Bluff.com

The Big Game poker episodes

2010-06-17T15:55:10+00:00

PokerStars has introduced an interesting format for poker television. Basically it is a cash game that pits 5 pros against what they call a "loose cannon". The Loose Cannon get's staked for $100,000 and anything that player wins over $100,000 he/she gets to keep. The first episode introduces the poker world to Ernest Wiggins, Ernest is at the table with poker legends Phil Laak, Daniel Negreau, Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and Tony G.

Michael Mizrachi wins Players Championship at WSOP

2010-06-02T15:15:13+00:00

In poker as in most things people love winners until they lose, then obviously they become degenerates. Michael Mizrachi knows this roller coaster better than most after rising in the poker world and dominating the World Poker Tour "The Grinder" basically fell off the poker planet. Recently his supposed degeneracy landed him on the pages of a local Florida paper related to back taxes just under $500,000.

Who does not like a good comeback story?

While everyone loves to kick a guy when he is down we also love a great comeback story. The Grinder's comeback story is the kind they make movies about and is the second time that the 50k event at the WSOP served as a redemption platform for poker players being kicked around a bit. Scotty Nguyen pulled the same feat a couple of years ago after one of the more famous "blow ups" in WSOP history, only to win the 50k event beating a stellar field the following year(it was the HORSE event when he won it).

Poker is not like most activities, with a little luck everyone thinks they could be a Star

Poker is like that, even more so than most activities, while someone from Boston might root against Lebron James it is a distant relationship. In poker if you have the money you can play against the biggest stars and while the distance between you and them might not seem like that much it often is for the majority of players. But that does not stop the comparisons in people's minds. "Idiot on heater" or "donkaments" are all sarcastic ways of hidings people's true feelings about being unlucky and possibly not good enough to survive in tournament poker. Just the fact that The Grinder was even in the field was a bit of a shocker to me, he had been so cold for so long it was hard to imagine that he had 50k or even the cache still for someone to put him in the event. Yet there he was at the end with a picture that likely be burnt in the minds of poker players for years to come. Sure everyone is happy when they win a lot of money but that was not what I saw as the tournament ended.

What I saw was relief.

The WSOP is no longer a Series

2010-06-01T17:20:00+00:00

When I first started playing poker, even before I knew I wanted to do it for a living (you could strongly argue that I do not now and you would not be far off) I dreamt to play in the WSOP, the main event. I tried to get into some preliminary events back in the day through satellites with no luck. I was a decent limit holdem player but that was a bout it. Against the Vegas elite I was no match, this was maybe 15 years ago.

The Main Event is still the Main Event

Rather than bore you with many of the stories that I have written that litter this website my dream came true. Even better than that I went deep in my first WSOP. That is the sort of thing that hooks you for life, getting that close after fading 3000 people was a big deal for me. I missed 2005 but went deep again in 2006 fading almost 9000 people. I came in 158th and 252nd respectively. I have cashed in a few big tourneys but nothing is like cashing in the Main Event. When you are deep you are in some shots on television (though often you are only near the guy they are actually filming) I would be lying if I said that was not a big deal.

The bright lights are dimming

Behind the glamor of the ESPN lights you are essentially trying to fade all odds to be one guy, the main event winner. Think about it, does anyone remember who won the 16th NLHE bracelet in even #34 last year? I sure don't. I am sure for that person it was a great day and for his or her family they will remember it forever. For a few reasons, for one it is very exciting but also that person will spend the rest of their life trying to win the "Big One" which we should rename the "Real One".

Preliminary events do not have the same appeal they once did

I am going to speak for everyone who has played poker for profit for the last 6 to 7 years. The WSOP has gotten old. Oh sure, it is still the premier event in poker and everyone looks forward to it but not quite the same way they used to. In 2004 everyone I knew thought they would be big stars in poker and a few made it. Literally 100's did not. Already I am seeing facebook posts and tweets talking about 3 outers and bad beats, I mean it is the first week and the buy-ins are cheap. Give it a week and you might think there are going to be mass suicides.

That is what poker is like. Even for the WSOP there is an optimism that can be countered by one bad beat and we all fall into the old stereotypes.

Don't worry, it's coming

So is there apathy yet towards the WSOP? Probably not yet but give it a day or so. By the time the main event comes around all those twenty somethings will be beer bonged and VIP'ed out (not to mention the amount of steak consumed). I used to follow the updates religiously and watch the final table for most of the prelim's, I doubt I will be doing much of that either this year. Actually it appears they are not even doing it (if that changes I will amend this article). That would certainly suggest that my take is pretty dead on though.

