Per the last post, the real estate purchasing plan is moving along. I've made an offer on a house that has been accepted, my loan is approved and now I'm just waiting to to find out when I'll close on the deal.
Meanwhile, the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) has just started and I plan to get back to some live play in their cash games this weekend. I warmed up by playing a little 1-3 No Limit at The Venetian and The Palms over this past holiday weekend. Furthermore, I'm dabbling in .50/1 No Limit at an online site that offered me a lucrative reload bonus deal. All told, this "warming up" has netted me $550 in just under a week with about 8 total hours of playing time. With results like that I ask myself yet again, why did I get a job? Oh, yeah. To get a house.
So, the next big question I'll most likely face is whether or not to return to playing poker full time again -- something I won't consider until I've moved into my new home and finished with the WSOP. In the meantime, I think I've got the best of both worlds.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Distractions leading to Changes
Year one is history. And the last few weeks of year one have brought about some major changes.
Over the course of my time here in Las Vegas, besides trying to play poker, I've had this lingering question in my head about real estate. Should I buy some property here? With home prices dropping (all over the country) constantly and foreclosures in the news it became more and more difficult for me to put off answering that question. So much so, in fact, it became a distraction large enough to interrupt my poker activities.
So, I began investigating seriously about a month ago and learned that despite a good-sized downpayment, I would need a real job with a real paycheck in order to qualify for a mortgage.
I spent some time looking into poker rooms around town and even played every day at Hooter's Hotel and Casino for two weeks hoping to land a floor position. I did get hired two weeks ago, but not at a casino. The real estate company I had consulted with needed another person in their IT department and it was just enough of a job to qualify for a mortgage.
Now, I've been on the job for two weeks and haven't played any poker since being hired. But I've been out touring homes and meeting with bankers and I even get my first paycheck this week.
Once I decide on a property and move in and get settled, etc. I may again return to full-time poker playing. But for now, it's on the back burner.
Over the course of my time here in Las Vegas, besides trying to play poker, I've had this lingering question in my head about real estate. Should I buy some property here? With home prices dropping (all over the country) constantly and foreclosures in the news it became more and more difficult for me to put off answering that question. So much so, in fact, it became a distraction large enough to interrupt my poker activities.
So, I began investigating seriously about a month ago and learned that despite a good-sized downpayment, I would need a real job with a real paycheck in order to qualify for a mortgage.
I spent some time looking into poker rooms around town and even played every day at Hooter's Hotel and Casino for two weeks hoping to land a floor position. I did get hired two weeks ago, but not at a casino. The real estate company I had consulted with needed another person in their IT department and it was just enough of a job to qualify for a mortgage.
Now, I've been on the job for two weeks and haven't played any poker since being hired. But I've been out touring homes and meeting with bankers and I even get my first paycheck this week.
Once I decide on a property and move in and get settled, etc. I may again return to full-time poker playing. But for now, it's on the back burner.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Return of the Blog
Absent. Sorry. Today I am in the last stages of yet another cold. This one is five days old. I think I can trace it to the enormous smoking woman who coughed near me while I killed a little time playing video poker at The Palms last week. What's this about video poker? Well, it turns out that with a little research and discipline (much like actual poker) you can find machines that will pay you back over 100% of your investment. The "Deuces Wild" machines that I play from time-to-time could net me as much as $5-$6/hr. if I played them 40 hrs. a week. Now, there is no way I'd play them that much, but as a diversion, it's nice to know there is another game out there with a positive expectation.
But I digress. I followed through with my feelings (and my data) around the middle of January and returned to playing 2/5 No-Limit Hold Em at the MGM and Caesar's Palace. From January 15th to February 18th I'm up $2225 over 41 hrs with a win rate of $53/hr.
My earlier convictions about this level of poker remain intact. The more chips/cash on the table, in front of a given player, the better the chances that they are willing to part with large chunks of it -- compared with the lower limit 1/2 & 1/3 NL game. For me, this means that a lot of my initial style from limit play regarding hand selection remains true in this game. By playing fewer and more valuable starting hands against the guys that play too many hands with an abundance of chips, I can catch them overplaying their selections.
This is not to say that I won't bluff or play some weaker selections given the correct pot odds or premium position. There are always situations that make themselves so plain, that if you didn't "play the player" and try to steal it would be a crime!
As for improvement, there are two sessions I ran into where I lost and I know exactly why:
1. At the Bellagio, I was playing away and stacking up a modest win when I got involved in a hand where I was best on the flop and lost to a two-outer on the turn against a player-type that I like to play against: a lot of chips with a lot of gamble. I rebought and became just like him and on the next hand got pocket jacks (not that strong of a hand) and lost all my chips again to a different guy (he had queens). I rebought a 3rd time and lost that, too. I forget how. Losing that first hand upset me. I should have either taken a break or quit that game. Playing upset is not winning poker.
