Party Poker Blog

"Judged by the dollars spent, gambling is now more popular in America than baseball, the movies, and Disneyland combined."
Timothy O'Brien

A few tasty things to post.

Most importantly, thanks to the ever-alert HDouble, I discovered that my links to Abdul, were in fact, linking to Izmet Fekali's web site. Turns out that Izmet is as much the expert as Abdul (they are close friends) and both sites are MUST reads.

Best of all, Izmet actually took the time to read a little bit of my blog and sent this:

--
Omigod, I just saw this on your weblog:

"When in doubt, fold. If you like winning, you'll have to do lots of folding. Flee and live to tell."

This is incorrect and harmful. Gosh, I need to update my pages pronto...

Duh, I was so stupid then...
--

I asked if he'd explain, which he graciously did:

--
Tight play is essential preflop, but suicidal postflop (!). By tight I
mean excruciatingly tight, usually tighter than anybody at the table.
Meaning, when you do enter a pot you can afford to play extremely
aggressive postflop (as your average hand is so much better than
opponent's). Meaning, you could almost *always* go to showdown and make a profit (again, because your average hand is so much better than
opponent's).

Also, because of my default aggression, pots get mighty big that I
cannot afford to be bluffed. It is much better to waste a bet than a
pot. Call. Better yet, raise.

Folding is a disease.
--

Izmet rules. Here are a few more tidbits:

---

Preflop fold, fold, fold. Postflop pound, pound, pound.

> with 5 callers on the flop in low limits, is the increased variance
> worth this aggressive post-flop play?

In multiway pots aggression is even more important. But, it must be
much more selective than usual. In other words, you have to pick your
spots. When you do, you usually pump *really* hard.

> many uber-tight, intermediate skilled players probably still fall
> on the side of weak - how big of a profit leak is this?

It is a huge profit leak. It is a no.1 downfall of many big name
players. The no.2 is playing too loose.

I have little respect for big names, you'll note. Online gaming
surfaced a lot of truth. Poker of yesterday is gone. For the first time
players from all over the world can play at the same table (or just
watch). Online poker is a huge Darwinian ecosystem on fast forward
(because the play is so much faster and one can play multiple tables).
Only the best can survive and the weak must give way.

It is my belief that there is no tougher hold 'em game than Paradise
$20/40 anywhere in the world and that's including $200/400 games and
up. Anywhere.

> i reference morton's theorem

Remember, the pot must be just the right size for Morton's
theorem to apply. Usually and especially in loose games the pot is too
big and is out of the "Morton zone".

More important than Morton's theorem is the concept of multichance outs
(I'm searching for a better term). A good example is when you hold say
AKh on a flop of 2s3h9h against an opponent with Q2d. He has current
best hand on flop, but because you have *two* opportunities to hit your
draw (on turn or on river), your hand is much more valuable (has more
pot equity) than his on the flop and should pump it up not as a bluff,
but for *value*. In this particular situation, AKh wins with any heart
(9 outs), ace (3 outs), king (3 outs), trey (3 outs) and 9 (3 outs). 21
outs translate to about 80% chance of winning the pot on turn or river,
and I didn't even count the possibility of a runner-runner like TT or
54. The current best hand is definitely fucked on the flop. This is an
extreme example but nevertheless a very important one. Note that this
concept has nothing to do with Morton.
---

I love this. Izmet, if you are reading this, thank you so damn much. Again, I highly recommend anyone wanting to deepen their understanding of poker concepts and strategies, to read both Abdul and Izmet. It doesn't get much better than this, and best of all, it's all online.

Izmet > Phil Helmuth

Moving along to blogs, Jay posted about online poker. Sadly, he just moved his game from Paradise to PlanetPoker. Good Lord, Jay. Why? WHY?
Slight Uptick.

Here's some great stuff. A new poker blog from my man, Royal. I've known Royal for several years now and can attest to his poker acumen and all-around smarts. Most chemical engineers are pretty bright kids, even if they do play Magic (obligatory dig). I am stoked that Royal has decided to write his poker thoughts online. He's been a big-bet specialist over the years and has had fantastic success in tournaments, with many cash wins this year alone. Trust me, he knows poker.
Gaining Acceptance (Permission) from that Significant Other

As an old married guy, I related to that post, especially about being honest and accountable. If you can't be accountable with your poker play to your SO then you will have major problems becoming a successful player.

I've been bugging low-limit (50.1) champ, Fuzz, to write a post about beating low-limits after he parlayed $50 into $1000 on Party Poker these past months. And voila, he has! I'll be posting this tonight or tomorrow. I've got a dinner party tonite and must get rocking on the Beef Wellington and crab bisque.

Thanks for reading!

Link of the Day:
That Snot Attractive
"Ever since I was a young boy I knew I was gay and I knew I had a sneezing fetish," says the publisher of Sneezing Men 4 Men, a multimedia site that offers "insights into the world of sneezing and sex between men."