Most of my poker training has come in the form of just reading whatever I can get my hands on. I don't usually have a set goal in mind of what I want to learn, I just try and take in as much as I can. Poker is just way to broad of a subject to learn it all at once. That's why I'm going to setup a little list of a few things I want to look into one at a time and "master" as much as I can. I'll write up a few posts about them along the way about what I learn, epiphanies I have, and just a little bit of review. I'm sure doing things this way will help me improve my overall game faster, as well as each smaller aspect of my game. My goal will be to take a couple weeks on each topic that I list. After that time I'll have a full summary of the topic and what I have learned about it. I'll also throw in a little bit about how I've implemented it into my game and how well it's going with the new trick up my sleeve.
Enough chit-chat, lets get to the list:
• Continuation Betting
• Bankroll Management.
• SNG Strategy
• Expected Value
• Position
I know that doesn't seem like a very big list, but like I said, I'm going to spend about a month on each topic. That should give me plenty of time to focus on each thing and absorb as much as I can about that topic. Hopefully I'll be able to bounce some of my thoughts off of one of my buddies. I'm sure being able to actually discuss these topics in person will help me grasp the details much better. If anyone has any ideas of somethings specific that must be added to my list shoot me an email; ericgarner118@gmail.com
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Anyone else in a RUSH?
Sorry for the stupid title. I guess I was feeling clever. Anyway, on to what I came to talk about. I have been playing a good bit of Rush poker lately. If you haven't heard about it, it's a newer game from Full Tilt. It's pretty much the same as everything else, except as soon as you fold you are sent straight to a new table with new people. It cuts down on a lot of the waiting that some people don't like about poker. The good thing is that a lot of people play super tight on here. When people do this, they pretty much turn there cards face up. You win so many hands on here from stealing, c-betting, and your implied odds hands. You do have to be a little careful if you are a tilter. There WILL be some crazy coolers here and you'll just have to take 'em in stride.
While most of my time has been spent on Full tilt lately (trying to grind out my first deposit bonus on there) I have spent some time on stars. Usually when I play on stars it's just for some SNG's or an occasional cash game. I played a STT SNG earlier today and came in second. It was pretty long game, but it was pretty fun. I haven't played many SNG's lately and it's always nice to get back into them and win al little. Sometimes when you play a few it just seems so easy to win them every time, then you'll go on that down swing that pulls you right back down to reality. Anyway, the main reason I brought this SNG up was to show you a pretty shitty hand for a couple people. It was pretty much all-in pre-flop and when the cards were turned up I'm sure a couple people were pissed. Anyway here you go:
Well Kayleah just walked in with some dinner, so it's time to eat. Good luck at the tables.
While most of my time has been spent on Full tilt lately (trying to grind out my first deposit bonus on there) I have spent some time on stars. Usually when I play on stars it's just for some SNG's or an occasional cash game. I played a STT SNG earlier today and came in second. It was pretty long game, but it was pretty fun. I haven't played many SNG's lately and it's always nice to get back into them and win al little. Sometimes when you play a few it just seems so easy to win them every time, then you'll go on that down swing that pulls you right back down to reality. Anyway, the main reason I brought this SNG up was to show you a pretty shitty hand for a couple people. It was pretty much all-in pre-flop and when the cards were turned up I'm sure a couple people were pissed. Anyway here you go:
Well Kayleah just walked in with some dinner, so it's time to eat. Good luck at the tables.
Monday, April 12, 2010
My 2nd Home Game Went Great
On Saturday I decide to have a few people over for a home game. I have done one once before back when I lived in Va, and figured it was time for another one. I invited a few people from school over, including my buddy that got me back into poker, my wife, and her parents, and younger brother. There ended up being a total of 7 people in the SnG style game. The buy-in wasn't much, only $10, and the top two spots were paid; 70% for first and 30% for second. I had a nice array of munchies for everyone and a few people brought some things also. Apparently the pulled pork my wife made was AMAZING. One of my buddies today said he can't stop fantasizing about them.
The Game itself went pretty good. Around like the 4th or 5th hand, I picked up AK of spades on the button and of course raised to about 4*Bb. I got one caller, my brother-in-law, the flop came Kxx of spades and I had TPTK, and the nut flush draw. The bet around 1/3 of the pot and I re-raised all in. He doesn't have a whole lot of experience with poker and I knew if he had anything he would call. Fortunately for me, he had started with JJ and called. I ended up making the flush and he didn't catch anything. That had set me up to play some pretty nice big stack poker and bought a few pots and kept my chip lead up for a good while.