There just are not enough fans of poker. Sure people like to play poker and occasionally if nothing else is on we'll watch it but for my money there are only a couple of televised programs that I care about. The Main Event final table and High Stakes Poker (and last season was lame, they might even lose me). Poker is still popular and many people play it each day, certainly many more than used to play but the WSOP does not have the cache it had even a few years ago. It is too long, it is too much of a commitment time wise and every year it seems to drain the poker economy out of large sums of money that we just can not get back given today's climate. You certainly can not blame Harrah's either, they are just doing what casino's do milking this for every last drop of money and PR.

WSOP's audience is too small to be popular untelevised

In our forums there has not been one post on the WSOP and surprisingly few on 2+2. There just seems to be this great divide of people that play poker almost daily and the traveling pros/vegas resident playing the $1000 and $1500 events. The $50,000 eight game mix got 116 people. Which is about what the HORSE was getting, they added Holdem and PLO to try and grab more people, it did not work. This is not a doom and gloom message, this just is what it is. Poker is a game where the smartest people try to fade the juice from casino's and beat the bad players out of enough money to make the rent. So if someone like me is feeling a bit of apathy imagine the guy that has been losing for the last six years. That guy is not dying to get on a plane anymore. In 2004 he would have. That is the difference between poker today and poker during the boom.

Jason Calacanis takes on the poker world

2010-05-12T15:00:10+00:00

Jason Calacanis is a bombastic, opinionated and self serving player in the technology blogging community. He is most known for starting fights with just about everyone as a way to garner attention for himself and his projects. My wife describes me similar to the way I would describe Jason, even when he is 10% right he argues like he is 100% right. Oh by the way, his side is on point way more than 10%. Because everything in the world exists in degrees Jason is one of those characters that even when he is right the WAY he makes his point is often abrasive and offensive and does not help his side or take. Which is why I for one can not stop reading his opinions and seemingly everyone else is also fascinated with his points of view (within the geeky nerdy world of blogging and technology).

Jason puts Facebook on blast with a poker tie-in

Here is an example of Jason's work where he talks about the "The Big Game" (he was invited to play on the first show) but ties in a nice comparison on why Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are "overplaying their hand". Which I think will make the show infinitely more watchable.

"The Big Game" airs on June 14th on Fox

"The Big Game" will air on Fox on June 14th for the first time and hopefully the episodes will be made available online, it is a cash game similar to High Stakes Poker. That's right, Fox, not FoxSports like all of the other minor players in the industry. Why is it that PokerStars now has the NAPT on ESPN and now "The Big Game" on Fox while the WPT toils on FoxSports and Poker After Dark airs at 3am on NBC? Admittedly I do not know the time the show will air (@KevMath has heard midnight or 1am, which is lame ) but I just assume PokerStars is going to do it right because, well, they always seem to do it right and no one else does.

Speaking truth to Power

See what I did there, I embraced my inner Calacanis. While I am not sure if having Jason on "our side" when it comes to poker is a good thing I for one am glad he is with us. Jason is known for pointing out silly arcane rules when others would rather not get involved. There are a lot of people who love poker and could speak on our behalf but few do, so I'll take someone like Jason who is not scared to speak truth to power unlike many of the other people that enjoy poker and online poker daily.

My retirement from poker announcement (5 years later)

2010-04-01T15:12:03+00:00

(Circa March 2005) Recently I had the run of my life. While most people know me for all of the Aruba wins (not to mention all of the pieces I had for the ones I did not win) I had 250k cash game runs multiple times in 2004. I played most of the WPT events in 2004 and I am just coming off of a 150k run. All totaled up that makes me a poker millionaire online (a feat that was difficult to do at that time because the games just were not that big).

The Announcement

I know this seems odd that I would do this 5 years later but that did not stop Sammy Sosa or the many other athletes that go off in the distance with just a blurb on Sportscenter. So I thought it would be nice for people to know how things have gone for me since my decent run and subsequent hiatus. The fact that people right now think "who is this guy" is a testament to my resolve.

