It Is What It Was

Posted by icemonkey9 on Apr 1, 2011 in moving | 1 comment

All -

This is a quick email to inform you that I no longer am employed by Protos Marketing and their network of sites, including PokerNewsDaily.com and PokerSoftware.com. I have moved on to other full time employment outside of the poker industry.

If you wish to remain in contact with me, please feel free to use my contact page on my blog. Currently I am not taking on any part time freelance work but might consider some fun projects centered around WPT events or at the WSOP or regional events.

It's been an absolute pleasure working with you all to help promote this fantastic game and I wish all of you the absolute best success in the future.

Thanks,

Sean Gibson

The First Time a Player Tells Me Off

Posted by icemonkey9 on Mar 5, 2011 in Insider stories | 2 comments

I've worked for a poker media outlet full time for the past year and overall have worked for various sites in various capacities for a few years now. Frankly, I'm a little surprised this hasn't happened sooner, but it finally did at the recently LAPC Main Event here in Los Angeles. What I'm talking about is a pro poker player coming up to me, giving me a piece of his mind over something I said and then leaving. It's almost a right of passage in the industry and I think any media covering anything goes through this, but to be honest, it wasn't all that bad. Let's get into it.

First - I am sure you are wondering who the heck I will be referring to. Unfortunately, he is hardly household name so if you don't know who it is, don't feel bad since i am guessing maybe 10% of you poker buffs will know who this is. The person this story is about is one Andrew Frankenberger. He's a 37 year old player from New York who recently won the WPT Legends of Poker event at The Bike I covered in 2010. In fact, prior to the final table, Andrew and I had lunch (along with a friend of his that joined him) and it was really pleasant. He's a nice guy and I was impressed with his demeanor and intelligence. When he went on to win, I was happy for him.

In one of my weekly recap news shows I talked about his win. Now, I absolutely have no recollection of what I exactly said, but it was something along the lines of:

1) Nice guy
2) He's had financial success before in life
3) The money may not mean everything to him, but success does

Fair enough right? That was my impression and unlike most media members out there I actually had met him, ate lunch with him, talked to him and then drew my conclusions from that experience. Obviously, most "impressions" you read from media types, especially in poker, come from reporters whose interactions with the players usually doesn't go beyond the first name hello when they walk in to take their seat.

Anyways - I'm at the LAPC in media row and Andrew Frankenberger walks by and I get up to say hello since I hadn't seen him since his win. My first words were that I wanted to congratulate him since we hadn't run into each other since his win. Unfortunately his first words weren't so kind.

Now - Andrew was totally civil in this and never used profanity or raised his voice. Again - nice guy, don't get me wrong. But he immediately went into how he took strong exception to what I said about him in my show. Honestly, I really thought he had me totally confused for someone else, first because he said "tv show" and second because he took exception to something I said and I had been complimenting him. We went back and forth on this since I was so absolutely shocked and confused but in the end he apparently was very much insulted about the "money" issue in my comments.

Once he was done with his polite but fairly insulting rant (note, this was in front of *everybody* in media row) I simply said "Hey, fair enough" and shook his hand and he went on his way.

A friend of mine, Paul Ellis who you can find at Twitter (@coolwhipflea) was sitting next to me. I turned to him because he (along with everyone else there) had heard the exchange and asked what the heck that was about. Paul's first words were classic, "Sorry but isn't not being affected by the money A GOOD THING?!". Paul's right of course, but that's not how our poker pro friend took it.

In the end here I'm not worried or upset about this at all. Again, this is the first time this has happened to me and frankly this was the diet-cola edition of what I've seen happen before to some media folks. If/When I walk away from poker I'll be sure to share those stories, but for now, this is mine and it wasn't all that bad, but I always get asked about stuff like this so I figured to share the first time it happened.

Rakeback for Online Poker (free money!)

Posted by icemonkey9 on Feb 24, 2011 in rakeback | 1 comment

Playing online poker can have ups and downs, but having a sure thing when it comes to profits can mean all the difference in the world. It's a game of skill, internationally recognized by organizations such as the International Mind Games Federation (which is associated with the International Olympic Committee). It's a fun game that is still going strong after the "poker boom" back in 2003 when we learned that the everyday joe off the street can win a million bucks playing this great game.

There's no reason that you should be afraid to try it out. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people playing around the world and if you stick to the large mainstream sites, you'll be just fine like every other person in existence playing online poker.

One thing you won't see advertised is something called rakeback. This is an incentive that websites use to get you to sign up at their site. What happens is that as you play a hand in poker, the site will keep a small percentage of it as it's cut for doing business. If you sign up for rakeback, you actually get a percentage of that cut back into your account. In plain English - it's free money just for being at an online poker table. Yes this is legit, and yes this is something that I have myself. Now, I'm not promising you will log in and print money ... just taking a look at my blog will show you the swings this game can offer, especially when you face top level pro competition. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of money to be made.

