The Ladder Principle

Solid advice, imo.

So upon googling, the concept is briefly mentioned in Gus Hansen's Every Hand Revealed which you can preview for free on Google Books. Of course, I bought the book when it came out, immediately mis-applied its concepts to cash games, and have been stuck ever since.

As best I can tell, the Ladder Principle is a double edged sword. On the one hand, if you are out-classed, you should play meekly, and fold your way into a higher part of the tourney cash-out, hence climbing up the ladder. On the other hand, if you have any sort of edge, then aggressively pursuing marginal edges should bring you towards making a deeper run.

Or as someone on 2+2 put it: Great postflop play easily makes up for being too loose preflop.

Allen "Chainsaw" Kessler is immediately right about my game lately. I've been happy to make a decent stack early on, but then shutting down later and limping into the money.

So, I took this to heart last night, followed my bliss, and played as my complete maniacal self, with the usual results!

Poker Stars $10+$1 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 9 players - View hand 1096918
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BTN: t1170 23.40 BBs
SB: t3575 71.50 BBs
BB: t2565 51.30 BBs
UTG: t3140 62.80 BBs
Hero (UTG+1): t3135 62.70 BBs
UTG+2: t4280 85.60 BBs
MP1: t3940 78.80 BBs
MP2: t3120 62.40 BBs
CO: t2760 55.20 BBs

Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+1 with Q A
1 fold, Hero raises to t175, 3 folds, CO calls t175, 3 folds

Flop: (t425) J Q 5 (2 players)
Hero bets t255, CO raises to t510, Hero calls t255

Turn: (t1445) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets t850, CO raises to t2075 all in,

Hah hah! I have a monster compared to my maniacal image, It's close, but per the Ladder Principle, I should make this call. If villain has a set, oh well, good game me!

Hero calls t1225

CO shows 5 A

FIST PUMP. I've played this hand perfectly! Deep run, here I come. Thank you Chainsaw!! I mean, hah, unless villain binks his two outer....

River: (t5595) 5 (2 players - 1 is all in)

#$#!$^&&$%R@F@#^%^@#$R^

Final Pot: t5595
Hero shows Q A (two pair, Queens and Fives)
CO shows 5 A (three of a kind, Fives)
CO wins t5595

The B-52's -- Follow Your Bliss

Yeah, good thing I'm not results orientated. Deep run here I come!

Sonic Marathon for Child's Play

Tis the season for another marathon for Child's Play.

Spread the word!

Happy Snowloko!

It's Christmas In Kenmore Square by The Swirlies

Meanwhile, in New York

IgnitionCinema -- NY sanitation crushes car

How does he call there? How does he get there?

Poker Stars $8.00+$0.80 No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t625/t1250 Blinds + t150 - 9 playersHand History Converter

Toni1279 (MP1): t21903 M = 6.79
HondaMygas (MP2): t24691 M = 7.66
Hero (CO): t10451 M = 3.24
Uncirculated (BTN): t55491 M = 17.21
KPACOTKA+EV (SB): t37920 M = 11.76
hampton cat (BB): t48903 M = 15.16
muruntau (UTG): t21358 M = 6.62
BBware (UTG+1): t20250 M = 6.28
blondie465 (UTG+2): t16025 M = 4.97

Pre Flop: (t3225) Hero is CO with 6 A
muruntau raises to t2575, 4 folds, Hero calls t2575, 2 folds, hampton cat calls t1325

Flop: (t9700) 5 T 7 (3 players)
hampton cat checks, muruntau checks, Hero bets t7726 all in, hampton cat folds, muruntau calls t7726

muruntau shows J K

FIST PUMP! All I have to do is dodge 5 outs and I'm back in this thing! Hah hah. I mean, unless with that ten he makes runner runner....

Turn: (t25152) 8 (2 players - 1 is all in)

River: (t25152) 9 (2 players - 1 is all in)

#$^%#@!^&$@$##$

Final Pot: t25152
Hero shows 6 A (a straight, Six to Ten)
muruntau shows J K (a straight, Seven to Jack)
muruntau wins t25152

Sigh, another min-cash

Happy Holidays!

The Year Kenny Loggins Ruined Christmas

Hatsune Miku -- Christmas Still Night

Harry Reid poker bill cliffs (updated for version 3.0)

[?] Harry Reid is still pushing for his poker bill to pass (as a rider) in the current congress, ending January 3rd.
[x] The third version has new concessions to gambling opponents and state lottery interests and could still be pushed later in 2011.
[x] Should it be passed, U.S. players will then only be able to continue playing online poker for the next 60 days.
[x] Major sites, e.g. PokerStars and Full Tilt, are expected to then withdraw from the market.
[x] A nation-wide moratorium then goes into effect, which will last either 15 months or until whenever the Secretary of Commerce finishes drafting  regulations, whichever is longer.
[x] Drafting the original and simpler UIGEA regs took 4 years, with help from Barney Frank; the new Republican congress may also be able to force delays here.
[x] The bill gives the Justice Department more power to stop rogue operators who try to ignore the moratorium via new "UIGEA Deluxe" provisions, including fines and criminal charges against site operators, which will help streamline money seizures and extraditions.
[x] The 14 states who already have explicitly legalized poker rooms are opted-in to the Federal inter-state program automatically.
[x] If you live in one of the remaining 36 states which are automatically opted-out, then the moratorium period is not just a minimum of 15 months, it's potentially forever.
[x] Depending on the whim of its current governor, any state will be able to change its opt-out status with 90 days notice, meaning even if your state opts-in, that status could change with each election cycle.
[x] However, as a sop to concerned state Lottery officials, after the moratorium ends, opt-out states will be permitted to run their own online intra-state poker sites, charge whatever level of vig they'd like to their citizens, and keep all the profits for themselves.
[x] Once the Federal regulations are finalized, the only sites which will be granted inter-state licenses will be U.S. based sites run by existing casino operators who are licensed by existing major state gaming authorities.
[x] It'll be 3 years before PokerStars or FullTilt are even considered an opportunity to return to the remaining US inter-state market
[?] ... but will only be able to if one of the license-granting state gaming authorities or perhaps Congress let them; I'm still sorting this detail out.
[x] It would be 4 1/4 years from now before the remaining inter-state US player pool is again allowed to play with non-Americans on the virtual felt
[x] However, it's not clear what motivation non-Americans would have to rejoin us; and if other countries have followed the French model by then, as Reid's bill does at first, it might not even be legal from their end to play on U.S. sites.
[x] The Poker Players Alliance has yet to withdraw their support for the bill

