Aug 03, 2009 – 16:08PM
This Wednesday on Lock Poker we will be doing another special event. This time it will be a cash game starting at 9pm ET. There will be two full ring rooms titled 'Rizen's Room I' and 'Rizen's Room II'. One is a .25/.50 game and the other is 1/2. I will be running and recording on both tables. The first person to have aces cracked at each table will win a free 1 hour training session with me.
I think it's going to be a lot of fun and am looking forward to it. If you would like to play and are having troubles signing up or depositing money e-mail me at rizen@lockpoker.com and I will do my best to make sure you get the assistance you need so you can play in the event if you would like.
-Rizen
Aug 01, 2009 – 03:08AM
I had a lot of fun at my tournament on Lock Poker. Congrats to the two winners of free coaching! We're going to be doing more things like this in the future. In fact next Wed we'll be doing two tables of full ring no limit cash (one at higher stakes and one at lower stakes) and giving out some free sessions then too. Download Lock Poker and play with me next Wed. More details soon to follow.
Q: I have played poker regularly for about 6 years. I have read all of the major poker books including yours. I have a good grip on the math as well as the strategy and psychology of poker. I have never been able to break through with a Multitable win larger than $2000(Online and Live). I have played at least 1 event in the WSOP each of the past 5 years as well as multiple SnG satellites at the RIO. I do not blow money or have a gambling problem. I play within my bankrolls allowance and never found the money to be an issue. I recently decided that I have been wasting my time with poker. I spent a couple thousand on the first part of the WSOP and other events (Venetian, Binions). I finally cashed in Event #4 which was my first WSOP event cash ever. All that being said I have decided to quit poker. What is your opinion on how much of your life should be poker related? Would you say if you don't LOVE it consistenly then you shouldn't spend your time playing? There are times when poker just tortures you, getting your money in good and losing over and over. Im struggling with my decision to leave poker behind for a new hobby but feel like there is so much more to life than poker.
A: I edited this one a little bit to leave out some personal information. First off, there is A LOT more to life than poker. I play professionally and I wouldn't rank poker as the #1 thing in my life, although it would probably fall in the top 5. For 99% of recreational/hobby poker players out there, the game should primarily be about fun. Ideally if you can at least break even or maybe make a few bucks on your hobby, that's great. At the end of the day though it should be fun. If you're not having fun, you shouldn't play, period. I know this sounds simple, but also re-read your message. You use phrases like 'wasting my time' and 'tortures you'. Obviously if you feel this way then it's not fun, and probably unhealthy. I think at the very least taking a break is probably the right thing for you. Like any other hobby, you can come back at some point in the future if you want.
Imagine your hobby were golf. At first you really get into it, going to the driving range every day, playing 72 holes a weekend. Well after 6 months or so of that, you might start to get frustrated every time you don't hit your tee shot on the fairway, or disgusted every time you make a double bogey. That doesn't mean you should quit golf completely, but it means it's not fun for you and you need to step back and take things a little less seriously. I would say that you should really only play poker if it's enjoyable for you, and when it's not enjoyable and starts having a negative impact on your life you should take a break or stop altogether. I am fortunate enough to still love the game, but I even go through patches where I am frustrated and take a healthy break.
Q: Do you do any personalized instruction? Private lessons, mentoring, tutoring, etc?
A: Yes I do, but right now I almost have more than I can handle. We've been doing some promotions on Lock Poker given away free instruction, but as of right now I'm not really adding any new students. If you want you can e-mail me (rizenpoker@gmail.com) and I'll put you on a waiting list.
Q: I've just started playing the big online tournaments on Sundays (played strictly sit n gos for a long time). I did pretty well early on just playing my game and had a stack around average as the money bubble approached. At this point, the blinds/antes got so high, that it essentially became all in or fold almost every hand. For example, in a 100k guaranteed last Sunday, the blinds were at 500/1000 with antes, and the average stack at the money bubble was around 17k. I would say about 80% of the hands or so someone moved in preflop. Is this the correct play at this point? I tried normal raises to 3k a couple times and someone pushed all in every time and I was forced to fold. I then ended up shortstacked and elminated shortly after. I guess my question is whether this is normal at this time, and I should only play hands I'm willing to play all in preflop? Or if this tournament/my table was abnormal and I should continue to try to play my game at this point in the tournament? I know there is no real cut and dry answer, but if you could provide any insight from your experience it would be greatly appreciated.
