Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Week of August 24th 2008


Working for a small software (computer) company was much better, then my experience with a much larger company. The biggest differences were you could actually make an impact at the company, and you could contribute based on your abilities.

For example I hated programming, sitting in a cube and programming all day was boring, I loved to travel and work with customers. This was not the norm for most programmers. Most hated to talk to customers and loved to hide in their cubes and just code. So when a sales person needed help with a demonstration or they needed someone to talk about technology I would volunteer. As the company grew, this became a full time position and it was given to me. Three and a half years after I joined the company, I was the first Technical Sales Consultant, this was a newly formed position that I held for about three years. I would travel 100%, leave on Sunday nights and return on Friday evenings. Many times I would be in five different cities in one week.

During this time I got to work with the best sales people and the worst sales people, this gave me a great education on what made a great sales person, good sales person and bad sales person. I also got to meet literally hundreds of business owners and executives. I learned from these folks on what made great business leaders and not so great business leaders. I think I learned more in these three years about how to be successful in business then any other time in my working career. This experience would also helped end up helping me with my future poker play as I was in many sales situations and had to learn how to read people. Being able to read people is a very important poker skill.

I have an exciting weekend coming up; I am flying to Jackson Hole, Wyoming this Friday. That is the one BIG negative about living in Botswana; almost any trip is a 12 to 18 hour plane ride. In this case I fly from Botswana to London, then to Minneapolis and from there I fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I am going on this trip with two other guys; I have never traveled with either one, so it should be an interesting experience. One of them had read my blog and invited me along on their trip. We arrive late Friday night; have a short meeting with the guides that will be taking us on this backing packing adventure. We head out Saturday morning for a three day two night trip. We fly back Tuesday morning. I plan to take a lot of pictures so I hope you all have time to look at them. I do not have a lot of details, but it looks like the backpacking is through the Grand Teton National Park. Originally I thought we were going to Montana and hiking through Glacier National Park, but now I am not sure. So I won’t know for sure until I get there.

Had a good week in Poker Play, I came in at about $40.00 an hour not counting bonus play. I played about 8 hours. Only 689 hands played that is 86 hands per hour well below my normal hand per hour of about 100 – 120. Again I was focused on quality play and not volume as I have built up my FPP to easily make my bonus for the quarter. I thought I would share with you a funny hand. If you were to just look at the hand alone without any background you would say I must be an idiot player to even be in the hand, but once I explain the back ground you will see why I did what I did and how the poker gods paid me off for being a good respectable player and how the poker gods showed the bad player how it is not good to tempt fate.

There is not luck in Poker; it is all about skill, if it was not a game of skill, then would the same great players consistently win. There is one exception to the skill rule and that is when the poker gods decided they need to interfere, below is a hand where that happened.

I normally would not play A8 off suit except the player to my left ateron1970 is a wild man. He has raised every hand 5 – 7 blinds and he has gone all in with nothing, so I know if I hit I will get all his money. So in this case the implied odds make it a worth while call. Implied odds meaning the odds counting the money that player ateron1970 has, but has not bet are used to calculate the odds for the bet since there is a good chance he will end up putting all his money in the pot.