If you are interested in signing up for rakeback then head over to the largest and single most reputable site, TheNuts.com for amazing rakeback offers including:

- Up to 33% rakeback at some sites
- Rake races to earn extra $$$ for your bankroll
- Prizes like iPads and iPods given away to members

Basically it's a no brainer so check it out today! And if you decide to sign up through my link (yes people I do get a small commission, it's modest but it's something), I'll even offer to hook you up with some coaching to get you started, assuming you start out at what is called the micro-stakes games, which are the fun levels where people mainly play for very small amounts. Those games are a lot of fun and pretty wild and if you're smart enough it's actually super easy to make yourself a couple of hundred extra bucks a month. I'll show you how!

Rough Month for Poker

Posted by icemonkey9 on Feb 11, 2011 in month | 1 comment

I know I've suddenly gotten back into the habit of posting bad beat hands on here, but I promised myself after the last time I wouldn't post another one unless I took another runner-runner bad beat with the money in.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG+2: $197.00
MP1: $255.60
MP2: $627.70
Hero (CO): $203.75
BTN: $205.00
SB: $104.80
BB: $660.75
UTG: $203.00
UTG+1: $153.50

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is CO with K K
5 folds, Hero raises to $6, 1 fold, SB raises to $18, 1 fold, Hero raises to $41, SB calls $23

Flop: ($84.00) 8 J 4 (2 players)
SB bets $63.80 all in, Hero calls $63.80

Turn: ($211.60) 3 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: ($211.60) 7 (2 players - 1 is all in)

Final Pot: $211.60
Hero shows K K (a pair of Kings)
SB shows Q Q (a flush, Queen high)
SB wins $208.60
(Rake: $3.00)

Standard lol. At least it was only a 104 big blind pot. I've managed to make up almost half my losses for the month so that's a good thing although the last 3k hands have been absolutely break even. I just checked my EV Graph for the first time and it confirmed what I thought - it's slightly over $0 meaning I'd be breakeven if I was running "right" so to speak. Not like it's something I can control though, all I can control is my volume and how well I am playing when I sit at the tables.

It seems like a lot of people out there are having really rough starts to 2011 or just for February. I have a few friends that believe in the whole moon/planet/stars alignment thing and although I don't believe in that kind of stuff I gotta admit sometimes it does creep in.

But I think what we all need to admit is that we're living in a time when online poker really sucks. I've been around long enough to know that the games are so much tougher and the player pools so much smaller and the edges are thinner. The guys winning and good clips right now should really be proud of themselves, in all seriousness. It's tough out there, even at games like 100nl (blinds of $0.50-$1), there is no cakewalk. The good news is that live poker will, and I pray forever will be, super soft at $1/$3 and $2/$5. The micro-stakes games at 25nl ($0.10-$0.25 blinds) look super soft as well.

In terms of the industry, some difficult thing continue to go on. We're beginning to see entire small networks die off, which was something I predicted at the end of 2010. It was the kind of thing that I predicted would come true that I hoped would not. I think eventually we will get down to 4-5 networks total and everything else out there will be gone. Maybe that'll be a good thing but in the USA, it's really frustrating. I keep hearing that there's a possibility of California (where I live) getting their own in-state online poker system going soon. I doubt that will be a good thing "for the industry" to be honest. It might be awesome at first here, but eventually, it'll just cannibalize itself like we've seen with a global industry as constrained as it has been for the last few years.

So that's where I am at. The games at the tables aren't going so well for me, but at least I'm a 0.3BB/100 winner over my last 75k hands before rakeback/rewards. I guess I am looking for the positives right now, something I try to do whenever I start feeling cynical about the poker industry, and it's hard to find the light. I'm sure with a little more help, I can.

In a Complete Nosedive

Posted by icemonkey9 on Feb 5, 2011 in beats | 2 comments

I think I might be in some serious trouble.  I'm in a serious nose dive straight down.  My confidence is shot and I really have lost a lot of passion for the game. This sucks because after everything I have been through and all that I've worked on, I'm once again feeling like I am heading to being in the same place I was last year.

The good news is thanks to the work I did with Jared Tendler I don't feel like walking away for 4 months or whatever, and I certainly am not breaking things and punching holes in walls. But I do feel sad and I am very VERY exhausted at the constant challenges being thrown my way.

So, standard to all "I'm running terrible" posts, here is my very crappiest hand this month.  Keep in mind I've only played 2,487 hands but it accounts for about 33% of my nosedive.

Villain here is a 16/12 but kind of unknown and honestly looked a bit fishy.

