32Red Poker Blog

I’m very unusual for my age; I spend more hours playing ‘live’ poker than playing online. However, in almost every respect, I would consider myself an online player. This is largely because people my age are expected to be so, but also to do with my playing style, and the way I think about the game. I guess it would also be true to say that I have played far more hands online, even if recently I have spent less hours there.

What I have found really interesting recently is the challenge of trying to make the transistion to being a successful ‘live’ player from my usual way of playing- the measured aggression of internet play. One of the reasons I am so passionate about ‘live’ poker is what has become a massive discrepancy between my success in online and live poker. Whilst I have been a fairly consistent winner online, I have really struggled for anything more than mediocrity in the ‘live’ game. In fact, after last week’s pass of a set against ace-high, a better word might just be crapness. I’ve always been someone who has thrived on a challenge, and this mirroring effect has just made me even more determined to improve my ‘live’ game, and achieve some success there.

I would say that this gap has been partly due to a pretty shocking run of luck- I seem to have had as much chance of winning a race this year as skinny white midget in the 100m final. However, what I am becoming increasingly aware of is that it is so naive to think that a winning online player should be able to step into the ‘live’ environment and expect the same kind of outcome.

There is an ongoing debate about which type of player is the better player, and I understand this has been particularly fierce in America- the young online grinders or the older, old school pros? I find it interesting, as the simple idea of a debate just doesn’t make any sense. I would say it is indisputable that the play is “better” online. Alot more thinking goes into each decision, creating a much better understanding amongst the top players of aggression, hand-reading, and all the technical terms, like polarised hand ranges and fold equities, that go along with it. There really is a much truer finesse in online play, and this is in part due simply to the fact that a greater number of hands facilitates a more interesting meta-game.

The crucial thing that I have realised is that the fact you can beat the better games online does not automatically mean that you can beat the weaker ’live’ games. The first reason is the variance; I would estimate that it would take me about two hours of 9-tabling online to even out to a variance I would cover in about six months of ’live’ poker (I would be interested if anyone had any thoughts on this?)

Take away this obivous reason, however, and the point is still very valid. If you have the weapons to beat a stronger game, then using those same weapons against weaker opposition is not necessarily the right thing. In fact, I’ve realised that getting used to using those weapons by playing online can even hinder my live game. There is no great difference, but a whole lot of subtle differences make the ‘live’ game very difficult to adjust to as an online player.

 The differences would be too long to list, but here is a typical example. To generalise completely, the “right” style online is to bluff small, and to value bet big to “represent” a bluff (Needless to say, this cannot always be the case, and leads to some interesting “double bluffs.”) As out next generalisation, the right style against an untalented ‘live’ player seems to be to make measured value bets, and to actually bluff big, to pressurise your opponent off the hand.  The reason for the difference is simply the level at which the two groups of players think about the game. Whereas online players are often great hand readers, ‘live’ players will think at a lower level, and just consider the value of their hand. A player with a decent hand to showdown might consdier his hand worth paying off a small value bet, but not worthy of a really big bet, and not give too much thought to his opponent’s hand range.

So should the online players continue to take the high ground over their ‘live’ counterparts? Of course not. Not only does the ‘live’ game create the biggest challenge and the most excitement, this game was designed to be played whilst looking into your opponent’s eyes, not  half way around the world from him. The online game’s greatness is in its convenience, but I see it just as a learning tool for the true challenge. This is why I’m so passionate about ‘live’ poker, and this is why I’m excited about the next big one- the GUKPT Grand Final in London next week.

I’m not going to write much today, but everything I do write on this blog will be exactly how it is; there is no point messing around.

I love this game, it creates so much enjoyment and excitement. But boy, can it bring some lows. At the moment, today feel like one of the lowest of the lows. I came back with 60,000 today, and having been eliminated within the first hour and a half, I am absolutely gutted on two counts. Firstly, in this never-ending bad luck that the last 28k went on another damn race, but above all with myself. The first 32k went on an absolutely horrific laydown.

I’ll detail the hand in full in “my 50 worst mistakes,” but basically here it is: I raised to 3,300 with pocket fives, and was re-raised to 8,700 by what looked like a weak player in the big blind. I called, and the board came out Jx8d7×5d3x (I turned a set). I checked the flop and turn behind (as it looked alot like he had ace-high), and bet 11,000 of the guy’s 29,500 stack when it was checked to me on the end. Suddelnly, the guy started shuffling with his chips, as if to raise, and soon went all-in, for his remaining 18,500.

Safe to say, this was far worse news than a flat-call. I think it is true to say that it did not matter what my hand was; I could only beat a bluff. I was faced with one of two unlikely scenarios; either he had not only made a flush on the end, but decided to check it, had played a flopped set very strangely, or had made an incredibly brave bluff. I think my analysis was right that there was no in between hand like AA or two pair.Bizarrely, I might as well have had 66, as I could only beat a bluff.

