A few weeks ago, I posted on a heads up match I had with a spider in a rented car. I'm happy to report that I've returned the car in question to Enterprise and picked up my new rig, a Lexus RX400 hybrid. It's a little soccer mom-ish but it's quiet, surprisingly quick and doesn't beat the crap out of the planet. Plus the folks at Lexus gave me a stupid good price...





Hope everyone had a good holiday!

Edmond

So I check my calendar late in the day and realize that I’m supposed to be at a concert/fundraiser at the Japanese consulate here in LA in a little over an hour. I contemplate blowing it off, but I know the host is expecting me so I resign myself to the gig. As it turns out, I didn’t have a suit on so I needed to jam home from my office, change and make it back across town, in traffic, by 6:30 or so.

Anyway, I make my way home, pull on a suit and head back out. Now my car came off lease a couple of weeks ago but I haven’t had a chance to find a new rig, so I’ve been rolling around in some rental car that Enterprise dropped off. Anyway, I’m moving along the 10 freeway and I flip down the visor to check my tie. Bam! A gigantic spider drops into my lap and scampers down my leg to the floor. Holy crap!

Ok, this was not some Little Miss Moffet spider…not some daddy long legs “I can run across the surface of water” whisper of a spider…no, in fact, this monster was just slightly smaller than a tarantula I once saw while hiking in Big Sur. Big brown body, furry legs…straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I have no idea where he came from or how the damn visor even stayed in place with this beast on top of it, but in any event, he was now milling around the floorboards.

I grew up in Maine and am not a city boy—I’ve had plenty of critters in between me and where I’m headed—but when you go to check your look and a spider the size of a small dog drops in your lap in a dark car at 60 mph, it’s unsettling. It’s like having the Starbucks girl tell you your coffee is ready and tossing a live snake at you instead of your nonfat latte. WTF!

I’m in traffic in the fast lane, so I turn on the interior lights, work my way over to the shoulder, pull over and jump out. I look back in and hunt the beast down. Ok, there he is staring at me from the console like Kong on the Empire State Building. Whatever, dude, I’m tight for time—I sweep the shaggy bastard out of my car with the rental agreement, collect my wits and head on to the consulate.

Later at the consulate, I’m sitting at a table with one of the artists for the evening, the head of a local bank, a newspaper rep and, as it turns out, some hitter from Lexus of Southern California. After a couple of speeches, a brief series of performances by three young pianists (all cute Asian girls, btw) and some pretty amazing sushi (it was the Japanese consulate after all), I recount my rental car/spider story to my tablemates. The Lexus guy was like “Uh, call me tomorrow and we’ll hook you up.” Ok, you know what, maybe I will. Did I mention my wife’s car is off-lease in two months’ as well?

It’s all about table draw and seat selection, boys!

Well, it’s been crazy busy lately, and it seems like the days just run together. I’ve had a couple of trips back to New York (the day job), I just got back from the Global Gaming Expo show (aka G2E) in Las Vegas, I have a meeting in Orange County tomorrow and then on to Fresno tomorrow night to pick up my winner’s bracelet in the 3rd Annual Ace of Diamonds tournament at Club One Casino. Next week, I'm heading back home to Maine for the holiday week. And after that, I’ll be hosting a home game at the Commerce Casino to take that service for a testdrive and report back. In any event, lots going on.

Global Gaming Expo (aka G2E)

I wanted to post the results of a recent effort I undertook for the benefit of some of the guys out there trying to build bankrolls, but first, a word on G2E. G2E is the largest gaming show—it’s held in Las Vegas and pretty much every vendor to casinos is there pitching their wares. I was out there researching player tracking systems for a project I’ve been working on. A few minutes after I got there, I noticed a forum discussion starting with Gary Loveman (CEO of Harrahs), former Senator Alfonse D’Amato (now head of the Poker Player’s Alliance) and Terry Lanni, the head of the MGM/Mirage. I sat in and listen for about a half an hour. There were no major insights from the session, but the consensus was that legalized online poker is coming.

Walking the show, I noticed at least three vendors (maybe four) of automated poker tables. Lederer and Ferguson were pitching one of them (Lederer was looking particularly freakish, weird and not very young) and there was activity at all three or four booths, but from what I’ve seen locally in Southern California (Hollywood Park et al.), the early results with automated tables are nothing special. I think there’s a role for them in a smaller 2-3 table club or in larger clubs for single-table tournaments (satellites) or heads up play. But, for the most part, it’s still early in the game for the automated table guys.

