I moved my blog to a new home. Your browser should automatically take you there in 5 seconds. If it doesn't please go to http://www.fifthstreet.biz/ Fifthstreet Blog: March 2005

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Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Some poker book reviews

As I mentioned before I started out with Phil Helmuth's "Playing Poker Like a Pro". At that time the things he wrote sounded quite reasonable and it was a good starting point.
As I started to get more into the poker scene I read a lot book recommendations. The comments on Phil's book (as well as Phil himself) are quite biased. Like it or hate it. I decided I like it ... more to that later.

Until then I read several books and I like to mention three of them here:

1) Small Stakes Hold'em by Ed Miller, David Sklansky, and Mason Malmuth
It's common knowledge that everything by Sklansky and/or Malmuth is worth to read. This one is definitly a must read if you play Low-Limit Hold'em (up to $10/20 at least). Personally I don't like his teaching style of writing. But you get all the important informations and concepts (Pott odds, implied odds etc.)

2) Super System/2 by Doyle Brunson
This was a big dissapointment as a lot of people are praising this one as the "poker bible". It has some nice chapters about how Texas Hold'em started to spread out, Doyle's own history, the World Poker Tour etc.
But I didn't get much from the Hold'em and Tournament chapters. The book has so many pages but it doesn't go deep (at least in those sections). I concentrated on the Hold'em and tournament parts so maybe there is more value in other chapters that I still have to read.
But currently I would say you can have it but you can easily live without it.

3) Harrington on Hold 'em by Dan Harrington
If you are interested in No-Limit Hold'em Tournaments - this is the book!
He deep dives into the important concepts of No-Limit Hold'em always focusing on the special concepts that apply for tournament play. His writing styles makes this book an easy read. This is part one af a two book series (the second isn't published yet) but it's complete in itself.

That get's us back to my starting point from Phil Helmuth. Looking back this one is clearly a beginner book. He doesn't touch important concepts like pott odds etc. But I like his section about what cards to plays and how. He is (super)tight and very aggressive. I compared it to the reccomendations in the other books and still like his style most.
After getting more experience I am sure I will loosen-up somewhat. But for now this still a great starting point. Most other authors play some more hands but call a lot of them. I prefer less hands but raise them. I go with Chris Ferguson here: "[being the first to enter the pot]...any hand worth calling ... is worth a raise". By adding some refinements about "re-raises and calling three bets" from the other authors I think I have a pretty good portfolio now.

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Sunday, March 20, 2005

Sin City again

O.K. my travel arrangements are done and the Shadow will be back to Vegas in early May. The difference is that this trip will be exclusively for poker. I plan to play 1-2 tournaments per day and log at least 40 hours for cash games. I think I will play mainly $4-8 limit (but we will see).
Added 03/22/05: Just made my tournament schedule - and if I make it two tourney's per day (morning / evening) it will be a tough one. Don't think that I can log more than 32 hours cash game in Vegas, but will have two more days in L.A. after that.

One of the highlights will be of course the (at this time) newly opend Wynn Casino. And you can be sure that I try to play some poker here ;-)
On the way home I will have a short stop in L.A. and make a visit to the well known Commerce Casino. A place that can be called poker heaven but is avoided by advanced BJ players due to the crappy rules of non-indian casinos in California.

So I feel a little bit like I started with BJ in September 2000. My BR will be lower than on my last BJ trips (as well as my playing level). The big difference is that this time a lot of the travel is comped by "friendly" casinos due to my last BJ action. That makes it much easier to try to cover the travel costs.

So what do I expect?
If I go for the "Standard Expectations" I can expect between $400 and $800 for the cashgames. This won't cover all of the remaining travel expenses but again this trip is for building up expertise. Not mainly for making a lot of cash.
And the tournaments? I have no idea - this will be the big surprise. As Doyle Brunson said: "There are not many players that are successfull at tournament & cash poker. Luckily I am one of them". I am still not confident which one I like more and in which one I create the better results.

So if the time of the vacation approaches I will keep you informed about the things that happen in Sin City...but until then I still have to do a lot of homework to brush up my poker knowledge.

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Tuesday, March 15, 2005

Opportunities

It's amazing - there are so many opportunities for Poker tournaments in Europe (and all of them offer cash games as well). You find them in Austria, Italy, England, Sweden, Finnland, Slovenia, Latvia...

But guess: You won't find them in Germany :-(

Thanks to the German Poker Players Association (http://www.gppa.de) and Horst Koch there are at least some small tournaments. But if you realize what happens in the rest of Europe...wow!

Just imagine one of the next tournaments: A week in Jesolo for a Poker tournament and some cash games combined with a location close to the beach (o.k. late April is still pre-season) and not far away from Venice. Sounds like a nice vacation. And for Poker players the hotel offers a nice discount.

I still have to check my schedule but I really think that sounds great.
Seems that the german casinos lost a customer ... Not that they really wanted my business if they knew that I took their money ;-))

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Sunday, March 13, 2005

Why my BJ knowledge is helpful in Poker

BJ and Poker are two completely different games. But BJ cardcounters usually know a lot about stats and the (mis)behavior of cards. This can be very helpful in Poker, too.

