elindauer is in the well

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
A stranger is being shown around a village that he has just become part of. He is shown a well and his guide says "On any day except Wednesday, you can shout any question down that well and you'll be told the answer".

The man seems pretty impressed, and so he shouts down: Why not on Wednesday? and the voice from in the well shouts back: Because on Wednesday, it’s your day in the well.

[/ QUOTE ]


Game on. Fire away.

[BadBigBabar]

hi eric, for the benefit of a lot of the newer posters, perhaps you could write a bit about your 'poker story/history?'

[KitCloudkicker]

E-

in a full ring game, a predictable, fit or fold 20/10 TAG opens OTB. the SB folds and you are in the BB.

you hold A2-A5o. what is your play?
you hold A6-ATo. play?
AJ-AKo. play?

now lets say you are in a 6 max game and a 35/25, tough, tricky LAGTAG opens OTB. what is your play with

A2-A5
A6-AT
AJ-AKo?

[jesse8888]

What are the biggest adjustments I will need to make when I move from 6/12 up to around 15/30 (assuming I don't want to get killed)? Sorry for the vagueness.

[James.]

where and at what limits do you primarily play?

what's the highest you've played?

what do you attribute to be the greatest learning tool for your hold em game?

what is the most exploitable mistake in today's online environment?

what are your thoughts on the LAGTAG style of play(i've read an essay in the past and am curious as to whether or not you still feel the same about it)?

what's your favorite nonpoker hobby?

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
hi eric, for the benefit of a lot of the newer posters, perhaps you could write a bit about your 'poker story/history?'

[/ QUOTE ]

I've played card games, including poker, all my life. I really got serious about poker in 2002 when a friend lent me a copy of HEFAP.

I read the book, and had memorized the opening requirements in the first chapter before I even sat down in my first game. That first game was a $5/$10 limit game at Ace Point in New York. I won $110, and have never been down overall since.

After a few months, I deposited a small amount at partypoker and started playing online in my spare time. I started at .50 / 1 and slowly grew my bankroll to the point where I could play 2/4 comfortably.

Since I never took money out of my online roll, it continued to grow, to a point where I was ridiculously over-rolled for the stakes I was playing. Sometime around 2003, I started eyeing the 15/30 game, which at the time was the biggest game party offered that you could always sit right down in. Much to my surprise, the players in those games seemed to have clear leaks in their game... not little subtle ones, but big, obvious, calling-2-cold-with-A4o-preflop type of mistakes. Eventually, I sat down.

With excellent table selection and extreme caution, I dipped my toe in the 15/30 waters. It didn't take long to become comfortable with the swings at that level, and before long, I'd abandoned my 2/4 watering hole and jumped straight to the top. Or at least what I considered the top.

My winrate was solid, I felt like I knew why I was winning, and in the middle of 2004 I quit my job with a New York hedge fund and decided to go pro. That's what I tell people anyways. The truth is, I just quit my job, and then discovered that I didn't need to find a new one because I was making enough playing poker.


So I played poker. Then I met the woman who would become my wife. She was just back from a trip to China and hadn't started working yet. I was still playing poker for money and could make my own hours. So we spent all day every day young and in love in New York City. We were married within a year. I owe poker a great debt for that time of my life.

During this run, I eventually moved up again and routinely multi-tabled 30/60. At my peak, I was 4-tabling that level. The highest I've ever played was 100/200 heads up. I think I could play at higher levels, but the fact is, I'm just not a gambler. I play because I have an edge, and the smaller edge / higher variance of super-high-stakes poker makes me uneasy. Maybe one day...


When the UIGE was passed and partypoker dropped all US players, I cashed out my partypoker bankroll to await further developments. I haven't been back to serious poker since, because at the same time I landed a great job for another Wall Street company. So poker moved back into "hobby mode" again. I currently have a few hundred dollars on a couple sites, and I play a wide variety of games with it. I'm particularly fond of 2-7 triple draw these days, though limit hold'em and a bit of O8 get mixed in. I think playing other games has helped me to continue developing my understanding of the fundamentals.


I still have some ambition to go farther up the poker food chain. I can feel the itch coming back, and I'm already in the process of depositing a more serious bankroll to start playing "big" again. I'll probably really get into that around New Year's.

You can find me at stars or UB playing under "elindy". Say hi!

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
E-

in a full ring game, a predictable, fit or fold 20/10 TAG opens OTB. the SB folds and you are in the BB.

you hold A2-A5o. what is your play?

[/ QUOTE ]

Call.

[ QUOTE ]
you hold A6-ATo. play?

[/ QUOTE ]

Call.

[ QUOTE ]
AJ-AKo. play?

[/ QUOTE ]

AK: 3-bet almost always.
AQ: depends on my mood. Often a 3-bet.
AJ: depends on my mood. Often a call.

[ QUOTE ]
now lets say you are in a 6 max game and a 35/25, tough, tricky LAGTAG opens OTB. what is your play with

A2-A5
A6-AT
AJ-AKo?

[/ QUOTE ]

Same play(s). I just showdown more against the LAG.

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
What are the biggest adjustments I will need to make when I move from 6/12 up to around 15/30 (assuming I don't want to get killed)?

[/ QUOTE ]

When I made this jump, it was from 2/4. I didn't change my game at all.

I recommend you table select very cautiously for at least 1000 hands. Watch a table for a while, and sit down only when you know you have an edge.

Play short sessions to get your feet wet. The hardest thing about moving up is getting used to the effect the increased stakes has on your emotions.

Use smart bankroll management. Seriously. Don't play underrolled. You will go broke. Hey, I'm not kidding. Listen up. USE SMART BANKROLL MANAGEMENT. Non-negotiable.

good luck.
Eric

[reutel]

Ever had tilt issues? If so, what did you do to control it?

Why do you make such awesome posts? All posts I read from you are a couple of paragraphs, and well thought out. Don't you have better things to do?

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
where and at what limits do you primarily play?

[/ QUOTE ]

highest ever: 100/200
highest ever routinely: 30/60 multi-tabled
current: low stakes (cashed out when the UIGE passed, considering getting back in)

[ QUOTE ]
what do you attribute to be the greatest learning tool for your hold em game?

[/ QUOTE ]

For MY game... getting into coaching really got me thinking critically about my own game. More recently, that range calculator has allowed me to break down ranges into hand classes, so I can start thinking about playing an entire range instead of just one hand. I feel like those events provided the clearest, short-term leap in my game.

Long term, I'd say the greatest free poker tool available today has to be the free discussion available at 2+2. Read a post, think up an answer, give it, then read the replies. Grunching is definitely the best poker tool. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
what is the most exploitable mistake in today's online environment?

[/ QUOTE ]

Tough question. After some thought I've come up with: players playing when under-rolled. It seems to me that short-stacked players donk off their money so routinely and easily that THAT has to be the simplest mistake to exploit.

[ QUOTE ]
what are your thoughts on the LAGTAG style of play(i've read an essay in the past and am curious as to whether or not you still feel the same about it)?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it's really hard to pull off and don't recommend it for most players. I think you can achieve almost as solid a winrate with much less skill by playing tough. I happen to think that "tough" involves quite a few plays that appear to be LAGTAG though...

[ QUOTE ]
what's your favorite nonpoker hobby?

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't pick one. I like all kinds of sports (basketball, soccer, skiing, golf) and any game (chess, cards). I don't know if drunken karaoke counts as a hobby, but if it does, it's on my list too. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]