Children and Poker: Wolverine

A hectic forty-eight hours, and I'm finally able to breathe a bit. Meeting tomorrow afternoon to (hopefully) close the China project. I'd rather write about poker than play, so here you go.



Great post from Bobby's Room at the Bellagio by Linda. All the big dogs playing their regular 4/8 mixed game.



When I thought we should have a teenager's insight for this series, I unfortunately found an atypical teen in Wolverine, a young veteran of the G-Vegas circuit who took down BadBlood's G-Vegas birthday party tourney this weekend. He's been described as respectful, humble, and a great young man, not the rude, obnoxious . What even those who have seen him on the felt may not know is that he suffers from common variable immunodeficiency, a rare immune deficiency which leads to a lot of illness and suffering. Monthly treatments keep him going, but it's not easy and no one would know about any of this as he's betting into a pot. All a parent can ask for is to raise a child who becomes a man or woman of substance, integrity, and shared values. Shep should be proud that the Wolverine is well on his way.



cc: What are your early memories of poker?

W: Most of my early memories of poker were small $5 buy-in tournaments sitting in my den with a couple of family members, but then again I was playinga lot of free online chip games (usually SNG).



cc: How much do you play (online vs. live)?

W: I play online a lot more than I play live. It just works into my schedule better, but I would much rather play live. I play better in a live game, and it's a lot more fun because you can talk and joke around.



cc: What do you see as the risks of teenagers playing poker?

W: Teens have a lot of risks in playing poker there minds are not quite fully developed and they sometimes do not read things they way they should be read. Most teens that play are not using there own money to enter into things (I know this because I was there once) my dad was always putting in my $5-$20 buy-in during our live games. I now pay my own way. I have a job and a fairly good one at that I am an assistant manager at a small restaurant.



cc: How do you protect yourself from the downside of poker?

W: As of now I have to work hard to get the money for a buy-in for a tournament and I do not play frequently. I am juggling School, a job, a girlfriend, and keeping close to my family all of which are way more important than poker. I will not be conceded and say that I am better than that but I will say that I am smarter than to let myself get addicted. I am a very strong minded person I think deep into things I know what?s going on in the world around me and I know when I can and can not play. In the future I still want to be playing poker but I want to get my life on track before I ever think of trying to play poker just for money. I am playing it for fun now and so far it has worked out for me. I want to go to culinary school to be a chef because I have been in a kitchen since I can remember and I have loved every moment of

it, and if I get the chance want to go back to college and get a degree in psychology because I have just taken to reading into peoples stories like a duck takes to water. People make comments about that to me all the time and I realize that is yet another thing I could be good at. In the end I want to be a chef.



cc: Tell me about what it's like to play with your dad, uncle, and their friends?

W: I do not see the people I play with as my dad and uncle?s friends I see them as my friends also. They are a great bunch of guys and I like to hang out with them, as a matter of fact I would much rather hang out with them rather than my friends. Most of my friends are normal teens, immature and perverts, Quite frankly, I am not like that. I am more mature that most of the 17 year olds you meet as for the pervert part. I think people that are perverted are disrespectful and I do not like it. As for playing with my dad and uncle, I thinks it?s fun. I like being able to get at each others? throats for a little while, and if we take each other out it?s usually followed up by some name calling and laughing and thank a big hand shake or hug its a good bonding experience.



cc: What do you see poker as in your future?

W: I would like to play poker in the future. I see it as a great game, but family, school, and a career come first.



cc: What advice would you give teenagers when it comes to poker?



cc: What advice would you give teenagers when it comes to poker?

W: Just do not and I repeat do not get addicted to the game. You will lose your whole bankroll. Also do not play outside of you limit because when teens stress gets up they get real stupid and aggressive. I have had enough time to fix this for me.



cc: What would you say to concerned parents regarding poker? Should they be concerned if their son plays poker?

W: I can?t say much about this subject because I play and my parents let me and I haven?t seen parents of these "Poker Kids". If you are concerned than just sit them down and talk to them about it. At least try to get them into smaller sized games because teens are so Anti-parent you will probably not get them out of the game. They should mainly be worried if there kid is always broke (if he funds his buy-in). If you fund his habits than that gives you the power in their poker games so you can put a stop to it if you are worried.



I look forward to meeting the Wolverine on the felt soon. Thanks for everyone dropping by. Couple final posts in the series. Thanks especially to all those with great comments on their approach and challenges.





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http://ccexplore.blogspot.com/2006/04/children-and-poker-wolverine.html

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Gary...

I might have mentioned that Gary, the giant from my Thanksgiving cruise, also went with us on the Cardplayer cruise in December.



