The last 6 weeks

The_Chopper

I’ve been playing the game about 11 months now (mostly cash games), but could never crack tournaments. Admittedly I haven’t played that many and up until recently I wasn’t a big fan of them. I know this will probably sound stupid but I pin point my change of fortune from this:
I was in the Fitz on Thursday 20th October playing a cash game – when Phil Lark “The UniBomber” walks in. Been the person I am walk straight up to the guy and start chatting to him. He wasn’t what I expected – he was a pure gentleman and very funny (Luke actually stuck him in one of the feeler tables which I thought was hilarious – despite free seats at the main). Anyway to cut a long story slightly shorter – I asked him for advice for my tournament play and he obliges telling me his approach to tournaments – which I find fascinating.

I decide to play the Galway open the next day as I’ve just won €500 in the fitz, armed with my new arsenal – advice from the UniBomber.
Once at the tournament I sit down and try and implement everything the UniBomber has told me. Within an hour I’m chip leader, then just before the break I flop a set of 5’s – with 4 way action. I basically double through knocking one guy out and crippling the other 2. Going along nicely blinds are at 2K and 4K – chip leader with 40 runners left. On the button look down at AKd – with one limper (player X) I raise to 10K, the BB calls and player X calls. Flop comes 10 high – the BB goes all in, player X goes all in, I fold. Player X has A, 10 against BB Q, 10 and takes the pot. Very next hand player x takes down a monster pot with a set – he’s now chip leader. A few hands later I am on the BB, player X on the button bets after the table has folded to him. SB folds. I think he’s trying to steel the blind (now at 3K & 6K), I look down at QQ happy days. I raise the min, knowing he’ll call with any 2 cards. Flop comes A,K,Q, not one for slowplaying I bet straight out about 2/3 the pot – he immediately goes all in, I’ve practically pot committed myself so I call, player X has KK – tournament over – but my best showing to date in a quality field. I leave feeling confident and happy with my play – and a bit unlucky.

From there I haven’t looked back, I’ve just had my best 6 weeks in poker, starting with my win in the red cow the very next Monday (24th Oct).
Other notable mentions include:
Splitting/2nd in the Leinster Cup
1st & 2nd in the Red Cow
1st in the SE €150 freeze (43 runners)
Cashing out €3K from a €50 PL holdem game * 2

Just thought I’d share and give you all a (good) read

Amaru

You haven't shared the important part, Laak's tournament tips!

shoutman

so what exactly did he say to you???

or is that gonna be your little secret;)

Nice going on the form though, im on a bit of a high at the moment myself and it feels good

Marq

In the Fitz, all players must start in a FeeDer game, which feeds into the main game. This is done for a number of reasons. for a start, it makes sure that games stay strong, as if you could pick and choose which game to play certain games would only have 3 or 4 players all night, which is an afwul strain on staff. It prevents people from hopping from game to game which can be extremely irritating. also, as the main game is usually the one with the most money on the table it is the most desireable, and feeder tables are the fairest way of routing players to it.

Surely this should be in the Bad Beat/Brag sticky. I'm happy for you that you have done well over the last six weeks but unless you have some constructive advice for the users of this board your post really serves no purpose.

DubTony

Good stuff Marq, ..... piss all over his parade, why don't you? He's thrilled and excited at his performance and he just wants to talk about it. Added to that, he's new here, the guys he goes drinking with probably don't give a damn, and this is a poker forum to talk about poker. Give a guy a break.

Marq

No. This is a poker forum yes, and it has a sticky where these "Boast/Brag" type posts go. The Chopper begins his post by telling the reader that he got some advice from Phil Laak, the "Unabomber". The reader is then under the misaprehension that said advice will be imparted. Instead, the rest of the post is merely a thinly veiled brag about how well The Chopper is running at the moment. I don't want to be taken up wrong here - I have absolutely no problem with these sort of posts. If you want to tell people about how well (or not) you are running, that's fine. But there's a place where these posts go, and it's not in the main body of threads.

Also, my intention in posting was to clarify the issue of Feeder and Main cash game tables. It was only in post-script that I mentioned my opinion that this should have been posted elsewhere. Your post adds nothing to the discussion, and I'm sure The Chopper can defend himself. I would not expect the thread to be moved, nor did I ask for it, I wrote simply so that others might read my post and not repeat the same mistake.

Ugly Elitist.

p.s. Comma, space, ellipsis, fullstop is all kinds of horrible grammar.

The_Chopper

First and foremost I did not want to cause an arguement or offend with this thread so I apologise.

Second: the main reason for this thread was to share my experience over the last 6 weeks and let people know I exist.

Third: the thread title is called my last 6 weeks, not my poker advice from Phil Lark AKA UnaBomber (formally UniBomber).

