Vegas & The Aftermath - Diary

[byronkincaid]

i read some magazine that I've thrown away now so I can't check but I'm sure you said that poker books are a waste of time but you'd read them all anyway.

Why read them then?

[TightEnd]

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

I actually completely disagree with part of this

Poker books have a place, as part of a balanced poker educational diet.

[tikay]

So thanks to Maria's selfishness in Finalling at Luton on Friday night, it was 0600 before I got back home. & I had to leave the house at 8am to get back to London & see one D Brunson.

I drove down, but I'm scared of driving in London, I get so revved up at the traffic jams, & I get lost easily. But I needed the car, as I was in London & the suburbs for 3 days, & I had a wardrobe of clothes to lug around.

So I dumped the car at Kilburn Tube station & jumped a Piccadilly Line train to Leicester Square, easy-peasy.

We all convened in the lobby of the Radission Edwardian Hampshire, in Leicester Square, where Doyle was holed up, along with many of the players, & indeed the WSOP-E Press & Media Centre is there, too.

At Noon, up we went to the great man's 6th floor suite, a rather odd suite it was too, but I suppose it'd be a bit out of order to comment further. I just say this - don't EVER book a a Suite at that Hotel. A standard room is £350, a standard suite is £600, & a Travelodge or Days Inn gives bigger rooms, cleaner rooms, & better value. He has a sort of PA who fusses over him & sorts bits & pieces out, but his Daughters do most of the running around for him, while Mrs Brunson sits there, just beaming at how wonderful life has been. She's lovely.

Anyway, the interview went very well, he is a true Pro, & we were soon done & dusted. Whilst doing the Noddies, I returned to something that was fascinating me - the $4,000 - $8,000 game in Vegas. What's the pull-up, & is it a profitable game? He's 76, but sharp as a tack. "No, it's a bad game really, because it's too big. At $1k - $2k, we can reel in lots of value from wannabees, but only the best players play $4k - $8k, so it's a waste of time really".... See, old does not necessarily mean daft......

When we mentioned son Todd & Daughter Pamela (who just won an Event at the Legends of Poker in LA) his chest puffed out with pride, he's just so proud of them. I confess I don't rub along too well with Todd, we had a run-in in Vegas at an Event 2 years ago, & I found him rude & surly, but I also confess I forgot to tell Doyle that......

Doyle also told me that in all his life, when he's been out for days & nights on end, Mrs Brunson never once ring up with the "your dinner is ready, where are you?" thing.

I was in the Lobby of the same Hotel 2 days later, with Compo, waiting to do some Poker Week stuff, when Mrs Brunson spotted me, "ooh, how are you young man?". Young man, you getting that? So I introduced her to Compo, & she & Compo were blathering away for ages. She's doing all the tourist things - The Palace, Madame Tussuads, London Eye. But she said "I can't believe how expensive everything is in London, this Hotel room would be $80 in Vegas, & you even have to pay for coffee"........

So, anyway, after the Brunson Interview ended on Saturday, I met with Des Duffy in the same Hotel for an hour on some minor APAT stuff, then got the tube back to Kilburn, then drove across to Feltham to do that night's Sky Show, after first booking into the St Giles Hotel. I was too late for a pre-show kip, but after the show, I went back to the Hotel & pretty well fell asleep in an instant.

[celtic]

snoopy wrote an interesting piece here.....

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/12087

My views on Poker Books - for tuition - are well-known. I think they are a complete waste of time. End of. Because, well, they just cannot be, as someone described it, "contextual", or "situational".

Here's a hand Maria played at Luton last Friday. It's early doors, blinds are nothing, average is 7k, she has 23k, her oppo has 7k.

She Raises with  , Oppo moves in, she beats him into the pot. He shows  , she catches her Ten. So be it, she got lucky.

But that hand plays SO MANY different ways, depending on stack sizes, of you & your oppo, how deep in the tourney we are, and a hundred other reasons. But the book will get all sermonistic, it's this, that or the other. And it's NOT.

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

ffs i have just got over this hand and now you have re-opened the wound!!!!!

Cheers

[tikay]

i read some magazine that I've thrown away now so I can't check but I'm sure you said that poker books are a waste of time but you'd read them all anyway.

Why read them then?

I read every single one earlier in my poker "life", and that's how I formed the view that, in truth, you cannot learn a thing from them. But until I had read them, I never knew that....

