The Law

I needed money 'cause I had none,
I fought the law and the law won        The Clash (The Crickets)

   A few weeks ago I decided to check out the legal position regarding the playing of online poker in New Zealand. I don't recall what sparked this enquiry, but it wasn't hard to find the information I needed online. The situation seems pretty straightforward. It's illegal to run an online gambling site from within New Zealand. It's illegal to advertise online gambling sites in this country. But it is not illegal to play online poker. According to the Department of Internal Affairs website (www.dia.govt.nz/Gambling),  'It is not illegal for someone in New Zealand to participate in gambling over the Internet if that website is based overseas.' The site then goes on to warn of the possible dangers of playing for money on sites that are not covered by New Zealand law. This is pretty much what I expected. However the situation for live games is a little more complex.
   Before I go any further, let me make something clear. I am not a lawyer. I have no legal training nor any expertise whatsoever in legal matters. What follows is a summary of my understanding of the law as it relates to poker in New Zealand. Most of this information comes from the Department of Internal Affairs website mentioned above. I am not qualified in any way to offer advice on gambling law and anyone reading this should bear this in mind. Is that clear?
   Apart from casino games, which are in a different category altogether, poker games fall into one of four categories of 'gambling activity'.
   Private Gambling. This  covers any game played in a private residence: in other words, home games. Basically, no-one can profit from the game. There can be no rake, entry fee, commission or any other charge on players, and all stakes must be paid out. Apart from this, the game must not be advertised. So you can invite your mates around for a home game as long as you don't advertise it to all and sundry. Interestingly, there is no limit on the size of the prize pool in these types of games. Also, it must be 'primarily a social event'. I don't know how you could possibly make a judgement on that; isn't any live poker game a social event?
  Class 1 Gambling. This category of poker game is any that is held at a venue other than a private dwelling and where the total prize pool is less than $500. Once again, all prize monies must be paid out and no-one can profit from running the game. The rules and condition of the game must also be clearly spelt out to the participants. These types of games can be run either by an individual or by a 'society' (e.g. a club). However games run by a society have to meet special conditions, which also apply to class 2 games. So for all intents and purposes, class 1 games are those run by individuals.
   Class 2 Gambling. Any gambling activity where the prize pool is greater than $500 can only be run by a society for the purpose of raising money for 'authorised purposes'. The prize limit is $5000 and, unlike the other two game types, money MUST come out of the prize pool. This money goes to 'charitable or other purposes beneficial to the community'. There is a list of approved purposes on the DIA website. As before, no individual can profit from the running of the game.
   Class 3 Gambling. Any game where the prize pool exceeds $5000 must also be run by a society as above and also requires a licence from the DIA.

   I first checked out these rules a few years ago when I decided to run a poker cash game up at my club. Along with a fellow home game regular, I looked into the legal requirements, then we set up a Class 2 game by first getting the approval of the club committee. The charitable aspect was pretty simply done: we charged entrants a 10% surcharge on top of their buy-ins and that money was donated to charity. We did it this way because we thought the prize pool might go over the $500 mark but as it happened we only got 5 or 6 players in each session, which kept the stakes well under that level. Since then I've had a casual interest in the level of compliance of the various games that I've played in. It turns out that most of them have been more or less within the law.
   A few years ago my wife used to play in a monthly pool tournament held in a 'garage club' in South Auckland. I used to go along as a supporter (mainly supporting the bar) and sometimes joined in a poker game that was often played at this venue. This game was run by L, the owner of the venue. There was generally a house rake of one minimum bet for each hand. So the blind bet (usually $2) went to the house, which amounted to quite a bit over a few hours of play. Of all the games I've played in, this one would be the farthest outside the law.
   The home game that I used to hold at my place was kind of in a grey area. We also used to collect the blind bet for the host, which on the face of it is illegal. However it's not that simple.  Firstly, although the game was generally held in my home, the 'host' changed with each round. Each of the people in our group took a turn at being the designated host and collected the 'kitty' at the end of the evening. What's more, the designated host was expected to provide snacks for everyone, and also finger food for supper. Paying for this usually took up a big chunk of the money collected. So although this game didn't comply with the letter of the law, I think it was more or less in line with intention of the law.
   As for the games that I've played in that have been held in pubs and clubs, they've generally been pretty straight (with the possible exception of National Pub Poker League games). I guess it pays to stay on the right side of the law when you could end up losing your liquor licence. The game I used to play in at the Phoenix Tavern was a Class 1 game and, apart from a couple of special games, all the prize pool was paid out. And the one that I'm playing in now on Friday nights is a Class 2 game and as far as I'm aware, the ten per cent that comes out of the prize pool goes to charity as required.
   The one area where a lot of these games don't measure up is in providing information to the participants about the rules and conditions. It may be a bit of a hassle for the organisers, but I'd like to see someone get up at the start and briefly go through the game structure, prizes, and any relevant rules and conditions of play. But that's a small criticism. Overall, I'm pretty happy with the games that I'm currently playing in, whether live or online. It's nice to be able to play a little poker without the authorities breathing down your neck.