Fourth: I am not an english teacher or an english student, I am a part time poker player and know my grammar is grap (maybe that helps me at a poker table)

Fifth: I had intended on sharing some of the pearls from Phil Lark, I excluded them through forgetfulness - I may post them later.

Sixth: Thanks for your comments DubTony. I am new to boards and if I regular boardster had put this thread up I am sure it wouldn't have been met with hostilities.

Seventh (at least my math is good): I know the rule in the fitz, I just thought it was funny.

Finally: This wasn't meant as a brag post, I was just sharing an experience that I thought people might be interested in. If people want to know more about my experience I am happy to share, such as the advice offered to me by the UnaBomber

cardshark202

Ok go on then. Tell us the advice you got.:p I was there the night Laak and Esfandiari were there too but I don't remember them giving any advice. Sound enough guys though.

The_Chopper

The advice is really obvious - you could read it in most books. It probably had more meaning as it came from an actual live player. He said a few things to me.
1. Always be aware of the stacks at the table - don't raise into a short stack without a monster as they are likely to go all in.
2. Try not to go all in preflop with any hand - I did this successfully in the Leinster Cup.
3. Never slow play unless you've hit an absolute stone cold nuts.
4. Don't pay people off who outdraw you if possible, ie you flop a set and keep betting hard as there is a flush draw out there. On the river it hits - fold, in the long run you'll save yourself.
5. Be self aware - keep mixing things up so people can't get a read on you, your betting patterns, body position, everything

The last 2 things he told me I'll keep for myself

Lex

Just in case you run into him again his surname's Laak.
Nice work on the run over last couple weeks too.

The_Chopper

Lex wrote:

Just in case you run into him again his surname's Laak.
Nice work on the run over last couple weeks too.

That would be the english grammar thing again

QUOTE:
Ralph Wiggum: "Me fail english, that's unpossible"

Ardent

Marq wrote:

No. This is a poker forum yes, and it has a sticky where these "Boast/Brag" type posts go. The Chopper begins his post by telling the reader that he got some advice from Phil Laak, the "Unabomber". The reader is then under the misaprehension that said advice will be imparted. Instead, the rest of the post is merely a thinly veiled brag about how well The Chopper is running at the moment. I don't want to be taken up wrong here - I have absolutely no problem with these sort of posts. If you want to tell people about how well (or not) you are running, that's fine. But there's a place where these posts go, and it's not in the main body of threads.

Also, my intention in posting was to clarify the issue of Feeder and Main cash game tables. It was only in post-script that I mentioned my opinion that this should have been posted elsewhere. Your post adds nothing to the discussion, and I'm sure The Chopper can defend himself. I would not expect the thread to be moved, nor did I ask for it, I wrote simply so that others might read my post and not repeat the same mistake.

Ugly Elitist.

p.s. Comma, space, ellipsis, fullstop is all kinds of horrible grammar.

Someone's jealous.

Marq

Two things Chopper.

1. I wasn't in any way commenting on your grammar. I'm pretty sure the punctuative abomination "comma, space, ellipsis, full stop" is nowhere to be found in any of your posts.

2. As for

if I regular boardster had put this thread up I am sure it wouldn't have been met with hostilities.

; that's entirely untrue. It would have been met with more vehement hostility, at least from me. Nobody's picking on you, and my posts are not even particularly aimed at you, but at others that might read your post and be misled to thinking that this sort of post is no longer for the bad beat/brag sticky.

EDIT/ ARDENT, that comment is utterly insulting, and I would appreciate if you would retract it.

The_Chopper

Marq wrote:

Two things Chopper.

1. I wasn't in any way commenting on your grammar. I'm pretty sure the punctuative abomination "comma, space, ellipsis, full stop" is nowhere to be found in any of your posts.

You've now lost me - why are we discussing gramma in a poker forum

Marq wrote:

2. As for ; that's entirely untrue. It would have been met with more vehement hostility, at least from me. Nobody's picking on you, and my posts are not even particularly aimed at you, but at others that might read your post and be misled to thinking that this sort of post is no longer for the bad beat/brag sticky.

Fair point

Lafortezza

Marq's grammar comment was referring to DubTony's post. No more grammar conversation any more from anybody thanks. Take it to the english forum.

Nobody's picking on you at all Chopper, but I'm sure everyone want's to know

The_Chopper wrote:

The last 2 things he told me I'll keep for myself

Why keep it to yourself? It'd be nice to know the full conversation between you and Phil Laak, especially if it's interesting from a tournament strategy perspective.
If it's to do with some rubber chicken and mayonaise fetish that you and Phil share then maybe the less said the better

So spill the beans or this gets merged!

Doc Farrell

I don't bother with the brag or bad beat section. And this doesnt belong there. Because its not about a single hand or game, its about someones overall experience of the game.
Similarly when Rory said he was giving up online poker (again) it didn't deserve to be shut away in the sticy coz it wasn't just about a single hand it was about his overall experience of poker and the decisions he had come to.

