elindauer is in the well

[elindauer]

Thanks James, very kind.

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what 2p2 poster has most influenced your game over the years? any specific posts that opened your eyes?


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I presently think that Schneids gives the most consistently solid advice of any poster on the limit boards. Of course, that's just like saying "Schneids is the guy I agree with most often", which I suppose could mean that we both suck in the same way. :P

vmacosta also strikes me as a current poster who gives consistently very solid advice. I find that if I disagree with either of these guys, I often discover after reflecting that I am the one who is wrong.

Historically, I have really enjoyed TommyAngelo's posts. Great reads, and really interesting insights into the game. I wouldn't choose to play the way Tommy plays, but as an "expand your thinking about poker" author, he's fantastic.

I also found PeterRus' technical analysis of the game to be very interesting. I like any poster who tries to use data to "prove" an answer, rather than just guess at it. Peter's work with pokertracker was great, and his posts were probably the ones that had the most consistent, noticable, and immediate impact on the way I played. I credit him with my initial attempts at expanding my blind steal / defense ranges, a critical skill as you move up in stakes.

Those are just the guys that come to mind off the top of my head though. There are lots of other excellent players giving advice, and it seems that many people have a particular little section of the game that they really understand well and can explain. The hard part is trying to pick out the stuff people really know, from the stuff they are pulling out of their ass. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[teddyFBI]

A few rapid-fire Qs to keep this great well thread going:

1. What have been your biggest winning and losing days ever?

2. If you quit your job today and played full-time for one year, how much do you think you could realistically make?

3. Is your girlfriend / now-wife supportive of your poker-playing? Was she equally supportive when you were playing full time (e.g. without a 'real' job)?

4. You worked for a NY hedge fund, quit and played poker for a while, and now are back on Wall Street. What was it that persuaded you to jump back into high finance? All monetary considerations aside, Was there some aspect of full-time poker that you found emotionally unfulfilling?

5. What is your education background?

6. Although it seems you have been a winning player from the outset, what do you think was your biggest weakness or leak, historically, how did you come to realize it, and what did you do to fix it?

7. Ever thought about making the ever-so-popular LHE-to-NL jump?

8. Who were you on Party (pre UIGEA)?

[elindauer]

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1. What have been your biggest winning and losing days ever?

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losing: March 3rd, 2007
winning: May 15th, 2006

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2. If you quit your job today and played full-time for one year, how much do you think you could realistically make?

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I think I probably would make something like 40K. In my current financial situation, I probably would not play a lot of hands.

I would guess that it's realistic that I could make something in the low six figures. I'd just have to play more than I care to.

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3. Is your girlfriend / now-wife supportive of your poker-playing? Was she equally supportive when you were playing full time (e.g. without a 'real' job)?

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Incredibly supportive. She became immune to the daily financial swings and actually helped me stay focused on the big picture during downswings more than once. She's not a bad poker player herself, actually, though she lacks experience.

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4. You worked for a NY hedge fund, quit and played poker for a while, and now are back on Wall Street. What was it that persuaded you to jump back into high finance?

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They made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

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All monetary considerations aside, Was there some aspect of full-time poker that you found emotionally unfulfilling?

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Yes, though that isn't the reason I changed gears. Poker is one of many jobs that really doesn't contribute anything to the world at large. I'm ok with that for now... my plan is to get to retirement any way I can, then look at making the world a better place. I think that works out better for both me and the world then, say, going to work for a non-profit right now. We'll see though.

My best idea for changing the world is to work to tweak the financial underpinnings of our society to one that doesn't provide an economic reward for, for lack of a better term, [censored] other people. It's a new kind of economy that mixes capitalism with socialism.

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5. What is your education background?

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BS in Math from MIT.

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6. Although it seems you have been a winning player from the outset, what do you think was your biggest weakness or leak, historically, how did you come to realize it, and what did you do to fix it?

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I'd say that my biggest weakness was and probably continues to be that I assume my opponents know what I am doing. Maybe I make a free showdown turn raise with middle pair, and they 3-bet me. Now I get it in my head that maybe he KNEW I was doing that, and is now trying to resteal, so I guess I should show this down...

Basically, overthinking / getting too tricky against weak opponents.

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7. Ever thought about making the ever-so-popular LHE-to-NL jump?

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You know, it seems like every time I play NL I crush it. I think it's hard for me to give up limit though with so much invested.

My recent foray into game theory though has me feeling that I could apply those concepts to NL and come up with a much bigger edge. So I'm starting to think that I can transfer a lot of my limit understanding to NL. That feeling makes me a lot more interested in making this leap.

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8. Who were you on Party (pre UIGEA)?

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elindauer


thanks,
Eric

[jstill]

$$$ values for those biggest winning and losing days?

I remember that carpel tunnel post James referenced, i had forgotten the author but it was a really good thread despite a few less than superb examples. Fwiw Ive always liked ur posts and respected anything uve had to say as much as any poster.

do u ever have any desire to get a more conventional job and put that BS in math from MIT to work? What was your thinking/future plans while attending college?

[One Outer]

I'm thinking about spending actual money on your range thingey so I perused your website today. This led to some questions.

