Four months ago I started this blog with therapeutic intentions; the art of writing a blessed escape from the turbulent waves of online poker crashing upon my gentle coastlines. Lolz. I have, of course, failed miserably. Sharing my writing with others used to be something very important to me, but you tend to lose sight of things somewhere along the gold bricked road. So here we go, my 2nd go around at reaching out to the community and enlightening any curious souls as to what it's like to play cards professionally.
When we left off, I was finally mastering the ins and outs of Multi-Table Tournament poker, and parlaying those new found skills into a pretty decent profit for a 21 year old formerly-broke-ass-taking-semesters-off-from-college kid. Since then, I've actually been lucky enough to afford a new apartment downtown (ahem lavish), 61 inch tv, some fresh gear, and whole bunch of other cool shit that I probably don't need. But it's all about the journey. Tournament poker involves a Himalayan range of emotions, gorgeous peaks and imposing valleys. It is one of the few professions on earth where you lose money at your job more days than you make money at your job (don't ask me what other job is like that I'm just leaving open the possibility...).
I had spent a good amount of time (6 weeks maybe) in my hometown of Newark, Delaware this past spring catching up with old friends and relaxing and enjoying my freedom. Of course the great thing about online poker is that I have the luxury of being on a laptop while I'm around chillin' with my friends, so I was still at work during this semi-brief respite. Maybe I wasn't completely focused, or not playing my A plus plus game or whatever, but I proceeded to go on a 6 or 7k downswing my over a 4 week span (2 in greensboro/2 in newark). To someone who doesn't know much about online poker, losing 6 or 7 thousand dollars might make you want to vomit. When you play this game you have to be prepared for the ups and downs. You have to be honest with yourself, and not judge the day based off of profit, but rather whether or not you played more like Kobe Bryant or more like Jud Buechler.
"Kobe, tell me how my ass taste" - Shaq
And you know I'm Kobe all day baby. Sooo, the truth is I never really got discouraged.
Then my persistency finally paid off - and I won the 50 dollar 1 rebuy 1 add on on back to back nights (pretty sick accomplishment to be honest) for a total of 10K plus, good game downswing and helloooo ipod touch. There was magic in the air soon after, and then one pleasant thursday evening in Newark, Delaware a hand changed my life forever.
You're a 21 year old kid, you never have realistic expectations of anything let alone playing in the World Series of Poker. However, the universe is irrational in nature. Indifferent, but irrational.
I'm playing in a $109 satellite to the $1,000 Main event qualifier, where 1 out of 12 people get a seat to the greatest tournament on the planet. So I need to qualify just to make it to the qualifier. Often times when you're playing satellites, stealing one round of blinds can be the difference between winning a seat and not winning a seat. With the blinds at 200/400 and whatever ante I find myself on the button with A9 offsuit and 3600 chips. This is pretty much a no-brainer shove here, as I don't think I'm getting called by anything except 99 or better and AQ or better and just one round of blinds can be soooo valuable. Of course the small blind reshoves with AQ. Flop comes out AQK. Puke. I'm praying for a K here just so we can split the pot, because otherwise all I can think is I'm drawing dead as fuck.
But not today my good man. Turn 9. River 9. aslkjfl;dsjfdslksdfj;sfsd on cruise control to qualify for the 1k qualifier.
I didn't have any previous experience with $1k buyins at this point. A thousand dollars seems like a shitload of money to spend on a poker tournament, don't ya think? Hooray for complete desensitization towards money...but in this game it is extremely important that you remember just that - IT'S JUST A GAME - regardless of the buy-in you have to make optimal poker decisions. Of course this 1k buyin is an eclectic mix of doo doo ballers who satellited in like me, and true true ballers who piss 1k and only play in these qualifiers because its easy money against all the other satellite doo doo ballers that are around. I'm pleasantly surprised to be seated directly to the right of the #1 ranked online MTT poker player on earth, Chad "lilholdem" Batista. I'm pretty much card dead for the first hour and all the way until the 120/240 ante 25 level, and I'm only sitting with about 2200 in chips when it folds to me in the small bind with Q 10 offsuit. This is, unfortunately a shove in this situation, and Chad calls me with A4. I hit some kind of miraculous straight and double up to around 4800 and crippling Chad's stack, at which point he says "I can't beat the fish anymore." So we get into it a little bit, yadda yadda I tell him I'm no fish, he proclaims its not me its just the fish in general. Well, whatever Chad. He had no idea I would go on to own him in at least 3 occasions after this in the next few months, only to take horrendous beats at his tiny little white hands...
