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Saturday, July 31, 2010

Hectic Weeks and Coaching

Hi All,
Man these last few weeks have been hectic. We closed on our new home in Alabama on Tuesday then headed out to Texas to finish packing. Been here a few days and the house is starting to look like we're ready to move. Funny how when it's time to move you always find more and more stuff that you forgot you had. I think I spent 30 minutes today reading Christmas/Birthday/Easter/Valentines cards from my wife and my parents that I had apparently saved from the past 3 years. The movers come Monday morning to pack up the house, and then load up on Monday evening. After that it's back to Alabama to meet them and unload the truck. We also ordered all kinds of stuff online that should arrive mid next week as well. We're super excited and can't wait to finally move in to our new home.

As far as poker goes, I've barely played any lately. When I have it's been a few sessions at the Dog Track in Pensacola, FL and one session at the Amelia Belle in south Louisiana when I went home to visit my parents. Pretty much broke even over the 3 sessions due to an ugly run in Pensacola during my last session. It was just one of those where I lost with AA once, lost with QQ twice, and won the blinds only when I had KK. Sometimes thats the breaks of the game. It is unbelievable how much I am missing the online grind and can't wait to get back to 9 tabling across all the limits at FeltStars. We may have company next weekend if my wifes parents come in from Houston, so my ultimate goal poker wise is to be playing full time again by mid August. Hopefully I can add some more poker content to this blog then and even post some hands for analysis.

I've been sort of "coaching" a friend of mine for a while now. He's a very good guy and I normally stay at his place for weeks at a time when I go to Las Vegas. He's nearing retirement and has a goal of beating 9 handed no limit online for 1BB/100 plus make his rakeback so that he can supplement his retirement. We talked poker a bit through the years, but I haven't really helped him much until recently. After about 250k hands over the past 3 years he is close to break even counting his rakeback. I think we've finally hit a turning point where he is starting to "get it" and I hope to see results from his effort soon. The biggest thing that I wanted to mention, not just for his sake but for anyone who is reading this, deals with being results oriented. I truely believe this is what is holding his and many other peoples games back from really excelling. He thinks just because he runs KK into AA that Kings should be folded 100 big blinds deep. He thinks just because he gets all in preflop with AK vs TT and doesnt win that he should just flat call and play fit or fold. He thinks just because he gets it in with the nut flush draw and middle pair on the flop out of position and runs into a set that he should just check call and see if he turns the flush. And it's not just him! Many of us do this all the tiume and this type of thinking is wrong. I agree that there are times that you don't want to become machine like, making the same plays over and over, but in general playing passive when aggression is obviously the better line is a losing proposition. If you ever feel like you may be falling into that passive rut and want to shake yourself out before you compound your losses with more mistakes, ask yourself this question: Will I even remember losing this hand next week? Next month? Next year? If the answer is no, then play the hand correctly and forget about the short term results. If the answer is Yes, then you are probably playing above and beyond the limitations of your bankroll. In general, one hand should never define your month or year. Back to my friend, I think that if he can learn to let go of individual hand results, that he will see his 1BB/100 winrate become a reality in the very near future. I respect him very much and plan on doing my best to help him achieve his goal.

Guess I'm going to keep this short as I have a ton to do tomorrow before the movers come on Monday. As always, join me at the tables on FeltStars. Click on any banner to create an account, and use bonus code BootnTee when registering for a 300% deposit bonus up to $3k. Awesome promos going now and even better ones are ahead in the near future. Hope to see you on the virtual felt there soon.

Til Next Time....

4 comments:

  1. really enjoy ur blog. please keep it consistent as most bloggers on this site dont. i have found a gem in every blog youve posted. btw is feltstars gonna become compatible for macs anytime soon.

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  2. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy the blog. Once I get stable internet at my new home I plan on blogging at least once a week. Good news too..a Mac version of FeltStars should be released September 7th, as well as many upgrades to the current software and cashier system. We're really looking forward to great things continuing and only getting better at FeltStars.com.

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  3. Benton-

    Oh Baby, Feltstars for MAC? Fantastic. I will get ahold of you before registering for max bonus, etc. Then I will take my shot at you in that Bounty tourney! haha. Don't worry, I won't rr- shove on you with J9 suited like I did back in the day at your Mom's house! Hope Mr. Boot and Mrs. Terry are good!

    Glad to hear about the House. You finally got settled in! Very nice. Your house looks awesome. I bet Kim is stoked too and I hope the "Wife of the Roving Gambler" is digging her new job. Hope you get you IP stuff addressed soon, but you are in the technologically-challenged Deep South now! haha.

    Florida only has one more month with it's best soon-to-be former resident. I am very happy for Alana! She is going to love it out there. Heard she is stopping by on her way out. I am excited for her, but FLA will be worse for it. She's the best and I will miss her terribly.

    I have been playing 3-4 days per week at Hard Rock and consistently crushing 2/5. Had a good July and a great August including leaving 4 of the sessions with over 4X my buy in! Had only 3 losing sessions out of 16 this month, and left stacked only once. I have learned so much just since the law changes before July 1 in the day-to-day grind of the cash game. I am enjoying it so much. As you have discussed in your blog as well as discussed with me a bit back, a lot of these live players just play so bad. I really mean it. Day after day I will always see or be involved in a pot that makes me say to myself, "What were they thinking?!". LOL. It's weird, a lot of the time it seems like I drag the largest pots during a particular session I am in, with a hand that one wouldn't think would lead to a big pot. And against a better opponent, may not lead to a large pot. Most of the time, due to my opponent(s) making a huge mistake, or taking a line in a hand that a mutant alien would not take. Weird. I am enjoying the cash game grind and can not even seem to remember what it was like prior to July 1st. I would like to thank the almighty Poker Gods that those dip-shits up in the FL Legislature got off their fat-cat asses and finally got it right.

    Anyway, just wanted to tell you that I am glad Feltstars is on board with MAC. I thought it would be a little farther down the line as I know developing the software takes a lot of licensing, R&D and $$. You guys are blowing up so fast!

    Later Brother,
    Greg

    p.s.-WPT and Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood signed a 5 year deal for WPT televised 10K event down here in May, last event before the WPT Championship. Don't look now but pigs are flying and hell has indeed frozen over! Haha. FL poker coming up!

    p.p.s.-You read Stuey's bio by Dalla and Alston? I read it a while back and just reread it. Such an amazing read. I am sure you have but if not, check it out, like immediately!!!

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