Here is a pic I finally got around to getting developed. Speaks for itself, lol ;)





Read The Full Article:
http://felicialee.blogspot.com/2006/04/gary.html

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Emerald Dreams

For the last couple weeks, I've felt the body-wracking anticipation of moving. It's felt like the night before going to Disneyland. On Christmas. To lose my virginity.



It's not just the moving, either. It's the breath of fresh air in my new digs, unpolluted by memory. It's the big, fat check I'm gonna get from the sale of the house, money I'm going to use to both spend like a sailor on shore leave and sock away to help secure my future (stocks, property, Main Event buy-ins). But the one thing to which I was MOST looking forward, in the short-term, was a trip across The Pond.



My friend Shot is getting married in Ireland the first week of June. When he told me in October, after I thanked him for making it so easy on everybody to attend, I said, "I'm a couple big poker scores from making the trip." Within two months, I'd won two MTTs on Full Tilt and made a Final Table at the MGM during the WPBT. I was good to go.



Of course, then everything crashed on me and getting up in the morning became my main goal for the day, let alone planning a trans-Atlantic voyage. I even forgot about it for a time--I forgot about a lot of things--as I tried to figure out first how to save my life and then how to leave it behind. The idea of bailing, even for a week, seemed preposterous. I could barely hold myself together in familiar surroundings. I can't spend that time away from AJ right now, not close on the heels of his agonizing absence when he and X were in Sweden.



But the last six weeks have been better. Much better. When we got the offer on the house last month, the idea of making the pilgrimmage immediately sprang to mind. I wrote to see if I was still invited. I destroyed workplace productivity searching for itineraries and hotels. I contacted Div, my third-favorite among Scottish people I've never met (1. Kenny Dalglish 2. Ewan MacGregor), as I mulled turning a quick five-day trek to Ireland into a 10-day multi-Isle pub crawl with stops in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I was pumped.



Then the deal fell through. And now, I don't have two nickels to rub together.



*************************



I am notoriously careful with money. I don't carry credit card balances. I have contributed the max to my 401k since the day I was able. AJ has a college fund that would make Paris Hilton's nipples stand on end. My car is nine years old and I paid it off before the term expired. I don't splurge. Based on recent econmic indicators such as personal spending and savings rate, I'm an anomaly and it's mainly because I spent my early 20s carelessly fucking up my finances and credit score.



It is this trait, I've recently discovered, that was a cornerstone of X's Pyramid of I Don't Love You Anymore. Ironically, since it's a trip that is at stake here more than anything else, my wife's biggest gripe was that we didn't travel enough, something that, to her, signalled We Don't Have Anything in Common. She's full of shit, but let us not get distracted from our point.



The point is, I was over-willing to splurge. Bursting at the seams, in fact, to throw some cash around on pure pleasure, without a hint of guilt or meticulous spreadsheet accounting. And the best part was I was going to get to hang out with my friends in Ireland for a week. Now, it looks like it's not gonna be viable and I feel shitty about that. Shot has been to both my weddings and if he laughed his way through the first one and had a (now) hilarious panic attack at the second, well, at least he showed.



I call my Mom--The Inland Empire's Top Real Estate Agent for like 100 years running--every day hoping for good news. Hoping a solid gold offer comes in. Even if it won't close until late May, it'll hit the wire in time. Starting Monday, I'll be paying rent on my new apartment AND my mortgage. If I check (re-check and triple-check) Quicken, I extrapolate I can afford to do that for...well...May. So I wait for an offer and nervously log on to Expedia every day to make sure my favored iteneraries are still available.



All of the above may seem a little counter-intuitive, since I do have a healthy dose of gamble in me. Just a month ago, I dropped a few hundreds on an ice cold craps table without a second thought. But gamblin' money is different from living money. Yet, worlds are colliding. Poker money is paying my mortgage this month.



I dreamt about my friends last night. I miss them terribly. I need a miracle.

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http://obituarium.blogspot.com/2006/04/emerald-dreams.html

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Returning To The Cryptos

© COPYRIGHT 2006 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED



Since my last post, I went on my own personal poker tour, playing at a few sites:



Interpoker $2/4 LHE: 204 hands, $56 profit

Poker Syndicate $2/4 LHE: 152 hands, $48.50 loss

Poker Stars $2/4 LHE: 27 hands, $8 profit



A $15.50 profit for 383 hands work. Beats losing any day of the week.



I still cannot get anything going at Poker Syndicate. After a bit of 3,200 hands, I am actually down a small amount (something like $45). Frankly, I have never seen such a bad run of cards at one site as I have experienced so far at this site. However, the games are really good. It's just a matter of time before the profits start rolling in. The bad cards cannot last forever there.



