Yesterday, (Friday) we spent the day in Portland. It was another, beautiful, sunny day in the great Northwest. How untypical. While Caren spent the day with her sister Nancy, I spent the day in the RV in their driveway utilizing their wireless connection. I wrote, posted, read blogs and played Party Poker. Five hours of Party Poker and I made $40. I could have done better many other places. But, of course I could have done a lot worse.
Today is the Big Day. It is the start of my “Month-long poker trip with the dog Pokey.
We dropped Caren off at the Portland airport about noon for her afternoon flight to San Diego. We hugged and said our goodbyes’ while the security people stared uncomfortably at the RV sitting curbside at the Airport. Trucks and big things like RV’s have them pretty concerned. Who can blame them after the Timothy McVeigh thing in Oklahoma City.
Before Caren could make it through bag check and security, I was across the Columbia River and driving north to the first card room I would play at, in La Center. (About 20 miles north of Portland.)
But, before getting there I stopped at a rest stop to exercise pokey and me. We found a very nice rest center in Washington. It had a RV dump, (we utilized) woods to walk Pokey in, (we did) and wireless connectivity in the first one I stopped in. I hope that is a pattern for the rest of the way to Seattle.
La Center is a beautiful little town about 7 miles off of I5 in a hilly, valley setting. There were 4 little casinos: Two on each side of the street each pair connected together. Each set of two had one poker room. I played at Chips Casino. They had just finished a tournament and the only games they had were 3/6 limit. I bought in for a hundred. I played most of the afternoon and stole a few pots. Which is really tough to do in 3/6 limit, but I still managed to lose my $100 in the four hours I played. I did enjoy it, except for not catching any cards. They comp anything on the menu after an hour of play. I had a tasty, pepper steak, smothered in green peppers & mushrooms.
So far my month starts on a loss. I hope to make that up tonight in a no-limit game at an Indian Casino. I think it is called Muckleshoot Casino. We are planning on spending the night there.
I’ll try to make another entry tonight if I have connectivity.
Washington trip net, 4 hours of poker, -100
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
The end of the WSOP is near!!!!
Poker is in the mainstream and here to stay…. The end of the WSOP is near!!!
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player?
(A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.)
How can you tell a poker player is lying?
(His chips are moving.)
The following is no joke, though many people won’t believe it until it happens suddenly!
I believe in just a few years the WSOP will be gone. We have only to look at a parallel from the computer world.
Before most people could spell "computer" there were a few computer conventions put on by people who loved computers. One of the most popular became COMDEX. It was an annual event in Las Vegas until two years ago and it’s history predicts the future of the WSOP.
The first Comdex was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand by Venetian casino and former Sands owner Sheldon Adelson.
Comdex was to computer lovers what the WSOP is to poker players. An annual event to look forward to for the following reasons.
1. Rub shoulders with the professionals. (Bill Gates would be in a booth and you could talk to him about his software. Peter Norton had his mother selling his homegrown software in his booth)
2. See the outlandish (Every booth tried to top the others, bikini clad girls, celebrity look-alikes, important industry announcements etc.)
3. “How many people this year”? (Each year we couldn’t wait to get their to see how big it had grown this year. And how big it could be next year.
4. The good natured bantering & arguments between the old school, IBM, Data General, Hewlett Packard & the new "young guns" Compaq, Microsoft, Lotus 123 etc….which way was better, old school or new?
Any of this sounding familiar to the WSOP?
Then came corporate greed.
Attendance at the 1997 Comdex hit 220,000 people and more then 2,500 companies exhibited at the show.
In short Comdex was a "cash cow". For the past few years Comdex officials pressured vendors to buy bigger booths at higher prices and gave them less for their money.
Take it or leave it…(IBM, famously, left it in 1997)
As Brian Caulfield of CNN Money said in 2003, “Comdex was a magnet for dumb money". Every year a new “star of the show” would emerge, splash around, and the next year no one would hear anything else about it.
In 2000, major companies such as IBM, Apple Computer, and Compaq (now merged with Hewlett-Packard) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX because of its runaway costs and decline in quality.
In June 2004, COMDEX officially postponed the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas due to lack of heavy-weight participants. COMDEX was cancelled for 2005, and its future status is uncertain.
Don’t think the WSOP can die a quick death???
There was a lot more money and players involved in COMDEX then the WSOP.
.
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player?
(A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.)
How can you tell a poker player is lying?
(His chips are moving.)
The following is no joke, though many people won’t believe it until it happens suddenly!
I believe in just a few years the WSOP will be gone. We have only to look at a parallel from the computer world.
Before most people could spell "computer" there were a few computer conventions put on by people who loved computers. One of the most popular became COMDEX. It was an annual event in Las Vegas until two years ago and it’s history predicts the future of the WSOP.
The first Comdex was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand by Venetian casino and former Sands owner Sheldon Adelson.
Comdex was to computer lovers what the WSOP is to poker players. An annual event to look forward to for the following reasons.
1. Rub shoulders with the professionals. (Bill Gates would be in a booth and you could talk to him about his software. Peter Norton had his mother selling his homegrown software in his booth)
2. See the outlandish (Every booth tried to top the others, bikini clad girls, celebrity look-alikes, important industry announcements etc.)
3. “How many people this year”? (Each year we couldn’t wait to get their to see how big it had grown this year. And how big it could be next year.
4. The good natured bantering & arguments between the old school, IBM, Data General, Hewlett Packard & the new "young guns" Compaq, Microsoft, Lotus 123 etc….which way was better, old school or new?
Any of this sounding familiar to the WSOP?
Then came corporate greed.
Attendance at the 1997 Comdex hit 220,000 people and more then 2,500 companies exhibited at the show.