Between October and December of 2004 I played well over my head, playing and winning in the biggest game online at the time, the UB $25-$50 and eventually the $50-$100. I was an occasional player in the $5-$10 no limit games but mostly I played $15-$30 limit poker, even when I played $5-$10 no limit I was rarely as comfortable as I would later become. Also in those days when you won a second seat in the Aruba events on UltimateBet you would get $10,000, I won more than 10 and I had 10% of a win almost every single night. I also did not play them for almost 3 months when they changed the rules abruptly (eventually they changed them back).

What it took to beat the biggest games against the best players

I think the more important thing though is not how I won but what it took to win. The tournaments were what they were and I would put my record against anyone in online poker EVER in terms of ROI for tournaments. I hardly played them and I made a ton of final tables. When I made the final tables I typically closed the deal. While I did well in the Sunday's I never had a monstrous cash and I was in my head about that quite a bit. In fact, that is why I never really came back. To be really good at something it needs to consume you, that is why athletes have personal assistants because washing the car is mentally too much when you are engrossed in a subject. I was, between talking to friends or staying up to 6 am to just wind down from a big win, bad beat or bad play that kind of lifestyle takes it's toll on a man close to forty years old. What I remember most was the fog that I felt I lived in perpetually. I was either in my head about hands or sleep deprived. While many of my opponents were sleeping until 3 pm I had to be up at 8 am. So when it came time to take a break in March of 2005 I did so, it just happened that I never really come back.

How my life changed

While I still do not exercise all that much I try to stay somewhat active especially since I have more time than before. All my life I remember having trouble sleeping for one reason or another. As I child I was made to lay in bed while everyone around me was sleeping and I would just lay there for hours. When I grew up I just occupied that time and it made it even worse, luckily my lifestyle was mostly cooperative. Sleep is different for everyone but what I found for myself was that waking up at a specific time each day got my body in a routine. I have been doing that for about 2 years now and it seems to work, even when I travel abroad I can typically get back in the routine easily.

My family took center stage

Most importantly though is my relationship with my children and my beautiful wife. If you had to put a label on it I am an at home dad. I get my daughters off to the school bus each day, now that they are in 2nd and 4th grade that task is a lot easier. That was not always the case. Early on I resolved that if I could figure out a game with 52 cards and smart people playing it I could figure out patience and resolve and for the most part I think I did. If you know me you probably know that I am a relatively intense guy (certainly everyone with a close relationship knows this about me). With my children though I can say I have only lost my cool once or twice and even those times I can not remember. That is something I am very proud of because while most people look at the mathematical side of poker and try to translate it to life it's the psychological part of poker that has made the most impact on me.

Which brings me to my wife. My wife is the type of person people dream about when they dream of living with someone for the rest of their lives. She is literally the most attractive person I have ever met and remains so to this day. As our relationship has evolved I think my wife realizes that I am the type of person that just figures out a way to get things done. She has been there for all of the dramatic failures and all of the dramatic successes. Some relationships are soul draining for people pursuing their dreams, partially because they give in too quickly but partially because they do not make their spouse aware that it is part of who they are to seek out adventure. Once I made clear who I was my wife never wavered and supported me 100%. You do not typically hear stories like that but mine is one. Much like the relationships with my children it just did not make sense to put so much time and effort into a card game and not do so for my relationship with my wife. We have date nights weekly and date weekends where we exchange our children with my in-laws monthly (one weekend every other month). For families to work and be healthy it is my opinion that the parents need to make each other their number one priority, my wife taught me that (I think she learned that from her mom and dad). My wife and I have a lot of alone time where we can bond, it's easy to do that with no children, it is much harder to do that after children. Most people say that their wife and children are their priority I think I live that and that is something I am very happy about.

The things you learn in poker make you better at life

I am not saying the money was irrelevant but most of it has been swallowed up in various business interests. Most people who have any idea who I am likely get rakeback from me. I have never spent a nickel on advertising anywhere. The system I developed with my business partner focuses on personal relationships and because of that we get a ton of referrals. While we are not the biggest we are big enough to matter to virtually any cardroom in poker. Today that income dwarfs anything I could have done playing poker, I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time. While everyone else was trying to grind out becoming a poker celebrity that was never my dream so when I had the money I put it towards my business interests. At least one of which became Bluff.com.

