Quest of a Closet Poker Player

I’m back trying to grind away with my bankroll, working to build it back from the abyss. And Pot Limit Holdem has been a nice change of pace for me.

PLHE is the game of choice for many Europeans, and it has always seemed to be a nice hybrid game for me when I’ve played in London or Amsterdam. For a guy trying to claw his way back from the brink, I’ve found the lower stakes PLHE games on Stars to be ripe for the taking. Sure, I’ve had the typical beats to be expected at looser games (thank you KK vs J3s), but there are seem to be some really strong advantages to playing PLHE for bankroll building vs being great or testosterone showmanship. First, you can pot and expect to take it down when everyone has given up on the hand. My downside is protected while my upside is fairly wide open. There are more games than LHE, and the games are the loosest of the the three options of hold-em. Granted, I haven’t played anything above $0.10/0.25 or $0.25/0.50, and three data points does not a trend make, but I’ll stick to it to try and claw my way back.

I sent a blast email out about a couple articles I’ve written for PokerWorks (btw, email me at csquard@gmail.com if you want to be on my distribution list for these emails). First is a three-part interview that I did with Ulvis Alberts, whose photographs can be found in Poker Face and Poker Face 2. Part I, Part II, and Part III. Very interesting life story as he’s photographed everyone from Jimi Hendrix to Paul McCartney to Groucho Marx, as well as the early Stu Ungar and Doyle Brunson among others.

The second article is on CardRunners, and thanks to cmitch for some ideas for questions. I hope to interview several of the trainers in the coming weeks as well. I have several interviews in the works and will keep you posted as they come around.

Congrats to Manchester United and their blitzkrieg through Roma 7-1 yesterday in the Champions League Quarterfinals. For those of you not in the know, this is a competition where the best teams from each country’s league play for the title of best in Europe. They start with a round robin structure then go to home and home elimination matches. Man U had lost 2-1 in Roma last week, and away goals are the tiebreaker if the aggregate scores are tied. To translate into an American sports analogy, this would be like the Colts beating the Pats 63-10 in the AFC semifinals. A magically brilliant display.

We’re in the dog days of American sports unless you’re a hockey freak. I’m no fan of the NBA, and NHL seems like the Main Event in that anyone can win if they get a hot goalie.

To continue the random walk category, I grew up in Mississippi with a snooker table in our home. Televised poker, imo, has its roots in televised snooker as this billiard game was broadcast in England before poker started being televised there. A seemingly idiotic thing to do, televise a pool game, but it became big ratings in the UK. Here is an incredible video of the fastest perfect game ever by Ronnie O’Sullivan, I assume the Phil Ivey of snooker. For the uninitiated, snooker pockets are smaller/narrower, and the balls are also smaller. The table is longer than a pool table. There are 14 red balls plus numbered balls 2-7, and you have to make a red before you make a number ball, alternating back and forth. The term “snooker” is when the cue ball is blocked from an intended ball. If you can’t hit the intended ball, you lose a turn plus four points. Each red is worth one point, and each numbered ball is worth its value. After all reds are pocketed, you go in order 2-7.

Lightning quick. I may very well play the Mook for the first time in several weeks tonight. It depends how the afternoon and evening go. And as we haven’t had CC’s Thursday Bash in quite awhile, we’re back this week in a big way.

Thursday night, CC’s Thursday Bash, a whopping $30+3 buy-in so I can hopefully rig my own tourney and jumpstart my bankroll. It’s been quite awhile, so everyone may have forgotten how to play on Stars, but here’s hoping we can get a nice chunk of folks (or not!).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 3:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.