Nerds and Gamblers

I was reading thru the posts in Pokermanila about how different people got their starts in online poker or what they spent their time in before they got addicted to poker. Some were Counterstrike players. Some played Ragnarok and other MMORPGs. Justin Bonomo and a bunch of others came from Magic the Gathering. There was a different group of people who where exposed to gambling games early on in their childhood whether it was pusoy or blackjack or sabong.

As I clicked thru the different posts, it was like looking at eerily similar backgrounds. And I came to the realization that poker seems to have a tendency to attract 2 kinds of people. The Nerds and the Gamblers.

I know I'm generalizing a bit, but work with me on this. Next time you play poker, please look at the people around you. I am sure you can easily categorize them into one of the two groups I mentioned above. They're either middle aged men/women who were casino regulars before who have now migrated to poker - GAMBLERS. Or they're part of the new generation of guys who were weaned on computer games and tried poker and got hooked - NERDS. Some were exposed to poker at a young age either by an uncle or a father who played - could be a NERD or a GAMBLER. Foreigners who have money to burn and call with anything under the sun - GAMBLERS, well dumbass gamblers but they still fall under gamblers. =)

One way or the other, they're either Nerds or Gamblers. And when I say nerd, I don't mean the usual negative connotation of a guy with glasses covering half his face, wearing high waisted pants, with ballpens in his pocket and stutters when he's talking to a girl. The updated wikipedia definition actually sounds correct.

"Nerd refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Stereotypical nerd qualities have evolved in recent years, from awkwardness and social ostracism to a more widespread acceptance and sometimes even celebration of their abilities. This is largely attributable to the rise of the computer industry, which has allowed many "nerdy" people to accumulate large fortunes and other measures of social prestige. Some measure of nerdiness is widely considered desirable, because it suggests a person who is intelligent, respectful, interesting, and able to earn a large salary. This evolution has dovetailed with waning emphasis on the social awkwardness of nerds, with more attention placed on their intelligence and academic enthusiasm."

In a way, its actually now socially acceptable to be a nerd. Attractive girls now prefer going out with the school nerd because he has the potential to be the next Bill Gates rather than the jock who will most probably end up behind the counter at Mcdonalds.

So what's my point ? Basically I am saying that if you love poker. You either love the rush of going all in with your gut shot straight draw and winning that big pot of cash which makes you a gambler. Or you are part of that other group who is intelectually challenged with figuring out the correct odds and gets intense satisfaction out of making the mathematically correct move which makes you a nerd.

Some people might say that they love to play poker but they're definitely not a nerd? Why ? Because you go to the gym and you dress cool. Heheh. Sabi ko nga. If you think you're not a nerd but you enjoy playing poker, then you're a gambler. It's either one or the other. There is no such thing as a successful non-nerd non-gambler poker player. You win big because you play using the correct math or you were willing to risk everything you owned in that 2 outer and you got lucky.

Looking at it the other way. If you're not a nerd and not a gambler then you will definitely not enjoy poker. Simple as that. You may be part of that group of people who try out the game since it is gaining popular recognition among your friends. But you will eventually drop out of the game because there is no satisfaction involved for you if you are not a nerd or a gambler.

As for me, I am a self confessed nerd. Ever since I was a child, I loved playing video games and my favorite subject was Math. Sure, I could be considered a semi-jock since I played high school ball. But given the choice back then, I would rather jump and bonk my way into the castle to save Princess Peach from Bowser than go out in the hot sun and practice my jump shot.

Note : if you know who Princess Peach and Bowser is, then you're definitely a nerd!

Bugged Out

I came down with some kind of nasty flu last week, hence the lack of updates. I was coughing and hacking and my temperature was in the 39s. It was so bad that I didn't even have the strength to play too much onlike poker. And that's saying a lot.

Do you notice that as time goes by, illnesses take longer and longer to go away. Where before, you'd usually just shrug off a cold or maybe take a day off and the next day you'd be all hunky dory. Now I was totally incapacitated for 4 days and even now a week later, I still have this persistent cough that doesn't want to go away.

It's like its getting harder and harder to kill the bugs that invade our immune system. Some people blame it on the use and abuse of antibiotics and I really think they have a point. The bacteria just develop immunity to the antibiotic and no longer respond. Even if the drug companies come up with stronger and stronger antibiotics. We all know that this is not sustainable and eventually a SUPER BUG will come out that will be resistant to all known antibiotics and then we're in big trouble.

Anyway, I did manage to play a little bit during the latter part of my illness. And I was lucky enough to get 2 qualifying tickets. I got a $200+15 Pokerstars ticket thru the steps qualifiers so now I'm ready to take another crack at the Sunday Million. I also got a $150+15 ticket to the 100K Guaranteed Tourney at Cake.

