Heads Up Poker Is My Crack
Date: Mon, May 12, 2008 Professional Internet
Here are some results and a funny chat transcript. I have been running into a lot of people that have been like, "Yeah sure buddy" when I try and sit with them....lol
I have been absolutely hooked on playing heads up since watching Kyle and his buddy Rich play a bunch of it when they were at my house a few days ago. I love playing 10 tables too, of course, but I think it would be pretty nice if I could add HU to my arsenal. I have sooooooo long to go before I get really good which is kind of exciting. I have been trying to play a lot of my normal games, but during breaks I am hanging out with my wife watching TV while 1-2 tabling HU.
So far my results are pretty decent. I got off to a bad start in losing about $2k after my first 1,500 hands. Since that small learning curve, I have gotten my game together a little better and mashed a bunch of the mid stakes guys. I am trying to avoid the regulars because they probably have small edge on me at this point (I have no idea really, just guessing) and if I start off with shitty results then I will get frustrated and want to geo back to 6 max and full ring. When I become confident in my game I will sit with all of the regulars who will surely put me in some more difficult spots and my learning curve should accelerate when that happens. For now though I think I am just going to take advantage of the fact that Stoxpoker has 3 good HU pros (Kyle, Nick and Bryce) that all have markedly different styles. I am going to watch some of their videos and cherry pick through their styles as to what suits me.
Discuss this blog here:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=78309#post78309
The Tit Joke that Saved the Conference
Date: Sat, May 10, 2008 Professional Internet
First the daily blog roundup. Only one ... Bryce visited Jim in Texas and begins his European travel. Have an awesome time Bryce!
Today friends, I must tell the story of my French conference in the lovely city of Rennes. When last you read my blog, you'll recall that I was a little unsure of how I'd be able to give a 1.5 hour conference on SNGs, followed by a 4-hour masterclass, all in French.
Things did indeed start off quite rough. I didn't understand most of what super-nice Pokerennes president Jonathan said in his intro about me, it was just too quick. But I trounced up anyway and started my spiel. My plan was to begin with a joking story: during high school, we had to give weekly presentations on a topic of our choice. My friends would always choose ones like "Why I like my Car" or "What I did on the weekend," but instead I'd choose ones like "Gaussian mathematics" or "Quantum Mechanics" because the words were always the same as in English. Therefore I was pleased that the topic for the conference was poker because the vocabulary would be easier.
I deliver this little anecdote in French, and there's not a smile in the room. And I'm just like "Aww fuck what am I in for here?" Dude seriously, one enormous guy named Stefano in a leather jacket was staring at me so hostilely for the first 30 minutes, I thought he was about to jump the stage.
I don't really know how to explain this initial hostility (which my brother Jesse also noticed, definitely not just in my head). I thought I was actually speaking quite well -- French and content -- but maybe not, or maybe my laidback American vibe just wasn't sitting well with these guys. (There weren't more than like two chicks.)
But then something magical happened. I was talking about value betting and used a hand with Jennifer Tilly to illustrate the concept. When I gave her name, to make sure we were all on the same page, I mimicked having big breasts with my hands, and the entire audience burst into laughter.
Well friends and neighbors, that was the turning point. Then I began getting questions and smiles, and people were much more into my spiel. So the lesson here is that when addressing a big group of people who don't know you at all, and maybe come from a different culture, you've gotta build rapport somehow. For me and these French guys, it was a Jennifer Tilly tit joke. But depending on the topic and audience, I still think this is a very solid general idea in public speaking.
------
The first 4-hour masterclass went very well. Jesse (my brother, here travelling with me) suggested that I play a bunch of $1 SNGs and go all-in every hand, insisting that this was indeed correct strategy. I thought this was a pretty funny idea that I might do until some annoying French guy who wasn't even part of the class (I think) announced that there was no internet. So instead of playing talked a lot about the math of the game (easy vocabulary!) and the much smaller crowd asked a bunch of questions, so that was fun and much easier.
On Monday or Tuesday I'll be a guest on Clubpoker Radio in Paris, and then I'll get to speak with Francois Montmirel (sp?), the 2+2 French translator. Hopefully afterward we'll able to check out the Aviation Club and hit the tables.
Alright guys peace it out.
[Discussion at:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=77963#post77963]
-----------
PS The entire conference was filmed, and I'll try to post excerpts if anyone's curious.
European Flickr Photostream
Date: Sat, May 10, 2008 Professional Internet
Seattle Airport: Most Starbucks accross from a Starbucks
Dallas Love Field: Best statue of a cowboy
Houston International: Most train rides
Heathrow International: Most barbed wire
Flew into Dallas overnight and arrived Thursday morning. Had a quick pow-wow with Jim (the enigmatic Stoxpoker Admin) on some website business and stayed the night at his house. Watched his youngest daughter dance in a talent show, she's his whole family's very cute (he has the best Scotty I've ever met, re: dog). Flew out Friday evening and am now in London waiting on my transfer to Manchester. Meeting up with Ribbo there and have plans to catch the last Manchester United match of the season tomorrow. After 3 years of shiftwork followed by 3 years of professional poker Jetlag seems to be something that happens to other people.
