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Post Date: 08 Sep, 2010
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Hey Guys,
I went to visit my parents over Labor Day weekend. It was fun, but nothing that you guys would care to hear about.
I've been playing much more as of late and having a lot of fun doing it. I think that I was kind've bored with poker for a while, but the time off was great for me. I'm really enjoying playing, probably more than I have anytime in the last few years. I don't know why exactly, but I find the game really interesting again, and I'm much more focused than I have been lately.
Hopefully this will translate into lots of winning sessions, but even if it doesn't, at this point in my career it's almost more important that I'm enjoying playing than consistently winning. (though the two are correlated)
I've been taking on tough competition, and I plan on continuing to do so. Games have been kind of dead lately so I don't have much of a choice.
Hope you are all doing well. Talk to you soon.
-Phil |
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This post has 4 Comments |
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Post Date: 01 Sep, 2010
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Hey Guys,
Hope you all are doing well. I've been putting in a lot of hours this week, either playing, working on my game, or making content for BFP and PokerStatic.
I played a really tough match yesterday against URnotIndanger2 at 100/200. Two tables of nl, two tables of PLO. I started up a couple buyins, then down a couple, but managed to heater my way up to +200ish (10 buyins). I ran really well in a couple of monster pots, and that was the main difference.
Today I played Patrik HU at 300/600plo. We only played about an hour and a half, but I managed to win another 190 or so. It's nice to string a couple of wins together.
In between those sessions, I've been playing some 25/50plo, and some 400/800 7game and 8game. I'm still terrible but I'm trying.
That's all for now I guess.
Talk to you guys soon.
-Phil |
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This post has 5 Comments |
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Post Date: 24 Aug, 2010
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Hey Guys,
I played about 4 hours HU against GordyLamb again. This time at 50/100nl, 200bb deep. He was tougher than I expected in NL (for some reason I assumed he was a PLO specialist). That, combined with running bad, and myself being fairly rusty in NL, was a recipe for a 10 buyin loss (5 deep buyins).
Definitely not too bad. I'm disappointed in myself for a few plays, but overall I think I played pretty well considering the cards I had.
Losing for a few days in a row is discouraging, but I'm having a lot of fun playing some tough, deep games. Waiting for 200/400 cap PLO is boring, and playing it is almost as boring.
I'll be back again tomorrow around the same time. Hopefully I can catch Gordy for a rematch, or find some deep PLO or NL running on stars or FTP.
Talk to you soon.
-Phil
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This post has 3 Comments |
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Post Date: 19 Aug, 2010
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Hey Guys,
I've been playing a bunch lately and I'm enjoying it a lot.
Two days ago I had a big day at 200/400cap and 200/400a uncapped. I won a massive pot where I got in 1/3 stacks 3 way with AAxx ds v Ziigmund and Patrik, and flopped 6% equity after a 3 way allin on Q96ddc. I backdoored a flush for the massive suckout. That pot was about 180k, and I finished up 280ish on the day.
Yesterday, I played a bunch of 2/4 cap and lost around 100. Then sat with Patrik at 300/600a. He won 100ish and quit to go to bed. Then I played some 25/50 deeeep on stars. I am really proud of myself for being able to keep my focus at lower stakes even after losing at the nosebleeds. I think if I can keep that up, I should have a very good year, in terms of EV at least.
I played HU v Gordylamb for a while, but the games filled up. It was 4-6 handed and 200-800bb deep. I started up a lot, then there were a ton of swings back and forth. I actually lost almost all of the massive allins for 30-40k pots, and I had good equity. I ran good in the smaller pots and managed to win around 50k while actually running under allin EV (obv not the whole story). I used some of the hands from this sesh for this weeks video.
Today I go to play in the Pokerstars Big Game. I'm really looking forward to it. I played a little bit of deepstack nl yesterday to warm up. It's honestly been SO long since I've played NL seriously, so I do feel very rusty. I think I'll find my groove after and hour or two of play, and then be fine.
That's all for now. Gotta get ready and head over there. Sorry for the not so in depth post.
Talk to you soon.
-Phil |
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This post has 4 Comments |
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Post Date: 05 Aug, 2010
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Hey guys,
I've been playing a good amount over the last week. Okay, not a ton, but much more than I have lately.
There have been some great 200/400 cap PLO games. As I said before, I hate cap PLO, however my results have been good so I'll stop complaining about it. I've run pretty well today and yesterday, and won around 300. Actually, now that I think about it, more than half of that is from 300/600plo uncapped, so I stand by my hatred of cap.