I am writing this in response to Mike "Timex" Mcdonald (click that link for the blog) who is retiring from poker at the tender age of 20. While he says he will still play (I of course still do as well) I would encourage him to see how it worked out for me. Said simply if you put the effort into the other parts of your life that are more important that you did to become good at poker then the result becomes inevitable. Poker is all consuming when you are trying to make as much money as possible in a short period of time. The "Peter Principle" concept often kills poker players that are trying to rise to their level of incompetence, so it's rare for someone to step off the escalator. I am one example of someone who did it and does not regret it one bit.

Daniel Negreanu will get crushed in the PokerStars 100-200 NLHE

2010-03-24T18:41:40+00:00

Recently Daniel Negreanu started playing regularly in the 100-200 game on PokerStars. Most people think he is a big underdog. I made this video blog to highlight HOW big of an underdog and why fundamentally he has a long way to go before he will be a favorite in that particular game.

The video is probably best viewed in full screen to clearly see the actions.

Stox quits stoxpoker, now what?

2010-03-18T15:35:50+00:00

I know that 2+2 is viewed as "the man" in the poker world. Mostly in the context of "the man" is trying to keep me down. You can go over a million ways that the site is annoying and even repressive but nine out of ten times they get it right. It certainly did not go unnoticed by me that all of the other places that do business with both stoxpoker/cardrunners had virtually no mention of the scandal. It always amazes me that businesses can get away with stuff like that and still take the money of a trusting poker public.

Which is exactly why 2+2 should be applauded for not letting money cloud their judgement.

What becomes of Cardrunners.com

(For the purpose of this article I am going to assume that you know that Cardrunners likely owns Stoxpoker) I have told the story many times that preceding Taylor Caby starting Cardrunners.com he was involved in a project very similar with me and a good combination of well known live pros and online stars at that time. When that deal fell apart Taylor started Cardrunners. I did not like his chances. Poker players want to play poker and I thought that would ultimately be the downfall of that project. I was wrong about that. More importantly though I thought Taylor was too nice of a guy and I still do. Poker is full of scumbags and degenerates, it should not surprise anyone that a poker business might encounter people like that. What started off with Taylor and three friends became the hottest thing in poker training. Along the way they got a little lucky but they put themselves in the position to get lucky.

The team at Cardrunners is populated with younger people that have are mostly "yes men". Even the hiring of Lee Jones seemed to fit the pattern of bringing in someone that while having high integrity, was not necessarily coming in to kick the ass of the people that get out of line.

The allegation that Taylor sat in a game for a friend is without context and I suspect anyone holding Cardrunners accountable for that likely was not going to be a long term customer anyway. The bigger problem in my opinion for those guys is that they have been involved in three scandals in a very short time frame. That's the real news here.

Somebody needs their ass kicked

I do not mean literally but everyone should be getting a phone call today that goes something like this:

"We are actively renegotiating everyone's deal right now, no matter what you paid to be part of this company". "If you don't like it you can leave but we are instituting a "non-tolerance" policy for everyone that works under the Cardrunners/StoxPoker umbrella". "In addition to that I am going to actively look for someone that is willing to come in and provide a measure of discipline to our company". "It is clear from many of the actions of our instructors that there is a serious lack of respect for me and my authority, that will change or your contract will be terminated without regard for who you are in the organization".

It would surprise me greatly if 2+2 does not reinstate Cardrunners soon (if not today). The crux of the problem was stoxtrader. I also suspect that Full Tilt Poker is willing to let this one slip by if only because there was some relative distance between Cardrunners and Stoxpoker.

Full transparency is required

I have not talked to anyone at Cardrunners since the scandal, I probably talk to Taylor the most, then Andrew and occasionally to Ezra. While I hope that they do not see what I am saying as a personal attack on our friendship it's not going to stop me from saying what should be said. I remember when I first started giving players rakeback. That looks very differently than it does today. I suspect that if similar changes are not made in the training environment many of these sites will not exist. In the end though customers are buying content and Cardrunners is still one of the best sites on the market in not only the content but the display and use of that content. The fact that you can get your subscription paid for by Full Tilt Poker is a big bonus for most users. I know I get mine paid for most months and I have not looked at a Cardrunners video in a long while.

I think if everything gets set back to normal but big changes are not made in terms of institutional control, we will see more controversy's and more scandals. In addition to that all of the other training sites should be cleaning house as well. Many of them led the charge against Stoxtrader so do not be surprised if there are some ramifications if their house is not in order.

