Atlantic City

So I planned a trip a while back to visit Atlantic City as my friend Collin and his wife Katie would be there to play some WSOP qualifiers and having not ever met face to face I was thrilled for the chance to go. Having never been east of Chicago I was pretty excited to visit the east coast, My good friend Louis (grind4moniez) was also going to AC so we decided to share a room at Borgata and he would pick me up at the airport in Newark..

The 2 hour drive from Newark to Atlantic City is not bad at all - lots of trees to llok at and coming from the dessert it was a nice change of scenery. Atlantic City was so much smaller than what I had imagined, very similar to Laughlin is anyone has ever had the mis-fortune of visiting that place :)

The Borgata was very nice and "Vegas like" as they say.. our room was located on the 43rd floor and had a great view of the city.

An interesting situation occurd when we pulled in to valey parking and the nice lady getting our bags refused to take the case of Corona we had, some kind of rule about 2bottle maximum or something.. So Louis carries a case of Corona bottles by hand to the check-in counter... Fun!

A few observations about Atlantic City:
poker players talk more in this town than I have ever seen anywhere!! the players are not shy about critisizing any play they witness, describing why/how they played their own hands and precisely what they would have done with yours - nice information right? Wrong! It becomes aparent soon that they really just like hearing themselves talk and rarely practice what they preach. This was the most annoying table chatter that I have ever been witness to - I suggest strongly in taking an Ipod to the tables!

At one point there were litterally 7 people all talking about the same hand at the same time..

Taj Mahal: If your familiar with the movie "Rounders" you remember the Taj scenes.. Well, The Taj is not the same place as portrayed in the film - The poker room was the dirtiest room I have ever played in. the tables were just disgusting and i wont even go into the chips.. I was appraoched for money 2 times in ~4 hours while in the vicinity of the poker room. the drive between Borgata to Taj re-afirmed the notion that walking down these streets your life is in danger!

As far as games, Borgata had a $10/20 O.E. (Omaha, Stud 8) game with half kill that seems to run every day. On thursday Lou and i were able to get a $20/40 H.O. game started in the back that played short handed.. Their was a steady $40/80 LHE game every day however holdem is played 10 handed in AC so I stuck to Omaha or the mix games..

poker wise it was an OK trip with me winning around $1500, Lou did ok as well as he was able to get some short handed $40/80 action for a few hours where he picked up ~$2400 and Colin "mother F%$^ing" Moshman shipped the $100/daily for $~7kish which gave myself Lou, Katie and Simon an awesome booz filled railing session..

In Feb the same crew will be meeting in Vegas for 2 weeks and I'm sure there will be some awesome stories to tell from that trip!

I Hate Poker

So, I have played a few completely exhausting sessions of live poker here in Phoenix this week. To start I hit CAZ's $20/40 LHE - within ~30 mins Im stuck $860... Sweet. Play 5 hours and end ~$155

Next it's Gila River. A friend had called and said there was going to be a $15/30 Omaha hi/lo Sweeeeet! When I get there I'm 5th name on interest list and the others are not wanting to start short handed so I begged and convinced them that It would never run if we dont start it.. We start 5 handed and within 30 mins Im stuck ~$375 another guy loses $500 and decides to quit - Just as I expected the other guys sat out - No Game now.. So only games going are $3/6 $4/8 and $6/12 hold'em so fuck-it Im playing the kiddie table - I Played the $6/12 for what felt like 32 hours - come to find out it was only 5 and managed to get un-stuck plus $30 brand new dollars Sweeeet!

So, Sunday I will be back to old faithful ($20/40 LHE at CAZ) Where I plan to sit out the first 30 mins..

Poker

I hate u!

AP #1 Withdraw Method BLACKJACK!

So, both Lou and myself had small amounts on AP of which was doing us no good since A) Were both primarily playing HULHE sng's. B) AP sng format sucks!

When I told Lou I was just going to request a check for my $126 he suggested shipping me his $15 to add to my withdraw and we'd both be AP free.

Sucks for Lou since MIN PLAYER TRANSFER = $20

I suggest shipping him $20 so he can ship me $35 so I can request check at a fee of $8
We decide our best course of action at this point is to play blackjack as withdrawing $100k must be easier than under $200 right?............. Right? Of course! Anywho..