I decided to redeposit at Interpoker after receiving an offer for a $100 bonus if I played 200 raked hands. Add that to needing 395 raked hands to complete a $90 monthly bonus that I had sitting there and this was too good to pass up. Yea, I'll play 395 raked hands for $190 :-)



I had forgotten how tight the Cryptos are. The Cryptos are definitely the negative image of Poker Syndicate. You can use all of the tools from your poker toolbelt, like bluffing, semi-bluffing, etc. Those things that need to be left in your holster while playing at Poker Syndicate. (Not that that's a bad thing...)



Bet The River?

Yesterday's hand:



In the hand below, I am playing at Poker Syndicate (full of weak, loose players) and I have never played with my river opponent. Would you bet the river and why (or why not)?



Hand #275985631 at table: Table TH 794

Started: Sun Apr 23 13:32:07 2006



Pray4uself is at seat 1 with 228.50

nairolf88 is at seat 2 with 41.50

Spencer71 is at seat 3 with 155.75

LsLarry is at seat 4 with 117.75

julito yyo is at seat 5 with 114.50

AskEddie29 is at seat 7 with 186.00

prac is at seat 8 with 74.50

PISDETZ is at seat 9 with 123.00

Michael is at seat 10 with 187.00



AskEddie29 posts the large blind 2.00

julito yyo posts the small blind 1.00



Michael: Kd, Kc



Pre-flop:

prac: Call 2.00

PISDETZ: Fold

Michael: Raise 4.00

Pray4uself: Fold

nairolf88: Fold

Spencer71: Fold

LsLarry: Fold

julito yyo: Fold

AskEddie29: Call 4.00

prac: Call 4.00



Flop (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s):

AskEddie29: Bet 2.00

prac: Call 2.00

Michael: Call 2.00



Turn (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s, 2c):

AskEddie29: Bet 4.00

prac: Call 4.00

Michael: Raise 8.00

AskEddie29: Fold

prac: Call 8.00



River (Board: 9d, 8s, 9s, 2c, Js):

prac: Check

Michael: ???



To decision bet the river here, in my opinion, depends a lot on what kind of opponent you have here.



Against a weak player, I think that you have to bet the river and fold if check-raised. A weak player will not check-raise without the goods here and a pair of Kings certainly will not be good if I am check-raised.



On the other hand, if my opponent is a solid player, I have to check behind. That Jack of spades completed two different draws and a solid player here most likely would have only been chasing with a big draw, one that likely got there.



And if my opponent is not someone that I am familiar with, then this is where it becomes a difficult decision. When I raised the turn, he called two bets cold. That certainly smells like a draw, doesn't it? Now, if my opponent is a weak player that would chase all the way to the end with a bare Ace (or worse), then he will not likely call a bet on the river. I'm in a situation where the only hands that will call (or raise) are those that beat me and those that cannot will likely fold. Because of this, I did decide to check behind on the river.



What did my opponent have? Try [5c 5h]. I guess I'll be adding him to my list of opponents that it is a must to value bet a river against.



Also, there was mention that some of you would have raised the flop, instead of waiting for the turn. My thinking is this. The flop bettor is very unlikely to be betting trip Nines, as most low limit players will try for a check-raise (usually later on the turn or river), so I felt confident that I had him beat. At the time, I felt that the other flop caller could have a lot of hands, but probably a draw.



If I wait until the turn and get a favorable card, I can get more money in the pot from my opponents when I become a much bigger favorite with only one card to come. With two cards to come on the flop, if one or both of my opponents is drawing, I cannot protect my hand with a raise.



Note that I am not slowplaying the flop. What I am doing is sacrificing an edge on the flop to take advantage of a potential bigger edge on the turn. And if that edge doesn't come (e.g., third spade comes on the turn), then I invest the least amount of money in the hand by going into call-down mode.









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Mmm, TopRankedPoker Poker Bonuses...

TopRankedPoker (on the B2B network) just changed their signup bonus to a pretty juicy 5x bonus. It's a 100% up to 600 euro signup bonus (deposit $750 if you're in the US), with 30 days to clear it, paying out 20 euros for every 100 VIP points you accumulate. The bonus code is SIGNUP600.



You can also get an extra 25 euro referral bonus. Use referral name "scurvyTOP" when creating an account, then use the above bonus code when you make your first deposit. If you try to use both when cretaing an account, it won't work. Use referral when creating, bonus code when depositing. You'll get the 25 euro referral bonus after clearing 200 VIP points, then the signup bonus will be paid out 30 days after creation of your account, based on how many VIPs you accumulated.