The poker gods were with me that day. After somehow pulling the gusto to make a huuuge double barrel bluff on the turn with completely nothing I finagle the chip lead and proceed to win hand after hand, flopping top set and flopping straights and just complete grossness that's needed to win one of those fucking tournaments sometimes. I cruise to the final table and win a seat to the World Series of Poker Main Event for a grand total of $109. So, 109 >>>12,000.
On top of the main event seat, I also won a bracelet race package which enables me to play in the $1500 WSOP event right before the main event. 2 wins in the $30 rebuy, 2 wins in the $32k, 3 wins in the Big Double A, 2 wins in the 50 cubed, and 2 packages later, I'm somehow the #1 player in greensboro/delaware in 2008. The time has come for me to spend 17 days at Harrah's casino in vegas, basically all hotel and flight expenses completely paid for, and tournament buy-ins completely paid for. I never claimed to not be lucky as shit, and I never claimed to be better than anyone else.........except at poker.
So I wrote this entry mainly as a jumping off point for me to be able to do some live reporting from Vegas. If I do any kind of well at all, then you could follow my progress at Pokernews.com if you were interested. In my next entries I hope to have a little bit more insight instead of just talking about I won this I won that yadda yadda I'm the best poker player ever blah blah. Also there will be a lot of poker jargon, so I'll do my best to clarify everything for any faithful readers who might still not know much about the game. Wish me luck at the tables! Maybe I'll get sat next to Shannon Elizabeth ha...
-Petie_BigStacks
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Poker has saved my life
Today marks Day 1 of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series, somewhat of an online version of the World Series of Poker where there are 18 different large buy-in events, prize pools exceeding $2 million dollars at times, and of course the looming possibility that Petie_BigStacks becomes a household name in the online poker community.
Less than 2 months ago I would have never dreamed of participating in such prestigious events with some of the greatest players on earth. I was wasting away and slowly spiraling towards rock bottom, my life consisting of very little productivity and a tired history of anxieties and depression were at my doorstep once again. On December 1st, 2007, the most debilitating panic episode of my life took place, and I thought I was dying. After such an intense episode, I immediately (at least the next day) took overtures toward cleaning up my lifestyle and building a bridge towards productivity - a bridge I have not crossed since religion left my life.
I happened to be playing with the $50 bucks I had left in an online poker account that night of December 2nd. Poker wasn't really being taken seriously by me at this point, despite about three years of experience and the feeling (not the knowledge) that I could compete seriously on the Multi-Table Tournament scene (MTT for future reference). I was merely messing around that Sunday night when I bought in to a $10 tournament around 11 pm. I remember winning a crucial race with pocket Jacks against Ace Queen 3 handed on the final table - and 789 people later it was my first online poker MTT victory and they shipped the $1600 prize my way.
Now, I've got a pretty decent sized group of friends who at least know a little something about poker. I can remember some of the stronger and more respectable players out of that group of friends apparently claiming that I would "blow it all", BUT the very next Sunday I took down a tournament with over 1500 people in it for $2700. It seems since then I haven't looked back, and I've profited a pretty extreme sum for a college kid this age (look me up on officialpokerrankings.com if you really want to know). Now I've got a phat bankroll, some sickening results, and most of all the heart and desire to pursue this as a profession. If I continue to make money at this rather alarming rate, my future pursuits will include playing live with REAL HUMANS for exorbitant sums of cash.
Now that you have a little information on Petie BigStacks' journey to fruition (trust me, the process was not this simple) - I would like to state a few things about poker. Poker is not gambling. There is virtually no comparison that can be made to a slot machine when you're talking about poker. It is a game of skill, and like any other game, can only be mastered through hours upon hours of real time experience. It has taken me almost 3 years of SitnGo (single table tournament) experience to understand the nuances and idiosyncrasies of pre-flop raising and check-raise bluffing. My decisions are based off of odds, theoretically percentages that dictate my decision making. Along with the utter mastering of those odds, my ability to interpret the actions (check, bet, raise) of opposing players is what separates me and other great poker players from the rest.
A Level 1 poker thinker is only thinking about his cards. Gee I have pocket aces, so I should bet big or - well, I have 3 9 off-suit so I should fold. Put me up against a player like this and its all day baby. His bluff attempts have no method to his madness, and I will trap him with good hands and fold when I have nothing. Do not bluff a level 1 thinker, he has no concept of your elaborate multi-street bluff and will call you with his pair of sixes.
A level 2 poker thinker is starting to consider his opponents' holdings. They don't necessarily realize the importance - but at least they are considering it. He might be able to put his opponent on a flush draw, but these are also the guys who yell, "He's full of shit!" and pay me off when I have a big hand.
A Level 3 thinker is usually a pretty solid poker player. They're getting decent at reading hands and are now even starting consider "What does he think I have? I checked the flop so he probably thinks my holdings are weak." A player who is considering what his opponent thinks he has is starting to understand the fundamental driving force in No Limit Hold 'Em decision making.
