Comments for thegroupie http://www.thegroupie.com/blog diary of a Ph.D. turned poker player Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:41:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.1 Comment on vegas report (part 2) by PokerLawyer http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=437#comment-809 PokerLawyer Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:41:16 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=437#comment-809 Nice! I also liked your comments re: the Ladies Event. Particularly this part: "[some] like to argue that there shouldn’t be ladies events because “women are just as good as men” and “should be able to compete on a level playing field.” well i agree with both those things, so what is the explanation for why the fuck there aren’t more women playing poker?" and your accompanying explanation. I know the argument has been done to death, but the way you put it out there is a pretty damn good argument for continuing such events. There was also a TWSS thread on the subject recently (carried over from the summer, I believe) that had some interesting counterpoints. Nice! I also liked your comments re: the Ladies Event. Particularly this part: “[some] like to argue that there shouldn’t be ladies events because “women are just as good as men” and “should be able to compete on a level playing field.” well i agree with both those things, so what is the explanation for why the fuck there aren’t more women playing poker?” and your accompanying explanation. I know the argument has been done to death, but the way you put it out there is a pretty damn good argument for continuing such events. There was also a TWSS thread on the subject recently (carried over from the summer, I believe) that had some interesting counterpoints.

]]> Comment on vegas report (part 2) by petethepossum http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=437#comment-807 petethepossum Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:46:54 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=437#comment-807 Great blog Elena, ive been waiting for part two in forever and was almost afraid you werent gonna put it up. Glad to see you had so much fun! Maybe next year the two of us can meet up for a drink ;-) Great blog Elena, ive been waiting for part two in forever and was almost afraid you werent gonna put it up. Glad to see you had so much fun! Maybe next year the two of us can meet up for a drink ;-)

]]> Comment on nothing’s gonna touch you in these golden years by Steve http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=266#comment-806 Steve Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:55:12 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=266#comment-806 Yes, I do wish you luck. Of course you won't need it as it sounds like you are playing well. Keep the dream alive and let us know how you are doing in Las Vegas. Yes, I do wish you luck. Of course you won’t need it as it sounds like you are playing well. Keep the dream alive and let us know how you are doing in Las Vegas.

]]> Comment on pick up the pieces and go home by TxCardslinger http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-804 TxCardslinger Thu, 02 Jun 2011 23:05:47 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-804 This must be a very frustrating time for you, as well as so many other players with money on FTP. I have lost a lot of money as the result of Black Friday too, not just because of FTP, but in other ways such as investing in a really nice set-up at home to multi-table, cutting back on my work schedule to play poker the way I needed to play in order to be successful, etc. Hopefully the government will get it together and regulate the online poker industry so that we can go back to doing what we love. This must be a very frustrating time for you, as well as so many other players with money on FTP. I have lost a lot of money as the result of Black Friday too, not just because of FTP, but in other ways such as investing in a really nice set-up at home to multi-table, cutting back on my work schedule to play poker the way I needed to play in order to be successful, etc.

Hopefully the government will get it together and regulate the online poker industry so that we can go back to doing what we love.

]]> Comment on pick up the pieces and go home by Angel Valdez http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-803 Angel Valdez Thu, 02 Jun 2011 22:46:10 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-803 I lost my job 2 weeks prior to Black Friday and afterwards I set my sites out on cash games. The first 3 weeks I crushed it. I tripled my bankroll and it was very easy. To easy that it made me skeptical and so "variance" kicked in and the past 2 weeks I have not made any money, and yesterday I took my first loss and was stuck 2buys ins. My plan was to grind it out the next 4 days and try and build my roll, but after self analyzing my game I realized I got over confident or just plain got unlucky. I realize now that I was playing 6-8 hour sessions when I started that as of late I been doing 14-16hr sets and thats not good at all. After taking some losses early on in the session I stay until I got back up to even. New plan: Going to take some time off. I am still planning on going to Vegas this weekend but it won't be a poker session grin I had planned. I am going as a tourist to play some other games, get drunk, have fun, and enjoy the wsop scene. No tourneys and no long session cash games. Do Vegas like I used to and have fun. So after reguvenating and bringing myself back down to earth maybe it will make me miss poker. Grinding the cash games takes its toll on you and if you don't take a break to recover it will mess you up. Take a break then come back refreshed. You'll see, it will work out for you. Good luck, Angel 'gijoe' Valdez I lost my job 2 weeks prior to Black Friday and afterwards I set my sites out on cash games. The first 3 weeks I crushed it. I tripled my bankroll and it was very easy. To easy that it made me skeptical and so “variance” kicked in and the past 2 weeks I have not made any money, and yesterday I took my first loss and was stuck 2buys ins.

