Sensei’s Poker Dojo

Since most people aren’t home from the holidays yet, it appeared to most likely be a pretty boring Sunday in San Francisco. A rare opportunity to play online tournaments, as it were! Of course I hate online tournaments, for the most part, but now and again they can be fun. The main problem of course is that I don’t want to be stuck in front of the computer all day (if I don’t bust early, that is). The upside is that they can be a fun change of pace, and there is the prospect of a big score (A big score would be something on the order of $50k+, and I am very due!)

So today I played in 4 tournaments: the $215 Sunday Million on Stars¹, the $500+change Sunday ‘500′ on Stars, the $215 750k on FTP, and a $650 PCA² satellite on Stars. I did pretty well in all of them, at least until I lost all my chips. I was first out of the Million after a few hours, failing to make the money (but coming frustratingly close) then busted from the 500 (again, missing the money by not too much). I achieved in the 750k though, cashing 140th or so out of about 3600 players. I had a big stack throughout much of it, and thus could have gone deeper, but such is the way of tournaments. The payoff was only $637.50 (from a $215 buyin) which is of course rather disappointing. Another reason I don’t like online tournaments is that you have to run super hot and go very deep (as in, final table out of thousands of runners) to make any sort of real money, compared to what I could make if I played cash games for the same amount of time³

The PCA satellite managed to save the day though, as I achieved victory, finishing in the final 12 players (of around 300) and winning a seat (and some spare cash for travel and expenses, a total prize of around $14k). So, I’ll be heading to the Bahamas in early January! Hopefully I’ll ship even more gold by winning it, but if nothing else I’ll have a nice little beach vacation.

1. or ‘mirrion’, which is of course the largest online tournament every week [↩]
2. Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure, a WPT event held in the Bahamas in early January [↩]
3. especially on a Sunday! [↩]

Because my flight was into Charlotte, my choice of airlines was limited. Virgin America doesn’t come anywhere near here, and Southwest doesn’t either. So I had to book a flight through one of the more conventional airlines. United was the cheapest and the times fit nicely with my schedule (and that of my dad who picked me up and drove me to the mountains) so they earned my business. It was a terrible mistake.

When I arrived at SFO airport Tuesday morning at about 6:45¹ I went to the United section of the terminal because I had booked my flight through United and the confirmation email came from United.com. I waited in line for an unfortunately long amount of time with the awkward burden of my computer bag, a full suitcase, and my snowboard bag. Finally I reached the front and typed my confirmation number into the little monitor I was shooed towards. I was then informed that my flight information could not be processed because I was at the wrong airline. In fact, my flight was on US Airways, which was of course located at the terminal on the opposite end of the airport. Upon closer review of my confirmation email I found that this minor detail was mentioned in the small print halfway down the page. Naturally I don’t take the time to read all that, assuming that once I’ve spent the time to book the flight and gotten my confirmation number, I don’t need to waste any more time on it and can just show up and get on the plane. I guess United doesn’t necessarily mean United anymore.

So I hauled my load of bags across terminal 3, up an elevator, over to the airtrain station area, up another elevator, and then waited for the next red line train.² I rode around the airport, got off at terminal 1, and semi-illegally took the escalators because I was too tilted to wait around for elevators. When I arrived at the US Airways station I learned that there was no seat on my flight for me because I was too late. I was bumped to the 11:20 flight, approximately 4 hours after my scheduled departure. Also, I was charged $40 for my checked bags. At this point I was none too pleased with the situation, but there was nothing to be done except go find a nice place in the terminal to sleep for the next few hours. Fortunately there was a nice row of seats without armrests right near my gate.

When I awoke around 10:50 and began boarding the plane, there was an airline official at the end of the skybridge offering that anyone who wanted to check a bag now could do so, since the plane was full. Not only that, but these bags would be checked for free. Of course when I got to the end I asked him if I could have a refund, since I had paid heavily to have my bags checked earlier. He brushed me off with some jive, and I didn’t have the energy to press the issue any further.³ My seat was, of course, cramped and uncomfortable, but that isn’t a problem of this particular airline as much as all of them. Thats what I get for being so tall and handsome.

When the plane had taken off and leveled out, the drink cart came by and I asked for an apple juice. It cost me $2. Ordinarily this wouldn’t have bothered me much, but when compounded with all of the other issues it was much worse. Its not even like it was a short flight either, this was a nonstop flight of almost 5 hours. Gouging me for a simple can of juice after an already-bloated fare and an additional bag-checking fee is simply unacceptable.

