A game of 21

Tripjax introduced a few questions. I answered them.

1. What is the biggest mistake people make at a NL table?
I think the biggest mistakes I make are losing a lot of chips with TPTK and playing hands like AJ off, etc out of position.

2. What is the biggest mistake people make at a Limit table?
Not getting max value when they flop hard. I am a big believer in saving my raises until the more expensive streets, particularly when I am last to act or next to last. It’s basic math, you get raises in when the bets double and the pots are going to be larger. People are also less like to fold if they see later streets. This is especially true in my game of choice, 7CS. For example, say I get rolled up Ks and am up against 2 opponents. Happens all the time, right? If I play that hand strong on 3^rd and 4^th, 2 things are most likely to happen. 1) They fold. 2) They go into check-call mode. Whereas, if you get someone to see 5^th or 6^th street, my experience is that they usually like their hand enough that they won’t often fold.

3. Why do you play poker?
I watched the coverage of the 2003 series and thought it looked cool. I continue playing because I enjoy the competition and I can make a little cash.

4. If you weren't playing poker, what would you be doing?
Well, I usually play later at night, so I guess I would be watching more TV.

5. What is your favorite poker book and why?
SSI. Reese’s section on 7CS is excellent IMHO.

6. Who is your favorite poker player and why?
Ivey. He is in total control of his emotions and has total awareness of everything that is going on at the table.

7. Which poker player do you dislike the most and why?
I’d probably say some of the young ‘internet’ pros (Grinder, Zee Justin, et al). They are immensely talented of course, but a lot of them seem to pretty much conduct themselves like jaggoffs. Really, anyone who takes what goes on at the table as a matter of life and death or makes any analogies to ‘war’ or being ‘warriors’ or being ‘courageous.’ I hate all that shit. Let’s tell it like it really is please. A bunch of guys and a few women, mostly with fat asses, playing a game.

8. Do your coworkers know about your blog?
I don’t think so.

9. What is the most you have won in a cash game or MTT (both live and online)?
Live cash game+$200; Online cash game+$350; Live MTT-$0; Online MTT+$350

10. What is the most you have lost in a cash game or in one day total (both live and online)?
Live cash game -$200; Online~$450-$550 (I lost my records for this period when my HD took a crap);

11. Who was your first poker blog read?
I think Tao of Poker

12. What satisfies you more, your aces holding up for a big pot or a bluff working for a big pot?
Bluffing. Finding the right spot to bluff is an art form that takes a lot of experience and even then, no one always picks the right spot.

13. Why do you blog?
(Un)creative outlet; posterity.

14. Do you read blogs from an RSS reader like bloglines or do you visit each blog?
I normally visit each blog.

15. Would you rather play poker for a living than do what you currently do for a living?
What I currently do, for sure. It’s much more satisfying. I take poker seriously most of the time when I play, but I still play for fun. I think if I had to play the bills with what I could scrape from other people’s pockets via the poker table, it wouldn’t be very much fun.

16. Do you wear a tin foil hat on occasion?
Not in anything poker-related.

17. If you had to pin it down to one specific trait, what does a great poker player have (or do) that separates them from an average player?
I’m not going to name any names, but I have seen some people argue that you can identify a set of “personality” traits that translate into superior performance at the poker table. I think this idea is more or less bogus. I think the population of great poker players is actually pretty heterogeneous. But, this is a subject for a future post….

I think it’s mostly about experience (i.e. playing a lot of hands, paying careful attention to your opponents, etc). I contend that you could take any youngster of normal/above average intellectual abilities and if you had complete control over their environment, you could turn them into a ‘great’ player.

18. Is Drizz the coolest person on the planet for naming his baby Vegas?
Absolutely. And he’s a Minnesotan, which makes him double cool.

19. What is your primary poker goal and are you close to accomplishing it?
I would like to play in a small buy-in event at the WSOP. I am contemplating entering the $1500 7CS event. I would like to sat into it, but I haven’t yet. Haven’t even tried that much even. Otherwise, I just want to keep on improving.

20. What is your primary online site and why?
Pokerstars. Service, game selection, etc. I am also a sucker of the VIP program.

21. What site do you dislike and why?
Party. Cards come so fast sometimes that you can’t see them. Although I haven’t had to deal with it, I’ve heard the customer support sucks.