Lou's $15 lasted apprx 3 hands of which were not very exciting. My $126 shot like a rocket up to $190 in about 30 minutes then plummeted to $15 within the next 2.5 minutes..

I have to say that of all withdraw methods that I have encountered over countless sites AP's BlackJack is among the most reliable. No wait - No worry. I wait sometimes 8 business days to recieve a check from FTP, Wire transfers take 2 days but cost $40

AP only has one method being BLACKJACK however there is no fee associated and your funds are removed in less than 45 minutes AT THE MOST!!

Week of 09/13 Update..

So, Last week was pretty disapointing results wise. 122 matches and my goal was 200. I also ran pretty bad which resulted in 15.8 ROI for the week. net $622

I was able to secure 5 matches with one of the biggest losers in those games and ran very poorly against him which was too bad although it may lead to more action from him this week which would be just splendid..




I need to be getting in 200 matches/week to reach my goals..

Update and an awesome song..

Busy weeks, been playing more lately and trying to get 200 heads-up games/week in. It's very hard to actaully do this and much easier to say. Playing 9 or even 6 man games is by far easier when it comes to hitting volume when having the ability to play 6-8 tables. I have always played mutiple tables of heads-up but i just feel like my game suffer at more than 2 tables..

I now have two (protage's, if you will) that I am working with at heads-up limit hold'em. I am looking foward to seeing them crush their levels.

Here's my graph for last 500 games.


And overview.


For the last 3-4 days games at $20/$30 have been filling pretty consistantly, I have only had a few $50's however I think thats just becuase I have been playing earlier in the days.

My setup is still not complete, I looked at some 30" monitors that I am considering again however at the price I will be very dispointed if I dont get a few years MIN out of them! The 3 monitor setup is just not as cool.

I have not had Starbucks in 3 weeks now, I purchased an espresso machine for my office and really am very pleased with it. It's a Nespresso so I have to special order the Espresso but it's well worth the price and convienience of having the machine next to my desk, granted I think my Coffee intake has increased to avg 6-7 cups/day..

An Update..

Been grinding it out pretty good this month even with everything I have on my plate. poker wise it's been great. Been playing a ton of HU Limit Holder as usual and crushing it as usual. It has been somewhat frustrating waiting for games at the higher stakes. I have taken on a few guys to coach and help out with their games - It also helps me to be able to talk through hands and situations with fellow players so is a win-win!

I broke down and hand to play some live poker a few weeks ago - Was feeling the itch not so much to play live but just to use poker chips vs. mouse.. Was fun for a while however I have discovered a serious flaw in my live game - I have zero patience anymore, used to be that I could sit and play for hours with excellent patience. I guess all the online poker over the last year has stolen that once useful talent, Just like my days at the Wynn I found myself looking for heads-up games vs. anyone waiting to play or trying to convince the floor to allow me to play 2 tables, neither endeavor was successful.

My 30" monitor has been having serious problems lately, screen keeps going black, I power down then turn it back on and the screen returns for 25 seconds then goes black again - annoying! I have not had very good luck with large screen monitors!! Every monitor I ever owned under 26" has never given me one problem. I have decided to multi-monitor and have purchased 3 22's. Hopefully I will be as happy working with these although I miss my giant screen! There are numerous benefits to 3 monitors though so hopefully they will grow on me.

Chris is always on me to blog more for the site, I get it but I just don't have much interesting to blog about - I play poker, everyday.... not much to say past that. I have decided to start writing about my past days of poker debauchery. It's funny to me how much poker has changed in what is a very short period of time.

Makes me feel old to have to write about "back in my day we played stud primarily" ewe!