Both of these big tourneys fall on those godawful early Monday morning skeds our time and I don't see any long weekends or holidays coming up, so I may need to skip work one Monday to play these tourneys simultaneously.

By the way, oluaris over at Pokermanila was asking the other time whatever happened to my objective to play in more live tourneys this year. Well, believe it or not, I was actually going to do something about this lack of live play experience. I was seriously planning to play the Metro Perfect 10. Yep. I had my buy-in prepared (cashed out some online profits) and was already preparing a leave form for Mar 12-14. And then last week I find out that our China supplier decided that they will visit our office on those days. Since I am essentially the point man for some of these joint projects, I cannot be away when they come. And that's pretty much the end of that.

I don't know if I should be disappointed or relieved. Disappointed because I've been itching to play a really good live tourney for quite some time now. Relieved because I think I save myself 25K as I'm pretty sure I will probably bust out early on some donkey ass play. =)

My wife knows more about poker than me ...

I was playing the 3K guaranteed Rebuy over at Cake last night. I did my usual buy in only after the 1st hour routine and was lucky enough to triple up early on using short stack poker strategy.
So now we're near the bubble and I had about 11K in chips. Blinds were already up to 800-1600. I get dealt 10 10 in middle position. One limper in front. So I push all in. Everybody folds except for limper who insta-calls with KK. Fug... the limp trap with monster hand. Flop comes and it shows a 10 to complete a miracle set for me. Woo hoo. Limper had about 10K in chips so I bust him out and double up in the process.

A few hands later and I got moved to a different table. I now had about 20K in chips when I get AJ in late position. Blinds were now 1K-2K. Again one limper in front. So I push all in. SB and BB gets out of the way. Limper tanks for a while. I had him covered by about 1k. He then eventually calls. Guess what he shows. QJ. Dominated hand.

Flops comes Q rag rag. Another Q on the turn. And that essentially cripples me and I bust out on the forced all in on the next hand. I scream and rant at the screen shouting all kinds of stupid names that I can think of at the donkey caller who couldn't hear me anyway.

My wife who managed to observe this whole sequence of events was bemused. She understands the basics of holdem as she sometimes plays in house games. So she asks me. "Hon, why are you so upset ? Isn't that the same exact thing that happened a while back when you had 10 10s. You were the one that dealt a bad beat to the other guy. That was even worse because you only had 2 outs".

I answered quite rudely since I was still steaming. "It's totally different. In the first hand described, I was the aggressor and my M was pretty low. So a push there was the correct move. 7 out of 10 times I would have stolen the antes and blinds which was worth a third of my stack. 2 out of 10 probably I would get called but my 10s would be good. Nagkataon lang in this case, Limper 1 was trapping with monsters and obviously was going to call. He just got unlucky. If I had busted out there, I would have accepted it graciously knowing I made the correct move in that situation. It was just poker fate that doubled me up.

In the 2nd situation, it is totally different. I was still the aggressor and trying to steal the blinds thinking limper had a marginal hand. I blew my top because limper was a total donkey and the poker gods rewarded him. He was presented with a situation where he had to call all of his chips and his tournament life on Q fucking J. And he did it when the correct move was to fold. He has no read on me since I just got moved to the table. So you can't say he was trying to stand up to my aggressiveness. There is no plausible reason except that he is a total donkey."

My wife shrugs .... and says "It sounds like the same to me". =D

Basketbol - Noon at Ngayon (Finale)

Now armed with new basketball shoes, and wearing my lucky boxers (the one saying World Series of Poker on it), I was ready to rock this fuckin basketball tourney.

Our next game was on a Thursday and by Thursday morning, I was hopping up and down with excitement. I take a look at the bulletin board and check who our next opponents are. Hmmm... it says logistics department. I don't seem to know anybody from there. And does our company even have a logistics department ? I mused while scratching my head.

Game night rolled around and the place was rocking. Well, not really. There were a few staff people watching but it was pretty much an empty gymnasium. I sat down on our side of the bench and gleefully pushed my feet into the Lighstpeeds. Ahhh.... feels like my feet got swallowed by this soft cocoon. I could feel the adiprene watchamacallit working already. I jumped up and down a few times and stretched. The referee blew the whistle and it was game time.

It turns out that the aforementioned logistics department is composed of delivery drivers and pahinantes. If your company has these kinds of employees. Then you probably know what we're up against. Pretty much short dark guys with "bato bato" muscles and who run up and down the court like bunnies on steroids.

I look at my team composed of pale, pasty faced, limp armed programmers and some senior supervisors and managers with love handles and I knew we were in for a looong night.

First play of the game and I was designated point guard. Not because I dribbled like chris paul, but because the only other guy on our team who could dribble worth squat had to go home. His wife did not allow him to play that night bec. of some petty quarrel. Mweheheh.