PokerStars Game #19869794027: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/24 - 17:46:47 (ET)
Table 'Moguntia IV' 9-max Seat #7 is the button
Seat 1: vinivici9586 ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 2: Combsy53 ($17 in chips)
Seat 3: ChXAsh ($105.50 in chips)
Seat 4: DUG ($100 in chips)
Seat 5: ateron1970 ($121.60 in chips)
Seat 6: Itlbfun ($28.50 in chips)
Seat 7: dannyduz2323 ($92.60 in chips)
Seat 8: Perdix80 ($95 in chips)
Seat 9: JoeDirt45 ($16.90 in chips)
Perdix80: posts small blind $0.50
JoeDirt45: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [8c Ad]
vinivici9586: folds
Combsy53: folds
ChXAsh: folds
DUG: calls $1 Normally would not play this but because of the above reason I did.
ateron1970: raises $3 to $4 I expected this. He could have anything.
Itlbfun: folds
dannyduz2323: calls $4 This is not good since he might really have something.
Perdix80: folds
JoeDirt45: folds
DUG: calls $3 So the Implied odds are 3 dollars to win 100 or about 33 to 1.
*** FLOP *** [Ac 4c 2d] Good flop for me, I hit the Ace but my kicker 8 is not that good.
DUG: checks Since I know Ateron1970 will make a big bet no matter what he has I need to just check, because I am concerned as to what dannyduz2323 has.
ateron1970: bets $10
dannyduz2323: calls $10
DUG: raises $16 to $26 Now if I just call, I get no information, so I raise I think I have the best hand, so lets see what happens.
ateron1970: raises $91.60 to $117.60 and is all-in This does not tell me much since he could have anything even 4 2 and hit 2 pair. Or AA and hit a set. He could have me beat, but this guy is so wild it is 50/50 he is bluffing so I have to call if dannyduz2323 folds.
dannyduz2323: folds
DUG: calls $70 and is all-in So I call.
Uncalled bet ($21.60) returned to ateron1970
*** TURN *** [Ac 4c 2d] [8h] Here is where the Poker Gods took care of me. There are three 8’s left out of about 47 unknown cards. So that is about a 6% chance an 8 would show up on the turn and a 12% chance it would show up by the river. As you can see below I needed an 8 to win.
*** RIVER *** [Ac 4c 2d 8h] [6c]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [8c Ad] (two pair, Aces and Eights)
ateron1970: mucks hand
DUG collected $212.50 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $215.50 Rake $3
Board [Ac 4c 2d 8h 6c]
Seat 1: vinivici9586 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Combsy53 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: ChXAsh folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: DUG showed [8c Ad] and won ($212.50) with two pair, Aces and Eights
Seat 5: ateron1970 mucked [Qs As] He had meet beat by a long shot, when we went all in. Before the flop he was a favorite 72% to 23% with a 5% chance of a tie. After the flop he was a favorite 78% to 17% with a 5% chance of a tie. But after the turn I was the favorite 93% to 7%. This is a great example of the Poker Gods paying the better player.
Seat 6: Itlbfun folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: dannyduz2323 (button) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: Perdix80 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 9: JoeDirt45 (big blind) folded before Flop

This gives me another 100 weeks of living in Botswana.

P.S. The picture is of me being added to Mt. Rushmore. I was visiting over Christmas last year and the Park Service asked if they could add me to the Mountain. I of course agreed.

