My journey on the felt...

I figured that this would be a good time to reflect on my short life as a poker player since I discussed my "report card" in poker on yesterday's post. I get questions about how many times I've had to deposit into my poker accounts or how well I've done or if I think I can make a living playing poker, etc etc. And because I struggle to know where I stand in terms of my poker progression, I catch myself thinking back to the days I started... so, before I lose all the details, what better place is there to document that than here?

I remember the first time I played was in 2004. It was August and I was making my "annual trip" out to Vegas with few of my friends from college. This tradition started when one of my friends got married and had his bachelor party out there. That was my first time in Vegas (the bachelor party, that is) and obviously, the gambling, along with "other distractions" in Vegas were enough to keep us coming back each year. Well, as we all know, in 2003, poker changed... forever... when Chris Moneymaker beat Sammy Farha (while knocking out greats like Phil Ivey and Johnny Chan). Whether you like him or not, that was probably the single best thing that's ever happened to poker. I'm not sure that things would be quite the same had Farha won. And how fitting is the name? When you look back, it's almost eerie. Well, as such, my friends and I have seen numerous repeats on ESPN showing Moneymaker dance with the poker gods as he takes down one ridiculous hand after another. So, we decided that when we go out to Vegas, we'll give poker a try.

Well, at that point, to be honest, I never really paid much attention to poker. I mean I've seen it on tv and I thought Texas Hold'em was cool but beyond that, I really didn't think much about it. So, we're in Vegas in August of 2004 and there were three of us who were interested so we decided to go to one of the poker rooms and give it a try. Well, we happened to be at Mandalay Bay because we were meeting some people there and so we decided to check out their poker room. The only game with an open seat was a 7 card stud game... and there was only one seat open. So, my two other friends seemed reluctant to be the first and the only one at the table so they volunteered me. They said they'll join me as soon as the other seats at the table opened. So, I figured why not, and joined the table. I was unfamiliar with how seven card stud played so I had to ask how it worked (in hindsight, I looked like a total donk... I mean today, I would drool at the thought of a guy sitting down asking the dealer to explain exactly how the game works). Well, in case you were wondering if there were any monster pots that I remember or any big hands... no, I don't have any. But one thing I remember was how good it felt... to be in control (to an extent) and choose to play hands you like and win based on YOUR decision (instead of some random card that's dealt out of the shoe like blackjack). I mean I love craps because I feel like I'm in control (I mean don't we all control the dice???? :) Well, poker gave me an even higher sense of control... so that's how I fell in love with that game.

The rest of the trip, I played at the Mirage also. Same game, seven card stud because I started getting the hang of it. Note: Getting the hang of it, at that stage was, I knew that you got dealt two down cards and one up card and the "bring-in" was made by the person with the lowest card and if two players had the lowest cards, then suit comes into play from highest to lowest (in alphabetical order... clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades, ie deuce of spades is the lowest card possible). Yeah, I was a shark! :)

Once I got back from Vegas (and by the way, my other two friends never joined me at a poker table, bastards), I wanted to get serious about this poker stuff. I went to Barnes & Noble and looked through what at the time, was a very measily selection of poker books (at that time, they did not have a "poker section" there. It was under games and puzzles.) I found Doyle Brunson's SuperSystem but I was a little intimidated by the size of the book. And in reading bits and pieces, it just didn't fit my style. So instead, I went with Phil Hellmuth's "How to Play Poker like the Pros." To this day, I think that's one of the best books for beginners to getting started. It discusses very tight play which I think is an essential starting point for beginners (you could loosen up to your comfort level and learn to play position and different aggression levels later but starting tight assures that you won't lose as much money which you inevitably will unless you are supertalented, which I'm not). For a while, I was one of those tight passive but occasionally aggressive guy (probably more like a mouse in Phil's book) and at that time, I was more proud of the big laydowns I made rather than the big pots I've won.

It didn't take long before I started looking up poker on the internet to find bunch of home games around town. I started contacting those people online and next thing I knew, I had a list of all the games that were going on in town. But, as fate would have it, those games were filled with pretty good players and I was a total fish to them. At that time, I didn't keep good records either so I don't know how much I dumped to them but over the course of a year, I'm pretty sure I dumped $1,000 to $1,500, I think. Yeah, I sucked.

Well, around the same time, I discovered online poker and of course, since Moneymaker started there, I started at Pokerstars. I deposited maybe $200 and started playing in sit n'go tourneys. Especially at that time, sng's was the thing. I would play 3-4 sng's per day and I would do ok. But, my money management wasn't there and my wins were basically because I played tight and had nothing to do with understanding the play. In other words, I was playing level 1 poker. What's level 1 poker? Level 1 is where you know what you have... and that's it. You know your cards, you see the flop, turn and river and that's it.

I bounced around couple of different online sites based on bonuses that they were offering, who was endorsing it, etc. So in 2005, I was probably bouncing between Pokerstars and Ultimate Bet and Paradise Poker. I never got hooked on Party Poker and personally, it was mainly because I didn't like those avatars. I liked the simplicity of Pokerstars and Ultimate Bet. Well, about midway through 2005, I saw on TV that Phil Ivey had a Fulltilt poker jersey on. And I was all about Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu at that time. So, shortly there after, I opened up a Full Tilt account and never looked back since then. I started by depositing $200 in Full Tilt and never had to redeposit in to that account and I've cashed out numerous times. 2005 was also special since that was the year when I was at the Mirage and I ran into Daniel Negreanu... well, sort of. It was more like I saw him, couldn't resist, ran up to him to tell him that I was a big fan and that I was wishing him good luck for the weekend. He was totally cool and proceeded to carry a conversation with me, asking me if I played, how often, what type of games I played, etc. I told him I didn't want to keep him occupied, wished him well and went back to the table. I knew that from that point on, I would be one of his biggest fans forever.

Anyways, I digress... and this post is becoming ridiculously long. Well, as I read more and more books and visited many different websites, I started learning the importance of changing gears (playing tight was good but if that was all you did, I learned very quickly that I get no action... and when I do, it's probably because I'm already beat). And I not only discovered but truly started understanding the concept of Level 2 thinking... that is, what I think the other guy is holding... around the time I opened the Full Tilt account, which probably is one of the reasons why I have done ok there.

And this brings me to today... where I am struggling to get to the Level 3... which is figuring out what he thinks I think he has. In case you're a little confused about the levels, this is what the levels of thinking are:
Level 1 - what do I have?
Level 2 - what does my opponent have?
Level 3 - what does my opponent think I have.
Level 4 - what does my opponent think that I think he has.

My favorite line by Negreanu is at a WPT final table, he made a comment to one of his opponents "I know you know that I know you know."

I think guys who are good are thinking on a totally different level. The only thing you have to be careful with these levels is that the higher levels are worthless if you're playing against someone who doesn't think that way. In other words, Level 3 thinking doesn't apply against opponents who are Level 1 thinkers because well, level 1 thinkers haven't gone far enough to consider what you might have anyways.

Well, that was a lot longer post than I wanted it to be and I think that's why this post might seem like it is ending abruptly... because it is. And I never even got to mention how Rounders played a key part in my falling in love with poker... so more to come later... but my lunch break is over!

OUT!