I dribble slowly past the mid court line and I see a teammate flash to the middle holding his hand up. I quickly whip the ball to him expecting a turn around jumper or maybe a strong post move down the middle. He dribbles once, bounces the ball off his foot and straight into the waiting arms of an opposing player. And it was off to the races as I suddenly find myself running backwards while 3 players are coming down fast. I commit to the guy dribbling and a quick bounce pass to the guy on the wing and swoosh. 2-0.

Won't bore you with the exact game details but suffice to say, we were run out of the courts. It was fastbreak galore for the opposing team. The first half was close just because I made a couple of outside shots (ehem) and we had this guy on our team who played commercial league level before. I basically passed him the ball every chance I got and watched him make his move. But eventually he also got tired and by the 2nd half, we got creamed pretty good.

Final score 53-42. I scored 10 pts. The commercial league teammate scored 26. And the other 6 pts was shared between the pathetic losers we call our basketball teammates. Yes, I'm referring to you programmer guys. =)

Did the shoes help at all ? Heheh .. well, I still couldn't dunk. I don't think I jumped any higher or ran any faster. But I thought it offered better support and traction. I know its all mental, but it did help my confidence a bit and I think that's the reason why I made some of those jumpers.

The game was obviously played differently from when I was in HS and I knew I was going to wake up the next day with muscle pains everywhere. But basketball is basketball. All pinoys love to play it and I was surprised to note just how much I enjoyed it and how much I missed the game.

I'm thinking for our next game. I need to get one of those DRI-FIT shirts from Nike. The ones which wick away the sweat to the outside so that it evaporates faster. With new shoes, I scored 10 pts. Imagine what I could do with these babies. (grin)

THE END

Next : Enough about basketball, let's get back to POKER

Basketbol - Noon at Ngayon (Part 2)

Having decided that I needed new basketball shoes. It was time to go shopping. But first, I decided to set a budget. I am a highly impulsive buyer and sometimes when I see something that I like. I don't necessarily look at the price anymore and end up paying an unnecessarily big amount. So in this case, I put it in my mind that I was only going to spend around 3K for a basketball shoe. Spending more than 3K for something that may just end up in our shoe cabinet gathering dust didn't sound like a good investment.

I first checked out the Nike store in greenhills and although there were some models that I saw which fit my budget. There were these 2 shoes that absolutely spoiled my taste. The Lebron 6 and the Kobe 4. Seeing these 2 models made the other shoes look downright shabby in comparison. Seriously, the Kobe 4s were supposed to be the lightest basketball show ever made weighing in at something like just over 11 ounces. While the Lebrons were simply beautiful. See pics

Dangnabbit. Sabi ko na nga ba eh. I didn't even want to look at the price tag of these babies. But I had to know. The Lebron 6 were 7K++ while the Kobe 4 was 6,995. Arrrrgh!! More than double the amount that I had in mind. With a loud sigh and with much regret, I placed both shoes back in their stands and grudgingly walked out of the store. I didn't even want to look at the other Nike models anymore. I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would be tempted to just say " Aaah, fuck it" and tell the saleslady to bring a size 10 of the Lebrons. Heheh.

Next stop was the Adidas signature store. And here I was surprised to see a new selling concept for basketball shoes. It seems that Adidas has decided not to release exclusive signature models for their basketball endorsers anymore. They would release the same signature shoe for everyone except that it came in different colors and slightly different designs. So before, they used to have the TMACs for Tracy Mcgrady and the GilZero for Gilbert Arenas. Now it was the Bounce Commander and your choice was Garnett, Howard and Duncan. The basic shoe was exactly the same for all 3, the only difference was the colorway. See pic.

I think the concept is similar to what Converse did before where Magic Johnson and Larry Bird wore the same shoes except they were different in color. In any case, the bounce commanders were still way off my budget retailing at 5,495 if I remember correctly.

Grrrr .... I was starting to think that there was a conspiracy going on and these marketing geniuses at Nike and Adidas really knew what they were doing. If I really wanted something nice and with somebody's name on it, then I had to pay up. I think the Adidas saleslady sensed my apprehension and belatedly told me that they had last year's signature models on sale and pointed them out to me.

As it turned out, last year's models were quite nice. They were called the TS Lightspeed and they were at 40% off. Original price was also 5,495 but now selling for only 3,200. Ahhh... I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Well to make a long story short, I found a color that I liked and Cha-Ching. The lady swiped my mastercard and I am now the proud owner of brand spanking new TS Lightspeed basketball shoes TMAC version. Obviously, they weren't as nice as the Lebrons or Kobes, but what's important is I stuck to my budget and got some nice signature shoes although old model lang nga. Heheh. Ang daming drama just for a basketball shoe. But that's just for blog purposes, the actual shopping trip took only an hour at the most.