I eventually decided that it was so unlikely that an amateur would make a stone cold check raise all-in on the river for all his chips as bluff. I was horribly wrong- he triumphantly showed ace-nine high

I’m going to use all my frustrated energy to look into the ins and outs of this hand, but in a way it comes down to just one thing. The key to this hand is actually body language- it should not be possible for an amateur to pull a stone cold bluff for his whole stack, and for me not to be able to pick it up. There is no excuse for this at all- no excuse why I haven’t put more work into this part of the game. And from now on, there will be no excuses- all that today has done is to make me twice as determined to work harder at this beautiful game. One day it will bear fruit.

Well, I guess just a usual day of poker really. Full of ups and downs, and alot of fun with a bunch of nice people. Oh, and as always seems to be the case, one older guy whose ego just can’t deal with someone playing aggressively against him. You come to expect this, however, amidst a whole lot of pleasant people, and a tiny bit of needle maybe even adds to the fun.

I didn’t play too well today, but luckily a whole lot of people played worse. In a bizarre turn of events, the cold decks luckily went for me, and I’m buzzing to be coming back for the second day with 60,525. Here are some of today’s key moments:

Blinds 75/150, my stack 10,200

 At these GUKPTs events, I always seem to have  the frustration of watching other players just gifted chips, but not having the festive spirit extended to me. Fortunately, that turned round today after just two hours, as I had the fortune of an aces vs queens cold deck. The fact that we were 75 BBs deep is not enough to deter alot of these players from getting it all in before the flop, and I was elated to dodge the queen, and jump up to 20k.

Blinds 200/400, my stack 15,000

I raised it up to 1,300 with ace-king in the 3-seat after Rob Cowan had limped. He actually passed, after the small blind had called. The small blind was the guy who seemed to take it as a personal attack that Rob and I were playing aggressively- the kind of bad player I like to describe as having more aggression in their character than their play.

The flop came AcQx3c, giving me top pair, top kicker. The small blind player led out for 1,600, and I liked this alot more than a check. He quite clearly had either a flush draw or ace-jack, and I decided to take advantage of an easy read by flat calling in position. The next two cards both came kings, even better that the river was the king of clubs! My bet of 3,000 had been called on the turn, when the small blind checked to me on the river. This now seemed to make ace-jack more likely than a flush, and so I was at a tough decision as to how much of my remaining 7,500 to bet. Of course AJ is an easy pass here on a AKKQ board where the flush has come, but of course it did not feel like this guy was in the mindset to pass. I decided to bet 6,500 rather than go all-in, and got a slow call. It was a great pot to win, and had me rocking up to 31k.

Blinds 500-1,000, my stack 29k.

I found aces with perfect timing, ten minutes before the end of the day. I raised to 3,000, and it came to a young guy in the small blind, who seemed a pretty good player. He brought good news by re-raising! The re-raise was a little bizarre, to just 7,500, and I was not quite sure what to make of it.  I decided the best value was in shipping it. To his credit, the guy did not like to make the call, but it would have been really tough for him to put down his AcKs here. What a great spot, and the board brought no worries at all, coming 1010622.

I’m really excited about tomorrow, just hoping to get into some tough spots, and to get them right. Updates on day two coming soon!

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Well, I’m on my home from Amsterdam, this morning, after a disappointing day in the big one, the Master Classics of Poker.

It was another frustrating time really, where I did not at any point get above the starting stack, and ended with the disappointment of yet another lost race, my AK vs QQ, about seven hours into play. I realise just how lucky I am to be able to play so much tournament poker, but if I had to give it up, there is definitely one thing that I wouldn’t miss. The feeling of being so gutted, where one moment you are alive in the tournament and the next have lost everything, is really tough to take, and does not get any easier with time. Read the rest of this entry →

The Main Event at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait to be getting on my 10am flight tomorrow. I’ll be running daily updates on here, watch this space.

I’ve been thinking alot about last weekend’s poker, particularly that final Kings vs set of fours bust-out hand. The other big thing I remember poker tournaments by, however, is the friendliness and atmosphere of the occassion. I hope I can have a little effect in making the table a more pleasant place to be. Within the whole atmosphere of cold decks, bad beats, and ultimately of money, I think friendliness counts for a lot. Read the rest of this entry →

I’ve had the idea of keeping a running notebook of my biggest mistakes from ‘live’ events. It’s sure to fill up quickly! I hope it will be a useful thing both for me, and for you, the readers, and I’ve love to hear your thoughts on the hands. Read the rest of this entry →

My main aim in this blog to communicate how I’m feeling, as this is what I hope will make it interesting. The problem is that poker often makes it difficult to know how you are feeling, let alone to say. Once again, poker this weekend has thrown up its usual bizarre mix of emotions. Read the rest of this entry →

Just a quick one,as I’m dying to get some sleep before another early start tomorrow. I’ve got into day two at the £500 tournament at Star City, and will go back with 50,875. I’m really buzzing for tomorrow, as I feel like things have come togethter, and I played OK today. It’s a case in point though, that there are still a number of things that I could/should have got better, and I will write about these soon.  Read the rest of this entry →