$1,821.73 -and- poker vs chess

All I want to do is play poker these days. I’m on a heater, I’ve been playing amazingly, and I’ve been studying a lot. I started watching way high stakes training videos, which has concepts that I can’t apply in the $50 games against opponents who are frequently too oblivious for me to be able to bluff. However, the exercise of stretching my brain to get deeper poker concepts is helpful to my lines of thought while playing. The way these guys set up their big hands by doing odd things to give their opponents false expectations is poetic in a lot of ways.

Watching this brought me to thinking about one of the pointless Superman vs Mighty Mouse conversations poker players have all too often on message boards in the slums of the web: “What’s the harder/more complex/etc game, poker or chess?” I used to say definitively chess was the more complex game, but today I have no answer for this, the games are simply different.

In poker, so often the things a good player will notice he can’t put to use, or loses because the cards don’t cooperate. Which leads to people who play casually, or watch it on TV, to only see how the randomness of the cards effect the game. And so, because of this randomness, if I played a hold’em cash game with Phil Ivey, Durrrr, Patrick Antonius, etc, there’s at least a 20% chance that I’d come out a winner of any single session. However, if I played Kasparov or Topalov ten thousand games of chess, my chances of winning a single game would be statistically equivalent to zero.

The variance of poker often leads a player to think that they are better than they are. Winning streaks are often a function of good luck more than good play. And because of this I overestimated my skills for a long time. I quit studying chess because it is frustrating having no chance against a player so much better than you. In poker that’s not ever the case, you always have a chance, and it’s often the most fun to play someone better than you.

Some hands below the fold

My biggest win… I keep debating if my all in on the river was the right thing to do.  I’m wondering how often he shows up here with a straight flush or a bigger boat.  In defense of the play though, the guy was terrible, playing somewhere around 70% of his hands. But, I think he has the one hand that he calls me with that I’m beating, and there are maybe 10 hands that he calls me with that I’m not beating.  So, yeah, I don’t know.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 5 players – View hand 123681
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

sixthsense84 (BB): $107.40
RJohan (UTG): $9.10
cerealpoker (CO): $50.00
Hero (BTN): $119.15
nachomonie (SB): $101.00

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN with 7 5
2 folds, Hero raises to $1, nachomonie calls $0.75, sixthsense84 calls $0.50

Flop: ($3.00) 7 8 5 (3 players)
nachomonie checks, sixthsense84 checks, Hero bets $3, nachomonie calls $3, sixthsense84 folds

Turn: ($9.00) 7 (2 players)
nachomonie checks, Hero bets $5, nachomonie raises to $24, Hero raises to $50, nachomonie calls $26

River: ($109.00) 6 (2 players)
nachomonie checks, Hero bets $65.15 all in, nachomonie calls $47 all in

Final Pot: $203.00
Hero shows 7 5 (a full house, Sevens full of Fives)
nachomonie mucks K A
Hero wins $200.00
(Rake: $3.00)

I’d been on this table with this guy for awhile. He was playing 65% of his hands, and a complete maniac. When the rest of the table left, I was just thinking “goody.” I like my all in pre flop here. I figured he’d call me with any pair, or probably any ace. Unfortunate he had the hand he had. The way the board came out, turned my fist pump into me headbutting my monitor until I was unconscious.

Full Tilt Poker $0.25/$0.50 No Limit Hold’em – 2 players – View hand 123697
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter

Hero (BTN/SB): $91.40
Boomit300 (BB): $83.10

Pre Flop: ($0.75) Hero is BTN/SB with J J
Hero raises to $1.50, Boomit300 raises to $4.50, Hero raises to $91.40 all in, Boomit300 calls $78.60 all in

Flop: ($166.20) J Q Q

Turn: ($166.20) K

River: ($166.20) Q

Final Pot: $166.20
Hero shows J J (a full house, Queens full of Jacks)
Boomit300 shows K A (a full house, Queens full of Kings)
Boomit300 wins $165.70
(Rake: $0.50)