A: Well, if the average stack is only 17 big blinds then moving all in pre-flop probably isn't a bad play, but that doesn't mean it's correct. If you are at a table like you describe, where every 3x raise is getting shoved on, then yes. You should only be playing hands you'll be willing to go all in with or moving all in yourself as a steal. But just moving all in in every tournament like this would be a mistake. The table dictates what you can do. If the table is letting you get away with 3x steals, then 3x stealing is a far better plan than open shoving because you'll be able to methodically build a stack with lower risk. If the table is not, then you must get chips other ways, which can include moving all in. You must always be adapting to the way the table is playing and making the appropriate adjustments. In this particular case you describe, you're pretty much going to have to pick spots to move all in and know you're going to play big pots.
-Rizen
Jul 27, 2009 – 06:07AM
I'm a few days late on this, but starting next week it will be on Fridays again. I've been taking a much needed post WSOP breather. Been playing a fair amount of PLO cash but taking frequent breaks and spending time with the family when I can. Please feel free to keep sending in questions for 'Ask Rizen'. If I haven't answered yours yet I'm not ignoring you, I have about 20 questions or so in the queue and I usually answer 3 each week, but I try and answer every question I get either here or by private e-mail. Don't forget about the special tournament on Lock Poker Monday at 9pm ET. I will be playing that as well as the two private PXF sub tournaments tomorrow. There are several ways during the Lock Poker tournament to win free one on one coaching with me as well as cash prizes obviously.
Q: Eric, in a tournament late stages MP you have a medium stack and pick up QQ you raise and are reraised by the button. How do you proceed?
A: Like any other poker situation this is largely an 'it depends' situation. That being said it would be VERY rare that I would run across the type of player who I would ever be looking to fold against here. Assuming a medium sized stack is in the 30 big blind range or so, I would get all my chips in the middle pre-flop pretty close to 100% of the time here unless I had a VERY strong read.
Q: In Winning Poker Tournaments...." in hand 77 you reasoned that there was a good chance he had a weak ace yet you still pushed your stack giving him about 3 to 1. The blinds werent tearing him apart and he did fold but how did you know the guy would fold? Whatever you bet, if he called then you lose. Was he tight passive? I dont think I would have folded an ace there having the hand go down the way it did. you an pearljammer have very different approaches yet they both work. help me understand your cognitive process here. books great so far. however i'm having some difficulty putting myself in your shoes through a number of hands.
A: Actually, in hand 77 I said that there was a slight chance he had a weak ace, and most of his range consists of draws that on the turn miss. On the flop on that hand I didn't even put a weak ace in his range, and on the turn my exact wording is 'Even if he did call pre-flop with some sort of weak ace...' which at least the intent was to address that there is some non zero chance that he could have an ace here. So in short, my reasoning was that a vast majority of the time he has a missed draw here with one card to come, and even when he does happen to have a made hand, it's not an easy call for him.
Q: The WSOP this year is now letting players unregister after an event has started. If the the player doesn't show up for the first two levels of play, their stack is removed and their money refunded. I know the WSOP is doing this to generate more revenue, but at first glance I think the whole idea is just horrible. As a player, you can wait and see which seat you were assigned and then if you don't like your table you have the option to just sit the event out. It just seems a lot less fair to me. What's your opinion on this matter and do you think the change is here to stay?
A: Obviously this question was sent in right before the WSOP, but I do think it's here to stay. I can understand both sides of the argument here, but honestly I think this rule has little likelihood of being abused. I'm assuming the WSOP did this to combat player complaints, particularly from players who registered for events early then had extenuating circumstances that cause them to miss the event, and then ask for a refund after the fact. It's much easier logistically to just take the stack out of play after two levels and refund everyone so that no one gets caught up in an odd situation. People could potentially abuse it, but for the most part we're talking about WSOP events here. There aren't a whole lot of events where you're going to be faced with tables so tough you would consider not playing, and even so tables break and things happen. While people could abuse it I just don't see it happening very often at all and even if it does it really doesn't hurt the other players at all. I honestly have a bigger problem with the rule that allows you to register, get your seat card, unregister, and then re-register again, which essentially allows you to switch seats before an event starts if you happen to learn something about your table you don't like.