  

Stud

  Oh, Red went and bought himself a monkey
  Got him from a pawn shop broker
  Taught that monkey how to guzzle beer
  And he taught him how to play stud poker        The Coasters

   I've been playing Fixed Limit Seven Card Stud online for nearly five months now, having first started back in March. I'd never played this game before so I decided I'd better start by just dipping my toe in the water. So, having read a little on Stud strategy, I started out by playing in the play money games on PokerStars. After a couple of sessions playing for 'funny money' I started observing the real money games and then, finally, actually started playing at the lowest possible level; the 4c/8c game. So I was committing $US2.00 of my hard-earned cash to each session (ie 50 blinds).  I decided to adopt this cautious approach after getting a bit of a caning in the previous two 'new games' that I'd tried my hand at. The idea was to lose as little as possible.

   There's not a lot of information out there on this game but I read as much as I could find. Most articles are aimed at mid to high stakes play, not the loose tables you find at the micro level online. But the general consensus seemed to be to play good starting hands hard, to limp in with drawing hands and to play tight. In other words, the same sort of general advice you'll get for Holdem or any other poker variant. But one important difference between Holdem and Stud is that you can see most of your opponents' cards, which helps in deciding whether your drawing hands are 'live' or 'dead'. So when I started playing I concentrated on limiting the number of times I entered the pot by playing a reasonably tight starting hand range and avoiding playing drawing hands where many of the 'outs' were already gone.
   I soon found that Seven Card Stud games at this level are just as loose as other poker games at micro stakes.  Typically most players will limp in to see 4th Street and then check or call all the way to 7th St, always hoping to make a winning hand on the next street. You don't usually see any betting or raising until someone has made a hand, and then the raiser will get called all the way to 7th St by several players. Betting or raising with a good starting hand does little if anything to reduce the field and stop players from drawing out on you. In fact, the vast majority that go to showdown are won by hands that were made on 7th St. Typically, someone chases a made straight to the final street and then hits a full house, or someone with nothing but a pair of Queens makes a backdoor flush on 7th. This can be very frustrating. I've lost count of the number of times I've had the best hand up until 6th St then been outdrawn on 7th.
   Having said all that, on occasion I've come across an odd phenomenon where players start behaving in a completely contrary manner. Sometimes when I raise on 3rd St with a good starting hand I find myself in a raising and re-raising battle with two or more other players. Then, if I bet again on 4th St it starts again. By the time I get to 5th, I'm slowing down in fear of what the other players might have. Invariably I find if these hands reach showdown that the other players had nothing. Call me paranoid, but it's almost as if there is some sort of secret 7-Stud players' agreement to punish the 3rd St raiser. "How dare you raise on 3rd St when we just want to draw to showdown". The most memorable time this happened to me was when I had 999 on 3rd St, a MONSTER starting hand, and one player kept re-raising me, even though he was only showing a 5. By the time this had gone on for a few rounds I was sure he must have started with 555, or at least AA5. It turned out that he had something like J85 (not suited)! Weird.

 One good thing about playing Stud on Pokerstars is the hand replay feature. Players can choose a setting that automatically mucks their hand if they lose at the showdown. That way, other players don't get to see what they had. But it turns out that if you use the hand replay feature, you get to see the content of hands that were mucked at showdown. I've found this to be a very useful feature. You can pick up a lot of good information on the sort of hands people were playing by going back and checking the hand replay.                                                                                                          

   I've played in 16 money games so far, the first one of which was on the 10th April. In the early period, from March to May I had more losing than winning sessions and registered a net loss. This was no surprise, given that I was just getting started. In the next three month period I also lost more games than I won, but I actually ended up with a net win. This was somewhat surprising to me, as I remember the losses a lot more than I remember the wins. I guess the wins were just bigger than the losses. However, I'm not jumping for joy just yet. This game is proving to be very difficult to master and my last four sessions have looked like this: L L W L.

