Ianmc38 in the well

5starpool

Ok, Ian has kindly agreed to do this. No flaming, abuse etc. I can't be bothered to look up the standard start to these threads.

I'll start with some standard questions though.

What levels are you currently playing?
Do you ever 'move up levels' if you are playing bad?
When are you back from your travels?
I know you play quite a bit of PLO online, but do you tend to play much live?

Good luck Ian.

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

Flushdraw

LuckyLloyd wrote:

2 SE regulars who you would pay to have sitting on your right?

I know Ians answer to this...Oberon and the Chief. I bet you 10 dolla Lloyd!

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

Glowingmind

Odd/old one for ya.
This is going back a year or so i guess, so i'm not sure if you'll remember. Tourney in the SE (i believe it was a thurs double chance) - Board is KK6xx - You bet on the river. Other player mumbles and turns over his hand to show KT. His hand is ruled dead/folded and you muck, and the pot is awarded to you.
An argument follows where he claims he said call, dealer didn't hear him - he was in seat 1 or 2. I was in seat 8 and didn't hear him either.

Now the question - you said you mucked 66 - did you, or were you trying to make him think the mess had actually saved him some chips?

Gholimoli

can you take us through the hand you played in Kilarney teamevent ?
the one where you had the chiplead with 14 to go.

it starts with something like :
i had 89 on the button...

ianmc38

5starpool wrote:

Ok, Ian has kindly agreed to do this. No flaming, abuse etc. I can't be bothered to look up the standard start to these threads.

I'll start with some standard questions though.

What levels are you currently playing?
Do you ever 'move up levels' if you are playing bad?
When are you back from your travels?
I know you play quite a bit of PLO online, but do you tend to play much live?

Good luck Ian.

Currently playing 2/4-5/10 NLHE, 1/2-5/10 PLO and 1/2-3/6 PLO8 with some 5/10 and 10/20 Lim O8.

I used to move up levels all the time, busting a couple of 5 figure rolls. I remember losing 12k in a half hour at 5/10 on FUll Tilt pretty soon after I'd taken up online poker, thinking I was greta and could beat anyone. Obviously came back to Earth with a bang. Now my discipline is much better and I tend not to do anything stupid like moving up when I tilt.

I'm coming home for Christmas because my brother who lives in Australia is coming home with his 3 kids who I've never met. After that I'd estimate i'll be gone another 2 years.

Never really played too much PLO live. Occasionally in the Jackpot and the SE when they got a game going

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

fuzzbox

What has changed most in your poker game over the last 2 years?
How have the games changed in the last 2 years?
What adjustments have you made to take these changes into account?

You sit at an online poker table in a 6-max NLHE game. Soon after you sit, the table chat starts going, and its not long before the contestents out themselves.

You are playing, in seating order:
You, PillowBiter, HectorJelly, Me, FatBoyDim, Flipper

Do you stay? Why?
What if the same line up was playing PLO. Why?

AKQJ10

Good luck Ian.

You planning on trying to qualify for any major tournaments this year?
How many tables do you play online?
What was the toughest level to breakthrough online?
Do you have any particular goals as such?
I've had reasonable success online but have never had any online what would be your biggest piece of advice for a new online player?
Did you start playing poker during or after college, did it affect your college at all?
What was your best experience in poker?
What was your worst experience in poker?
Dont you wanna know how sick Jbravado really is in the next well?

maximusdecimus

hi ian
what do you prefer playing holdem or omaha in terms of enjoyment and which do you think your better at?
In the foreseable future do you see your sole income coming from poker?
Who is your favourite pro player and why?
Who do you think is the best live cash game player back here in dublin?
Which poker books if any have you read and would recommend to players looking to develop their cash game?
Thanks for taking the time to do this.
max.

ianmc38

LuckyLloyd wrote:

Yay!! This will be great I bet!! Good luck living up to mine though, fish.

- How did you start playing? Why? Was it live or online first?
- Did you start winning right from the off?
- How long was it before you you started to read about the game, browse online forums and think "skill game - need to study"?

I first started playing with a group of friends, the usual €10 rebuy with drinks/spliffs in someones house. Myself and one of my mates started to win the games quite regularly. Then the stakes started going up a bit and we played some €50 games. This was after about 6 months. I remember playing a hosue game somewhere on the North side where we had 18 players buyin for €50 each which I ended up winning. €600 was huge to me back then and it's probably the point at which I became really interested in the game.

I started playing online soon after, completely clueless about the game and never even having heard the term bankroll management. I Started off with $400 playing 1/2 which I spun up into a few grand.

Pretty soon after I'd started playing online, I found the boards poker forum and started to realise how huge and complex a game poker is. It had never struck me before that the came had so many intricacies and was so in depth. When I first started reading the forum, I was absolutely clueless and made some really embarassing posts in strategy threads. One particularly cringeworthy one is Fuzzboxes 6 max cash games advice thread. I feel embarassed reading my replies in that! Boards then had a placebo affect whereby I found 2+2 and poker books and started to play a ton of hands online.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- Things are going well for you now - and you have worked hard to get here. Assuming the games online never dry up entirely - do you think that you could do this long - term? Or do you definately intend to revisit gainful employment in the future?

