WSOP Update #6 - Monday morning, I'm out
Here it is...
I hope it's cathartic to admit it... "Hello, my name is Dave and I have a mad poker pirate that lives in my head. His name is Rammy."
Group: "Hi Dave!"
On with the show...
Update #6 – Monday morning.
I’m out. Wiped out in, approximately, 1000th place. I didn’t stop to find out. After I busted I stopped by to see Bob and wish him well and then I staggered off to my room to think about what I had had just done to myself… It wasn’t pretty. The cloud lifted pretty quickly and I had supper with Bob who was still in and fighting.
Here is how the day went up until the disaster…
Got up, wrote up my report from the day before, went for a ½ hour run on the treadmill, went for a swim in the very pleasant Rio pool, shaved my head, showered, dressed, and went for breakfast. I have to stop buying breakfast for people from Wisconsin. Last year, on day three I bought supper for a father and son from Wisconsin and then went bust. This year, on day two, I bought breakfast for a couple of young guys from Wisconsin and then went bust. Damn Cheeseheads.
I slept OK. I went to bed at midnight and stayed in bed until 8 AM. But, I woke up a lot. I never got deep sleep. I must experiment with some sleeping drugs for future trips. I considered using something, but fear of an intense “hangover†kept me from medicating.
I get to table 21 seat 3. That’s good. This table will not bust all day. This is desirable since it means that I will be playing the same guys all day and should get a good read on them. No recognizable players.
A few tables away is Sol Bergren from Saskatoon (I learned later that Sol cashed for $28,000 in change). Also, Lou Gazzola is nearby. He busted before the money. The crowds are bigger today. The aisles are PACKED with people watching their particular friends and family. In fact, as the day wore on they began to put restrictions on the media. You could not stand and sweat a player. You had to walk through the tournament area and look for what you needed. The place was getting TOO crowded.
At table 13 there is Phil Ivey with Jeff Shulman on his immediate left. ESPN has that table staked out. Howard Lederer is also nearby.
In the second hand of the day, the player two to my left wins a HUGE pot. In the very next hand he moves in after a raise. The raiser calls and shows QQ and the guy on my left has A-Ts. I am concerned that I have a VERY aggressive action monkey two to my left. On more to the left is a confirmed action monkey. This affected my play for a large part of the day. I was concerned about my ability to steal the blinds.
FUNNY MOMENT… At the next table a guy begins to shout “OK, baby. No jack. No jack!†He is so loud that the WHOLE room can hear him. He has K-K and his opponent has J-J. The flop. No problem. “No jack! One time dealer, no jack!†The turn, no problem. “One more time dealer, no jack!†The river is turned and the 50 people on the rail all moan: “ooohhhh.†The other 2000 people in the room knew, without looking, that it was a jack. K-K no good. You go home now. Man, did he look like he was hit by a bus. I know what it looks like to say someone looks “devastated.†This kid what THAT look.
META-STRATEGY: I decide that I will limp a lot more than usual. I am looking to set a trap and back fill from the two action monkeys on my left.
HAND #1: I make a button raise with A-5o. The SB (who I have as being too tight) re-raises. I call. Flop is Q-Q-x. He wants to bet, but changes his mind. I take this as weakness and bet $10K. After some time in the tank, he moves in. Oops. $18K down the drain. This was my first sign that I was NOT playing well. I don’t hate my pre-flop call, but I should have folded. I HATE my bet on the flop. I was not playing well and I told myself so. I told myself to move to ABC poker.
HAND #2: The SUPER loose player three to me left raises. I defend my BB with 3-2. Flop is 8-5-4. Good. This guy could have any two cards. I check, he moves in. I am getting a little better than 2-1 and I figure I have 8 outs for sure, and probably 14 outs. I call. He has J-5 and wins. Another sign that I am playing REALLY badly. I should have moved in on the flop and added fold equity. Instead, he did, exactly what I thought he would and I called a huge chunk of my stack. Ugh.
I am, at this point, feeling REALLY low. I have blown off 2/3 of my stack AND I am playing badly. Sheesh. This feeling does, I think, play a role in my ultimate demise.
HAND #3: Limp BB with 8-6s. Flop is K-K-6. I bet, BB raises, I move in. Yes… another bad play. He folds, thank goodness.
HAND #4: Defend BB with Q-T. Flop T-x-x. SB bets flop, I call. Bets rag turn, I raise, he folds.
Couple of nice little steals and I am up to $46K and feeling relieved.
The super-aggressive guy three to my left has gone bust. Too bad, a good opportunity. But, it also makes the work a more relaxed place. Also, three to my right a BIG stack has been moved to my table. That’s bad since I expect that the will attempt to beat on my blinds.