   This is my third year of playing a new version of poker. The first was Pot Limit 6-max Omaha and the second was Fixed Limit 6-max Texas Holdem. I found both these game types to be difficult to master. Omaha is a game of big hands and big draws. Typically, pots are won by two pair or better, with straights and flushes turning up much more frequently than in Texas Holdem. And players often have big draws that they chase all the way to the river. In Fixed Limit Holdem it's very difficult to bet drawing players out of the pot. This is because the fixed limit structure almost always gives the callers the right odds. So you get a lot of chasers following you to the river. Seven Card Stud seems to combine the worst features of these two games. On the one hand it features big hands and big draws and on the other, players usually have the odds to chase their draws, especially in an eight handed game. In short, Seven Card Stud is a devilish mix of the worst possible features of other poker variants.
   Nevertheless, I intend to persevere and keep trying to find the key to successful Stud play. At least I had the good sense to start playing at the micro level. So I have a very simple short term goal for this game; to have enough wins to justify moving up to the next level. If I can start playing 5c/10c Stud, then I'll really know that I've made it.
  

August Journal, Part Two

   Sometimes it seems like winter's end
   The weeks they just go on like a friend of mine     Texas

Monday 19th. Online 7 Card Stud.
   Too busy to play poker on the weekend, so squeezed a session in on Monday evening. Went in with no particular plan. Tried identifying the most successful players by monitoring their stack sizes, but there were too many variables to keep track. Played for three hours, had a small loss.

Tuesday 20th. Online SitNGo session.
   Had a sudden rush of enthusiasm to play some more poker.
*Game 1. Mid-game I hit the nut straight on the flop. Player 4 bets, I re-raise and he goes all-in with pocket 7s and a straight draw. I double up. I have a big stack for most of the game but gradually it dwindles until I have the smallest of the four remaining stacks. To my surprise, the three others all go all-in and I'm left in the top two. The remaining player has a massive chip stack and I can't beat him. Second place.
*Game 2. In this one I had a player to my left who kept quoting statistics about the odds of various hands improving. Not many good hands at first. I'm the short stack by the time I make the top four but careful, conservative play gets me across the bubble. After a long heads-up battle I make first place.
*Game 3. A very loose, passive table, with many players limping in pre-flop. I hit trips twice in a row, both times with hands that I would have folded to a pre-flop raise, and end up doubling up. In the end I cruise into the money and take out first place.
   A very good session; possibly the best SitNGo session I've ever had.

Wednesday 21st. Online SitNGo session.
   Only two games in this session.
The first is quite an active game. I don't get much traction and then lose a lot of chips trying to bluff the table (poker rule #7: you can't bluff the table). The second game starts well but then I lose a lot when my hand keeps improving - from top pair to two pair to a flush - and I re-raise a player who has a better flush (poker rule # 12: don't raise a player if you're only going to get called by a better hand). But I claw my way back into the running with a couple of good all-ins. Eventually I make the top two with the biggest stack but it's a real arm-wrestle. Finally I lose an all-in with my A8 vs Q7. This second place finish gives me a small profit overall. Two winning SitNGo sessions in a row! Things are looking up.

Friday 23rd. Live Tournament.
  I go into this tournament with a strategy to deal with all the loose calls. I've decided that I'm willing to raise up to 5% of my stack to protect my good hands pre-flop. Things start out pretty well and I drag in some decent pots. Then I lose about half my stack when I raise with AK and get called by K8 and my opponent (a notorious calling station) hits two pair on the flop. I reach the late stages with less than ten big blinds but there are a number of players with even shorter stacks. So I play conservatively and manage to hang on and reach the final table. In the top eight with an average stack I raise with QQ and the big stack re-raises all-in. Having committed about one quarter of my stack, I call and he turns over AT. There's an Ace on the flop and that's the end of my game. Not only does the player who knocked me out go on to win, but he overtakes me on the Ten Week Challenge leader board. Damn.

