# Poker problem? Me? Nah... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 23, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833 "2006-04-23T04:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/21 "2006-04-27T02:33:35Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > The $10,000 buy-in hold 'em event at the WSOP is considered the _de facto_ “world championship.” Thanks … and that’s interesting about the Harrah’s HORSE tournament! > [@Maureen](#): > > Seconded. In fact, read anything you can by Mike Caro, he rocks. His website. > [@welby](#): > > Then it’s still probably worth a read. I read it and used my weekly home game to kind of absord some of the thinking. Worked wonders later in my poker game Ok, ok, I’ll read it. 😃 Not right away, though: I just talked to the guy who has that other guy’s copy of _Harrington on Hold 'Em_, and he should be done with it in a couple of weeks. I want to read that one first. I’ll add the Caro book to my wish list, along with Gordon’s book. Which one is better (i.e., which one should I read after Harrington)? > [@Gangster Octopus](#): > > Stupid Poker Gods. > > I mean…uh…nice, powerful Poker Gods … Please don’t smite… I know you were kidding (mostly), but I actually do have an itty bitty superstition like this: when faced with a particularly hard decision, sometimes I’ll mutter “I hate this fucking game.” But then I immediately follow it up with “nah, I love poker” – whether anyone else heard me or not. \ ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/22 "2006-04-27T02:41:00Z")
Sorry for the double post, but I’m watching WPT and just laughed out loud: Patrick Antonius was heads up with Doyle Brunson. Patrik had A2o and bet big – like $1-2M big. Brunson called with pocket 3s, and wound up winning with a full house. Afterwards Patrik asked, “How could you make that call?” Doyle replied, “How could you make that _bet_?” Then, after a beat: “We’re playing poker, not solitaire!” HA! I love Doyle Brunson. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/23 "2006-04-27T18:19:55Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Sorry for the double post, but I’m watching WPT and just laughed out loud: Patrick Antonius was heads up with Doyle Brunson. Patrik had A2o and bet big – like $1-2M big. Brunson called with pocket 3s, and wound up winning with a full house. Afterwards Patrik asked, “How could you make that call?” Doyle replied, “How could you make that _bet_?” Then, after a beat: “We’re playing poker, not solitaire!” > > HA! > > I love Doyle Brunson. 🙂 I saw that too…just classic…and why would some young buck ever question the Godfather of Poker like that? You’ll only just get served. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/24 "2006-04-27T20:05:59Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > I saw that too…just classic…and why would some young buck ever question the Godfather of Poker like that? You’ll only just get served. Maybe he was genuinely curious. But I saw it too and he was incredulous. He had that terrible beat put on him (AK vs A4) though to basically lose the tournament. Too bad, so sad. (He had to just settle for a little over $1 million.) ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/25 "2006-04-27T22:52:22Z")
I forget, did Doyle raise pre-flop with the 33 or did he just call? If he just called at first then calling the all-in raise was very loose on his part. The only hane he has squarely beat is pocket 22 and in most cases he’s going to be facing at least two overcards and be about 52-48 if that. If he raised and was calling the re-raise then that’s a different story. He may have felt he was pot committed (which I still don’t really believe in as a concept but that’s just me) and had to all no matter what his opponent had. ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/26 "2006-04-28T03:30:24Z")
Hi, I’m a poker dealer. Don’t be afraid of a B&M poker room. In Florida, we are limited to $2 betting but have tournaments with $45 buy-ins. FWIW, Bad beat stories cost $5, $10 if they involve pocket aces and $20 if you had it until the river. They are called odds for a reason folks. All the percentages in the world won’t prevent someone who doesn’t give a crap about the stakes calling a huge bet with a 7/3 off suit, to watch a 773 come up on the flop. I see it all day long. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/27 "2006-04-28T03:36:56Z")
Well sure, _you_ see it all day long, your state limits bets to two dollars. All kinds of crap is playable for two dollars. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/28 "2006-04-28T04:05:54Z")
