"hello world!"

An appropriate title since my daytime profession is being a software developer. When we learn a new language to program in, the first program we write is called the "Hello World!" program.

As this is my very first post, this is what I decided to post.

Anyway, an introduction; I'm a software developer by trade, a part-time wannabee professional poker player. Now you might think, "Yah, another aspiring Chris Moneymaker." Well, I've been playing poker for at least 4 years before the big poker boom back in 2002 so I'm not quite a result of the boom. Granted, my interest in Hold 'Em has gone up tremendously since the boom. Before though, I'd play a lot of $2/$4 stud in Atlantic City. Plus, my friends and I also play on Monday nights and play dealer's choice which is often a mix between stud and different types of hold 'em games such as Omaha high/low split.

Another passion of mine is fitness. I work a few hours a week personal training and I walk a pretty tight line when it comes to my own fitness by working out and eating right. It's probably the one thing in my life that I will not compromise. I mean, if you don't have your health, what good are ya? So my favorite thing about fitness is the psychology of change and helping people through the transition because that's the hardest part - overcoming fear and doubt.

But that's a little bit about me. This blog is for poker so let's get right into it.

Just came back from Atlantic City (AC) this past Saturday for a tournament at the Hilton. It was a $60 + $15 tournament with $5000 in chips with blinds starting out at $25/$50 with 20 minute rounds. I wasn't doing great only because I didn't have cards to play with really. Occasionally I'd come into a pot with some decent hands like AsTs and KQo. I almost always raise the pot if I'm first to bet. But will still call with these types of hands if I'm very late in position and/or can close out the betting round, meaning as the BB before the flop. And sometimes, very rarely, I will come in for a raise with suited connectors such as 78s or 79s (I consider 1 or 2 gappers as suited connectors. I know some people do not but if I can make a straight with my cards, I consider them connected).

Anyway, back to the tournament. I survive for the first 3 rounds and make it to the first break. After the 10 minute break, we reconvene. Suddenly the tournament director asks me to move to another table. So I grab all my chips in one hand (about 4 grand) and move to the next table. Anyway, it's about more of the same. I'm folding a lot of hands because 1. I'm out of position with bad cards or 2. I'm in position with bad cards but the pot has been raised.

So 20 minutes goes by and the director moves me again, but this time it was because they were going to break down my table. So I finally move to my third table and there's decent stacks all around me. At this point, I'm about $5000 in chips, about where I was when I started. But the blinds are $200/$400 with $50 antes. So I'm still playing pretty tight until I'm on the button with Ad9d and I raise to $1200 - standard 3x the BB. The small blind calls and the big blind folds. So we see a flop: As Qc 7d. Up until this point, I've noticed the small blind is a pretty solid player and seems to play premium hands. So for him to call, I had to put him on any range of hands from AA-99, AK-KJ. He looks at my stack and puts in exactly the amount I had left (about $3600). So now the small blind bets into me and puts me all in. Now I have to think. I knew there were four Ax combinations that could beat me right now. I have only a back-door flush at this point to bail me out. If he has AQ, hitting a 9 won't help me. So I'm thinking through all the possibilities and I figure I'm beat at the moment and now have to commit all my chips to draw to an unknown number of outs. So I folded. He showed me his cards: AQ. Good lay down by me.

So now I'm down to $3600 in chips and now the blinds have gone up to $300/$600 with $75 antes. Reading Harrington's Volume II, my "M" is not even 3: $3600/($900 + $750). This means, it's "all in" time with any two cards as long as I'm first to bet. So I pick up A9o. The dealer, during the deal, accidentally exposed an A. So I'm thinking, that reduces the chance someone else having an A with a better kicker so I make a stand and go all in. Everyone folds to the big stack who pauses for like a half-second, asks for my chip count and makes the call with pocket 10s. A player two spots to my right said he folded an A as well. Great! Now I'm drawing to the one remaining A in the deck. Flop: 7 A 5. Bingo! I hit my A. Two blank cards come on the turn and river and I double up.

So now I'm still low on chips but not as desperate anymore. My chip count is now around $8000 after that double up. So I'm still playing tight and survive another round. So now my chip stack is down to about $5000 and change. My "M" is still hovering over 3. Gotta make another stand. I peek down at my hole cards, K. That's one good one. Let me see the next one....K. I'm doing cartwheels inside. Someone actually called the BB....sweet! Extra dead money if I go heads up. Now I need someone to double me up. An average stack guy - big black guy with glasses thinks about it for a while. He decides to call. The blinds and the limper fold. I show my cowboys and he shows me A4o. I already had a bad feeling about this. For some reason of late, I seem to lose when I'm in dominating situations. I didn't like this at all. It was a loose call and those are the ones I have bad vibes on. So now I'm waiting for the flop. I shout out, "Ace!! Show me an Ace" in my Unabomber style. Just as I asked for it - there it came - on the flop. I needed a King to bail me out but no such luck - probability decided to work. Afterwards, I said, "Nice hand." and left. I really couldn't complain, I was on borrowed time when I hit a one-outer on my last all-in.

I've really taken my bad beats in stride lately. I think the past 6 months has been a good maturing process for me. Winning poker is about making the right decisions at the right time. The game rests on 4 distinct actions: folding, betting, raising and calling. So there are only so many decision trees if we're limited to just those actions but what makes poker so complex is the amount of money associated with those actions and how they are interpreted by your opponents.

Anyway, that was an insight I stumbled upon recently. Bad beats are just a part of the game. If every bad decision was punished, poker would not attract the bad players. I've made a decision to be a good player and plan on playing for a long time. Bad beats are a part of poker, and to love the game is to accept the bad beats and move on.

Anyway, it's time to watch 'Heroes'. I will post my online games as well.

tl