Las Vegas Starting tomorrow night

Date: Mon, Jun 30, 2008 Professional Internet

I was originally supposed to fly out tonight, but most guys I know don't arrive until tomorrow and I know the last two times I came out for the main event I couldn't get out of town fast enough once the tournament was over. So I figured I'd shave a day off the trip on the front end. genius.

I've been playing some poker and had fun hanging out with dusty and his wife nicole and our good friend rob and his wife sheera. We did a bunch of fun stuff, wine tasting, nice dinners, some poker. Rob taught dusty how to stretch out in the morning and i participated a bit in that. Mostly we joked around and laughed a lot. Dustys ridiculous prop bet got started somehow around the time he arrived and so we talked a bunch about that. Estimating his chances of success, how to structure the bet, and how much to bet on it.

I'm looking forward to my las vegas trip. Bryce, Kyle, Jim, myself, Ijay, Stosh, Jared, Matt, are all staying in the same house together and that should be a blast. I've met everyone there in person except for stosh and Ijay.

Our booth at the world series should be pretty cool. We'll be giving out free 24 hour passes and DVDs of stoxpoker content. We'll also have a small putting green and stoxpoker gear. Maybe I can dial in my putting while I'm there. Most of our book authors will be around to sign books so if you have a copy or just want to say hello please stop by. The booth runs from July 3rd - 6th, hope to get a chance to meet some stoxpoker members!

Matt Blogs the WSOP: Out of $1500 NL

Date: Mon, Jun 30, 2008 Professional Internet

I got it to 160k after only a few hands today, but unfortunately that was the highest my stack ever got.

With five or six tables left I doubled through Men Nguyen by running JT through his AK, but he eventually got more than even for that suckout. With four tables left, Men moved in for three blinds and got called. I isolated with AQs and the caller folded. Men had A9o and won. A few hands later, Men moved in on my big blind for 104k (ten blinds) and I called with 55. Men had T4s and won. Down to less than two blinds, I got it all-in blind-on-blind on the next hand with 75o vs. 74o. I lost.

Though the end was pretty disappointing, I'm glad I made another run and gave myself another chance. Also, I almost got even for WSOP events with this mini-score. Almost. Also, I'm almost talking myself into playing more of the tournament circuit again after this month out here. Almost.

Tomorrow: Limit Hold 'Em Shootout

Lefty Power Hitters

Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2008 Professional Internet

This will be quick to not take up much of the blog page.

For anyone who follows Major League Baseball, all these teams do a shift for the lefties who can't hit the ball opposite field and always pull it. They shift the second baseman into the outfield, the shortstop to the right side of the infield, and the third baseman to the shortstop spot. In turn, these guys who only pull the ball hit for a lower average because now more of their hit balls have a chance of being recorded as an out.

Can someone please explain to me why they do not learn how to bunt and just bunt it down the third baseline for a hit about 90% of the time. Even if they have never bunted, a major league player could work on this in batting practice and easily get this down within a few weeks. This issue really bugs me and I don't get it. Please help me figure it out. Or maybe it is unexplainable like how great basketball players can't shoot over 60% from the free throw line.

comment on the blog here http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=91629#post91629

-Reese

Matt Blogs the WSOP: $1500 NLHE Update

Date: Sun, Jun 29, 2008 Professional Internet

I played the $2,000 No Limit event on Friday and didn't last very long. I played a bunch of hands in the first hour, didn't win any of them, and lost half my stack. Then I got the rest in with AA vs. QJ on a board of QT8 and lost.

After busting, I went over to the Bellagio to play their $2,000 No Limit event. That didn't go any better. I won a coin flip to almost double my starting chips, but then later on I tried a resteal with T9o, ran into AK, and lost the showdown.

The good news is that I accumulated a bunch of chips in Saturday's WSOP event--the $1,500 No Limit event. I have about three times average (113,600) heading into Day Two. Wish me luck.

The Secret Face of Polaris

Date: Sat, Jun 28, 2008 Professional Internet

The force behind all the pixel-chips and talk of equilibrium strategy is not the sort of soulless Agent-Smith entity that might be expected. Instead you'll find a lot of MacBooks and empty coffee cups, and some really cool people who have built one of the best HU LHE players in the world. The Computer Poker Research Group will be present in the flesh at the Man vs Machine Poker Championship at the Rio, July 3-6. For the most part they'll be identifiable by their team t-shirts, and I think they'll be more than happy to have you pester them with questions.

Score one for the fleshbags!

Date: Sat, Jun 28, 2008 Professional Internet

So Hoss and I had our first match against the Polaris computer yesterday. As you know, Bryce has described Polaris as the "best HU LHE player on the planet" (or something like that), and even proposed to bet me and Hoss that Polaris would beat us.

Well, Polaris played well, but in the end the humans prevailed (albeit narrowly).