My plan was to grind it out the next 4 days and try and build my roll, but after self analyzing my game I realized I got over confident or just plain got unlucky. I realize now that I was playing 6-8 hour sessions when I started that as of late I been doing 14-16hr sets and thats not good at all. After taking some losses early on in the session I stay until I got back up to even.

New plan: Going to take some time off. I am still planning on going to Vegas this weekend but it won’t be a poker session grin I had planned. I am going as a tourist to play some other games, get drunk, have fun, and enjoy the wsop scene. No tourneys and no long session cash games. Do Vegas like I used to and have fun.

So after reguvenating and bringing myself back down to earth maybe it will make me miss poker. Grinding the cash games takes its toll on you and if you don’t take a break to recover it will mess you up.

Take a break then come back refreshed. You’ll see, it will work out for you.

Good luck,

Angel ‘gijoe’ Valdez

]]> Comment on pick up the pieces and go home by Steve http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-801 Steve Sun, 29 May 2011 17:08:06 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=247#comment-801 I hear you on this one. I would love to have internet poker back. My bankroll did not do well playing live and I stopped playing for now trying as well to figure out what to do next. I know I can win as well but playing the stakes they do in this town does not help. Too high for my bankroll. Travel is hard due to gas prices and motel rooms. Hope you get your FT money soon. I hear you on this one. I would love to have internet poker back. My bankroll did not do well playing live and I stopped playing for now trying as well to figure out what to do next. I know I can win as well but playing the stakes they do in this town does not help. Too high for my bankroll. Travel is hard due to gas prices and motel rooms. Hope you get your FT money soon.

]]> Comment on april is the cruellest month by Jesse Walker http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-799 Jesse Walker Tue, 03 May 2011 10:10:54 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-799 Hope the live play goes well. I'm thinking about doing the same. Less hourly, more swings. Sounds like a whole heapin' spoonful of good times. Hope the live play goes well. I’m thinking about doing the same. Less hourly, more swings. Sounds like a whole heapin’ spoonful of good times.

]]> Comment on april is the cruellest month by Conan776 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-792 Conan776 Mon, 25 Apr 2011 01:31:19 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-792 I sympathize with this a lot. Admittedly, I have a good day job (which I guess is back to being my, LOL, "career"), and luckily I kept my foot in the door at grad school (which I guess is back to being my prime, LOL, "hobby"), but this other avenue for success has been closed off to me as well. I'm also not really rolled for 200NL which is the smallest stake live game around, though I suppose if I was chintzy about paying off my credit cards for a few months I could work that out. Still, Mohegan Sun is 2+ hours away, and my local underground game makes last year's WSOP final table look like, well, like the daytime old nits you get out in Cali. Being an ex-online LAGtard among live-pro LAGtards is way too high variance for me. I never thought of myself as a gambler, and have mild scorn for the people always ahead of me in line buying lottery tickets. But I guess in some way the poker dream (for a while my location on 2+2 became <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN2260WELCw;t=239" rel="nofollow">floating naked in an inflatable raft</a></i>) kept me going -- or, just maybe, kept me stuck in a rut that I could at least stay willfully blind to -- and now I have to find something new. I can't live a life of quiet desperation! <i>We want to be free to do what we want to do!</i> I'm just thinking out loud, trying to sketch out the similar <i>requiem for a dream</i> post I'll have to make myself on my own blog soon. But, yeah, I feel your pain. I sympathize with this a lot. Admittedly, I have a good day job (which I guess is back to being my, LOL, “career”), and luckily I kept my foot in the door at grad school (which I guess is back to being my prime, LOL, “hobby”), but this other avenue for success has been closed off to me as well. I’m also not really rolled for 200NL which is the smallest stake live game around, though I suppose if I was chintzy about paying off my credit cards for a few months I could work that out.