I've played a few interesting HU matches lately. Earlier this week, I 6 tabled urnotindanger2 at 100/200. Half nl, half PLO. I won 2.5 buyins after 3 hours and had to go, but I was running very well. I think he may have been a favorite over those 3 hours, as he played very well and my HU game is rusty, especially NL HU.
The next day, I 4 or 5 tabled GordyLamb on Stars at 25/50 PLO while some other PLO 6m games were running. I don't have a clue how I finished, but it was fun. Does anyone know who he is? It looks like he just showed up out of nowhere and has been crushing 25/50.
Finally, I played Phil Ivey at 1 table of 500/1k cap PLO. I don't really like playing Phil, since he's the best and he's up like 2m on me lifetime, but I was very bored, and set a 100k stoploss for myself before sitting down. I finished up around 15-20k after a few hours when I had to meet people for dinner.
I really enjoyed playing these HU matches. It's been a while since I've focused on HU NL or even HU deepstack PLO. They're both super interesting games compared to cap PLO, or even 100bb 6m PLO. I'll be looking to play some more tough opponents when I have time in the near future, although I'll be out of town with family all of next week.
Actually, I've been wanting to talk about something for a while now, and this seems like a good opportunity.
I realize I have a reputation as kind of nitty, specifically when it comes to game selection (and BR management). While I understand where that reputation comes from, I think that my personal philosophy on game selection is misunderstood.
People judging me for that reputation is one thing, and that's fine, but I realize that some poker players(especially BFP members) will make some of their career choices based on my opinion (or based on what they think my opinion is), which is why I'd like to clear this up.
I am in a situation unlike 99+% of pro poker players. The pool of games that are available to me are very unlike the pool of games available to most of you. Because of that, the 'off the table' decisions I make don't neccesarily reflect the decisions I believe you should make.
Basically, there are games that run at 200/400-500/1k (and equivelant for limit games), then there are games that run at 25/50. The 25/50 games run semiregularly, and the bigger games are very sporadic. Sometimes they are great, sometimes they're completely dead.
The larger games are definitely not 'soft', but when you look at how tough they 'should' be, they come in below that. What I mean by that is that the difference in skill between levels like $1/2, $2/4, $3/6, $5/10, $10/20 is somewhat uniform... as you go up in stakes, the games get a little bit tougher. Some people could beat 5/10, but can multitable and crush 2/4, and they realize that's a better use of their time.
Anyways, I was going to get into a long explanation, assigning toughness values to different stakes, but I realize now that most of you will get the point anyways. The skill difference between 25/50 and 200/400 is MUCH smaller than the difference between .50/1 and 5/10 or 10/20. A guy eeking out a small winrate at 10/20 would never drop down to .50/1 and multitable it and expect to make more money. However, that's comparable to the situation I'm in with nosebleeds and 25/50, in terms of the drop in stakes.
Basically, if I can beat the nosebleeds (I think I can), my earn rate there is substantially higher than my hourly at 25/50, and there is nothing in between.
Because of that, being too broke to play in the big games would be exteremly costly for me. And because of THAT, I need to avoid risking putting myself out of nosebleed action at almost all costs. This means passing up on +EV, high variance situations left and right.
Yes, HSDB and other sites will tell you I've made a lot of money playing poker. However, I've paid a lot in taxes and spent a ton on my home. Anyone who assumes I'm sitting here with an active, liquid $5m bankroll isn't thinking very hard.
With the insane stakes and swings that are possible there, I need to be very careful in order to stay in action. (Yes, if I lost a lot, I could sell 75% of myself and still play, but what's the point then?) This means not playing games where I expect to be making 1pt/100 or less, or games where I'm not even sure I have an edge but I might. I can take small shots in games like that, but I can't play them long term.
So, back to everyone else. What do I think you should be doing? If you're planning on being a long term pro, and you are living comfortably enough that you don't need your monthly winnings to pay bills, I think you should be playing in tough HU matches all the time.
That's right. I, Phil 'nit' Galfond, believe that playing in tough games is a good idea.
If you look back at the career of any nosebleed player, you will find a history of playing tons of tough hu matches and tough 6max games. It's absolutely neccesary in order to reach your potential as a player.
Many people didn't pay attention before a couple years ago, but on my way from 5/10nl to nosebleeds, I played almost everyone, at every level. Most of my upswing on my way to nosebleeds came from HU NL matches. I definitely played many HU matches as an underdog, and many many more that were too close to know who was best. I played in pretty much whatever 6m game was running at the stakes I was playing. (I also had terrible BR management... for example, playing Ivey at 300/600 with a 300k roll, but I don't recommend doing that)
If there were 50/100 and 100/200 games running regularly, I'd be taking on anyone HU when there were no other games running and I felt like playing poker. It's fun and interesting, and it's EXTREMELY good for your game.