At this point I, again, noted on my voice recorder that I was NOT in the game. My brain was NOT engaging the enemy. I was fuzzy.
START LEVEL TEN (don’t know chip count, but this means we are 3 ½ hours into the day).
I was around $40K. This is still a respectable stack. I noted two things in my voice recorder: I have been COMPLETELY card dead the whole day and yet, if I have not blown off the $18K earlier I would still be in awesome shape. I tried pep-talking myself. Here I am, almost 4 hours into the day, and I am still average stack despite the fact that I have been completely card dead. Everything is good. Relax.
I also decided at this point to open up my raising range a little bit as well as call a few hands. I have $40 and I will gamble $10K looking to land a big pot. I felt like I was starting to hit my stride.
The next three hands happened in succession. I have thought A LOT about what happens in HAND #7. The monkey mind is about to go blank and I think there is a physiological cause.
HAND #5: I raise UTG with 4-4 and take the pot. A nice little win.
HAND #6: In the big blind. The small blind raises, I defend with 8-6o. Checked to the river, I bet and take the pot.
OK. Two quick, small wins. The adrenaline monster (now referred to as “Rammy the Mad Poker Pirateâ€) is feeling pretty good.
HAND #7: Middle position raiser. I have this player in a solid box. I am not worried about him. BIG stack flat calls. Hmmm… either a BIG hand (AA, KK or an implied odds hands). I have Q-Ts in the SB and decide to see a flop.
I TELL MYSELF: Danger danger.
The BB also calls. That’s good. If I can land a hand it will be a BIG pot. The flop is T-3-3. I considered a probe bet but I told myself, “You do not need to waste any chips on a probe bet because the original bettor will tell you what he has without wasting any chips. You have him in a tiny little box.â€
OK. I check. The BB checks. The original bettor goes $30K.
I TELL MYSELF: “HE HAS AN OVERPAIR. THAT IS WHAT HE HAS.†The big stack goes into the tank. While his is thinking about it I am telling myself “When the action reaches you, fold.†The big stack folds and I, instantly, move all-in. Rammy the Mad Poker Pirate suddenly grabbed the tiller. This is THE “monkey mind go blank†leak. I KNEW WHAT HE HAD, and I moved in. I told myself to fold. Yet, when the action reached my, I MOVED in. Worse, it was only another $8K to him so he WILL CALL.
BB folds. As I KNEW, he called and showed A-A and I was out.
I am NEVER going to forgive myself for this hand. I would like to say that I am a better player than this hand, but, obviously, I am not. I OUGHT to be a better player than this hand, but there really gross events are still in the playbook. This, after long recognizing that I have this leak, and having taken steps to control this. I have been working on this leak for at least three years and I still have it. I THINK THINK THINK and then, seemingly involuntarily, Rammy the Mad Poker Pirate shoves in my chips on my behalf.
This must be fixed.
That night I had supper with Bob and Teri and then went to my room. I rented “The Interpreter†(OK) and played two tournaments on Paradise making the money in one of them… rubbing my face in it I suppose. The most interesting thing is that as soon as I got to my room I became VERY VERY tired. I soldiered on through the tournament and then fell VERY asleep. 8 hours, no waking. Further evidence that I need to solve the sleeping in Vegas problem. I think that “monkey mind go blank†is a simple formula: “Lack of sleep + adrenaline = sudden urge to fight.†There is some physiological underpinning that I must learn to defeat.
Bob “Team Canuck†Jarrett got into a $240K pot on Sunday. 48% for Bob. 44% for royal flush draw. And, 8% for AK. Sadly, Bob lost the hand. He then struggled back from adversity twice to sneak into the money and cash for $16,000. Bravo, Bob.
I have, once again, got A LOT of food for thought. It’s a shame that I have to wait a year to try again.
I hope it's cathartic to admit it... "Hello, my name is Dave and I have a mad poker pirate that lives in my head. His name is Rammy."
Group: "Hi Dave!"
On with the show...
Update #6 – Monday morning.
I’m out. Wiped out in, approximately, 1000th place. I didn’t stop to find out. After I busted I stopped by to see Bob and wish him well and then I staggered off to my room to think about what I had had just done to myself… It wasn’t pretty. The cloud lifted pretty quickly and I had supper with Bob who was still in and fighting.
Here is how the day went up until the disaster…
Got up, wrote up my report from the day before, went for a ½ hour run on the treadmill, went for a swim in the very pleasant Rio pool, shaved my head, showered, dressed, and went for breakfast. I have to stop buying breakfast for people from Wisconsin. Last year, on day three I bought supper for a father and son from Wisconsin and then went bust. This year, on day two, I bought breakfast for a couple of young guys from Wisconsin and then went bust. Damn Cheeseheads.