Saturday 24th. Online 7 Card Stud.
   Just for a change, I manage to find some spare time on the weekend for a poker session, so I play some 7 Stud in the afternoon. Once again I have no idea what sort of strategy might work, so I decide to play it by ear. Things start out poorly but after a while I win some good pots and after 4 hours of play I've more than doubled my buy-in. For now I'm just putting it down to dumb luck because I really can't see that I'm playing any differently than before.
   Unusually for Pokerstars, there is quite a lot of chat during this game, with a fair bit of joking around between me and two others. Then one of them suffers a bad beat when he loses a big pot to another player who hits quads on 7th street. So the loser goes ballistic and starts abusing the other player and ranting on for ages. Eventually he calms down a bit but that pretty much kills the friendly vibe of the table. I wonder how some of these people would behave in a live game?
   Hands where I saw 4th street: 46%
   Hands that went to showdown: 11%  (22 times)
   Hands won at showdown: 68%
   Hands won without showing: 11

Wednesday 28th. Online SitNGo session.
   This Wednesday night session turns out to be a real struggle. Can't seem to hit anything in the first two games and when I do, someone else has something better. Trying to bluff a draw chaser out of the pot in game 1 doesn't help (poker rule #1: you can't bluff a donkey). I end up all-in against AJ in both games, the first time with KQ and the second time with a desperate K8 push. I lose on both occasions, finishing 6th and 7th.
   Game 3 features lots of early knockouts. By the time we reach the fourth blind level (50/100) there are only three players left. I start as one of three small stacks against one huge stack but manage to work my way back up. I go into heads up play on roughly even terms and end up coming second after pushing all-in with 77 vs AK. In game 4 I double up early on then play fairly tight in the mid stages. But I lose a lot of chips when I decide that my pocket sevens are good with 3 Kings on the board, only to discover that my opponent has paired his Ten for a better full house. Oops. But I still manage to limp into the money, coming third, and coming out of the session with a very small profit.

Friday 30th. Live Tournament.
   There are 29 players at the tourney this week and the organisers have made it a Turbo; a stack to blind ratio of 3000/400 gives me less than 80 Big Blinds to start with and the levels increase every 12 minutes. I know I have to get into a lot of pots in the early stages but I'm coming up with nothing and by the time we hit the first break I'm down to about 15 BBs. Then a player raises the minimum pre-flop and I push all-in with AKs. He calls with his 99 and I hit an Ace and double up. Things improve from there and I manage to stay around the level of the average stack. The rapid increase in the blinds means that by the time we are down to the last 15 players the BBs are 10k and the average stack is 70k! So there are a lot of short stacks in the game. By the time I reach the final table some of the remaining players are nursing stacks that amount to just 3 or 4 BBs. I cruise into the money then play my way into the top two.
   Heads up, I'm up against R, the same guy I got into the top two with last time. But it's only 11pm and there's no splitting the prize pool this time. We each have about 6 Big Blinds so we know the game's not going to go on too long. After swapping chip stacks back and forth for a few hands R lets me check my Big Blind with 84 and we see a flop. I hit middle pair with my 8 and push all-in. R calls with a straight draw and 2 overcards. He pairs his Queen on the turn and the river is no help. I take second prize again and regain my lead on the Ten Week Challenge ladder. Maybe I should change my opinion on turbo tournaments.
  












  

August Journal, Part One

   Woke up, fell out of bed,
   Dragged a comb across my head...            The Beatles

Friday 2nd. Live Tournament
   I went to the Texas Holdem Tourney at the Workingmen's Club, as per usual. Started out well when I hit a full house early on, but after that my hands were just not connecting. Every time I got an ace, it got beat. By the middle stage my stack was almost to the all-in-or-fold level. Then I hit the nut flush a couple of times and chipped up. They started the tournament with 30 minute blind levels, then they dropped down to 20 minutes. My wife was knocked out in 8th place. By the time we reached the bubble (5 players paid) I had less than 10 big blinds left. Managed to limp into the money. Then with 5 players left I had a couple of good collects (one of them another flush). I became the big stack bully and cruised into the top two. It was nearly midnight by this stage so we split the prize pool and I went home with $182. Nice.

