Microsoft support is useless..

Just wanted to validate my email account so i can use msn:

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steve: Hi

Mike: Welcome to Microsoft Customer Service Chat, Steve. Kindly give me a moment to review your question. Is that okay?

steve: sure

Mike: Thank you for waiting.

Mike: May I know the exact issue?

steve: sure:)

steve: i made a new email address yesterday (steveburt@pokertsaking.com)

steve: and i wanted to use it for MSN

steve: but hwne i try to log in

steve: it says i need to recieve/follow instructions in validation email

steve: but i never recieve the email

steve: i tried my spam/junk folder etc..just not there

steve: i can send an email from that addy to confirm it is mine if u like

Mike: Thank you for the information.

Mike: May I know if it is a paid account?

steve: paid ?

steve: dont think so

steve: what do u mean

Mike: May I know if you are paying for MSN account?

steve: hmm dont think so it just came with my pc ?

steve: :)

steve: sorry im not very technical

Mike: Thank you for confirming.

steve: confirming that im not very technical?

steve: loll.

Mike: I am sorry that I did not understand your concern, could you please be specific?

steve: yea sure

steve: so i made a new email account, that i want to use as my login for Windows Live Messenger

steve: when i try to use it though, it says i will be sent a validation email with instructions on how to validate the account

steve: before I can use it as a log-in for Windows live messenger

Mike: Thank you for the information.

steve: however i do not seem to be recieveing that email

steve: basically im not recieving the validation email

Mike: For this particular issue, I request you to post your question and our support professionals will respond back to you with a resolution.

Mike: Please click here to post your queston

steve: ah man really

steve: all i need to do is validate my email address is real

Mike: For further assistance, I would request you to contact our Customer Services team at: 0844 800 2400. The lines are open from 8am to 6pm, Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays.

steve: i can send an email from the account to confirm its mine

steve: if you want

steve: sigh ok

Mike: Please post your question to resolve your issue.

Mike: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

steve: well ok thanks for your help anyway :) have a nice day

Mike: Thank you for using Microsoft Customer Service Chat.  Please feel free to come back again.  We are available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

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12 Day Grind

I played full schedule MTT's (10-18 games, 10-300 buy in, average about 1000 of tournaments a day) for the last 12 days straight...felt like I ran really bad at the crucial stages of the tournament, had so many near misses. Ran really good last month (made 14k in 1 weeks play) so just variance I guess, I spent a lot of time on mikogo/teamviewer with other good players and discussing hands - everyone seems to be happy with my play which is good.

Stats from last 12 day:

• Played 162 games
• 2000 down
• Average stake 66

Some particular results (taken from sharkscope):

• I-Poker
• 13th 100 rebuy
• 12th 30 rebuy
• 13th 30 rebuy
• 20th 100e freezeout
• 15th 30 rebuy
• 4th 30 rebuy
• 12th 30 rebuy
• 4th 25 rebuy

Microgaming

• 4th 20e rebuy
• 19th 20e rebuy
• 11th weekday (20e rebuy)
• 4th 10e rebuy
• 1st 20e rebuy
• 15th 20e rebuy

Ongame

• 20th 100 freezeout
• 16th 100 freezeout

So many deep runs but just was not winning the showdowns last two tables...so fustrating - will change soon hopefully.

Just noticed I've dropped about 5k on Ongame in these 12 days...not running good on that site (up on the other 2)

On 2 day break now, I definately need the break as the last 12 days have been a real test of my mentallity - the 1 win I had was on the second last day for 3ke, before that I was getting real down and stressed about poker, I think because I was getting so close to FT's in big games that have 6-8-9-10k for first and just not getting any luck last two tables.

Will be back on the tables refreshed later in the week:) need to make some money for Vegas in the summer and I also got a £300 bet with the Chattaways and Ch1pjam on who can get to 50k first on I-Poker (no chance vs the god-runners + they are fantastic players lol...)

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Lessons learnt:

Regular breaks and days off are a must brain overload + very stressful)

Max games should be 8 at any one time (made some mistakes when I had too many games, couldn't focus properly - probably missed opportunities as well)

Aspire to play A game, every hand of every game, despite what else is going on (only takes 1).

Points from a mentoring session (analysing preflop all-ins situations + some general)

I made this email a while ago for a fellow poker player who used to be in my group, wanted to make sure I kept a copy of it as I think useful stuff in there...he was struggling at the time but doing really well now and also became a mentor.

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Hi mate,

As discussed I've jotted down some of the notes we discussed and took together in today's session, I wanted to write these notes down in a useful format for you, hopefully there are a few things that might be useful to you and we can review them again in future sessions.

Message me anytime if you want to discuss them further we can skype/mikogo,e tc. and go through some filters/hand historys.

