LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

I couldn't really think of anything specific to write about so I'll just rant about myself and stuff I think about.

I'm 22 (23 in a week) and I've been "pro" for over a year now, but poker has been my primary source of income for around three years. Jobs I've had in the past: real estate agent, transcriber for the movie "Super Size Me," copy editor/writer for my school newspaper. I have a BA in Economics.

Here are my results from when I used to play SNGs (not entirely accurate due to TM not recognizing some buy-ins):

http://74.53.81.50/~paulboog/TM.PNG

And yes, I do realize spacegravy is on pace to top my entire SNG career in one month. I have money against him [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].

Anyway, I now play MSNL (came a long way from .5/1 Limit) and I've had a lot of success, so I'll give you guys three simple tips on how to improve as a player:

(1) Be humble. I see so many guys who think they're the best and claim they're just running bad (e.g. FGators). There's always room for improvement, even for the best players in the world. There is no shame in hiring a coach.

(2) Be willing to learn and work hard. Study the game and take initiative. Don't be one of those guys who makes zero effort and posts questions that can easily be answered by Google or the search function (p.s. please don't spoonfeed these people). There is a plethora of information in the archives that can make you millions -- take advantage of it.

(3) Focus less on grinding and more on improving your win rate. Make sure you table select (properly!). Try to understand the purpose of every action and the math behind them. Think about your opponent's hand and what he thinks your hand is.

If you do these things, you will be a huge winner. I realize some of that stuff is really general, so I'm willing to answer questions on more specific stuff for the next day or two. I don't really like to share secret stuff I've learned on my own, so make the most of it.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

highest sng limit uve ever played?

what are you currently doing to work on your game?

your poker story?

what happened to your blog?

better graph, fgators or my sharkscope one?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Regarding coaching for NL cash: I believe you've been coached by several different people. Can you tell me a little bit about the different methods your coaches have used and what you find to be the most effective for learning?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Is there any less well known resources for learning you would recommend?

Specifically things like a less well known poker book, the posts of a particular 2p2er or a site that offers sound insight into the game.

For anyone who is interested I would recommend The poker mindset by Taylor and Hilger. I think it is one of the few poker books I have bought that I will be reading again in a years time.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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highest sng limit uve ever played?

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Regularly, $215 on Partypoker. One time thing, $555 turbo on PokerStars (not counting some HU SNGs in the $500-$1K range).

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what are you currently doing to work on your game?

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Right now I'm trying to break into the 5/10 game on Full Tilt. One thing I noticed the regs all play differently, so I compiled a list of about 30 regulars and now I'm studying their hands/stats in PT. Each reg takes about an hour of studying and I've gone through about 5 so far.

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your poker story?

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I deposited $50 into Party for fun a few times in my freshman year. Went semi-busto in my sophomore year playing 15/30 LHE and took a break. In my junior year I started bonus whoring. Online casino bonuses were very profitable at the time and I amassed a $20k bankroll pretty quickly (was playing .5/1 LHE at the same time). After casinos started drying out I had to take poker more seriously. Went from micro LHE to SNGs (up to $215s) to mid-stakes LHE (up to 10/20) to SSNL to MSNL.

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what happened to your blog?

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Got lazy and stopped updating it.

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better graph, fgators or my sharkscope one?

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His is a classic, but yours is funnier.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Did you have a really funny story about banging a hooker, or am I thinking of someone else?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Did you have a really funny story about banging a hooker, or am I thinking of someone else?

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IIRC it was like $100 for 30 mins and like $125 for an hour and he took 30 mins.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

why did you randomly shortstack 2/4 on stars for like a week one time?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Regarding coaching for NL cash: I believe you've been coached by several different people. Can you tell me a little bit about the different methods your coaches have used and what you find to be the most effective for learning?

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Live coaching has by far been the most helpful for me. I had him watch me play and give me feedback in real time, and that was really beneficial for my game. I recorded our sessions and I can review them whenever I want. Also, I was lucky that most of my coaches knew how to coach (some people are good at playing but bad at coaching/teaching).

The next best thing IMO is using Skype & Unyte (lets the coach see the student's screen). However, to best honest I don't really like the way that most coaches coach. For a novice player, there should be certain things that the coach should go over before starting sweating his student, like how to play certain "standard" hands and why, and stuff regarding software and table selection. Almost no one does this.

One more thing, if you find a coach who you think is a good bargain, set up sessions as soon as you can. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to study whitelime in person for a nominal fee (he was playing 5/10 at the time), but we couldn't arrange anything because of schedule conflicts. Now he's wrecking higher stakes games and charging 6x as much.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Hmmm why why do I always think your inyourface? Who is better at poker? What makes you better than me in cash? I play 50NL right now. What's the fastest way to get better? What hands should I 3-bet and when to?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Is there any less well known resources for learning you would recommend?


