Bodog Ari-risk taking-Tournys AND Me

[ProPokerPlayer]

Ive hated bodog ari since the 1st time i heard of him.for 1 thing he knocked me out of a tourny when he put me all-in with nothing and sucked out, then theres that name. geezzzz its enough to make me puke. plus he's rich and to top it off he's 1 lucky s.o.b.!! he's also a damn good poker player. im talking jonny bax, sheets, good.DAMN good.everything im not so no wonder i never liked him...TILL NOW!
I happened upon a link to his poker blog and i found out he's just a regular guy..in fact he's a 22 yr old kid, but he's pretty smart.especially about poker...
See im on another bad run, last 9 tournys ive hit the money twice and im down about well ....ALOT! and of course as usual with my personality i get depressed and and begin to wonder if its time to give it up.i do this alot so its not a big thing..lol
well anyway ari is talking on his blog about being on a bad run and he goes to pokerdb and looks at some other players stats and sees what ive often figured but never took the time to ck on, EVERYBODY has bad runs....he expected to find guys with 6-9 straight final tables. he couldnt find but a handful with 2!!! he saw himself as having a streak of 35 straight tournys without a final table!! damn near as many as ive done...lol this is a piece i took off his blog, sheds some light on this ...

" The father of the "blogosphere" Glenn Reynolds aka Instapundit.com , has a great book out, that I've already mentioned, "An Army of David's". (I really hope this isn't illegal.) Reynolds writes about the failure of governmental space policy, and the resulting private initiatives on Pg. 201 as follows;
"By definition, if twenty-seven teams go for the prize, at least 26 will fail. And that's okay. Government programs, on the other hand, are afraid of failure. So they are either too conservative, playing it safe so as to avoid being blamed for failure, or too drawn out, dragging on so long that, by the time it's clear they're not going anywhere, everyone responsible has died or retired. (In government, or big corporations, it's okay not to succeed, so long as you aren't seen to fail.)"

Poker, like any capitalistic activity, rewards risk taking. Much like the governmental space programs in Reynolds example, the fear of failure, will lead to the demise of even the most brilliant mind at the poker table.

While it may be true that in large organizations the ability to stear clear of "failure" makes up for any lack of success, in poker that is false. Self honesty is a must in this aspect. (In fact self-honesty is probably the most important characteristic a poker player can have.) You have to be able to honestly evaluate your play based on your decision making, and improve accordingly. Looking over a tournament, and saying "well damn, my 88 lost to ak in a race, so i finished 7, i made money and played well, nothing i can do about it. GG" will do nothing to improve your game.

Although you can't win every tournament, you have to play them all to win. Therefore, success in a poker tournament means winning it. Failure obviously means not winning it. Combine this with the last paragraph, and it is easy to see why you shouldn't be happy in the above case with your "failure." Rather, you should look back at the hand when there were 14 people left in the tournament that caused you to get to the spot, where your 88 was all in pre-flop to ak."

I have played more tournaments this year than just about anyone on the planet, yet I continue to see mistakes in my game. This is no shock, we are all humans, and make errors, the key is to evaluate those errors and learn from them. Being content with "not failing", moderate success, or getting deep, is a recipe for disaster."

Well you see the final line is what got me hooked.being content with "not failing"....thats when i play the worst, when i try not to fail...when i'm worried someone will see that its my 35th straight finish out of the money so i try to creep in just to break the streak.....
As a tourny player you can have only 1 goal....1ST PLACE. any other spot in the tourny from 2nd to last is simply the end result of not making 1st...when i make decisions in a game based on any other reason but 'will this get me to 1st" im making it for the wrong reason and im probably making the wrong decision....
Some of you may remember ive got a 'coach', 'mentor' watever that writes me , not as often anymore but we still keep in touch. well this is the mindset he's been trying to instill in me since day 1..... i really liked the guy and its kinda amazing that all the time he's tried to get this outlook in my head it took someone i hated ( bodog ari ) to do it...well at least put the thought there.it remains to be seen if ill actually be able to play that way or if ill revert back to my "scared' style of usual...but if i do i'll only have myself to blame. ive now been influenced by 4 of the biggest names in internet poker, closely influenced...Matt, bodog ari and my coach and another guy who i wont name cus i still hate him.lol But i have learned alot from all 4 of em and from this day forward i plan to put it to good use.......Winning Tournaments!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[Matt24]

I'm sure you already looked this up, but JohnnyBax has a 48 streak of non cashes. I just blew a big stack in the Stars second chance and in the Full Tilt 200k. Poker is fun.

