Elonian Nomad - 3rd Strike

I lost an all-in this afternoon ‘coz I was so confident with my cards I got blind to the straight that was in front of me. I managed to regain what I lost somewhat, but it made me feel bad to be so blind. I was considering sleeping it over, but an itch made me go for a few rounds. Fate was nice enough to present me with a hand to sort of “even things out” for the day.

By the turn of this particular hand I had a reasonable chance to get an Ace high flush. Any spade would have given me the nuts. A player gave a high bet. From experience I’m not very lucky with straight or flush draws, so I was very nervous to call (in retrospect, perhaps I should have raised, but I really am unlucky with straight and flush draws). After a few tense seconds, I decided to let fate decide. Either I had the nuts or I didn’t, no backup outs in my hand.

Fate decided to give me a 4 spade. I got the Ace high flush, and unless someone had a full house (which I doubted), this hand was mine. I was fortunate enough to have been fighting against both a straight and a flush (King high even!)! Moreover, since they both had great hands (particularly the King high flush), they both pushed all-in!

It’s not a monster pot, but it’s a reasonably sized one for me, and having toughed it out with against such tight competition made my night.

www.darthvid.com

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I was lucky enough to win a relatively huge pot at Full Tilt with QQ (”ladies”)!!! I’m rarely lucky with pre-flop all-ins, so I’m not gonna push my luck much further for today.

www.darthvid.com

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For some reason, all the hands being dealt to me are the nuts for the previous hand!!! So annoying. Put me on tilt several times today.

— edit —

For some reason, I did great in Full Tilt. I missed a big pot when I had flushes (the person who got the pot just had a straight! A STRAIGHT!), but I folded to raises. I was so afraid that they had a better flush, I sometimes forget that flushes can be tough to get (not to mention that I was blind to the straight).

Well, at times like that, I always try to remember what 2005 WSOP 2nd placer Steve Dannenmann said during the final table… “Folding to a raise is just a small mistake”. I got myself into a nice 2 pair, buffed up my guys, and won a bigger pot! Now my Full Tilt bankroll is at its record high (still pathetic compared to the regulars, tho).

Aside from me not feeling so bad when I lose, Full Tilt has several has a big advantage to Triplejack (where I’m at a -$500 this weekend to my all week high, but still $1k higher than last week) that helps me relax… no or few roulette players. Roulette players make me tense, since they make me gamble instead of play. I like playing poker ‘coz the concentration I put per had helps me focus on a single activity. Roulette removes almost need for concentration since everyone basically has a good chance of winning the pot.

I still feel more accomplished when I do well in Triplejack, tho. It’s probably because to survive in such a hostile and random environment is a different kind of accomplishment.

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My SO is out of town due to business, and the winds are startin’ to pick up to to the coming winds. She left Hanachi-e with me, so I’m also a cat-sitter for a longer period of time than I’m used to.

After some more re-buys at Full Tilt Poker .net, I’m managing to get my groove back there. I’m not doing all that great, mind you, but at least I’m not bleeding to death anymore. Maybe after a while I’ll get the feel of things in that environment.

I watched Casino Royale again, this time with my dad. I found it funny that the parts of the movie that struck him most were the brands of cellphones used and the cars (well, am not surprised about him noticing the cars that much).

Winds are getting stronger, gotta remember to close all the windows before settling down for the night.

To the people that’ll be affected by the storm tomorrow, take care.

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Since I don’t feel so attached to my Full Tilt Poker .net game, I use it primarily as my experimentation account. I tend to play loose there, and I practice being aggressive. I got a lot more practicing to do, I lost everything there, and I just had another re-buy.

It almost seemed that my bad beat in Full Tilt Poker .net would also go to Triplejack, I almost lost everything I painstakingly gained this weekend, but I slowly got a few nice bumps. I had several hits and misses, and my stack was kept jumping up and down. This was mainly due to some remnants of the loose/aggressive game I was practicing in Full Tilt Poker .net. Somehow, I got into a good groove, and I managed to improve my blend of conservatism and aggression. Due to this, I not only recovered my stack, but also made a little bump to my best winnings yet.

I just have to understand what plays I did right, and what plays I did wrong, hopefully, I can confidently repeat this winning, and reduce the losing.

BTW, I noticed that I seemed to get the dog/canine/fido hand (K9) in Triplejack a lot, and it proved to be an unlucky hand for me. I have won several of my key pots by having a Queen in my hand somehow. Maybe the Queen was my muse at today’s games. I wonder if she’ll be helping me the same way in future hands…?