In short Comdex was a "cash cow". For the past few years Comdex officials pressured vendors to buy bigger booths at higher prices and gave them less for their money.
Take it or leave it…(IBM, famously, left it in 1997)
As Brian Caulfield of CNN Money said in 2003, “Comdex was a magnet for dumb money". Every year a new “star of the show” would emerge, splash around, and the next year no one would hear anything else about it.
In 2000, major companies such as IBM, Apple Computer, and Compaq (now merged with Hewlett-Packard) decided to discontinue their involvement with COMDEX because of its runaway costs and decline in quality.
In June 2004, COMDEX officially postponed the 2004 exhibition in Las Vegas due to lack of heavy-weight participants. COMDEX was cancelled for 2005, and its future status is uncertain.
Don’t think the WSOP can die a quick death???
There was a lot more money and players involved in COMDEX then the WSOP.
.
Another Wal-Mart, perchance to sleep or dream...
We awoke for the last time in Salem ready to get going to Portland to visit with Caren’s sister, Nancy. Nancy doesn’t get off work until 6:30 p.m. and Portland is less then an hour drive from Salem, so we set off to do a little thrift store shopping before we left Salem.
Caren is in the process of losing weight on the Weight Watcher’s program. So, a new size, demands new clothes, that fit better, each week. However, the new clothes are only transitional as she progresses downward. She has learned to glean a new outfit or two at the thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Deseret Industries etc. She is a very smart lady. She had found clothes that still have the original Macy’s or other department store label on them listing the original purchase prices of $120-180. Some of these items have never been worn. However, because these are in thrift stores they will be in bins marked 99 cents to $8.00
She get so excited about her “finds” and I love her “beating the system”, so we both enjoy her browsing these stores when we have time. While she does that I cruise the neighborhood close by with my computer on searching for Wireless Internet Access. I usually “jump on”, the Internet while she is shopping. I have never failed to find an open wireless Internet access anywhere I go. I guess the neighbors sometimes wonder why a motor home from California is parked in their little residential neighborhood? But, I imagine they would be shocked to know I am on their computer network doing work or answering email.
I have taught computer security and networks at San Diego City College and teach how important it is to not have an open access wireless computer network in your home or business. But, still about 80% of them out there are open with no security in place. If I was a person who wanted to go through their personal information on their computers it would be a simple matter for me to do it. However, I have never done anything on another person’s computer network, except utilize it to get to the Internet.
Portland was sunny and almost 90 degrees today. It was actually too warm for me. By the time I leave this area I should probably have some rain and bad weather. However, so far, this entire three week trip has been blue skies and warm weather everywhere we have been. We did have one exception in Yellowstone Park where it dropped below freezing one evening.
We arrived at Nancy’s about 7 p.m. and all headed out to have dinner at Appleby’s. This Appleby’s just happens to be right next door to the Wal-Mart on 82 Street in Portland where we planned on spending the night. So after a lovely dinner with them, we turned in for the night to read and sleep, perchance to dream at another Wal-Mart.
Caren is in the process of losing weight on the Weight Watcher’s program. So, a new size, demands new clothes, that fit better, each week. However, the new clothes are only transitional as she progresses downward. She has learned to glean a new outfit or two at the thrift stores like Goodwill, Salvation Army, and Deseret Industries etc. She is a very smart lady. She had found clothes that still have the original Macy’s or other department store label on them listing the original purchase prices of $120-180. Some of these items have never been worn. However, because these are in thrift stores they will be in bins marked 99 cents to $8.00
She get so excited about her “finds” and I love her “beating the system”, so we both enjoy her browsing these stores when we have time. While she does that I cruise the neighborhood close by with my computer on searching for Wireless Internet Access. I usually “jump on”, the Internet while she is shopping. I have never failed to find an open wireless Internet access anywhere I go. I guess the neighbors sometimes wonder why a motor home from California is parked in their little residential neighborhood? But, I imagine they would be shocked to know I am on their computer network doing work or answering email.
I have taught computer security and networks at San Diego City College and teach how important it is to not have an open access wireless computer network in your home or business. But, still about 80% of them out there are open with no security in place. If I was a person who wanted to go through their personal information on their computers it would be a simple matter for me to do it. However, I have never done anything on another person’s computer network, except utilize it to get to the Internet.
Portland was sunny and almost 90 degrees today. It was actually too warm for me. By the time I leave this area I should probably have some rain and bad weather. However, so far, this entire three week trip has been blue skies and warm weather everywhere we have been. We did have one exception in Yellowstone Park where it dropped below freezing one evening.
We arrived at Nancy’s about 7 p.m. and all headed out to have dinner at Appleby’s. This Appleby’s just happens to be right next door to the Wal-Mart on 82 Street in Portland where we planned on spending the night. So after a lovely dinner with them, we turned in for the night to read and sleep, perchance to dream at another Wal-Mart.
More evidence poker is in the "mainstream"
You know poker has made it to the middle of the mainstream when these are two of the jokes in this month’s Reader’s Digest
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player? A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.
How can you tell a poker player is lying? His chips are moving.
It was another unseasonably warm, sunny day in Salem, Oregon today. I found a motel to park close by to use their wireless Internet to upload a couple days of blogs and to check email.
Caren spent some time with her sisters shopping. Tonight, we had a BBQ at her eldest sister’s home tonight. They have 10 children, at least 7 of them are married, and were there with their 2-4 children. This little family get together was bigger then some church potlucks we have been too.
Tonight, is our last night in Salem, Oregon. Tomorrow we start driving up to Portland to spend a little time there with another sister. Saturday, I will take Caren to the Portland Airport and she will fly back to San Diego.