At this moment in time I hope to never have to work again, certainly not for anyone else. I hope to do a lot of investing over the next few years and hopefully retire by the time I'm 30!

The thing with most career jobs is they don't inspire me in anyway. I find most office jobs mundane and repetitive. I also hate 9-5 hours as I'm a creature of the night and don't like the idea of having to go to bed at 11PM so that I'm fresh for the office in the morning. The one thing I do miss about my job is the general comradery that you get in an office. Playing poker full time means you spend alot of time in isolation whcih can get slightly depressing at times. I usually keep myself busy though, so it doesn't really have an adverse affect. If I was to look for a full time job, I'd probably go back to Uni and do a few courses in music with a view to getting some kind of job in the industry.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- Do your friends and family "get" that poker isn't gambling? Are you completely honest with people who aren't Peter about the levels you play at, etc?

My Dad is fine about it. My mum eventually came around to it. My sister is clueless and calls me Gamblor. My mum was really annoying when I first left my job as she had this idea that I could lose my entire roll in one bet or that GJP could go bust and I'd lose all my money. I spent about 4 hours one night explaining everything about the game of poker to her; EV, bankroll management, game selection etc. Now she's cool with it mainly because she knows I've been doing quite well financially as well as being happier than ever in my personal life.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- Why don't you put more stuff on your blog?

Mainly laziness. I just cant motivate myself to update it half the time. I hate posting stuff that I'd find boring and I used to do that all the time. Now if I think of something funny or quirky then I'll lash it up there else it goes untouched.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- Do you envy players who aren't as good as you, or put in as much work big donkament scores?

I assume you've mean who've had big donkament scores? Nah I dont really envy anyone else who's playing poker. Brian Townsend maybe, but that's for obvious reasons. I'm extremely happy with what I do and if someone I know gets a big score in a tourney, I think it's great regardless of whether I rate them as player or not.

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- 2 SE regulars from when you played cash who you wouldn't want to your left? 2 SE regulars who you would pay to have sitting on your right?

I'll think of more later.

2 to my left I would say Simon Kelly when he's playing well. Jbravado the same. Sammy has the potential to be one of the finest players in the country if he could just get some emotional control and tighten up a small bit.
Also, Eamon (BuChan) deserves a mention. Another player with great potential. Also Mark from the jackpot always impressed me when I played with him.

To my right would have to be Hector/Michael jackson and the waiter who plays in the Jackpot who works in Bliss. Cnat remember his name. Tadgh would be in my top 5 too.

ocallagh

You made the jump from 1/2 thru 2/4 and 3/6 to 5/10 in a short space of time. Aside from natual ability, what would you attribute your success to? Forums/Books/Mentoring/Practice?

How many times (if any) did you go broke?

Did you stick to proper bankroll guidelines throughout?

Name the top 2 or 3 influences/memories in your poker career to date. ie: a hand you played/watched, a book you read, something someone said to you, or even just a general observation.

What level would you like to be playing in 12 months time?

ianmc38

Glowingmind wrote:

Odd/old one for ya.
This is going back a year or so i guess, so i'm not sure if you'll remember. Tourney in the SE (i believe it was a thurs double chance) - Board is KK6xx - You bet on the river. Other player mumbles and turns over his hand to show KT. His hand is ruled dead/folded and you muck, and the pot is awarded to you.
An argument follows where he claims he said call, dealer didn't hear him - he was in seat 1 or 2. I was in seat 8 and didn't hear him either.

Now the question - you said you mucked 66 - did you, or were you trying to make him think the mess had actually saved him some chips?

Yes I remember that hand so unbelievably clearly. I had 66. kate was the dealer in question and the ruling was in my favour albeit maybe a dodgy one. But yeah I had a 666.

ianmc38

LuckyLloyd wrote:

On the subject of hands, remember the one where you put me on a house after I potted flop, turn and river before paying me off anyway...last time I mention it. Promise.

Yes I do remember that hand. I had KTs. Flop was T52. Turn was a T. River was an ace. You pumped it again. I said I cna only put you on 55. You said being nice can you beat 55? I said no and called to be shown 55. Lol. Good read. Would have been a better fold. I was on tilt that night though if I remember correctly.

LuckyLloyd

This post has been deleted.

ianmc38

fuzzbox wrote:

What has changed most in your poker game over the last 2 years?

Undoubtedly the thing that has changed my game most over the last 2 years is reading boards. I remember when I first started reading and posting I was awful. Yourself and Hectorjelly were without a doubt the number one factor in the improvement of my game. All the advice in threads back then was invaluable and I tried to soak it up like a sponge. It was heartbreaking getting criticised all the time for posting such ridiculously bad avice, but now I'm able to appreciate it, as it made me think alot more about my game and poker theory in general.