Training sites need to be held to the highest standard because of what they are selling and how they are selling it. If you are buying a subscription you need to know that what you are buying is true. For better or worse the consumer is buying a chance to eventually be as good as the people that are training them. Online poker training sites are selling fundamental play and hard work as a formula to success. For any instructor to stray from that formula the consequence should be swift and immediate. No one is saying that being a poker coach is easy, between down swings and the fact that many of your opponents are likely using shady practices to gain an edge on you poker training can be dicey. You also need to win to continue selling your "poker genius status", so we get that it's tough. In the end though that is what you are signing up for and doing so means that you are willing to play the game at a disadvantage.

Stoxtrader Nick Grudzien cheating scandal updates

2010-03-16T17:37:45+00:00

Update: We have developed a script (it is at the bottom of this post) that allows uses to analyze Holdem Manager Data with set criteria. We should be able to modify it as needed.

Update: Stoxpoker released this statement on 2+2

"In the last few days various allegations have been made that I have played on multiple accounts on FTP and Stars and that by doing so I have violated the terms and conditions of the sites and also cheated in ways including colluding. The relevant facts are:

(1) At no point have I ever colluded. This is a categorical denial without exceptions.

(2) I played on a single account on FTP and a single account on PokerStars for the previous four year period through January 2010. The only exception to this was when I made instructional videos.

(3) In January 2010 I created one new account on FTP and one new account on Stars. I played on these accounts for roughly one month and have not used them since. During that time these were the only accounts on which I played at these sites. I have not played poker since March 7th, and will not play again until I receive communication from a pokersite that I am able to do so.

Since I have admitted to breaking the TOS of stars and ftp I don't plan on playing any poker until I receive communication from the pokersites that it is ok to do so, and at that time I can share the details of any information I recieve from them. FTP and pokerstars are aware of the allegations and I have encouraged them to do a full and thorough investigation to confirm that what I say is completely accurate. I would like to have the opportunity to continue to be a contributing member of both stoxpoker and 2+2, I ask for your patience while these matters are sorted out over the next few days."

Mason Malmuth within minutes of the post temporarily suspended their relationship with both Stoxpoker and Cardrunners. It's pretty clear at this point that some of the accounts in question were colluding (though after many emails and an investigation the online poker sites have not seen it this way). I would expect that more and better information will be coming out soon but it should be clear to almost everyone that if someone stood to lose their business and bring down all of their friends that the simplest solution would be to get everything out in the open as it is really the only option at this point.

We developed this script as a means of addressing the colluding issues involved. While there is a lot of data it is the analysis of that data that was becoming difficult. We can add additional parameters as needed. On a personal note I would like to say that I hope Nick did not collude and I hope this analysis exonerates him. To tarnish the reputation of an innocent person is not something I want to be party to. That said though, this should help both sides to see things a bit clearer.

(text from original post)

Let's be honest if you are playing High Stakes right now you are being cheated. If people are not colluding against you they are buying hand histories or multi-accounting. We are talking about big money so the incentive for people to gain an edge is huge. Which brings us to the current allegations involving Nick Grudzien (stoxtrader on stoxpoker.com). Nick wrote one of the defining books for limit hold em (published by 2+2 not so ironically), while it is apparently up for debate whether Nick could still beat those games or not now that book and stoxpoker.com has cemented him as a key figure in poker training.

The accusations and a few facts

Yesterday a post showed up on 2+2, apparently by a banned user, making various allegations regarding shady activity and Nick. That post was deleted because they have a policy to delete content from banned users. Then David Peat (Viffer online, took up the cause, he will be appearing on Donkdown Radio tomorrow night to discuss) because he thought the allegations were serious enough to warrant inspection by the high stakes online community. The first of which is that Nick was involved in collusion (which Nick flatly denies) and the other involves him multi-accounting. He seems to admit that he made more than two accounts but he says that he had a personal reason for doing so and described it as "serious". Viffer was later put on a 3 day ban for re-posting the original contraband post twice. The two biggest allegations as I recall from memory was that Stoxpoker.com (and therefore Cardrunners.com) would create accounts specifically to be paid for free training from Full Tilt Poker (stox and cardrunners have a site called trulyfreepokertraining.com that offers free training in exchange for time at the FTP tables), this allegation is obviously hard to prove and stoxpoker denies it. The other allegation was that Cardrunners owner Taylor Caby sat in a game where a friend was losing to mix up the play and gain an edge on an unsuspecting opponent. Both are likely the reasons the posts were removed because they are hard to prove and appear to be smears in an attempt to gain shock and awe from the poker community.

