Odds and Ends...
-We are going through some laptop issues this week, so www.gulfcoastpoker.net may have some sporadic updates, which sucks as our numbers keep going up and our traffic has traditionally been deepest during the WSOP. We should get squared away in the next few days.
-Just read Monkey's post and I feel for the guy. I had gotten his text early on and I was so happy that things had seemed to have turned that it was a big disappointment that it went south. Though, I had a suspicion as I didn't hear back from him. Hopefully, things will turn for him and for everybody out there in a downswing that feels more like a hole with no way out than a dip in the road. I have faith skill will win out.
-Phil Ivey is a stud. If I sat down with him on a Hold 'Em table I'd be scared enough, but on any other game you gotta think he just eviscerates most of his opponents. I remember a random moment when he played at a 10k New Orleans circuit event where I stopped and watched an orbit. I think he raised 8 or 9 out of 10 hands straight (this wasn't on the bubble or anything) and he was just scooping pots. Matasow was at the table and just getting angrier by the second because he didn't have the stack to mix it up with Ivey's theivery.
-Jeffrey Lisandro, thuggish rumors aside, is proving to be a legtimate big time poker player. Recently, he was regarded as one of the better poker players without a bracelet. Now, he's got three having won two at this years World Series. Have to consider who would be the best without a bracelet these days and if they'll go on a run like Lisandro's anytime soon.
Been playing some low stakes poker with the extended in-laws and it's interesting to watch the learning curves of young players. Some people get it and adjust and improve yet some just continue commiting the same errors time and time again. There is no adjustment, though I guess the learning curve is different for everybody. From watching these neophytes' progression, I'm starting to draw some conclusions about the game.
If anybody reading this can think back to when you started and if you didn't immediately have a knack for the game you probably don't now. I've heard good players whisper about their friends who are not quite at their level as saying they don't get "it." I'm starting to see what they mean player with beginners. I hope somebody with a skill discrepancy to mine comparable to mine to beginners, doesn't look at me and think "That guy doesn't get it and never will." That would be a bad thing, because I can see who could get "it" and who just can't. One of the guys that gets it has taken to online poker. That's a bit of a good thing. A little sharpening of his poker strategy and he'll be great.
-Mini soccer blurb, cue scroll down for 99% of readers or page change now...
So I bash the U.S. and they do just about the impossible and qualify for the semi-finals. Entering the day, their only chance was to advance as the best (or in this case the least worst) 2nd place team if one team went 3-0 and the other three teams in their group tied with a 1-2 record. To do so, they needed to win by 3 or more goals and needed Brazil to win by three goals without Italy scoring. The NFL tiebreaker complexities have a rival in fifa. Two 3-0 scorelines later and they have a semi-final date with Spain on Wednesday.
The Spainards just set a record for 15 consective wins. They are also into a, I think, a 30 odd game streak without a loss (if you are confused between the two remember you can tie a soccer game). So, it would be an almost monumental upset to advance one more game to the finals. Despite some horrible tactical decisions in my opinion by Coach Bradley in terms of personnel the team final put together a complete game against a competitive opponent. It was a surprising day and coming on the heels of me almost being at a breaking point in terms of frustration. I imagine I'll be there again Wednesday when we are on the opposite side of a 3-0 scoreline.
Will be pulling for LSU tonight in the college world series. Will be with a lot of LSU baseball fans so the games should be an enjoyable ride barring a Texas blow out (which i don't think will happen).
www.gulfcoastpoker.net
-Just read Monkey's post and I feel for the guy. I had gotten his text early on and I was so happy that things had seemed to have turned that it was a big disappointment that it went south. Though, I had a suspicion as I didn't hear back from him. Hopefully, things will turn for him and for everybody out there in a downswing that feels more like a hole with no way out than a dip in the road. I have faith skill will win out.
-Phil Ivey is a stud. If I sat down with him on a Hold 'Em table I'd be scared enough, but on any other game you gotta think he just eviscerates most of his opponents. I remember a random moment when he played at a 10k New Orleans circuit event where I stopped and watched an orbit. I think he raised 8 or 9 out of 10 hands straight (this wasn't on the bubble or anything) and he was just scooping pots. Matasow was at the table and just getting angrier by the second because he didn't have the stack to mix it up with Ivey's theivery.
-Jeffrey Lisandro, thuggish rumors aside, is proving to be a legtimate big time poker player. Recently, he was regarded as one of the better poker players without a bracelet. Now, he's got three having won two at this years World Series. Have to consider who would be the best without a bracelet these days and if they'll go on a run like Lisandro's anytime soon.
Been playing some low stakes poker with the extended in-laws and it's interesting to watch the learning curves of young players. Some people get it and adjust and improve yet some just continue commiting the same errors time and time again. There is no adjustment, though I guess the learning curve is different for everybody. From watching these neophytes' progression, I'm starting to draw some conclusions about the game.
If anybody reading this can think back to when you started and if you didn't immediately have a knack for the game you probably don't now. I've heard good players whisper about their friends who are not quite at their level as saying they don't get "it." I'm starting to see what they mean player with beginners. I hope somebody with a skill discrepancy to mine comparable to mine to beginners, doesn't look at me and think "That guy doesn't get it and never will." That would be a bad thing, because I can see who could get "it" and who just can't. One of the guys that gets it has taken to online poker. That's a bit of a good thing. A little sharpening of his poker strategy and he'll be great.
-Mini soccer blurb, cue scroll down for 99% of readers or page change now...
So I bash the U.S. and they do just about the impossible and qualify for the semi-finals. Entering the day, their only chance was to advance as the best (or in this case the least worst) 2nd place team if one team went 3-0 and the other three teams in their group tied with a 1-2 record. To do so, they needed to win by 3 or more goals and needed Brazil to win by three goals without Italy scoring. The NFL tiebreaker complexities have a rival in fifa. Two 3-0 scorelines later and they have a semi-final date with Spain on Wednesday.
The Spainards just set a record for 15 consective wins. They are also into a, I think, a 30 odd game streak without a loss (if you are confused between the two remember you can tie a soccer game). So, it would be an almost monumental upset to advance one more game to the finals. Despite some horrible tactical decisions in my opinion by Coach Bradley in terms of personnel the team final put together a complete game against a competitive opponent. It was a surprising day and coming on the heels of me almost being at a breaking point in terms of frustration. I imagine I'll be there again Wednesday when we are on the opposite side of a 3-0 scoreline.
Will be pulling for LSU tonight in the college world series. Will be with a lot of LSU baseball fans so the games should be an enjoyable ride barring a Texas blow out (which i don't think will happen).
www.gulfcoastpoker.net
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