In terms of how my game has changed, I've gone from being a 20/10 player to being somewhere in the region of 22/18. I'm far more aggressive, read hands much better and have a much greater understanding and feel for the game. I could write a huge amount on this one topic as my game has come on so much over the past year. The last 6 months alone, I'd say my game has improved at least ten fold and I think I'm way ahead of 90% of the people I play with day in day out.

fuzzbox wrote:

How have the games changed in the last 2 years?
What adjustments have you made to take these changes into account?

the main changes have been in preflop play. 3 betting is now rampant even at 1/2 . 18 months ago noone 3 bet without QQ+. The adjustments were pretty simple, just changing 3 and 4 betting frequences. 3betting is unbelievably standard now. 4betting surprsingly isn't happening all that often as yet which I find kinda strange. I do it a ton and wya mroe regularly than most others I play with.

The other big thing thats come in is floating. Again, this rarely happened a year ago where as now people are floating multiple streets with air.

fuzzbox wrote:

You sit at an online poker table in a 6-max NLHE game. Soon after you sit, the table chat starts going, and its not long before the contestents out themselves.

You are playing, in seating order:
You, PillowBiter, HectorJelly, Me, FatBoyDim, Flipper
Do you stay? Why?
What if the same line up was playing PLO. Why?

I'd leave the holdem game because I try to avoid games with 5 good aggressive players in them. I might be tempted to stay because I have position on FatboyDim.

I'd probably stay in the Omaha game because most of the players dont play much PLO and I have position on the one really good PLO player. That said, if there was another game going, I'd probably just join that.

ianmc38

AKQJ10 wrote:

Good luck Ian.

You planning on trying to qualify for any major tournaments this year?

I dont plan on it immediately but I often jump into a satellite if I see there's one on. I'm thinking about playing in one of the Asian Poker Tour events seeing as I'm in Asia.

How many tables do you play online?

I play 2-8 depending on how I'm feeling/playing. Usually 4.

What was the toughest level to breakthrough online?

I never really had any huge problems at any levels. I strolled through .50/1 and 1/2 and have played 2/4 full time for ages in spite of being way overrolled for the game. My lifetime winrate at 2/4 is 8bb/100 over 80k hands.

Do you have any particular goals as such?

Pokerwise? I'd like to earn a rake load of money, invest most of it and then live off the investments. I dont really have any aspiarations to win the WSOP or anything like that. Just to make bundles and bundles of cash.

I've had reasonable success online but have never had any online what would be your biggest piece of advice for a new online player?

Dont play too loose. Buy and use pokertracker and pokerace hud. They're invaluable tools. Using and understanding pokertracker is so important as it really shows up any flaws in your game. I usually go through every key hand after a session and see if I could have played the hand any better (both for hands I won and lost).

Did you start playing poker during or after college, did it affect your college at all?

I started playing during college, but I never played it seriously until I finished my masters in 2004.

What was your best experience in poker?

I've never really had one defining moment as such. The best thing for me is waking up everyday having had a good nights sleep and doing what I want, when I want to do it. I work when I feel like it and I make good money tax free with not too much effort. I'm happier right now than I've been at any other point in my life.

What was your worst experience in poker?

Qualifying for the Grosvenor Poker Tour event in Luton, turning up late and not being allowed to play. Luton is such a grim palce that it really annoyed me. Other than that, one of countless nights on tilt in the emporium when i dropped more than a grand to brutal players.

Dont you wanna know how sick Jbravado really is in the next well?

I think he'd make a very interesting well. The darker side of gambling. Lol.

ianmc38

ocallagh wrote:

You made the jump from 1/2 thru 2/4 and 3/6 to 5/10 in a short space of time. Aside from natual ability, what would you attribute your success to? Forums/Books/Mentoring/Practice?

The 2 biggest factors are:

1. Boards. The posts from Fuzzbox and Hectorjelly when i first started reading boards really changed my game and vastly improved my game. Now there are tons of good posters, but back then the 2 of them were constantly posting advice which was invaluable at the time.

2. Practice. No matter how many books or posts you read, the best education you'll get is by playing tons of hands online.

ocallagh wrote:

How many times (if any) did you go broke?

I went broke twice. Once with a 13k roll on Full Tilt which I lost in a short period one Sunday morning when i'd just gotten up out of bed. Joh Juanda was responsible for at least 10k of that. I remember one 11k pot where I got it all in on a 99T flop with QQ. He had T9s.

The second time was on tribeca. I'd grinded up from 1k to 10k or so playing 1/2. Then one day i got a couple of bad beats and was stuck for 4 buyins or so. I moved up to 1 table of 5/10. Got stacked twice and then moved up to 10/20 where I bluffed off the rest of my roll.

ocallagh wrote:

Did you stick to proper bankroll guidelines throughout?

Not back then. Now my bankroll management is excellent. I'm a bit of a bankroll nit and didnt want to move up to quick just in case I had a bad run, as obviously I cant afford to go broke again.
Name the top 2 or 3 influences/memories in your poker career to date. ie: a hand you played/watched, a book you read, something someone said to you, or even just a general observation.

ocallagh wrote:

What level would you like to be playing in 12 months time?

I'd hope to be playign 25/50 regularly though I'd be happy enough playing 5/10 and 10/20 if it meant I could cash out a load of money to invest in other things.