The Conservative Case for Protecting Poker

I wanted to share something with my readers From Rich Muni: Poker Players Alliance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ante Up for Your RightsThe Conservative Case for Protecting Poker

Ante Up for…Limited government

• 
  Many conservatives believe the federal government should not be in the business of preventing adults from playing a game of poker at a time and place of their choosing. These include former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, George Will, Walter Williams, and Grover Norquist, all of whom have written in opposition to prohibitions on poker.
• 
  Conservatives believe “the government that governs best governs least.” Poker is a great American pastime that has been enjoyed by U.S. soldiers, presidents, world leaders, and everyday Americans. It is simply wrong that Americans are being told they are criminals for enjoying the great game of poker.
• 
  The new law unfairly discriminates against poker giving special protections to activities such as intrastate gaming, on-line lotteries, betting on horse racing, and fantasy sports for cash.
  The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) requires banks and credit card companies to police the Internet and the financial system to stop Americans from participating in “unlawful Internet gambling” – a requirement the government could not even define. U.S. licensing and regulation removes this burden from America’s financial services industry. It’s time to stop treating banks and credit card companies like agencies of the federal government.

Ante Up for…Internet Freedom

• 
  Internet censorship and an unenforceable, unpopular prohibition provide no benefits to anyone. All censorship and prohibition can do is drive players underground or overseas while bringing the power of the federal government into America’s homes, where it doesn’t belong.
• 
  Many voters – free speech advocates, young voters, and conservatives in particular – are suspicious of arguments contending that Internet freedom is dangerous and banning certain online activities or confiscating virtual property.
• 
  U.S. licensing and regulation of online poker will allow American companies to participate in the world’s Internet gaming market, bringing needed business and jobs to America. All a prohibition can do is send U.S. jobs and money abroad.
• 
  Regulators, legislators and financial institutions are all warning that UIGEA is unenforceable. With banks now needing to rebuild themselves, it is difficult to imagine the banking system being used to police the Internet to stop a legitimate game of skill like poker.

The Legal Community Agrees:
Poker is a Game of Skill, Not Chance

Poker’s Recent Key Legal Victories

Colorado – in late January a Colorado jury found an organizer of a poker league, Kevin P. Raley, not guilty of unlawful gaming. Under Colorado law, gambling is defined as wagering on a game of chance. With help of expert testimony from the PPA, the jury found the poker league was playing a game of skill, not chance, and was not participating in unlawful gaming.

Pennsylvania – Earlier this year Judge Thomas James, Jr. ruled that poker is predominantly a game of skill. The Pennsylvania court took the next step and threw out 20 charges against the defendants, who held a poker game in their home.

Kentucky – a judge in Kentucky, with the support of the Commonwealth’s Democratic Governor, Steve Beshear, ordered the seizure of numerous Internet domain names related to Internet gaming. Of the over 141 websites ordered for seizure, not one was located in the state of Kentucky. This action would result in a precedent allowing any government to capture and shut down perfectly legal Internet sites that are based outside of their jurisdiction. The Kentucky Court of Appeals overturned the lower court’s ruling to seize the domain names. However, the governor has appealed to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

South Carolina – A South Carolina judge found that poker is indeed a game of skill, not chance, during a trial where defendants were charged with playing cards in a “house used as a place of gaming”. PPA argued that the Court should adopt the rulings of other courts that gambling refers to a game in which the outcome is determined predominantly by chance, not by skill. The judge agreed and kicked it to a higher court.

PPA’s Litigation Support Network has been involved in each of these cases. We provided expert witnesses, prepared arguments for trial, and filed amicus briefs with the courts.

The Problem with “Midnight Rulemaking”

• 
  The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was included on a port security bill that was rushed through Congress before the 2006 election. In the waning days of the Bush Administration, the rule pertaining to this law was implemented in a way that many consider an unlawful power play.
• 
  The regulation deputizes banks and payment systems to block “unlawful Internet gambling” but does not define what that term means. Rather, the general counsel of every bank in the country must research what “unlawful Internet gambling” means in each state and on the federal level.
  The Office of Management and Budget has estimated that the rule will cost more than $100 million for banks and payment systems to implement, and take more than one million man-hours.
• 
  The rule is not set to go into effect until December of this year. Congress is currently looking at whether this rule, and others like it, should be overturned.

Value Bets so thin they cut ya!

Welcome to Value Town....

