Is the best policy

Um, not sure where I was going in my last rant. Something along the lines of: We want the .87EV, since in poker this means he has to call...and get his .13EV. I wish he [Mr. Generic Fish] would do that everytime. Gosh, gee, doesn't poker suck? Why can't I win all the time?

Which is valid but beside the point. The reason poker players make good money is because it is hard (to a degree; I am sure HSNLers would find MSNL & SSNL laughably easy) and is is very stressful due to the nature of the risk assumed. But risk is a function of reward so one must persevere. How very Anglo-Saxon of me.

Anyway, I've decided to be brutally honest with Kyle, my coach, and blunt as well. He's playing 50NL. Why? It's not a problem for me per se. If he can't help me lick 1/2 on FT, then it is a problem. He can 12-table the playmoney games for all I care. I don't quite understand why he would be dicking around at such a low level if he could beat 1/2 for 5BB+ but we'll see.

Anyway, part of the honesty is I will tell him how much money I have online, how much I have in the bank, how much time I intend to play part-time, & how much I intend to play if I move to full-time. Working with him I will prosper. If he can't help me then I will find someone who will. However, I am pretty hopeful.

From glancing at his blog he seems to habitually pull down $4k+ p.m. This is not balling out of control money but it's better than I have ever done. Also, most days he seems to be making ~$500. Obviously there are losses to balance but he's still doing very well compared to me.

Honestly, I am very much looking forward to starting with this guy.

Wiiii. Calibration is the best policy. I cannot believe I spent 22 hours in Zelda with the pointer not properly calibrated. Also, I've actually started using it correctly, i.e. pointing it at the screen constantly instead of aiming it off to one side/below. Oh, and I beat the Star game lvl1 to get the bigger quiver (turned the pointer off). The teenie boppers were a nice touch. I'm not sure what I'm meant to do with the cute dog outside that loves to fetch.

Into the Arbiter's domain now. The Orc camp was very fun stuff. I killed the master Orc using the mortal draw and then busted out on the hog. All after tearing through the camp with my bow. HOW COOL IS THIS SHIT?

And then the 4 Poe's. I was reluctant to give up Illia's scent but I checked the guide (must stop doing that) and it said I had to. Tracking those bleeders down was fun. Saved it after I lit the 4 torches, only got to play an hour. Boo weekdays.

Of the four dungeons I've seen, ORDER BY fun DESC: Forest, Fire, Desert, Water. FWIW, I didn't hate the Water Temple as I remember doing in OoT. Think I hated it in LttP too. But yeah, I've been abusing the guide too much really. Still it took me a good 10-20 minutes to find the Big Door in the Water Temple. I kept diving into the actual water and sinking to the bottom. Oh, and targeting the eyeball after he switches to the fish was a major pain in the ass.

Loved the Find Zelda thing. Loved the Midas guy whom I'm collecting Poe's for. This game is so fucking awesome. I'm pretty sure after I'm done I will instantly start a new game and go through with the guide collecting everything. Every piece of heart, every bug, every Poe. Probably every chest. I seem to be opening loads now and putting the money back since my wallet is a fat 600 now.

Oh, and is Zelda dead? I doubt it. She's probably in the Twilight world or something. And I think I know who Zant is...

Not sure about the Wolf brother. If I have my chronology correct, he could be Link's ancestor...aka Link from OoT...LttP. That would mean Ganon could be Zant banished to Twilight and hence returned. Maybe.

Love, love Zelda!

Posted this in the wrong blog. I'll let it ride there as well. Wiiii.

22h deep

Yeah, so I played calm collected, nit-tastic poker. 100NL PLHA. Raise QQ from the CO (IIRC), flop is Q9J. Action against 400BB deep guy goes: Check, Bet, Raise (I want to say minraise but I think he potted it), I think for all of two seconds and push. I really don't care what he has since top set is crushing an unknowns range. He eventually calls with Q8o, the nut combination of Pair+gutshot. Turn Ten, River Seven.

In poker "we welcome that call" since he's basically trying to give me money. Weakest hand I would probably push there is AKs, overs+FD+gutshot. I can't see myself pushing just an OESD. Not sure what I'd do with AA. I might push AA/KK there too so I guess they would be the weakest. Regardless, Q8o is total garbage equity wise on that flop.

But the thing about poker is, it doesn't matter in the short term, or even the medium term about the EV of your decisions. Do you realise how fucking long it will take for me to start seeing the true +EV of these hands? Not only do I have to flop top set, I have to get it all-in for 100BB with pair+gutshot (or something else that has about 12% equity). That doesn't happen very often, obviously.

Like I've said before, the only way I can scoop is when I have the other guy drawing dead. Whine!

And, obviously, when I'm on the bad end, which is normally only ~30% (e.g. overpair v. two pair, FD v. set) I don't get there. The good thing is I am not often on that end. The bad news is it doesn't actually matter. If you're losing 90/10's and losing 30/70's, you're screwed.

I'd also like to mention that pushing AK preflop doesn't seem to be sound for some reason. Wait, I know, I have 50% equity in most of these pots (although I have been pushing into AA a little too fucking much), and yet I can't win one. Whine! Anyway, CTS says the solution to light 3betting is to push Axs hands. If I were to try that: I would be called everytime by all PPs and dominant Aces & I would be busto.