Pokey, the dog, and I will then embark on a poker trip for the next three weeks to a month that should include Seattle, San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & San Diego and many points between.
I will do my best to keep the blog as current as I can during our trip, so you can enjoy the trip with me.
What’s the difference between a large chesse pizza and a poker player? A large cheese pizza can feed a family of four.
How can you tell a poker player is lying? His chips are moving.
It was another unseasonably warm, sunny day in Salem, Oregon today. I found a motel to park close by to use their wireless Internet to upload a couple days of blogs and to check email.
Caren spent some time with her sisters shopping. Tonight, we had a BBQ at her eldest sister’s home tonight. They have 10 children, at least 7 of them are married, and were there with their 2-4 children. This little family get together was bigger then some church potlucks we have been too.
Tonight, is our last night in Salem, Oregon. Tomorrow we start driving up to Portland to spend a little time there with another sister. Saturday, I will take Caren to the Portland Airport and she will fly back to San Diego.
Pokey, the dog, and I will then embark on a poker trip for the next three weeks to a month that should include Seattle, San Francisco, Reno, Las Vegas, Los Angeles & San Diego and many points between.
I will do my best to keep the blog as current as I can during our trip, so you can enjoy the trip with me.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
The next best thing to playing poker, and winning...
The drive from Bend to Salem was as beautiful as the drive from Ontario, Oregon was boring.
We stopped in Three Sisters, Oregon, a quaint little tourist town that was quite beautiful. Then we stopped for awhile in a campground by a river and let Pokey the dog run while we enjoyed the beauty of the setting.
Finally, we arrived in Salem, Oregon and pulled the RV up in front of Caren’s dad home. Her sister Patti, and her husband Tracy and their daughter Felicia, along with Caren’s dad Bill, greeted us and made us feel right at home. We had tacos for dinner and watched a movie and then slept in the RV on their street.
The next day Caren had a “sister’s day while I headed for “Spirit Mountain Casino” to play poker. I played very well all day long on a 2/4 no limit table. For almost 10 hours with a couple of breaks to walk Pokey the dog I held my own going up and down with a variance of 50-100.
Then 15 minutes before I was to leave I was down about $75 when I picked up pocket tens. I bet $15 and 5 people called. The flop came 10s,2h,7s and three people check to me. I threw in $20 into a $90 pot and got two callers. The turn came a Ad, and I bet $100. The river was a 4s, and seat one went all in for $125. With a sick feeling in my gut, I realized he had probably made a spade flush. After a long time of thinking whether I should call him or just lay down my three tens, I realized he was a good enough player to make a play and go all in representing a flush. So, I called him and he turned over two spades.
I had promised Caren I would be back to her sister's home in Salem, by midnight and it was 11:20 p.m. I didn’t have the time to make up this bad beat along with a hand I lost bluffing at the wrong person who called me down with a pair of twos in his hand. I have made those kind of calls, when I got a good read on a person and I am not sure if he got a read on me or could tell by my betting pattern that I had nothing. Either way I felt pretty frustrated and outplayed by him.
So the end of my first “real” poker day since Des Moines, Iowa ended for me with frustration, and I am now a small amount down for the trip. However, as most poker players will agree, any day spent playing poker is a “good day”. And I think the legend Johnny Moss is the one who said, “The next best thing to playing poker and winning is playing poker and losing.”
Since I haven't had a lot of poker info on this blog for the last week I am going to share something I picked up from tightpoker.com for on-line play........
The following was written by tight poker.......
I'll start off by saying that everyone should take player notes at Party Poker. Don't know how to take notes? Just right-click on the avatar (picture) of the target player and click "Player Notes" - it's that easy.
The hard part is figuring what to take notes of however. So that's where I'll try to help.
Here is a template of my player notes:
(Tricky/Good/Ok/Poor) :: (Tight/Semi-Tight/Loose)/(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive) :: (PSER / NO PS) :: (BLUFFER!)(Tell descriptor)Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips, etc)No Bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc)PR: (Cards) NOPR: (Cards) TRN: (Cards)p: (Cards)
(Tricky/Good/Poor)
This is my overall view of the player when I need to take a quick look and figure them out. You should usually only note this down after many hands, when you have got a good sense of whether or not this player is a complete moron (poor) or card shark
(Good/Tricky/Solid). This is most useful actually after you've left the table and meet this person again somewhere down the road. This piece of information alone will give you a good idea of how to deal with this person.
(Tight/Loose/Maniac)A very important note to take down when you need information. Tight players are those that are selective about their hands and won't see too many pots or showdowns. Loose players are the opposite and will play many hands. So for example, when a tight player is in the pot with you and is raising what seems like rags on the board, you should start to get a hunch that they're either holding complete crap or have a monster like trips waiting for you. For poor players however, they could quite likely have paired the rags. If there are high cards on the table however, a tight player will more likely to have paired, while the poor player is more likely to not have paired, or is holding a weak kicker.
(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive)This is the demeanor of the player, which combined with how Tight/Loose they are, should tell you *a lot* about their hand strength. Maniacs are people who bet everything under the sun and bluff at all sorts of pots. Agg means aggressive, which doesn't necessarily mean bluffer, but this person will bet with any kind of strength, be it a draw, low pair, mid pair, Ace high and so on. Solid is a player who plays the game straight up, meaning they'll bet strong cards and fold when they are weak or have nothing. Callers are those who don't bet often, but will call many bets and raises to the river. Passive players are Callers who just never, ever, ever bet. So, an example combination would be Loose/Caller, which should tell you this guy is going to be in the pot with you with just about anything, so you shouldn't always be afraid if he calls your raise. If you have a Tight/Solid player however, then any bets or calls from this guy could be a warning sign for you.
