Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all readers of my blog!
I know you are out there ... somewere ;-))

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My blog on mobile devices

You don't need a computer to read my blog. Just a cellphone with WAP or a PDA with WindowsMobile or PalmOS and internet connection will do the trick.

Use this URL with your mobile devices: http://pfeeds.com/17bc

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Blogging via SMS

That is cool - I can send a blog entry via SMS from my cellphone. Blogging from everywere at anytime!

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First Year anniversary in January

I started playing poker in January 2005 - with my first B&M game at a Golden Nugget, Las Vegas 2/4 table.
A lot things happend since then and I enjoyed the time so far. No regrets for giving up BJ. But I told you I will start it again in a lower level.
Some regrets for sticking to sportsbetting for another season (lost a bunch of money since this NFL season was horrible for the real professionals)

A first anniversary is always something special and I plan to do something special in January. I won't tell you now as I'm still in the preparation for this and I'm not sure if it will work the way I planned it.
Just this: I will be in the U.S. again as I attend Lotusphere in Orlando end of January. Of course I will play poker ;-)) and most probably it won't be Vegas this time. As soon as my plans are fixed I will let you know ... so stay tuned!

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Poker vs. BlackJack

There are three big similarities between BlackJack and Poker.

1. Basic Strategie & Starting Hands

BJ has a clear Basic Strategie - follow the BS or lose more money. Just that easy!
In Poker it isn't that easy but still there are the starting hands. The starting hands you choose depend on your own style but there are hands that are clearly -EV. Play hands like 72o often enough and you will lose money in the long run. Create your own Poker basic strategy with the starting hands that fit your game and you will have the best of it.

2. Card Counting and Pot Odds

To make money in BJ you have to count cards. To make money in poker you need to know pot odds. Without card counting the size of your bets is either flat (and you play a -EV game) or you have to size your bets in the blind (much more -EV). In poker you need pot odds to decide how much to bet and how much your draws are worth. If you don't know them it's just as bad as in BJ. You will fold good opportunities or play bad spots. Clearly -EV.

3. Bad Beats

Bad Beats in BJ can be cruel! You get 16 and bust, you double 11 and get an Ace. You have 20 and the dealer gets a five to his 16 ... after some years of BJ I've seen them all but it's still amazing to see all the ways a BJ dealer can beat you.
In poker you have the option to fold your hands and only invest into good opportunities - much better! Really? That's exactly what you do in card counting: betting big into good opportunities without knowing the next cards. And in poker? You think you control your destiny? Never, ever. It's the same principle as in BJ - win in the long run but be aware of the short term fluctuation.

Just happend tonight to me:
Playing Qc Jd on the button. Obeying the pot odds and bet it to the flop 8d 5s 9h and the turn Ts correctly. Betting again with a straight 8 to Queen and getting raised all-in. Hell! What does he have? Pocket Tens for Trips - I beat them. The same straight? O.K. we split. I don't find any reason not to call. He shows 5d 5c for trips. Good :-) The rivercard is a Tc! VeryBad :-((
This guy never had the pot odds top call me on the turn and no way he should have gone all-in but he did and hit one of his 7 outs. His odds were about 1:6 and he overbet 7 times but won a big pot by playing a huge -EV game.

Does this hurt? Yes awfully. Is he a winner? No!
Like the deeply dealt BJ game with DAS, resplit and surrender that just crushed you this is just a single short term event that won't affect your long term results. And still it hurts the same way.


So what's my point? BJ and poker have a lot in common. You can play it perfectly but you can't see what the next card will be. You still have a little more control about your destiny in poker but that's it. I'm amazed that most poker players (even those with good knowledge in basic concepts like pot odds) lack the knowledge about the difference of short term and long term results. Otherwise there wouldn't be so much whining about bad beats.
Being an "advantage player" in BJ really helps to understand the concepts in poker much easier. I'm happy that I learned this stuff during my BJ times and can use them to my advantage in poker.
So if you suffer a bad beat but played you A-Game don't think about it too long. Be friendly to the guy who beat you - he will contribute a bunch of money to our future winnings ;-))

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Poker cruise through Austria

Well at least a mini-trip!

Due to the weather conditions and the location of the two events I took the train for this trip. Good choice as I felt very comfortable and relaxed during my play.
First stop was the Poker Club in Kufstein again. Unfortunatly I didn't get any good cards that evening and lost two or three cruical pots. For that reason it became a short evening and I got enough sleep for ther next day.