They're also giving away 2 decks of BEE cards for anyone who signs up right now. Create an account, deposit, and "...send a mail to info@toprankedpoker.com, with your user name, name and adress, and we will send you the decks the same day."



On top of all that, the site is part of the B2B cashback program, that pays you a cash reward based on your play each month. If you accumulate 3001 VIPs in a month, you'll get an extra 50 euros back, on top of everything else, for your play. Note, though, that it's based on the calendar month, so if you split your play up over two months you might not get the full 50 euros, as they play less for lower levels of play.



These 5x bonuses on B2B sites usually don't last long, so you might want to hop on it while it's there, if you have any interest at all. If you clear the full 3001 VIPs in the same calendar month it ends up being a 675 euro bonus, plus two free decks of cards, which ain't bad at all.

Read The Full Article:
http://suckout.blogspot.com/2006/04/mmm-toprankedpoker-poker-bonuses.html

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Joe Bartholdi Wins 2006 WPT World Championship

Joe Bartholdi is the 2006 WPT World Champion and he's $3.7 million richer Dr. Pauly's wrap of the WPT Five Star Poker Championship at the Bellagio. 2006 WPT World Championship: Final Table The Tower Room at the Bellagio was...

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http://www.lasvegasvegas.com/pokerblog/archives/002671.php

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Tilty McTilt

Not much going on over here...

The fishes took me for $45 Sunday night at the Empress poker room, over 7 hours' time. At one point, I called Randy, after about 5 hours and up $80 or so. I said, "I was going to head home, but the table just got reeeally good... I'm think I can milk a few more chips off this table." He wished me luck and I went back to the table. I watched in disbelief as the new guy at the table donked off just shy of $500 in less than one hour.

He was on the waiting list for the no-limit game (which is why he had so many chips at the 5/10 limit hold'em table). This guy amazed me. L-A-G doesn't even begin to describe him.

On one hand, on a flop of JJx, he re-raised after 2 limpers, a raiser, and a cold-caller. The turn and river were blanks, though he raised the whole way. At showdown, he calls his opponent's bet, and goes, "Do you have the Jack?" The other guy goes, "Yes," and showed Ace Jack.

The muppet goes, "Nice hand, I didn't think you had it," and showed Queen Four Offsuit for no pair, no draw.

WTF?!?!?!

This was not an isolated incident. He literally went to showdown with hands as strong as nine high, bluffing his bets and raises all the way down. Hand after hand after hand.

Unfortunately for me, I started catching big pairs, which don't hold up well against 8 opponents, and are even more costly when a LAG keeps raising to build monster pots.

On one hand, I had JJ under the gun. I raised, and the usual gaggle of monkeys cold-called two bets to see the flop. It came Queen high, and I bet out. I had one caller. The turn put a 2nd club onboard, and the river the third. I checked behind my call-me-down opponent and saved myself ten bucks when he showed 8 3 of clubs for the flush. I marveled at his gutsy chase of the backdoor 8 high flush with no pair, and... well, I did the unthinkable.

I tilted a bit.

A few hands later, in the cutoff, I saw 6 people limp into an unraised pot. With the button and blinds still to act after me, I raised. What did I raise with?

I'm almost embarrassed to say. 10-5 of hearts.

Mind you - I never, never, ever raise with junk. I hardly ever even PLAY junk, let alone raise with it. (The Hammer does NOT count as junk). I don't think I have ever raised a junk hand in a live casino poker room, ever. I play straight up, grind-it-out, profitable-over-time poker.

Anyway, so the flop comes 10-5-x. From late position, I went on a raising frenzy, and got paid off by a poor guy who had AA.

You see, it wasn't so much the 8-high club flush beat that tilted me. I'd been building up some frustration with my game. I was playing weakly preflop and missing bets because of it. I wasn't raising my big cards in position, instead limping with AK and AQ and TT and such. I'll limp with those sometimes from early position, but not from middle or late. I was angry at myself because when I'm playing passively, it's almost always a sign of a losing day for me. It's not like I'm an aggressive maniac to begin with, but when I'm in a pot, I prefer to be betting or raising, because it's not all too often that I'm in a pot. I play good cards and push my slight edges when I can.

So, the 8 high club flush just twisted the knife. After the 10-5 hand, which paid back most of what I lost on my JJ, I vowed to myself, "No more limping with big cards..." You see, if I put in the extra raise up front and get 4 or 5 or 6 or 8 callers, and then manage to hit my flop, that's $20 or $25 or $30 or $40 extra dollars in my pocket. If I miss the flop, I've lost an extra $5. You do the math. It's my new "thing" lately. Sunday, though, it just wasn't in me.