Monday 5th. Online SNG session.
   I had a day off work so decided to play a few $5.50 SitNGos on 888poker.
1. Bad decision. Early in the game I call an all-in river bet with 2 pair and get beaten by a flopped straight. Left with just 1 1/2 big blinds. I go all-in and hit a straight on the turn with four other players in the pot. Then there is a straight on the board on the river and the pot is split five ways! I get knocked out a couple of hands later, 8th out of 9.
2. Arm wrestle.  One of those games where everyone hangs on and the blinds get big with 5 or 6 short-stacked players still in the game. I get off to a bad start, down to all-in-or fold mode. Then I double up and hang around among the shorter stacks, just trying to stay out of trouble. With the BB at 500 (they start at 20) and 5 players still in, three players go all-in and I make the money. But with only 3 BB left, the best I can manage is 3rd.
3. Running good. I double up after getting top pair and calling big bets all the way to the river, where I hit a straight. Turns out the opposition was betting on a flush draw that never came in. I'm to the right of an aggressive player who raises a lot when he's the big stack, then starts going all-in a lot when his stack gets downsized. Eventually I call his pre-flop all-in with AQ and beat his A7. I cruise into the money as the big stack then have a long heads-up battle before finally taking out first prize.
4. Oops. I pick up AK in the first hand and raise to 4x the BB. One player re-raises and there are 3 callers (!) so I 4-bet it and he calls. The flop is something like 3 6 9. The opposition puts in a big bet and, foolishly, I re-raise all-in. He calls with QQ and I leave the game with egg on my face.
5. Roller coaster. I start out well but then lose a lot of chips trying to bluff a persistent player with middle pair. By mid-game I'm down to 5 BBs but chip up with some successful all-ins. I cross the bubble in 3rd position but a series of poor hands and poor decisions result in a 3rd place finish.
   My first winning session for this game type for quite a while. Hoping to keep up the momentum.

Wednesday 7th. Online 7 Card Stud.
   My regular Wednesday poker night. I go into this low level 7 Card Stud session on Pokerstars with the aim of playing tight. I want to see 4th St (the equivalent of seeing the flop in Holdem) less than 40% of the time. I also aim to chase draws only when I have the right pot odds and always be aware of the number of 'lost outs' - cards that could help me but are showing in someone else's hand. After a while I find that betting when I'm showing a big card and everyone else is checking is usually profitable. I get off to a good start and stay ahead for quite a while. 2 1/2 hours in and my percentage for seeing 4th St goes above 40. Three hours in and my stack drops below my original buy-in. After 4 hours I finish slightly behind. I seldom come out ahead at this game.
Hands where I saw 4th St: 43%
Pots won at showdown: 50%
25 pots won without showdown.

Friday 9th. Live Tournament.
   Back to the 'Workies' again. My wife and I turn up and find that there are 32 players this week, a new record. This game is one of a series of ten and players who make the final table (top 10) each week get points for their finishing position. The overall points winner after ten weeks gets a cash prize. I discover that I am currently in first place on the points table. Nice.
   As for the game, I get nowhere fast. My best pre-flop hands all night are A9 and 99. I pick up the A9 in my first hand and raise. I get re-raised and fold. My opponent then shows he had AQ. It's always a bonus when you get free information. The 99 did much better. I ended up flopping a set of 9s vs a set of 3s. Collected a nice pot. But didn't get much more after that and ended up all-in with pocket 7s vs AK. Knocked out 18/32.
   My wife also got knocked out about the same time, but still managed to win some money. There is a jackpot each game for any player who gets quads (four of a kind) or a straight flush. You pay an extra $2 each week to be in this jackpot. My wife pays into this and she hit quad Aces. So we had to stay around to the end of the game to collect her money. There were quite a few 'rail birds' watching the game at the end. It's getting quite popular.

Wednesday 14th. Online SNG session.
   Normally I try to fit in a SNG poker session on the weekend, but it's not always easy to manage. As Fridays are now booked, I've decided to play alternate sessions of SNGs and 7 Stud online, regardless of the day.  So my Wednesday poker night this time is a SNG session on 888poker.
1. Very sticky players in this game - they just won't let go. I double up early with a set vs top pair. Then I lose a lot betting QQ hard when a chaser hits a straight on the river. 7/9
2. Early on I get AKs and end up 3 betting it. With an Ace and Queen on the flop I bet big and he calls. A Ten on the turn gives him a set and I end up all-in on the river with a losing hand. 9/9
3. This time it's my flopped top pair vs top set on the flop. I keep calling his bets and am all-in on the river. 8/9
4. I last longer in this one. I end up in a five-way arm wrestle. With fewer than 10 BB I try to trap my opponent when I flop 2 pair. But he turns a flush. Trapped myself. 5/9
5. Should have quit by this stage but decide to play just one more... I pick up chips here and there but am short-stacked towards the end, then get lucky with a couple of all-ins. Make the final three as the short stack, but manage to play my way into first position. Yay! 1/9
6. OK, one more... Lose a lot of chips by playing mid-strength hands from poor position (when will I learn?). With a short stack I limp in with a weak King. I go all-in when I hit top pair and am beaten by both callers; a flopped 2 pair (8 4) and a turned straight (A K). 8/9
   Another losing SNG session.