Full Tilt Poker $1/$2 No Limit Hold'em - 9 players

UTG: $487.25
UTG+1: $200.00
UTG+2: $157.60
MP1: $200.00
MP2: $189.80
CO: $218.15
Hero (BTN): $204.00
SB: $252.40
BB: $200.00

Pre Flop: ($3.00) Hero is BTN with A A
5 folds, CO raises to $6, Hero raises to $20, 2 folds, CO raises to $48, Hero calls $28

Flop: ($99.00) 8 T T (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets $67, CO raises to $170.15 all in, Hero calls $89 all in

Turn: ($411.00) J (2 players - 2 are all in)

River: ($411.00) 7 (2 players - 2 are all in)

Final Pot: $411.00
CO shows 9 A (a straight flush, Jack high)
Hero shows A A (two pair, Aces and Tens)
CO wins $408.00
(Rake: $3.00)

Sick eh? Got it in there as a 92-8% fav. Ahh well. QQ (as an overpair in a 3bet pot) vs AA or KK = 4x in this month's stretch.

Basically it comes down to me not being able to have a hand hold up OR be the 2nd nuts with the opponent holding the nuts.

Right now my downswing is at 11 buy-ins ... basically straight down. I know many of you have run worse and I know more of you have had worse downswings. I get it. But I'm allowed to vent like what ... 4x a year? I appreciate your understanding. Thanks.

Another Horrible January

Posted by icemonkey9 on Feb 1, 2011 in month | 1 comment

Well, I wanted to play smart and set the tone right coming off my worst session ever.  I played a couple of very short sessions and combined I won 1.5 buy-ins which felt great. So today I put the time aside to have a "real" session ... and of course, I went slightly over my stop-loss again. I'm looking at these hands where I lose a stack and think "wow there is just no way to get away from this" ... while not hugely down in EV it's just been nutville for opponents.  Anyways, all the month's profits are totally gone and my slide is around 12 buy-ins now, pretty much directly downward.

One bit of advice a lot of people give is to play lower stakes for a session or two to have some fun and dominate. Well, I decided to go down 2 levels and ... of course ... I ran just as bad. This tends to happen with me, if I run bad at one level, I run bad no matter what I do.  Today at all levels I couldn't believe the amount of times I had 4bets flatted (by better pocket pairs obv) or had TPTK against a set or against an overpair. It had to be at least 15 times out of the 2500 hands today.  I also got it in good several times only to see the villain hit 4-6 outers with one card to come. Standard I guess.

Anyways ... so the opportunity to play lower stakes backfired to the tune of 3 buy-ins there and I'm officially feeling sorry for myself.  It's a pretty tough blow to take and such a sour way to end what looked like a really promising month after a very nice comeback from the red.

I'll probably take tomorrow off. I love playing poker and obviously I want to play through this, but I gotta wait until I can handle more adversity. Right now I don't think I'm in prime mental shape to handle much right now.

I remember last January was the worst month I ever had. It was one of my few losing months, although I can't say I'm a huge winner lifetime. But it was B-A-D and it really was a brutal stretch.  I'm hoping instead of basically quitting poker for 5 months, I can turn it around next month and recover.

My Worst Session Ever

Posted by icemonkey9 on Jan 28, 2011 in beats | 0 comments

Here's a lovely picture that commemorates the look on my face after a 33 minute, 450 hand session:

Grossed Out

lol ... that's a reenactment, not me actually taking a picture of myself mid-session.  So to make sure we're clear here:

1. I have never lost this much in pure $$ in a session before.
2. I have never lost this much in pure buy-ins before.

So in every way, it was my worst session ever.  I realized I hit my stop loss and was sitting out ... and then the very last hand I managed to lose yet ANOTHER buy-in.  If you are reading this, chances are you care little for bad beat and cooler stories so I'll save you the long stories you've heard a million times already.  I can walk away from the session thinking I played just fine, especially after looking at the hands.  I'll look again tomorrow so we'll see how I feel then.

The bad news here is that my month is absolutely devastated. I had recovered from being down on the month, and was looking at a real nice month profit wise and now ... well ... practically back to square one.

The good news is that I don't feel any anger or negative energy. I feel a little beaten up, like I decided to accidentally start a fight with the biggest defensive lineman on the Pittsburgh Steelers, but overall I think I'll recover nicely. It's all about setting the tone after a session like this.  I can play crappy and really start to be tilted and begin a toward slide ... OR ... I can just play my best and see what comes.

In a weird way, I'm really proud of myself. I think my mental state has really come a long way and that's something that I am really reflective on right now.  A year ago I had something similar happen almost on the exact same calendar day and I went ape-shit crazy and flew off a handle ... and then proceeded to drop 22 straight buy-ins.  It took six months to recover.

I wish I could say that will not happen again but it's like trying to predict the weather in a way.  All I can say (and this is something for you to learn from) is that I'm just going to try to do my best to keep myself in a good mood and playing as best I can. It's only poker afterall.