(PSER / NO PS):Short for "Pot stealer" or "Pot shooter". This means this person will bet at the pot when it's been checked to them and they are in late position. I find this specific piece of information very useful, because while many players just don't bluff, many players do like to try and steal the pot in this situation. Players who consistently do this, you can setup with a check-raise trap or even a check-raise bluff. A lot of times when you also want to make a call, this is important information when you want to know if someone is just trying to steal the pot or actually has strength.
(BLUFFER!):This is an optional tag that I don't use often, but when I do, it means this player is a major bluffer and needs to be called down when there is ANY shred of doubt. A number of players will *always* raise/re-raise a trip or flush threat (among other things) to try and scare people out. These players need to be called or raised if you have any kind of strength (although that said, watch out for players with stronger hands calling the bluffer too).
(Tell Descriptor):I don't have anything written for this field for most players, simply because in my opinion, tells are a bit overrated than what they actually are. Especially in online poker. That being said, some players *do* have tells that will give their hand away. The most common descriptors you'll see in my notes are simple and to the point:
PAUSE = MONSTER (a drawn out delay means this person has the nuts or close to it)
AUTO = MONSTER (auto means they use the 'Raise anything' button that bets out immediately)
CR = MONSTER (cr = check-raise)
Note that I will only write these tells when I'm pretty darn sure after seeing this behavior enough times. If I'm not sure, I'll add a (?) to the end of it and verify it later. Otherwise, I don't want to fold a hand when I'm not really sure if they have the nuts or not. But otherwise, when I do have this tell, I know to basically fold when the person does this.
Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips):This is getting into the fine details of this person's behavior. This is where you specifically write down what kinds of hands this player bets with. Does he only bet with top pair, or with low pair and mid pair too? What kind of kicker does he bet with? (very important!). By tracking these, you can then figure out what category of player this person falls into (Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive).
No bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc):Exact opposite of the above, you can also tell a lot about a player by what they're *not* willing to bet. Are they the type to just check on the flop if they have trips? Do they not bet their flush/straight draw? Will they not raise with a King high flush? Little notes like these can give you a fine aspect of this person's game.
PR or PF (Cards):Short for "pre-flop raise". Also referred to as PF. What I list after PR is the actual hands I see this person pre-flop raising with. This is usually very important information, because you will always stand to lose the most money when you hold a dominated hand. And most of the time, you won't know if you're dominated until you flip those cards over. Because most people only raise strong cards pre-flop, you can tell with varying degrees of success how powerful your opponents' cards are. A large group of players will only raise three hands: AA, KK and AK. If you can catch onto this and note it down, the next time they PR, you'll know to fold your hand quite quickly, even if you're holding a hand like AJ or possibly even AQ - which will save you lots of money in the long haul. Versus a hyper-aggressive player, if you notice them raising pre-flop with K2o, you'll also be well prepared to call their PR if you hold ATo or another moderately strong hand.
NOPR or NOPF (Cards):Short for "no pre-flop raise", the exact opposite of the above. Why mention this? Sometimes, there are players who never raise AA, KK, AKs, QQ, JJ or many other strong hands. Then suddenly, they'll bite you on the flop with some unexpected raises. By recording this information down, you can possibly tell if that person is hiding something strong that they didn't let anyone know about pre-flop.
TRN (Cards):Short for "Train" as in the locomotive. I use this metaphor when someone will pretty much bet these hands to the river without any hesitation or thought; when they've already decided before the flop what they plan on doing. This is not a compliment. What this usually indicates is that this person will over play certain hands because he/she thinks they are strong and can just force people out of the pot. A common theme is marking people as "TRN: AK", which means they will bet big-slick like there is no tommorow, even if they don't pair on the river. I also use it when they train a draw, like "TRN: flush draw", as many people seem to fall under that category.
p (Cards):Short for "plays". This is a listing of what kind of cards this particular player will play. An example would be "p: 95o,A5s,23s.." and so on. This is useful because a quick look at your notes will tell that this player is a garbage collector, as opposed to another player with the notes "p: ATs, KQ, AJ, TT..". An important thing to mention is to ignore the players in the big and small blind when taking notes on what hands they play, since they'll automatically be playing those hands for the most part.
Other acronyms I use when taking player notes also:
RR: Raises (Example: RR top pair)
RRx: Re-raise multiple times (Example: RRx flush draw)
(Cards)*: Usually this means they'll play this hand when it has been raised (Example: "p:TT**" means they'll play TT even with two raises pre-flop)
And finally, some pointers when taking notes:
Don't directly insult players in your notes, it'll make you play worse against that person
Following the above, don't take notes after a bad beat, calm down and make a note later
Don't be so excessive about your note taking that you miss out on the action
Don't always take notes when people play good cards (KQ, QJ, KJ, etc). Everyone plays good cards, it's a given.
If it can't all fit on the notes screen, it's not going to be useful in a pinch.
Don't worry about keeping your notes neat and tidy. I try but often fail. As long as it's useful, it's good.
Anyhow, that's pretty much my system of player notes. Don't think of this as a defacto standard; this is just what I use and what works for me. If you have no system, hopefully this will get you thinking to what kind of things you want to jot down when you play.
From Tightpoker.com
We stopped in Three Sisters, Oregon, a quaint little tourist town that was quite beautiful. Then we stopped for awhile in a campground by a river and let Pokey the dog run while we enjoyed the beauty of the setting.
Finally, we arrived in Salem, Oregon and pulled the RV up in front of Caren’s dad home. Her sister Patti, and her husband Tracy and their daughter Felicia, along with Caren’s dad Bill, greeted us and made us feel right at home. We had tacos for dinner and watched a movie and then slept in the RV on their street.