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

yea big fun.....add 2 more today so far. 1st 1 i never got a decent hand in so no big deal, it happens.next 1 a 2000k at ipoker. AK vs 66. i flop 2pr 6 on the turn.....

o wait its 3.....i forgot i absolutely embarrased myself in the bluff poker tour event today, lasted 3 hands
.

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

4 NOW, playing to win baby!!! got 6800 in the 20k at party....im in the blinds.600/400 i think.....they close my table im moved DIRECTLY INTO THE BB AT ANOTHER TABLE !!!! 2000 CHIPS IN 4 FRICKIN HANDS!!!!!.THEN im in the sb at the new table, 1 player has 22,000, nobody else has even 10,000..he raises 4x the BB.....CLEAR STEAL RIGHT???? bully move right ??????? i got KQs..........all-in right ???????????? HELL FRICKIN NO!!!!!!!!!!! THE S.O.B. HAS PCKT A'S !!!!!!!!!

KISS MY SORRY FUCKIN ASS ......DID I MENTION I HATE POKER???????????????

 

[peskypup]

mmm

I would fold KQs against a big raise - or at best call it - from a big stack at a new table. You have no way of evaluating or getting a read on that player, as far as I can see. He might be the tightest player in the world who has had big pairs 4 times and cleaned up against a bunch of fish giving loose calls. There's no reason for you to be first to pick a fight with him, let the small stacks do that under pressure from the blinds.

Do you think these bigger tourneys offer better prospects than Sit'n'Gos? So far I have struggled in the bigger events, where you get moved around a lot and can't get much of a read on opponents. Whereas in the 10 or 20 player SnG's I usually have very much the better of it when I get near the money, and 80-90% of the time when I get knocked out its been a good river or 4th street or both for the other guy. Plus the SnGs take about an hour to win, which is about as long as I want to play one game for.

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

SNG's vs MTT....i know most guys prefer the sng's but here's the deal with me. you need to play say a string of 5 to get a result, or a session i guess is the word......if you end up say a 1st and 2 3rd's you are up for your session.....my problem comes from my defeatist personality again.i lose the 1st 3 im so tilted and depressed im not going to cash in the next 2 either..if i win the 1st one im fine and can go on a play a few more but let me get back to back losses just once and im done for the day.during the week only playing 1 or 2 mtt's a day i dont have this problem.....on weekends when i play 3-6 mtt's it does get to be a problem...as last nights posts show......let me go a whole weekend without a cash and noone wants to be within miles of me! im a raving lunatic...and im a lot better about it than i used to be.....used to be i lose 3 -4 in a row somethings getting broken, smashed, etc.......now i just get depressed but i havent broke anything in a LONG TIME.....LOL im getting better!!

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

here we have a perfect example.....what more can a guy do to win ????? let me set this up.....this is almost 1 hr into the tourny, you notice i am very low on chips. this is because i ahve not played even 1 HAND.ZIP, ZERO. I have not gotten 1 hand that i could even call a bet with......i get AA with several limpers already in....I raise it to 500, the blinds fold but both limpers call.....1 idiot has suited connectors, the other moron has A5os, if you call a 2.5 x BB raise with these 2 hands in anything other than a family pot you are a DONKEY....IF EITHER OF THESE 2 GUYS ARE READING THIS YOU ARE AN IDIOT.....anyway i then proceed to flop a set and bet every other chip in my hand.....iidiot #1 calls 1600 chips with an OESD and a nowhere the nut flush draw, think about it..if he hits the straight or the flush and either 1 of us is on a flush draw, he;s dead.and thats IF he hits either 1.....at this point in the hand just against me and not factoring in the other players cards he is a 60-40 dog....however with 1 player already all-in in front of him and another still yet to act i dont see how in his mind he could give himself even that much credit , giving as i said making either hand MAY STILL not give him the nuts. yes he's got a lot of chips and you have to gamble to win these things but IMHO against 2 players he's going to lose this hand somewhere closer to 75% of the time...clearly a dumb call. and moron #2??????? Well if this is not his 1st night ever playing poker then im a monkeys uncle, he drawing so dead its not even worth talking about.....and to further show both their idiocies, after the turns a blank he goes all-in and the other guy calls with a lil more than a 25% chance of making his hand.......
NOW you want to see why i have virtually no furniture left in my house because ive broken it all???? you want to see why NOBODY DARES be here when im playing poker???? you want to see why i dont have a friend in the world and battle depression everyday of my life ???????? would you like to see why i end virtually all my posts now with the words "i hate poker".read on brothers and enjoy your night........mines over!!!!!!



