gonores
09-09-2004, 10:32 AM
*A quick, unrelated blurb. I am sick and tired of reading about the electoral college. Every argument these days is an emotionally-driven, reactive diatribe on how Bush stole the election. If you have a problem with the electoral college, that’s fine, but it is utterly implausible to turn The United States into a true democracy. Flashback to 2000. If that election gets any closer in terms of popular vote in a true, 1 vote for 1 person, democracy, we have Florida times 50. It would be literally (proper usage) impossible to stage the recount in time to allow the winner to develop a coherent infrastructure plan for the executive office. True democracy would never work in this day and age.
If you want to complain about the electoral college, I’ve got a better argument for you. I live in Wisconsin, which is a swing state in this election. We’ve had so many visits from Bush, Cheney, Kerry, and Edwards that I had to reschedule next Tuesday so Kerry could come by and play receiver for my flag football team. OK, that was a joke, and the sentence following it was supposed to be a joke, but quite frankly, I can’t come up with a good one. Anywho, my New England friends, in contrast, hardly know what our candidates look like. The concentration of campaign dollars in the half-dozen swing states is not a great way to help the American public as a whole to make the most educated decisions. How to alleviate this? I think an excellent compromise would be to give each electoral district its own electoral vote. The cost/benefit on fighting over single districts would spread out the campaign dollars. I could go on, but I have poker to play today. Hopefully, this will spark some discussion, though.
Anywho…on to the journal.
I can’t help it. I get so amped from HU play. I think I stay reasonably calm during the match, but the post-win adrenaline rush is not avoidable. It wasn’t there after HULA wins, and it wasn’t there after playing stoxtrader. It’s always there, though, when I play fish. I guess it’s similar to the difference between winning a bout by knockout and winning a bout by decision. I know that on any given day, any 2+2er who sits down and dedicates a little thought to HU play is going to have a very good chance of beating me. The chances of a fish beating a thinking player in a reasonably-sized (25-30+ BBs) HU match is minimal. My HU record in EV-driven matches (in other words, vs. fish) is somewhere above 90%. I know other HULA players who have even better records than that. I think that is where the rush comes…knowing that the dude you’re playing has nowhere to go…he has to play you again next hand. And the next one, and the next one after that. The opportunity for all-out dominance that one can exert over an opponent in HU play is something not replicable anywhere else in poker. I am pretty sure it was Abdul who wrote an article on HU play, which was my jumping-off point. I can’t seem to find it now…maybe someone can post a link. Regardless, here are a few things that are key to winning a HU match.
- Utilize position to the fullest.
- Limp only enough to set-up limp-reraises. Also, feel free to limp-reraise with uber-marginal hands as well as premium hands.
- Call less and fold less than your initial impression would lead you to believe.
- Change gears, and change them often. The whole goal of HU poker is to stay on the offensive. To do that, you need to keep you opponent on his toes.
- If you show aggression from out of position, continue to show aggression on later streets until your opponent plays back at you.
- Understand the showdown value of ace high and other such hands
- Get experience
Day 9
Session 1 was a slow start. Before I ended up in another HU match, I was up a whopping 84.67. My HU match was agonizing. A big edge that I had on this guy was his inability to extract maximum value for his hands. The problem was that he kept making huge hands that even he could bet all the way. Often times, I had just enough hand to call down, or at least a draw that would force me to call the turn. I would have been in way better shape if I consistently ran third and fourth pairs into his second pairs, because he wouldn’t be betting those hands at the turn or river. Anywho, I ended up having to reload to CMA when my buy-in dipped below 12BBs. However, I finally caught a few starting hands and they held up and I clawed my way back. The last 50 hands of the match (~175 hands long), the dude simply ran out of tricks. I was reading him as well as I have read any opponent in a HU match. Unfortunately, I was only able to work the damage up to +$150 for the good guys before Empire decided to reset the servers. After what I took from him and what Party took from us, he left with $250 of his initial $500, so he decided he wasn’t coming back for more. Ah well. Session 1: +234.67. I had my first physical outburst of anger of the challenge in session 2 (my poor trash can just took a beat down), where I dropped around $2000 in a matter of 30 minutes before clawing back to -1184.50. Eventually, I’ll stop doing that whole trash can thing. Sessions 3 (+$1676) and 4 (+$371.5) pulled my day out of the ashes and brought me to a total of $1067.67.