In the end, I arrived in one piece, and all of my bags got there too, but my rage continued to stew. I refrained from exploding at any of the uneducated peons working for the airline because I knew it would serve no effective purpose, and I doubt I’ll end up registering any official complaints either, because my time is too valuable to waste on that when the most I’ll get out of it is a voucher for some free juice or something. The best thing I can do is no longer support their business and encourage everyone I know to do the same. So, if you’re making travel plans in the future, I wholeheartedly encourage you to choose an airline like Southwest or Virgin America that will treat you right.⁴

Also, if you’re a stock trader, you might want to consider shorting their stock too. I don’t know anything about the price or trends of airline stocks, but if that is the way they are regularly conducting their business they can’t possibly be headed in a good direction.

edit 12/1/08: The Onion, hilarious as always, seems to agree!

1. Part of the reason this whole process sucked so bad is that I had to wake up so early in the first place. [↩]
2. obviously the last one left just as I was arriving [↩]
3. I doubt he could have done anything for me anyhow as just another pawn in the US Airways game. [↩]
4. Krantz has said good things about JetBlue too, but I haven’t flown with them yet so I can’t say one way or another. [↩]

I’m flying out tomorrow morning to meet up with my folks for Thanksgiving. They recently bought a house in the mountains of North Carolina, so we’re going to break it in in style. It should be great; lots of home cookin’ and James Bond marathons and snow everywhere. I’m taking my snowboard too since the house is just down the road from a ski mountain which already has plenty of snow.¹ Lets hope I don’t bail hard and break myself, it has been a while since my last boarding excursion. I’m not sure if there will be any internets at the house, but I suppose a few days away from it couldn’t hurt.²

Also, I’m still coming off the end of my stupid illness, but I think it’ll be gone tomorrow or the next day. And the other day I managed to crack my terrible losing streak of taking some of a friend’s action in a big game!³   I ended up booking a nice 15k win without playing a hand. I tend to agree with the saying “money won is sweeter than money earned”. Even though most of the money I make these days is technically ‘won’ it certainly feels like more like ‘earned’ after a long grind. Not so with taking action. Its always enjoyable to sit at my computer and watch my friends win big pots, but when I get to keep half of the winnings its so much better!

1. where you at now, global warming? [↩]
2. I say that now… two days in I’ll probably be begging to check my google reader and see some lolcats [↩]
3. Woo finally!!!11 [↩]

Obviously. I’ve got a little case of the… well I don’t know exactly what it is. Nothing serious, but just general head/sinus/throat-sickness. I’ve learned in the past that playing cards while I’m sick generally leads to playing poorly¹ and of course playing poorly can lead to losing money. So I’m currently averse to really putting any hands in unless the games are very good. I guess I can’t complain about the fact that I can take a sick day whenever I like, but I definitely feel lazy and useless when I just sit around all day playing video games. Meh. It reminds me of my sophomore year at Duke when I had a pretty bad case of mono and just sat around playing video games all day every day (when I wasn’t sleeping for 12 or 13 hours a night). It sounds pretty awesome, but the combined feelings of sickness and lack of productivity made it rather lame. Its even more lame now, since as a ‘grownup’ I feel like I have to actually accomplish something every day and not doing so is disappointing. Oh well. At least there are some pretty awesome video games out nowadays!²

On the plus side, there have been some very soft games the last few days and I’m up close to 10k in them over the 500 or 600 hands I’ve played, so thats cool. Another strange side effect of a job with so much variance is that its often hard to attibute causation to results. Playing poorly and winning is obviously nice but comes with some strange feelings about the nature of my job.³ Playing well and losing obviously sucks, but thats something that every good pro is comfortable with (or at least accepting of) since it happens fairly often. Really, the only wholly satisfying sessions are the ones where I play my A game and also win solidly. For a brief moment, all seems right in the universe of variance.

1. New years in Vegas two years ago I had a pretty bad case of some sort of food poisoning or something and ended up doing poorly when I played in some live games. I put two and two together on that one afterwards. [↩]
2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for XBOX360 is awesome. I’ll probably get Gears of War 2 soon and Left4Dead soon too. Also have a copy of C&C Red Alert 3 here but I was underwhelmed and only played a little of it. [↩]
3. I should note that I think I actually played very well in my last few successful sessions despite being sick. Fewer tables and softer games help with that. [↩]

Finally! Just when winter starts to creep in and the daylight hours shrink, college basketball returns to brighten our spirits. Our squad looks pretty strong this year, featuring plenty of returning and improved veterans as well as some baller freshmen. We’ve played three regular season games so far; the first two I had the pleasure of watching with several of my college friends in DC. I would say that the whole Cameron Crazy experience¹ was one of the best parts of our collective college experience, so its always great to watch games together.