Monday, August 25, 2008

A Perfect Storm in Poker

PokerStars Game #19888773521: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/25 - 13:33:02 (ET) Table 'Kraz II' 9-max
Seat #4 is the button
Seat 1: dayspring79 ($18.50 in chips)
Seat 2: MrGabor ($71.70 in chips)
Seat 3: beerfwhat ($23 in chips)
Seat 4: bullyjohnson ($109.70 in chips)
Seat 5: WojtasPolak ($95.40 in chips)
Seat 6: w wheat ($112.20 in chips)
Seat 7: fflindsey22 ($98 in chips)
Seat 8: DUG ($98.50 in chips)
Seat 9: podanker ($83.30 in chips)
WojtasPolak: posts small blind $0.50
w wheat: posts big blind $1
beerfwhat: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Ah Ad] This is the best possible hand preflop
fflindsey22: folds
DUG: raises $2.50 to $3.50 Here I am playing semi aggressive I would like one caller.
podanker: calls $3.50 Got one caller, most likely some type of pair.
dayspring79: folds
MrGabor: folds
beerfwhat: folds
bullyjohnson: folds
WojtasPolak: calls $3 This guy could have almost anything since he was getting about 4 to one on his money.
w wheat: folds
*** FLOP *** [4d 4h 8s] This is a good flop for me. Most likely no one had a 4 someone could have had pocket 8’s but if that is the case so be it.
WojtasPolak: bets $5 Weak bet he wants to keep us in, he thinks he has the best hand. Could even have pocket 4’s
DUG: calls $5 Worth a call and if he has a pocket pair less then mine I do not want to chase him out I want to trap him.
podanker: calls $5 Perfect help build the pot and the trap.
*** TURN *** [4d 4h 8s] [6d] Again as long as no one has 66, 44 or 88 I have the best hand.
WojtasPolak: bets $10 Great keep building the pot.
DUG: calls $10 Keep pulling them in.
podanker: calls $10 Perfect
*** RIVER *** [4d 4h 8s 6d] [4s] This is the best card that could come, I would guess we all have a full house with me having the best one.
WojtasPolak: bets $22 Again an increase in the bet
DUG: raises $58 to $80 and is all-in No one will fold a full house so time to take all thier money.
podanker: calls $64.80 and is all-in Yep
WojtasPolak: calls $54.90 and is all-in Yep
Uncalled bet ($3.10) returned to DUG
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [Ah Ad] (a full house, Fours full of Aces)
WojtasPolak: mucks hand
DUG collected $24.20 from side pot
podanker: mucks hand
DUG collected $248.90 from main pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $276.10 Main pot $248.90. Side pot $24.20. Rake $3 Board [4d 4h 8s 6d 4s]
Seat 1: dayspring79 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: MrGabor folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: beerfwhat folded before Flop
Seat 4: bullyjohnson (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: WojtasPolak (small blind) mucked [Qh Qd]
Seat 6: w wheat (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 7: fflindsey22 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: DUG showed [Ah Ad] and won ($273.10) with a full house, Fours full of Aces
Seat 9: podanker mucked [Js Jc]

I won about $178.00 on this hand that will buy a lot of elephant dung for my village to help fertilize the crops.

P.S. The picture is from my plane going by the snow capped mountains as we were landing in Cusco, Peru.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Week of August 17th 2008


Many of you have asked me what I did when I worked a traditional job. I thought I would talk about the evolution of my career over the next few post, this post will focus on the start of my career which was in programming. I received my B.S. in Computer Science with minors in Math and Physics. The only good thing that came out of this degree is I do use much of my math education in my poker play.

When I first graduated from college the job market was tight this was way before the Web, I had focused on learning how to code in HTML which is a programming language used for development for the Web. You could say I was way ahead of the times, but having this skill did not help me get a job, in fact for a long time I was homeless and the only skill I had was not in demand. I have included a picture of me from the good old days.

I finally got a job at a large computer company, shortly after starting (about 6 months) I was laid-off, from there I joined a very small computer company which is where my career grew, more on that later.

On the travel side I spent sometime getting ready for my hiking trip in Montana. It should be a ton of fun, the company running the trip sent a packing list, so it will be real easy as far as what to bring. The only bad part is they say you should bring a pocket knife; I was planning on carry on only so I think the TSA might frown upon me having a knife, so I hope I do not really need one.

I played a little Disc Golf this week. Disc Golf is very much like Ball Golf, except you use a Disc (Frisbee) instead of a ball and you throw the Disc rather then hitting it with a club. The goal is to get it into a net rather then a hole. It is very relaxing and also a great way to get a nice walk through the park.

You can get more information about Disc Golf at this website.

http://www.pdga.com/

Now for my poker play, I was planning to get back to my quality play after last weeks massive volume play. It took me a good hour to break the bad habits I had acquired the week before, all of a sudden I was down about $200.00 that is 200 weeks of living expenses for me, not very good. So I got focused and fully recovered and ended up over $100.00 for the week. Without the bad start I would have been up over $300.00. I played 1,352 hands, far less then the over 5,000 the week before, I also logged only 9.42 hours again far less then the over 37 the week before, much closer to my normal play. My hourly rate was far below my normal of about $25.00 an hour at a little over $11.00 an hour. This was due to the first bad hour.

