I've been keeping stats on my poker game for years, but recently I've started writing notes after particular sessions. I'm finding it helpful to immediately sit down after a session and write about the hands I've played and the people who were a part of the game.

I've taken notes while at the table, too, though it intimidates some players. I don't want to influence the players around me, so when I take notes it's done quietly and carefully so as not to disturb anyone. If someone asks about what I'm writing, I joke about it and say "it's about work." If players know I'm taking notes about them or the hands I'm playing then it sends a signal that I'm taking the game seriously and they might pay more attention and play harder against me.

Here is a excerpt from an session back in August:

August 28, 2009

I'm not sure what else I can do but keep on playing the best I can. I'm not catching any cards and the number of losing sessions is beginning to add up. I really don't think I'm playing badly. I'm sticking to playing only high +EV hands, in position, and not getting trapped post flop in situations. I've done a much better job of paying attention to pot sizes and not paying off when I'm pretty sure I'm beat. I've got to continue to improve my post flop play.

*I started out on Table 2 in the back, the M Casino, and had nothing to play but blinds for the first hour. An obnoxious man and his wife joined the table. He sat with the chair backwards, legs spread, arms splayed onto the table like an octopus. He would fling his cards at the dealer or at the community cards at showdown and really got on my nerves. I also don't like husband/wife teams or couples playing at the same table. I moved after a few hands to another table up closer to the front of the room. I was much more comfortable and immediately won a couple of nice pots on junk hands from the blinds.

*I missed flops all night, with the few pocket pairs I had and the numerous suited connectors I played. I must have played a dozen suited connectors, mostly in middle position or later, and missed every one...no four cards to a flush the entire night. I had open ended straight draws entirely miss. On the other hand, I had J-6o in the blinds and won my largest pot of the night. Later I had J-6s and thought "what the hell" and saw a cheap flop. I flopped a J-high flush with that hand and won a small pot heads up. My strongest hands (AKo, AQo, etc.) all missed the flops, but I won with J-6 twice. Go figure.

*The last hour I was getting tired, sleepy, and frustrated and probably should have quit sooner. I tried to buy a couple of pots, dumb plays, and knew it was time to call it quits for the evening. On the last hand I missed an OES draw, playing the button, and decided that was it. I was getting snippy and frustrated and began to verbally express my disappointment. Not a good sign.

When a Dealer Plays at Your Table

He sat down two places to my right and immediately began talking. He didn't stop talking until the table broke about an hour later. I noticed he was a dealer at the casino, off duty and looking to kill some time.

It's not unusual to find dealers playing at the casino in which they work. In Las Vegas, especially in the old days, playing at the table was part of their regular shift as dealers. They filled in the empty seats to keep live ones in the seats. The dealers would play until they were needed for work, or if business was slow, they would play awhile and then go home.

So when this dealer-talker sat down in the one seat it wasn't an issue. I must admit I feel a little uncomfortable about it, being naturally suspicious about cheating and collusion. Will the dealer be treated to some nice cards by his pal who is currently dealing the game? Does the dealer/player have an edge over the regulars at the table because he has seen them play for months, even years, and thus knows their tendencies and style?

When a dealer sits down to play, my radar goes up. I become more attentive to his play and if I get a sense that he has killed what was once a good table, then I'll get up and leave or change tables. It would be rare and very unusual for any collusion between dealers, but it's always a possibility. For the most part, casinos don't care about me--I have to look out for myself. So if I get any hint of collusion or cheating, I'll simple get up and leave.

In this particular case, the dealer was a big mouth. He would give running commentary after every hand, commenting on his reasoning for the plays he made. To make matters worse, he got on a rush and won numerous hands in a row. In one span, he showed AA, AQ, KQ, KK, QQ, flopped a straight and two-pair, and almost doubled his money in about 20 minutes. It wasn't long before the players at the table left, one after one, until there were only three of us left alone with this dealer-talker.

I was the next one to leave, then the table busted. Looking back on it, it was pretty obvious this guy destroyed the nice game we had going. I'm not saying he was cheating. More than likely, he got lucky. And since he was an employee at the casino, a dealer, and a big mouth, I understand why the players abandoned the table.

As I move up to the higher limits, when more money is at stake, these kinds of issues are going to become more important. Part of my education as a poker player is to consider more than the cards I play. I must also evaluate the players and the "texture" and "environment" of the game.