Interview w/ Chris Fargis: New Triple Draw Coach
Date: Fri, May 9, 2008 Professional Internet
Stoxpoker: It only took a year to get you on board. I guess you finally came to the realization that we would keep bugging you about it until you relented. :)
Chris: Actually I was so busy launching my fantasy sports sight that I simply could not commit the time up until now. But I am finally here and excited about being one of the first triple draw instructors at a major poker training site.
Stoxpoker: Please tell our members a little about yourself.
Chris: I'm 28 and single and live in Brooklyn. When I'm not playing poker, I enjoy fantasy sports, playing volleyball, playing golf, and my guitars.
Stoxpoker: So how did your poker career get started?
Chris: I started playing poker in college. It was just some friends messing around in somebody's dorm room. A once-a-week game quickly turned into an every-night occasion, and then we started going to Foxwoods on the weekends. After I graduated I played as a hobby for a few years before quitting my job in the music business in 2003. I've been playing for a living since then.
Stoxpoker: What made you decide to specialize in triple draw?
Chris: I played limit hold'em exclusively for a long time. After a while I got pretty burned out on the game and looked around for something new. That's when I found triple draw. I started playing small limits online and quickly moved up to 30/60 and then 80/160 on UltimateBet. After steadily beating those I moved on to the 300/600 game.
Stoxpoker: Do you play live also or just online?
Chris: I've done a lot of traveling over the past few years, following the tournament circuit. I mostly play black-chip mixed games (with triple draw in the
mix) and have played as high as 1k-2k.
Stoxpoker: When can we expect your first video release?
Chris: The plan is to have the first one released in May. I think the Stoxpoker members that watch the videos and then give triple draw a shot online are going to really be glad they did. Unlike Hold'em, there are very few players that truly play the game well and triple draw is often included in mixed games that are spread today.
Stoxpoker: We look forward to seeing the first video Chris and glad to have you on board!
Mental Game in Action: Next video series
Date: Fri, May 9, 2008 Professional Internet
With one video left in the Foundation Series, its time to start looking to the next one and this is your chance to shape its direction. My goal with this series is to provide you with hard hitting advice and solutions for a wide range of topics. Below is a listing of the topics that I’ve come up with thus far and in the thread regarding this blog you have the opportunity to suggest other topics and submit questions you want answered:
Tilt
Performance Anxiety
Fears
Goal Setting
Focus & Concentration Issues
Trouble getting started
Quitting (too soon & the best time)
Developing effective routines
Being too results oriented
Discipline
Training skills to the Unconscious Competence
Self-evaluation techniques
Practice Methods
Being your own coach
Balancing poker and life
Visualization
Playing longer sessions
Playing through struggles
I know for some of you the Foundation Series was too theory based and didn’t provide what you were looking for. Here’s you chance to tell me exactly what you want and I’ll do my best to give it to you.
For those already benefiting from the Foundation Series, the Mental Game in Action series will directly compliment the work you’ve already begun. In fact the combination provides you the ability to produce exponential increases in the speed you can move past a given problem or develop your skill set.
Suggest topics and submit questions here:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=77573#post77573
A Confession
Date: Thu, May 8, 2008 Professional Internet
I often get asked how I play so many damn hands of poker. By my best guesstimate it is upwards of 5 million hands at this point since I started playing poker late in 2004. Obviously the main reason I have played so many hands is because I really enjoy grinding and as a result I frequently put in long hours. Today, however, I am going to reveal a little secret. About the middle of last year when I started to realize just how tough it was going to be to make Supernova Elite, I began thinking of ways that I could play as many hands as possible throughout the day. I was pretty much tapped out as I was already playing as many tables as I could handle for as many hours as I could keep my eyes open. But then I had a thought. Why waste time getting up to pee when I could just keep the VPP machine rolling and pee in a bottle? So that is what I began doing. : )
Before actually implementing this new idea, I calculated if it was worth it or not. In terms of VPP’s I figured that by the time I sat out on all of the tables and waited for the blind to sit back in, I was missing out on about 75 VPPs. On average I would pee twice a day during my sessions which meant that I would miss out on 150 VPP per day. That is 4,500 VPP a month and for the 8 months that I had left in the year that was 36,000 VPPs! In terms of dollars it got even uglier. I make about $1 a hand and every time I got up to pee I would miss about 100 hands. So it essentially cost me $100 to pee. Twice a day makes that $200 and if I play about 250 days a year (very conservative estimate) that means it costs me $50,000 a year to pee which was more than I used to make at my old job!!!! That also means that since I am 27 now, that without counting one cent of interest, it would cost me over a million bucks to pee before I am 50 years old…lol.
Armed with that knowledge I found no reason to ever waste time getting up to pee and missing out on 100 chances to bust fish and haven’t ever since…lol. For those that are wondering I do draw the line at good old #2…lol. I definitely get up to take care of him..hahahaha. But I do make every effort to take care of him before I play. Call me crazy, but I’ll take $50,000 a year over getting the luxury to get up and go to the bathroom. Slam dunk decision imo.
Am I nuts?
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=77509#post77509