I slept OK. I went to bed at midnight and stayed in bed until 8 AM. But, I woke up a lot. I never got deep sleep. I must experiment with some sleeping drugs for future trips. I considered using something, but fear of an intense “hangover†kept me from medicating.
I get to table 21 seat 3. That’s good. This table will not bust all day. This is desirable since it means that I will be playing the same guys all day and should get a good read on them. No recognizable players.
A few tables away is Sol Bergren from Saskatoon (I learned later that Sol cashed for $28,000 in change). Also, Lou Gazzola is nearby. He busted before the money. The crowds are bigger today. The aisles are PACKED with people watching their particular friends and family. In fact, as the day wore on they began to put restrictions on the media. You could not stand and sweat a player. You had to walk through the tournament area and look for what you needed. The place was getting TOO crowded.
At table 13 there is Phil Ivey with Jeff Shulman on his immediate left. ESPN has that table staked out. Howard Lederer is also nearby.
In the second hand of the day, the player two to my left wins a HUGE pot. In the very next hand he moves in after a raise. The raiser calls and shows QQ and the guy on my left has A-Ts. I am concerned that I have a VERY aggressive action monkey two to my left. On more to the left is a confirmed action monkey. This affected my play for a large part of the day. I was concerned about my ability to steal the blinds.
FUNNY MOMENT… At the next table a guy begins to shout “OK, baby. No jack. No jack!†He is so loud that the WHOLE room can hear him. He has K-K and his opponent has J-J. The flop. No problem. “No jack! One time dealer, no jack!†The turn, no problem. “One more time dealer, no jack!†The river is turned and the 50 people on the rail all moan: “ooohhhh.†The other 2000 people in the room knew, without looking, that it was a jack. K-K no good. You go home now. Man, did he look like he was hit by a bus. I know what it looks like to say someone looks “devastated.†This kid what THAT look.
META-STRATEGY: I decide that I will limp a lot more than usual. I am looking to set a trap and back fill from the two action monkeys on my left.
HAND #1: I make a button raise with A-5o. The SB (who I have as being too tight) re-raises. I call. Flop is Q-Q-x. He wants to bet, but changes his mind. I take this as weakness and bet $10K. After some time in the tank, he moves in. Oops. $18K down the drain. This was my first sign that I was NOT playing well. I don’t hate my pre-flop call, but I should have folded. I HATE my bet on the flop. I was not playing well and I told myself so. I told myself to move to ABC poker.
HAND #2: The SUPER loose player three to me left raises. I defend my BB with 3-2. Flop is 8-5-4. Good. This guy could have any two cards. I check, he moves in. I am getting a little better than 2-1 and I figure I have 8 outs for sure, and probably 14 outs. I call. He has J-5 and wins. Another sign that I am playing REALLY badly. I should have moved in on the flop and added fold equity. Instead, he did, exactly what I thought he would and I called a huge chunk of my stack. Ugh.
I am, at this point, feeling REALLY low. I have blown off 2/3 of my stack AND I am playing badly. Sheesh. This feeling does, I think, play a role in my ultimate demise.
HAND #3: Limp BB with 8-6s. Flop is K-K-6. I bet, BB raises, I move in. Yes… another bad play. He folds, thank goodness.
HAND #4: Defend BB with Q-T. Flop T-x-x. SB bets flop, I call. Bets rag turn, I raise, he folds.
Couple of nice little steals and I am up to $46K and feeling relieved.
The super-aggressive guy three to my left has gone bust. Too bad, a good opportunity. But, it also makes the work a more relaxed place. Also, three to my right a BIG stack has been moved to my table. That’s bad since I expect that the will attempt to beat on my blinds.
At this point I, again, noted on my voice recorder that I was NOT in the game. My brain was NOT engaging the enemy. I was fuzzy.
START LEVEL TEN (don’t know chip count, but this means we are 3 ½ hours into the day).
I was around $40K. This is still a respectable stack. I noted two things in my voice recorder: I have been COMPLETELY card dead the whole day and yet, if I have not blown off the $18K earlier I would still be in awesome shape. I tried pep-talking myself. Here I am, almost 4 hours into the day, and I am still average stack despite the fact that I have been completely card dead. Everything is good. Relax.
I also decided at this point to open up my raising range a little bit as well as call a few hands. I have $40 and I will gamble $10K looking to land a big pot. I felt like I was starting to hit my stride.
The next three hands happened in succession. I have thought A LOT about what happens in HAND #7. The monkey mind is about to go blank and I think there is a physiological cause.
HAND #5: I raise UTG with 4-4 and take the pot. A nice little win.
HAND #6: In the big blind. The small blind raises, I defend with 8-6o. Checked to the river, I bet and take the pot.