Van Dice

Sneaky question, but why do you think you beat the players you play with regularly? What do they do that they shouldn't, what do they not do that they should, and what do you do better than them?
I'm not sure if it's possible to answer that properly and you mightn't want to, but just interested

ianmc38

LuckyLloyd wrote:

- Do your friends and family "get" that poker isn't gambling? Are you completely honest with people who aren't Peter about the levels you play at, etc

Yeah, most of my friends are cool with it, though most are fairly naive and know sweet fa about poker. They wouldn't have an iota about different levels or anything like that so there's no real need for secrecy.

ianmc38

maximusdecimus wrote:

hi ian
what do you prefer playing holdem or omaha in terms of enjoyment and which do you think your better at?

I love both games. I'd say I enjoy holdem more, but I like playing Omaha for a change of scenery. I'd say I'm better holdem player simply because I've played way more NLHE over the last 2 years than I have PLO. That said, I beat the PLO and O8 games I play online quite comfortably and havnt encountered very many players who I'd rate very highly, especially at O8.

I think o8 (on ipoker) is the game with the worst standard of players. In all my time playing it, I've only playe done person who actually had any grasp of how to play the game.

maximusdecimus wrote:

In the foreseable future do you see your sole income coming from poker?

Yes. Until my investment portfolio is so large that I dont have to worry about playing poker to pay the bills.

maximusdecimus wrote:

Who is your favourite pro player and why?

To be honest I wouldnt really have a favourite pro player. If I had to name someone it would probably be Patrick Antonius, just because he's sh*t cool.

maximusdecimus wrote:

Who do you think is the best live cash game player back here in dublin?

HalfBaked on boards is definitely one of the best regs. His instincts for the live game are second to none. He has a sick ability to read people and pick up weakness.

there's another guy who plays in the Jackpot who lurks on boards. Cant remmeber his name though, but that he played as MickOHora on tribeca. I was always impressed with his play both in holdem and omaha cash games.

maximusdecimus wrote:

Which poker books if any have you read and would recommend to players looking to develop their cash game?

Doc Farrell will kill me as he gave me a library of poker books which i severely neglected. I've read Harrington on Holdem 1 and 2, the Theory of Poker by sklansky, No Limit Holdem Theory and Practice by Sklanksy and Miller (i think they were the authors anyway) and the Book of Bluffs.

Harrington on Holdem was great when I first read it, as it was the first poker book id ever read and I was still fairly new to the game at the time. I'd recommend that to any novice though it is aimed at tournament play.

I think reading forums and posting hands on boards and 2+2 as well as playing a load of hands online is a much better learning tool than any poker book.

Doc Farrell

i will kill you :mad:

are you getting much action in asia? learn any new tricks? (obviously i'm not talking about card playing)

ianmc38

Gholimoli wrote:

can you take us through the hand you played in Kilarney teamevent ?
the one where you had the chiplead with 14 to go.

it starts with something like :
i had 89 on the button...

Well I actually had 8s9s UTG. Blinds were something like 1k/2k and I made it 6k to go with a stack of about 80k.

Folded to the BB, a lady who i'd been running over at a previous table. She was quite tight, but a bit of a donk and the likes of QJs would be a monster to her even if there was a bet in front of her. She just had me covered.

So anyways, the flop comes AcJc6c. She checks. I bet 10k. She looks back at her cards and calls. So I'm now thinking she has Kcx, maybe slowplaying the nuts. The turn is a brick 5 giving me a gutshot. She checks and I fire out 30k. She agonises for ages and eventually calls. So now I'm thinking she has KcKx or QcQx, as she'd definitely have crai on the turn with a made flush or AxKc. The river is the gin card for me. An offsuit jack. The perfect card for me to bluff as if I was semi bluffing wiht a jack on the flop and turn ive now hit trips. She checks, I move all in for 40k. She thinks for about 8 minutes and calls with KK sending me to the rails. Everyone including me was flabberghasted at the call. I'm pretty happy with how I played it as I had her range perfectly, I just chose to bluff a calling station who had 2 pretty looking kings that she couldnt fold which she was calling down in the hoipe of hitting her flush with! The most annoying part was later on I said to her that I'd gone quiet in the hand in spite of incessant speechplay throughout the rest of the days play. She then started telling people that she'd got a read off me because I'd gone quite! grrr.

ianmc38

Van Dice wrote:

Sneaky question, but why do you think you beat the players you play with regularly? What do they do that they shouldn't, what do they not do that they should, and what do you do better than them?
I'm not sure if it's possible to answer that properly and you mightn't want to, but just interested

This is really player dependant. There's a million different things. Not 3/4/5 betting enough. Cold calling too much. Cold calling 3bets with suited connectors and small pairs with 100BB stacks. Limping too much. Not adjusting cbetting frequencies. Not floating. Not firing enough 2nd or 3rd barrels. Using one dimensional lines with the same hands, eg b/3b ai with the nut flush draw. The list is really huge and would differ from player to player.

con_leche

Can you describe a hand from early on in your playing days, where you felt afterwards you had made real improvement, or that was particularly special at the time.

What is your favourite film and why?

Do you use 2p2 for investment advice?

