Sunday, November 08, 2009

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:15:37 GMT

- tivo haiku -

these guys know k-town.
but they don't know much about
the rest of the world.

(west 32nd st.)

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:58:50 GMT

- my dogs -

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:00:38 GMT

- my friend's dog -

2008.10.28

2007.10.31

2006.10.09

2005.11.01

2004.11.01

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:52:31 GMT

- haiku review -

Asian girls with swords,
sailor suits, and lesbian
undertones. Right on.

(blood: the last vampire)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:23:59 GMT

- For What It's Worth -

I'm not saying that this is my "I know kung fu" moment or anything, but in my first return to the weekly game since trying to turn my poker game up a notch, I turned $40 into $199.50.

While I'm pretty pumped about that kind of return, my main focus is being able to consistently turn profits of 20-30% (just like ten bucks each game). So we'll see if I can make this stick.

2008.10.28

2007.10.26

2006.10.23

2005.10.28

2004.10.27

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:04:16 GMT

- Potemkin -

Last Saturday, I, the Wife, and our Buddy flew into Phoenix, where we ate a boatload of Mexican food ($9 pitchers of margaritas!), picked up a rental car, and drove up to the Grand Canyon. We spent three days there, hiking and taking photos, and then drove out to Las Vegas, where we met up with two other couples. One of the guys in the couples was our Buddy's little brother, who had no idea what was going on (it was his birthday). From there we gawked at the casinos, gambled, and ate until we were sick. It was an ideal vacation.

This was my first Vegas trip -- I was surprised by how much I loved the city. I'm not a fan of ostentatious wealth or artifice in general, but I found the Strip charming in a "It's a Small World After All" kind of way. In that regard, it may take a lot to accept that Paris Las Vegas is this ridiculous smoke-filled caricature of Paris, France, built to 5/8's scale in the middle of the desert with a big-ass billboard of two people tongue kissing in the front, and audio recordings of cheesy French pick-up lines in all of the bathrooms ("Is that an eclair in your pocket or are you happy to see me?" . . . "Est-ce un éclair dans votre poche ou êtes-vous heureux de me voir?"). But once you do accept those facts, it's really quite lovely.

I didn't play a lot of poker, because I was exhausted from the Grand Canyon and this trip had social priorities. But when I did play, I was happy with my gameplay. I hadn't played cards much this year, but I had joined a weekly house game a few weeks before the trip. On the train rides home after each game, I'd go through my gameplay and be reminded of a different rule that I had forgotten that used to be a natural heuristic for me when I was playing more frequently, years ago.

So, over the course of the Vegas trip, I scrawled out a list of rules to myself in a draft email on my iPhone. I've never been a great poker player, but I've never focused on being a great player, either. So I wanted to see if my game would hold up if I made a concentrated effort to win -- what better test than Vegas?

As it turns out, I'm happy with my results. I think my rules were appropriate and I had good discipline in sticking to my plan.

Despite this, I ended up down $18.

That, in itself, is a bit of a lesson, because my losses came from one huge hand where I had made the right choices going into it. I had odds in my favor when the money went in the pot, but my adversary hit one of the two cards in the deck that would cause him to win. Sometimes you do it right and still lose.

Outside of that big hand, I was excited with how things turned out. For example, after the huge loss, I played for a little bit longer, then met the group for brunch. Afterwards, I had about two hours left before my flight, so I sat down determined to get back to work and make some money back. I sat down with $300 and, by the time we left, had $500. I'll take that.

Anyway, I wanted to write out my rules here less in a "this is sharing" capacity, but more because this is essentially my safekeeping place for any thoughts that I want to revisit in the future. I'm a little sheepish doing so, though, because I understand how cliche it is to blog about "poker tips for success" or sophomoric it is to continually relate poker to life. But these are the rules that I'm working out right now and I actually do think they apply to my life in all kinds of ways (don't even get me started on how these rules apply to my litigation strategies). If it mitigates this at all, I understand that these rules are entirely subjective -- they work for me, my outlook, and my weaknesses and strengths. I don't presume to be able to spout off universal truths.