***** Hand History for Game 4220549363 *****
0/0 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 23277967) - Mon May 08 21:54:09 EDT 2006
Table Regular(687269) Table 60 (Real Money) -- Seat 7 is the button
Total number of players : 10
Seat 1: jameholio (4800)
Seat 2: chasejadon (4568)
Seat 3: keith680 (6477)
Seat 4: Theoderix (4768)
Seat 5: cowfacekid (1490)
Seat 6: jason_p_tjf (7974)
Seat 7: allynlong (2140)
Seat 8: C__BEAR (4680)
Seat 9: Spanish_King (1975)
Seat 10: casperantt (6973)
C__BEAR posts small blind (100)
Spanish_King posts big blind (200)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to allynlong [ Ah, Ad ]
casperantt folds.
jameholio calls (200)
chasejadon calls (200)
keith680 folds.
Theoderix calls (200)
cowfacekid folds.
jason_p_tjf folds.
allynlong raises (500) to 500
C__BEAR folds.
Spanish_King folds.
jameholio calls (300)
chasejadon calls (300)
Theoderix folds.
** Dealing Flop ** : [ Td, As, 9s ]
jameholio bets (500)
chasejadon raises (1000) to 1000
allynlong raises (1640) to 1640
allynlong is all-In.
jameholio calls (1140)
chasejadon calls (640)
Creating Main Pot with $6920 with allynlong
** Dealing Turn ** : [ 2h ]
jameholio checks.
chasejadon bets (2428)
chasejadon is all-In.
jameholio calls (2428)
** Dealing River ** : [ Jc ]
Creating Side Pot 1 with $4856 with chasejadon
** Summary **
Main Pot: 6920 | Side Pot 1: 4856 |
Board: [ Td As 9s 2h Jc ]

jameholio balance 12008, bet 4568, collected 11776, net +7208 [ 8c 7s ] [ a straight, seven to jack -- Jc,Td,9s,8c,7s ]
chasejadon balance 0, lost 4568 [ Ac 5d ] [ a pair of aces -- Ac,As,Jc,Td,9s ]
keith680 balance 6477, didn't bet (folded)
Theoderix balance 4568, lost 200 (folded)
cowfacekid balance 1490, didn't bet (folded)
jason_p_tjf balance 7974, didn't bet (folded)
allynlong balance 0, lost 2140 [ Ah Ad ] [ three of a kind, aces -- Ah,Ad,As,Jc,Td ]
C__BEAR balance 4580, lost 100 (folded)
Spanish_King balance 1775, lost 200 (folded)
casperantt balance 6973, didn't bet (folded)


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[QuickLearner]

Pokerstove is your friend:

On the flop:
---
903 games 0.005 secs 180,600 games/sec
Board: Td As 9s
Dead:
equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 72.5360 % 72.54% 00.00% { AdAh }
Hand 2: 00.0000 % 00.00% 00.00% { Ac5d }
Hand 3: 27.4640 % 27.46% 00.00% { 8c7c }

---

On the turn:
---
42 games 0.005 secs 8,400 games/sec
Board: Td As 9s 2h
Dead:
equity (%) win (%) tie (%)
Hand 1: 80.9524 % 80.95% 00.00% { AdAh }
Hand 2: 00.0000 % 00.00% 00.00% { Ac5d }
Hand 3: 19.0476 % 19.05% 00.00% { 8c7c }

---

You played it fine...but I don't need to point that out. This is the kind of thing that keeps me from getting interested in MTTs. I don't think I could stand the variance, especially when it's caused by things like this. Even when you're 80% to win you're 20% to lose. In a cash game you just say "nh" and rebuy. But in a MTT you dwell on the hour(s) you've wasted. I give you credit for staying with it.