Day 10
An unnamed source called me a pussy for not wanting to put in the hours necessary for the challenge. Out of spite, I logged a 1300 hand morning session. +$1044 off the bat. Unfortunately, the session still left me in a pissy mood for the rest of the day. These self-imposed numbers are starting to tick me off. I wish I hadn’t wrote that last sentence. I’m such a baby about these hours. I’ll stop whining now. Two short afternoon session went for +$216 and -$240. The late-night session went for +$1024, which put me up $2044 on the day.
Hands
Hand 1 – A mess. I limp UTG with 33. Clearly a very game-specific play. Co limps, SB completes, BB (basic pf LAG with no postflop skillz…actually the guy from my Day 9 HU match). All call, 4 to the flop. Flop is 8d 6c 5c. BB bets out, I raise, CO calls 2 cold. SB folds, BB calls. Turn is the 8s. Checked to me, I bet, both call. River is the Qd. No draws get home. Checked to me, I check, CO bets, BB calls. I fold.
Hand 2 – Smelling a bluff/thin value bet line with a hand that has no showdown value. I open raise from the CO with KJo. SB and BB call. BB is an OK player with tendencies toward over-aggression. Flop come Q93r. Checked to me, I bet, SB folds, BB calls. Turn is a 7, completing the rainbow. Check, I bet, call. River is another Q. BB bets out, I raise?
Day 9 – Goal: 2500 10/20 6m hands
Results – 1779 hands (HU bonus hands factored).
+$1067.67
Day 10 – Goal: 2500 10/20 6m hands
Results: 2660 hands
+$2044
Cumulative results
Goal: 150000 hands (secret modified hand-scoring system)
Days 1-10: 22521 hands (extrapolated: 135126 hands)
Goal: $60000
Days 1-10: $18570.84 ($8570.84 ahead of pace, extrapolated: $111425.04)
Note – I am taking today, Wednesday, September 9th, off. I need to use this day to finally get HULA up and running. Before I catch flack for taking a day off, please note…
- I will still be miserable today. I have to be in front of my computer to handle this, and it is more mudane than playing poker, so this is definitely NOT a recharge day.
- I tried to do HULA work during the challenge, and I just can’t do it. My brain is fried after hand 2500 every day.
- Initially, Day 60 was Thursday, October 28. With this day off factored in, Day 60 will be Friday, October 29. If I go down to the wire WRT the challenge, I will have to work through Day 1 of the Halloween weekend. If you don’t know about UW-Madison traditions, Halloween weekend in Madison is one of the biggest party weekends in America. Working on that day will suck…a whole lot.
If you want to complain about the electoral college, I’ve got a better argument for you. I live in Wisconsin, which is a swing state in this election. We’ve had so many visits from Bush, Cheney, Kerry, and Edwards that I had to reschedule next Tuesday so Kerry could come by and play receiver for my flag football team. OK, that was a joke, and the sentence following it was supposed to be a joke, but quite frankly, I can’t come up with a good one. Anywho, my New England friends, in contrast, hardly know what our candidates look like. The concentration of campaign dollars in the half-dozen swing states is not a great way to help the American public as a whole to make the most educated decisions. How to alleviate this? I think an excellent compromise would be to give each electoral district its own electoral vote. The cost/benefit on fighting over single districts would spread out the campaign dollars. I could go on, but I have poker to play today. Hopefully, this will spark some discussion, though.
Anywho…on to the journal.
I can’t help it. I get so amped from HU play. I think I stay reasonably calm during the match, but the post-win adrenaline rush is not avoidable. It wasn’t there after HULA wins, and it wasn’t there after playing stoxtrader. It’s always there, though, when I play fish. I guess it’s similar to the difference between winning a bout by knockout and winning a bout by decision. I know that on any given day, any 2+2er who sits down and dedicates a little thought to HU play is going to have a very good chance of beating me. The chances of a fish beating a thinking player in a reasonably-sized (25-30+ BBs) HU match is minimal. My HU record in EV-driven matches (in other words, vs. fish) is somewhere above 90%. I know other HULA players who have even better records than that. I think that is where the rush comes…knowing that the dude you’re playing has nowhere to go…he has to play you again next hand. And the next one, and the next one after that. The opportunity for all-out dominance that one can exert over an opponent in HU play is something not replicable anywhere else in poker. I am pretty sure it was Abdul who wrote an article on HU play, which was my jumping-off point. I can’t seem to find it now…maybe someone can post a link. Regardless, here are a few things that are key to winning a HU match.