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Facing All in Shoves Preflop - useful factors to think about when deciding to call or fold:

1) Opponents range against your Hand Strength
Think about your opponents hand range based on their style/position/stack size (same principals as when a player raises preflop, you can add other factors like position in tournament/average stack size etc. but these are less important).
Once you have determined your opponents range, then think about your hand strength against that range, and then use this information to aid your decision making (i.e. call or fold).

e.g. if it is folded to a loose player (style) on the small blind (position), who has 10 big blinds (stack size), then you can probably assume he is shoving a big range of cards (A5+, 55+, 89ss+), and it could be a very profitable to call with a hand like KT offsuit - dependant on your pot odds/stack size.


2) Pot odds
Obviously the standard: what are your pot odds based on the amount to call/amount in the middle? but also consider the first point made which is the opponents range against your hand strength and then compare this number to the pot odds presented.

You can use pokerstove to try out some scenarios: Using the same example as above; KT offsuit versus a loose player's 10 BB shove from the small blind - KT offsuit has around 48% equity against a shoving range of 33% [33% of hands includes 55+, A5+, 89ss+], which means you will almost always have the pot odds to call if you believe the person's shoving range is 33% of hands or worse.

Remember you can factor in the prize pool aswell when you are late in a tourny, to knock someone out last 10 will be a lot meaningful than last 40 and at that point the chips might be more valuable (i.e. when last 10 you are playing for first and need all the chips, where-as when last 100 you are generally playing to survive)

3) Your stack size
Thinking about your stack size is good practise when facing an all in, consider what your plan is at that specific stage of the tournament and determine whether you are playing to conserve/accumulate/gamble/etc. The table dynamics aswell, against a tough table you might be a lot happier to gamble than a softer table (as the chips are easier to obtain on a soft table)


I think if you consider these 3 factors more when facing an all in shove preflop and are willing to take some gambles, you will find that in the later stages of tournaments (e.g. last 30 players) you will have a lot more; 1-5th position finishes or 20-30th place finishes, which is more profitable (as payouts are obviously top heavy) than having a lot of 7th 8th 9th 11th 13th 17th, etc. finishes which seems to a common occurance at the moment.
From what I've seen I feel you are playing the early/mid stages of the tournaments very well, but struggling a bit at the end game, so hopefully this might help.

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Playing Unmade hands/ Bluffing out of Position
I saw you get in some tricky spots where you have a hand like KJ or AT in SB/BB and raising against some limpers, then not hitting on the flop or flopping a draw and c-betting only to find they are calling/floating a lot of the time leaving you with tricky turn/river where you are playing out of position against an unknown player's range. I think you could try just checking or completing with hands like this in the SB/BB (especially when deep stack) and playing a smaller pot until you hit and save a lot of chips (or play them very aggressively like, check-raising the turn or pot betting the turn)


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C-Betting
I think you need to C bet more after raising preflop; with hands like JJ/66 on a KQ2 or A38, even when 3-way you will win the pot enough time to make it a lot more profitable than check-calling (if they bet small, then folding on later streets), or check-folding (which means you are just giving up on the pot despite there being a good chance you have the best hand) , which I saw you do a few times when watching.

--

I think it would be very beneficial to integrate time reviewing hands/forums/videos, e.g. say for every 4 hours playing, 1 hour reviewing.

You can do this by for example: if you play all night, review hand historys before starting a session next day (biggest pots e.g.) or if you have only 1 or 2 tables open then load up a card runners video as well while playing

Here are some good links for reviewing and improving (we're always looking to improve;)):

Cardrunners:

http://www.cardrunners.com/?skip=true

2+2 forum:

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/

Pokerisk Forum - Post at least 1 hand on the Pokerisk forum from HEM that you had trouble and with see what feedback you get (this is homework for you!!)

Also mark up hands that you find tricky so we can review them in future sessions

General points for cash and MTT's to think about...

Cash:

• Value bet more against fish; Avoid slow playing strong hands if they are calling stations (3/4 pot bets where you have good equity in pot, check stack sizes of players in hand, no need to do tricky bets...they are fish lol!!)
• Table selection: Look for tables where you have position on fish (VPIP 40, PFR 5 etc.), play lots of hands with them, isolate them with fishy hands (A5 suited, QT suited, etc.)
• HUD: Look into opponent statistics before making actions (i.e. checking into a player with 0.5 aggression to induce will rarely work, overvalue bet calling station, invite aggressive players to bluff, etc.), take your time in hands to ensure you make what you believe in the most profitable play

MTT:

• Aim to cold call less from blinds (especially 1v1 with fishy hands)
• Play more "fishy" hands in position earlier in the tournament in multi way pots when deep stack
• Increase aggression later in tournaments, increase 3 bet range against loose openers and play like hands like AK very aggressively, isolate passive limper's from the button/cut off with relative strong holdings
• Analyse flops before making decisions on how to play the hand (consider opponents range and their playing style)
• 3 bet bigger amounts when out of position, especially with made hands and when deep stack
• Look into opponent statistics before making action (I.e. checking into a player with 0.5 aggression to induce a bluff will rarely work, likewise small betting into an aggressive player will often induce a bluff)

Speak soon mate, GL at the tables ;)

I'l have a read through Ric's report soon as well to see if I can provide any feedback (thanks for doing this Ric)

Just to point out - I think you are playing very well! These points are just to further increase your game and profits (so keep up the good work!)

