Friday, July 13, 2007

Long Time No Post

I guess it's been close to a month now since I posted last. There's been a lot going on, including some poker but I've been too busy to post.

I took a vacation to Wyoming with my wife and 8 month old son to visit her folks and attend a family reunion in South Dakota. I had a great time until the housekeeper called while we were in Yellowstone Park. In her broken english she explained that our house had been broken into on the one day when we did not have the alarm set. They took our stereo, 32" LCD TV, our computer monitors, some cash and jewelry. They also took the garage door opener and both sets of my BMW keys, but left the car. I guess if they were smart, they wouldn't be criminals.

While on vacation I was able to visit the imfamous Deadwood, South Dakota from the HBO series fame. It's claim to fame is that Wild Bill Hickock was killed there while holding Aces & Eights. I even got to play a little poker while I was there. Just a little 3-6 limit. The first hand I sat in had 9 callers so as you can see, it was loose. I lost $50 since I did not catch enough hands to call bets all the way to the river.

One of the books I was reading during my trip was "Read'em and Reap" by Joe Narvarro. It's a new book on tells and it was very enlightening. I was able to implement some of the tips while observing the other players while I was not involved in the hand. My weakness is that when I am in a hand, I don't stop and think about watching for these tells. I try to put my opponent on a hand, but sometimes I don't observe my surroundings and take in the big picture. I made one bad read where I had seen the player in the 1 seat pick up both his cards in one hand and move them forward a little when he had a good hand. I had a weak Ace preflop and an Ace hit on the flop. I was in early position so I checked to see what would happen. This player made the same move with his cards when he bet and I folded. I asked him how big his kicker was and he said he did not have an Ace. I guess I believe him.

I was a little frustrated because reading most of these players was really easy, but you still had to have cards because even if you knew they were weak, they would still call you to the end. I saw one player make a raise and he looked really confident. He leaned forward and was anxiously watching the flop. I immediately put him on Aces or Kings. The flop came with an Ace and he quickly leanded back from the table and made a sour face. Obviously the Ace did not help him. Now if I am in the hand (I folded preflop and was just observing), I would probably bet until he folded. That's what the guy with the weak Ace did. Even a King hit on the river and the man with Pocket Queens held on to the end. So even if you made a good read and read his hand exactly, it would be tough to fold these donkeys.

The real strategy would be if you called out his hand to him and freaked him out a little. Would he fold then, or would he be smart enough to figure out that you were trying to scare him out of calling?

I am also reading the new Full Tilt Tournament Strategy Guide by Michael Craig. So far I am really impressed. I plan on analyzing this book a little more in future posts.

I replaced my stolen monitor with a new 20" wide screen monitor so now I can fit 4 tables on one screen easily. Too bad I am never left alone long enough to really utilize it with a baby and all.

The Main Event of the World Series is in Day 4 and it looks like it will be pretty tough for a big name pro to make it to the final table this year. Gus Hansen has the best chance as he's in the top ten with about 400 left. I am ordering the Pay Per View again this year and I am hoping to have a TV to watch it on. I even invited some of my poker buddies to watch it with me, but I think I may be too much of a degenerate. Nobody wants to watch without the hole cards except for me.

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