To reduce luck as much as possible the match was structured so that the humans and Polaris would end up playing the same cards against each other. So in the 500 hand match I played side "A" of each hand against Polaris, which played side "B." Then Hoss and Polaris played the identical 500 hands, only this time Hoss played side "B" and Polaris played the cards that I had against it (side "A").

I went first and it was immediately clear that Bryce had programmed it -- the damn thing ran as hot as the sun! Lots of coolers, rivers, cracked overpairs, runner-runner flushes, etc. Which isn't to say that Polaris didn't play well, it definitely did. For example, it had a few sick calldowns -- one with J high. I don't want to get into its play too much since the feature match between me/Hoss vs. Polaris is next Sunday at the WSOP, but suffice it to say that Polaris played well, though with some tendencies that I think can be exploited.

In any event, despite the cards being stacked against me I did a good job saving bets in some hands and picking up pots without the best hand in others. I got a little spewey in the middle of the match, but overall I was fairly pleased with how I had played despite the fact that when it was over I had lost 87 BBs. I told the Polaris team at the end of my match that even though I had lost 87 BBs I thought that given the cards Hoss would beat Polaris for more than Polaris had beaten me and that the humans would take the match.

Sure enough, last night, with the hands reversed, Hoss won almost 100BBs, giving us humans the victory.

I'll be very curious to see how the other human teams do, and I'm already looking forward to the rematch in Vegas on 7/6.

I Need Your Help Stoxpoker

Date: Sat, Jun 28, 2008 Professional Internet

As most of you know by now I am involved in ironing out the final details of what is probably one of the most difficult prop bet challenges imaginable in online poker. I am risking at least a quarter of a million dollars of my own cash that I can win $100,000 or more at 2/4nl ($400 buy in) in 31 days or less. When I posted this prop bet on 2+2, not only was the interest in the bet higher than I could’ve possibly imagined, very few people give me much of a chance. Some people are willing to be hundreds of thousands of dollars of their own money that I can’t do it. I think at this point I have roughly 1.5 million dollars of action from people who don’t think I can pull this off. Of course I am not going to book all of the action because if I did I would be pretty much life busto if I lost. But I am going to risk at least $250k and maybe a tad more. Very few people are giving me much of a chance and who can blame them? There are usually only a few dozen at most no limit holdem players in the world who make 6 figure in a month, much less try to do it at 2/4nl. Not to mention that pretty much every other person who has tried a similar type bet has failed miserably. I’ve long prided myself on being the hardest working poker player in the world and I am up to the challenge. In fact, if I could I would start it tomorrow.

It looks like the bet is going to happen. It should presumably start sometime in the middle of August. Mid August is the first time where I have 31 straight days where I don’t have any firm commitments so that is the soonest I can begin the bet. Before the final rules are set, I would like to ask Stoxpoker members for a little favor. I am trying to come up with the rules and I just posted some of the rules I have come up with in this thread on 2+2: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showthread.php?t=236794

I’m just going to copy paste my post in that thread and put them in this blog as well. Basically what I am asking is for any of you to help me come up with anything that you see missing or that I should add/subtract/modify. In the 2+2 thread people are already coming up with ideas of their own which is great. These rules are just a starting point and I am sure there are a ton of things missing which is why I need your help. If you have some time, please look over these rules and let me know what you think in the thread dedicated to this blog.

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“ This is a starting point for the rules and by no means a final set of rules. There may be a ton of things I have left off that either the people betting against me want changed or I myself think of adding/subtracting as this thread goes on. I tried to use the WCGrider thread as a guide to some extent. Anyway, here it goes...

1. All tables will be $2/4 blind no limit holdem on Pokerstars or Full Tilt poker. If for some reason my account is banned on either site then the bet will be paused and resumed when my account is reinstated.

2. All tables must be 5 max or greater. No heads up allowed. I can only sit at the table if there are at least 3 people at the table when I get dealt cards. If the table breaks and there is less than 3 people at the table I may continue to play.

3. Dusty Schmidt and Dusty Schmidt (aka Leatherass9 on both Pokerstars and Full Tilt) is the only person who may play on the account. There will be a webcam on me at all times when I am playing to help ensure that no one else plays the account other than myself.

4. Wagerers may not play at these tables without asking pre-bet with valid evidence that NL $2/4 is a normal level for them. In the scenario where excessive opponents above or below the normal skill level of a nl 2/4 game player attempt to change the game atmosphere by sitting in my games, the panel of judges noted in rule 10, are to make a decision on the state of the bet and reasonable conduct to continue it.

