From edhill777@aol.com Mon Aug 5 14:59:19 2002
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From: edhill777@aol.com (Ed Hill 777)
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Date: 04 Aug 2002 11:09:01 GMT
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Subject: Re: Bellagio Big Boys ARE That Much Better...IMO
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>>>The late Stu Ungar reportedly acknowledged that he couldn't beat a $10- $20
limit game. Ignoring the part chance plays in this game is simply absurd as any examination of the hands that happen
during a week's play in WSOP clearly reveal.>>>

It is a sin to play higher than what you can afford to play for the pressure keeps you from thinking clearly. Well, it is very hard to play a lot smaller also. Taken for granted that you are a good player, you still need to focus, without focus a lot of a great players arsenal is taken away from him. Poker is a game of applying the right concept, at the right time, against the right kind of player. If you are not paying attention because the game doesn't interest you, how good do you think you are going to play? To use blackjack as an example, you are stuck with playing basic strategy.

I have had Stu at my tournament table probably 6 or 7 times, there is no doubt that he was a great player. If he applied himself he would be a big winner in the 10-20, the question is, could he apply himself?

Almost everybody in here is a recreational player, you don't really know what it is like to play full time. You play when you feel like playing, so you are always on top of your game. Being a professional is a whole different story, you are putting in a lot of time when you really don't feel like playing. It is a whole different story staying focused, especially if you are card dead.

Here are three examples that come to mind:

WSOP: I am playing 5-10-25 no limit, Chip, Doyle, Stuey, and the Frenchman are sitting down to play $2000-$4000 stud, when the Frenchman get a phone calls and has to go somewhere for a few hours. Doyle had a bundle that amounted to probably $200, 000 and said, "What's this?" So he sat down to kill some time until the Frenchman came back. His focus was good, which surprised me, but he couldn't help trying to outplay people because he wasn't playing for stakes high enough for his discipline to be sharp. He was making it $200 to go real often. I noticed that people where checkraising him when they flopped something because he was always firing at it. I had around $7000 in front of me and with Doyle being behind me he was making it tough on me to limp in. When I am playing this high, you can better believe that I am on top of my game. One player folds and I limp with 44, if Doyle pops it this is the kind of hand I want. Doyle makes it $200 and gets one caller, I also call. The flop comes A94 rainbow. Everybody has been check raising Doyle in this spot, so I bet $500 right into him, he called, the other guy folded. I am positive he has noticed how tight I am playing, and the way he is playing has caused me to play tighter. What should be going on in his head about the type of hand that I have? He should think that I have an Ace and real decent kicker; if I bet the turn and he can't beat that type of hand he will fold; if I check the turn it will give him a shot to try to make the nit lay his hand down. So I checked. He threw in a bundle that covered me. I turned up my hand and said, "I call." He threw his hand in the muck and said, "Count him down." We never saw the river. The point, I was on top of my game, I was observant, and formulated the correct strategy: Build the bully a big enough pot to make it worth stealing and then show weakness and give him a shot to go for it.

BARGE 1995: I play in the 1-2 pot limit holder. I went downtown to meet RGP'ers and played in a game where everybody else was serious and most of the players were scared to bet anything but the nuts. I rate to do really well in a game like this, but I had recently won 5 out of my last 33 tournaments and was busy talking to people and not paying attention. It is too long to get into but, I REALLY PLAYED BAD! If I remember correctly, I lost $1200.

Reading situations is a big part of playing winning poker, if you are not paying attention you are stuck playing basic strategy. When playing basic strategy expect on taking bigger swings. When you are taking bigger swings, your emotions are harder to control. When your emotions are harder to control you don't think as clearly. From here, you better catch some cards or you are not the favorite that you think you are.

Mirage, before Bellegio opened: The 50-100 game is real good, lot's of live action, I am first on the list. I play 10-20 because a seat is open. Most of my focus is on the 50 game, I raise it with AK against one limper and the two of us see the flop. I haven't been in the game long and feel like this guy is playing reasonably loose, but I haven't really paid lose enough attention to be sure. The flop comes Axx, the turn is another blank, he check raises me. I make up my mind that I am going to fold if the board doesn't pair. The board pairs 5's on the river. He bets, I call. He says, "Aces up." And turns his hand up, just then somebody quits the 50 game, I looked at his hand and throw mine in the muck. I get up and start to go to the 50 game when I realize, he had A4 and I threw the best hand away after calling on the river.

Say I rate to make $80 an hour in the 50 game, I just threw away $195. That is almost 2.5 hours in the bigger game. Focus is really important. After all this rambling, would Stuey beat the 10-20 game? With his drug habits, he certainly couldn't afford to play it, so I would think the answer would be no. If he got to make a sizeable bet that he would beat it over the next 1000 hours the answer would be yes.