Even "kind of" cheating is cheating

Still, at the base of these allegations is yet another multi-accounting problem within the stoxpoker and cardrunners family. Both of which benefit greatly from their sponsorship from Full Tilt Poker. You might also recall that Brian Hastings who beat Isildur1 for 4.2 million dollars in one day, was reprimanded from FTP for apparently using a shared database that Brian Townsend had collected.

So the scoreboard looks like this:

Stoxtrader admits to multi-accounting (which violate the terms and conditions of Full Tilt Poker)

Brian Townsend multi-accounted and used a shared database (two violations)

Brian Hastings used a shared database.

Representing others holds you to a higher standard

All of these allegations are cheating to gain an edge. While we all wish it did not happen daily sadly it does and often. The real difference here though is the edge is being gained by representatives of Full Tilt Poker and the training sites the represent. Which is about the dumbest thing someone can do since the money derived from these companies often can supercede the money they can make at poker. So any cheating allegation jeopardizes that money. Also creating training material puts a big bullseye on your ass from players because it makes potential opponents better but also from their competition who do not typically have online poker sponsorships that pay for their users memberships. So cheating of any sort is flat out stupid because many people have a big incentive to bust you.

I talk to Taylor Caby once or twice a week and I am friendly with Brian Hastings. So I say this to them as a friend, if you need to be involved with marginal bullshit get out of the training business or at the very least drop your deal with Full Tilt Poker. This is no longer 2005 when a lot of this stuff was being figured out, fact is that your opponents are in a better position than you to gain an edge in the games you play because there are few repercussions that will come back on them if they multi account or share databases. Every time something like this comes up it eats at the core of what little integrity poker has left.

#
                                                                        # (c) Bluff.com / Bluffware, LLC 2010 all rights reserved
                                                                        #
                                                                        # "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" -- John 8:32
                                                                        #
                                                                        # dependencies:
                                                                        #   Ruby (developed on Windows version) http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/downloads/
                                                                        #   PostgresPR "gem install postgres-pr" -- http://raa.ruby-lang.org/project/postgres-pr/
                                                                        
                                                                        require 'postgres-pr/connection'
                                                                        
                                                                        # CHANGE THESE TO SUIT
                                                                        
                                                                        DB_NAME = 'HoldemManager'
                                                                        USER = 'postgres'
                                                                        PLAYER_B = '40_putts'
                                                                        PLAYER_A = 'kinetica'
                                                                        
                                                                        c = PostgresPR::Connection.new(DB_NAME, USER)
                                                                        playera_id = c.query('SELECT player_id from players where playername = \'' + PLAYER_A + '\'').rows[0][0]
                                                                        playerb_id = c.query('SELECT player_id from players where playername = \'' + PLAYER_B + '\'').rows[0][0]
                                                                        
                                                                        puts PLAYER_A + " has id: " + playera_id
                                                                        puts PLAYER_B + " has id: " + playerb_id
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        # get all hands which Player A and Player B both played in
                                                                        mutual_hands = c.query("SELECT pha.pokerhand_id, pha.preflopaction_id, pha.didvpip, pha.didpfr, phb.preflopaction_id, phb.didvpip, phb.didpfr FROM playerhandscashkeycolumns pha, playerhandscashkeycolumns phb WHERE pha.player_id = #{playera_id} AND phb.player_id = #{playerb_id} AND pha.pokerhand_id = phb.pokerhand_id").rows
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        # indexes to returned row array
                                                                        PREFLOPACTION_FACING_A = 1
                                                                        PREFLOPACTION_FACING_B = 4
                                                                        PLAYER_A_PFR = 3
                                                                        PLAYER_B_PFR = 6
                                                                        PLAYER_B_VPIP = 5
                                                                        
                                                                        # see http://forums.holdemmanager.com/custom-reports/4168-cygnus-project-playerhandscashkeycolumns-table.html
                                                                        UNRAISED_POT = '0'
                                                                        ONE_RAISER = '3'
                                                                        RAISER_PLUS_CALLERS = '4'
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        analyzed_hands = 0
                                                                        
                                                                        playerb_folds = 0
                                                                        playerb_calls = 0
                                                                        playerb_reraises = 0
                                                                        
                                                                        
                                                                        mutual_hand_ids = []
                                                                        
