...to find a pic of Howard Hughes when he was reclusive and had long stringy hair, etc, but couldn't find any. This will hafta do:
to consider when trading. It is truly a emotional roller coaster that a trader (as gamblers) need to flatten. Once that is done on a consistent basis you will be and profitable trader or gambler - which ever trade you choose. Zep
Damn.... no kidding. I actually started to question the integrity of the card-generation algorithms this week, as everything that could go wrong did. I lost about 1/2 my winnings in a series of incredible beats, culminated by a one outer on the river last night. These beats were bad because I get great pockets which are matched on the flop, only to get sucked out on by guys calling with the longest odds. The point is that my reactions has definitely been emotional. Is it the money? HELL NO. It's the fact that I 'should' have won but instead I lost. I get mad at the 'fool' who is calling me (the same one whose mistakes result in most of my wins!!) Also, it's my river play, because this is where the rubber meets the road. When you have watched the fish calling for straight and flush draws against other players, Heads Up, and then you get in a hand with him with a high flopped set, and you start betting big, and he is calling YOU now, and then the riv brings the last flush card and he goes all in.... that is the moment where you have to have the guts to fold. I read a post on 2 + 2 in response to a newb who was complaining about losing when he had the best of it early on. The poster asked him how many times he figures he laid down the best hand, and went on to say that great players can lay down the best hand once in a while. How many times have I called only to lose when I 'knew' that in all likelihood, I had been sucked out on? Anyway I have decided to take a week off because I was just getting totally irate at what was happening and it was undoubtedly affecting my game. Unable to flatten out the roller coaster. When I come back I am going to be like a machine, I swear it.
That is the 'pull' - knowing you should have won, only to get hammered (large or small). I actually pace myself, and when I see that I am starting to crank (blood pressure, happy that I 'have' it in the bag - etc), I fold and take my cash with me (with the markets). Do I do it every time - nope. Do I get sucked in - yep! Its not a flawless plan, but its a plan none the less. Once I see or feel any emotion starting to crank - I'm out, because I'm not thinking I'm feeling and feelings tend to throw me out of the car during the ride... :eek: Zep
Question: I was told to learn how to vary my play when I first sit down at a table, as in playing very loose and aggressive at first, then tightening up as I go along. How should I expect the table (say 5-10 or 6-12) to react to someone who sits down and plays almost every hand and bluffs hard? Do people generally tighten up and get more passive, or does play like that cause more people to say, "hey, this guy plays any 2 cards and bluffs constantly, I think my top pair can win easily" and start to call/bet when they shouldn't? What is the main objective for having a loose table image and how does one increase profits using this idea?
The similarities between poker and trading are striking. Gary Biefeldt talks about it briefly in a Market Wizard book. I have started playing Hold'em over the last year and a half, and my volume (trading Eurex interest rate products) has decreased IMMENSELY, saving myself at least 125K in commissions over the last year. It has taught me a new level of patience in knowing that there will be other hands or other trades. Bet when you have the nuts and your risk reward is better. It is ok to fold a hand and/or miss a move. If you have only played online, I recommend you take a seat at a hold'em table at a casino. Every move you make will be under scrutiny by everyone at the table. Trying to keep your wits about you, your nerves under wrap, and your heartrate down all at the same time will prove tougher then you think. It is the same way you feel when you put the "Bahama" trade on that turns into the "I hope I don't lose my job" trade.
I've been playing hold'em. Quite similiar to trading but a lot more luck based. I recently started playing with my college buddies who have been playing for 10 years among each other. Apparently my trading skill makes me pretty good at poker. I just make sure to keep the losses small. It's too bad I can't just walk away from the table once I'm up a lot, but it's all for fun anyway. I play online poker, but that is so damn shady. I see the most screwed up hands and unbelievable luck in a matter of 20 min every night. 3-5 straights in a row, flushes, non stop low cards, the weirdest things. I play for 5 hours with my friends and never see that type of crap. I think online poker is rigged. It may also be because they rotate the decks among all the tables instead of reshuffling the same one like it is supposed to be done.
There has been a lot of discussion about whether the games are rigged online. Many folks have tens of thousands of hand histories, and they report that the distrubitiion turns out to be pretty much what you would expect from a random shuffle. My take is that they are not rigged. When you see as many hands as you do online, you see all the odd occurances a lot more often. I believe the decks are more truly random than hand dealt. Having watched untold hands, I have never believed there was anything going on except random chance. BTW, the fish have to catch the odd inside straight, or they won't come back. And, how many times have you tossed a hand only to see that it would have turned into a monster?
they aren't rigged. there are only 52 cards in the deck, so when you hit one of 3-4 outs, after 23 cards already are in play, is it really that unbelieavable. no. it's too easy to check and it woulda been exposed by now. they provide all hand histories upon request, and in fact i have a program that keeps a database of all hands played, and i'm sure there are some paranoid folks out there who have already checked. anyway, about to be a segment on CNBC about poker, with some "whiz kid" about to appear. 5:45 on Friday and it's coming up. they didn't say who it was. he's 26. maybe antonio estanfari? we'll see i guess.