All in all I was happy with my play once I made a few needed corrections. I also played several free tournaments with my FFP these are tournaments you can win $11.00. I won 6 of them this week, so that adds another $66.00 to my winnings. These winnings are not in the above statistics.

One thing in poker that is important to pick up on is when players have patterns, it is also important to make sure you do not have patterns that others will use to beat you, below is a hand I might have folded had I not known this players patterns.

POKERSTARS GAME #19767964843: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/20 - 17:07:14 (ET)
Table 'Hiera IV' 9-max Seat #5 is the button
Seat 3: DUG ($100 in chips)
Seat 5: TTtheC ($229.70 in chips)
Seat 7: Basset69 ($24.60 in chips)
Seat 8: slicnick_11 ($114.40 in chips)
Basset69: posts small blind $0.50
slicnick_11: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Qh Qs] This is a good starting hand, but you need to not fall in love with it, many people loose a lot of money with QQ because they just won’t fold it.
DUG: raises $2 to $3 Make a mild raise and hope I get one caller. Any more then one caller my odds to win go way down.
TTtheC: folds
Basset69: folds
slicnick_11: calls $2 This guy plays a pattern he will just call if he has a hand he thinks has me beat, he wants to keep me betting, but will raise if he thinks I have him beat, trying to get me to fold.
*** FLOP *** [9h 6c 3s]
slicnick_11: checks This check tells me he thinks he has the best hand.
DUG: bets $4 I want to just double check.
slicnick_11: calls $4 He still feels he is best.
*** TURN *** [9h 6c 3s] [Td]
slicnick_11: checks Not sure what to do here, I do not want to keep giving him money.
Checkmater leaves the table
DUG: bets $6 I make a weak bet, this way I build the pot if I win and do not lose that much if I lose
ferocesso joins the table at seat #4
slicnick_11: raises $10 to $16 Perfect this tells me I have him beat. If I did not know his pattern I would have folded here, as there is a good chance he could have a straight 78 or a set with Pocket 6’s, 3’s, 9’s, T’s or even 2 pair with 9T
DUG: calls $10 So I call.
*** RIVER *** [9h 6c 3s Td] [8c]
slicnick_11: bets $22 Even better news.
DUG: calls $22 Now I only call here, because if I bet and he does have me beat (I was wrong about his pattern) it will just cost me more money, and if he is on a bluff which I think he is, he will not call so I will not get anymore money for the risk I would be taking.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
slicnick_11: shows [Kd Ah] (high card Ace) What was expected.
DUG: shows [Q h Qs] (a pair of Queens)
DUG collected $88.50 from pot 44 more weeks of living.
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $90.50 Rake $2
Board [9h 6c 3s Td 8c]
Seat 3: DUG showed [Qh Qs] and won ($88.50) with a pair of Queens
Seat 5: TTtheC (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Basset69 (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 8: slicnick_11 (big blind) showed [Kd Ah] and lost with high card Ace

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Two different ways of playing pocket Ace’s


When you have a pair in your two hold cards it is called a “pocket pair” you have a pair in your pocket. Pocket Ace’s is the best possible hand you can be dealt. You should be dealt pocket Ace’s about once out of every 200 hands (.045% of the time to be exact).

When I get pocket Ace’s I play them aggressively about 95% of the time and I limp in about 5% of the time. So what I am saying is I will get pocket Ace’s about 100 times in 2,000 hands, 95 times I will play aggressively and 5 times I will limp in. When I say limp in what I mean is I will just call the current bet rather then make a raise. When I say play aggressively I will make a substantial raise. Below are two examples of this.

The first one is where I played my pocket Ace’s aggressively.