                                                                        mutual_hands.each do |h|
                                                                          mutual_hand_ids << h[0]
                                                                          if ((h[PREFLOPACTION_FACING_A] == UNRAISED_POT) and
                                                                              (h[PLAYER_A_PFR] == 't') and
                                                                              ((h[PREFLOPACTION_FACING_B] == ONE_RAISER) or (h[PREFLOPACTION_FACING_B] == RAISER_PLUS_CALLERS))) then
                                                                            analyzed_hands += 1
                                                                        
                                                                            if (h[PLAYER_B_PFR] == 't') then
                                                                              playerb_reraises += 1
                                                                            elsif (h[PLAYER_B_VPIP] == 't')
                                                                              playerb_calls += 1
                                                                            else
                                                                              playerb_folds += 1
                                                                            end
                                                                        
                                                                          end
                                                                        end
                                                                        
                                                                        fold_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_folds.to_f / analyzed_hands.to_f * 100)
                                                                        call_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_calls.to_f / analyzed_hands.to_f * 100)
                                                                        raise_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_reraises.to_f / analyzed_hands.to_f * 100)
                                                                        
                                                                        puts "#{PLAYER_B} played #{mutual_hands.length} hands with #{PLAYER_A}"
                                                                        puts "In #{analyzed_hands} of these hands, #{PLAYER_A} opened an unraised pot with a raise which was folded or called around to #{PLAYER_B}"
                                                                        puts "#{PLAYER_B} acted accordingly:"
                                                                        puts "  Folded: #{playerb_folds} times (#{fold_pct}%)"
                                                                        puts "  Called: #{playerb_calls} times (#{call_pct}%)"
                                                                        puts "  Raised: #{playerb_reraises} times (#{raise_pct}%)"
                                                                        
                                                                        # compare with typical results (everyone else)
                                                                        other_hands = c.query("SELECT pokerhand_id, preflopaction_id, didvpip, didpfr FROM playerhandscashkeycolumns WHERE player_id = #{playerb_id} AND (preflopaction_id = #{ONE_RAISER} or preflopaction_id = #{RAISER_PLUS_CALLERS})").rows
                                                                        
                                                                        playerb_typical_calls = 0
                                                                        playerb_typical_reraises = 0
                                                                        playerb_typical_folds = 0
                                                                        
                                                                        # filtered hands is scrubbed of the mutual hands identified earlier
                                                                        filtered_hands = other_hands.select { |r| !mutual_hand_ids.include?(r[0]) }
                                                                        filtered_hands.each do |h|
                                                                          if (h[3] == 't') then
                                                                            playerb_typical_reraises += 1
                                                                          elsif (h[2] == 't')
                                                                            playerb_typical_calls += 1
                                                                          else
                                                                            playerb_typical_folds += 1
                                                                          end
                                                                        end
                                                                        
                                                                        fold_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_typical_folds.to_f / filtered_hands.length.to_f * 100)
                                                                        call_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_typical_calls.to_f / filtered_hands.length.to_f * 100)
                                                                        raise_pct = format("%.2f", playerb_typical_reraises.to_f / filtered_hands.length.to_f * 100)
                                                                        
                                                                        puts "#{PLAYER_B} played #{filtered_hands.length} hands without #{PLAYER_A}"
                                                                        puts "Some player opened for a raise which was folded or called around to #{PLAYER_B}"
                                                                        puts "#{PLAYER_B}'s typical actions are:"
                                                                        puts "  Folded: #{playerb_typical_folds} times (#{fold_pct}%)"
                                                                        puts "  Called: #{playerb_typical_calls} times (#{call_pct}%)"
                                                                        puts "  Raised: #{playerb_typical_reraises} times (#{raise_pct}%)"

Where's your POKER head at?

2010-03-10T15:45:48+00:00

Obviously you can not win every day but it certainly seems like you should. After all you put in a ton of work and you study your game but ultimately you are still only going to win a small percentage over 50% no matter what. So how do you keep your head straight?

Four things to keep your emotions in check

Keeping control over your emotions is obviously a very important part of what we do as poker players. One thing I will typically do is re-evaluate as I am playing (admittedly hard to do since you are not particularly objective). Obviously Bluffware makes this easy by simply looking at the hands you are playing as they are coming into the software in real time, soon there will be graphs that will make this even easier. Here are 4 things you can do to keep your emotions in check.