This is what I've got so far:

1. Control the things you can control, but understand that something like 1/5 of the outcome is left to chance.

2. Avoid the temptation to swing for home every time and, instead, win in increments. When you swing big, you can overreach and get put out. If you aim to make 30% every time you sit down, though, you can make that money pretty consistently. And 30% is one hell of an overnight investment rate.

3. Play your pot odds: When you put anything at risk, what's the potential payout? Are the expected values in your favor?

4. The strength of your hole cards have to be viewed in relation to your position to the other players. Before doing anything, understand who gets to act in response.

5. Your actions have to be viewed in relation to the wealth of the other players. What seems like a big bet to you may be perceived entirely differently by someone else.

6. Spend your money tight enough that you remember the hands that have left you short stacked, rather than being nickeled and dimed down and then realizing that you're at risk. Said another way, view your blinds as the cost that you play to see X number of hands.

7. When you do choose to fight, come out hard. Make then respond to you. And don't let them get anything for free. "Everyone has a plan until they get hit." - Mike Tyson

8. Focus on sins of commission, rather than sins of omission.

9. Similarly, don't overreach just to bust someone that you don't like. Play your game and don't let it get personal.

10. You don't have to pick your fights with the best players. There's money enough for everyone from the other guys. (this is probably the mistake that led to my losing that hand, even though I was ahead. any other player would have folded after the initial $50 post-flop bet.)

11. Sometimes when you want to make a large signal, you can do so by only putting a small amount of money at risk.

12. Be diligent. A lifetime of work can be erased in a moment's carelessness.

13. You don't have to spend your money to learn about someone. And you should always be learning about your adversaries, even when you're not involved in the gameplay.

14. Don't ever give more information than you need to. And demand the information that you're entitled to (make them show their cards when they have to).

15. While it's important to be able to read other players, it's also critical that you understand how you are perceived (this is also the hardest part). Understand how you are perceived. Build that story up. Then surprise people.

[post script, in case you're curious about the hand I lost big on

I made the mistake of sitting down at a table at 7am at Planet Hollywood with a guy that literally makes his living playing poker. The table was $1/$2, No Limit, with buy-ins capped at $300. At the table were:

1. German Tourist that I was friendly with from other games ($200-ish)
2. Poker Professional (he mainly plays $200-400 limit) ($1,400)
3. Cell phone company guy ($200-ish)
4. Me (around $300)
5-7. Three Asian friends from Los Angeles (ranging from $120-450).

Poker Pro and his chip stack really threw the gravity of the game off balance. He made almost every single pre-flop raise $15 and any call was quickly taken to $100.

I get KQ offsuit and check, letting him make the pre-flop raise for me. I call.

Flop comes K - 8 - 4, off.

I'm first to act, betting $50. He pushes me all-in and I call.

He had 10-8, middle pair versus my high pair. But then he hits a third 8 on the flop.

What are you going to do? Sometimes you just get hit by the truck, even when you're walking with the light.]

2008.10.21

2007.10.26

2006.10.26

2005.10.27

2004.10.27

Monday, October 26, 2009

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:22:10 GMT

- Vacation -

The best part about being caught in the rain at the bottom of a long hike is the chance of catching a rainbow when you finally haul your wet ass out of the canyon.

2008.10.28

2007.10.24

2006.10.23

2005.10.24

2004.10.22

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 15:00:18 GMT

- More TiVo Haikus (Hey, it's a freezing rainy weekend so I'm fat-assing it on the couch.) -

Freaking fantastic.
Mike Tyson! Tigers! Babies!
Marry the stripper.

(the Hangover)

2008.10.18

2007.10.16

2006.10.16

2005.10.18

2004.10.17

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:37:37 GMT

- tivo haiku -

Neat to see how the
Coen brothers got their start.
Classic: Window scene.

(blood simple)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:35:42 GMT

- Haiku Review Too -

This would have been a
good early draft of a book.
A little lazy.

(freakonomics, levitt & dubner)

Banrock_Station's Xanga

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Sunday, October 18, 2009