Friday 16th. Live Tournament.
   Another big turnout at the Workies: 31 players this time. They vary the starting stacks and blinds each week. This time we start quite deep with 150 BB. My first table has some VERY loose players who will call almost any pre-flop raise. I get a number of good starting hands, raise 3x the blind, and get called by virtually the whole table. For example: I raise with AQ, hit an Ace on the flop, and my big bets are called to the river by a player with J2s ! Of course he hits a flush on the river. Later, I knock him out when I get sick of my raises being called and limp in with JJ, only to hit a set on the flop. He calls my river all-in with middle pair. Haha. I do OK for a while but eventually get worn down and finish 13th.
   I'm trying to figure out the best way to play against such sticky players. Should I push my pre-flop raises higher to try and isolate one or two callers, even if it means committing a significant number of precious chips to just one hand? Or should I just limp in and hope my hand improves enough to beat all the other callers and take out a huge pot?  I have to decide how I'm going to approach this style of game in future. Now I've really got Friday on my mind.

Attitude Adjustment

Life is what happens to you
while you're busy making other plans.            John Lennon

www.kiwiology.co.nz
   A few months ago I decided to take a month's break from poker. This was in the middle of a prolonged downswing. My results changed from very good to very bad from April this year, and looked set to continue downhill indefinitely. Something similar happened about the same time last year and my winning margin had turned into a losing margin by the end of the year. In an effort to prevent this from happening again, I called a time out. I had become increasingly frustrated with my sudden change of fortune and figured that taking a break would do me good.
   Although I spent the time reading up on poker strategy and thinking about how to improve my game, I didn't actually play any poker during that period. It was actually surprising to me how easy it was to go a month without poker games. Although I missed playing, I managed to find plenty of things to fill my time; things I used to do before my poker obsession started. By the time that I returned to the game I was feeling refreshed and ready to play.
   But my plan to break my losing streak didn't work. I continued to lose in my online poker games in a fairly consistent manner. In fact, in July I had a run of 15 online SitnGo games without cashing even once. The Seven Card Stud games were just as bad, with a steady run of bad results, albeit at very low buy-in levels. But this time around, the string of losses didn't bother me. Each time I lost I just brushed it off and carried on. No worries. At first I figured that this new-found attitude would wear off in time, but it didn't. It appears to be a permanent attitude adjustment. Although my live poker tournament results were a bit better, the new attitude was also evident when things didn't work out. In my second live game, when I was in the top seven players and went all-in with pocket aces, only to be knocked out by someone who called me with Q2 offsuit, I just shook his hand and walked off with a smile. No worries.

   I've been trying to put my finger on what it is that's had such a drastic effect on my way of approaching the game. The more I think about it, the more I come to the realisation that it's about expectations. I think that one of the things that got me so annoyed about my poor form earlier was the contrast with the previous period of very good results. Since the beginning of the year my bankroll had been increasing slowly but steadily and I'd come to the conclusion that I'd finally figured out how to play SitnGos successfully. Going on a losing run even though I hadn't changed my strategy was a bit of a shock to the system. But coming back into the game, although I hoped to start winning again, I wasn't expecting to.
   On reflection, this all goes back to the time when I first started taking the game seriously. When I first started reading about poker it was something of a revelation that there were actually people who could make a living out of playing poker. I think it was always in the back of my mind that if I got good enough, I could be one of those people. As a result, I became very results driven. Even a casual look at my previous posts shows a pre-occupation with my results and the size of my bankroll. So whenever I posted a few losses it was a big problem and the more I tried to analyse my way out of the hole the worse my play got. It wasn't about the game anymore, but about the results.
   Having a break from poker has given me a new sense of perspective. I'm now much more relaxed about the games. I'm no longer obsessing about whether my bankroll is increasing and drawing graphs of my progress. That doesn't mean that I don't care about winning, just that I care less about losing. Most importantly, I'm enjoying playing like I used to and am focused on the game itself rather than the results. Of course I still try to improve my game and play as well as I possibly can. Playing poker is such a terrific challenge and there is always something new to learn. So that's what I concentrate on: learning to play the game as well as I possibly can and letting the results take care of themselves.