 

[MattRain]

Ouch.

I do raise more than 2.5x the big blind with AA though. 5-6 times is more like it - I *hate* to have a multi-way pot with any big pocket pair. Too many straights and flushes happen after everyone's moved in.

 

[baseballfan+]

FYI hes a big time stoner.

 

[peskypup]

mmm

It depends on the table but unless its a loose table 2 to 3 times the BB is my norm for AA or KK, with 5 to 6 times being the norm for QQ to 99 where you'd rather be head-to-head if possible. "Norm" being an average since I vary it quite a bit so people cannot put me on a hand.

For me PPP played this hand just right. You want some callers with AA or KK, those hands generally will stand up to the river by themselves. And for me I have pretty good radar in telling me when to lay them down.

If you rarely if ever are capable of laying down AA or KK then I agree that a bigger pre-flop raise is called for. If you are putting in a big raise because you are afraid of a suckout then take up another game.

 

[QuickLearner]

If you rarely if ever are capable of laying down AA or KK then I agree that a bigger pre-flop raise is called for. If you are putting in a big raise because you are afraid of a suckout then take up another game.

Quoted for truth.

 

[CHRISG612]

If you rarely if ever are capable of laying down AA or KK then I agree that a bigger pre-flop raise is called for. If you are putting in a big raise because you are afraid of a suckout then take up another game.

yep yep, this man speaks the truth! If you are afraid of a "bad beat" and compensate by being overly agressive you won't win in the long run!

 

[ProPokerPlayer]

Last night it got even worse, ive withdrawn my money from Party and going to other sites for awhile......maybe its just a bad run but i swear i think they got me on the 'shit' list......1st tourny i play i get AQ utg, i raise 3x bb and the only caller is the BB. flop comes 6 K A......now i gotta figure if the BB had AK he woulda reraised me or something huh???? my AQ has GOT to be ahead here right????? i mean if he's flopped a set then more power to him.i raise 900 chips expecting a fold...he calls!!!! wats he got???????? K MF'IN 6.K FRICKIN 6 !!!!!!! OS K6!!!!!!! WHO THE FUCK CALLS ANY RAISE WITH K6os???????????????? then flops 2 pr with it!!!!!!!!

ok so shit happens, i enter another 1..for an hr and a half i get Q3 and 23os every other GD hand!!!!!!! another guy at my table has 25,000 before the 1st fuckin break and i got not 1 frickin hand!!!!!! F this i go all-in with KQ and win, i go all-in with A4 and win and a few more hands i shouldnt have played much less won.........so what happens ?????? for the second night in a row the thievin bastards at Party move me from the BB into the BB, for the 2nd night in a row i post blinds in 4 straight hands in effect eliminating any slim chance i may have had to comeback........this has NOT happened to me in close to a year and now its 2 nights in a row....FUCK YOU PARTY POKER!

 

[peskypup]

Personally I am much more cautious in the early stages of these events, where loose calls from fish are the order of the day. It's much easier for them to put you on a hand - assuming they are awake at all - than the other way round.

So with AQ and a flop of A-K-6 I would go for a probe bet of say 1/3 to 1/2 of the pot. This denies the guy pot odds if he wants to call with A-x or K-x. but at the same time if he's played A-6 (the commonest mistake of all fish is to play Ax in all situations) then he's probably going to tell me that by putting in a raise. So if he wants a big pot then he's going to share some of the workload and tell me that I am the one drawing to this pot not him.

Whereas if I hit that flop hard and he calls, what do I gain? If he's loose calling then great. But if he's actually beating me then all I've done is build the pot for him. Either way I have gained no information about the possible strength of his hand.