PokerStars Game #19709656064: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/18 - 11:13:45 (ET) Table 'Toutatis IV' 9-max Seat #9 is the button
Seat 3: TTRodrigues ($97.50 in chips)
Seat 4: MartinK1979 ($30.30 in chips)
Seat 5: Sanogo18 ($111.85 in chips)
Seat 6: Masterfrank ($106.05 in chips)
Seat 7: Keev2K ($143.90 in chips)
Seat 8: TwoSmeets ($112.10 in chips)
Seat 9: DUG ($148.70 in chips)
TTRodrigues: posts small blind $0.50
MartinK1979: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Ac As]
Sanogo18: folds
Masterfrank: folds
Keev2K: raises $3 to $4 Might have AK, AQ, AJ, KK, QQ, JJ or even TT
TwoSmeets: folds
DUG: raises $9 to $13 Want to play aggressively so I make a huge bet more then 3 times his original bet. I do this since I am on the button and he might think I am making a steal and I will have great position after the flop, last to act.
TTRodrigues: folds
MartinK1979: folds
Keev2K: calls $9 Since he called he must have AK, KK, QQ, or JJ maybe TT
*** FLOP *** [8d 4d Js] The Jack on the flop is a little scary. So I need to see where I stand
Keev2K: checks This check could be he has JJ and he is trapping me.
DUG: bets $34 So I continue with my aggressive play.
Keev2K: calls $34 This says he does not have a JJ with three J’s or AJ he would raise to chase out a flush draw. So he most likely has KK or QQ, he would fold TT, AK, AQ.
*** TURN *** [8d 4d Js] [2c]
Keev2K: bets $41 This is perfect now he is committed he must have QQ or KK and he wants me to fold.
DUG: raises $60.70 to $101.70 and is all-in I know he will call it is only $55 more for him into a pot of about $200
Keev2K: calls $55.90 and is all-in
Uncalled bet ($4.80) returned to DUG
*** RIVER *** [8d 4d Js 2c] [4h]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Keev2K: shows [Kh Kd] (two pair, Kings and Fours) Perfect hand for my aggressive play
DUG: shows [Ac As] (two pair, Aces and Fours)
DUG collected $286.30 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $289.30 Rake $3
Board [8d 4d Js 2c 4h]
Seat 3: TTRodrigues (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 4: MartinK1979 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: Sanogo18 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: Masterfrank folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Keev2K showed [Kh Kd] and lost with two pair, Kings and Fours
Seat 8: TwoSmeets folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: DUG (button) showed [Ac As] and won ($286.30) with two pair, Aces and Fours


Second hand where I limped in

PokerStars Game #19709354370: Hold'em No Limit ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/18 - 10:54:55 (ET) Table 'Peraga' 9-max
Seat #1 is the button Seat 1: MRBIG5670 ($67.40 in chips)
Seat 2: Apex-X ($99 in chips)
Seat 3: canariaman ($103.50 in chips)
Seat 4: Callonm3 ($97.50 in chips)
Seat 5: DUG ($124.40 in chips)
Seat 6: BJ-27 ($82.95 in chips)
Seat 7: Am0k07 ($34.10 in chips)
Seat 8: Digger83 ($18.50 in chips)
Seat 9: denleonard ($97.50 in chips)
Apex-X: posts small blind $0.50
canariaman: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Ah As]
Callonm3: folds
DUG: calls $1 Since I am first to act good hand to limp in, if I get raised I can switch to aggressive play.
BJ-27: folds
Am0k07: folds
Digger83: folds
denleonard: calls $1
MRBIG5670: folds
Apex-X: calls $0.50
canariaman: checks
*** FLOP *** [Ad 7s 2s] Nice flop for me I now have three Ace’s but I have to worry about a flush with 3 people in. Also you can see if I would have played aggressively here I would have only won the blinds.
Apex-X: checks
canariaman: checks
DUG: bets $2
denleonard: calls $2 Must be on a draw.
Apex-X: folds
canariaman: folds
*** TURN *** [Ad 7s 2s] [2d] Now I have a full house best hand unless he has pocket 2’s
DUG: bets $2 I make a wimpy bet.
denleonard: raises $5 to $7 He is just trying to steal since I made a wimpy bet.
DUG: raises $5 to $12 I raise a little to build the pot and give him the right odds to call if he is on a flush draw (has 4 spades to a flush)
denleonard: calls $5
*** RIVER *** [Ad 7s 2s 2d] [Ts] Great a spade hit.
DUG: checks
denleonard: bets $21 He must have hit his flush.
DUG said, "2??" I make him think I am afraid he has a 2, so he will think I have Ace X with X being any other card.
DUG: raises $22 to $43 I raised a small amount I think he will call, maybe even raise me.
denleonard: calls $22 Perfect, maybe I could have raised more.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [Ah As] (a full house, Aces full of Deuces)
Am0k07 said, "i have 2"
denleonard: shows [Js 9s] (a flush, Jack high)
DUG collected $115 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $118 Rake $3
Board [Ad 7s 2s 2d Ts]
Seat 1: MRBIG5670 (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Apex-X (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 3: canariaman (big blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 4: Callonm3 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: DUG showed [Ah As] and won ($115) with a full house, Aces full of Deuces Seat 6: BJ-27 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 7: Am0k07 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: Digger83 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 9: denleonard showed [Js 9s] and lost with a flush, Jack high

