concept of a range and b) realise that call is miles better than raise-fold with medium strong hands in very many situations.

While I'm here I busted the main event 10 minutes from close yesterday when I ran into Aces. Villain took 30 seconds to call with no one else in the pot for some reason. I opined at the time that this reason was that he was a fucking cock, not being able to help myself after a long day. Needless to say he was some old rock, not a pesky three-betting, range-merging kid. Oh well, at least there's still some value in the fields.

I'm in Dublin for the Irish Open starting tomorrow. I have also succumbed and signed up to Twitter as GetItQuietly . You won't be reading about what I'm having for breakfast or what I'm doing every hour of every day, I'm going to keep it poker related. If you are interested, I will be doing chip counts and stuff from tomorrow, the tournament starts at 3.30. This is not an April Fools (unfortunately) :).

As for March, while I'm here, I don't have the stats on my laptop but I think I lost $3K or something last month putting me almost dead level for 2010 so far .. grindy grindy grind. It could be a lot worse ! Finally I have been playing some heads up just for fun, I think I have absorbed quite a lot from watching various heads up videos (especially Ansky's which are great). I've just been playing $50 buyin on Full Tilt and almost everyone has quit on me so far which can't be too bad a sign. It's definitely good for my game ; I don't mind playing regs, in fact I'd like to play against good players because it's really for improvement rather than profit. I'll know I'm getting somewhere when people insta-sit out on me :)