NL Cash Saves the Day Again
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Hi. My name is Jordan. And I am a former SNG player.
That's right. FORMER. Because, apparently, I don't got it anymore. Need proof? Fine. Let's go to the tape.
SharkScope.com has me rated as having a negative ROI in SNGs on PokerStars. No surprise there, considering that I seem to be on a steadily decline there since my nearly back-to-back 45person SNG wins. Ever since then, it's like the money is trying to go back to its rightful owners.
Last night I started off well in a 27person SNG with GCox. Him and I were both up early, only to be relieved of our chips before we even reached the final table.
Surflexus then IM'ed me. He's been on a tear, and I have to congratulate him on his recent winning ways. But playing with him didn't rub anything off on me. I was out in 9th place out of 9 players. Chalk it up to my Alpaca-ish performance. As Lil' Jimmy Norton would say, I Stink!
Thankfully, the atrocious play at .25/.50 NL at PokerShare made up for my other inadequacies. I took about $55 off the table in over an hours worth of play. It seems like the longer I play at a NL hold'em cash game table (live or online), the more in the groove I get. By the end, it's hard to leave.
I also had a dream table at Noble (Coupon Code: HighPoker). Unfortunately, my cards were dead, so I couldn't capitalize. It was a full 2/4 limit table, but at the ideal time, there were only 4 players: me and the Three Stooges of the Alpaca world. All three were the loosest, worst players ever. One was a bit aggressive, but the other two were calling stations. It got to the point that on 2 separate hands, I raised the entire way with Ace-high confident that I would take down the hand....and I did. My opponent didn't fold though. He called me down with a worse Ace-high on one occassion and...wait for it...TEN-high on the other. If I was a nicer person, I would ask if he was expecting a 6th community card, but I don't like to educate the competition. This same guy called down another player and then checked the river when he was last to act...with four of a kind, 9s! Call, call, call, check? WTF? If the guy folded to his river bet, big whoop. If he called, that's just more money. If you think that is crazy, he flopped 4-of-a-kind 7s the very next hand and called the whole time, not betting once. Insane! I also saw him call players down with QJ after missing the flop entirely, only to, of course, lose. It got to the point where I got sad when he'd lose. Less money in his pocket meant less for me to poach on. In the end though, after busting a half-dozen times, he went back to his chrystal meth, and I didn't even get much off of him.
Before I leave you, I found something funny today. If you check out THIS SITE, you have the opportunity to see the post that started all of the controversy. Looking back, I can say now that it is really quite humorous. As a result of the On Blogs post, a poker blogging controversy was born. For a couple of days, I didn't even want to look at my blog, because it just bothered me so much. This blogging thing is supposed to be fun, and the silly drama was just a useless distraction. If you missed the whole saga, it resolved when a certain blogger and I removed the flaming posts from our sites, unilaterally as an unspoken truce (at least to me, but presumably by the end, by both of us).
Well, someone must be eating too much fiber, because this turd nugget just didn't stay down when it was flushed. I wouldn't have found it if people didn't come to this humble blog via it's link. Whatever the case may be, I encourage its author to leave it online. I'm over it, and it'll give anyone without Bloglines who missed the controversy a chance to see just what all the fuss was about. Just do me a favor and don't comment about it here. I'm not looking to start any new drama. I'm just fast-forwarding to the part when we look back and laugh about how silly it was.
On a final note on that subject, I hope the people who found my site via that controversy have realized that I am not concerned with page rank, hits, or any classification of blogs in general. I was reacting to an article I read which pointed out these things. The vast majority of my blog has been about me, the game I play and the people I meet. This is all for good reason, because these are the real value to me, in relation to this blog. Me, Poker, and You. It's so hokey, I just vomited in my mouth.
posted by Jordan @ 9:01 AM,
14 Comments:
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At 10:34 AM,
said...
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What is up with SNGs anyway? I admit to being completely mystified. My first year of online poker I was a solid, consistent winner at SNGs from $1 to $20. The last six months I can't get a lick of traction no matter how I play.
Tight play, aggressive play, tight play followed by aggressive play, it just doesn't seem to matter. I'm almost afraid to play them at this point. But the cash games have been great. -
At 10:40 AM,
said...
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I yanked it from there too - I only use that site for fantasy football stuff in my league (as is apparent), and to check how a post looks before posting it elsewhere. I don't know how you found it, but rest assured I don't tell people about that site at all...
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At 10:45 AM,
said...