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Small Stakes Holdem by Ed Miller is a must read for LHE. The Harrington on Holdem series is okay for beginning players who want to play tourneys. But for NL, right now there isn't really one book out there that can make someone a top player.

Sklansky's NL book has a lot of good math examples but I think inexperienced players would misapply some of the theory.

2+2 posts are by far the most valuable resource for NL cash games. Go through the posts of the best players and try to understand their thought process. e.g. Bldswttrs, aba, fsuplayer, FoxwoodFiends, thebruiser, KKF, Jason Strasser, Ray Zee, durrr, raptor, Jman, etc.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Did you have a really funny story about banging a hooker, or am I thinking of someone else?

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IIRC it was like $100 for 30 mins and like $125 for an hour and he took 30 mins.

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Link. It was $220 for 30 minutes and $250 for the hour. I took 30 minutes. Pretty dumb mistake.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Is anyone going to catch you in the STTF $50 league?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

lol that's a pretty great story...

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

why did you switch your username from handsome to paul b?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Any idea why I had you on *ignore* at one point? You post g00t and aren't a dick so I have no idea why I did that.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

great post paul, thanks.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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why did you randomly shortstack 2/4 on stars for like a week one time?

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I wasn't doing well fullstacking, partly due to calling too loose against shortstacks. To plug this leak, I took the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" approach. It was a good learning experience.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Hmmm why why do I always think your inyourface? Who is better at poker? What makes you better than me in cash? I play 50NL right now. What's the fastest way to get better? What hands should I 3-bet and when to?

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I make less mistakes than you. Fastest way to get better is get a coach. 3bet for value with your good hands, and in good spots, 3bet as a bluff with hands that don't coldcall well.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Do you have a thing for asian girls? I know I do...

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Hmmm why why do I always think your inyourface?

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Is this inyourface BBV troll or inyaface SIHB?

Handsome,
Could you give cliffnotes of working for Super Size Me? What do you think of the movie?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Did you have a really funny story about banging a hooker, or am I thinking of someone else?

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IIRC it was like $100 for 30 mins and like $125 for an hour and he took 30 mins.

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Link. It was $220 for 30 minutes and $250 for the hour. I took 30 minutes. Pretty dumb mistake.

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Wow, I hadn't read that before. You get about as much value from girls in the sex industry as I do.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

have you ever met manchild irl? What are your thoughts on manchild?

Because for a long time manchild = handsome in my mind.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Is anyone going to catch you in the STTF $50 league?

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No. But I just jinxed myself, so maybe.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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why did you switch your username from handsome to paul b?

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I started a poker-related business where I'm probably going to be introducing myself as "____ on 2+2." I thought "handsome" would make a weird introduction, so I decided just to go with my first name and fake last initial.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Any idea why I had you on *ignore* at one point? You post g00t and aren't a dick so I have no idea why I did that.

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Not 100% sure but it may have been the SNG video I released here. You berated me pretty bad and hurted my feelings. But we are cool now so no big deal.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Do you have a thing for asian girls? I know I do...

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Yea, I'm Korean but I really like Japanese girls. Japanese, Korean, Indian*, Chinese.. in that order.

*Americanized Indian.. meaning she wears trendy clothes and does her eyebrows and stuff. For example..

GOOD
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1741/indianwq1.jpg

BAD
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5163/indian2yl2.jpg

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Hmmm why why do I always think your inyourface?

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Is this inyourface BBV troll or inyaface SIHB?

Handsome,
Could you give cliffnotes of working for Super Size Me? What do you think of the movie?

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It was a transcription job that paid $10/hour (a lot for me at the time). I watched footage and typed out the dialogue, which surprisingly is very hard because some people (e.g. Jared from the Subway commercials) are really bad at speaking, i.e. they don't finish their sentences, speak too fast, mumble, etc. It was otherwise a pretty enjoyable job. My boss (Morgan Spurlock) was hilarious and very intelligent, and my co-workers were all very pleasant to work with. I learned a little about the film industry, a lot about health, and also learned how to speak slowly and clearly.

The movie was edited really well, I thought. However, I thought it was a bit sneaky that they left out key details, like how Morgan stopped eating McD's after the 28th day (not a full month as advertised) due to the risk of heart attack.

Interesting anecdote: my coworkers told me they organized a pool to see how many pounds Morgan would gain in the experiment. The highest guess was like 13, and he ended up gaining 27.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Why can't I beat you when I'm up 57 points going into sunday night football. Sigh...

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

When you played sit and go's, how often did you spend studying and what did you use; sngpt/ bubble trainer? I've got addicted to doing heads up ev quizzes but not sure how much thats going to help me.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Why can't I beat you when I'm up 57 points going into sunday night football. Sigh...

