Name that show

Taking yesterday off was a good thing for me. I didn't really do anything because I was kinda wiped out from the marathon session the previous night. I've been meaning to do a "mailbag" issue for a while now, and the lack of potential narrative from yesterday makes today a good day for that. So today I will address emails people have sent that may be of interest to all.

One thing I would like to let people know is that I am not able to reply directly to the poster of a comment. I can reply in the form of a comment myself, but that is visible to everyone. So if you have a question that is better asked/answered in private, for example what my address is out here, use the "email me" link on this blog or send an email to ericd81@hotmail.com.

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From Frank P.:
"I'm wondering what kind of starting hands you're playing and how much your raises are. I noticed you played hands like A9 and made 10 dollar raise with QQ. In my opinion those are mistakes. QQ merits a minimum raise to $20. I know it's just a 1/2 game but people there seem to treat it differently. I think you should treat it as you're playing 300 NL at the hustler."

Frank makes some good points here.

My starting hand requirements are typically much tighter than most of my opponents. I almost never play A9 voluntarily - it just happened that I did that one hand. I will occasionally play odd hands mostly to not make my hand selection too predictable. And because I'm bored.

Also, I have since learned that $10 is not an appropriate UTG raise with QQ. Too many people will call (depending on the game, of course). This raise was made early in the evening on my first night in Vegas, so I did not have a good feel for the appropriate raise to get the results I wanted. I'm not sure $20 is appropriate either, because that is 10x the big blind. Most likely the only way you'll get called there is when someone has you beaten with AA or KK. QQ is a premium hand, albeit a vulnerable one. Still, your goal is to get paid, and you cannot do that without callers. I think the best bet would be around $15-$17. People will call this with AK, AQ, JJ and other hands that QQ is a favorite over, and they will have paid a good price to try to hit their cards.
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From my sister Kristy:
"So is the play still fun at all, or just work?"

Well, it hasn't been fun lately. In fact, I don't know if I would characterize casino poker as fun, ever. In the past, I've tried to figure out why I play. I believe it's enjoyable to me mostly for the challenge it presents. It's nice to make money as well, but really, the chips are just a way of keeping score.

Prior to coming out, I was worried about the prospect of playing for 40 hours every week, thinking it might just be too much. I've only been out here for a week, and it's too early for me to really answer that question. That's the reason I decided to stay out here for 5 weeks - one or two weeks would be cake. Five weeks isn't THAT long, but it will provide a much better picture than a casual jaunt.
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From Jeff T.:
"But as I think about it, the secret to "making it" in poker is not how well you play when you're running well, but how well you can take the inevitable bad times. I learned this first hand when I was a prop player. My job was to play 6-8 hours a day -- regardless of how I felt or how my luck was running. Believe me, it is hard to walk into work after a few days of losing $1000 + a day. Fortunately, your losses haven't been too bad (of course you're playing a smaller game than I did as a prop player -- 20/40 everyday). But remember, you are not a prop player. One of the benefits of being a pro is the ability to take a day or 2 off when you're not doing well or partially "tilted." "

I am sure Jeff is right in that one of the keys to making it as a pro is dealing well with the bad times. To me, it's debatable how that should be done. If you recognize that you are on tilt and it's carrying over from one day to the next, then taking time off is the best approach. However, I believe that the optimum approach is to condition yourself not to be affected by your short-term results. This may or may not be possible for any given person. In fact, it's probably impossible for anyone to be 100% unaffected by a long string of losses. I suppose I mean that you should strive for complete separation between your results and your state of mind. For a pro poker player, time directly translates to money, and the less time you take off to recover from your losses, the more money you will make. I do have some luxuries that a real pro does not - for instance, a real job waiting for me when I get back to L.A. I also do not need the money to cover a mortgage, family or any other financial considerations. But I'm trying to pretend that I do, and that if I don't get back in the casinos, I won't be able to meet my commitments.

It just dawned on me that I'm living in my own reality T.V. show. That is SO lame. I seriously am sitting here laughing at how I've contrived this situation such that it is so similar to all of those shows that I simply cannot stand. I hate those shows! In honor of the irony, today's $1 prize will go to the person who can come up with the best name for my poker pro reality show. "Poker Pro 911" comes to mind. Or maybe "Teary Eye for the Poker Guy".
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Finally, because today's post is on the slow side, one from my old college roomie Mike. The email is simply titled "Hang in there...a song for the moment" and contains an awesome mp3. I've uploaded it to share with you all, here:
http://rapidshare.de/files/15997094/02CasinoQueen.mp3.html

Rock on! And play well.