These two hands will let me live in Botswana for about another 160 weeks.

P.S. This picture is me rafting down the Nile on my visit to Uganda

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Botswana


Many of you have asked me what Botswana is like. Well this is what the CIA’s website says about Botswana.

Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment have created one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country's conservation practices and extensive nature preserves. Botswana has one of the world's highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa's most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease.

It is just a beautiful country bordered by South Africa to the South Zimbabwe to the North East and Angola to the North West.

P.S. This is a picture of my little brothers working at the gravel pit. They have not yet mastered poker play.

Saturday, August 16, 2008

Week of August 10th 2008

For this week, first I will talk about my poker play, then a little up date on my up coming travels.

Like many jobs on-line poker offers bonuses. I play at Poker Stars, they offer several types of bonuses. Two that I focus on are Frequent Player Points (FPP) and re-deposit bonuses.

FPP are points you earn for the amount of hands you play and the amount of money that is in the pot at your table for each hand. Similar to Frequent Flyer points you get when you fly. FPP can then be used to buy things as simple as a Poker Stars hat to as fancy as a Porsche Caymen S. You can also achieve different levels of status, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Supernova, and Supernova Elite depending on how many FPP you get each month. You can make a lot of money just on the FPP. There are some players that try to just play break even poker (not win or lose) but they play a lot just to accumulate points.

Re-deposit bonuses are incentives that Poker Stars has once a quarter, where you are allowed to redeposit money back into your Poker Stars bank account. You get a bonus on the money you deposit. For example this quarter you could deposit up to $600.00 and get a 20% bonus. The way you collect the bonus is by accumulating twenty times your bonus amount in FPP. So for example I re-deposited $600.00 which made my bonus amount $240.00 (20% of $600.00) so in order to collect the $240.00 bonus I need to earn 4,800 FPP, the time frame to earn these points is six months. The best part is as soon as you deposit the $600.00 to qualify for the bonus you can withdraw it. So it does not cost anything to participate in the bonus. The $240.00 is free money.

This background is important to my poker play this week. Instead of focusing on my play I focused on FPP to qualify for my $240.00 bonus. As I have mentioned before it cost about $1.00 to live a week in Botswana, so $240.00 will carry me several years. So I played volume poker this week, rather then quality poker. The goals accumulate FPP and break even on the money play. I played over 5,500 hands of poker this week. This is a record for me; this was over a 37 hour period. That works out to 147 hands per hour. Most times I was playing 3 – 4 tables at a time. The plus was I made a little money rather then just break even and I accumulated 2,756 FPP. So I am over half way to my bonus. I am not sure I will try this strategy again, though it was very profitable, playing poker for 37 hours is like having a traditional job. Now that I have a nice jump on getting the $240.00 bones, I think I will go back to my normal strategy of quality poker play. I thought I would share with you two hands that are not representative of quality poker play, but more about terrible play where I got lucky, but when you are playing high volume you can take chances because you have enough volume to make up for the hands you lose.