Really, there's only one way to learn - by playing, listening (to good generic advice) & watching. In my opinion.

[tikay]

snoopy wrote an interesting piece here.....

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/12087

My views on Poker Books - for tuition - are well-known. I think they are a complete waste of time. End of. Because, well, they just cannot be, as someone described it, "contextual", or "situational".

Here's a hand Maria played at Luton last Friday. It's early doors, blinds are nothing, average is 7k, she has 23k, her oppo has 7k.

She Raises with  , Oppo moves in, she beats him into the pot. He shows  , she catches her Ten. So be it, she got lucky.

But that hand plays SO MANY different ways, depending on stack sizes, of you & your oppo, how deep in the tourney we are, and a hundred other reasons. But the book will get all sermonistic, it's this, that or the other. And it's NOT.

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

ffs i have just got over this hand and now you have re-opened the wound!!!!!

Cheers

I did it because I care about you.......

The truth is, of course, & my point, was that if she had average chips, she Passes. But Books can't allow for a dynamic equation.

See you tonight?

[celtic]

Awww thats nice!!

Yep i'm there, just waiting on my pass from the boss, but should be ok!!

[TightEnd]

Its ok Vinny, you can go

The boss

[tikay]

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

I actually completely disagree with part of this

Poker books have a place, as part of a balanced poker educational diet.

For some, maybe, but not for me. Not never, no way.

A "balanced poker educational diet" (a WHAT?) means learning by losing. You can't beat losing as a learning tool. Unless you are one of the "I'm always unlucky" tribe, (and I know you are not, you lose like a grown-up) in which case, you are always gonna struggle.

[kinboshi]

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

I actually completely disagree with part of this

Poker books have a place, as part of a balanced poker educational diet.

For some, maybe, but not for me. Not never, no way.

A "balanced poker educational diet" (a WHAT?) means learning by losing. You can't beat losing as a learning tool. Unless you are one of the "I'm always unlucky" tribe, (and I know you are not, you lose like a grown-up) in which case, you are always gonna struggle.

Not sure I agree with not being able to learn 'anything' from poker books.  Surely, you can learn something from them - even if it's the fact that you need to practice more and get more experience in certain situations.

Reading books can maybe help a beginner get a leg-up on their poker education, and maybe skip a lot of the early 'education' that would otherwise be obtained by playing and losing.  They can also stimulate thought in certain areas of the game, so next time you play you're focusing on an element of the game you hadn't really given that much time to previously.

Of course, poker books might not help you - as you were playing when Moses was a lad, and you've been there, seen it all and got the t-shirts.  But if you don't read any poker books, how do you actually know that they wouldn't help you?  I know you're ranked the No.1 in the universe, but even the best can improve.  No?

[RED-DOG]

And Kizzy, the dog, well, she's growing up so fast. She's got me sussed now, & we played & played until I was exhausted. She's wonderfully obedient, too, one word from Tom - not loud, just normal voice - & she "freezes" instantly.

I hope Tony will forgive me, but I'm going to take this opportunity to give him a little lesson in dogology.

When Tony comes to visit he always plays with Kizzy. He plays properly too, freely and without reserve, as only a true animal lover can. It's not often you see a *cough* middle aged, suicide blonde TV presenter on his hands and knees, cavorting around a field in his dress shirt and trousers, alternately chasing and being chased by a small Yorkshire terrier with a bad haircut.

I have always taught my dogs that it's ok to be friendly with visitors, and if the visitor wants to play, so much the better. I actively encourage my dogs to play with anyone who offers. Believe it or not, most people want to pet or play with the dog for a while, but only for a while. When they lose interest it's my job to make sure the dog doesn't become a nuisance. so with that in mind, I also teach my dogs that when I say "That's enough" the game is over, and they should lie quietly and let the visitor be.

Now that's all well and good, but when Tony comes he plays with the dog until he's exhausted, I tell the dog "That's enough and she lies quietly, Tony takes a sip of his tea, and then suddenly he jumps up and starts cavorting again. The dog looks at me as if to say "Can I?" I can't say no because that would be rude, (And Tony would look daft cavorting around on his own) so I don't say anything, the dog takes that as a yes and starts to play again, then Tony sits down again and it all starts over.

Tony is teaching my dog to be naughty. Still, I'm sure Kizzy is clever enough to realise that he doesn't fall into the 'Normal sane person" category, and will learn to treat him as an exception.