The next day Caren had a “sister’s day while I headed for “Spirit Mountain Casino” to play poker. I played very well all day long on a 2/4 no limit table. For almost 10 hours with a couple of breaks to walk Pokey the dog I held my own going up and down with a variance of 50-100.
Then 15 minutes before I was to leave I was down about $75 when I picked up pocket tens. I bet $15 and 5 people called. The flop came 10s,2h,7s and three people check to me. I threw in $20 into a $90 pot and got two callers. The turn came a Ad, and I bet $100. The river was a 4s, and seat one went all in for $125. With a sick feeling in my gut, I realized he had probably made a spade flush. After a long time of thinking whether I should call him or just lay down my three tens, I realized he was a good enough player to make a play and go all in representing a flush. So, I called him and he turned over two spades.
I had promised Caren I would be back to her sister's home in Salem, by midnight and it was 11:20 p.m. I didn’t have the time to make up this bad beat along with a hand I lost bluffing at the wrong person who called me down with a pair of twos in his hand. I have made those kind of calls, when I got a good read on a person and I am not sure if he got a read on me or could tell by my betting pattern that I had nothing. Either way I felt pretty frustrated and outplayed by him.
So the end of my first “real” poker day since Des Moines, Iowa ended for me with frustration, and I am now a small amount down for the trip. However, as most poker players will agree, any day spent playing poker is a “good day”. And I think the legend Johnny Moss is the one who said, “The next best thing to playing poker and winning is playing poker and losing.”
Since I haven't had a lot of poker info on this blog for the last week I am going to share something I picked up from tightpoker.com for on-line play........
The following was written by tight poker.......
I'll start off by saying that everyone should take player notes at Party Poker. Don't know how to take notes? Just right-click on the avatar (picture) of the target player and click "Player Notes" - it's that easy.
The hard part is figuring what to take notes of however. So that's where I'll try to help.
Here is a template of my player notes:
(Tricky/Good/Ok/Poor) :: (Tight/Semi-Tight/Loose)/(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive) :: (PSER / NO PS) :: (BLUFFER!)(Tell descriptor)Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips, etc)No Bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc)PR: (Cards) NOPR: (Cards) TRN: (Cards)p: (Cards)
(Tricky/Good/Poor)
This is my overall view of the player when I need to take a quick look and figure them out. You should usually only note this down after many hands, when you have got a good sense of whether or not this player is a complete moron (poor) or card shark
(Good/Tricky/Solid). This is most useful actually after you've left the table and meet this person again somewhere down the road. This piece of information alone will give you a good idea of how to deal with this person.
(Tight/Loose/Maniac)A very important note to take down when you need information. Tight players are those that are selective about their hands and won't see too many pots or showdowns. Loose players are the opposite and will play many hands. So for example, when a tight player is in the pot with you and is raising what seems like rags on the board, you should start to get a hunch that they're either holding complete crap or have a monster like trips waiting for you. For poor players however, they could quite likely have paired the rags. If there are high cards on the table however, a tight player will more likely to have paired, while the poor player is more likely to not have paired, or is holding a weak kicker.
(Maniac/Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive)This is the demeanor of the player, which combined with how Tight/Loose they are, should tell you *a lot* about their hand strength. Maniacs are people who bet everything under the sun and bluff at all sorts of pots. Agg means aggressive, which doesn't necessarily mean bluffer, but this person will bet with any kind of strength, be it a draw, low pair, mid pair, Ace high and so on. Solid is a player who plays the game straight up, meaning they'll bet strong cards and fold when they are weak or have nothing. Callers are those who don't bet often, but will call many bets and raises to the river. Passive players are Callers who just never, ever, ever bet. So, an example combination would be Loose/Caller, which should tell you this guy is going to be in the pot with you with just about anything, so you shouldn't always be afraid if he calls your raise. If you have a Tight/Solid player however, then any bets or calls from this guy could be a warning sign for you.
(PSER / NO PS):Short for "Pot stealer" or "Pot shooter". This means this person will bet at the pot when it's been checked to them and they are in late position. I find this specific piece of information very useful, because while many players just don't bluff, many players do like to try and steal the pot in this situation. Players who consistently do this, you can setup with a check-raise trap or even a check-raise bluff. A lot of times when you also want to make a call, this is important information when you want to know if someone is just trying to steal the pot or actually has strength.
(BLUFFER!):This is an optional tag that I don't use often, but when I do, it means this player is a major bluffer and needs to be called down when there is ANY shred of doubt. A number of players will *always* raise/re-raise a trip or flush threat (among other things) to try and scare people out. These players need to be called or raised if you have any kind of strength (although that said, watch out for players with stronger hands calling the bluffer too).
(Tell Descriptor):I don't have anything written for this field for most players, simply because in my opinion, tells are a bit overrated than what they actually are. Especially in online poker. That being said, some players *do* have tells that will give their hand away. The most common descriptors you'll see in my notes are simple and to the point:
PAUSE = MONSTER (a drawn out delay means this person has the nuts or close to it)
AUTO = MONSTER (auto means they use the 'Raise anything' button that bets out immediately)
CR = MONSTER (cr = check-raise)
Note that I will only write these tells when I'm pretty darn sure after seeing this behavior enough times. If I'm not sure, I'll add a (?) to the end of it and verify it later. Otherwise, I don't want to fold a hand when I'm not really sure if they have the nuts or not. But otherwise, when I do have this tell, I know to basically fold when the person does this.
Bets: (Draw / Top pair / TP weak kicker / Mid pair / Low pair / trips):This is getting into the fine details of this person's behavior. This is where you specifically write down what kinds of hands this player bets with. Does he only bet with top pair, or with low pair and mid pair too? What kind of kicker does he bet with? (very important!). By tracking these, you can then figure out what category of player this person falls into (Agg/Solid/Caller/Passive).
No bets: (Draw / Top pair / Mid pair / Weak kicker / Low pair, etc):Exact opposite of the above, you can also tell a lot about a player by what they're *not* willing to bet. Are they the type to just check on the flop if they have trips? Do they not bet their flush/straight draw? Will they not raise with a King high flush? Little notes like these can give you a fine aspect of this person's game.
PR or PF (Cards):Short for "pre-flop raise". Also referred to as PF. What I list after PR is the actual hands I see this person pre-flop raising with. This is usually very important information, because you will always stand to lose the most money when you hold a dominated hand. And most of the time, you won't know if you're dominated until you flip those cards over. Because most people only raise strong cards pre-flop, you can tell with varying degrees of success how powerful your opponents' cards are. A large group of players will only raise three hands: AA, KK and AK. If you can catch onto this and note it down, the next time they PR, you'll know to fold your hand quite quickly, even if you're holding a hand like AJ or possibly even AQ - which will save you lots of money in the long haul. Versus a hyper-aggressive player, if you notice them raising pre-flop with K2o, you'll also be well prepared to call their PR if you hold ATo or another moderately strong hand.
NOPR or NOPF (Cards):Short for "no pre-flop raise", the exact opposite of the above. Why mention this? Sometimes, there are players who never raise AA, KK, AKs, QQ, JJ or many other strong hands. Then suddenly, they'll bite you on the flop with some unexpected raises. By recording this information down, you can possibly tell if that person is hiding something strong that they didn't let anyone know about pre-flop.
TRN (Cards):Short for "Train" as in the locomotive. I use this metaphor when someone will pretty much bet these hands to the river without any hesitation or thought; when they've already decided before the flop what they plan on doing. This is not a compliment. What this usually indicates is that this person will over play certain hands because he/she thinks they are strong and can just force people out of the pot. A common theme is marking people as "TRN: AK", which means they will bet big-slick like there is no tommorow, even if they don't pair on the river. I also use it when they train a draw, like "TRN: flush draw", as many people seem to fall under that category.
p (Cards):Short for "plays". This is a listing of what kind of cards this particular player will play. An example would be "p: 95o,A5s,23s.." and so on. This is useful because a quick look at your notes will tell that this player is a garbage collector, as opposed to another player with the notes "p: ATs, KQ, AJ, TT..". An important thing to mention is to ignore the players in the big and small blind when taking notes on what hands they play, since they'll automatically be playing those hands for the most part.
Other acronyms I use when taking player notes also:
RR: Raises (Example: RR top pair)
RRx: Re-raise multiple times (Example: RRx flush draw)
(Cards)*: Usually this means they'll play this hand when it has been raised (Example: "p:TT**" means they'll play TT even with two raises pre-flop)
And finally, some pointers when taking notes:
Don't directly insult players in your notes, it'll make you play worse against that person
Following the above, don't take notes after a bad beat, calm down and make a note later
Don't be so excessive about your note taking that you miss out on the action
Don't always take notes when people play good cards (KQ, QJ, KJ, etc). Everyone plays good cards, it's a given.
If it can't all fit on the notes screen, it's not going to be useful in a pinch.
Don't worry about keeping your notes neat and tidy. I try but often fail. As long as it's useful, it's good.
Anyhow, that's pretty much my system of player notes. Don't think of this as a defacto standard; this is just what I use and what works for me. If you have no system, hopefully this will get you thinking to what kind of things you want to jot down when you play.
From Tightpoker.com
Idaho to Bend
Yesterday was the most boring day of our whole trip. Compared to the drive from Ontario, Oregon to Bend, Oregon, the trek across Iowa or Nebraska was exciting. The scenery was the same monotonous semi-arid desert mile after mile.
Finally, we were able to see the peaks of the “Three Sisters”, and Mount Hood off in the distance and we knew the scenery was going to change to beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Bend, Oregon is a beautiful town. The Dechutes river snakes through the middle of town. The downtown is so very picturesque, with a small town feel and what appears to be a thriving, growing economy. All of this quaintness is displayed against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains.
I was unsuccessful again at finding a place to play poker. Apparently, when I saw articles about tournaments and advertisements about Poker in Bend, I failed to notice it was referring to North Bend! Well, you might think North Bend would be just north of Bend like I did. However, North Bend is about 250 miles to the south-west of Bend on the Ocean just above Coos Bay. Duh, in Oregon the term “bend” is more about naming places because of a “bend in a river”, as opposed to a specific place name. I haven’t checked yet, but there is probably a south bend, west bend and east bend somewhere in Oregon too.
I looked in the local phone book and found a reference to an Indian Casino about 100 miles north of here and a another reference to Casino Productions in Bend. So I called the Casino Productions number and talked to a gentleman who runs charitable casino events and he told me there are no card clubs in Bend. However, he did say some of the sports bars do offer a table or a tournament at nights, but he didn’t know which ones.
I was actually feeling like I needed a poker fix.
So resourceful guy that I am, I began looking for motels that advertised that they offered wireless Internet. The last few days I have found out that by parking near some of these I can connect on their wireless service and upload to my blog, and check e-mail etc.
So, I pulled in next to the first one I saw and sure enough I was able to get on Party Poker and play an hour of poker. I only have about $70 in my PP account and I wanted to play a little so I played 2/4 limit for about an hour. I was able to run it up to $130 and then back to $68 when it was time for me to make dinner. I logged off still wanting to play live, however, Party Poker took some of the craving away to play.
We stopped and filled up with gas and found out a Wal-mart was about a mile north. So we planned on spending the night there. On the way I saw a “sports bar” that advertised live poker. I stopped in an found out they stopped offering it a few months ago and hadn’t taken the sign down yet. They did tell me another bar they knew had a game going 24/7 according to them. It was back about 5 miles and I decided I would wait until tomorrow or Tuesday and I would drive to “Spirit Mountain Casino” about 30 miles from Salem where Caren will be visiting her family. “Spirit Mountain” has the largest poker room in the state of Oregon and I am planning on logging some poker time there.
So instead of a spending a night in a poker room, I have made pistachio, pudding and we are tucked in bed in the RV eating pudding and watching the movie, “The Gift” a scary, supernatural, suspense movie with a litany of big starts. It is pretty good, and so is the pudding.
Well, good night from another of many Wal-Mart parking lots to come over the next few weeks.
Finally, we were able to see the peaks of the “Three Sisters”, and Mount Hood off in the distance and we knew the scenery was going to change to beautiful.
Speaking of beautiful, Bend, Oregon is a beautiful town. The Dechutes river snakes through the middle of town. The downtown is so very picturesque, with a small town feel and what appears to be a thriving, growing economy. All of this quaintness is displayed against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains.
I was unsuccessful again at finding a place to play poker. Apparently, when I saw articles about tournaments and advertisements about Poker in Bend, I failed to notice it was referring to North Bend! Well, you might think North Bend would be just north of Bend like I did. However, North Bend is about 250 miles to the south-west of Bend on the Ocean just above Coos Bay. Duh, in Oregon the term “bend” is more about naming places because of a “bend in a river”, as opposed to a specific place name. I haven’t checked yet, but there is probably a south bend, west bend and east bend somewhere in Oregon too.
I looked in the local phone book and found a reference to an Indian Casino about 100 miles north of here and a another reference to Casino Productions in Bend. So I called the Casino Productions number and talked to a gentleman who runs charitable casino events and he told me there are no card clubs in Bend. However, he did say some of the sports bars do offer a table or a tournament at nights, but he didn’t know which ones.
I was actually feeling like I needed a poker fix.
So resourceful guy that I am, I began looking for motels that advertised that they offered wireless Internet. The last few days I have found out that by parking near some of these I can connect on their wireless service and upload to my blog, and check e-mail etc.
So, I pulled in next to the first one I saw and sure enough I was able to get on Party Poker and play an hour of poker. I only have about $70 in my PP account and I wanted to play a little so I played 2/4 limit for about an hour. I was able to run it up to $130 and then back to $68 when it was time for me to make dinner. I logged off still wanting to play live, however, Party Poker took some of the craving away to play.
We stopped and filled up with gas and found out a Wal-mart was about a mile north. So we planned on spending the night there. On the way I saw a “sports bar” that advertised live poker. I stopped in an found out they stopped offering it a few months ago and hadn’t taken the sign down yet. They did tell me another bar they knew had a game going 24/7 according to them. It was back about 5 miles and I decided I would wait until tomorrow or Tuesday and I would drive to “Spirit Mountain Casino” about 30 miles from Salem where Caren will be visiting her family. “Spirit Mountain” has the largest poker room in the state of Oregon and I am planning on logging some poker time there.
So instead of a spending a night in a poker room, I have made pistachio, pudding and we are tucked in bed in the RV eating pudding and watching the movie, “The Gift” a scary, supernatural, suspense movie with a litany of big starts. It is pretty good, and so is the pudding.
Well, good night from another of many Wal-Mart parking lots to come over the next few weeks.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Oregon Trail....
We arrived in Boise around noon on Saturday. My first stop was to get a haircut.
There I found out the bad news when I asked the Barber if there was a Card Room in town. There is no poker in Idaho and I wouldn’t be able to play until I reached Bend, Oregon sometime tomorrow. After my trim, we drove by the Boise State University Broncos Football stadium where a big game was going to take place later today.
We decided to do a sightseeing drive around Boise. It is known as the City of the Trees.
Both Caren and I appreciated the beauty of the city. After driving a slow circle around the city we came back to near where we started the tour. After passing countless Chinese Buffets I decided to stop in and enjoy one. With the exception of a couple of bean burritos from Taco Bell, we haven’t eaten out on this road trip at all. So it was a very enjoyable meal for me.
Most of the afternoon was spent at Border’s bookstore reading poker books. I did buy John Vorhaus’ new book Killer Poker Online 2. It is an interesting read. It is not so much strategy as it is about his philosophy and “ways of looking” at online play.
After showering in the RV, we went back downtown to explore the greenbelt of Boise. There is a strip of green, parks, and paths that follow the river about 25 miles. It was unique to be downtown in a metro area of a half-million people and to see a guy fly-fishing in the river within a few blocks of the city center. Apparently, in the summer we would have seen people floating on inner tubes!
We viewed an interesting Ann Frank memorial, and walked over the bridge behind it.
We walked through a beautiful park and pokey the dog enjoyed running back and forth with a game we play with him. The game consists of Caren and I getting about 50 yards from each other. One of us calls to him, and he runs at full speed to that person. After running to and circling the one who called he waits for a moment for the other to call him. Then he runs at full speed back to circle the other. This can go on 12-15 times until he is exhausted and plops down on the grass.
The evening found us driving to the Oregon border to spend the night at the Ontario, Oregon Super Wal-Mart parking lot in our RV. Tomorrow, we drive across the middle of Oregon and are planning on spending the night in Bend, Oregon.