POKERSTARS GAME #19634503122: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/15 - 11:06:53 (ET)
Table 'Telesto III' 9-max Seat #3 is the button
Seat 1: soncuze ($57.30 in chips)
Seat 2: Faiv ($128.15 in chips)
Seat 3: DCIAce ($17 in chips)
Seat 4: BierDaniel ($16 in chips)
Seat 5: earthquake33 ($100 in chips)
Seat 6: cobis ($115.25 in chips)
Seat 7: Daantje72 ($61.35 in chips)
Seat 8: DUG ($119.10 in chips)
Seat 9: Tobsen ($166.80 in chips)
BierDaniel: posts small blind $0.50
earthquake33: posts big blind $1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [Ac 9d] Normally I would not play this hand.
cobis: calls $1
Daantje72: folds
DUG: raises $3 to $4 Just trying to steal the blinds.
Tobsen: folds
soncuze: folds
Faiv: folds
DCIAce: folds
BierDaniel: folds
earthquake33: folds
cobis: calls $3 Must have a pair with a limp in bet.
*** FLOP *** [6d Js 9c] I hit middle pair with a good kicker.
cobis: checks
Must not of hit
DUG: bets $5 Maybe I can take the pot here.
cobis: raises $5 to $10 Oh, shit must have a hand
DUG: calls $5 The Pot is $18 so I am getting about 4 – 1 must call.
*** TURN *** [6d Js 9c] [Tc]
cobis: bets $11 Low bet half the pot means he wants me to call, I still only have middle pair this is a dumb call.
DUG: calls $11 Like I said this is not quality poker.
*** RIVER *** [6d Js 9c Tc] [Ah] Now I have 2 pair and the best 2 pair unless he has AJ or AT
cobis: bets $38 He could have a str8 with 78

DUG: raises $38 to $76 This is the best part of no-limit Poker ALL IN.
cobis: calls $38 Oh shit he called.
*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [Ac 9d] (two pair, Aces and Nines) I WON!!!!
cobis: mucks hand
DUG collected $200.50 from pot 100 weeks of life in Botswana
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $203.50 Rake $3
Board [6d Js 9c Tc Ah]
Seat 1: soncuze folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 2: Faiv folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: DCIAce (button) folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: BierDaniel (small blind) folded before Flop
Seat 5: earthquake33 (big blind) folded before Flop
Seat 6: cobis mucked [Jd Td]
Seat 7: Daantje72 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 8: DUG showed [Ac 9d] and won ($200.50) with two pair, Aces and Nines
Seat 9: Tobsen folded before Flop (didn't bet)

This next hand is fun because it is about 5 hands after the last one and against the same guy.