Response to 2+2 forum thread: Life as a "poker pro"

I replied to a post on 2+2 that someone mentioned on the pokerisk forum, thought I'd leave a copy of the response I made here as I think it is an interesting and undeveloped subject in the poker world (especially good for any players looking to go pro)

The thread + his story can be found here http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/54/poker-beats-brags-variance/2-years-degeneracy-tl-dr-also-pather-aler-1124887/ my response to it is below (and on the thread) - the gist of it is that he has been a poker pro for a few years and its messed him up mentally and financially lol and he seemingly has no direction in life.

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In my opinion mate, you need a "manager" for your poker - most successful poker players do this them self (maybe without even realising); but this person, especially if he plays poker but not at the same level/with the same passion as you and is already a friend who cares about your well being, this could bring a lot of benefits....even if just as a friend to help you through the tough times which every poker professionally goes through, financially and mentally!!!

We have to remember that poker playing as a profession is relatively new to the world, there is so much we need to learn and understand about it for it to work, e.g. the luck factor that no-one can control, how do we manage or prepare for something we cannot control? We also have to understand (as with most things in life) that to be a winner you have to stay ahead of the game - it is the same as having your own business, except this is in an undeveloped environment....

There are no standards or "starter packs" for poker players (you have to find it and learn it yourself, the good thing is that it is maturing very fast due to the internet and forums such as this and other learning facilities), you are not taught it at school or university, you don't know how good you have to be or how much luck influences the game, how much money you need to start out, what games you should play, how often you should play, how to prepare yourself mentally - any person could just go for it as a poker pro tomorrow and throw them self into an oblivion of financial and mental instability that could last for years and have a very negative outcome (which unfortunately sounds like you I am sorry to say). No generation before ours has done it before, you can't ask your e.g. dad, who has been a butcher for 40 years, how to manage your bankroll to sustain variance or how to cope/get out of a down swing that has lasted 3 months lol!

Anyway I think a manager could help you, s/he could; manage your roll/determine your game selection/control your temperament/provide encouragement and motivation/create ambitions and goals with you/talk honestly with you about how you feel and what you want to achieve/aid you in improving/etc.

I would not be surprised if in the future poker "managerial" services are offered to full time players as consultancy, although I guess some of the staking companies and mentoring services do this already but not so specifically....however there are certainly a lot more books focusing on it rather than poker strategy in recent times.

I've been playing poker for 3 years full time and there is a lot in your story I can relate to (although a lot less extreme lol, saying that I did live by myself for 3 months in Vegas playing poker on borrowed money only to come home to England with a big debt and very depressed :X) so I can't help but have a soft spot for you ha

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I think with girls just remember that they are a little bit more sensitive than guys...so maybe tone it down a bit around them? lol although lets be honest no-one really knows anything about girls, so it's not worth worrying about. You might as well just be yourself and have a good time. What happens, happens.

I think you should aim to be a good person though, it makes me sigh to read about your story's of drugs and hookers....have you ever slowed down for a second and asked yourself "what do I really want to achieve with my life, who do I want to be, how do I want to get there? Is this what I want???". I do not say this to pass judgement, as it is not my place to, but to offer my opinion.

Seemingly long reply apologies.

Hope it works out well for you, and gl at the tables ;)

Vegasngative

I havent posted for a while so thought I would put on here a response I wanted to keep anyway that I made on the pokerisk forum to a question about flips in MTTs

Intial post:

i m finding my self losing flips which take me out in latter stages of mtts regularly. is this because i havent done enough work previous to the hands ( ie not big enough stack) or because most mtts arent that deep later on . do you knowledgeable people of risk think thats its possible to regularly get there without taking on flips for your life?this maybe a little result orientated post but i.m tryin to avoid the flips as much as possible thruout my games of late .cheers for any opinions you care to share

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My response

Basically - I think no.

I think if you do win a tournament and have avoided any flips, then you are probably running very well in other areas, which you could say is covered under a general "run good" factor (i.e. there is more to running good than winning flips!! like flopping well, steals & re steals getting through, having position on a fish, etc.).

I think there are times in the tournament where you have to flip due to the situation or you lower your chances significantly to win the tournament.

There is always that balance between estimating when it is best to risk your tournament on a likely flip - against considering your stack size, position in tournament, the payout structure, how tough your table is (etc etc etc!).

I think the key is to review every situation uniquely and make what you believe is the most profitable play in that unique situation....that's what I think gives an edge in the final stages of the tournament to the top players, where flips are most common.

Having a lot of showdowns for only a % of your stack I think is very wise also as you will find yourself in a lot of "+EV" situations without the ICM "-EV" of going out of a tournament, and then you can re-evaluate your position and stacks size, etc. in the tournament post the outcome of the flip.