Thank you, and have a nice trip.

ianmc38

Doc Farrell wrote:

i will kill you :mad:

are you getting much action in asia? learn any new tricks? (obviously i'm not talking about card playing)

The action is there when and if you want it. It gets kinda annoying being harassed in bars and clubs by women all the time as most of them are just after your money. The islands are by far the worst as they're all looking for a better way of life which they think will be provided for them by the farangs (and in many cases is).

but yeah, I've sampled the local cuisine. And it's pretty tasty.

Van Dice

Also tell about something hugely degenerate you've done, doesn't have to be poker

Doc Farrell

ianmc38 wrote:

The action is there when and if you want it. It gets kinda annoying being harassed in bars and clubs by women all the time as most of them are just after your money.

sounds like a usual night out for me iansy.

good luck with all the plans, i had intended to retire at thirty too but have had to revise that a little to 75.

good luck man,d .

ianmc38

con_leche wrote:

Can you describe a hand from early on in your playing days, where you felt afterwards you had made real improvement, or that was particularly special at the time.

I cant think of anything right now. One thing which is more sitautional rather than being had specific is playing JJ and QQ in position to a 3bet. Back in the day I used to 4 bet those hands all day. I still do occasionally both for value and metagame reasons, but I think calling with those hands is a much better play in the longrun.

con_leche wrote:

What is your favourite film and why?

That's a really tough question as there are so many. Amadeus would be pretty high up the list. It's just the perfect film. F Murray Abrahams performance is absolutely breathtaking. The music, the acting, the camera shots. It's a must see movie for anyone, although it's about 3 and a half hours long.

Others high up on the list are Amarcord and La Strada by Fellini (genius), Goodfellas, Amelie, American Beauty (though the last time i watched it I wasnt really feeling it anymore). Also a notable mention to Citizen Kane which was way ahead of it's time. The first time I saw the movie I thought it was the greatest piece of cinema ever produced and the ending was pure genius.

con_leche wrote:

Do you use 2p2 for investment advice?

Thank you, and have a nice trip.

I've browsed the forums but havnt really taken anything out of it as yet. I was planning on putting something up on the boards investment forum soon enough as I'm pretty clueless when it comes to investing.

ianmc38

Van Dice wrote:

Also tell about something hugely degenerate you've done, doesn't have to be poker

I dont know if it would be a good idea to divulge any of the good stories on a public message board. Also, what do you mean by degenerate? Gambling degenerate or life degenerate?

coillcam

To keep your self busy when not clocking in the hours, what kind of hobbies/interests do you have outside of poker?

If you could change one thing about your lifestyle as a result playing poker for a living what would it be?

What things do you miss most from Ireland? (Don't tell me guiness cos' I'm a smithwicks man myself)

What are your favourite and most embarrassing moments in poker?

In your opinion what is your greatest accomplishment to date? (poker/non-poker)

Scarlett Johansson/Jessica Alba?

HiCloy

Good thread so far. Couple of questions for me:

1. What are your VPIP and PFR in O8? 6max/FR?

2. what did you used to work at and what's the masters in?

3. Limit O8, full ring of unknowns. There is MP raise, CO calls, button calls, SB calls, you're in the BB. Do you fold anything except for 2222 type hands?

4. You had a few bets on the BBV sticky around cheltenham. Do you gamble a lot in general sports, horses etc?

kincsem

ianmc38 wrote:

At this moment in time I hope to never have to work again, certainly not for anyone else. I hope to do a lot of investing over the next few years and hopefully retire by the time I'm 30!

I don't know if I know you. If you want to invest in shares you should read a few books about Warren Buffett and his company Berkshire Hathaway. BRKA shares are up from $16 in 1965 to $117,000 each today (BRKB are 1/30 the cost or ~ $4,000). Buffett put his $100 with $105,000 from family and friends in the late 1950s, and turned his share into about $52,000,000,000 today.

The market is high now, but should be lower in a year or two.

Macspower

Hi Ian,

Well done on getting into the well...

I not much good at asking the questions but love the reading.....

What PT stats are you at the minute?

How do you select tables?

At the levels you play do you find it's all regs playing or do you get new fish all the time?

If I remember it's not too long ago I was playing 1/2 with you online...you seem to have made the transition very quickly... did you build your roll from play or did you add to it ? reason I ask is I would like to play 2/4 but having to withdraw all the time to live I find it hard to build the BR for it. I was considering adding to my BR....good/bad idea?


Do you suffer with Tilt?

I remember one night in the SE where you took a few beats and left and came back with a stack of the rectangular cards and proceeded to donk it all off in a very short time under complete tilt...... and the next night I saw you play you were a different breed of fish (excuse the pun) and were a complete rock ...and cleaned all around you..... Do you remember that night or was it one of many?

Why Thailand? did you go on your own?

Has your game improved a lot lately? what was the key factor in improving the game?

Dogs or cats?

thats it for now... prob think of more later......

well done!

ianmc38

coillcam wrote:

To keep your self busy when not clocking in the hours, what kind of hobbies/interests do you have outside of poker?

