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June 22, 2004
4
One thing that always cracks me up is the way everyone on RGP and 2+2 always measures their win rates in BB/100 hands. I suppose maybe they all have Pokertracker and don’t really bother writing down things like hours played, win, etc. But I think that most of them do that as well, but actually think that BB/100 is a more significant and/or accurate measure of their performance. I personally couldn’t disagree more. The reason for this is the simple fact that your objective in playing poker is to make the most amount of money you can, period.
This is why I use $/hr, the good old standard. If player A makes 4BB/100 hands at a $5/10 game ($40 per hour) and player B makes 2 BB/100 but plays 4 games at a time ($80 per hour) then player B, who appears to be not as good as player A, is going to make a lot more in the end. This is a fairly obvious example, and many people do include the number of tables they play at a time, but this still can be misleading. For instance when I have played $10/$20 6 max on PokerStars I am lucky to see 85 hands per hour, because of their slow software. Their high-speed games may be a little better (I haven’t tried them) but still won't be much. At Party or UB, which both have incredibly fast software, you can see as much as 125 hands per hour on a regular basis. So I’d much rather make 4.5BB/100 at Party than 5 BB/100 at Stars.
I also especially like the short handed forums. The people on there really have no idea what they are doing at all. The misplay hands left and right, post them like they played them well, then will never consider the fact that they misplayed them. I actually tried to explain why someone’s move was horrible one time (which it was) and without insulting anyone at all (a new tact for me I know) and everyone immediately rallied against me. The worst part was that it was a very simple situation, where a player thought he was beat after being checkraised on the turn and reraised anyway to attempt to get a free showdown if his hand didn’t improve. He had a flush draw (2 in hand, 2 on board) along with top pair weak kicker which he thought was no good, but (correctly) didn’t want to fold because the pot was large. He would have had to call the turn with his flush draw, then call the river if bet at. I told him that his reraise was bad because it would either:
1)Cost the same as just calling down if his opponent just called and checked the river.
2)Not win any extra money should his flush come, since the way he played it did not make it appear he had a flush draw, and his opponent was highly likely to have a hand like 2 pair which he could reasonably expect to be paid off with on the river.
3)Cost him 2 extra big bets if his opponent capped it on the turn and bet the river (and he missed his flush draw). Of course he would hit his flush about 1/5th of the time, in which case he would make 2-3 BB extra, but losing 2 BB 4 times for every once this happens makes this an overall bad play (or –EV as 2+2 readers love to say).
The poster was under the fallacious assumptions that the checkraiser could not reraise the turn. I admit it isn’t highly likely but is definitely a possibility, given that it appeared he had a set or 2 pair. The board wasn’t scary enough to stop someone with a set or top two from just capping it, so this assumption was a bad one. He also was assuming that if he just called and the flush came that his opponent would check, which there was no reason to believe would happen. So the way he looked at it he either would pay the same as calling down if he missed his flush, or squeeze an extra bet if he hit.
Of course he was unable to see that what I said was correct. He would not let go of his baseless assumptions that the player would not cap the turn under any circumstances and would also check if the flush came. Even if he knew his player well (which he didn’t appear to) anyone would have capped a set or top two there. And most people would have bet the river regardless of a third card of the flush suit.
That was the last time I explained anything to anyone on that site. They are too close minded to make any use of it anyway. Now I simply like to read their botched hands (which they think they played well) and marvel that these people are beating the games. I guess in poker someone has to win, so given that Party Poker has about a 1,000-1 fish to shark ratio some of the fish are going to rise to the top. And sharks love nothing better than the fat fish. Especially when they don’t know they are fish.
Posted by themaroon at June 22, 2004 7:19 AM
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Comments
I watched you bust out of a Party Tourney last night, 77th I think it was. You were short stacked with AJo and went all in, preflop, for 300. One medium stacked player called with a KJo and ended up taking the pot. Afterwards you went ballistic and berated him for making such a bad call. You came across very insulting, immature, and downright nasty (yeah, I know it's your "strategy" for getting someone in to headsup play, in this case the guy laughed it off). Anyways, do you really believe calling a heads up all in bet (only 300 units)with KJo was a bad play? Your all in bet only amounted to about 1/5 of his stack. Are you saying if you were in the same position you'd let a short stack bully you out of the pot? KJo is not a bad hand, heads up.
Just for the record, I am not a hater. I've read your blog from the beginning and will continue to do so, no matter how nasty your response to this is. I think you are a above average player and believe you have won what you say you have. I think your nastiness and unsportmanlike conduct is ridiculous, and I don't buy that you are always doing it to get a headsup match. I think a lot of it is you are genuinely tilting, and can't control your emotions. Also, I think you and John try to impress each other by berating other players. Kind of a macho thing. As you mature, I'd bet your behavior changes. Before you rip me a new ass, all this is just my opinion, and I acknowledge that I could be mistaken.
Posted by: jersey at June 22, 2004 3:01 AM
What alias do you post under at the 2+2 forums?
Posted by: zod at June 23, 2004 6:14 AM