Robot Chicken -- This Deal's Getting Worse All the Time!

Las Vegas at night from orbit

Via MSNBC, by way of cosmic blog, NASA's pic of Las Vegas from the International Space Station, taken November 10th, 2010.

NASA's Earth Observatory blog adds:

The surrounding darkness of the desert presents a stark contrast to the brightly lit street grid of the developed area. The Vegas Strip is reputed to be the brightest spot on Earth due to the concentration of lights on its hotels and casinos.

Pretty neat!

Wikileaks: The Movie

Up to date documentary, via AnonOps:

SVT -- The Wikileaks Movie

Related: the WikiLeaks phenomenon is here to stay

Harry Reid poker bill cliffs (for version 2.0)

***UPDATE: Cliffs for version 3.0 are here***
[x] Harry Reid's bill (PDF) could pass tomorrow; or next week at the latest
[x] U.S. players will then only be able to legally play online poker for the next 30 days
[x] If we're lucky, we'd be able to play 15 months later, but only on U.S. based sites run by existing casino operators who are licensed by existing major state gaming authorities 
[x] But generally, unless your home state opts in, the moratorium period is not just 15 months, it's potentially forever.
[x] The bill gives the Justice Department more power to stop rogue operators who try to ignore the moratorium via new "UIGEA Deluxe" provisions
[x] It'll be 3 years before PokerStars or FullTilt are even considered an opportunity to return to the remaining US market, and only if state gaming authorities let them
[x] It would be 4 1/4 years from now before the remaining US player pool is allowed to rub shoulders with EuroDonks again over the virtual felt
[x] The so-called Poker Players Alliance boardroom seems, at best, to be full of defeatist pessimists who insist this deal is the best the players they claim to represent could ever hope for
[x] This deal is also, by remarkable coincidence, Harrah's et al.'s wet dream of how to take over the U.S. market.
[?] Whether Senator "Harrah" Reid can convince Senator Kyl and friends to allow this legislation to pass before Washington politicians fly off to make way for next year's new Congress, is unknown, but for now, seems unlikely

They Might Be Giants -- Ana Ng

When I was
driving once I
saw this painted
on a bridge:
I don't want the world... I just want your half

Operation Avenge: Anonymous enters the Wikileaks fray

In war there is no prize for runner-up. ~ Seneca

You can vote for Julian Assange for Time Magazine's Person of the Year here. 

(Also, Robert Gates says this fuss over leaked cables is no big deal)

Harry Reid's draft online poker bill

One version, a PDF simply titled as the "Internet Poker Act of 2010"* is here, via the Las Vegas Review Journal. And an fairly thorough early analysis by Stu Hoegner is up at Pokerati.

Update: Another good run down by F-Train here. I'm starting to think this is a terrible bill.


*Short title of the law itself is given as the "Prohibition of Internet Gaming, Internet Poker Regulation and UIGEA Enforcement Act"

Triple cooler across the sky

You see the damnedest things in the 70fpp games.

Poker Stars 70FPP No Limit Hold'em Tournament - t25/t50 Blinds - 8 players
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

UTG: t545 10.90 BBs
Hero (UTG+1): t2025 40.50 BBs
MP1: t1515 30.30 BBs
MP2: t3035 60.70 BBs
CO: t1745 34.90 BBs
BTN: t1775 35.50 BBs
SB: t2955 59.10 BBs
BB: t1405 28.10 BBs

Pre Flop: (t75) Hero is UTG+1 with 7 8
1 fold, Hero raises to t175, 1 fold, MP2 calls t175, 2 folds, SB calls t150, BB raises to t500, Hero calls t325, MP2 calls t325, SB calls t325

Flop: (t2000) 7 8 Q (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t625, MP2 calls t625, SB calls t625, BB raises to t905 all in, Hero calls t280, MP2 calls t280, SB calls t280

Turn: (t5620) T (4 players - 1 is all in)
SB checks, Hero bets t620 all in, MP2 raises to t1630 all in, SB calls t1550 all in

River: (t9340) T (4 players - 4 are all in)

Final Pot: t9340
Hero shows 7 8 (two pair, Tens and Eights)
MP2 shows 7 Q (two pair, Queens and Tens)
SB shows 9 J (a straight, Eight to Queen)
BB shows Q Q (a full house, Queens full of Tens)
SB wins t1860
SB wins t1860
BB wins t5620

But let's all forget all that. This new vid from JimmyLegs and Krantz rulez!!!

Krantz & JimmyLegs -- The Micros - Episode 1: Pilot

But also this, imo. Jungleman v. Durrrr Challenge Breakdown – Update 2 by Phil Galfond