This weekend I am going to Dallas to enter a foosball tournament. A quick (not really) catch up for those who have not read up to this point:
I play foosball on the American professional tour. I also play events on the international tour when possible. Sadly there isn't enough prize money to justify me playing foosball full time. That is the real dream.
Why play poker?
Its important to keep a firm grasp of what drives you to play poker. Why do you play? For the money? For the love of the game? For that liberating feeling of going to work (downstairs) 4 hours late with no clothes on?
What drives me in poker is the thought of being able to travel whenever I want (within reason). I love travelling, and I love playing foosball. I dream of being able to travel with my wife and daughter, uncovering more of this beautiful world.
Annnnd back to foosball.
Texas State championships
This particular tournament has got me very excited for a number of reasons. This has been one of my favourite tournaments over the last 2 years. It is very well run, with some fun and interesting variations on the bog standard tournaments. Also, the Texas player base is very strong which makes for some excellent competition. A lot of the players don't tour outside of Texas, so they are underranked. This means that the lower divisions are full of very strong players. I have always been a competitive person, so naturally this attracts me. I don't think I've ever shied away from a challenge (in sports).
PrimordialAA
Another main reason I am excited for this tournament is that one of my favourite HUSNG players is also making the trip! PrimordialAA (Bryan Pellegrino) was one of my favourite video makers on HUSNG.com, and is a great success in the poker world. Why is he coming?
I was reading HokieGreg's blog and stumbled across a picture of Primo's house. There were a number of people sitting at a poker table. Then I took a closer look and I saw a foosball table in the background! I am always spotting foosball tables in TV shows / movies, it becomes almost second nature to me, lol.
I posted on Hokie's blog saying I would exchange foosball lessons for poker lessons (If you don't ask, you don't get, right?) and he told me to email Primo as he enjoyed playing foosball. Of course I did, and I made him aware of the tournament in Texas. He lives in Austin, so its relatively close (in American terms!) for him. He told me he was up for it, and is going to play in the Beginner singles category. I can't wait to meet him not only because he is one of my HUSNG heroes, but also because I've heard nothing but nice things about him. Its always nice to meet cool people.
My foosball resume
For those interested in my foosball career..
I have won 3 world championship titles (2 doubles, 1 singles). I am rated Pro in a ranking system which looks like this:
Pro Master Pro Expert Amateur Beginner
I am currently on the borderline between Pro and Pro Master, and I anticipate turning Pro Master after the World Championships in September. I will be only the second British foosball player to achieve Pro Master status in the USA.
Me and my father-in-law at the Colorado State championships, 2011 (picture below).
PS - Congratulations to Chelsea FC for winning the UEFA Champions League final this evening. Mental toughness, a 'never say die' attitude, and a big Ivorian is apparently what is needed to win the grand prize in European club football. Well done!!
So far so good. Sticking to the plan of shoving wider. I'm not often certain about things in life, but I'm fairly certain (100%) that T5 off suit is the nuts.
Hero (BB): 2,298.00 SB: 702.00
SB posts SB 15.00, Hero posts BB 30.00
Pre Flop: (45.00) Hero has 5h Td
SB raises to 60.00, Hero raises to 2,298.00 and is all-in, SB calls 642.00 and is all-in
In all seriousness though, I have never shoved T5 off suit for 24ish bb's before. It felt weird (lol). If you believe your opponent to min raise 80% of his buttons, and have a fairly standard calling range to shove, then this is a +EV move. Maths. Mental stuff.
In HUSNG's (Heads Up Sit'n'go), end game is crucial. Its certainly NOT a part of the game I am very comfortable with. End game relies on good knowledge of hand ranges and equity calculations. Again, I'm not hugely comfortable with this. That's not to say I'm awful, just not as rock solid as I'd like to be.
For the rest of the month I am going to experiment with my 3 bet shoving ranges 25bb's and below. I find it very hard to force myself to shove 62 off suit at 20bbs vs an opponent who has min raised 90% of his buttons and has a fairly narrow calling range to a shove. Yet I find it easy to shove A2 off suit at 32bbs vs an opponent who has opened around 50% of his buttons and a slightly looser calling range to a shove. Guess which one is more profitable?
So as of today, I am going to experiment using the 3 bet shoving equity calculator (found at www.HUSNG.com) and trust the math. I'm going to try and shove wider in spots where there is merit to do so, and spew less in spots deeper than 25bb.
At the end of the month I'm going to review my end game stats and post a conclusion based on my (small) data sample.
Alright alright, so I'm not a professional football manager. Nor do I think we are in the same class as Spain, Holland, France, Germany etc. However, there is something to be said for picking your best players!!!
Personally I think the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard, dare I say it... Wayne Rooney are extremely overrated, and I'm a Man Utd fan!! These over paid players play in world beating teams with fantastic talents around them who are NOT English! English media is terrible for hyping up and consequently overpricing our nations players.
Andy Carrol cost Liverpool £35,000,000 Luis Suarez cost Liverpool £22,800,000!
No wonder there is so many foreigners in the premier league. Far more bang for the buck!
In my opinion some of our countries best players have been left out:
Rio Ferdinand, Paul Scholes, Micah Richards, Darren Bent, Aaron Lennon.
I understand that taking Rio would bring a lot of media attention, but the bottom line is, he is better than John Terry or Gary Cahill.
I have no idea if Scholes wanted to play. If he was available for selection, then I think England have missed out on arguably their best midfielder currently. He's the closest thing to a Xavi we have.
Micah Richards has just finished winning the premier league and is a solid choice at right back / centre back. Its tough to see who he would replace because the most obvious candidate would be Phil Jones. However, I think Phil Jones is absolute quality :P
I understand that Darren Bent has a minor injury which was part of his omission from the squad. I honestly think he's the best striker our nation has. People are gonna think I'm mental. He has pace, good in the air and an eye for goal. He's such a natural goal scorer. Defoe is the other natural goal scorer in our team. Welbeck is decent, but I just worry for him and Andy Carrol on the big stage.
Aaron Lennon is lightning in a bottle. His final ball is shocking, but he still scares defenders. I suppose we will just have to wait and see as to whether or not the Oxelaide gamble will pay off..... Rant over.
Good luck Roy Hodgson. I hope they don't sack you after the tournament!
Well it has been a while! I haven't died, or even worse, gone bust in poker...
Moving:
The last month or so has been pretty hectic due to moving house. Finally, I'm settling down in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Lincoln has been very enjoyable so far. I have joined a sand volleyball team, I play foosball at least once a week, and I'm about to start working out again with the added benefit of a partner. Life balance baby.
Computer issues:
I recently bought two 23" monitors, and began playing on my desktop computer. Since moving to Lincoln, the desktop computer will not boot up. Untill I figure out what to do with it, Ive been playing on my laptop again. About 3 days ago my laptop stopped working so I had to re-install Windows.
Its working again, but as a result I have lost all my poker data on my laptop!!! Ah well, hopefully I can still retrieve it from my desktop...
Poker:
Due to bankroll issues, I've been playing a lot of games at the $30 level recently. There is a lot more action at this level, which is nice. I am rolled to play the $50 level again, so I will sit lobbies when I see them open. I will continue to sit $30 lobbies also because there is definitely a shorter wait time, which ultimately could mean a better hourly rate.
I will post some results in a few days. As I've temporarily (hopefully!) lost all my data, I am wanting to put some decent volume in before posting any results.