As far as what you should do, you obviously shouldn't spend 100% of your time playing in neutral EV games. However, when there aren't as many good 6m games, or you aren't getting soft HU action, you should absolutely be taking on a reg, in my opinion. Sitting at your computer, waiting alone on 10 HU tables while you talk to your friends on AIM is not helping your career as a poker player. Even when you do snag a fish, you're much better off in terms of overall EV 6 tabling a tough reg than 1 or 2 tabling a semifish with 50bb.
If you lose a bunch of buyins at $3/6, you can step down to $2/4 and your hourly won't be hurt much. I don't have that option, which is why I have to be nittier, and why this post probably sounds hypocritical.
Please understand, this is not at all an "I'm frustrated I get no HU action and wish worse players would play against me" whine post. Yes, I'd love it if there were always 15 25/50 games running and I could just hop in anytime an grind and the games wouldn't break. That't far from my point.
I get sad and embarrassed when I look at the FTP or Stars midstakes tables.
This post is a "It would be better for you personally, for the poker economy, and for the enjoyment casual players get from poker if you played in tougher games"
-Phil
PS. - Some side notes:
-Think of how embarrassing and not fun it must be for a casual player to step into the NL games at the stakes you play.
-I realize that I still COULD play tough HU games at nosebleeds, and that some people still will disrespect the fact that I don't, even after my explanation. I think it's not a wise career choice for me, which is why I don't do it, but I definitely understand people thinking that's not cool. I have a ton of respect for the guys who take on everybody, even for seemingly large chunks of their roll... Tom, Ivey, Gus, Patrik, Niki, Isildur, Benyamine, etc. They are more brave than I am and they absolutely should be respected for that. |
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This post has 18 Comments |
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Post Date: 27 Jul, 2010
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Hey Guys,
After a nice break from poker since the WSOP ME, I played my first 2 sessions yesterday.
The first was across tables of 400/800 and 500/1000 7game. Games were just okay, but I was happy to be playing and working on my mixed game. I finished down around 20k after losing a 3way allin in the NLHE round with 44 v AA v A5cc on J43cc9 with 60k in the middle. Everyone played it fine.
I took a break for a while and came back later to 6 table 200/400 cap PLO. I ran pretty hot and won around 80.
I really dislike cap PLO. I think it's a boring game with few complexities, and those complexities are more about math and running hand scenarios through calculators off the table than they are about psychology, leveling, and adjusting to opponents and game flow. If cap PLO are the only games running, I'll play, but I hope people start playing something else.
Gonna play more today. Talk to you soon.
-Phil |
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This post has 2 Comments |
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Post Date: 18 Jul, 2010
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Hey Guys,
BFPs very own, and my good friend, Jason Senti, just made the November 9! So awesome.
That's all.
-Phil |
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This post has 4 Comments |
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Post Date: 15 Jul, 2010
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Thanks for the support, everyone.
I don't think I played my absolute best, but not too many regrets honestly. The hand I went out on was extremely close, couldn't have been that wrong. Some other big hands I'll second guess, but no one plays their best every hand. I was only all-in once the entire 6 days, which I'm proud of. I guess it only takes one time to busto.
I'm very bummed right now, but I'll get over it I'm sure. My life isn't that bad.
I'm getting sick, so I'll be catching up on sleep over the next few days. Booked the first flight I could back to NYC. I'm excited to get the hell out of Vegas.
Sorry that I was unable to make a video this week. I'll be back to normal next week, and some time soon I'll make 2 in a week to makeup for it.
Talk to you guys soon. GL to Jason Senti, Adam Levy, Peter Jetten, and whoever else I'm forgetting.
Take care.
-Phil |
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This post has 3 Comments |
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Post Date: 15 Jul, 2010
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Day 4 was awesome. Day 5 was terrible. I haven't been sleeping and am very far off my game. The schedule is too intense for me.
I have 1m chips going into day 6, which is about average. Blinds are pretty high now, so I guess we'll just get the money in and see what happens.
-Phil |
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This post has 2 Comments |
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Post Date: 13 Jul, 2010
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Hey Guys,
This is starting to get stressful. I liked it more before, when I thought I had no chance at all of winning. Now I'm deep enough that it'll hurt a little when I inevitably bustout.
I finished with 244,300, but actually ran somewhat badly.