- Utilize position to the fullest.
- Limp only enough to set-up limp-reraises. Also, feel free to limp-reraise with uber-marginal hands as well as premium hands.
- Call less and fold less than your initial impression would lead you to believe.
- Change gears, and change them often. The whole goal of HU poker is to stay on the offensive. To do that, you need to keep you opponent on his toes.
- If you show aggression from out of position, continue to show aggression on later streets until your opponent plays back at you.
- Understand the showdown value of ace high and other such hands
- Get experience
Day 9
Session 1 was a slow start. Before I ended up in another HU match, I was up a whopping 84.67. My HU match was agonizing. A big edge that I had on this guy was his inability to extract maximum value for his hands. The problem was that he kept making huge hands that even he could bet all the way. Often times, I had just enough hand to call down, or at least a draw that would force me to call the turn. I would have been in way better shape if I consistently ran third and fourth pairs into his second pairs, because he wouldn’t be betting those hands at the turn or river. Anywho, I ended up having to reload to CMA when my buy-in dipped below 12BBs. However, I finally caught a few starting hands and they held up and I clawed my way back. The last 50 hands of the match (~175 hands long), the dude simply ran out of tricks. I was reading him as well as I have read any opponent in a HU match. Unfortunately, I was only able to work the damage up to +$150 for the good guys before Empire decided to reset the servers. After what I took from him and what Party took from us, he left with $250 of his initial $500, so he decided he wasn’t coming back for more. Ah well. Session 1: +234.67. I had my first physical outburst of anger of the challenge in session 2 (my poor trash can just took a beat down), where I dropped around $2000 in a matter of 30 minutes before clawing back to -1184.50. Eventually, I’ll stop doing that whole trash can thing. Sessions 3 (+$1676) and 4 (+$371.5) pulled my day out of the ashes and brought me to a total of $1067.67.
Day 10
An unnamed source called me a pussy for not wanting to put in the hours necessary for the challenge. Out of spite, I logged a 1300 hand morning session. +$1044 off the bat. Unfortunately, the session still left me in a pissy mood for the rest of the day. These self-imposed numbers are starting to tick me off. I wish I hadn’t wrote that last sentence. I’m such a baby about these hours. I’ll stop whining now. Two short afternoon session went for +$216 and -$240. The late-night session went for +$1024, which put me up $2044 on the day.
Hands
Hand 1 – A mess. I limp UTG with 33. Clearly a very game-specific play. Co limps, SB completes, BB (basic pf LAG with no postflop skillz…actually the guy from my Day 9 HU match). All call, 4 to the flop. Flop is 8d 6c 5c. BB bets out, I raise, CO calls 2 cold. SB folds, BB calls. Turn is the 8s. Checked to me, I bet, both call. River is the Qd. No draws get home. Checked to me, I check, CO bets, BB calls. I fold.
Hand 2 – Smelling a bluff/thin value bet line with a hand that has no showdown value. I open raise from the CO with KJo. SB and BB call. BB is an OK player with tendencies toward over-aggression. Flop come Q93r. Checked to me, I bet, SB folds, BB calls. Turn is a 7, completing the rainbow. Check, I bet, call. River is another Q. BB bets out, I raise?
Day 9 – Goal: 2500 10/20 6m hands
Results – 1779 hands (HU bonus hands factored).
+$1067.67
Day 10 – Goal: 2500 10/20 6m hands
Results: 2660 hands
+$2044
Cumulative results
Goal: 150000 hands (secret modified hand-scoring system)
Days 1-10: 22521 hands (extrapolated: 135126 hands)
Goal: $60000
Days 1-10: $18570.84 ($8570.84 ahead of pace, extrapolated: $111425.04)
Note – I am taking today, Wednesday, September 9th, off. I need to use this day to finally get HULA up and running. Before I catch flack for taking a day off, please note…
- I will still be miserable today. I have to be in front of my computer to handle this, and it is more mudane than playing poker, so this is definitely NOT a recharge day.
- I tried to do HULA work during the challenge, and I just can’t do it. My brain is fried after hand 2500 every day.
- Initially, Day 60 was Thursday, October 28. With this day off factored in, Day 60 will be Friday, October 29. If I go down to the wire WRT the challenge, I will have to work through Day 1 of the Halloween weekend. If you don’t know about UW-Madison traditions, Halloween weekend in Madison is one of the biggest party weekends in America. Working on that day will suck…a whole lot.