This is where it gets tricky, and this is where a large percentage of money in the online poker community goes to. A level 4 thinker is a damn good player. He is not only considering "What does he think I have?", but has taken it a step further in to "What does he think I think he has?" - hahah and yes I am completely serious. He probably thinks that I'm putting him on a flush draw that hit, so hes throwing out a huge bluff on the river. "What does he think I think he has?" is what completely separates the best players in the world from the rest of the field. Until you are a level 4 thinker in poker you will never make money consistently. This is why poker is a game of skill.
This has been Petie Big Stacks, wish me luck in the FTOPS Event #1 tonight, $750K is guaranteed in the prize pool so maybe I could walk away with $150,000 tonight haha...odds are against me.
-PBS
Less than 2 months ago I would have never dreamed of participating in such prestigious events with some of the greatest players on earth. I was wasting away and slowly spiraling towards rock bottom, my life consisting of very little productivity and a tired history of anxieties and depression were at my doorstep once again. On December 1st, 2007, the most debilitating panic episode of my life took place, and I thought I was dying. After such an intense episode, I immediately (at least the next day) took overtures toward cleaning up my lifestyle and building a bridge towards productivity - a bridge I have not crossed since religion left my life.
I happened to be playing with the $50 bucks I had left in an online poker account that night of December 2nd. Poker wasn't really being taken seriously by me at this point, despite about three years of experience and the feeling (not the knowledge) that I could compete seriously on the Multi-Table Tournament scene (MTT for future reference). I was merely messing around that Sunday night when I bought in to a $10 tournament around 11 pm. I remember winning a crucial race with pocket Jacks against Ace Queen 3 handed on the final table - and 789 people later it was my first online poker MTT victory and they shipped the $1600 prize my way.
Now, I've got a pretty decent sized group of friends who at least know a little something about poker. I can remember some of the stronger and more respectable players out of that group of friends apparently claiming that I would "blow it all", BUT the very next Sunday I took down a tournament with over 1500 people in it for $2700. It seems since then I haven't looked back, and I've profited a pretty extreme sum for a college kid this age (look me up on officialpokerrankings.com if you really want to know). Now I've got a phat bankroll, some sickening results, and most of all the heart and desire to pursue this as a profession. If I continue to make money at this rather alarming rate, my future pursuits will include playing live with REAL HUMANS for exorbitant sums of cash.
Now that you have a little information on Petie BigStacks' journey to fruition (trust me, the process was not this simple) - I would like to state a few things about poker. Poker is not gambling. There is virtually no comparison that can be made to a slot machine when you're talking about poker. It is a game of skill, and like any other game, can only be mastered through hours upon hours of real time experience. It has taken me almost 3 years of SitnGo (single table tournament) experience to understand the nuances and idiosyncrasies of pre-flop raising and check-raise bluffing. My decisions are based off of odds, theoretically percentages that dictate my decision making. Along with the utter mastering of those odds, my ability to interpret the actions (check, bet, raise) of opposing players is what separates me and other great poker players from the rest.
A Level 1 poker thinker is only thinking about his cards. Gee I have pocket aces, so I should bet big or - well, I have 3 9 off-suit so I should fold. Put me up against a player like this and its all day baby. His bluff attempts have no method to his madness, and I will trap him with good hands and fold when I have nothing. Do not bluff a level 1 thinker, he has no concept of your elaborate multi-street bluff and will call you with his pair of sixes.
A level 2 poker thinker is starting to consider his opponents' holdings. They don't necessarily realize the importance - but at least they are considering it. He might be able to put his opponent on a flush draw, but these are also the guys who yell, "He's full of shit!" and pay me off when I have a big hand.
A Level 3 thinker is usually a pretty solid poker player. They're getting decent at reading hands and are now even starting consider "What does he think I have? I checked the flop so he probably thinks my holdings are weak." A player who is considering what his opponent thinks he has is starting to understand the fundamental driving force in No Limit Hold 'Em decision making.
This is where it gets tricky, and this is where a large percentage of money in the online poker community goes to. A level 4 thinker is a damn good player. He is not only considering "What does he think I have?", but has taken it a step further in to "What does he think I think he has?" - hahah and yes I am completely serious. He probably thinks that I'm putting him on a flush draw that hit, so hes throwing out a huge bluff on the river. "What does he think I think he has?" is what completely separates the best players in the world from the rest of the field. Until you are a level 4 thinker in poker you will never make money consistently. This is why poker is a game of skill.
This has been Petie Big Stacks, wish me luck in the FTOPS Event #1 tonight, $750K is guaranteed in the prize pool so maybe I could walk away with $150,000 tonight haha...odds are against me.
-PBS
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