A Birthday Gamble

Date: Mon, Oct 31, 2011 Internet

A couple years ago, my wife got me a terrific birthday present. New video game? New car? A pony? No, no, and unfortunately no. My wife got me something that every married man with young kids needs: a well-deserved night out with a friend at a casino!

I'd visited the occasional casino online but had only been to a brick and mortar casino once prior to this birthday. My first casino visit took place back in 2005 for my bachelor party. At that time, poker was just beginning to gain in popularity. My local casino had a sea of slot machines and low EV table games but no poker.

When I visited the casino on my birthday, things had really changed. There was still a sea of singing slot machines being attended by the unwashed masses. A friend and I quickly passed by the flashing lights and glitz of the casino and soon found ourselves in the poker room. A dark, subdued setting filled with the clacking of chips, the riffle of cards, and the occasional groans or chuckles depending on how the cards fell.

I played a few hours of poker and walked away a hundred dollars richer. Nothing to write home about but it was nice. I even considered dropping some of my newfound wealth at a roulette table on the way out of the casino. I'd played a bit of online roulette once in attempt to test out one of my brother's "unbeatable" roulette strategies. Learning from my brother's misfortune (his strategy ultimately failed him), I decided to skip the roulette.

Being a gambler at heart, I did take a longshot chance on my way home from the casino. I stopped for a quarter pound burger at a restaurant around the corner from my house. A few games of roulette would have been a better bet as the midnight fast food ended up being the only gamble I lost that evening...

Read Full Blog Post

Enjoy Poker with Online Poker Sites

Date: Tue, Sep 20, 2011 Internet

OnlinePokerSites.com has officially made a statement for the launch of its UK Poker sites page with season cash games that are scheduled to begin by December 2011. The events are expected to take place by 23:00 GMT in the online world. When participating in these events it is certain that you might get to enjoy the game play along with a number of pro-poker players like Ian Frazer and Neil Channing. The UK Poker Sites for players from United Kingdom is aiming to go live for the events on Friday and shall be telecasting the events for next six weeks in a row. The moment you are watching the game play then it is certain that new players might get to learn a lot of poker skills from some of the top poker players from around the globe.

The show is believed to be one of its kinds that shall be telecast for the first time via Online Poker Sites. Apart from this show is also expected to be telecast repeatedly on other days of the week for six weeks. So the moment you missed out watching any of the events then you can still watch the repeat telecast. Richard Orford and Tony Kendall shall be anchoring the show by offering their services as presenter of the show. It is also believed that this show shall offer players a chance to see perfect blend of technology and skills in the game of poker. So you can expect lots of poker action in this show. The first season of the show is also expected to telecast a number of big poker players including Jamie Burland, Ian Frazer, Julian Thew, Sam Razavi and Carlo Citrone.

Read Full Blog Post

Book Smarts

Date: Fri, Jun 24, 2011 Internet

This poker thing's starting to get a little more serious again. I've been reading Professional No-Limit Hold'em since Monday. I also picked up a couple of books on Amazon, Small Stakes No-Limit Hold'em and Harrington on Online Cash Games. Amazon.com was able to ship those books from Phoenix to Ottawa (Canada) in less than 24 hours. Take that, Canada Post!

I was actually surprised at how many poker books have come out over the past year and a half. It's nice to see that the game I loved plodded along without me. I've actually put together a small list of 17 books that I'd like to buy. Sure - I could watch videos. But I love the feel of cracking open a new poker book and hoping that I'll pick up one or two good tips. I've also found that poker books help with my frequent insomnia - especially anything written by Sklansky. DUCY?

Plans for the weekend? Read some Harrington on Online Cash Games, play some Pinball FX 2, and play a little cash game hold'em. We'll see if I can put my recent study to good use at the $0.01/$0.02 tables. My bankroll's a joke right now but I'm hoping to turn things around soon.

Have a good one.

Read Full Blog Post

A Betting Man

Date: Tue, Jun 7, 2011 Internet

I'm taking my return to the world of online gaming pretty slowly. I typically get quite excited to play poker when I'm at work. But the bus ride home and four to five hours of time spent with my family is killing my desire to gamble. By the time 10 o'clock rolls around, I'd rather sit back and relax.