Seat 1: jamesando (1,365)
Seat 2: kidKash (1,635)
jamesando posts the small blind of 25
kidKash posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to kidKash [4c 3c]
jamesando calls 25
kidKash raises to 100
jamesando raises to 150
kidKash raises to 200
jamesando calls 50
*** FLOP *** [4h 6d Qc]
kidKash bets 50
jamesando calls 50
*** TURN *** [4h 6d Qc] [9d]
kidKash bets 100
jamesando calls 100
*** RIVER *** [4h 6d Qc 9d] [Kh]
kidKash bets 100
jamesando calls 100
*** SHOW DOWN ***
kidKash shows [4c 3c] a pair of Fours
jamesando mucks
kidKash wins the pot (900) with a pair of Fours
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 900 | Rake 0
Board: [4h 6d Qc 9d Kh]
Seat 1: jamesando (small blind) mucked [Ac Th] - Ace King high
Seat 2: kidKash (big blind) showed [4c 3c] and won (900) with a pair of Fours


Summary:

This particular opp is one that will not bet his A/K high hands for value he will just check back un-improved, he will however call A/k high hands UI.

I also was very certain that given my PF action I was not getting raised on any streets including the river - he might raise AK but thats about it.

If I check he checks back UI
If I bet he calls and never raises
I am calling when I check - So I should be betting....

Bots..

What is a poker bot?

running a poker bot is much like playing chess against pre-programmed software. A poker bot is just that - software programmed by the "programmer".

A bot can only be as good as it's programmer, simply buying the software and having the technology to run a bot does not mean that profit will be earned, in fact you will lose money. Successful operators understand the game ad mathematics behind it - A bot has to take a mathematical approach to the game for obvious reasons. The game that best suits bots is heads-up limit hold'em, This game is at it's core a mathematical game, although several other skill sets in my opinion are crucial to be truly successful at the higher stakes - a purely mathematical approach would crush the novice players.

I have dedicated a great deal of my time and efforts into finding bots and reporting them to the poker site's security department.

Can you beat a bot?

I can (and have) beat many bots - I recognize the characteristics of bots and am able to adjust my approach since I have an understanding of what their programmed strategy is. This however does not suggest that I wish to spend my days battling these bots, they are harder to play against that your average novice.
Bots are a double edged sword - while I may have at best a 5% edge over a bot, I am spending time playing them when I could be playing a game where my edge is closer to 20%. Then there is the other side, the bot is taking money from players that otherwise I would be playing against.

Full Tilt Poker, has done a great job of destroying bots that they found on their site, most recently "WackyJacky321" and "fritil" were destroyed when myself and a few other players reported these accounts for suspicious behavior.

I did a Video for RoundersReport a few weeks ago..

Here's the link:

http://www.roundersreport.net/videos/kidkash-heads-up-limit-holdem-sng-vs-an-agressive-opponent/

Please comment and let me know what you think or would like to see in the future.

-Aaron

May 13th Update

Been crazy busy these past few months with a ton of work and poker. I am going to try and summarize all this craziness.

First of all, Celebrity Apprentice: complete and utter bullshit! Annie completely DOMINATED is every way, It was not even close. The personal insults not only from Joan Rivers but also the sly remarks from Donald Trump about "well, obviously Annie cannot be trusted" were completely un-called for I mean what does Trump know of Annie other than she kicks everybody's ass at anything business related? He knows she is a succesfull poker player so obviously she's cannot be trusted - are you kidding me?? Watching this show just proves what distane some people have for poker players without even knowing us personly. The conclusions that Rivers, Trump made about poker players really shows a lack of common sense.. And for everybody that is on the "Joan won the last challenge" bandwagon - You cannot get beat so horridly through out many weeks then win one challenge (that some would say was rigged to begin with in favor of rivers)and claim a victory. It's not as if Rivers destroyed Annie in the last challenge anyway - Infact in the fundraising Annie Dominated - Joan got a few extra points on the other points but really - A fundraiser is about EXACTLY that RAISING FUNDS! Annie raised $300k over Rivers so again I call BS!

RoundersReport: The site is growing beyond leaps and bounds, Steady source of news and info posted everyday with fresh content and this all makes me really happy!
The Forum is doing well very well too, We have a solid group of players that really contribute some good stuff. If there is one thing lacking from the site at this moment it is our "strategy" content - we need more articles and videos..
Our first ever FREEROLL got 315 players so it was a complete success!