1. Take a short break. In the heat of the battle it feels as if you are trapped in front of your computer and it is difficult to leave. Here is my advice, if your instincts are telling you to walk away do not wait for your blinds, just leave.

2. Are the game conditions REALLY that optimal. Let's be honest, if a guy snaps your Aces off with a set of deuces it blows but does that really mean that he/she is the spot you are looking for? I would contend that most games on a scale of one to ten, ten being the most fishy, we will often stay in games that are about a three or five when those games can be found around the clock. So be aware to the fact that the spot that you are in might not be optimal and since that spot is available all the time just go do something else.

3. I have specific times I will not typically play. I do not play once my kids are at home because they can cause ITS (instant tilt syndrome). I also do not play before I go to bed, those nasty two outer nightmares just suck. I also tend to play sessions less than two hours long because I am prone to headaches with anything longer. All of these change given optimal conditions but optimal conditions are not typically found when you are stuck 4 buy-ins.

4. Play when you feel confident. While nothing can kill a good day like a few bad beats it is also easier to shrug off losses when you are mentally feeling well. After 100,000's of hands your poker game should become instinctive, most of the situations you will face you will draw on experience. So to have clarity of thought is really important and I think if you were to journal how you felt before you sit down you would find that you do best when you are in a better mood. That is not an accident. While most people would agree with what I am saying few do this (including myself, so I am going to re-start this as part of my blog).

Do you need a psychologist?

I have played poker for a living and trust me when I say this to you most of those people are miserable from day to day. To be truly good at poker requires a level of introspection that will make you distant from your real life. For most of us poker might not even make the top 5 of the things most important to us, so why would you ever play in sub-optimal conditions? Do not say because it is fun because if losing is fun to you then you might need a psychology forum.

Life is too short to spend doing things that make you miserable

Said simply if at the moment you sit down you are not frothing at the mouth ready to play your best game and find the best games to make the most money then you are doing it wrong. While pot odds and situational play are very important part of your journey those parts because instinctive over time. The journey that you will be on for the rest of your poker life is the one with your head and emotions. It also happens to be the part of poker that will most help you with the rest of your life as well.

Annie Duke wins the 2010 NBC Heads Up Championship

2010-03-08T14:51:58+00:00

There are a couple of things that I think need to be said first given that the title pretty much gives away the purpose of this article. Annie Duke is a great poker player if you define great as being much better than the average poker player. Many people have issues with her being regarded as poker royalty when in fact she does not play as often as many other female players but if you think Annie Duke is a bad poker player you are dead wrong. I think people confuse a few issues when talking about Annie, they mix their personal feelings or what they believe her reputation to be into a distorted reality. As much as people hate to admit it Annie Duke is the best female poker player at the moment and this win cements that. Make no mistake about this, Annie Duke winning this event is phenomenal for poker, it just also happens to be great for Annie Duke (which a lot of people are uncomfortable with).

Tournament Poker requires you to get lucky occasionally

I am not an Annie Duke apologist but people complaining about one or two beats she put on people along the way either do not understand the nature of tournament poker or just want to hate for no reason. To beat the people that she beat along the way was an amazing feat. In fact, it was not that long ago that Erik Seidel was regarded as one of the best No Limit Holdem tournament players in the world. What a lot of people do not know is that Erik was Annie's financial backer through a good portion of her poker career and I am sure it will be a big part of the broadcast how good of friends they are. Actually to say they are good friends really does not explain it properly, when other people questioned Annie's talents Erik never did and always believed in what she could become. I am certain that was not lost on Annie as she claimed the trophy.

Casual fans vs Hardcore fans

To the casual poker player one of the world's best known poker players just won one of it's premier events. To the die hards Annie won a second title that was invite only. The heads up tournament yearly comes under scrutiny for the invite process that rewards players on cache rather than accomplishment. Critics will say that both of the people at the final table probably would not have made it given their recent results. Ultimately though you can like or dislike Annie, that is your choice, she is tireless in promoting herself as a brand. That is a good thing for poker. She is also very tapped into Hollywood and that should get her even more coverage on the late night shows and the various reality television programs that she pops up on. Which is also good for poker.

Annie Duke is in fact the Best Female Poker Player

When it is all said and done more than half of the population of the world is under represented at the poker tables. So someone needs to carry the crown of "Best Female Poker Player", if you think someone else can carry that better than Annie Duke you just have not been paying attention.