The major change taking place in my daily routine is the re-introduction of reading into my life. I was spending the bulk of my time watching video game trailers or movies on my PSP Go. I'm now doing my best to read up on backgammon and poker during my commute. It's my hope that a steady focus on game strategy and critical thinking will finally flick that switch in my head. If you're a regular poker player, you'll know the feeling I'm talking about. It's that insatiable desire to play as much poker as you can, review hand histories, and read any poker books you can get your hands on.

I played a bit of backgammon last night at PartyGammon. Free play, of course. I just don't have very much money online. I'm hoping that Party will throw me a bone at some point and allow me to play a few games on their dime.

Backgammon is fun, fast-paced and intense. I'm terrible at it but I'm learning. Backgammon feels the way poker did back in 2004 before poker became popular and before I lost my poker innocence. I'm hoping to hang on to this feeling as long as I can. I am hoping that continued study and regular backgammon play will improve my game to the point where I might stand a chance in a freeroll tournament.

As for poker, I did a quick check of online traffic last night. There are a lot of games running but nowhere near the record numbers of early 2006. Party Poker had about 9 tables of $25 NLHE running and a good number of limit hold'em games as well. Thankfully, the competition at the micro-stakes seems as bad as always. There may be hope for me yet.

I'm thinking of taking part in one of PokerSource's instant bankroll promotions to help me build up my online presence more quickly. A quick influx of $100 or more could get me back on pace to playing small stakes poker again sometime in the next year.

No matter what happens over the next little while, I'm approaching my re-introduction to poker (and backgammon) as a true learning experience. I lost the drive to play poker well. I stopped caring about the game and focused only on the money. And when you're playing small stakes poker, money is not a good motivator for someone with a full-time job.

If I were a betting man, I wouldn't wager a substantial sum on my return to online poker in the next week. But that time is coming fast. I only hope that I'm making the right decision in resurrecting poker's role in my life. I'm always up for a good challenge but I don't savour the reality of spending hours folding hands while losing my 'roll to rake, unlucky rivers, and poor play.

Read Full Blog Post

A New Day

Date: Thu, Jun 2, 2011 Internet

It's been a long time. A long time since posting anything to this site. And a very long time since I turned on my computer for the purpose of online gambling. Poker's a funny game. When you're into it, there's nothing else that you could imagine doing with your free time. But if you put the mouse down and try spending a little time enjoying other hobbies, poker becomes the furthest thing from your mind.

I've spent the better part of the past year playing video games. My free time is spent plowing through game after game in a desperate attempt to unwind from the daily grind of life. But I'm slowly reaching the point where I need to do a little more with my spare time. I'm getting a little worried that the constant gaming is starting to have a negative effect on my overall intelligence. I'm spending a little too much time "relaxing" and not enough time "thinking".

Despite the changes in the online poker market and poker's decreased popularity with the general population, I'm starting to feel that tickle in the back of my mind. I spent the better part of five years digesting all that I could about poker. I never made it big. I never went pro. I never learned to play the game very well. So why I am thinking about playing poker at possibly the worst time in online poker's short history?

I want to "think" again. I want to read books. I want to discuss poker with friends. I want to continue learning as much as I can about the game. I want to encourage others to take up poker. I want to pit my paltry skills against the faceless online community of poker players desperately clinging to an unpopular hobby like rats to a sinking ship.

It's not just poker that is clawing its way into my consciousness. I've also started watching World Series of Backgammon broadcasts on TV. That's right: the WSOB is a real thing! I don't quite understand where the strategy and skill comes into backgammon but I'm anxious to learn. I recently ordered a couple of books, Backgammon For Winners and Backgammon for Blood, to help me better understand backgammon. I might even try my hand at some online backgammon. I'll have to stick with freeroll backgammon tournaments as opposed to money games due to the ever-present bots and unchecked cheating going on in the online backgammon world but it's something I'm willing to try.

Were it not for the huge downside to online backgammon, I might never have considered taking up poker yet again. I haven't figured out whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. Poker can be the world's worst hobby if taken just seriously enough to care about the daily swings that are a fundamental part of the game.