**Otto** : Hmm, I don’t remember if Doyle raised pre-flop. **Auntbeast** : I still have your “Ask the poker dealer” thread among my subscriptions, and I’ve seen you in a few other poker threads. I know who you are. 🙂 I _am_ a little afraid of B&M casinos right now, because I’m still a very passive player: I’m a weak bettor, and I’m starting to see how that tendency can cost me. Among the regulars at my weekly tournament I’m a fairly solid player (I’ve finished in the money 4 times this year, and just missed it last week), but I know that my betting sucks and is probably the worst thing about my game right now – at least, as far as I know! 😉 Anyway, I just don’t feel good enough to handle live casino play right now. I know that some of the other folks there are probably not much better than me, but I want to strengthen my betting skills a little first. When the time comes I’ll most likely go to AC, not Florida, so I feel like I should try to have my shit together as much as possible before playing where I’ll be nervous _and_ betting more than $2. \ ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/29 "2006-04-29T02:30:30Z")
Ok, it’s my thread so I can brag a little: I just got back from dinner after a 10-person tournament where I finished _first_! Including the cost of playing each week, I am now up $110 so far this year\*. I love poker. 🆒 I don’t have one of those photographic hand memories yet, but I definitely just got lucky several times. And my betting still sucks, but an accidental benefit of that – according to some of the folks at the table – is that it’s hard for people to get a read on me. On one hand I checked to the river with a full house, and I think a couple of heads almost exploded. 😉 (But I’m pretty sure I didn’t have the full house _until_ the river … will I ever start remembering hands??) There’s one guy who plays with us a lot who we call our very own Phil Hellmuth, and he definitely would have had a little meltdown if he’d seen that hand! Anyway, my challenge remains getting more aggressive with my betting without becoming an open book. And there’s one guy who’s convinced that I have a tendency to play Ace anything, but he’s just remembering a few bad beats. I’m in no hurry to disabuse him of that notion. 😉 \*Hey, who’s good at math? I want to calculate my ROI: I know it’s profit ÷ investment, but for “profit” do I use the total amount of money I’ve won, or that amount less what it costs me to play every week? Seems like it should be the former, otherwise I’m counting the investment twice … right? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2006, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/30 "2006-04-29T03:40:21Z")
Congratulations on the win. Me, I played for three hours last night and ended up ahead exactly 30 cents. Not exactly the hourly rate I’m looking for. Forgot to mention earlier, if you’re a Phil Gordon fan, then check Bravo for Celebrity Poker Showdown. Usually runs at like 1 AM CDT on weekdays, repeating at 11AM the following weekday. It’s less poker-intensive than other shows but Phil’s the poker expert host and occasionally busts out some good tips. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/31 "2006-05-01T15:05:02Z")
Yeah, I’ve seen Phil co-host Celebrity Poker with Dave Foley a couple of times. Lately, though, it seems like whenever I’m looking for something to watch, Celeb Poker isn’t on. It just killed me to see Shawn Sheikhan beat Doyle Brunson at heads-up yesterday. I’ve seen Shiekhy play a few times, but have never seen him so mouthy! Brunson was very gracious when discussing the table talk after the game, but _damn_ there were times when I was rooting for Doyle to just reach across the table and slap him. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/32 "2006-05-01T15:33:09Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Congratulations on the win. Me, I played for three hours last night and ended up ahead exactly 30 cents. Not exactly the hourly rate I’m looking for. Whatta mean, it’s fantastic for a .01-.02 table. ---
**Author:** ![welby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@welby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/welby)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/33 "2006-05-01T15:36:05Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > Which one is better (i.e., which one should I read after Harrington)? For game mechanics, Gordons book is best. I’d save Caro’s for when you’re ready to do a little live play in a casino. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/34 "2006-05-01T16:42:14Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Whatta mean, it’s fantastic for a .01-.02 table. Like I would waste my time at that level. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833/35 "2006-05-01T17:21:56Z")
> [@Hamlet](#): > > Whatta mean, it’s fantastic for a .01-.02 table. Too rich for my blood. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poker-problem-me-nah/353833.md?page=1)