I go to the gym every 2nd day. I'm lucky the place i'm living in has a deadly gym in the building. This is my sweet pad in Bangkok:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ian.mcdonnell/BangkokApartment

I used to play football twice a week in Dublin after a sporting hiatus of about 5 years. Up til i was about 19 I used to play GAA, tennis and basketball all at very high levels. Then once I hit college i made a few lifestyle changes which made me a lazy bum.

I've started reading a lot again over here and have gone to 3 or 4 art/photgraphy exhibitions in Bangkok since I arrived. I'm also big into me choons and spend about 80% of the day(when im in the aprtment) listening to all sorts of music.

coillcam wrote:

If you could change one thing about your lifestyle as a result playing poker for a living what would it be?

Tough question. I guess it would be to make more of an effort to see some of my friends. There have been loads of times were I've just blown people off because I've had a bad session or am in the middle of one. And they know!

coillcam wrote:

What things do you miss most from Ireland? (Don't tell me guiness cos' I'm a smithwicks man myself)

I've never once had a pint of Guinness in my life. i used to be a Smithwicks drinker, but Corona(in ireland anyway) became my beer of choice. The things I miss the most are my friends and family. If it wasn't for them, I'd have no problem never going back. The lifestyle here is so much better and layed back than in ireland and people are way happier. Everyone in Ireland just seems depressed all the time. Also, I hate cold weather!

coillcam wrote:

What are your favourite and most embarrassing moments in poker?

I remember one sweet hand I played in the UK. It was PLO and the whole table limped. I raised the pot from the SB with 3456ds. The flop comes 222 and its folded around to one guy who thinks for ages and eventually folds KKxx. I obviously show my big wrap.

I think i've mentioned most embarassing. 1 of several nights in the Emporium donking away money on tilt would be the most likely that come to mind.

coillcam wrote:

In your opinion what is your greatest accomplishment to date? (poker/non-poker)

Poker - being where I am now. From 6 months ago when I had a bankroll of a few thousand dollars to now where I'm comfortably rolled for 5/10

Non-poker - I wouldn't really have a clue. I've tons of sporting acheivements, all Ireland Championship medals, tennis tournaments and leagues. I've also done a BSc/HDip/Msc in UCD though tbh a monkey could probably get all of those if you trained it properly. So yeah cant really say. Ill think of something better!

coillcam wrote:

Scarlett Johansson/Jessica Alba?

Definitely Scarlett Johansson.

ianmc38

HiCloy wrote:

Good thread so far. Couple of questions for me:

1. What are your VPIP and PFR in O8? 6max/FR?

2. what did you used to work at and what's the masters in?

3. Limit O8, full ring of unknowns. There is MP raise, CO calls, button calls, SB calls, you're in the BB. Do you fold anything except for 2222 type hands?

4. You had a few bets on the BBV sticky around cheltenham. Do you gamble a lot in general sports, horses etc?

1. My VPIP is 32 and my PFR 22. 6 max.

2. I had a deadly job working for Vodafone. I used to work with all the mobile games that are on Vodafone live. I worked as contractor as well, so I got paid stupid money as well as being able to write ridiculous stuff off as business expenses (digital camera, mp4 player, 42" Plasma TV and so on). before that i worked for HP. I quit after 3 weeks, handing ina 5 page letter of resignation detailing evry reason why I hated my job and why i'd never work for them ever again. I started the next day in Vodafone. My postgrad was in computer science.

3. very few

4. I used to gamble on sports and stuff quite alot. Now i have the odd flutter here and there, but never life changing amounts. Just a few quid each way for a bit of interest.

ianmc38

Macspower wrote:

Hi Ian,

Well done on getting into the well...

I not much good at asking the questions but love the reading.....

What PT stats are you at the minute?

This month I'm 28/23/2.6

Macspower wrote:

How do you select tables?

I generally just have a look in the lobby to see who's at each table. I recently bought EyePoker and plan on using it soon. I also use my buddy search quite a bit as I have some ridiculously bad players in my list who play regularly with full tanks.

Macspower wrote:

At the levels you play do you find it's all regs playing or do you get new fish all the time?

At 2/4 it's mostly regulars but there are always fish, morning noon and night. It appears to be the same across all levels though 5/10 is full of TAG regs.

Macspower wrote:

If I remember it's not too long ago I was playing 1/2 with you online...you seem to have made the transition very quickly... did you build your roll from play or did you add to it ? reason I ask is I would like to play 2/4 but having to withdraw all the time to live I find it hard to build the BR for it. I was considering adding to my BR....good/bad idea?

I never added to my roll. I was really lucky in that i ran sickly good for my first month and never really looked back. I had one bad month where variance kicked me hard in the balls with a -10 buyin downswing, but my roll was comfortable enough at the time so that a -10BI swing didnt cripple me.

I cant really give advice on whether you should add to your roll or not. If you can afford it and feel you have an edge in the game, then I'd think it's worth it but that's really for yourself to decide. I understand it probably feels like a grind having to cash out of a 1/2 roll all the time to be able to live! I didnt move up to 2/4 til I nearly had 40 buyins and even then i was only taking shots here and there as any time I move up a level I always feel slightly uncomfortable for a while.