Funny - raising just one of my AK's that hit probably would have turned Sunday from a losing session to at least a break even one.

So then comes this hand:

The guy to my left was a decent player. Semi-loose aggressive. Raised preflop with any two cards 10 or higher, any pocket pair, and almost any ace (8 seemed to be the minimum kicker he'd raise with). Under the gun, I found KQ of clubs and - keeping with my mantra of not limping with big cards - I raised. He re-raised me, and the rest of the table folded. When it got back to me, I capped it, because it's unlucky to play for 3 bets. Honestly, I don't believe that, but if I'm playing a hand preflop for 3 bets, it damn well better be worth 4, and again - if my hand holds up, I make more money than I lose by putting in the extra bet early (assuming I have more than one opponent).

The guy then says to me in surprise, "You're capping it??!" I said, "Yup." He threw in another red chip and we saw a flop of Ace-clubs, rag rag. I led out, because I was the preflop aggressor, and if he was holding anything less than an Ace at that point, I might take the pot right there. He smooth called. Knowing that he doesn't play junk (and that he's also capable of raising preflop and then throwing away a hand on the flop when action stirs up), I'm not a big fan of that call. I figure I'm going to need to slow down.

The turn, however, brought a 2nd club, giving me the nut flush draw. Well, we all know the mantra - bet your draws hard! I find this to be useful especially in limit (particularly in big multiway pots where, again, if you hit, you're making a boatload of extra bets). So, I bet out with my flush draw. Again, he smooth called.

The river brought a 3rd club, and I bet out again. He raised me. I re-raised him. He sighed and said, "You've got the flush?" With some mercy, I shook my head and said "Yes," giving him the chance to save the extra ten bucks. (If I really meant to be merciful, I should have just called his bet on the end - so I guess this whole mercy thing is just a bit of creative storytelling. I really wanted the extra ten bucks). He tossed in one last red chip to see my flush.

The guys at our end of the table gasped, "Oh my gosh! Runner runner flush!" as my opponent turned up his pocket Aces, for the flopped set. Brutal. My opponent, who was getting killed by the fishes as well, said, "Nice hand," in a dejected tone. I looked at him and said, "I'm sorry man... I raised preflop so I had to put in the continuation bet on the flop, and then the second club came on the turn..." He said, "I know, you played it well. It was my fault for slowplaying the set and not raising you."

True enough. A raise on the flop would have likely gotten me to lay down the hand, with no pair and only the backdoor draw. In Tilty McTilt mode, though, who knows.

I felt so dirty after that hand! That and my 10-5 suited. It was as if I was possessed by aliens for the evening.

I probably shouldn't have been playing poker. I was pretty upset Sunday, after hearing news that a friend's husband died suddenly that morning, completely unexpectedly and at way too young an age. I was enjoying the distraction of poker, concentrating better than ever on players and their patterns, but my emotional state wasn't good at all (as was evidenced by my late-evening tendencies toward tilt).

I used to be a member of the frequent tilters club. That's how I got my nickname at the local home games - Shellmuth. After seeing though how much damage tilt can cause to my game and subsequently my bankroll, I've made great efforts to keep the tilt under control and remain emotionless and "in the moment" at the poker table. Sitting down to the poker table in an already emotionally unstable state, though, is a recipe for tilt disaster. I'm probably lucky that I escaped with only 4BB damage over the 7 hours I played.

I toyed with the idea of heading to the boats again tonight, but opted instead to watch the Flyers game on TV. (Each playoff hockey game I watch likely shaves a year off of my life due to the added stress and rapid heartbeat that ensues). That ended up being a total waste of time, as Esche got shelled and the Flyers ran around the ice like Mites on Ice, making dumb plays and taking stupid penalties. All that, and they didn't even have their Enforcer (Donald Brashear) on the bench to crack some skulls. If the Flyers are going to suck ass in-game, the least they can do is beat the hell out of some people for me. Come on, now, boys! Revenge will be ours in Philadelphia (particularly against Wuss Man Connelly for the hit on Umberger which, despite being a technically "clean" hit, still deserves some retribution). I still can't believe Hitchcock sat Brashear tonight. He had to at least suspect the possibility of requiring some fisted assistance.

Anyhoooo, I think I might head to Empress on Wednesday night. We'll see. I've got to make right those errors of Sundays past...

Tags: casino, Empress, limit holdem, HellaHoldem, poker, texas hold'emFiled Under:

• B&M
• Empress

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