Going Live

      Today I might be mad,
      Tomorrow I'll be glad,
      I've got Friday on my mind.      The Easybeats

   As mentioned in my previous post, I've discovered a weekly live Texas Holdem tournament. This tourney is on a Friday night, and costs $20 to enter. My wife and I found out about this in late June and we've played five weeks in a row since then, although we're probably going to give it a miss this week as we have a pool competition on Saturday that starts quite early. If you make the money in this tourney (usually the top five) you're probably going to get home close to midnight. Typically there are 20 to 25 players involved, which means a total prize pool of around $500. So far I've finished 18th, 7th, 3rd, 6th and 5th, leaving me $20 down overall. I'm reasonably happy with this result although I think I need to work on my endgame a bit to get a better payout when I make the money.
   I'm impressed with the professional way in which this tourney is run. Firstly, it invariably starts on time, at 7pm. When I used to play in a tournament at a pub a couple of years ago, their 7pm start time usually became 8pm or later. The current tourney organisers also use tournament management software, displaying all the relative information on a big screen for everyone to see. It's good to be able to look up and see when the next break is, when the blinds go up next and by how much, how many players are left in, what the average stack size is and so on. Also, they usually manage to find someone to do the dealing once the numbers get down to the last three or four. I discovered last week that ten percent comes out of the prize pool for a charitable donation. This is a requirement under New Zealand's gaming laws, and is not much different from the standard ten percent game fee of most online tournaments. So overall, a very good event to be involved with.
  After playing online for so long, I didn't realise how much I missed playing live poker until I started up with this game. There's just nothing like sitting around a table with real live people, peeking at your hole cards and stacking up your chips. Although it's taken me awhile to get used to the duties of live play. You have to remember to post the blinds, not to act out of turn, to announce your raise, not make string bets and to refrain from commenting on the cards while the they are still in play, among other things. Unlike playing on a computer, you've got to do it all yourself.
   The people who play in this tournament are a pretty good bunch, all very friendly and have welcomed us into their game without reservation (even though my wife and I are not even members of their club - yet). Many of them have been playing for a while and know each others' play quite well. But I haven't come across anyone with a particularly intimidating playing style. Play is generally pretty loose and passive, especially in the early stages. For most of the players, it's all about the draw. Of course, being a club, there is a fair bit of drinking going on by some of the players, myself included. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that my lack of top two finishes has something to do with the cumulative effects of alcohol consumption, so I guess I'd better cut back a bit.
   Apart from this weekly tourney, we got involved in a monthly Texas Holdem tournament that involves a number of different clubs. This is a teams competition that is played once a month on a Sunday. Each club puts up an eight player team and they all play in a $20 entry tourney. Each person plays individually, in the usual way, but they also get points for their team, based on the position they finish in. Apparently some of the prize money goes into a separate pool that is paid out to the highest-scoring teams at the end of the year. As individual, non-team players can also participate, my wife and I both entered and played in this game. Oddly enough, it was held at our home club. It turns out that the poker players from our home club had been entering teams in this competition for some time, but this was the first time we'd ever heard about it. Anyway, my wife and I both went deeper into this tourney than any of our RSA team players managed, and I ended up making the top three out of a total of 59 players. We three split the prize pool and I walked away with $200. Nice.
   Despite this success, I'm not sure if I'll play in this monthly game again. A big chunk of the prize pool goes into the end-of-year pool, which amounts to a pretty big rake unless you are in a team and play in every tourney. Even then, any end-of-year payout would depend on how well your team-mates did. I just don't see poker as a team sport.
   But I will definitely be turning up at the Workingman's Club most Friday nights for the weekly poker tourney. My immediate goal is to take out first place and get a decent payout. But regardless of the results, even if I come up with a string of poor results, I think my Friday nights are booked for quite a while.

News Briefs

        What's the buzz?
        Tell me what's a-happening.           Jesus Christ Superstar

    Having taken a one month break from poker play in an effort to break my most recent losing streak, I am now back in the game. Although I haven't been playing poker, I've still been keeping in touch with the poker world in various ways:

SECRETS OF SITNGOS. I went down to the local library and got myself a poker book to study: Secrets of Sitngos. This was the only book I could find that dealt specifically with SitnGo tournaments, and I found it to be moderately useful. As usual it was aimed mainly at higher-level players but there were a few ideas that I found to be of interest. I particularly liked the end section, where particular scenarios were put forward and the reader was given the opportunity to answer a multiple choice question on what to do next. However much of the book was based on a theory called the Independent Chip Model or ICM, a mathematical model based on the assumed real-money value of tournament chips in different situations. This mathematical stuff went pretty much completely over my head and frankly, if being a good player in SitnGos is dependant on applying complex mathematical hand analysis, I guess I'll just have to keep swimming with the other fish.