It got down to me, my wife, and her father. They were both about even and I had a good bit more than the two of them. I don't remember the exact hand now, but I busted my wife out next with a higher two pair then she said. She was getting to the point where she was just tired and didn't really want to play any more.
Finally down to heads-up it was my father-in-law and me. We went a few rounds with me pretty much throwing my stack around and bullying a good bit. The last hand he had pocket threes, I had position and raised up about 3-times his bet with 67s. He called and we went to the flop. The flop was A7x and he checked, I raised about 3/4 the pot. After a little bit of thinking he called. With the action I figured he had maybe two connected broadway cards, or maybe a middle pair. Luckily the turn was a 7 and I made my two pair. He checked again, and I once again made a raise which just about put him all in. After a quick chip count he ended up shoving the last few chips in. I called and he turned over his pair of 3's and didn't get lucky on the river.
It was a good time. I had fun playing and made a few quick bucks along the way. My friends from school all agreed we should make it a regular thing. So once we get a few more people (I don't think the in-laws or my wife want to play regularly) we'll start setting something up. If one of the probably 3 people that have read this blog are around Phoenix, Az., hit me up and lets get something going.
The Game itself went pretty good. Around like the 4th or 5th hand, I picked up AK of spades on the button and of course raised to about 4*Bb. I got one caller, my brother-in-law, the flop came Kxx of spades and I had TPTK, and the nut flush draw. The bet around 1/3 of the pot and I re-raised all in. He doesn't have a whole lot of experience with poker and I knew if he had anything he would call. Fortunately for me, he had started with JJ and called. I ended up making the flush and he didn't catch anything. That had set me up to play some pretty nice big stack poker and bought a few pots and kept my chip lead up for a good while.
It got down to me, my wife, and her father. They were both about even and I had a good bit more than the two of them. I don't remember the exact hand now, but I busted my wife out next with a higher two pair then she said. She was getting to the point where she was just tired and didn't really want to play any more.
Finally down to heads-up it was my father-in-law and me. We went a few rounds with me pretty much throwing my stack around and bullying a good bit. The last hand he had pocket threes, I had position and raised up about 3-times his bet with 67s. He called and we went to the flop. The flop was A7x and he checked, I raised about 3/4 the pot. After a little bit of thinking he called. With the action I figured he had maybe two connected broadway cards, or maybe a middle pair. Luckily the turn was a 7 and I made my two pair. He checked again, and I once again made a raise which just about put him all in. After a quick chip count he ended up shoving the last few chips in. I called and he turned over his pair of 3's and didn't get lucky on the river.
It was a good time. I had fun playing and made a few quick bucks along the way. My friends from school all agreed we should make it a regular thing. So once we get a few more people (I don't think the in-laws or my wife want to play regularly) we'll start setting something up. If one of the probably 3 people that have read this blog are around Phoenix, Az., hit me up and lets get something going.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Back to the Grind....
Well, well welll. That sure was a long break from poker. It had been a pretty busy last few months. Aside from getting out of the Navy, going back to school, and getting a full time job, I just haven't had much time for poker lately. I've had the itch, just haven't really been able to scratch it properly.
In my Calc. class, one of my buddies needed some help. So I've been helping him out a little bit too. Come to find out, this dude used to play a ton of poker. I haven't really had anyone in real life to talk to about poker, let alone someone who really knows what he is talking about. I played a few hands with him the other night, and have been back at it since then. I'm not really following proper BR management right now, and I'm playing some 5NL and played a few times at 10NL. Here soon I'm going to deposit a good bit more and bring my BR up to where it should be for these levels. Right now I'm just playing with what was left on Stars.
I think I'm going to stick with it this time. I know I've said that before, but I shouldn't have any more stuff popping up in life that's to crazy. Plus, like I said, I now have someone to talk to about poker. We shall see though.
In my Calc. class, one of my buddies needed some help. So I've been helping him out a little bit too. Come to find out, this dude used to play a ton of poker. I haven't really had anyone in real life to talk to about poker, let alone someone who really knows what he is talking about. I played a few hands with him the other night, and have been back at it since then. I'm not really following proper BR management right now, and I'm playing some 5NL and played a few times at 10NL. Here soon I'm going to deposit a good bit more and bring my BR up to where it should be for these levels. Right now I'm just playing with what was left on Stars.
I think I'm going to stick with it this time. I know I've said that before, but I shouldn't have any more stuff popping up in life that's to crazy. Plus, like I said, I now have someone to talk to about poker. We shall see though.
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