Perception

It isn’t something we always have a handle on. That’s especially true in the cheaper seats; but it doesn’t get any better higher up. Reads are often damn easy on most of those cheaper tables; higher does get a bit foggier. Of course, capitalizing on them is another discussion. I browse the net for a topic. When I don’t draw out I fall back on discussing my stud play which isn’t a big builder of readership. But, today things seem to be falling together and related topics are pounding a bit of sense into my transitory intellect.

The other day Aaron put up an article here on his tournament with quite a few hands listed. He titled it “How to lose $100/hr.”

Daniel Negreanu has a blog entitled “Best PCA Ever” where he talks about being card dead and looking “super nitty” on the second day.

Mean Gene went on permanent tilt against some guy who laughed at him when he got the boat against Gene’s set of Kings. If you go to my previous article, you will see an even worse beat but I didn’t post “LOL” in the chat; I actually posted “Tuff 1” for the hand. I hope he won’t turn into a stalker like Gene. His is titled “Rough Night” and is from the perspective of the doee instead of the doer.

Now there is nothing unusual in any of the articles. But, Aaron acts as one of our resident pedagogues. He is quite specific in his instructions with good cause. His tale bears only faint resemblance to his specifics in the articles. If you read both closely, they don’t differ a lot but you might miss that without a close read.

Daniel is noted for loving 57 — suited or not. He’s only playing premium hands on day two and recognizing what’s happened to him. Daniel has said he’s changed parts of his game and we’re seeing some of the results. But there will be gear changes where he returns to using implied odds more than the average tournament player.

Gene’s tilting on a pretty common occurrence – the perceived bad beat. He’s the one with the emotional take. Gene’s blog shows a lot of emotion at poker and especially with his beloved Steelers.

I’m the other side of that coin with the chortle on picking up quads at the perfect moment. I do fight against being passives. That can manifest itself in different manners on different days. At ring, I’m playing pretty close to rock poker these days. I’m surprised that I’m often looked up or played back at when I raise.

OK, you’ve seen four players. The other three gave more hand histories than I did but at least try to make the read from my past discussions. What do you say about all of us based on the hands seen? Hard? Wrong? Atypical? Probably all of the above but we are tasked with making sense of all this. And, our conclusion is at best fragmentary.

Now friend JB is a spreadsheet fan and you might say structured. He has an article on reads that is informative here. I wonder how he’d score all of us. Based on the limited view provided in the blogs mentioned, probably not well. JB also understands the fog of war and has been in that situation beyond the poker tables. Chess is another game associated with war gaming. There, there are no surprises; it is all out in the open; there is no luck involved. The ranking of chess players is absolute.

Contrast that to a comment attributed to Doyle Brunson when asked about how good one of the wunderkinders was. He responded to ask him again in about 20 years. Tomorrow, he may sit across from that player and put a large sum at risk. Both thoughts seem right to him.

All this is what makes poker so interesting. It is why it is often used by the social sciences. And, it is as damnably confusing for us everywhere but in some poker forum like 2plus2 on one end and TotalBluff on the other. Of course, you might select ours.

No wonder we don’t always agree. Shades of grey are what we get in our best moments. Yet, we make black and white decisions. Seldom do we hold the total nuts. Hell of a game! The donk may actually be an inventive player making an advanced move. It might take us and Doyle’s 20 years to get the right handle on that guy in the other seat.

ADDENDUM:

Talking about lousy cards you’d have to include Michael Craig’s wife who’s fighting cancer and had a rough week that only partially related to the cancer itself. You can see it in his latest blog. Send his family a bit of love and a lot of prayers at: mrchaotic@aol.com

—————–

I continue playing Stud but mostly on PokerStars. I’ve played a bit at Bodog with nice results and at FullTilt at slightly above break even. Although, FT remains seriously underwater. Stars has been kind. I almost doubled up there; then I slipped back a bit; but, I’m recovering and had some nice sessions. This isn’t earthshaking news. Not being the type that tracks his funds closely, this is my little reference journal more than blog excitement most of the time.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 12:51 pm and is filed under Journal, Poker Thoughts. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.