That's enough poker BS. Wii came on Saturday. 22 hours into Zelda. It is fucking awesome. I intend to play it again and get everything. I see in the guide that I've missed some pieces of heart, etc. I will try and get all the Poe's this time through. Don't think I can be bothered with the bugs, though. I guesstimate I have at least another 20 hours to go this time through (just reached the desert). I think I did Ocrina in 40 or 60.

One thing I will say, the Wii remote pointer is fucking wank. I haven't managed to complete the Star game (lvl1) yet. Maybe it's me/my setup but it's impossible to control the pointer accurately. Oh yeah, I can't make the arrow shot in Karioko (sp) village either. I've tried player Red Steel too. Gave up after 10 minutes. Try and aim and I just end up spinning around constantly while being shot to death. It nice!

Oh, and the sports is actually quite a good aerobic exercise (uh, not the bowling/golf bits obviously). Improved golf, boxing, & tennis games will be cool. Baseball sucks, and the video game version isn't any better. Maybe I'm just bitter since I can't actually bat.

Haven't actually talked much about Zelda but I stand by "awesome". I think I prefer being a wolf to human. Unfortunately part of that is because you don't have to use the fucking pointer. I also love the Midna (sp) jumping sections now, even though I thought it was crap at first. "Oh, wow, lock & jump. How boring!". Yeah, it's not particularly skillful but it is stupidly cool.

Monkey Tilt

So I made the mistake of playing some poker. What a fool I am.

Dropped god knows how many buyins. Won three hands: Turned set, top two vs bottom two, & TP2K + FD rivered two pair. Highlights of losses: Pair+FD vs. bottom set, AK v. AA all-in pf, fantastic hand where board river 4 flush and I think I river a FH and push (those are trips, you idiot), AA88x board, he downie bets flop, I call with TT, check turn, call PSB on river. 88 is good. JTs flops TP, slowplayed AA minraises me, checks turn, VBs river. Call SSs overbet push with overcard & FD. Terrible call. Plus string of hands earlier where I was raising every PP and getting my cbet minraised everytime. Obviously, I flopped no sets during that spree. Flopped one set HU, guy folded obviously.

My coach is fucking nowhere to be seen. I play very badly, I don't get there once either. Given that this is Full Tilt, that's a good thing. Every FD-type hand that I saw villain SD I was up against the NFD.

Hands that were 100% my fault: FD call, trips misread, & pair + FD in downies 3bet pot. FD call: Such a stupid play. My overcard was live but it's not always going to be. Just fucking fold. Who cares if he has a lower FD sometimes? Misread: Double check you have a boat before pushing when you know he has a flush. Jesus. Combodraw: There's like 4 people in a 3bet pot. C/R all-in with your 'monster' has no FE against anyone strong enough to bet into such a pot. Although it is better than check/calling or betting. Again, just fold.

Meh hands: TPGK v. slowplayed overpair & TT on AA88x board. TPGK: I think this is semi-standard, I don't see how I can fold to minraise on the flop. I don't see how I can c/f the river but I guess I should have. The only hands that I could put him on that beat beat on the flop were sets and better Tens. How the fuck should I know he's smooth calling 5ways with AA?

Things to take home: 1) Don't tilt, just quit. 2) Fold TP/overpairs because they are never good you fucking moron. Not for you, not ever. This is just something you'll have to live with. 3) When you're getting rocked, as you frequently will (you suck and your unlucky; what a great combination), don't keep opening tables. JUST QUIT.

Planet Rock

So I've discontinued the other poker blog. plan9 is a much better name. I wish Stars or FT would let me change my name.

I now officially have a coach. Yay, we haven't scheduled a session and I have yet to pay him but he's mine. Don't know how to say this without sounding like a dickhead but here it is: He's playing lower than 1/2 according to his blog. This might mean nothing, it might mean everything. I don't really understand how he can hope to help me beat 1/2 if he's not even playing it? We'll see. Obviously, if he sucks I'll have to fire him. I hope he's good for both our sakes.

Oh, this blog will be almost exclusively poker related. Um, I'm on another break. Might break until...whenever. I don't care. Also, PLO is off limits for now. Sure, I'm getting better but the variance is sick. Think I talked about the KK23 v. 8764 on AK485 board. He called PSB 6way with 8-high FD, turned two pair. On the river, when I hit my wheel, he took an eternity to raise. That might have been a slowplay but I think, more probably he didn't realise he had rivered the nuts. I'll say it again, calling two PSBs with an 8-high FD is retarded. IDK, maybe his turn call is okay given the straight draw. His two pair is junk. His FD is junk, although it was live against my exact hand.

Wii stuff: Wii from Scotland should come on Friday, as should Zelda & Red Steel from Amazon. My VGA transcoder was out of stock so I cancelled that order and got one off ebay. Um, I just hope it's as good as this more expensive one. The only thing I care about is 480p. That too should be here by Friday.

Anti-tilt: BBC's Planet Earth. "Seasonal Forests" has to be my favourite episode, I think. The diary was hilarious too. Watched "Ocean Deep" as well. Kind of a meh episode. The diary on that was fierce, though, diving unprotected with white tail sharks. Balls of fucking steel.

Still need to make video. Probably add "Pixies - Where is My Mind" as an intro. It seems appropriate.