We won both of those games handily, though to be fair we were up against some chumps. The first one against Presbyterian was a bit sloppy, but it was clear that everyone was still getting back into the groove and the freshmen were having a bit of trouble adjusting to the ‘big show’. Later in the second half both teams started running the floor a bit more and our freshmen took over, so there were some good opportunities to see the new kids show off their skills. Czyz had a nice dunk or two and Plumlee looked solid. The next day we played against Georgia Southern and it was clear that we had shaken all of our sillies out. We came out strong and finished strong, crushing them soundly. The freshmen didn’t play too much until the end, but again they did well once they took the floor. Singler played fantastically both games, and Scheyer looks to be in top form. Nolan Smith is doing a good job handling the ball. Lance Thomas and David McClure (who is probably like 30 years old by now) are playing very well in supporting roles. If Zoubek learns how to ‘play basketball’ rather than just being tall and fouling everything that moves, we’ve got a really good shot at that elusive championship this year.² Come to think of it, we’ve got the deepest bench of any Duke team in years, which could prove very useful since so many of our lateseason losses lately are at least partially due to foul trouble.

Our third game this afternoon against Rhode Island wasn’t so easy. In fact I can’t recall being as nervous as I was down the stretch in a long time. The only reason they were really in the game was that their star shooter Jimmy Baron had NBA Jam mode on and couldn’t miss a single shot. As much as I hate to admit it, the TV annoucers comparing him to JJ Redick were not far off. I don’t recall a 3-point shooting performance that outrageous since JJ graced Coach K Court when I was there. Also, we were missing far too many shots in the middle of the game and letting them maintain their lead, which didn’t help. I wasn’t too concerned about being behind until there were 5 or 6 minutes left, but the end of the game was very stressful until Scheyer put the last two free throws in to give us the three point lead with seconds remaining. Again, Singler put in a stellar performance and took over the game when we needed him to do just that. We didn’t see much of the freshmen, but hopefully the next few games will go a little more smoothly so they can have more playing time.

Some random Duke basketball-related thoughts: Gerald Henderson shouldn’t have shaved his head, and he definitely shouldn’t be growing that mustache-goatee thing.³ I hope Greg Paulus is able to keep leading the team as he comes off the bench (or perhaps earns back his spot in the starting five?). I hope Johnny Dawkins builds a sweet dynasty at Stanford. I’ll probably go see more Warriors games now that Demarcus Nelson is playing for them. Everybody who plays college basketball at such a good school should be able to dunk on a breakaway, layups are dishonorable.

1. now that I think about it, I should probably write a post about the intricacies of the Kville experience. I’ll try to do that soon. [↩]
2. Of course I think that almost every year. [↩]
3. Whats it called when you just have a little ring of hair around your mouth like that? [↩]

You can file this one under: ‘Ridiculously awesome things that online poker professionals can do but that may seem absurd to normal folks’¹. Today I bought a new laptop, the new MacBook Pro, and it is badass. It is of course my first Mac, as most poker software is exclusively designed for Windows. But I’ve heard enough good things about it, and there are cool new ways to run Windows software on Mac computers, so I figured I’d take the plunge. So far I’m quite pleased, though its taking a little getting used to the operating system and its nuances.

Some cool tricks and features include:

• ‘Spaces’ which allow you to split your desktop into various partitions and easily jump between them with some keystrokes. On my main screen, I have just an internet browser, but on my side screens I can have instant messages, or my coaching software, or whatever else.
• Installing new programs is ridiculously easy, you just drag the file into “Applications” and it automatically takes care of the rest.
• The touchpad has all sorts of sweet possibilities for scrolling and switching things around, and somehow it can recognize how many fingers you’re moving around and provide different actions accordingly.
• The keyboard has cool backlighting

I’m sure I’ll discover all sorts of other things as I play with it more. If you know of any tricks or programs that I should check out, let me know in the comments!

Also, and this is the best part, I went ahead and played a little session tonight intending to win back all the money I spent on it. It took longer than ideal, but finally I managed to get there after a few hours. Here are a few fun hands²:

PokerStars Game #21911310528:  Omaha Pot Limit ($10/$20) – 2008/11/10 1:44:14 ET
Table ‘Vaisala IV’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: feemafee ($4705 in chips)
Seat 2: omalos ($5645.65 in chips)
Seat 3: stinkypete13 ($400 in chips)
Seat 4: DJ Sensei ($2308 in chips)
Seat 5: twin-caracas ($1178 in chips)
Seat 6: gp13np ($638 in chips)
gp13np: posts small blind $10
feemafee: posts big blind $20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [4c 5d 3s 6s]
omalos: folds
stinkypete13: folds
DJ Sensei: raises $50 to $70
twin-caracas: calls $70
gp13np: calls $60
feemafee: calls $50
*** FLOP *** [7s As 2d]
gp13np: checks
feemafee: checks
DJ Sensei: bets $180
twin-caracas: raises $637 to $817
gp13np: folds
feemafee: folds
DJ Sensei: raises $637 to $1454
twin-caracas: calls $291 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($346) returned to DJ Sensei
*** TURN *** [7s As 2d] [4s]
*** RIVER *** [7s As 2d 4s] [Qs]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [4c 5d 3s 6s] (a flush, Ace high)
twin-caracas: mucks hand
DJ Sensei collected $2493 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2496 | Rake $3
Board [7s As 2d 4s Qs]
Seat 1: feemafee (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: omalos folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: stinkypete13 folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 4: DJ Sensei showed [4c 5d 3s 6s] and won ($2493) with a flush, Ace high
Seat 5: twin-caracas (button) mucked [Jh 7h Ad 7c]
Seat 6: gp13np (small blind) folded on the Flop