Marq ur posts recently have been very hostile, it's a negative experience to have to get through them. I guess ur signature explains why.

Moderators, with no subjects other than poker allowed here and this recent excessive moderating u can understand why I have less and less interest in posting.

i guess its the natural chain of events for the veteran posters to fade away and for new guys to begin threads on well worn subjects but it doesn't leave much for us old timers to bother about.

nice run btw, hope it lasts, d.

Lafortezza

Doc Farrell wrote:

Moderators, with no subjects other than poker allowed here and this recent excessive moderating u can understand why I have less and less interest in posting.

If the poker forum was to allow every post that had a passing connection to poker then it would rapidly become unreadable. The volume of posts would be so big that anything of interest would soon get drowned out.

I've (another) idea for making the poker forum smoother reading but it'll probably have to wait til after the Christmas madness is over and it'll depend on what DeV and Shortstack are doing regarding the Antesup.com forum.

Doc Farrell

cheers lafort,

i know ur only doing what the majority ask, looking forward to the new forum. as for the place getting crowded with nonsense threads, are there that many nonsense thread writers? i thought there was only me and fatboydim....? maybe an exception could be made in our case, the dimboydoc clause...?

roryc

This is brilliant! I don't think any thread in the last while has made it to the 2 page mark without there being an argument or disagreement of some sort. Makes for excellent reading! I usually throw in a passing comment to get the ball rolling, but there have been plenty of others getting there ahead of me lately!

Fair enough, Marq is disagreeing with people, but doesn't that make it a better read! If he wasn't saying it I would... I don't think that Amaru's challenge to win 5 STT's in a row would be AS interesting if so many people disagreed with him! People love drama! **** stirring makes everything more interesting!

So fcuk everybody I hate you all, and disagree with everything you say.

Don't you just love Christmas.......

kincsem

Doc Farrell wrote:

cheers lafort,

i know ur only doing what the majority ask, looking forward to the new forum. as for the place getting crowded with nonsense threads, are there that many nonsense thread writers? i thought there was only me and fatboydim....? maybe an exception could be made in our case, the dimboydoc clause...?

Nice comments Des,

I like to see a bit of variety in the posts and I don't mind in the least if people wander off topic and talk about beer, fortune tellers in Galway, and the like. It fills out the picture and shows the posters are not one-dimensional.

Reading 100 lines of hand histories doesn't do it for me, unless there is an intro that explains why it is interesting.

But I think there should room for all opinions from newbies to full-time pros. Today's newbie is tomorrows expert. Some of the nicest people I've met at the tables are the really good players.

Marq

Doc Farrell wrote:

Marq ur posts recently have been very hostile, it's a negative experience to have to get through them.

I recommend that you put me on your ignore list. This could be the last one you ever read.

DubTony

I guess all this nonsense is comma in a way comma my fault full stop I just felt it had to be said full stop I apostrophe m in agreement with Doc here comma as some of Marq apostrophe s posts have been less than positive comma and I felt that attacking the OP in that way was bad form full stop Maybe Ardent hit the nail on the head full stop


oh and

Marq wrote:

Comma, space, ellipsis, fullstop is all kinds of horrible grammar.

tsk, tsk, tsk. I is very disappointed that you is upset about my use of those things you mentioned.
enough said

Davey Devil

The_Chopper wrote:

He said a few things to me.
1. Always be aware of the stacks at the table - don't raise into a short stack without a monster as they are likely to go all in.
2. Try not to go all in preflop with any hand - I did this successfully in the Leinster Cup.
3. Never slow play unless you've hit an absolute stone cold nuts.
4. Don't pay people off who outdraw you if possible, ie you flop a set and keep betting hard as there is a flush draw out there. On the river it hits - fold, in the long run you'll save yourself.
5. Be self aware - keep mixing things up so people can't get a read on you, your betting patterns, body position, everything

The last 2 things he told me I'll keep for myself

Tip 6: Act like a tit when the cameras are around in the hope of getting noticed and getting some sponsorship.

I have to agree with Marq. IMO it belongs in the random rubbish thread. He put it very kindly in his original post, it wasn't a demand but purely an observation. If he was really an ugly elitiest like he claims to be, he could have said much worse.

Doc Farrell wrote:

I don't bother with the brag or bad beat section. And this doesnt belong there. Because its not about a single hand or game, its about someones overall experience of the game.

It's definitely a brag/I met someone famous post, it doesn't matter if it happened over one night or 1 year. The title of the stickied thread is Bad beat/Moan/Venting thread + Boast/Wow,lol posts. The origional post meets this criteria.

