ESPN, Joe Cada, & Darvin Moon at the WSOP

I've got a story for you. You recently got together with some of your buddies and played in a decent sized, but small buy-in tournament, and you make the final table. You donk off a good portion of your chips early in chasing a flush, making a big river bet that your opponent sniffs out. Then you survive an all-in when your low pocket pair holds up against A8off. Shortly after that you get dealt AA and end up playing a monster pot against the most aggressive player at the table. After you get in all-in preflop he turns up K9. Should I go on? Sure, why not? You get another opponent all-in, his JJ vs your 33 and spike a 3 on the flop. You badly misplay 22 vs QQ and, you betcha, hit a 2 on the flop, and then you race off with your AK vs 88 and hit a K on the river. You are now heads-up with the chip lead.
I've got a question for you. How do you feel about your poker "skills" right about now? Seriously?
New story. Your name is Joe Cada. You are the youngest player to ever win the WSOP Main Event. ESPN just made you the face of poker for the next year. You and Darvin "you're-the-blogger, I'm-the-logger" Moon just played heads-up for $8.5mil. Yep, and the previous paragraph tells the story of how you got there. Nice job. Congrats. Every poker player who watches the footage on ESPN will be "wowed" by your impressive run at the title. I've got some advice for you in the upcoming year. Just play the nuts.

So it goes.

Hey, don't get me wrong, I love poker. I love the exposure that it gets on ESPN. I love that, at the WSOP, amateurs can play next to seasoned pros. But Moon vs Cada playing heads-up for all the marbles on poker's biggest stage is NOT good for poker. When Chris Moneymaker bluffed off Sammy Farha on his way to the title...that's good for poker. Getting it all-in, behind, repeatedly, and sucking out on national television is not good for poker. Everyone who plays knows that in any tournament you are gonna need to catch some cards to make a deep run. These two?!? Why head to Vegas to play poker when your local Mini-Mart sells lottery tickets? Seriously?

Virtually yours,
Joe

I play as "bntwn" at FullTilt.

A Little Advice About FullTilt

Well I have not posted in quite some time but that is certainly not for a lack of playing. So be it. So it goes.
I have not recently had much success with my online play, and specifically that on FullTilt.com. However, this past month I have altered my strategy a bit and I have met with moderate success, and I felt I should pass along what little information I could in the hopes that it might be helpful to others. Yes, I'm setting the bar a little low here. Anyway, there are a slew of online players who have made their reputation and money with their aggressive style of play, and I opted for a bit of a different approach. In the past I have had much difficulty laying down the pre-flop monster...in particular KK and AA. I'm sure that the percentages are in my favor to get in all-in with these hands, but my bankroll would argue otherwise. The success I found comes from two areas. First, keeping the pots small with appropriate calls and somewhat erractic but minimal raises. The second is playing postion. I'll give you an example. I've had much more success mucking AJoff UTG and playing some small suited connectors on the button and then applying my new strategy when I hit the flop. Also I've found that it is better to occassionly muck small pairs in lieu of hanging around to see if you hit your set...probably more than a bit obvious, but nonetheless...and hanging around a bit more common with postion.
I'm not advising passive play, just selective aggression with pot-size and postion in mind. And yes, occassionally being able to lay down cowboys and pocket rockets. One more bit of advice as well, and you should be doing this already, but make notes on your opponents during play. I focus more on the players that demonstrate unique traits, i.e. calling the river with no pair, leading all the way to the river with only an under pair, things that make their style of play stand out to you. If you play at regular limits and at regular times, which I do, then you will see many repeat offenders at your tables and hopefully be able to take advantage of them in the future. Hey,I just hope it's not me.

Virtually Yours, Joe

Luckily Skillful

Luck is not an element of poker. It is an integral part of the game. Saying luck is an element of poker is akin to saying passing is an element of pro football (no, not soccer). Almost as much as when athletes thank "the Lord" for their performance, I am disturbed that no winning poker player these days admits to luck playing a part. I prefer the term chance myself, but, nonetheless it plays a significant role in the game. It seems the preferred terms are age, experience, a good read, etc. Rarely will the winning poker player own up to hitting the two-outer that propels him to the chip lead and eventually the win as anything but timeliness, or position, or being priced-in, pot-committed, as an explanation. It is not that those explanations are not valid, they most certainly are, but how tough is it to admit that luck was involved?
What also irks me is that I think I know the reason why they do it. With the growth of the poker industry, and so much money and exposure at stake, it seems an unspoken rule not to use the word "luck" or any variant thereof. It would not promote the game and it would somehow damage the image if the general public were exposed to seasoned pros admitting that luck regularly played a significant role in their games. For me, personally, it would certainly not alter my outlook on the game if occassionally the term were mentioned. Everyday low-limit grinders, such as myself, see it play out online all the time. It does not diminish the skills that the pros clearly possess, as well as the guts, I might add. It just feels like Clinton telling us he didn't have sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky all over again. Ah well, that's poker. Everyone, at least, seems comfortable with saying that.

bntwn

Slow playing the kinda nuts...

Just a quick post on a recent smack in the face...
I am dealt AK hearts in the big blind and am playing 6-handed at .10/.25 with just under a full buy-in of $25...UTG smooth calls and the small blind makes it $2. I call and UTG comes along for the ride. The flop comes 5-7-8 all hearts. Check, check, and initial caller puts out a bet of about half the pot. SB makes a min raise, I call, and lead goes away. Turn comes 5 pairing the board. Check. I put SB on a big pair and figure he's not going away and I shove...he calls and turns over KK. The river comes, naturally, case K. I drop a few f bombs to no one in particular.

bntwn

Introduction

My name is Joe and this is my blog. I recently, along with numerous others, caught the poker bug and play as "bntwn" at FullTilt.com. I have accounts with a few other sites as well, but for the purposes of this blog will solely focus on play on FT.
I am a 20yr+ service industry employee and currently grind away at that as well as poker, but would love to make poker my main interest. This story is not new and mine is certainly not unique and that is, in a sense, the purpose of this blog. I wanted an opportunity and a forum for average joes (like myself) to discuss poker.
I play relatively low limits i.e. .10/.25 tables either 6 or 9-handed. I have, when things are going my way, gone up to 1/2 and 2/4, but that is probably not the norm. I do regularly play in online tourneys as well. I stick to NoLimit HoldEm, and on occassion will mix in some Limit, Omaha, Omaha Hi-Lo, but, again not the norm. The long and the short is that probably most of the discussion in this blog will center around NoLimit HoldEm.
This is also my first crack at blogging. If things seem a little low-rent to begin with I apologize, and certainly welcome any advice and or comments to improve and impress.
I should also mention that I am giant (higher than average) Boston sports fan and may, on occassion, digress with some sport related comments that will probably have an eastern bias. I hope this won't deter anyone from participating. Sports is often my haven when poker becomes "challenging".

Virtually Yours,
Joe