PokerStars Game #21911251315:  Omaha Pot Limit ($10/$20) – 2008/11/10 1:39:30 ET
Table ‘Herrick IV’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: nipe1955 ($12834.55 in chips)
Seat 2: twin-caracas ($1768 in chips)
Seat 3: omalos ($16010 in chips)
Seat 4: GodlikeRoy ($790 in chips)
Seat 5: chpburner ($1950 in chips)
Seat 6: DJ Sensei ($2027.50 in chips)
DJ Sensei: posts small blind $10
nipe1955: posts big blind $20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [Jd Kc Ac Js]
twin-caracas: folds
omalos: raises $50 to $70
GodlikeRoy: folds
chpburner: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $60
nipe1955: calls $50
*** FLOP *** [Tc 3c Qc]
DJ Sensei: checks
nipe1955: bets $207
omalos: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $207
*** TURN *** [Tc 3c Qc] [5c]
DJ Sensei: checks
nipe1955: bets $460
DJ Sensei: calls $460
*** RIVER *** [Tc 3c Qc 5c] [Kh]
DJ Sensei: checks
nipe1955: bets $680
DJ Sensei: raises $610.50 to $1290.50 and is all-in
nipe1955: folds
Uncalled bet ($610.50) returned to DJ Sensei
DJ Sensei collected $2901 from pot
DJ Sensei: doesn’t show hand
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $2904 | Rake $3
Board [Tc 3c Qc 5c Kh]
Seat 1: nipe1955 (big blind) folded on the River
Seat 2: twin-caracas folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: omalos folded on the Flop
Seat 4: GodlikeRoy folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: chpburner (button) folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 6: DJ Sensei (small blind) collected ($2901)

PokerStars Game #21911608146:  Omaha Pot Limit ($10/$20) – 2008/11/10 2:09:44 ET
Table ‘Eudora’ 6-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 1: DJ Sensei ($2030 in chips)
Seat 2: EDWARDHOPPER ($370 in chips)
Seat 3: unluckybs ($1662.10 in chips)
Seat 4: GodlikeRoy ($798 in chips)
Seat 5: davidroisme ($566 in chips)
Seat 6: Ronenon ($1487 in chips)
Ronenon: posts small blind $10
DJ Sensei: posts big blind $20
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DJ Sensei [7h 8s 6h 5c]
EDWARDHOPPER: folds
unluckybs: raises $40 to $60
GodlikeRoy: folds
davidroisme: calls $60
Ronenon: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $40
*** FLOP *** [Qh 3h 6d]
DJ Sensei: checks
unluckybs: bets $187
davidroisme: calls $187
DJ Sensei: raises $748 to $935
unluckybs: raises $667.10 to $1602.10 and is all-in
davidroisme: folds
DJ Sensei: calls $667.10
*** TURN *** [Qh 3h 6d] [Kc]
*** RIVER *** [Qh 3h 6d Kc] [2c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DJ Sensei: shows [7h 8s 6h 5c] (a pair of Sixes)
unluckybs: mucks hand
DJ Sensei collected $3578.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $3581.20 | Rake $3
Board [Qh 3h 6d Kc 2c]
Seat 1: DJ Sensei (big blind) showed [7h 8s 6h 5c] and won ($3578.20) with a pair of Sixes
Seat 2: EDWARDHOPPER folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 3: unluckybs mucked [5h 9d Ah 7d]
Seat 4: GodlikeRoy folded before Flop (didn’t bet)
Seat 5: davidroisme (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 6: Ronenon (small blind) folded before Flop

Heh, that last one is the best. I love PLO hands where a tiny hand ends up winning a huge pot when every draw misses. Except when I lose the pot.

I quit after I figured I had won enough to cover it, as it is one of those situations where locking up the win is probably more life +EV than letting it ride. Also worth noting is that since I can write off the computer as a business expense on my taxes its like I get a sweet discount on it already, so I won some bonus money too! Woo!

1. Of similar nature is when you play some cards in the airport on a layover and end up winning more than the cost of your flight or even the whole trip. [↩]
2. Obviously I won more in these pots than I spent on the computer, but I didn’t take note of the ones I lost [↩]