I'm going to take things slow for now. Read some books, play some backgammon, and maybe squeeze in a couple of freeroll poker tournaments over the next month or two. My once mighty bankroll has been reduced to a paltry $50 so I don't have many options. Well, I could always deposit more money but that feels like cheating. If my return to poker is met with some early success and if I can regain some confidence in my poker ability, I could speed the recovery process with a quick influx of funds.

Hopefully things will go well. Above all else, I hope to be joined by millions of U.S. poker players online sooner rather than later. Things aren't looking good right now but there's always hope...

Read Full Blog Post

FTP Academy Challenge #2: Sit & Go By The Numbers

Date: Fri, Jul 23, 2010 Internet

I was able to quickly finish up the "Guide to Sit and Gos" challenge very quickly last night. All I had to do was a play a 9-handed, non-turbo, real-money sit 'n go. I ended up going out in 9th place during level 4 (50/100 blinds). My AA fell to a flopped set of 3's. As much as I hate going out in 9th, I think I played well and was happy to clear my first FTP Academy challenge.

Next up is Aaron Bartley's "Sit & Go By The Numbers" challenge!

This second challenge is a little more involved. There are five multi-part tasks that make up this challenge:

1. Don't finish in the bottom 3 spots in a 9-handed SNG. (x4)
2. Fold AJ, AT, A9, KQ, or KJ in early position with 7 or more active players left in a 9-handed SNG. (x2)
3. Go all-in wiht AQ,AJ, or AT with 5-6 players remaining in a 9-handed SNG.
4. Play a SNG where the buy-in for each SNG is no greater than 2% of my current Full Tilt Poker bankroll (~$200). (x5)
5. Pro Play: Win a 9-handed SNG. (x2)

The "Sit & Go By The Numbers" challenge is worth 200 credits.

I find the tasks in this challenge really emphasize the most basic points to successfully navigating a sit 'n go. Play tight when the stacks are deep relative to the blinds, growing progressively more aggressive as the blinds increase and the table shortens.

I played a couple $2 SNGs towards this challenge last night. I finished in 6th place (A7 < KJ when I shoved against tight-ish BB with 9.5 BB effective stack) and in 5th place (T9 < TT after getting smoked J9 vs. AK). I played reasonably well though I can't help but feel that I missed some good steal and re-steal opportunities.

I plan on continuing with the current challenge over the weekend. I'm not sure how long this challenge will take to finish given the requirement to win two SNGs. But given the stakes I'm playing, I can afford to take my time and enjoy the experience.

Have a great weekend!

Read Full Blog Post

FTP Academy Challenge #1: Guide to Sit and Go Tournaments

Date: Thu, Jul 22, 2010 Internet

I played poker last night for the first time in a few months. Things felt a little shaky at first but I got into the groove towards the end of my session. The experience as a whole was alright but it got pretty rocky for a while.

I didn't sit down to play poker until just after 10 o'clock last night. I've been exhausted the past few months and I really felt it last night. It can be so much easier to kick back with video games but I really wanted to give poker a shot. I turned on my laptop, waited a few minutes for my Internet connection to kick in (stupid Linksys USB wireless antenna), and fired up PokerTracker 3. Both PT3 and the Full Tilt Poker client needed to be updated: downloads, installation, and some database maintance killed another 10 minutes.

While everything updated, I jumped over to the Full Tilt Poker Academy. Looking over the available Challenges, I opted to try a nice easy challenge: Phil Gordon's Guide to Sit and Go Tournaments. This challenge comprises three basic tasks:

1. Play a non-turbo 9-player real-money SNG.
2. Play a turbo 9-player real-money SNG.
3. Play a satellite SNG where at least one prize is an entry to a higher buy-in tournament.

This challenge is worth 30 credits (5000 credits = 5000 FTPs, I think). I love the idea of challenges. It's a great idea that's worked very well for both Microsoft (Xbox 360 achievements) and Sony (Playstation 3 trophies).

I first jumped into a turbo $2 + $0.25 sit 'n go. I've been re-reading Moshman's excellent Sit 'n Go Strategy so I felt midly prepared jumping back into real money poker. I didn't play any hands in the first few levels of play. Everything was going according to plan until my Internet connection crapped out. I was forced to reboot my laptop, all the while hoping that I'd still be alive by the time I got back onto Full Tilt.