Anyways, I need to sleep asap so I can get up and do it again. Got a lot of friends deep in this. I feel like I'm gonna at least get a chance to rail a ME FT.
Later guys.
-Phil
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This post has 11 Comments |
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Post Date: 11 Jul, 2010
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Hey Guys,
So I'm still in the Main. Finished Day 2 with 195,400 chips, which I believe is well above double the average. Day 2 was a lot different than day 2. Day 1 I mostly caught hands all over the place. Day 2 there was a lot more bluffing, hero calling, etc., to win my chips.
Day one I slowly chipped up. Day two was much more of a roller coaster. I was down to 65k, back to 110k, down to 80k, back to 130k, etc.
I didn't sleep much last night and have a terrible headache. I'm really tired and am gonna try to sleep tonight by like 10:30. Before I go lie down, I'll leave you guys with my one favorite hand of the day, with no analysis or explanation.
I raise from EP with A4 with the Ad to 1500. Both blinds call.
Flop KQJdd (5000ish in the pot)
They check to me, I bet 1200. SB snap calls, BB folds.
Turn Ao (7500ish)
SB bets 10k, I call
River 6o (27.5k)
SB bets 30k, I call
SB mucks. Cool.
I feel like a lot of chips will start moving tomorrow, and it could make or break me. Yesterday, I got frustrated a few times when I dropped to 75k chips, and didn't feel like being there anymore. I'll try to stay focused tomorrow (unless I drop below 100k, at which point I know I'll just try to get all-in). I was in a bad mood going into playing yesterday and I'll be in a much better mindset for tomorrow I think.
I definitely never expect to make it deep in any tournaments, but it's getting to the point where I have enough chips that I'm starting to be hopeful. Just setting myself up for disappointment, I know.
As always, check me on twitter @PhilGalfond, for updates during the tourney.
Gl to my fellow BFP pro Jason Senti, many of my friends (too many to list), and anyone else who's still in the main (and not at my table).
Talk to you later.
-Phil |
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This post has 4 Comments |
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Post Date: 08 Jul, 2010
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Hey Guys,
So my only rungood this summer has come in day 1 of the main event. I showed up 2.5 hours late, since I wasn't able to get to bed until 5 or so. My first table was fairly tough (for the ME field) but I managed to run very well, flop a set or two, river a flush, etc, and run my 28.5k up to 95k before our table broke.
Right before dinner break, I was moved to my second table. Everyone was talking about how it'd be much more interesting now. The guy to my right had around 110k chips and apparently had been running over the table.
We only played 1.5 levels, and didn't manage to get into any huge pots.
My second table ended up being fairly tough to, but in a different way. The first was just very tight. The second was much more loose aggro. There were a few spots where I could've gotten money in light, but I opted to play a little more carefully.
I finished with 107k, which puts me towards the top of the field going into day 2.
It's still very early and I have a lot of people to get through. This would be a pretty nice one to win though.
I have been super busy, but I'll try to blog about some interesting hands later.
Talk to you soon.
-Phil
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This post has 8 Comments |
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Post Date: 29 Jun, 2010
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Hey Guys,
Played the 5k PLO yesterday. Didn't do too well. Lost a 5 way allin with ATT8ddhh on QT6ssd. I was ahead on flop, and way ahead on a 5d turn, but couldn't hold.
Then lost the rest with 66 v QQ on Q65.
I've played a little more in Bobby's room with lots of swings but pretty mediocre results.
I'm playing the 25k tomorrow and then the 10k PLO the next day. That is the dumbest scheduling error by the WSOP. Seems super easy to avoid putting two of the biggest buyin big bet events next to each other, but I guess they didn't try very hard.
I'll keep you guys posted.
Good luck.
-Phil |
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This post has 3 Comments |
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Post Date: 24 Jun, 2010
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Hey Guys,
Short post upcoming, as I have 10 hours till I have to wake up, which is 1 or 2 hours less than I would like to sleep.
Finished day 1 with 46k chips, from 30k start. HORSE is kinda fun, and I think I'm improving.
As always, follow me on twitter @PhilGalfond for updates during the day.
Talk to you soon.
-Phil |
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This post has 1 Comments |
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Post Date: 20 Jun, 2010
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Hey Guys,
I haven't cashed yet in anything. Last event I played was the 10k HU, which was a disaster. I'm debating playing the 10k PLHE tomorrow, but I think I probably won't. 9 handed no antes makes it play very boring.
I think a few days off will do me some good.
Not much else to update on. Hope you all are doing well and having a good (at least fun, if not profitable) series.
Take care.
-Phil |
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This post has 2 Comments |
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