I've been playing a bit more this month, not only here in Tucson, but also visiting the poker rooms at the Wild Horse Pass Casino and Casino Arizona. The Wild Horse is located just south of Phoenix off Interstate 10. Casino Arizona has two locations (I saw two anyway) and the one I played in was located on Indian Bend Road at Loop 101 in Scottsdale.

The poker room at the Casino Arizona is huge. I played on a Saturday night and they had over 50 tables going, spreading every game imaginable at various stakes. It's a non-smoking room, a plus, and very roomy. The Wild Horse is a smoke-fest, however. I signed a petition to turn the room smoke-free, so I imagine it will become a non-smoking room soon. I played on a Friday night and coughed my way through a haze of smoke to make some nice money (the players at my particular table were horrible).

I was going over my recent play and trying to figure out the leaks I have in my game. What I came up with was this:

1. I try to buy too many pots, hoping my opponents will fold. I've got to remember that at the lower limits most players are either a.) too poor a player to know they are supposed to fold, or b.) don't mind spending a small amount of money chasing after a miracle. I've been too aggressive trying to buy pots from bad players. Therefore, to correct the leak, I will check or fold on the river when I'm beaten rather than try to aggressively buy the pot.

2. This is related to number one above: I've got to know when I'm beaten and be willing to fold. I don't "chase" after miracle cards. I use pot odds, implied odds, and pot equity help determine when to seek a river card. However, I sometimes try to push my luck and think my hand is stronger than it really is. I need to do a reality check on the turn and river and ask myself, "Is this hand really that strong?"

3. I need to count the number of bets in a hand more consistently. Sometimes I get lazy and generally know how much money is in the pot, but I need to accurately count the number of bets and pay more attention to pot size. Counting bets (instead of figuring dollar amounts) is the best approach because this skill can easily be transferred to higher limit games without any trouble. I count the number of small bets preflop and on the flop. Then convert them (divide by two) into the number of big bets for the turn and river. When I'm not in a hand, I practice accurately counting the bets and congratulate myself by telling the winner, "Hey, nice pot...you just won $74!"

4. This leak is probably my worst: I have a big mouth. I've got to watch my attitude and mouth, especially when I lose to a bad player who has just sucked out to crack my Aces. I must control my emotions and my tongue. No one likes a sore loser or sour attitude. I don't want to be a Phil Hellmuth disciple and have people despise me. Most people don't mind losing to someone they like. I want to be liked so bad players will continue to give me money and not feel bad about it.

5. In general, I need to be more aggressive with raises preflop. The value you receive by raising rather than calling makes aggresive play more profitable. Most limpers will call a raise, so you can easily double the preflop pot size by just raising one bet. The one problem to avoid, however, is to build such a huge pot that you price players in who have straight and flush draws. There's a balance to be found there, somewhere. For example, if I've got suited cards and want to justify chasing a flush, a preflop raise may be a good idea. Raising for one bet with six limpers automatically guarantees that you have seven big bets in the pot preflop. On the other hand, if I have KK or AA, I may want to just call rather than raise. Playing "small" preflop with monsters will delay the pot odds for anyone looking to hit a straight or flush with their connectors and suited cards. With position postflop, maybe you can force players with draws out of the hand with a two bet reraise.

Marathon Session and My First Milestone

mile·stone, –noun
1. a stone functioning as a milepost.
2. a significant event or stage in the life, progress, development, or the like of a person, nation, etc.: Her getting the job of supervisor was a milestone in her career. (from dictionary.com)

_______________________________________________________

I played an 11-hour session yesterday and surpassed my first real milestone in this game: I have now played more than 1,000 hours of poker in live in a casino setting, primarily small stakes limit hold'em.

I once heard a professional player say that a person needs at least 3,000 hours of live play before considering themselves a serious player. So, I guess I'm one-third of a serious player...working my way to that 3,000 hours milestone.

When I sat down at the table yesterday at the Casino del Sol in Tucson, I had played 994 hours since I began tracking my sessions on a spreadsheet back in July, 2006. I needed six hours to surpass the 1,000-hour mark. The clock said it was 12:10 p.m. when I began...therefore, at 6:10 p.m. last night, January 4, 2008, I hit the 1,000-hour mark.

As I look at my spreadsheet, I see I have played 1,005 hours. This does not include the hours I've played online, though I no longer play online because it's too boring. Online poker gave me a way to learn the game, and I tracked over 12,000 hands online dating back to 2005. But I have no desire to sit alone in a room and play online poker ever again. I love sitting in a room full of players, the noise of chips riffling in the air, dealers joking around. Poker in its most vital, symbolic and purist form is played in a social context. A poker room with all of it's atmosphere and characters and silliness is what real poker is all about.