After sitting out for ten minutes of mid-blind play, I returned to the table with the blinds at 50/100. There were still 6 players left and I was sitting on a reasonably sized stack of t1200. My first break of the evening!

I won't bore you with the details but I managed to take down my very first sit 'n go in a long, long time. I was able to really pick up steam leading up to the money bubble bursting. I maintained that momentum through 3-handed play. Once heads-up, I used good old SAGE and managed to grab first place with KK > K7. It was nice to get incredibly lucky in heads-up play and very, very nice to finally win a sit 'n go.

My victory was short lived however. I jumped into a $0.70 + $0.10 Step 1 Turbo (satellite SNG) and managed to bust out in 4th (on the bubble) with AA < 86. It's been a while since I've had Aces cracked: it was just as fun as I remembered.

I cleared two of three tasks for my active FTP Academy challenge earning 15 (of 30) credits. I'll play a regular (non-turbo) SNG tonight to finish up my first Academy challenge. I'm not sure which challenge I'll do next - there are a many challenges to choose from. I'm not even sure if I'll stick with just the SNG challenges. Maybe an MTT challenge or a cash game challenge?

I will likely continue playing the micro-stakes games for a while. My roll on FTP is pretty small right now and I don't really feel the need to "gamble" for real. It's much easier to convince myself that I'm playing poker for fun when there is no possibility for big wins or soul-crushing losses.

Read Full Blog Post

Follow Me on Twitter

Date: Fri, Jul 16, 2010 Internet

Rather than continue to make poor attempts at keeping this site updated with regular posts, I will begin posting much of my day-to-day poker thoughts, results, and anything else that comes to mind via Twitter.

Please feel free to follow me at http://twitter.com/Klopzi

I'll also add a widget to this site for those of you unwilling to jump onto the Twitter bandwagon...or am I the only one who held out this long?

Have a great weekend!

Read Full Blog Post

RSS Feed Update

Date: Thu, Jul 15, 2010 Internet

I'm changing the RSS Feed for the site.

You can now view all of my posts (in their entirety) by subscribing to the following feed:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Klopzi

Read Full Blog Post

Chip and a Chair

Date: Wed, Jul 14, 2010 Internet

Poker's crept into my conscious thoughts at least once or twice a day since the weekend. I went a few months without so much as thinking about the game. Last weekend I decided to move all of my poker books from the bedroom to the basement. And that's what set things off...

Seeing all the books I've read, the time I've spent studying the game - it felt like such a waste. I loved poker. Perhaps not as much as the hardcore college students who hunker down for sixteen hours of multi-tabling online games each and every day but I still feel the itch. The sudden removal of poker from my life has left me feeling phantom pains, as if a limb had been removed and I'm only now feeling the effects. I can feel the desire to play poker slowly returning but the reality of sitting down and playing is just ever-so-slighly out of reach.

I'm not sure what I'm doing right now. My bankroll is sitting at around $500. I've also got an unconfirmed pile of chips sitting on Party Poker (which I can't cash out due to some convoluted deposit/cashout restrictions). Besides my funds in an online wallet and at Party, the rest of my bankroll has been liquidated. I bought presents for me and my family, paid off debt, fixed up some stuff around the house, and put poker firmly out of mind. I don't mind having the reduced bankroll. I have a weird "thing" when it comes to money and I'm positive that my enjoyment of poker gets negatively affected by my outlook on finances.

I'm thinking of starting fresh again. I had a long talk with a good friend earlier today. We discussed the good old days of poker. I remember staying up late to play in freeroll tournaments on Hollywood Poker. I was ecstatic when I cashed for a couple bucks after only two hours of play. I remember my early days of playing (and crushing) the ten-cent sit and gos on Tiger Gaming. And there was that one day where I dropped 20% of my bankroll on a single hand (all-in pre-flop for $1 in a $5 no-limit hold'em game - lost KK vs. AA).

Poker was exciting back then. It was fun. Winning money was exciting but it wasn't the reason that I was playing poker. I liked the game. It was new, it was hip, and everyone everywhere was talking about poker.

There are a few things I need to take care of before I start playing poker again.

• Clean up the software on my aging laptop, backing up or deleting the unnecessary crap clogging up the works.
• Update PokerTracker and download any new add-ons that might make my life easier.
• Read or watch anything poker-related to help ease poker back into my life.