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I think any SnG $20 and under is a true crap shoot because of the escalating blinds and low chip counts to begin with. It forces people to push with almost anything, leading to outdraws and such.
One thing I liked about CityPoker/Doyle's Room was that they had extended SnG's and I think the levels increased every 10 minutes. -
At 10:59 AM,
said...
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I'm a huge Lil' Jimmy Norton fan...
I got XM instead of the doggy radio because of O&A, but when I used to listen to them in New York, Jimmy wasn't with them.
When I first started listening to XM, Jimmy wasn't on the show because he was in LA filming "Lucky Louie" and Patrice Oneal filled in for him every day. Patrice was hilarious and when Jimmy came back, I didn't like him at first. Jimmy is nothing if not an aquired taste. I felt he was taking the easy road and going for the dirty joke every time. Why say something funny if you can just say something filthy?
But as I listened, I realized the Jim Norton has the quickest wit I have ever heard. I think I realized it when they were making fun of a "wacky morning radio" bit where the callers had to answer the question wrong. They played the taped bit from the "wacky zoo crew" and Jimmy would answer the question just as filthy and inappropriately as possible, and I was laughing so hard I couldn't see. He only had a split second to come up with something funny at least 20 times in a row, and every time he had something funnier than the last.
Like Opie said today "The wheels were just beginning to turn, and Little Jimmy is already in first gear and down the road." He is patently offensive, but DAMN if he isn't funny. -
At 12:10 PM,
said...
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Jimby is hilarious. I saw him at Comedy Connection last year and I've been an O&A fan since '97. My favorite Lil' Jimmy moments are when he'll guests feel completely awkward and uncomfortable, or when he totally rips into someone on the phone like he did to this girl Irene who used to work there and called them to bitch about their vulgarity. That was such a classic.
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At 12:23 PM,
said...
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Jordan, enough said about your On Blogs post. It was a great post, and the buzz that it generated proves better than anything else that people were into the subject matter and enjoyed what you had to say, as usual.
I also love stories of people who "graduate" from sng / tournament play to cash game play. To me, while I think there may be the most broad poker strategy needed for a large MTT, cash games is where most consistent poker players (and most professionals) make their bread and butter. And having played quite a bit of cash nlh in my time obsessed with poker, I can also say it is much easier to lose a much larger amount of money faster in the cash games than in any MTT. As much as I want to do well and will play a big MTT very cautiously, the possibility of losing just my $10 buyin to the MTT simply does not compare with the pressure and the potential bankroll damage when you're faced with an allin for $116 cash against your top and bottom pair with lots of high cards and a possible straight and flush on the board. And the way these games work online, you can't just puss out and fold most of those situations, or you'll get your clock cleaned regularly.
Anyways congratulations on the ongoing success in the cash games man. I hope you keep it up of course, but at the same time I'd still like to see you dabble once in a while in the large nightly guaranteed tourneys on the major sites. It's really very different from cash game strategy at certain points, and a lot of fun. Not to mention the possibility of huge wins if you play really well. -
At 1:29 PM,
said...
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I've had some respectable MTT finishes in my past, but I've been in a drought.
Here's a request from the J-man: If you see me online and you are about to sign up for an MTT that is $30 or less, hit me up with an IM. I may just join you. -
At 2:19 PM,
said...
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You got the fever and its hard to turn back now. Continued success as you move up the cash game ladder.
Cash is King baby. -
At 8:04 AM,
said...
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There's a lot more skill in cash games, and a talented/skilled player can consistently make more money playing them.
The only huge obstacle is the rake at low limits, which gouges profits. Luckily the players are bad, but that also results in a higher variance and more bad beats. -
At 8:21 AM,
said...
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And you can get rakeback on pretty much any site with some of them paying up to 40%, so that helps with the low limit rake issue.
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At 8:36 AM,
said...
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Yeah, except I didn't know about rakeback when I signed up, so I don't get any and am not able to (that seems to be the consensus).
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At 11:13 AM,
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You can get Rakeback at new sites that you sign up for, DP, but if you found a site you like, it's hard to leave.
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At 11:48 AM,
said...
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There are ways around it, and forums that point out those ways. One alternative is to wait until you buy a new PC and then reinstall them all, using a different email address to sign up, but I think there is also another way that involves uninstalling/reinstalling, clearing cache, and getting a new email address.
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At 8:17 PM,
said...
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I love the picture of the alpaca.