Overall, it’s clear from looking around that poker is still the red-headed afterthought of the gaming industry. The show is still all about the slots and financial services (ATMs, cash advances, etc.), although technology is taking more and more floor space every year. Oddly enough, relatively few web services are on display and given the generally poor state of casino websites and how much more important the web is to all companies marketing plans, that’s bound to change. It’s amazing to me how many casinos will acknowledge that 1) their website is lousy and 2) acknowledge it’s the first place visitors go when planning a trip…yet do NOTHING to improve it. Even sophisticated marketers seem to whiff their site. See, for example, www.wynnlasvegas.com. Steve, tell us about the restaurant again…no, please, we want to here it again...flash is fine…

A few thousand hands at low stakes NL

Anyway, on to the "few thousand hands" part of the post. I’ve read a number of blogs in which guys are trying to build a bankroll but suffer swings and get discouraged. I may be being a bit harsh here, but I’d argue that a lot of those “swings” are actually the result of erratic play. You can, in fact, grind out a decent earn and build a nice little bankroll through aggressive, but thoughtful play. Even on Full Tilt.

Post-UIGEA, I withdrew most on my online bankroll (call me a little old lady) but still had a few dollars in my Full Tilt account. I had some IM chats with Landlord79 in which I critiqued some of his plays and figured it would probably be more compelling if I logged a few thousand hands and posted the results.

I started with about $100 overall and sat admittedly underrolled in $.10/$.25 NL playing very basic TAG strategy. After I had a few hundred dollars, I moved up to $.25/$.50 NL to bang out another 10,000 hands. The results:


PT Stats



Graph




In most simplistic terms, my strategy could be summed up as follows:

Respect early position raises.

Raise pre-flop in position and continue if 3 or fewer players.

Avoid stacking off with over-pairs to limp/callers.

If I think I’m beat, fold.

Repeat ad nauseum.

Of course, I had my share of mental lapses and dusted off my stack light. See hands 8500-9500. I’m telling you right now those weren’t so well-played. I also had my share of brutal two outers, runner runner suckouts and not so brutal but nauseating nonetheless 2:1 favorites getting turned or rivered. I think I played great between hands 11,000-13,500 but, as you can see, had nothing to show for it.

As a practical matter, all the hands were played in full ring on Full Tilt. A fair number of the hands were single or double table play while doing other things. At most, I multi-tabled 8 tables, but those were relatively short focused sessions. I can play pretty well at a rate of about 300 hands per hour. Above that, it’s hard to say.

In any event, the point is I managed to build up a what would be a workable bankroll from a modest amount of starting capital. It’s not a huge sample size, and I'm not saying it's a great living, but it’s enough to show that a lower stakes player can build a bankroll without wild swings. You just need to stop spewing and start thinking. And raise in position, please. Note: if anyone wants more PT details or wants to comment, feel free to post me.

Anyway, that's it until I report back from the Club One event. Before I sign off, though, I’ve seen the new TwoRags home and blog pages. Very, very nice. I haven’t been this excited since the Patriots put the Colts on season tilt two weeks ago. Ha!

Ok, so I haven't updated since Swami54 ran over me in the unofficial 2R last longer. But that doesn't mean I haven't been busy. Oh no, in fact it's been just this side of chaos at chez Edmond.

First, I was in NY last week and took Adanthar and his wife on a little tour of my stomping grounds when he had a moment in between AP scandal updates. For those interested, here's a little taste of the tour as presented by an award-winning film-maker.

Note by Note - The Making of L1037

By the way, that trailer features a comment by Harry Connick, Jr., a New Orleans native and jazz pianist. You may have seen him in Will & Grace. See him in concert...with a girl.

Second, I got my wife an iPhone for her recent birthday and while the activation of said phone was a breeze, the upgrade of her computer (because it didn't have USB 2.0 port) was less so. Ended up getting her and new MacBook Pro and after a couple of days of screwing around with iTunes libraries and a other file transfers, that little nightmare's over. On the plus side, she likes her phone. She did, though, ask me if I thought it was too big for the case I got her. I was like..."Are you seriously asking me if your phone looks fat in that case?" She's the best.

Third, had to work on a couple of letters of rec ...one for a guy who used to work for me--last minute, London School of Economics...he's now in. And then one for a friend's son's PRESCHOOL application. That admission is pending. LA's a sick place.

Finally, we've been working on lots of cool new site improvements. Over the next few weeks---server willing--you'll see some great features for live tournament updating, exclusive video/instructional content, an interview with a High Stakes Poker player and a home page redesign to improve site navigation. I haven't had this much trouble sitting still since Season 1 of Prison Break. Seriously.

Edmond

PokerStars is hosting the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker, a free-roll to poker players who blog. First prize is a $12k entry into their Caribbean Adventure tournament. Even better, all final table participants will have their blog posted on 'Stars. If you've been blogging for more than two months, you're eligible to play the event. Just follow the link below and sign up. You'll need to include a link to your blog and then follow the directions to post the code into your blog. If you don't blog on TwoRags.com, it's never too late to sign-up and it's FREE. Just register using the link at the top right of this page.