APT Macau 2009 Main Event Updates
Day 2: My table line up was relatively easy with only 3 pros on the table. (An Aussie online pro, JC Tran and myself) The table chip leader to my immediate left and JC Tran 4 seats to my left. The game started with JC TRan opening the first 4 out of 4 hands of the tournament, flashing a AQo on the third hand when the table folded to him. The fifth hand saw me opening with pocket 88 to 3200 and the table chip leader immediately to my left repumped to 4k more. With a 40k stack, I flated the 3 bet to for set mine value. I missed and check folded to him. At this point, my table image looks kind of weak and exploitable and I am very aware of it. (This is the reason why I got busted..)
On the very next hand, I immediately picked up pocket JJ in mid-position, I opened for 3200 again. (Pretending to "Tilt Raise" since I just lost a pot the previous hand) Given my image, and the given circumstances, I definitely expect someone behind me to call me light and give me some action. Actioned folded to JC Tran on the button, who thought for a little bit and 3 bet me for 5500 more! Now, following are my considerations at this point:
1. JC Tran has opened 4 out of the first 5 hands since the tournament started.
2. JC Tran is a good player who can play position very well.
3. I was looking exploitable due to previous hand action. JC Tran saw me call a 3 bet and check fold the flop to the big stack.
4. It certainly looked like I was tilt raising from the table's perspective.
5. JC Tran was on the BUTTON and action was folded to him.
6. He is quite likely to 3 bet me light in an attempt to take the play away from me on the flop. (Taking point 2 above into consideration.)
My stack at this point was not looking very healthy having just given up a pot. I have absolutely no set mining value. If my jacks were behind, I HAVE TO FOLD NOW! I ran through all the points above in my mind, and decided that there's a high percentage chance that JC could be 3 betting light. (Especially due to points 3 & 4) His range includes AK, AQ, pocket TT> or air. At this point, I'm only behind 3 hands in his range, i.e. QQ, KK and AA. It’s either fold or make a stand here and I decided on the latter. (Sad to say, it’s a wrong decision.) I finally decided on a “Stop and Go” all-in with him and he shows KK...lol!
On hindsight, I should have folded. 
My transition to a online player
It’s been 3 weeks since I started my grind on Redkings, and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at my ability to adapt from live game play to online play. After the first day, I understood the primary differences in the 2 forms of poker and adjusted my play accordingly. First couple of days was mainly about "finding my online game" and developing basic strategies, translating my knowledge of live poker into profits online (for those of you interested, I'll be writing an article on Live Poker strategies, check back at the Articles section soon).
It took me a few days to get my poker tracking software (radar) working properly, but when it finally worked, I had an immediate upswing! This proves the importance of not flying blind, and not getting in bed with a girl without first checking her out.
I primarily stayed on the mid-stakes 5 max tables because I've decided I can't "out-grind" the hardcore online players that are 12-16 tabling on the 10 max (Full Ring) tables. (In case you guys didn’t know, I’m too old for that sh#t!) On the 5 max tables, I have a much bigger edge due to my experience in live game play. I can push my opponents around with my 3 bets or raise them when I sense weakness, shove them on my missed draws when I know they can't call. This is especially true during blind battles, whereby my opponent is a typical online shark with VPIP$<20%, PF-Raise >15%.
For those of you online statisticians, here are some of my numbers thus far.
Hands played: 20,877
PF-Win: 12.27%
VP$PI: 20.35%
PF-Raise: 16.85%
PF-RRaise: 3.27%
PF-Allin: 0.88%
PF-Allin W$SD: 64.29%
Let me translate some of the above numbers for the non-mathematically inclined readers.
1. Firstly, out of the 20877 hands that were dealt to me, I’ve voluntarily played 20.35% (approx. 4250) of my hands. The other 79.65% were either a checked big blind or folded hand.
2. Out of these 4250 hands that I voluntarily played, about 60% of them (approx. 2560) were won pre-flop.
3. My combined pre-flop raise and pre-flop 3 bet hands is 20.12% (4200 hands) out of 20.35% (4250 hands) that I played. All these translates to the fact that I almost NEVER limp/call pre-flop, except for those rare occasions that I find myself sitting with AA or KK in the big blind facing a raise from the small blind....LOL! You know the story.....
4. Finally the last 2 Stats simply means that I shove all-in pre-flop 183 times so far and won about 64% of them.
From the above, you can more or less deduce the fact that I can be quite irritating on the table sometimes. When my opponent limp I raise, when they raise I 3 bet and when they 3 bet I shove...LOL(183 times so far) For the first couple of days, everything was fine. However lately, the regulars on the mid-stakes 5 max tables are becoming more “vocal” with how they feel about my play....LOL! I’m guessing that’s a good sign!
Well, that’s all for now folks. I got to get started on my article.....and oh my, it’s already 630am Monday morning. Lots to do and no time to do them....isn’t that always the contradiction in life!
Team RedKings!
It’s been 4 days since I’ve been officially endorsed as a Team Redkings Pro and the transition from a live player to an online player is proving to be a challenge. As a live player for the last 16 years, I’ve developed certain dependencies on live tells and mental notes such as opponent’s sitting posture, pupil dilation, hand resting posture, breathing pattern, the way my opponents are viewing his hole cards, how did he throw out the chips, how are his chips stacked, how much money did he have left in his wallet when he bought-in, did he just lose a big pot or get a disturbing phone call...etc.etc. You get the picture.
However, all these skill sets which I’ve worked so hard on refining over the years are now suddenly useless! My opponents are no longer living breathing human beings sitting across the table from me; they’re now in a form of weird sounding names (which are alien or unreadable mostly) in boxes on not only 1 but across several tables, betting and raising simultaneously! Culture Shock! I can no longer look at the way they dress... to determine their playing tendencies, chat them up... to define their mood........sigh. The game have changed, it’s a math game now.
Gone were the days when I can put my opponent on Ace high just by noticing how he squeezed his hole cards, make sick call-downs with queen high just by reading his limbic tells. Instead, I’ve to rely on player notes and poker tracking software to make these decisions. What used to be a certainty to me are now in a form vague percentages, numbers, possible hand ranges...etc.
However, despite of all the difficulties and negativities, I do think that online poker increases your focus on the game itself. All the distractions of live game considerations are now narrowed down to mainly technical considerations. The number of hands played is a hundred times that of live game. Game play knowledge and experience can be learned and gained quickly. I am looking forward to grinding online in the coming weeks and hope to increase my technical knowledge of the game. Will keep you guys posted of my progress.
Asiangravy is now sitting on my couch waiting for me to go out for lunch, so I’ll be signing off now. In the meantime, good luck at the tables!