Next : How I did in the next basketball game with new shoes

Basketbol - Noon at Ngayon (Part 1)

If my memory serves me right, I was a decent basketball player back in high school. I had a fairly good medium range jumper. I could jump. I was fast on my feet and I had good basketball IQ. I am about 5 foot 8 inches tall. So I would usually play either shooting guard or the small forward position in my high school team.

After high school, I seldom played basketball on a competitive basis. College was pretty much a hectic affair with girls being my first priority. My studies were a far second. And basketball. Well, let's just say that aside from the once in a while pick-up game in the gym. It was pretty much forgotten and put aside.

After college. I don't think I ever played basketball again. It was kind of hard getting a group together to play 5 on 5. But I engaged in other sports like badminton when it suddenly became popular and badminton courts sprouted like weeds in every corner of the city. Also, I did keep up with what's happening in the basketball scene and watched NBA games on a fairly regular basis aside from playing fantasy basketball on the PC.

A couple of weeks ago, the company I worked for had its yearly basketball tournament among the different departments. I don't normally join this tournament. But this year, a new team was formed and being short handed, I was coerced to join. I thought it was going to be one of those events where severely unfit guys from each department huffed and puffed their way down the court with their beer bellies sticking out and people taking a break every 5 minutes.

I was dead wrong. It turns out that its a highly competitive affair complete with referees and wooden courts, where people dive for loose balls and gave elbows to your gut when the referees were not looking. I also found out that I couldn't run fast anymore and my vertical jump was pathetic. Heheheh. There was a 50+ year old guy from the sales department who outhustled me every time there was a loose ball. I still had my outside shot but it was woefully inadequate and our team lost by an embarassing margin during our first game.

Obviously, I wasn't going to take this kind of humiliation every week. So being your average normal guy, I came up with the brilliant conclusion that my failure to run fast or jump high was caused by my ratty, old cross trainers which were not fit for basketball. I remembered wearing these really cool Converse Hi Cut Shoes back in high school and doing pretty well. (If I remember correctly, they were similar to what Magic Johnson wore) So I decided then and there that I was going to buy a new pair of Basketball shoes before our next game to bring my game to the next level.

(to be continued)

The Quest continues ...

My quest to become a good online tournament player continues as the first month of 2009 comes to a close. I've been playing mostly MTTs the whole of January with buy-ins ranging from $10 to about $30. My schedule would usually look like this. Work from 8:30 AM to 5:30PM, come home, have dinner, play with the kids for a little bit. Then fire up the old PC and start playing. I'm averaging about 2 to 3 MTTs per night played simultaneously from about 9PM to whenever I bust out.

So far, the results have been encouraging. My ITM rate has gone down since my playing rate has gone up. But my overall profit has been on the upswing. Recent notable events include a 3rd place finish in a JBET 1.5k Guaranteed. 2nd place in a 3K Rebuy Tourney at Cake. And just last night, I took down 2nd in a 5.5K FTP Tourney. Didn't really have time to take screenshots so just take my word for it. Heheh

The JBET account was newly registered in light of the recent APT, but I never did get around to playing any of the qualifying freerolls. I do want to wish good luck to every Pinoy who qualified especially fellow PM members. Since this is the first time I played in JBET, I wanted to comment a bit on the experience. First off, the software is buggy. The software would usually stop and hang if you play too many tables or sometimes for no reason at all. This also happens to other sites which I think is caused by the fluctuating speeds of the DSL connection. But the other sites recover automatically. JBET does not. It just stays in that "stop" position unless you close all the open windows and restart the software which is quite troublesome. This is also the first site I have ever encountered which does not seem to have an automatic tracking facility for bonuses. For some weird reason, they are requiring you to email them to inform them that you have already achieved your bonus.

On the positive side, it is absolutely filled with donkey players. I have never seen so many illogical moves in a money tournament than the ones I played in at JBET. It's like people are willing to gamble with junk all throughout the tourney. Normally this kind of reckless playing happens at the start of the tourneys. But once all the fishes are weeded out, then it becomes quite serious and you can usually expect good play. Not in JBET though. Even as we were already nearing ITM, people were still getting caught with weird plays that spewed chips left and right.

Finally, and I don't know if this is a good thing or not. Once you reach the final table, you have the option of offering chop deals with fellow players. They have a nifty module where you indicate the deal and if everyone clicks that they agree, it automatically ends the tourney and distributes out the pot as per agreed. I have seen chop deals happen in Pokerstars but it would usually entail some manual intervention by a PS staff. I guess it's good in the sense that it shortens up some play and you can even out the distribution of prizes automatically. But I'm used to playing for top 3 and it sort of jars your train of thought on how you approach an MTT. I'm still on the fence on this feature, but I would think its something that most poker players would appreciate.

And that's what's happening so far. See you next time !!