Daithio

Ah relax Dave. I found the post interesting as I'm sure most people did. I also found Marq's responses interesting because his posts are so hilariously sarcastic(am I the only one who notices this?). The world would be extremely boring if everything had to be categorised and slotted away to where it should belong. The chopper is an excellent new player who most people should be (and are) interested to hear about, and just because the post is a little light on the strategy side of things is no reason to get all tetchy about it.

kinaldo

Doc Farrell

Marq ur posts recently have been very hostile, it's a negative experience to have to get through them. I guess ur signature explains why.

hmm well i for one am in favour of this ugly elitist persona he's adopted and found his recent posts in the Student Poker Trinity thread to be both entertaining and informative. Thanks to his insights on the matter I'll certainly never be playing that tournament again (not that I was planning to anyway).

also, congrats to The Chopper on your recent run, but what else did they say?

Davey Devil

Daithio wrote:

Ah relax Dave. I found the post interesting as I'm sure most people did. I also found Marq's responses interesting because his posts are so hilariously sarcastic(am I the only one who notices this?). The world would be extremely boring if everything had to be categorised and slotted away to where it should belong. The chopper is an excellent new player who most people should be (and are) interested to hear about, and just because the post is a little light on the strategy side of things is no reason to get all tetchy about it.

I'm not tetchy, I'm just trying to start a fight.

Ah the Internet. It's amazing how things get blown out of proportion so quickly because we can't see people or sense their tone accurately.

I'm simply making the point that the origional post qualifies for the sticky thread as Marq pointed out. Whether it should have been posted there or not is a matter of opinion. Yet he is accused of being "jealous", "having a bad attitude", being "very hostile" and "less than positive". I'm sure that Marq will say I've punctuated that badly but I hope you understand what I'm trying to say. Can people not speak their minds without being lambasted?

Edit: That's a great run, long may it continue. wp.

careca

I liked the post and probably would have missed it in the bad beat thread, as I only pop in there every so often to remind myself why I am giving online poker a break.

However, I think Marq has a valid point and to suggest he would not have said the same to a regular poster is totally unfair. I would hate to see some of the better strategy posters (incl Marq) going elsewhere because they are accused, in error, of hostile or unjust comments.

Lafortezza

Next person who makes comments about grammar, good or bad, gets a ban. It's really starting to annoy me. Txtspk is banned as per the charter, but on a poker forum we're not going to give someone a hard time unless their post is nigh on unreadable.

Marq

I was glad to see that some other people posted in defence of my position. I personally don't really see much wrong with my first post in this thread. I think it comes across as mildly irritated but not confrontational. I think that it was the responses to my post which fanned the flames of the argument.

Yesterday evening was the first time that I had considered simply abandoning this forum. I was accused of being "jealous" by more than one person because I believe that a thread on an internet discussion forum was in the wrong place. To be honest, I play this game for a living: I don't have time to be "jealous", and I certainly do not have the inclination to post defending myself in this regard. I felt quite insulted when this was suggested, and I'd like to think that those from this forum who know me would know how utterly preposterous the idea is.

Iago

Ugly Jealous Elitist

Culchie

Internet Forums are strange places .... you see some posts and you think that fellah must be some ass, then when you meet the person in the flesh.... you are normally right. (joke).

I enjoy the posts that have an 'edge' to them.

5starpool

I disagree with everyone!!

And I agree with Kincsem that this type of thread is much more interesting than the HH ones.

Ok so, I agree with one person it seems.

kincsem

Marq wrote:

Yesterday evening was the first time that I had considered simply abandoning this forum. I was accused of being "jealous" by more than one person because I believe that a thread on an internet discussion forum was in the wrong place. To be honest, I play this game for a living:

It'll a blow over. Don't desert the forum. It's too much fun.

Let's all play some poker on Sunday.

Anyway Irish poker has had a great year. Let's celebrate.

p.s. I don't want anyone to identify me in the FItz.

califano

kincsem wrote:

p.s. I don't want anyone to identify me in the FItz.

Your sticker will be the only one with your name on it(boldened!). The rest will be generic fitz/boards.

Im still waiting on an organiser to pm me with the go ahead to do up the stickers or not. The cut off is tomorrow friday 9th 14.30?

TrueDub

I personally ignore posts with hand histories, which probably means that I miss out on strategy lessons occasionally, but I don't find them particularly interesting. Therefore, I'm in favour of the bad beat thread.

I didn't find anything too offensive about Marq's post, nor any of his other posts. In general, this is a very polite & well-behaved forum, certainly compared to many others I've dipped in & out of over the years.

roryc

Couldn't agree more..... Actually no your all wrong.....




And kincsem I already know who you are. I was at your table in the 270 game

The_Chopper

Glad my post has been so entertaining for people :-)

I thought Marq's posts were very funny. Reminds me of a guy I know....

roryc

Does he have a beard....

The_Chopper

Nope.....
I assume it's not the same guy

kincsem

Group hug?