Poker: Been crushing the Heads-up games on Full Tilt Poker and Cake! my heads-up limit holdem game has really improved over the last 2 months - I was good before but I feel un-stoppable today, I have set my goals very high for 2009 and feel like I'm going to achieve most of what I have set out to! I am getting a bit outraged with the BOTS that are on FTP at the moment - "WackyJacky321" an "fritil" are very possibly bots IMO and need to be shut down sooner than later!

House situation: made 4 offers all of which above asking price and been outbid each time - kinda feels like the real estate market has made a strong comeback from my perspective anyway! Have an offer out there right now - we'll see in a week or so what happens with that..

Denise's new chemo treatments are going very well, very minimil side effects, mostly it just makes her very tired for the first few days afterwards then she feels great again - and her hair will not fall out and of course for her that is a HUGE plus!!

Were planning our first cruise around Jully/August, I am actually really excited as it sounds like alott of fun! Robert and A.J. are super excited as well as they have alott of youth activity's just for kids in their age group - for instance a nightclub from 9pm - 2am where parents are not allowed in - LOL! I have to start thinking about losing 20lbs or so prior so that I can gain it back over the 4 days cruise...

All for now -
Aaron

More bots Destroyed at Full Tilt Poker.

Suspicion surrunding "pokerjoda" has been confirmed. This account has not played since Feb 11th. Hopefully there was enough money confiscated from the account to refund effected players.
There were several other bots destroyed including susypokr which I reported to FTP, after about 6 games with that account it was pretty apparent I was playing a bot.

A "Thank you" to a few that have helped me alott in my career.

I wanted to acknowledge and few people that have helped me more professionally than they know. This is not in any particular order.

-Tommy Angelo
helped me to look at my career in a whole new light, and even showed me things about myself I did not know. There has never been a book written about poker that even comes close to EOP!
http://www.tommyangelo.com/

-Ricky Pyne (Pynebox)
worked closely with me to develop my heads-up game and still offers tremendous help whenever I need it.

-Richard Brodie (quiet Lion)
I have probably studied Richard's game more than anybody, I have went through hundreds of his hands and analyzed carefully.
http://www.liontales.com/

-Olivier Busquet (livb112)
For teaching me that to be successful you must go where others avoid for "it's not the cool place to be making your money" His work ethic is also what I aim to match.

Frustration Sets In

Since the end of October it has been my goal to achieve 1st place (profit earned) at Heads-up limit holdem Sng's. I now have no doubts as to my achieving this goal, however frustration has set in.

In my awkward self-deserving mind set I wanted to earn this 1st place ranking at every level starting at the bottom. It has come at a price and that is frustration. At the same time I have to earn a living and if I can't make $6k/month online then I'm forced to play at the local clubs/casinos to which I have become less and less happy about. I know that I have gone back and fourth over the years "am I a live pro or online pro?" I WANT to play only online but I'm being forced to play live :(

I also believe that playing live has been detrimental to my heads-up game, playing 9 handed is so slow - It's amazing how many hands/hour I play online compared to live.

March is going to be proving ground time - My goal is 1,0000 games played by the end of March.

Action has somewhat slowed up for me online in terms of the "regs" being willing to play me. I guess everyone checks Sharkscope these days to determine compitition and to avoid winning players. I see alott more from Sharkscope when evaluting than most people bother too, I will play someone that is a winner but with a low ROI (return on inventment) ratio as usually those are bum-hunters and unable to play against my aggressive style.

PokerParadime has launched a Heads-up Limit holdem bot program that they claim is the "world's best" here is the 2+2 forum thread on it: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/18/high-stakes-limit/play-sonia-heads-up-paradime-408776/

At first the program was frustrating to play however like everyone else I play I was able to find a few leaks that made it exploitable. I dont consider this program nearly as dificult to beat as other good human players that I have come across however some people seem to think that it can beat me over 3,000 hands and are wanting to place side bets that I will not beat the program after 3,000 hands - I am trying to get $10,000 in side action and I will face off with "Sonia the Bot" and crush her soul. To date I have played ~1,000 hands against Sonia, I'm not revealing my win-rate however I have stated that I do infact "crush her soul"

My new years resolution is in progress, yet slowly -
- spend more quality time with my family
- play poker exclusively online
- make $200,000 online in '09

Music Video for today's blog: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWkPVHKwCY

-Aaron

The setup

Home Office: