Bad Beat Stories

Nobody like hearing bad beat stories, they say, but that isn’t exactly true.

I love ‘em.

Everybody got stories, an old, fairly well known poker player told me in London years ago. Bad beat stories, the most incredible stories about luck gone awry. He did this while I was venting in his presence about the unlucky break life (and poker) had recently given me. And I realized he was right, that he was right beyond right. And since that moment I have never told a bad beat story, or at least not told it without a modicum of irony in my voice.

But I love listening to them. They have to be real bad beat stories, though, not merely a tiny shift of advantage during an all-in degree moment. In other words fifty-three/forty-seven is not, and should never be presented as a bad beat. Neither should 60/40 or such, and even aces being cracked all-in versus a single opponent with lower pairs. I’m talking a beyond bad Bad Beat here…

I find them interesting and also educational, both concerning poker and the concept of Chance itself. A pattern is eventually and inevitably emerging. It always is.

We’re striving to beat the odds, or to make them work for us. We always are. What would otherwise be the point of living? In my fairly recent enlightenment people ranting about their misfortune, doing their attempt at evoking pity, are shying away from the Great Game, from Life. They fail to understand the obvious: that there is no luck, no Fate, no meaning, only Change, a random, totally unpredictable pattern of coincidences. You can lessen Chance’ impact, but you can never negate it, and you shouldn’t try. Without the spark of unpredictability life wouldn’t be… life.

Some players claim, to the point of turning blue that poker is mathematics, is predictability, that everything can be measured and weighed and calculated, but they would be wrong. That’s just yet another way of closing oneself off from life, from the true burning wheel of fortune. Throw the dice and you get anything from one to six and even beyond. Don’t throw it, and you don’t get anything, except your own, empty heart.

professionals?

After having watched Professional Poker Tour Season 1, episode 7:

I'm not impressed. I've played against Tom McEvoy, and he is really bad, truly a lousy player, but most of the rest of the players around that same table weren't exactly the greatest either.

Mel Judah, Scott Nguyen, Jen Fisher, Michael Kinney, Phil Helmuth... I wouldn't mind playing against them any day.

They have one thing going for them that I haven't: their bankroll. But I can't help thinking there must have been a LOT of lucky circumstances there...

Summer Wins

I’ve won, have a surplus of about $20000 this summer.

It’s not that much. There are some people that can easily win or lose that in a hand. Even lower level players can win or lose that in a few days.

It’s a fairly small amount even compared to what I used to win in a given month, at one brief time in my life.

But it’s a great progression compared to the low point I’ve been at for some time, now.

And it’s also great that I’ve won it in several different types of games: Omaha, Texas Hold’em, Pot Limit, No Limit, Limit, in both tournament and cash games play.


And I find myself facing new problems. I no longer have any problem with going on Tilt, not even slightly. My major problem, these days, after a long winning streak, is that I tend to play uninspired. I can play inspired for hours and even days and nights, and then suddenly, I hit a wall of indifference inside myself.

There are occasions, when players need a break, after having played a lot for weeks. This isn’t exactly like that, but more of a seemingly lasting (god forbid) problem.


And I have a problem, when playing poker, of course: I’m not greedy. So, when I know I no longer need to win to put food and stuff on the table for a while, I tend to play uninspired. And every game I play should count, count as if it was my last one.

In this as well, poker imitates life, is life.

World Series of Poker Main Event 2006 (and its implications)

One thing I noticed more than anything, even beyond the fact that once again a total unknown emerged victorious in the largest field ever, was all the action, the practically constant action around the table.

It has been claimed that you can’t really learn much by watching the pros on television, since you only see a few hands, one hour or so of many hours of play. You see the action, not the many close to no-action hands. I agree with that. But I also think that you can pick up quite a lot by watching even that hour.

Anyway, it’s starting to become a fairly moot point these days.

I watched the last six hours of the final table on a pirate download of the ESPN direct broadcast. We watched every single hand, every single move on the table. As stated there was a distinct difference between this and previous years’ final tables. The game has obviously changed again. There was not much left of the «rest periods» from yesteryear. The Stu Unger tenet of the need for dominating the table, at least in part, has now become gospel for almost anyone. Anyone not doing it falls behind very fast. The condensed broadcast from the final tables becomes increasingly more accurate these days.

So, yes, provided that the action is at least close to faithfully rendered, we can now learn even more by watching and observing games on television.

PPT Foxwoods

Foxwoods Casino Resort, Connecticut is a dream, a mirage in the forest, one giant fantasy in the wilderness.

My foremost impression of the first so-called Professional Poker Tour is about Chris Biegler. The thing about him is that he hardly even looked like Chris Biegler anymore, poker wise. Everybody seeing him play says the same: he’s quite a different player compared to only a year ago, far sharper and more dangerous. I agree. He used to be insecure, hesitant and fairly easy to roll over. Now he’s the one doing the rolling. I particularly enjoyed his duels with Hoyt Corkins and John Juanda. He broke Corkins, and I think Juanda was lucky to win in the end. While Biegler was the very epitome of calm, Juanda was practically drowning in sweat and anxiety.

Great play, Chris. And congratulations.

Seeing him improve this dramatically means there is hope for us all…

Gus Hansen about Phil Helmuth

«I don't think Phil Helmuth is a very good poker player. The best I can say about him is that he's great against bad players»...

Gus Hansen

Gambling major boost to economy

From BBC Text- TV today:

Gambling could become one of the most lucrative industries in the British economy, researchers have claimed. By relaxing regulations surrounding betting and gaming and by abolishing tax on punters, the government has ensured an economic boost they said. That could eventually see more money generated by the gambling sector than any other, said the Betting Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University. It could «only be good news for the economy», said researchers.