The honest truth is though the WSOP has made a lot of strides the last few years that I've seen. It's not perfect, but most of the rules are pretty good at this point. I personally don't have a problem with this rule, but I can see how some players might, even though I think the impact it actually has on the game is pretty minimal. From an administrative point of view I can see this rule cutting down on A LOT of headaches and player complaints. I think the good outweighs the bad here.
-Rizen
Jul 20, 2009 – 05:07AM
There will be a special tournament on Monday, July 27th at 9pm ET on Lock Poker. This should be a really fun event and I'm looking forward to it. The entry is $5 and the winner, in addition to the prize pool, will get 1 hour of free coaching from me. The person who knocks me out will get a free hand history review. I also have a few other ways you can get into the tournament via bonus codes.
If you are a new customer making your first deposit, use the bonus code 'RizenJuly' and you will get a 100% deposit bonus as well as a free ticket to the tournament. As a reminder, if you haven't signed up yet you can do so here.
If you already have an account, you can reload it using the code 'RizenReload' and in addition to a ticket for the tournament you will receive a 25% bonus on your reload.
I will also be recording the tournament live as I play it for a possible future video, for those of you that like that sort of thing.
It should be a fun time and I'm looking forward to it!
-Rizen
Jul 16, 2009 – 19:07PM
I posted this on Twitter, but I assume most of you know that I'm back home by now. Day 3 of the ME was pretty short for me. The first level I splashed in a few pots, but generally just tread water a little and ended up going from 41k to 36k. The second hand or so after break on the next level Hevad Khan opened in middle position on my big blind, as he had been doing A LOT that day. I looked down at AJo and that was good enough. He tank/called with 55 and I didn't win the race despite flopping a gut shot with my two overs.
If I had to grade my play in the main event I'd probably give myself a B-. I lost three big pots on day 2 where I made river calls with the worst hand. In 1 of them I think my call was a no brainer, but the other 2 I really should have found a fold. In all 3 my gut instinct was to fold as I really didn't think they were bluffing, and I should have followed that. I think I was trying way too hard to get my chips back from a big pot I lost earlier in day 2 where I got all in with a guy with ~25 big blinds with JJ vs his AQ. The flop was all unders and he said 'good game' and started to get up and walk away, so of course the turn was an A and the river a Q for good measure. That took me from 75k to 45k or so early in day 2 and I never really recovered although I did eventually build my stack back up some.
Aside from the two bad river calls on day 2 though I was pretty happy with my play, but given that all 3 of the pots where I thought I was beat were over 20k and the river bets I called were over 10k each, I could have easily finished day 2 with over 70k had I followed my instincts. I've been playing poker long enough that my instincts are right 99% of the time, and I find that when I don't follow them I usually regret it. So that's why the 'B-'.
Overall for the series I'd give myself a 'B' but I was slightly in the red for the entire series. I only had one cash, although it was a pretty big one at 12th place for over 30k. I felt I played fairly well throughout the entire series but played a couple of spots pretty weakly in the early events as I was still getting into a groove and then the bad river calls in the main event. I actually feel like I ran pretty poorly in the series. I can't remember ever putting a bad beat on someone the entire series (that doesn't mean it didn't happen once, I just don't remember it) and I only won one coin flip that I can remember. I'm not saying that to complain about it, but in evaluating my own play it's important to try and be honest with myself in all aspects. Since I had a slightly losing series I feel that in order to give myself anything over a 'C' I really need to be able to look back and honestly tell myself if I ran bad in spots or if i I played bad. I think there were a few spots I played poorly, but in general I feel like if I'd been able to win instead of lose a few key coin flips I would have had a profitable series.
I don't know what's next right now. I'm back home enjoying time in Kansas with the family. I've been away off and on so long I'm just laying low and relaxing. Playing a lot of pot limit omaha right now and virtually no tournaments. I'm sure the tournament bug will bite me again soon, but for now I'm enjoying playing on my schedule when I want and enjoying time with the family.
-Rizen