POKER ON TV. I'm still watching Poker after Dark and The Big Game each week. In fact my wife and I have got into the habit of watching these shows over breakfast on Saturday and
Sunday mornings. The new 'loose cannon' (the amateur player) on The Big Game is doing pretty well, especially after doubling up through Phil Hellmuth. He's so far ahead of the other contenders now that he's basically shut up shop. He even folded pocket aces at one stage in order to preserve his big stack. Meanwhile I've found yet another poker show playing on Thursdays. This one covers the Aussie Millions tournament and one of the commentators is Aussie poker pro Joe Hachem. His comments about the play and what he thinks the players are going to do, or what they should do, are always interesting and insightful.

POKER SCHOOL. I also checked out the Poker Stars Poker School which looks to be a useful tool for learning about correct poker play. However I only read the first few sections, as I wanted to concentrate on the SitnGo book. I will get back to it sometime soon, but for now I'm concentrating on actually playing.

WSOP. The World Series of Poker is now in full swing and I've been checking out some of the results on www.wsop.com .  It's nice to be able to go to the website and see who's winning or losing in different events. They're even streaming some of the final tables live, with commentary. Last year they showed the Main Event live (delayed by about 10 minutes actually) on ESPN. I don't know if they're doing that again this year, but I think Day One starts tomorrow, so I'll be keeping an eye out. Actually, I may be approaching saturation point for Poker TV programmes.

LIVE TOURNEY. After searching high and low I've finally found a decent live poker tournament. It turns out that the Workingman's Club just up the road from the RSA where I usually hang out has been running a Texas Holdem Tournament every Friday night for the last three years. This tourney is $20 entry, no rebuys, no add-ons, no extra chips; just what I've been looking for. The entry fee is technically beyond my buy-in limit but I'm willing to bend my buy-in rules for the sake of being able to play in a live tourney. My wife and I have played for the last three weeks and intend to continue going up there pretty much every week. The first week I was eliminated 16 out of 18, week two I came in 7th and this week I made 3rd out of 26 and made my three buy-ins back.

NEW CONCEPTS. The book I previously mentioned introduced me to three new poker concepts.
   The ICM. The Independent Chip Model basically tells you how to act based on your chip stack and that of your opponents and a number of other factors. Apparently you can get software that does the calculations for you. I'm not really interested in going down this road. I had enough maths in school.
   Sharkscope. This is a website that gathers information on online players. You go to www.sharkscope.com , type in a player's username, and get a lot of information on their results from the tournaments they've played online. This could be potentially quite useful. I went to the site and discovered that 888 poker doesn't allow this sort of data mining so there is no info available for 888 players.  So I tried typing in my own username for Pokerstars, as I've played a couple of SitnGos on that site. The info that came up said that I'd played 1 SitnGo and 1 Omaha Pot-limit Tournament. I've never played an Omaha tournament in my life, so I guess the information available on this site is not entirely accurate.
    ROI. I've seen players refer to 'return on investment' before, as a measure of success in games, but never paid much attention to it. But having it explained in the SitnGo book has made me realise that it is a much better way of measuring poker success than my current method. It's very simple. ROI is just a measure of the amount won (or lost) as a percentage of the amount 'invested'. This provides a useful measure of results regardless of the buy-in level. I will definitely be re-assessing my record-keeping to accommodate this new concept.

NEW ATTITUDE. The online games I've played so far since my break have yielded very poor results. It seems that my losing streak is still alive and well, as far as online games go anyway. But the difference is that it's not bugging me anymore (at least not so far). I've come back into the game with a whole new attitude. Maybe I was getting so worked up over losing before because it was in contrast to my previous good results. Now, even though I'm losing consistently, and have actually dropped down a couple of levels in my SitnGos, I accept my losses with good humour and just keep trying. I seem to have gained a sense of perspective on my poker play that I didn't have before and I think that I will be re-assessing my whole approach to the game. But more on that later...