[tikay]

It all caught up with me on Sunday. I'd gone straight to bed after the Saturday Show, & could not move on Sunday, I was just too ill to get out of bed. I'm a man, you understand, it may be just flu or a cold to a woman, but men go to deaths's door. So I spent all day in bed, groaning, & badly in need of sympathy. I had to be at the Studio at 6, half a mile away, & only managed to get there with minutes to spare. I did spend an hour or two doing e-Mails in the afternoon, mostly blonde stuff, & managed to upset everybody. Never do e-Mails when you are dying.

The Sky Poker Show was a "special", it was the "Sunday Showdown", where all the Presenters & Analysts, in batches of 3, take each other on, via "The Open", with the best three finishers going to a Grand Final.

Now, this is more important (to us Presenters & Analysts) than you might realise. There's the normal competiveness, of course, but it's more than that. I've often said I feel I am a fraud, stood up there dispensing poker advice, so when the chance arises to walk the walk, you need to put on a good showing, otherwise it's  goodbye to whatever vestige of credibilty we may have.

My first target was Ed Giddens - because he was in the same comp, & sat next to me in the Studio. He got chips early, then said "Claw is on my table, I'll try bullying her". And I'm thinking, good luck Ed........Bully Claire? You wish buddy. And he did. And she did.....Gotta love Claire! In fairness, once Ed busted, he railed me every single hand, & was a great help to me, calming me down when the action got hot.

The next target was Richard Orford, the current "Showdown" Leader, he had finished 149th. He's gonna get some serious grief this Sunday when we do the Show together.....

And so it went on, I got lucky, then lucky again, & well, you know the rest.

£3,400 was the Prize, I think, all of which went to Rob Yong;'s Charity. Now that's a proper charity - EVERY penny goes to the cause, & Rob pays the running costs out of his own pocket. That's how a charity should be run. Amount in the £ spent on Admin & Costs? Nil. Exactly.

And I got a bit too, because by winning it, I get to do an extra Show, (and they pay me very handsomely) when I appear in the Final, so everyone's a winner.

Anneka, a Sky Poker AP, had organised a little Birthday celebration for me too, balloons, a cake, candles, cards, the works. God Bless Anneka, & Sky Poker.

So, another day done, and another very happy day. Back to the Hotel, because I had a full day in London planned for the Monday, starting with a Noon meet with Virgin in Hammersmith, then up to WSOP-E with Poker week & Compo.

Amazing to think, I was dying 6 hours earlier, yet now I was cock-a-hoop. See how quickly men can recover?

[tikay]

Kids - don't read poker tuition books, or do drugs.

I actually completely disagree with part of this

Poker books have a place, as part of a balanced poker educational diet.

For some, maybe, but not for me. Not never, no way.

A "balanced poker educational diet" (a WHAT?) means learning by losing. You can't beat losing as a learning tool. Unless you are one of the "I'm always unlucky" tribe, (and I know you are not, you lose like a grown-up) in which case, you are always gonna struggle.

Not sure I agree with not being able to learn 'anything' from poker books.  Surely, you can learn something from them - even if it's the fact that you need to practice more and get more experience in certain situations.

Reading books can maybe help a beginner get a leg-up on their poker education, and maybe skip a lot of the early 'education' that would otherwise be obtained by playing and losing.  They can also stimulate thought in certain areas of the game, so next time you play you're focusing on an element of the game you hadn't really given that much time to previously.

Of course, poker books might not help you - as you were playing when Moses was a lad, and you've been there, seen it all and got the t-shirts.  But if you don't read any poker books, how do you actually know that they wouldn't help you?  I know you're ranked the No.1 in the universe, but even the best can improve.  No?

I have already tried reading them, as I said, & that's how I formed my opinion - they are tosh.

OK, I am catching up nicely, but Luton beckons.

Later.

Oh, & what a lovely Post by Tom!

[celtic]

Poker Books. Good for beginners. Found a lot of them contradicted each other. Best education is to play live, accept advise / critisim from good players around you and make sure you learn from your mistakes.

just my opinion.

Thanks for the pass out tonight Richard, appreciated!

will there be rumours??

[Jon MW]

...

A "balanced poker educational diet"...means learning by losing. You can't beat losing as a learning tool. ...

Or - you find someone who learnt by losing, then read what they learnt in their book. It works out a lot cheaper.

Poker books may not provide full contextualisation but it only takes a modicum of wit and intellect to adapt these to any other situation you find yourself in.