I'm not sure what or where I'll be playing. Maybe I'll stick with a couple of weekly tournaments. Or maybe I'll play some sit and gos. Maybe I'll cash out the rest of my bankroll to see if I can come back from nothing by playing freerolls? Or maybe I'll try my hand at Badugi or 5 card draw or Razz.

And as for this site, who knows what will happen? I don't think that I have much left to say about poker. I'm not too keen on writing about my adventures at the lowest stakes: I've been doing just that for the last five years. I'd originally imagined this site chronicling my rise from a nobody to a somebody in the world of poker. It was a pipe dream that never amounted to little more than a few bucks and a damaged ego.

For now, I can confirm that I'll be back. I'm not quite done wasting your time just yet.

Read Full Blog Post

Fight or Fade Away?

Date: Mon, Jul 12, 2010 Internet

Despite the fact that I haven't really played poker in a long while, I found thoughts of the game creeping into mind as I drove to work today.

I've started toying with the idea of playing some super cheap online poker. I don't think I've got the poker chops to compete with anyone playing poker regularly anymore. But maybe I still have enough skills to beat the sub-$5 sit-n-gos, tournaments, and cash games. Then again, do I have the patience or dedication to play poker at such low stakes when I've got a huge library of video games sitting at home?

I'm not saying I'm back to poker: I'm pretty damned far from making a statement even resembling that fact. I'm just surprised that I started thinking about poker at 8:05 AM this morning. When I think about the game itself, there is a part of me that wishes to grab a seat and start slinging chips. But when I recall the grind, the difficulty of the game, my inability to win any significant monies, and the poor attitude of online poker players, my desire to play quickly fades away.

I just wish I had a crystal ball and could take a quick look at the state of online poker 10 or 20 years from now. If I felt that the work I put in today would pay off in the end, I might be encouraged. The UIGEA really took the wind out of my sails. What's the point of studying a game that few will be playing down the road? I'll never be one of the best players around. Without good online traffic and a steady influx of fish, it's hard to see the point of playing poker at all.

That's all I'm going to say for now. I'm not even sure what will happen with this site if I continue to ignore online poker. It's always a sad state of affairs to see a once thriving site fade away to become nothing more than a insignificant blip in one's memory...

Read Full Blog Post

Beginning of the End?

Date: Fri, May 28, 2010 Internet

I went ahead and consolidated my entire bankroll back into my online wallet. With the June 1st UIGEA deadline fast approaching, I have no idea what's going to happen in the online poker world. I figured it'd be a safe bet to put all my money in one place that is unaffected by strange foreign laws designed to make the world less fun.

I was a sad moment when I found myself withdrawing all but the last $500 of my online bankroll. I really, really hate that poker didn't quite work out for me in the long run. I was going to use poker as a possible retirement fund for me and my wife. But the trickle of new fish got too small, the pool of competent players grew too large, and I lost my drive to compete.

At the moment, I have about $150 sitting on Party Poker which I can't withdraw. It's mainly free bonus money given to me by Party. I may invite friends over for a drunken online poker night and use my Party account to see if I'm still marginally competent at poker. Maybe I'll get lucky.

I should also mention that it's rather sad to see this site start to collect dust. I never used Klopzi's Mediocre Poker as a personal blog and don't intend to start just to keep my traffic numbers up. I doubt anyone wants to hear about my life and I don't feel like sharing all that much either. I guess I'm not a good "blogger" in the traditional sense given my desire for anonymity and privacy.

My plans for the next couple months are pretty simple. I'll follow the WSOP to see if that sparks my interest in poker. I'll try and play a few hours at Party Poker. And I'll try to read at least one poker book as well. Maybe I can try playing an entirely new game? Perhaps play some super, super low stakes 7-card stud, H.O.R.S.E., or other mixed games. I may even play some SNGs. But I think that my days of grinding 6-max hold'em (limit or no-limit) are probably long gone.

Have a great weekend everyone! I'll leave you with a cool little video I came across this morning.

Read Full Blog Post

Hi!