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No, you were up big time in the middle of the afternoon but when the day was over, we were tied at 87. Then the next day my defense won it for me, remember?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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When you played sit and go's, how often did you spend studying and what did you use; sngpt/ bubble trainer? I've got addicted to doing heads up ev quizzes but not sure how much thats going to help me.

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I saved my questionable hands into a text file and I went over them at the end of the day. I think I should've spent more time with ranges and playing with SNGPT more, but at the time, I was focusing too much on volume. This was mostly due to guys like ZeeJustin, Newt Buggs, curtains and Fieryjustice doing so well while 16-tabling, and I wanted to emulate their success. Obviously don't do this. I would recommend not playing more than 4 tables until your game is mistake free.

Also, go through the archives and search for posts by the best former SNG theorists. e.g. Gigabet, Daliman, Irieguy, Jason Strasser, etc. A lot of those guys wrote about a lot of non-ICM related stuff that'll make you a more winning player.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

what would be the difference maker in turning yourself from an average winner into the top ranks?

what skills separate the top players from the so-so players? rank skills needed to be a winning player from most important to least important

when moving up in stakes, at what what jump (ie. 33's to 55's) did you find it the hardest? why did you think it was the hardest?

how you become better at multi-tabling sng's?

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Why can't I beat you when I'm up 57 points going into sunday night football. Sigh...

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No, you were up big time in the middle of the afternoon but when the day was over, we were tied at 87. Then the next day my defense won it for me, remember?

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still depressing

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Congrats Paul, help me with this ... when do you raise a c-bet? Eg what kind of hand do you need against what kind of player, assume v TAG, LAG and Unknown [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Get those secrets out!

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

Part two: When do you fire a third barrel with air? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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what would be the difference maker in turning yourself from an average winner into the top ranks?

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For me to become a top player, I'd have to plug all my leaks, hand read better, take advantage of good spots more often, and in general be more ruthless and instill fear into my opponents.

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what skills separate the top players from the so-so players? rank skills needed to be a winning player from most important to least important


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The abilities to hand read well and exploit opponents' leaks/tendencies separate the big winners from the marginal winners. Also, not spewing (cbetting too often, bluffing too often, etc.) makes a big difference in win rate.

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when moving up in stakes, at what what jump (ie. 33's to 55's) did you find it the hardest? why did you think it was the hardest?

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I didn't have any problems moving up because I was overbankrolled for every level, but it was tough to handle the variance of $215s. 20-25 buyin downswings at the $215s are pretty painful (and common).

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how you become better at multi-tabling sng's?

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Practice. SNG decisions are like "flash cards" - in a certain spot, you should know what you're going to do with every hand and be able to make the decision in under a second.

For example, if you're in the CO with a t1500 stack at 100/200, before your hand is dealt you should be thinking, "Okay, if I get 22+,A7+,K8+,Q9+,J9+, I'm going to shove. But if someone raises before me, I can only reraise with 88+,AJ+ and fold everything else" (ranges are not accurate). So once you see your hand, you will be able to make the decision as if it were a flash card.

For a beginning SNG player, I would recommend that he plays 1 or 2 tables to start, with SNGPT open, and play with the ranges in game. After doing this enough, it'll be like second nature.

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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When you played sit and go's, how often did you spend studying and what did you use; sngpt/ bubble trainer? I've got addicted to doing heads up ev quizzes but not sure how much thats going to help me.

[/ QUOTE ]

I saved my questionable hands into a text file and I went over them at the end of the day. I think I should've spent more time with ranges and playing with SNGPT more, but at the time, I was focusing too much on volume. This was mostly due to guys like ZeeJustin, Newt Buggs, curtains and Fieryjustice doing so well while 16-tabling, and I wanted to emulate their success. Obviously don't do this. I would recommend not playing more than 4 tables until your game is mistake free.

Also, go through the archives and search for posts by the best former SNG theorists. e.g. Gigabet, Daliman, Irieguy, Jason Strasser, etc. A lot of those guys wrote about a lot of non-ICM related stuff that'll make you a more winning player.

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while playing 16 tables wont make you good, it will make you money

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Is anyone going to catch you in the STTF $50 league?

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No. But I just jinxed myself, so maybe.

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We're both 7-2...

Re: LC: Post #5,000 - Ask me whatever
 

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Jobs I've had in the past: real estate agent, transcriber for the movie "Super Size Me,

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Morgan Spurlock and I go way back. He used to work with me on the Bud Light Pro-Beach Volleyball Tour. I was the P.A. Announcer and he worked for Sony. Eventually he became the half-time entertainment.

Very funny, creative guy. Say hey for me if you run into him again. Good times....

Anyway, congrats on your success with poker. I know how hard you have worked. Nice 5K post.

Slacka