Tulsa Busto and America Busto
Michael and I flew up to Tulsa this morning for the $3k Oklahoma State Championships of Poker. I love this tournament. It is so beautifully soft. The only other "good" player I knew of in the tournament was Jordan Morgan. Even the younger unknown guys with headphones who you would label as probably being decent still make horrible plays from my observation (ie: call a raise for effectively 60% of an opponent's stack and then fold when they stick the rest in on the flop OR four-bet all-in with pocket Eights against a tight player). Such a sick tournament. Entries held strong with 100 too. For reasons I cannot figure out, poker is somehow still super juicy despite the economic situation.
Anyway, I couldn't get anything materialized. I felt like I was playing really good though, so I'm happy about that. One thing I've noticed is that poker is starting to "play itself" a little more than it used to. To put it another way, even the "bad" players have gotten to the point where they don't really make thaaaat awful of mistakes. They just kind of play their hands very straightforward and that's that. Basically, I think you have to work a little harder to exploit people now since they don't really exploit themselves for you as much as they used to. One example of how I think you can do this is to 3-bet more preflop with air, especially when you have a tight image. People give you so much credit for this since everyone's ranges are becoming more obvious and standard.
Despite not really making any glaring errors, I found my 10k starting stack to be about 4.5k when 200/400/50 rolled around. I got Ace-Queen in against pocket Jacks and didn't have to wait around much for the final verdict when the flop came Jack-Three-Three.
I tracked down Michael (who had already busted out in level three) and found him in a state of serious tilt. I guess he lost a couple thousand playing blackjack at an average of $100/hand after playing for 90 minutes. Following this, he asked a host if he could get a room and they basically told him that he hadn't played enough. I don't want to turn this blog into story after story of casino incompetence and mismanagement, but long story short, Michael made it clear to Cherokee Casino personnel he's never gambling at their establishment again.
I can see how that might sound kind of like spoiled behavior, but you have to realize these places are just being decimated right now. There is like no room for them to be refusing accommodation (that probably costs them $10 or less to give out) for a player putting that kind of money into play. Hopefully they catch on to this before their assets have more value being sold for scrap metal than used in a gaming operation.
The problem is likely that their automated comp systems have not been updated to reflect the relevancy of the day. Three years ago, it might not have made sense for them to give Michael a room based on that play, but today it most certainly does.
On the plane ride this morning, we had quite a lengthy discussion about how horribly people and businesses are responding to this recession. I'll spare tons of anecdotal examples and just say that the sense of entitlement people are still displaying is really concerning. I have a derivatives-trader friend in London who has been saying "America is f**ked!" for quite a while. Up until recently I kind of thought he was overreacting a little, but now I'm starting to think he might be on to something.
If this topic interests anyone at all, I'd recommend reading up on the lessons we could be learning from Japan's "Lost Decade". The parallels between their 10+ year economic slump and our current situation are alarming.
I think the way to play this is to keep your ear to the grindstone and make the sensible, value-based decisions. This is why Buffet is loaded from investing in brands like Coca-Cola and avoiding these unintelligible financial products put together by some 22 year old trying to win a hedge fund lottery. When the dust settles on this, all the people out there who were "too cheap" to spend their money on bottle service and marque-brand discretionary purchases will be the big winners. The "$30k Millionaire" is all smoke and mirrors; that will only become more and more painfully evident in the coming years once their employers wise-up and start firing them.
Buy McDonalds, buy China, and short steakhouses, Ed Hardy, strip joints, law schools, Vegas, art, high-end retailers, golf, "ultra-lounges", timeshares, Grey Goose, auto manufacturers, sushi, travel agencies, wine bars, high-rise condos, American women, and anything else your neighbor with the popped collar thinks he needs or deserves.
There's still plenty of pork left in the system.
-------------------
Visiting my sister in Phoenix on Friday and then off to Vegas for the Deep Stack Extravaganza Main Event next Monday ($2.5k). "One time" yada yada yada...
Anyway, I couldn't get anything materialized. I felt like I was playing really good though, so I'm happy about that. One thing I've noticed is that poker is starting to "play itself" a little more than it used to. To put it another way, even the "bad" players have gotten to the point where they don't really make thaaaat awful of mistakes. They just kind of play their hands very straightforward and that's that. Basically, I think you have to work a little harder to exploit people now since they don't really exploit themselves for you as much as they used to. One example of how I think you can do this is to 3-bet more preflop with air, especially when you have a tight image. People give you so much credit for this since everyone's ranges are becoming more obvious and standard.
Despite not really making any glaring errors, I found my 10k starting stack to be about 4.5k when 200/400/50 rolled around. I got Ace-Queen in against pocket Jacks and didn't have to wait around much for the final verdict when the flop came Jack-Three-Three.
I tracked down Michael (who had already busted out in level three) and found him in a state of serious tilt. I guess he lost a couple thousand playing blackjack at an average of $100/hand after playing for 90 minutes. Following this, he asked a host if he could get a room and they basically told him that he hadn't played enough. I don't want to turn this blog into story after story of casino incompetence and mismanagement, but long story short, Michael made it clear to Cherokee Casino personnel he's never gambling at their establishment again.
I can see how that might sound kind of like spoiled behavior, but you have to realize these places are just being decimated right now. There is like no room for them to be refusing accommodation (that probably costs them $10 or less to give out) for a player putting that kind of money into play. Hopefully they catch on to this before their assets have more value being sold for scrap metal than used in a gaming operation.
The problem is likely that their automated comp systems have not been updated to reflect the relevancy of the day. Three years ago, it might not have made sense for them to give Michael a room based on that play, but today it most certainly does.
On the plane ride this morning, we had quite a lengthy discussion about how horribly people and businesses are responding to this recession. I'll spare tons of anecdotal examples and just say that the sense of entitlement people are still displaying is really concerning. I have a derivatives-trader friend in London who has been saying "America is f**ked!" for quite a while. Up until recently I kind of thought he was overreacting a little, but now I'm starting to think he might be on to something.
If this topic interests anyone at all, I'd recommend reading up on the lessons we could be learning from Japan's "Lost Decade". The parallels between their 10+ year economic slump and our current situation are alarming.
I think the way to play this is to keep your ear to the grindstone and make the sensible, value-based decisions. This is why Buffet is loaded from investing in brands like Coca-Cola and avoiding these unintelligible financial products put together by some 22 year old trying to win a hedge fund lottery. When the dust settles on this, all the people out there who were "too cheap" to spend their money on bottle service and marque-brand discretionary purchases will be the big winners. The "$30k Millionaire" is all smoke and mirrors; that will only become more and more painfully evident in the coming years once their employers wise-up and start firing them.
Buy McDonalds, buy China, and short steakhouses, Ed Hardy, strip joints, law schools, Vegas, art, high-end retailers, golf, "ultra-lounges", timeshares, Grey Goose, auto manufacturers, sushi, travel agencies, wine bars, high-rise condos, American women, and anything else your neighbor with the popped collar thinks he needs or deserves.
There's still plenty of pork left in the system.
-------------------
Visiting my sister in Phoenix on Friday and then off to Vegas for the Deep Stack Extravaganza Main Event next Monday ($2.5k). "One time" yada yada yada...
3 Comments:
I enjoy the blog, keep on chip stacking my friend and I can't wait to one day see you win at the big table! Hope things are well!
I read this and really couldn't agree more with everything you said.
Love the 3-bet with air more often pf. I've always been a fan of doing this.
See ya this weekend.
-Dubs
I can't even read this shit. Its like you're speaking japanese to me.
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