Date: Tue, May 18, 2010 Internet

I'm not sure what to write at this point in time. After my last optimistic post, my poker play has taken a turn for the worse. Or perhaps it'd be more correct to say that my poker results haven't taken any turns lately, up or down. I picked up some great video games for my PS3 and left the "misery" of poker behind. There was a time when poker was fun. I'm sure it'll be fun to play poker again in the future. But for now, I'm not too keen on banging my head against the wall in an effort to beat the small stakes online games.

When I first started playing online poker, I easily had a few hours a night that I could devote to the game without sacrificing my other hobbies. But kids and other responsibilities quickly turned poker into an all-or-nothing proposition. And I hate being "forced" to do anything.

The UIGEA also made online poker a little worse by reducing the pool of casual players willing to throw money away. And the advent of instructional poker sites, videos, and thousands of books available for a few bucks on Amazon meant that even the newest poker players were able to ramp up their skills very quickly and give me a sound beating at the tables.

I guess I'm just unhappy to admit that I don't have the time or the passion to be a great poker player anymore. It's a lot of work to make a half-decent amount of money in online poker nowadays. I'm busy enough as it is and I just don't feel like studying the game right now. I lost my entire poker video collection when two backup hard drives failed. I'm sick of re-watching the poker videos that I've got on my Zune. And I just don't feel like reading any poker books. I've been reading McManus' Cowboys Full for a long time and can't seem to get through it. It's probably one of the more boring books that I've ever read. In McManus' defense, I've always been uninterested geography, history, or current world events.

I'm considering pulling out most of my bankroll from the two or three sites currently holding my funds. I'll likely leave a little money online just in case I feel like starting again from near-scratch. Perhaps $200 at Full Tilt, $200 at Stars, and another couple hundred at some other sites like Titan and Cake. Maybe I'll try playing some $5 PLO, $5 SNGs, and $2 heads-up SNGs. It's so depressing to see things turn out this way for poker.

But on the plus side, I'm very happy with how my life has turned out otherwise. Believe it or not, poker has played a roll in my success as a husband and father. And if my destiny is little more than providing a stable and happy home for family, I have no reason to complain.

I'll see you at the tables...eventually.

Read Full Blog Post

A Little Positive Thinking

Date: Tue, Apr 13, 2010 Internet

There's something about starting fresh that tends to rekindle my desire to play poker. Less pressure, less to prove, and less at stake. I tend to say this same thing every few months but it's worth repeating: poker's supposed to be fun. I always - and I mean always - lose sight of this simple fact when I focus on grinding out bonuses. I guess that's the nature of the grind and my competitive, results-oriented personality. If you feel that you have to play every day, poker stops being entertainment and quickly becomes a job. A low-paying, thankless job that kicks you in the nuts every single time you sit down to "play".

I'm going to try to play a little more poker for the next little while. I'm not setting any goals in terms of hands played or hours spent sitting at the virtual tables. I'll probably end up playing big bet poker - namely no-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha. I kind of miss PLO and feel like giving it a try again. I'll probably play $10 6-max PLO because, let's face it, I stink at Omaha. I'm not patient enough, I'm too aggressive when I shouldn't be agressive, and I fold too easily when pot-odds dictate a call. And maybe I'll even try some sit n' gos as well. They're cheap, they're pretty mindless, and I'll have no expectations in terms of my performance.

I'm not sure what I plan to get from poker for the rest of the year. With the UIGEA about to stop U.S. players from indulging in online poker, I'm not sure what to think about this little hobby of mine. I like jumping between online poker and video games whenever the mood strikes. I'd hate to lose poker after having invested a large part of my adult life into the game.

For now, I guess I'll just play when I can and enjoy my time as best I can. It'd be nice to start winning again. But there are always lower stakes games that will catch me if I fall. And even if I lose, I've got the bankroll management skills to continue my online poker career indefinitely. A

There may come a day when I find myself forced to play the $2 buy-in no-limit hold'em games. Maybe I'd be forced to stay up late on a nightly basis hoping to eek a few bucks out of nightly freeroll tournaments. Action is action, as they say. You know what? None of that sounds all that bad. I guess my poker future's looking rosy after all.

If you'd really like to help me out, why not sign up for rakeback at RakeTheRake.com? Fast, free, and it'll make you lots of money just for playing poker! I've been with RakeTheRake for five years now and can honestly say that signing up with them is the best thing I've done for online poker career ever.

Read Full Blog Post