I'm just back from a night in a cardroom and this one is a goldmine. Never saw so many people playing virtually every unsuited nonpair pre-flop.
But guess: I lost $100 in 6 hours at a 10/20 game. It was just one of this nights were you only get crap. Like in BJ when you get stiff after stiff. Hit them and you bust, stay and of course the dealer refuses to bust.
Things like that happen and it looks like I am well prepared from my BJ times.
The upside of Poker: These nights are less expensive. Thanks to the blind structure you can fold most of these hands and even those were you are in the blind often allow you to see the flop "for free". The same evening at BJ could have easily generated a 10 times bigger loss.

The downside (and a word of caution): There are mathemathical rules in Poker similar to BJ. An A,A ist the best hand you can get pre-flop and has a worth similar to a 20 in BJ (that said you can lose both hands) and an unsuited nonpair is usually a very bad hand like a 16 in BJ (that said you can win both hands).
While BJ has fixed rules about hitting and staying there are times you correctly deviate from those basics in Poker. This is because you don't play against a dealer with set rules about hitting or staying. You play people that play more or less sophisticated. But there is a great danger (especially at bad nights) to deviate more then you should. When in doubt - stick with the math!

The rules of "standard deviation" and the "long run" apply for Poker, too. The only difference is that standard deviation depends on your style of play.
There is of course an average value that can be used but your personal standard deviation can vary heavily from this. For that reason it takes a lot of hours till you can be sure to be a winning player or not. And if your style of game changes you may have to re-calculate your personal standard deviation.

Keeping accurate records of your play is very important in Poker. I was used to do it in BJ so it isn't a problem for me but it seems that it isn't common knowledge in the poker community.

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Monday, March 07, 2005

Adjusting my times

Seems that my playing times will be different from what I am used to.

In Vegas you can play all day round but here at home most places start dealing BJ at 6-8pm and stop between midnight and 2am.
At the places I visited for Poker they start late but play much longer. On the last Poker sessions I came back home between 4am and 6am in the morning (and could have played longer if I wanted).

Well, I like it - but I think my girlfriend isn't used to that new times right now. :-( And my work? Good thing I can start at 9am or maybe later most times ... but I think I will try to play mostly Friday or Saturday.

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Thursday, March 03, 2005

Hands to remember

In Poker there will always be hands you remember for a long time.
I had three of them during my last tournaments:

A bad beat:
Down to the final table in a satelite for a major tournament. One more had to leave and all other would qualify for the main event...Shadow has A,K suited and raises. All others fold except of the Big Blind. He wents "All-In" obviously trying to steal my raise.
His chip stack is at the low end and he is may be on of the weakest on that table. All the others with short stacks are much more difficult to play. So I call.

Big Blind has A,7 suited. Great - I'm a 70% favorite. Flop and Turn don't help. Now 84% fav. River comes: 7 of diamonds. :-(((( Now I am the one short stacked - and out one round later.

But bad beats can go in both directions: Cracking A,A with A,7 is nice (more than 80% underdog) - especially when you're "All-In" pre-flop (major mistake at this time) and make it a straight on the River. Unfortunatly: 1 hour later I got it the other way - my Q,Q was beaten by 10,10 with a 10 on the River. "All-In" and out :-(

A poker dealer told me once: "In Hold'em No limit Tournaments luck will get you to the final table but skill is what you need to get the money". Well, not only luck - but there is plenty of room for good & bad beats during a tournament.

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Online Poker isn't for everyone

In the time after my last US trip and the start of this blog I played a lot of online poker. Not enough to create statistically usable results - but enough to find out that online poker isn't my thing. In fact: I hate it!

I must say I'm the traditional type of a "geek". Whenever possible I do the things I have to do with my computer. Email, chat, blogging etc. If it can't be done with a computer I don't like it. So I was expecting that online poker would be a great thing for me. In general I belive that a lot of people can make a ton of money by playing online poker. The quality of the players is bad, really bad. But I can't. Why? Because I play different than in a B&M casino. I play as tight pre-flop but after that I tend to loosen up too much playing online. I play flops and turns and go to showdowns I never would in a B&M casino.

One thing I learned from Black Jack is patience. Counting a 6D game can be boring over hours. Poker can be boring too if you play tight. You fold a lot of hands pre-flop. But by playing online you lose focus easily. If it gets boring than you watch TV, play multi-tables or whatever. Then after a while you get a good hand, but are you focused enough to give all your attention to this hand to play it correctly? Some may - but I'm not.

Online poker is a dangerous game - at least for me. I will continue to play online tournaments but I don't play cash games anymore.

So I am happy to be able to play at a nice B&M cardroom tonight with real people.

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Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Content of Shadow's old homepage

For those who are missing some of the contents of the old homepage - like the live webcams of Las Vegas or the links to some nice videos ... they will be back soon on a new designed page that can be accessed through the linklist.

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Welcome at Shadow's Poker Blog




What is a blog? "Blog" is the short version of "Weblog" - some kind of an online diary.

In this blog I will write about my success (or fail) in the development from a cardcounter in Black Jack to Texas Hold'em Poker player. In a little more than one year on March 06th 2006 a decision will be made. If the project was a success I will continue playing Poker as an additional income (most likely) or as a profession (most unlikely). If I fail I will stop my casino adventures completely.

Comments are appreciated ... but it's my final decision to delete entries that aren't appropriate.
Just click on the comment link below. You my register, just write your name or handle or be a chicken and remain anonymous ;-)

Oh, and here's the link to the old but still active BJ Forum (this one is german language only!): http://forum.webmart.de/wmforum.cfm?id=2146795

Best
Shadow

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