POKERSTARS GAME #19634637064: HOLD'EM NO LIMIT ($0.50/$1.00) - 2008/08/15 - 11:15:12 (ET)
Table 'Telesto III' 9-max Seat #6 is the button
Seat 2: Faiv ($135.5 0 in chips)
Seat 3: DCIAce ($33.75 in chips)
Seat 4: BierDaniel ($20 in chips)
Seat 5: earthquake33 ($96 in chips)
Seat 6: cobis ($86.60 in chips)
Seat 7: Daantje72 ($58.85 in chips)
Seat 8: DUG ($175.30 in chips)
Seat 9: Tobsen ($169.90 in chips)
Daantje72: posts small blind $0.50
DUG: posts big blind $1
Graf Zahl69: sits out
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to DUG [2c 2h] In quality poker I would not play pocket 2’s as they are only good if you hit a 2 on the flop which is about 15% of the time.
Tobsen: folds
Faiv: folds
DCIAce: folds
BierDaniel: folds
earthquake33: folds
cobis: raises $2 to $3
Daantje72: calls $2.50
DUG: calls $2 I called because my buddy from the last hand is in.
*** FLOP *** [9c 9h 2d] I flopped a full house, I have to be happy with this.
Daantje72: checks
DUG: checks I want to let the others bet into me. Since I have the best hand unless someone has 99 or 92.
cobis: bets $8 Here we go again
Daantje72: folds
DUG: calls $8 Just call I am sure he is still mad and will think I am a really bad player that got lucky last hand.
*** TURN *** [9c 9h 2d] [Ad] I hope he has an Ace so now he has 2 top pair.
DUG: checks Let him keep betting.
cobis: bets $16 As long as he does not have A9 I am golden.
DUG: raises $19 to $35 If he has an Ace he will call. I need to build the pot so he can not get away from the hand.
cobis: calls $19 he is hooked and pissed at me.
*** RIVER *** [9c 9h 2d Ad] [7c]
DUG: bets $91 The pot is big enough he will call any bet I make.
cobis: calls $40.60 and is all-in PERFECT.
Uncalled bet ($50.40) returned to DUG<>*** SHOW DOWN ***
DUG: shows [2c 2h] (a full house, Deuces full of Nines)
cobis: mucks hand Poor guy
DUG collected $173.20 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot $176.20 Rake $3
Board [9c 9h 2d Ad 7c]
Seat 2: Faiv folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 3: DCIAce folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 4: BierDaniel folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 5: earthquake33 folded before Flop (didn't bet)
Seat 6: cobis (button) mucked [7s As]
Seat 7: Daantje72 (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 8: DUG (big blind) showed [2c 2h] and won ($173.20) with a full house, Deuces full of Nines About 85 more weeks of living.
Seat 9: Tobsen folded before Flop (didn't bet)

Now for my travels, nothing great right now, I am in the planning stages of my next trip which is to Grand Teton Mountains, Wyoming. I will be there from August 29th to September 2nd. This is a 3 day hiking trip on the Grand Teton trail. I plan to take a lot of pictures and I will post on my return. This is a true backpacking trip were everything I need I will be carrying on my back. I am looking forward to getting into the great outdoors. This trip is through a company I found on the internet I will let you know how they are after the trip.

http://www.wildhorizonsexpeditions.com/

P.S. The picture for this weeks post is when I was in Jordan; I got hired as a falafel maker. Most of the time I travel I can not play porker so I need to supplement my income by to picking up odd jobs.



Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Why Life Of DUG?




Updated July of 2014 

In January of 2013 I was exiled from Botswana. and since have be looking for a new place to live.
With all the moving around I have not had as much time to play poker but still find enough time to play to help finance my travel.

P.S. This picture is of me on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.





October 2005

I quit work, moved to Botswana and started two new hobbies, traveling the world and playing on-line poker. The first hobby though expensive was easy to master (traveling). The second (Poker) was a little bit more expensive at first and was much harder to master. It has taken two and a half years to master on-line poker. I have played about 1,000 hours of poker in these two and a half years. This is over 90,000 hands of poker all on-line. I am now at a point where I win consistently and feel I can finance my world travels with my profits.

During this same time I have been doing some traveling. Here are the places I have visited. Uganda, Saint Johns, USVI, Jordan, Peru, San Francisco, Miami, Italy, Germany, South Dakota, Chzech Republic, Hungary, Colorado.

What I plan to do is post information of what life is like traveling the world along with pictures and videos of the places I visit. I also plan to post what it is like to play on-line poker for a living.

I grew up in the United States, but have moved to Botswana. The reason for this move, is on-line poker is legal and on one U.S. Dollar you can live like a king for a week.

If you would like to get email updates "Click to Subscribe to Life Of DUG" so I can keep you up to date with everything that is happening.

I hope you enjoy seeing what life is like as a nomad on-line poker player living in Botswana.

Cheers,

DUG

P.S. The picture is of me hanging out with the local authorities.