Macspower wrote:

Do you suffer with Tilt?

Occasionally, but I'm way better now than I used to be.

Macspower wrote:

I remember one night in the SE where you took a few beats and left and came back with a stack of the rectangular cards and proceeded to donk it all off in a very short time under complete tilt...... and the next night I saw you play you were a different breed of fish (excuse the pun) and were a complete rock ...and cleaned all around you..... Do you remember that night or was it one of many?

Yes I remember that night extremely well. Brianmc was at the table as well. I think i got 3 of the 500 blocks and donked them off within an hour or so. Painful stuff.

Macspower wrote:

Why Thailand? did you go on your own?

My friends aunt is the Irish Consulate to Thailand. Her parents have a huge house in Phuket beside her aunts house. It's got a private pool, 5 bedrooms with big balconies, people who deliver fresh ice and drinks into cooler boxes every morning. generally pimping place. 7 of my friends were going over there for 2 months earlier in the summer, so I headed over with them. They've all gone back to uni/jobs now. I went to Koh tao for a few weeks to do some diving and then came back to Bangkok where I've been since. After Bkk I'm planning on travelling around Asia with HalfBaked, then perhaps Oz, South America and finish up by living in Vegas at some point in the future.

Macspower wrote:

Has your game improved a lot lately? what was the key factor in improving the game?

yeah my game has improved a vast amount in the last 6 months. key factors are knowing your opponents and their tendencies and analysing every session carefully. I go through all medium and large pots I've played in a session and go through all of them from start to finish. I've also started using pokerstove way more to find out exact equities in hands as I've found this really helpful when you're comparing your hands strength against someone elses range

Macspower wrote:

Dogs or cats?

Cats

sikes

hi ian,

who are the toughest regulars in your games and what makes them so tough?

gl in your travels.

Jesus Wept

ianmc38 wrote:

Qualifying for the Grosvenor Poker Tour event in Luton, turning up late and not being allowed to play. Luton is such a grim palce that it really annoyed me.

Your worst moment in poker, and I was there to witness it and see the look on your face, brilliant!

ianmc38 wrote:

I remember one sweet hand I played in the UK. It was PLO and the whole table limped. I raised the pot from the SB with 3456ds. The flop comes 222 and its folded around to one guy who thinks for ages and eventually folds KKxx. I obviously show my big wrap.

Also in Luton....

Your best and worst poker moments occured in Luton.

---

Can you explain your strategy behind folding 3 times in the sb at 25-50 level after a few limpers, bearing in mind the 15,000 chip starting stack? (GPJ Main Event V2)

What hands does 'the book' say we should fold in this spot for 1/600th or 0.16% of our stack?

Thank you.

ianmc38

Lol. Trolling again! Dont make me post Mr Spam. I folded the 29o and the 38o. Cant remember the third one. No idea how to play with 9 people at a table. Seems very crowded. Me = tourney donk.

Goodluck2me

How do you play 2c3c on an 8c4c3d board against 4 limpers from the SB, and why? if you check call the flop and Kc comes on the turn, how do you play effective remaining stacks of 375?

dvdfan

Love the Apartment, Why Bangkok, do you not find it very closterphobic and smelly compared to some of the coastal resorts?

How reliable is the broadband there and had you any problems bypassing the Thais strict blocking of gambling sites, do you ever worry about being caught?

Did you have your computer shipped over or did you buy over there and does the electronic equipment work out cheaper over there and what setup have u?

Did you ever get coaching and at what stage in your poker career and what kind of coaching did it involve and how much did it help your game?

Have you come across situations playing poker professionally where you needed to get a loan/mortgage etc, how do you explain what you do for a living or do you lie, have you ever considered setting up a say a consultancy company and lodge x amount into the business account so you would have good accounts in case you need a mortgage or whats the complications that a pro poker player comes across?

Do you have to do Visa runs often and is there much hassles involved?

ianmc38

sikes wrote:

hi ian,

who are the toughest regulars in your games and what makes them so tough?

gl in your travels.

Most of the tougher regs are just TAGs with tricks. They 3 and 4 bet lighter than most TAGs, they float alot and they can raise cbets and check raise cbets with air as well as being able to make sick call downs with really weak holdings.

Players I rate are GluteusMaximus, AlexBB1, Reclusion, LetMeFly99(Good LAG), Helbuqtur, RunningScared, EvilDaniel and FamousBoy. Im sure there are others, but they're the ones who come to mind right now.

Macspower

Thanks for your honest answers Ian......

A few more if you dont mind... I'm interested in Thailand although prob never get a chance to go myself..

Whats the cost of living like there?

What would an average appartment cost per month have you any idea?

I take it internet coverage is not a problem?

Are the girls really hot and anxious to please?

whats the weather like? summer and winter?

Can you describe an average day to me?

Do you get out socialise much?

Is language a problem?

Sorry for some of them personal questions. feel free to pick through them as you see fit....

Thanks and gl in your ventures

ianmc38

goodluck2me wrote:

How do you play 2c3c on an 8c4c3d board against 4 limpers from the SB, and why? if you check call the flop and Kc comes on the turn, how do you play effective remaining stacks of 375?