Still, Mohegan Sun is 2+ hours away, and my local underground game makes last year’s WSOP final table look like, well, like the daytime old nits you get out in Cali. Being an ex-online LAGtard among live-pro LAGtards is way too high variance for me.

I never thought of myself as a gambler, and have mild scorn for the people always ahead of me in line buying lottery tickets. But I guess in some way the poker dream (for a while my location on 2+2 became floating naked in an inflatable raft) kept me going — or, just maybe, kept me stuck in a rut that I could at least stay willfully blind to — and now I have to find something new. I can’t live a life of quiet desperation! We want to be free to do what we want to do!

I’m just thinking out loud, trying to sketch out the similar requiem for a dream post I’ll have to make myself on my own blog soon. But, yeah, I feel your pain.

]]> Comment on april is the cruellest month by Sharks Jersey http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-789 Sharks Jersey Sat, 23 Apr 2011 17:46:13 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-789 This post totally echoes my feelings about the matter on a few levels. First, this government action is just ridiculous. The government has decided that they need to do something about online poker without thinking about how many of us are losing our careers. We gave up so much just to grind and grind and hone our skills, and attempt to push our careers further. Why is Poker degenerative, but online stock and currency trading is allowed? Couldn't those people, and don't some of them, gamble their house away with little information or logic behind their decisions. They play their games with even less information proportional to the size of the decision they make. We degenerates on the other hand think about things like expected value of our decision, and variance of our decision, what has occurred previously(because unlike securities trading, past performance does indicate future performance to some degree)to mention only a few things. Apparently 0nly blind investing is allowed. Before I continue, I must address an argument that is likely to appear, Taxes. Many out there are under the impression that poker players like me and the many other thousands that play as their livelihood do not pay taxes. WRONG! We do file taxes if we want to have any semblance of a normal life, such as being able to have a bank account with money in it without being questioned as how you got it. I think that section of rant needs to be ended before I go completely off as it is only a minor point. The second point of yours I resonate with is your point about parents not being supportive of a decision to play cards professionally. Since I have finished school, my parents have all but disowned me and my "degenerative" lifestyle. Sure they still visit and say hi, but until I go utilize even one of my degrees, paid for by poker mind you, they will refuse to acknowledge that I have made it and am a "productive member of society." It is very difficult to continue to tell ones parents that you are going in to this life as well as continuing to stay committed to viewing it as a career as 99% of those around you continue to be skeptical. This does make it important to have some outlet such as this blog for us to keep sane and motivated. Just as you mentioned, many of us now face this decision, transfer to live poker, or do something else. There are a privileged few with the option to move to a supportive country, but that involves leaving behind everything essentially. This decision is a tough one, as live games are going to get a lot tougher. More and more career players will be in these games having the higher staking requirements that you had mentioned, and it will become tougher and tougher to obtain what we all want, High EV and more broadly ROI, with low Variance and negative Skewness measures. In a nutshell, the live games will now contain a less optimal ratio of solid players to weak ones, and as you said, in higher stakes than many people have the bankroll for, it could be devastating. Luckily I started long enough ago that I have a bankroll that can support live play at the levels I prefer playing at, but I still do not know if I am going to do it or not. I have not yet made a commitment to spend all of my weekends and evenings in a cardroom to continue playing, but that may be my only choice. Maybe I will have to give in and get a "real" job finally. <> Groupie, keep motivated and take down those tables. Thank you for keeping your blog, it really helps to see others dealing with the same struggles. I just hope the other readers feel the same way. See