5. $100,000 must be won, after paying rake, and not counting rakeback or bonuses or full tilt points or money from anything other than the poker games described in #1. The money must be won in a pre-declared period of 31 consecutive calendar days, to start at Noon PST of a declared day and end exactly 31 days later. If $100,000 or more is won, and all other conditions are met, Leatherass9 wins. If $99,999.99 or less is won, or any other condition is not met by Leatherass9, Leatherass9 loses. If at any time Leatherass9 claims to have made $100,000, he is to make the hands available to the panelists directly from pokerstars and Full Tilt with no ability to interfere on his end. The panelists then have 72 hours to review the hand histories of the event. If panelists accept the hand histories as valid evidence as to winning $100,000, Leatherass9 is to be shipped the winnings in total from a predetermined escrow person. If at any point Leatherass9 verifiably claims defeat, or the 31st day passes without breaking $100,000 in total winnings, then the wagers in their entirity are to be shipped to the parties betting against Leatherass9. If any individual wagerer against Leatherass9 breaks the rules, they forfeit their wager which will then be paid to Leatherass9 but the rest of the wagers stand. If gross misconduct by wagerers is alleged by Leatehrass9 (one person screwing with him on behalf of several others), three predetermined panelists will determine how next to proceed and a “timeout on the wager will be called until a decision is made. The three members will be chosen prior to the start of the bet.

6. If at any point the webcam stops working, hands played in the first 2 hours of it not working WILL count, but not after that. If the website hosting the webcam ( website not determined yet) crashes or the feed to the website isn’t working, a “timeout” will be called and the panelists will be notified and once a decision has been made by them, the clock will resume.

7. All wagerers will be given Leatherass9’s skype number and they can call at anytime that Leatherass9 claims to be playing to verify that he is indeed playing. A maximum of 5 skype call can be made per wagerer and the calls can only last for 10 seconds at most. This will provide an additional measure to ensure that I am the one playing while also being webcammed.

8. If Leatherass9 claims victory, a timeout will be in effect until the panel comes to a decision and if the panel decides that the declaration was premature and the $100,00 has not been reached, Leatherass9 may go back and play more hands and not lose the time away while the panel decides. If the panel does decide that Leatherass9’s declaration was premature, the clock restarts the moment the panel let’s Leatherass9 know their decision.

9. As part of the motivation for the wagerers may be entertainment, Leatherass9 agrees to provide daily-ish updates in a thread as to his progress or on a website that hosts the progress. Good faith effort to update at least every 24 hours is expected, but this condition will not be considered breached until Leatherass9 plays one hand when 72 or more hours have gone by without update. This means if he decides to take 4 days off for whatever reason, he doesn't have to provide daily updates as long as he gives us an update before he starts playing again.

10. The panel of judges assembled to provide for a fairly evaluated bet in cause of accused misconduct consists of 3 undetermined members of the poker community. If wagerers representing up to $10,000 in action file a complaint to the panel, it is their responsibility to make a fair ruling within a 72 hour time frame and report it to both parties. The panel is primarily to be used in order to allow the bet to take its course in its entirty with minimum outside influence, and is only to award the bet to a given party in cases of extreme misconduct and a 3-0 without any doubt ruling. The merit of this bet is for Leatherass9 to play nl $2/4 for 31 days against the current skill level of the online nl $2/4 games and win $100,000. The judges are to make rulings that allow for this to take place to the best of their ability and with minimal interference.

11. Leatherass9 may request one and one only 24 hour timeout during the bet under the following conditions. Death of ANY family member. Death of any Stoxpoker team member or death of any friend. Environmental disaster. A technological setback such as an extended power outage or an internet connectivity issue. Personal injury and hospital information must be provided to panelists AND approved for this to count. For any of these circumstances the burden of proof is on Leatherass9 and it must be also approved by the panel in order to qualify for a 24 hour timeout.

12. Anytime a timeout of any kind takes effect, the time is then added to the date in which the bet would normally have ended. It is my hope, for obvious reasons, that a timeout of any kind is never needed.

This is all I can come up with for now. This is by no means set in stone and the intent of this thread is to finalize terms as well as who exactly wants to officially commit themselves to a wager of not less than $1k, but not greater than $10k unless I make exceptions to people I personally feel comfortable making exceptions for. I tentatively plan on capping my personal action at $250k, but may go $50kish higher. I know there are others who want to bet ON me and we can probably set something up that allows additional action for those that want to bet against each other.

I am greatly looking forward to hearing from everyone about concerns they may have as well as all the things I have surely left off. As far as escrow goes I have a couple of pending people that if they choose to do it you guys will all know who they are and they are as reputable as they come. I also need to find 3(?) super reputable people who serve as the panelists for this bet. So any help with that would be awesome. Basically this serves as a starting point for negotiations and I will keep a strong eye on this thread and hopefully we can start coming to terms so we can make this happen. I am very excited for the challenge. Like I said in the last thread I can’t start the bet until mid August. Definitely no sooner that the 13th I think. Anyway, I look forward to the help. Thanks.”

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The month has continued to go well. This is probably my best month ever even though I may not end up winning as much as my best month. I am up almost 150k points and my best is 170k. I have played way less hands this month in making the 150k points so I am feeling pretty good right now. I have played my best by far and all of the work I have done to curb my temper at the tables is working very well. I am very excited about how far I have come mentally.
I want to thank everyone in advance for reading through this and for whatever help you may afford.
Discuss this blog here:
http://www.stoxpoker.com/forums/showthread.php?p=91190#post91190