My normal play would be to lead the flop.

My play on the turn would depend on how many others had called the flop bet and some kind of read on the person(s) left in the hand.

Goodluck2me

ianmc38 wrote:

My normal play would be to lead the flop.

My play on the turn would depend on how many others had called the flop bet and some kind of read on the person(s) left in the hand.

no reads, and you were the only caller of the pot sized bet.

why lead? what do you do if they minraise/ raise to 75(pot)

ianmc38

dvdfan wrote:

Love the Apartment, Why Bangkok, do you not find it very closterphobic and smelly compared to some of the coastal resorts?

I was in Thailand last year for 2 months as well. At this stage, I've seen Phuket, Phi Phi, Koh Phangan, Koh Samui, Koh Tao, Koh Lanta, Raja, Phang Nga and Krabi, so pretty much everywhere except Chang Mai and some rural areas. I love Koh Phangan and Tao and will definitely spend some more time there once HlafBaked gets the finger out.

I'd wanted to live in Bangkok just to check out what it's like living here as it's a really diverse city and totally different to everywhere else ive been in the country. I walk around half the time like Dean Moriarty in Kerouac's On The Road just digging everything. Its great. It can be a nightmare at times though. Getting anywhere during the day is impossible. I spent an hour and a half in a taxi to go a 20 minute walk the other night during rush hour.

dvdfan wrote:

How reliable is the broadband there and had you any problems bypassing the Thais strict blocking of gambling sites, do you ever worry about being caught?

The place I'm staying, I have my own hi-speed connection in my room so it's usually pretty reliable. I get the odd ouateg but very rarely.

dvdfan wrote:

Did you have your computer shipped over or did you buy over there and does the electronic equipment work out cheaper over there and what setup have u?

I have a Dell Gen II XPS laptop which I brought with me. It's a sweet laptop. Really fast processor and nice big screen. Also great for running games and the likes.

dvdfan wrote:

Did you ever get coaching and at what stage in your poker career and what kind of coaching did it involve and how much did it help your game?

I got some coaching I'd guess about 5 months ago. I did a few sessions with a guy from 2+2 who was awful. He said so many things which I knew were wrong and I got rid of him after 3 sessions. He basically watched me playing and commented on each hand as it played out.

I also did some sessions with HectorJelly which were much better. These were hand scenarios in tournaments and cash games as well as doing some sitauational stuff, like playing against shortsatcks from the blinds. They were definitely beneficial but lacked some structure. I actually just contacted him again recently about doing some hu sessions online over skype as I'm looking to improve my hu and shorthanded play.

dvdfan wrote:

Have you come across situations playing poker professionally where you needed to get a loan/mortgage etc, how do you explain what you do for a living or do you lie, have you ever considered setting up a say a consultancy company and lodge x amount into the business account so you would have good accounts in case you need a mortgage or whats the complications that a pro poker player comes across?

I havnt crossed that bridge yet, but I'm assured there are ways and means of getting it sorted if/when the time comes. I dont plan on buying any property in Ireland for a long time if ever. I was on the verge of buying an apartment with a friend 2 years ago. That eventually fell through and now I'm not really interested anymore.

I havnt really considered your suggestion though it sounds like a good diea and might be something I look into in the future. nice one.

dvdfan wrote:

Do you have to do Visa runs often and is there much hassles involved?

I had a 2 month tourist visa which you can extend for 30 days at the Immigration building in Bangkok. Once this expires, I'll have to do a visa run to Cambodia. It's simply a case of getting on a bus, going to the border, crossing over and walking back in, so nothing too stressful (hopefully)

ianmc38

goodluck2me wrote:

no reads, and you were the only caller of the pot sized bet.

why lead? what do you do if they minraise/ raise to 75(pot)

If I check and they bet the turn. I'd probably call and reassess river. If they fire a psb bet on the river i'd probably fold. Knowing whether they bet their draws is important.

I'd lead because our hand is quite strong and may even be the best right now. If raise I'd usually get it allin on the flop. Against a hand range of sets, 2 pair, small overpairs and the nut flush draw, our equity is still 40%, so i much prefer a lead.

mrflash

Hi Ian, very interesting, educational and informative well.
I had a very good natural game which was wild aggressive. The usual comments made to me or about me from guys i played in tournaments regularly were along the lines of 'i dont want to be at your table, you cannot be put on a hand'
As you can well imagine this game was not very successful online. So i started reading books and realised how much i had been missing from my game.
My game went to pot as i struggled to digest the information which i had forced into my brain. It seemed to stay in the frontal lobes if you know what i mean, leaving me with no free space to think about the other important matters used in poker. I have been slowly coming out of this over the last six months or so. I now have a much more TAG approach to poker, well online at least.

My questions
Did you find that reading books had a negative affect on your game at any stage?
How much of your bankroll are you willing to put on the line on any given night.
What sites do you find most difficult to make money on, and why?

djsctt

Couple more for ya, if you'd rather not answer , no problem...

Do you primarily play on ipoker, or are there any other networks you play regularly ?

Where/what level did you play basketball, and did you play in UCD ?

Thanks.