After a three hour train ride I arrived in Bregenz for the €100 Hold'em Christmas Tournament. I played my first live tournaments in that place and as always the tournament was well organised. Arriving by train is a cool thing as the train station is next to the casino and the hotel. Hotel and casino are in the same spot and they provide good rates for the players. The tournament was designed for 90 players but they got such a great response that they added some tables and made it a 150 people tournament. After re-buys and add-ons the total prize pool was around €45.000 with a first prize of €12.000 and 18 players paid. I met several people I knew from other locations as well as some of the regular guys that play these tournaments.
At my starting table I met two guys that I knew from a GPPA tournament in Munich. At that tournament they were quite novice but they improved their game very well. The whole table was a little tight and calling was more common than raising. That allowed some nice moves and after the re-buy phase I was chipleader at that table (without doing a single rebuy). For the whole field I was somewere in the first third. I played my best game so far but was a little lucky as I won two cruical pots (and another one was split) due to luck and/or bad play from the opponent. I misssed out on a big opportunity as I folded 99 pre-flop to a huge raise and would have flopped a Full House :-((

Being the aggressor instead of being the smallstack is much more nerve wrecking. If you're the small stack you just try to get a good hand and survive the next rounds, With a big stack it's always "I have to be aggressiv ... but I won't risk too much of that great stack". Well I lost about a third in a hand that was played o.k. - unfortunately my opponet had the better kicker.
It was nice to play that long with the same guys before the table got broke.
At the new table I met the nice poker player that I met in Vegas this spring. Hopefully he is still in the tournament as I write this. I will check later.
I didn't get any great cards and despite from a raised AKs that got no callers I wasn't able to increase my stack. The blinds of 1.200/2.400 started to hurt with a 20.000 stack. Finally I received QTo in the big blind. It was folded to the chipleader in middle position who wanted to raise but missed the increased blinds and just threw in 3.600. His bet was graded as a call and the small blind called too.
Flop comes 7 10 x. Not to scary! I bet 5.000 and was called by the chipleader. Smallblind folds. As he didn't raise here I had the impression that he was on AK or something. I didn't think that he would have a pair. So my overpair with overcard should be o.k. The turn was a blank and I checked as I wanted to see him doing the betting. He bet 10.000 I went into the tank an decided to call. The river was was a J and I decided that it was time to go all-in with my last 5.000.
Imagine - that guy had called all those bets with 89o - ouch! My pair of tens dwarfed by a straight. Well, I shouldn't complain. I made the same kind of bad call early in the game with AKs just to get my all-in rewarded with a flush (otherwise I would have had just an Ace High). But it still hurts to lose against some crap. That's the advantage of the big chipleader - he can do moves that others can't afford.
Out on 54th place...

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Developing my playing style

I'm still working on my own style of play in tournament and cash games.

There is a lot advantage in playing a tight style. The biggest one is that it reduces variance. But the bad beats you get with those premium hands are plain awful. So what about a looser style? Bigger variance but more flexibility. I think both styles have value as long as you play the right hands with the correct value according to your style.

So what about me? I tried both styles and worked with them. I tried to find out how they work for me and what kind of image they create to my opponents. Both allow interesting ways to built your play but if I'm honest to myself I'm much more an "action junkie" than the "calm and big tree in the storm". Either way I have to be careful. Playing tight I tend to loosen up after long dry periods and play too much crap. Playing loose I am risking to get "caught by the action" and overplaying my hands.

I know this habit for a long time and I was able to control the "gambler" in me quit early in my BJ times. I just became aware of this habit again and if I continue to control it I can use it to my advantage at the game of poker.

I'm not made for the crazy style of a Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey or Gus Hansen. All three are brilliant players but the their balance act on the edge is even too much for me.
I'm not made for the tight style of a Phil Helmuth. That's not enough action for me. And I prefer to give the bad beats than take them. It's some kind of funny to see people cry about "how one could play THAT hand" and showing that they don't understand the deeper math behind. Just knowing the basic concepts (tight, aggressive, weak, loose etc) isn't enough!

Since a long time I'm a big fan of Chris Ferguson and now I start to realize why. He is a great combination of aggression and mathematical background. Look closer to his game and you may see some strange moves that are just plain brilliant if you analyze them in detail. "Action Dan" Harrington is another great example of this type of player.

Don't understand me wrong - I'm far far away to compare myself with any of those great guys! I just took them as an example for easier illustration.
So as I defined my style what do I have to do next? I have to learn much more about the mathematics of aggresive play. In my mind there are a lot of ideas for some "crazy" moves but a lot of them are -EV and should be avoided. But several others may drive my opponents crazy and will still be +EV.

So if you met me at the table next time - be careful if you want to mess with the Shadow ;-))

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My worst call so far

Wow, that was a big mistake and I paid for it!

Shortstacked in a tournament I am waiting for a good all-in opportunity before I get blinded away.
Wham, there it is: QQ :-))
I go all-in and get called by two others. Well, that was at least a good timing for all-in. I was called by AKo and JJ.
Flop is xxK - oh my god :-(( ... turn is a Q :-)) ... and river is blank. Tripled up!

Two hands later I get KK. My stack is too big for an all-in so I make a pot size bet after several called a bet. It's folded around to one caller.
Flop is xxA and the other guy goes all-in.

What the hell am I thinking that he would have, how could I ever call that bet. Of course he had A6s and there was no help on the turn and the river.
But even if he was just bluffing ... after my pot-size bet I still would have had 2/3 of my stack. It was a big mistake from him to call my bet pre-flop. But my mistake was far worse. This time I really deserved it to get eliminated from the tournament.

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