1. My confusion has reached new depths. I read your article about SLAG vs. TAG play. Interestingly (for me at least), before I started participating in the forums on a daily basis I had kind of stumbled onto the basic concept without realizing it. Without the background in traditional TAG play and a solid grasp of the fundamentals I, as you can probably guess, went broke several times playing this way while misapplying the idea. Is it best for a player to be a TAG before moving onto SLAG play? If not, how would one go about developing that kind of game without breaking myself again? Does TAG play work best at the lower limits I'm playing right now and SLAG is something to be used to beat bigger games for more bets? Does any of this make any sense at all? Like I said, I'm confused.

2. In your 2006 goals page you listed as a goal "stop posting on/reading 2+2." Why are you back? Does your return to the forum have something to do with trying to generate passive income? (BTW, when you figure out the passive income thing, pm me. We'll talk. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )

Also, you mentioned that 2+2 is time consuming and that you didn't want to engage in "negative, arrogance driven flame-wars" anymore. My experience with the SSLHE forum has been largely arrogance and flame-war free, so what are you referring to? Has something changed since you stopped posting regularly?

3. I see that you have coached in the past. Your process refers only to reviewing hand histories. How would you go about coaching someone that only plays live?

[One Outer]

I just wanted to add that I think my confusion comes from the pace at which I'm learning. I'm processing so much new information that I'm having trouble organizing it into a coherent set of ideas. I'm putting in this new bit and this new bit but I'm being overwhelmed by the volume and it's tough because I'm processing all these bits in a vacuum.

You ever see the movie "Blow"? There's a part where they have the apartment after George gets out of the joint the first time and they start selling coke. Soon, they're making so much money they have nothing but cardboard boxes full of cash all over the apartment. One day, George, after weighing yet another box to verify that it has $500,000 in it, is walking all over the place trying to figure out where to put the box and he can't find space for it. Then he turns to the Columbian guy he's running with and says "We're going to need a bigger boat." That's how I feel right now.

[elindauer]

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I'm processing so much new information that I'm having trouble organizing it into a coherent set of ideas.

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Whenever you make a decision, try to come up with two answers.

1. What would you do if your opponent knew exactly how you played all your cards?

2. What will you do, given the opponent you are actually playing?

To start out, you'll only be able to do this with much thought and discussion. After a while, these concepts will slowly sink in, and you'll start taking it to the table. Wash, rinse, repeat.

-eric

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it best for a player to be a TAG before moving onto SLAG play?

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I presently think that the best way to learn is to do something like the following:

1. work on understanding default play. That is, how should you play your hands if your goal is just to break even? How would you play against the best player in the world?

2. simultaneously, watch for opportunities to exploit weaknesses in your opponents' games. So you analyze a hand by saying "if I was playing a great player, I'd do this and sleep easy, knowing he can't beat me. But against a bad player I do that, because of this reason.

3. slowly expand your repertoire and ease of doing #2. Reach a point where you can find flaws in virtually any players game and know how to exploit them.

4. Move on to attempting to manipulate the game your opponents are playing (slag play). Learn to drive them crazy by making small mistakes, and use that tilt-inducing play to drive them into large mistakes, which you then exploit. By the way, I'm not good at this. Easier said then done.


Frankly, this last step is much more applicable to a game like no limit. In limit, it's really hard to pull off, although it does lead to your largest possible profit.


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In your 2006 goals page you listed as a goal "stop posting on/reading 2+2." Why are you back? Does your return to the forum have something to do with trying to generate passive income?

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You are very insightful. Yes, that's part of it. But it also has to do with...

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My experience with the SSLHE forum has been largely arrogance and flame-war free...

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I have noticed this too, and like the trend. So I find posting here less frustrating then in the past.

For me, this may have to do with the fact that I have a much better understanding of the game then I used to, and tend to only reply to people that are interested in logic and math anyways. I used to try to convince everyone I was right, which was of course impossible (rightfully so, since I'm not always right).

edit: it may also have to do with the fact that I don't have any "real" work to do for the rest of the year! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

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How would you go about coaching someone that only plays live?

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I once held a two day school at my house, where a couple guys came and we essentially played poker and talked about the game for eight hours a day. They were online players, but for live players, I'd probably do a similar thing. I have never actually coached live players before though.

That said, I'm not much interested in coaching these days, and usually discourage people who request it. I think you can get the value of my coaching for less money in other ways.


thanks,
Eric

[elindauer]

I'm getting back into "real" poker, and am trying to figure out what HUD to use. Any recommendations?

thanks.
Eric

[James.]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm getting back into "real" poker, and am trying to figure out what HUD to use. Any recommendations?

thanks.
Eric

[/ QUOTE ]

i used poker ace for a while, but when they wanted me to pay for it i just started using gametime plus again. this was after i quit playing online limit and started playing a ton of live NL. like you, i've recently started playing more over the past couple months but have failed to get "current" with my graphic overlay(cashed out bankroll for a variety of reasons: bought a house, online legislation, live play bankroll, etc.).

so basically i'm saying i look forward to seeing responses to your question.