you at the Table, >>Sharks Jersey This post totally echoes my feelings about the matter on a few levels. First, this government action is just ridiculous. The government has decided that they need to do something about online poker without thinking about how many of us are losing our careers. We gave up so much just to grind and grind and hone our skills, and attempt to push our careers further. Why is Poker degenerative, but online stock and currency trading is allowed? Couldn’t those people, and don’t some of them, gamble their house away with little information or logic behind their decisions. They play their games with even less information proportional to the size of the decision they make. We degenerates on the other hand think about things like expected value of our decision, and variance of our decision, what has occurred previously(because unlike securities trading, past performance does indicate future performance to some degree)to mention only a few things. Apparently 0nly blind investing is allowed. Before I continue, I must address an argument that is likely to appear, Taxes. Many out there are under the impression that poker players like me and the many other thousands that play as their livelihood do not pay taxes. WRONG! We do file taxes if we want to have any semblance of a normal life, such as being able to have a bank account with money in it without being questioned as how you got it. I think that section of rant needs to be ended before I go completely off as it is only a minor point.
The second point of yours I resonate with is your point about parents not being supportive of a decision to play cards professionally. Since I have finished school, my parents have all but disowned me and my “degenerative” lifestyle. Sure they still visit and say hi, but until I go utilize even one of my degrees, paid for by poker mind you, they will refuse to acknowledge that I have made it and am a “productive member of society.” It is very difficult to continue to tell ones parents that you are going in to this life as well as continuing to stay committed to viewing it as a career as 99% of those around you continue to be skeptical. This does make it important to have some outlet such as this blog for us to keep sane and motivated.
Just as you mentioned, many of us now face this decision, transfer to live poker, or do something else. There are a privileged few with the option to move to a supportive country, but that involves leaving behind everything essentially. This decision is a tough one, as live games are going to get a lot tougher. More and more career players will be in these games having the higher staking requirements that you had mentioned, and it will become tougher and tougher to obtain what we all want, High EV and more broadly ROI, with low Variance and negative Skewness measures. In a nutshell, the live games will now contain a less optimal ratio of solid players to weak ones, and as you said, in higher stakes than many people have the bankroll for, it could be devastating. Luckily I started long enough ago that I have a bankroll that can support live play at the levels I prefer playing at, but I still do not know if I am going to do it or not. I have not yet made a commitment to spend all of my weekends and evenings in a cardroom to continue playing, but that may be my only choice. Maybe I will have to give in and get a “real” job finally. <>

Groupie, keep motivated and take down those tables. Thank you for keeping your blog, it really helps to see others dealing with the same struggles. I just hope the other readers feel the same way.

See you at the Table,
>>Sharks Jersey

]]> Comment on april is the cruellest month by Steve http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-788 Steve Sat, 23 Apr 2011 05:38:38 +0000 http://www.thegroupie.com/blog/?p=207#comment-788 Great post. My bankroll has taken a big hit and I am sitting on the sideline trying to find a smaller game to play. The 2-20 spread just eats my bankroll fast. I would rather play a 1-2 or 2-5 game. There is a game 2 1/2 hours away from me but then the drive time and gas to get there. I am like you not giving up but it has become hard to keep this going. Hang in there and good luck. Great post. My bankroll has taken a big hit and I am sitting on the sideline trying to find a smaller game to play. The 2-20 spread just eats my bankroll fast. I would rather play a 1-2 or 2-5 game. There is a game 2 1/2 hours away from me but then the drive time and gas to get there. I am like you not giving up but it has become hard to keep this going. Hang in there and good luck.

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