OK. Two quick, small wins. The adrenaline monster (now referred to as “Rammy the Mad Poker Pirateâ€) is feeling pretty good.
HAND #7: Middle position raiser. I have this player in a solid box. I am not worried about him. BIG stack flat calls. Hmmm… either a BIG hand (AA, KK or an implied odds hands). I have Q-Ts in the SB and decide to see a flop.
I TELL MYSELF: Danger danger.
The BB also calls. That’s good. If I can land a hand it will be a BIG pot. The flop is T-3-3. I considered a probe bet but I told myself, “You do not need to waste any chips on a probe bet because the original bettor will tell you what he has without wasting any chips. You have him in a tiny little box.â€
OK. I check. The BB checks. The original bettor goes $30K.
I TELL MYSELF: “HE HAS AN OVERPAIR. THAT IS WHAT HE HAS.†The big stack goes into the tank. While his is thinking about it I am telling myself “When the action reaches you, fold.†The big stack folds and I, instantly, move all-in. Rammy the Mad Poker Pirate suddenly grabbed the tiller. This is THE “monkey mind go blank†leak. I KNEW WHAT HE HAD, and I moved in. I told myself to fold. Yet, when the action reached my, I MOVED in. Worse, it was only another $8K to him so he WILL CALL.
BB folds. As I KNEW, he called and showed A-A and I was out.
I am NEVER going to forgive myself for this hand. I would like to say that I am a better player than this hand, but, obviously, I am not. I OUGHT to be a better player than this hand, but there really gross events are still in the playbook. This, after long recognizing that I have this leak, and having taken steps to control this. I have been working on this leak for at least three years and I still have it. I THINK THINK THINK and then, seemingly involuntarily, Rammy the Mad Poker Pirate shoves in my chips on my behalf.
This must be fixed.
That night I had supper with Bob and Teri and then went to my room. I rented “The Interpreter†(OK) and played two tournaments on Paradise making the money in one of them… rubbing my face in it I suppose. The most interesting thing is that as soon as I got to my room I became VERY VERY tired. I soldiered on through the tournament and then fell VERY asleep. 8 hours, no waking. Further evidence that I need to solve the sleeping in Vegas problem. I think that “monkey mind go blank†is a simple formula: “Lack of sleep + adrenaline = sudden urge to fight.†There is some physiological underpinning that I must learn to defeat.
Bob “Team Canuck†Jarrett got into a $240K pot on Sunday. 48% for Bob. 44% for royal flush draw. And, 8% for AK. Sadly, Bob lost the hand. He then struggled back from adversity twice to sneak into the money and cash for $16,000. Bravo, Bob.
I have, once again, got A LOT of food for thought. It’s a shame that I have to wait a year to try again.
Comments
I watched the full tilt tournament final table on tv yesterday and I thought it was kind of dull. They had heart monitors on the players and Phil Gordon said in an interview he expected to break the machine. His heartrate was very high at times (especially say compared to Negreanu). One commentator noted that Phil knew his body and even when Phil was excited to be in a pot he had learned to control it/himself.
Perhaps wearing a heart monitor and observing the spikes and circumstances would be informative. The other Phil, Helmuth, likes to take his shirt off and meditate in front of tv cameras. Can you imagine how explosive he would be if he didn't meditate? I'm not suggesting you embrace the Lotus but perhaps some sage advice will come it's way in this thread.
I think having full control of one's physiology (autonomic nervous system?) would be the ultimate victory.
Me, I'm still full of adrenaline tells.
On the other hand, I saw a guy with such an adrenaline tell that I could take his heart rate (about 121) from four seats away watching his chest. THAT was impressive.
Try 5mg Valium ......... relaxes you enough to float off into a nice deep sleep and no druggy hangover in the morning.
Great article by the way ........... good to know I'm not the only one with a Rammy-the-pirate problem.
"When I rush, I screw up."
From my own most recent article at www.CanadianPoker.com. Grrr..
Although, I was cheered up this morning. I was interviewing a motorcylce stunt guy from Team Extreme. I asked him if he has ever crashed. He said, "Wreck to progress." Which is my new motto.
Heather: "What can't you be a better husband?"
Me: "Well, sometimes you have to wreck to progress."
Me: "Why did you move in with Q-T in that hand?"
Rammy the Mad Poker Pirate: "I'm helping you. You have to wreck to progress."
A couple of years later, I started Consulting for the software vendor. One of the reasons I felt so comfortable deploying it was I had pretty much made every mistake possible and could bail customers out quickly.
I used to suffer from insomnia, really bad
I found the over the counter sleep-eeze to be great - with extra strength one knocks me out, no after effects in the AM
I have a serious case of insomnia (up until 4-5am everyday) and need some kind of medication too.