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I tried to get back my max play money in Triplejack Poker, but I was just a few hundred dollars away. Still, I made a careful and calculated comeback. I noticed that aside from Filipino’s, the players are mostly Aussies. It’s probably because of the time-zone.

I think that tight play is good for crawling, but that’s just it, it’s a crawl. I know there’s a lot to improve in my win rate, so I decided to loosen up and try to see things in a better perspective. I watched a semi-finals match between Gus Hansen and Antonio Esfandiari (The Magician). It was only between the two of them, so they only have to outread each other. I was amazed at how well they could tell what cards each other had! The viewer can see both hands, but whenever they fold, you’ll be amazed at how accurately they can tell who had the better deal (only one fold was wrong in this particular episode).

I noticed that Hansen wore a Full Tilt Poker .net shirt, which to me is further proof that the .net version of the software and site is affiliated with the .com version (although they never mention it in either sites, strange). Well, I said I wanted to play loose and learn, and based on my previous post about Full Tilt Poker .net, I don’t feel as bad losing money there. So, I loaded-up Full Tilt Poker .net and got on with my experiment.

Although my objective was to get loose, it was quite frustrating. I’ve been on a losing streak in Full Tilt Poker .net the past few days too, but this time I lost everything. I had to rebuy the base play money and basically start over again. I did notice that people there bet more, most probably due to the larger sums they have. In my typical games at Full Tilt Poker .net, a player had around 5k to call and raise, so they are probably willing to risk more given an average hand. In Triplejack Poker, I run into few with more than 1.5k, people tend to bank when they get around that much (perhaps since the typical buy in is lower and the blinds are higher).

When I restarted, I resigned myself to losing and just use this opportunity to experiment with risk (hey, I did hit rock bottom already). I tried to be careful as usual, but I also tried to call relatively high raises in hands that I felt just had an fighting chance. It turns out that those risks were very profitable for me. Yes, I did fold a lot eventually at times, but I also gained back quite a few where my hand ended up being better upon the river. I didn’t really close notice how I chose my battles, I wish I did. I do hope that it was ingrained in me somehow, and that I notice it next time.

Well, I not only regained what I lost in Full Tilt Poker .net, I also reached my record high! I hope I continue to learn the nuances.

I was so nervous in my “big win” (others will scoff at the pathetic amount) that I wasn’t able to take a screen shot. Below, however, is a screen shot of a small win shortly after my “big win”. It may not be much, but yey, I’m AM still a newb.

www.darthvid.com

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Given that Triplejack Poker is the flavor of the month, I’ve been surfing for poker related items on the ‘net. After following some chains search results and links, I ran into the the name “Phil Ivey“, which eventually landed me on “Full Tilt Poker“. It claims to be made with a lot of feedback from players, and it does appear to be one of the more popular means to play poker online. Like Triplejack Poker, it features “play money”, but it also supports real money.

What confused me was that there was also a “Full Tilt Poker .net“, with pretty much the same stuff. I was wondering if one of the sites is a fake, but based on the Wikipedia article about it, it appears that the .net site is “play money only”.

Since I have no intention of using real money, I got the play money only version of the software and tried it out. Here are some of the more significant things I noticed in the past few days of playing Full Tilt Poker .net:

• you can “re-buy” play money, and have a 5 minute waiting time like Triplejack Poker (re-buy is 1k though)
• although there are wacky avatars, in general, Full Tilt has a more serious feel
• people there don’t talk much
• few people there play roulette style (I don’t like roulette style, so its a plus for me)
• the entry level game is 1k buy in and 10/5 blinds, which makes a “re-buy” last longer theoretically (Triplejack Poker is 500 buy-in with with 20/10 blinds)
• you don’t feel you bet/gain a lot, even if you actually do (I feel like I’m rewarded or that I lose more in Triplejack Poker)
• I seem to be more aggressive when I play there
• I do feel that the players there are better in general
• when the showdown comes, the winning combination is not highlighted (I get confused ‘coz I don’t know how a particular player beat me)
• Triplejack Poker is more casual, and feels more “fun” to play
• I haven’t run into anyone I could say was a Filipino there

Given these, I think Full Tilt Poker .net is geared to the more serious type of player. The website, the “pro player chat” and other things makes Full Tilt Poker .net a good place to start learning poker. Their objective it to make poker popular, and given that pro poker players play there too and give advice, it seems to be the premiere place to learn and get into the poker bandwagon.

I can’t maximize what Full Tilt Poker .net has to offer since I don’t intend on playing with real money. However, it’s a good place to learn, and you’ll be playing against players of a different sort from that found in Triplejack Poker. If I want fun, though, I’m more in inclined to play in Triplejack Poker.

See you in either!

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