2. At the MGM, I went through a session of very cold cards. Early in the session I lost a hand against a playing drawing slim and then didn't receive a playable hand again for about four hours which I also lost. I obviously stayed too long in a game in which I wasn't winning. A game can have all the potential in the world, but if the results don't get any better, it's time to move on. I could have found a different table earlier in the session, or I could have just left and gone home.
Looking forward, I intend to continue playing 2/5 three to five session a week if my results continue to be consistent.
But I digress. I followed through with my feelings (and my data) around the middle of January and returned to playing 2/5 No-Limit Hold Em at the MGM and Caesar's Palace. From January 15th to February 18th I'm up $2225 over 41 hrs with a win rate of $53/hr.
My earlier convictions about this level of poker remain intact. The more chips/cash on the table, in front of a given player, the better the chances that they are willing to part with large chunks of it -- compared with the lower limit 1/2 & 1/3 NL game. For me, this means that a lot of my initial style from limit play regarding hand selection remains true in this game. By playing fewer and more valuable starting hands against the guys that play too many hands with an abundance of chips, I can catch them overplaying their selections.
This is not to say that I won't bluff or play some weaker selections given the correct pot odds or premium position. There are always situations that make themselves so plain, that if you didn't "play the player" and try to steal it would be a crime!
As for improvement, there are two sessions I ran into where I lost and I know exactly why:
1. At the Bellagio, I was playing away and stacking up a modest win when I got involved in a hand where I was best on the flop and lost to a two-outer on the turn against a player-type that I like to play against: a lot of chips with a lot of gamble. I rebought and became just like him and on the next hand got pocket jacks (not that strong of a hand) and lost all my chips again to a different guy (he had queens). I rebought a 3rd time and lost that, too. I forget how. Losing that first hand upset me. I should have either taken a break or quit that game. Playing upset is not winning poker.
2. At the MGM, I went through a session of very cold cards. Early in the session I lost a hand against a playing drawing slim and then didn't receive a playable hand again for about four hours which I also lost. I obviously stayed too long in a game in which I wasn't winning. A game can have all the potential in the world, but if the results don't get any better, it's time to move on. I could have found a different table earlier in the session, or I could have just left and gone home.
Looking forward, I intend to continue playing 2/5 three to five session a week if my results continue to be consistent.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Sicko, Plus Ups and Downs
The last week of 2007 was a total bust. I couldn't even play, or rather I chose not to play while I was ill. I had a terrible cold and I just don't like going out to play if I can't play my "A" game.
Around January 3rd I finally felt well enough to play again, but didn't think I was ready for no-limit play again yet. So, I jumped back into the world of Omaha 8. In November I had posted some solid wins in the game and I was curious to see if I could keep the ball rolling. I did indeed post 3 more wins and was up about $700 after some short sessions. But instead of using those sessions as a warmup to a return to hold em, I continued to play daily, thinking that I should now go with where I'm winning.
How soon I forget the lessons of the past! Omaha is a high-variance game. I know it. And I've proved it to myself already. Apparently I've been determined to prove it to myself again. I gave back my win for the month and more. My play didn't change, but when I got down in the game I increased my session length trying to get it back, digging a little deeper.
So... the question arises. What to do? Get out and get back to hold em seems the obvious choice. A part of me doesn't like to end the Omaha play in defeat. If I started on a swing up, and then swang down, shouldn't I stick around to swing up again? It is a swingy game, after all. But if hold em is less swingy (and it has been for me) shouldn't I just get back to generating income? The answer is probably yes. I'll be thinking about this some more.
Around January 3rd I finally felt well enough to play again, but didn't think I was ready for no-limit play again yet. So, I jumped back into the world of Omaha 8. In November I had posted some solid wins in the game and I was curious to see if I could keep the ball rolling. I did indeed post 3 more wins and was up about $700 after some short sessions. But instead of using those sessions as a warmup to a return to hold em, I continued to play daily, thinking that I should now go with where I'm winning.
How soon I forget the lessons of the past! Omaha is a high-variance game. I know it. And I've proved it to myself already. Apparently I've been determined to prove it to myself again. I gave back my win for the month and more. My play didn't change, but when I got down in the game I increased my session length trying to get it back, digging a little deeper.
So... the question arises. What to do? Get out and get back to hold em seems the obvious choice. A part of me doesn't like to end the Omaha play in defeat. If I started on a swing up, and then swang down, shouldn't I stick around to swing up again? It is a swingy game, after all. But if hold em is less swingy (and it has been for me) shouldn't I just get back to generating income? The answer is probably yes. I'll be thinking about this some more.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)