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session

True Grind

Estimated read time 300 min read

I decide there is no time like the present for reinstating my work ethic, and head to the casino on what would have been an off day in the past. I feel great about my decision to abandon 5/10, and optimistic about where this will lead. I’ve been entitled and indifferent, and that’s no way to win. I feel like I’ve realigned myself with the stars, and […]

Categories
session

Warm Up

Estimated read time 114 min read

Sometimes I feel like I need a tweak to my game, or perhaps a little extra preparation.  Maybe I don’t even know what it is, but with a bigger game to come, I want a little warm up before the real thing.  With the Coven dispersed and my eyes dry from the computer, an unscheduled session was in order. To get away from the rut, I went to […]

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session

Eight Bluffs

Estimated read time 124 min read

It’s not all about you.  Poker teaches many lessons, and the reasonable players among us learn that one quickly, go crazy all the time, or quit.  At the games last night, the action was so sweet and heavy I conceived of a chip dispenser that could be installed, like an automatic shuffler in the table, to keep the wide eyed gamblers conveniently in greens and blacks.  One guy […]

Categories
session strategy

When They Adjust

In a recent hand I played at 5/10 I was coolered but learned a valuable lesson.  Against the same villain as in this interesting spot, I three bet a premium over a standard open and a call, and only picked up said villain, the original PFR.  On J73cc, I cbet and was raised all in (stacks were only about 90 bbs to start). In evaluating a three […]

Categories
session strategy

Banker Error, Collect 200 bbs

Estimated read time 138 min read

As I’ve written before, the august Banker, Prince of the Village, has taken the tack of avoiding confrontations with me.  This was a regrettable development, but who would blame him?  He collects chips like interest from his adoring Smurf clients by just sitting in the games, and his invincible reputation must be valuable to him.  He doesn’t have to spend effort on me, just as he selects […]

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session

The Gathering Dark and Stormy

Estimated read time 101 min read

While I assemble the requisite ingredients for Libation to Variance #1, as promised– including a week for the espresso beans to repose in the rum- there is nothing like a little premature relief from the runbad.  Tonight I put in what can only be called a restrained session and version of myself, all to excellent effect, yielding a 250 bb win at 5/10. I have very mixed feelings […]

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session

Black Friday

Estimated read time 69 min read

I’m driving home through the dense, tufted fog with a crease so deep in my forehead that it is threatening to dislodge my eyeballs.  After making one mistake all night and nearly bringing home 200 life sustaining bbs, without coolering anyone and playing extremely well, I lose almost all of it versus a breakeven bingoer who flopped the joint. She played it remarkably well against a player […]

Categories
session

It’s Getting Late, We Are Going to Gamble

Estimated read time 168 min read

So said Mr. Farha in one of those early, most magical years of High Stakes Poker.  The combination of personalities, the dynamic of the hosts, and most critically, the lack of overproduction, which made the game seem real, accessible, full of people, and thus, fun, made those initial seasons of the now legendary show ripe for repeated, enjoyable viewing. It’s getting late for me, too, this month, […]

Categories
session

I’ve Had a Few

Estimated read time 109 min read

There were three crucial hands in last night’s session, but I’m going to focus on the final one, because it is the most subtle.  In the first, I lost my nerve after being put into a tough spot right off the bat and took a line that lent me to being (and was) exploited.  In the second, I just played value fast and won even though all the […]