After 1,005 hours of play, I've logged the following stats:
*99 winning sessions, 118 losing sessions: a total of 217 sessions with a 45.6% winning rate.

My goal is to hit the 2,000-hour milestone this year. To play 1,000 hours I'll have to average 19-20 hours a week. By this time next year, I hope to see improvement in my hourly win rate. After all, the idea is to become a better player. Experience is the best teacher.

Concerning my 11-hour session last night, here's an exerpt from my session notes:

I played well for the most part. Just had no cards at all. I was tired late and got grumpy…began to complain a bit when beat…must keep a check on my emotions and not berate or complain or gripe…even when I get tired. If I start to bitch and gripe, it's a sign to think about quitting. I bought in for a total of $250, and actually was back up to about $235 late...very up and down. I could not gain any momentum. Missed flops, lousy starting hands, and others sucking out to beat me. Just one of those days.

On Luck: Life Is Not About Breaking Even

luck (luhk) a noun.
1. the force that seems to operate for good or ill in a person's life, as in shaping circumstances, events, or opportunities: With my luck I'll probably get pneumonia.
2. good fortune; advantage or success, considered as the result of chance: He had no luck finding work.
3. a combination of circumstances, events, etc., operating by chance to bring good or ill to a person: She's had nothing but bad luck all year. 4. some object on which good fortune is supposed to depend: This rabbit's foot is my luck.

“The mystery of poker, and so it’s infinite fascination, lies in the element of chance, otherwise known as luck. The art of the game lies in minimizing it.” Anthony Holden, Bigger Deal

“Life, after all, is not about breaking even.” see above.

I recently read an article in Poker News concerning luck. Luck is the most talked about topic in poker, and everyone has there own opinion of the subject. It seems to be an attempt to explain away the fortunes and misfortunes of a life filled with randomness. Is it possible for luck to be "good" and "bad", or is it nonsense to apply such adjectives to a word that really describes nothing?

Poker players love to talk about luck. Last night I was talking with Norm, a regular player at my table, and I had this conversation:

Me: "That river card was horrible. I've played nothing but premium hands and still can't win a pot. Poker is the one game where you can make no errors and still have your ass handed to you by some nitwit who makes nothing but mistakes."

Norm: "I know what you mean. It's because this game is all about luck."

Is poker a game of luck, skill, or a combination of both? As Phil Hellmuth famously said, "If it weren't for luck, I'd win every hand." The luck/skill debate is at the center of many late night discussions, home game arguments, and court cases. The IRS sees poker as a game of skill for their purposes, allowing players to write off their loses and be taxed on their winnings as income. On the other hand, many states classify poker as a game of luck and is thus gambling, and therefore illegal in their jurisdiction.

The article made this point: play your best game by making the best choices you can; make the right decisions, and never consider luck a part of your game. You cannot control luck, either good or bad. Just make the right decisions and improve your skill. These are things you can control.

Luck is also involved, naturally, in almost every area of life. Is it luck you were hired for that great job, or was is it skill? Is it bad luck when someone gets cancer? We've all heard about the 100-year-old three-pack-a-day cigarette smoker. Is it good luck they beat the odds? Why do some people seem to always win in contests, drawings, the lotto? Maybe life itself is all luck.

What good is having a skill if you die in a traffic accident? Maybe it takes skill to survive a life of random events that can either kill you or bless you. Maybe the skill of looking both ways before crossing the street is a metaphor for making it through each day unscathed by forces out of our control, forces for both good and evil, the great unseen events that randomly effect our future. We look both ways before we cross the street hoping to cheat fate and put the odds in our favor for a long life.

I like the idea the article writer set forth: never consider luck a part of your game. This is good advice for poker players, both at the table and away from it.


Some famous quotes:

"The only sure thing about luck is that it will change." Bret Harte (1836-1902)

"I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

"Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." Ralph Waldo Emerson, US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)

"Luck is what you have left over after you give 100 percent." Langston Coleman

"Luck, bad if not good, will always be with us. But it has a way of favoring the intelligent and showing its back to the stupid." John Dewey, US educator, Pragmatist philosopher, & psychologist (1859 - 1952)

"There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe." Robert Heinlein, "Time Enough for Love", US science fiction author (1907 - 1988)

"Successful people are very lucky. Just ask any failure." Michael Levine, Lessons at the Halfway Point