No more GL, and more GS!

I've gotten this thing with my friend now where we try not to say "Good Luck" to each other now. Now we say "Good Skill", which doesn't really make much grammatical sense, but I kinda like it coz its a big fuck you to acknowledging luck. We should acknowledge skill, not luck. So no more GL, and more GS!

Pretty cool article by Lynn Gilmartin, talking about how FML (Fuck My Life) is overly used and hardly ever in any sort of realistic context to our situations. I like it, helping me cope when times are bad... and plus, she's pretty hot.

When is +EV really +EV?


I'm back in UK now, back at home. Flights always gonna mess you up when you arrive mad early in the morning, I mean there's no way you'll get quality sleep on the plane which compares to a bed. Anyways, despite the freaking cold, its good to be back.

In my last few days of Thailand, I had a bit of an epiphany. When is +EV plays really +EV, when we're talking about tournaments?

I mean, firstly, I'd like to say how much I hate the term "+EV" (Expected Value). Quite frankly its a shit way of talking about anything, it doesn't explain anything as far as I'm concerned. +EV being a phrase that a lot of poker players use to justify what they do. The phrase basically comes from the idea that if you do this move hundreds and thousands of times, it will make money. So for example raising AK is +EV because it is a good hand and vs other people's calling ranges it fairs well, and will make you money if repeated played this way over and over again. However, players fail to realize that loads of things are +EV, and it doesn't mean anything, or is a good logical way of justifying your play. If you open shove AA, it is +EV, if you fold 32o it is +EV.

But anyways, in the context of this point, I will use the term +EV, as a way of saying; "A poker move that makes you money, if repeated many times." Mainly, lets say opening pre flop with good hands.

+EV in cash games is real money values. Because if you win that pot, you win real actual money. But imo, shit tons of tournament players fail to realise that +EV is not real money, super especially in the early game. Some will argue that they are confident post flop vs bad players, and it will work out overall. But what they don't understand is that the benefits of winning those chips are worse then if they lose chips. Why? Because losing chips in the early stages of STT/MTT SNGs means that when the blinds get to the shoving stage, they will have to shove wider then normal to stay in contention of winning. The choice of letting a marginal shove go, will be limited.

Of course, that's not to say that I'm folding everything pre push/fold stage. But hands like AJ in middle position are marginal to open imo, because the chances you win lots of chips are outweighed by the possibility of losing chips leading to needing to shove wider when the blinds get higher.

This is what has been happening with my game. No doubt, I am happy to say I'm confident over my post flop play. But even if I'm vs a fish, I still have to hit to get chips, and the risk of losing the chips and getting shorter to shove wider in future hands is not worth it. Cash game players can think in more literal money terms, but for STT/MTT SNG players they need to think more long term game strategy.

The non tl;dr? - Play tight early, and Looser later on (duuuh).

Course, lets not get ahead of ourselves but in the short run so far my theory seems to have been supported by the results. More end game stacks = higher ITM = more cashes.

Ballerzzzz Computer Desktop


I decided to get a powerful computer. It was the kinda beginner limp call with T9s "Fuck it" attitude lol. I'm sick and tired of continuously going through RAM problems, crashings, blue screen of deaths, and shit that make me waste valuable grindin' time. I'm not a big computer geek but I did a bit of research and this is what I got;

Case	STYLISH PIANO BLACK ENIGMA MICRO-ATX CASE + 2 FRONT USB
Processor (CPU)	Intel® Core™i7-880 Quad Core (3.06GHz, 8MB Cache) + Turbo Boost
Motherboard	ASUS® P7H55-M SI: MICRO ATX VALUE MAINBOARD,USB 2.0 & SATA 3.0Gb/s
Memory (RAM)	16GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (4 X 4GB)
Graphics Card	1280MB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX470 - 2 DVI,mHDMI - DX® 11, 3D (Special Offer!)
Memory - 1st Hard Disk	500GB SERIAL ATA 3-Gb/s HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
Power Supply	CORSAIR 650W TX SERIES (TX650) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£78)
Processor Cooling	INTEL SOCKET LGA1155/1156 STANDARD CPU COOLER
Sound Card	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities	ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options	6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD

Is that overboard? I dunno lol. 16GB RAM? Better not lag ever please god! The i7 seems to be pretty sick tho, I deliberately meant to get that. Anyways, it was time for me to stop being such a fucking nit and invest in a better computer to use my time more effectively.

My Macbook Pro will have to wait. Its probably gonna be a self-gift if I make the Sharkie leaderboard top 10. At the moment I'm no freaking way near, but I like the challenge!


High Stakes Poker 7


The new season of HSP has begun like last week and the overall view point is that I'm pretty disappointed. Gabe Kaplin is not only by himself, but now not there at all? Norm MacDonald offers no input, but rather like Poker After Dark, basically pointlessly commentates on what the players are doing, which you can see anyways. Again, the sexy Kara Scott is there, and like last season imo, she's as pointless as Norm's commentary, offering no extra imput towards the show.

I've always thought that HSP has had a huge edge over the other poker shows because of Gabe Kaplin's analytical commentary (And AJ Benza's banter, but don't get me started on that!). Whether he was right or not, it gave the viewers, especially the non poker ones, a more interesting viewpoint on what was going on. Not just, he raised, he shoved, all in. Its kinda like watching Match of the Day on BBC, where you'd feel like you actually learn something from the analysis. Now that's gone.

There are also no Full Tilt players on there too. Durrr and Phil Ivey, who were the stars of the last season, taken out. Pokerstars has taken over as the main sponsor, which is ok I suppose. The players so far are pretty decent tho, including a few amateur (billionaires) players mixing it up. Kinda has that pre Season 4 feel to it. This I would say is a good thing, as its interesting to see how the pro's interact with the amateurs, and it just shows why Poker is still popular with the "common man", they can still win.

Nonetheless, despite all this, I'm still gonna watch it. Right now, after 2 episodes there isn't really much of a main theme. Last Season being Phil Ivey, Season 5 about Tom Dwan, and Season 4 all about the 1/2 million minimum buy in.

http://www.pokercast.tv/high-stakes-poker


Goodbye Thailand


I realise my previous posts about Thailand was on the negative side. No doubt Poker effected me. Playing abroad whilst experiencing these places has always been the plan. But now on reflection my disappointment just comes from comparing it to my other trips, which is stupid because they're all different. In reality I did have a good time. I got to know a lot of people, had loads of fun, got drunk loads of times, and after all that hardly spent any money at all. Sorry for my lack of pics, so without further ado enjoy some!

GS@TT! (Good Skill At The Tables!)