There I found out the bad news when I asked the Barber if there was a Card Room in town. There is no poker in Idaho and I wouldn’t be able to play until I reached Bend, Oregon sometime tomorrow. After my trim, we drove by the Boise State University Broncos Football stadium where a big game was going to take place later today.
We decided to do a sightseeing drive around Boise. It is known as the City of the Trees.
Both Caren and I appreciated the beauty of the city. After driving a slow circle around the city we came back to near where we started the tour. After passing countless Chinese Buffets I decided to stop in and enjoy one. With the exception of a couple of bean burritos from Taco Bell, we haven’t eaten out on this road trip at all. So it was a very enjoyable meal for me.
Most of the afternoon was spent at Border’s bookstore reading poker books. I did buy John Vorhaus’ new book Killer Poker Online 2. It is an interesting read. It is not so much strategy as it is about his philosophy and “ways of looking” at online play.
After showering in the RV, we went back downtown to explore the greenbelt of Boise. There is a strip of green, parks, and paths that follow the river about 25 miles. It was unique to be downtown in a metro area of a half-million people and to see a guy fly-fishing in the river within a few blocks of the city center. Apparently, in the summer we would have seen people floating on inner tubes!
We viewed an interesting Ann Frank memorial, and walked over the bridge behind it.
We walked through a beautiful park and pokey the dog enjoyed running back and forth with a game we play with him. The game consists of Caren and I getting about 50 yards from each other. One of us calls to him, and he runs at full speed to that person. After running to and circling the one who called he waits for a moment for the other to call him. Then he runs at full speed back to circle the other. This can go on 12-15 times until he is exhausted and plops down on the grass.
The evening found us driving to the Oregon border to spend the night at the Ontario, Oregon Super Wal-Mart parking lot in our RV. Tomorrow, we drive across the middle of Oregon and are planning on spending the night in Bend, Oregon.
More road trip
We awoke in the RV in West Yellowstone, Montana and it was cold!!! (26 degrees above Zero to be exact.) We stayed under the covers until the Sun came out and began to warm the RV a little. I got up and walked to the campground showers and ran it as hot as I could stand it. Finally, I felt warm and I raced back to the RV before I froze up. (grin)
We stayed in the RV park utilizing the Wireless Internet Connectivity until about noon. I read a lot of poker blogs. I played Party Poker with a net loss of about $11 in N/L
Finally, we started west on US 20 enjoying the “Yellowstone Park type scenery all the way down to Idaho Falls.
We were under impressed with Idaho Falls. We thought about eating out there after a couple of days in the woods. However, the town looked poor and dirty. We filled up on gas and drove west out of town. A few miles down the road we stopped and ate lunch in the RV.
Our destination for the day is Mountain Home, Idaho about 40 miles east of Boise. We have driven over 1500 miles so far on US 20 through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Idaho and we have not yet been on an Interstate. I love to travel this way. The experience of driving through towns and country side is so much more enjoyable then having 18 wheelers roar by at 75 miles an hour with sleep deprived drivers.
Tomorrow, we will be the only day we have to drive 40 miles on the Interstate between Mountain Home and Boise because there is no other real choice.
Here are three interesting road trip observations we made today. When we drove through Rigby we saw a sign that stated Television was created here. I want to research that the next time I get Internet connectivity. We also passed by the “Craters of the Moon” National Reserve. The “Craters of the Moon” is the most unusual landscape I have ever seen. It resembles a freshly plowed field of black volcanic rock. It is very stark, very dark, and very different from the rest of Idaho.
The third interesting and slightly disgusting roadside attraction was when I stopped for a cup of coffee at the Corral Café in Fairfield which boasts it is the “original home of the road kill Patty Melt.” I only had the coffee.
While driving between Fairfield and Mountain Home I listened to three poker podcasts I had downloaded last night onto my ipod from pocketfives.com. They were very enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to find a poker room in Boise. Otherwise, the next night I am planning on playing in Bend, Oregon where I know there is a poker room.
We stayed in the RV park utilizing the Wireless Internet Connectivity until about noon. I read a lot of poker blogs. I played Party Poker with a net loss of about $11 in N/L
Finally, we started west on US 20 enjoying the “Yellowstone Park type scenery all the way down to Idaho Falls.
We were under impressed with Idaho Falls. We thought about eating out there after a couple of days in the woods. However, the town looked poor and dirty. We filled up on gas and drove west out of town. A few miles down the road we stopped and ate lunch in the RV.
Our destination for the day is Mountain Home, Idaho about 40 miles east of Boise. We have driven over 1500 miles so far on US 20 through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and now Idaho and we have not yet been on an Interstate. I love to travel this way. The experience of driving through towns and country side is so much more enjoyable then having 18 wheelers roar by at 75 miles an hour with sleep deprived drivers.
Tomorrow, we will be the only day we have to drive 40 miles on the Interstate between Mountain Home and Boise because there is no other real choice.
Here are three interesting road trip observations we made today. When we drove through Rigby we saw a sign that stated Television was created here. I want to research that the next time I get Internet connectivity. We also passed by the “Craters of the Moon” National Reserve. The “Craters of the Moon” is the most unusual landscape I have ever seen. It resembles a freshly plowed field of black volcanic rock. It is very stark, very dark, and very different from the rest of Idaho.
The third interesting and slightly disgusting roadside attraction was when I stopped for a cup of coffee at the Corral Café in Fairfield which boasts it is the “original home of the road kill Patty Melt.” I only had the coffee.
While driving between Fairfield and Mountain Home I listened to three poker podcasts I had downloaded last night onto my ipod from pocketfives.com. They were very enjoyable.
Tomorrow, I am hoping to find a poker room in Boise. Otherwise, the next night I am planning on playing in Bend, Oregon where I know there is a poker room.
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