Bloggers On The Rail - Guest Post: Julius_Goat

Posted by AlCantHang | Filed under Bloggers on the Rail

Throughout the next several weeks I will highlight the writing of bloggers who focus their creative energy on poker content. Some may be new to you and others may be familiar, funny or enlightening. I will be putting up many guests posts and I’m always looking for new material. If you are a blogger and interested in getting your words posted here, simply shoot me an email at Battleofthebloggers@fulltiltpoker.com. There are some basic guidelines but submission is simple.

Before the questions start to hit my email inbox, here are some quick answers off the top of my head.

- Yes, there will be compensation.
- Yes, I have editorial oversight and will pick which submissions will be posted.
- No, I do not sense I have an overly large ego.
- Yes, you can cross post to your own site. Encouraged actually.
- Yes, you can use old posts. Do you have a post you think is spectacular and worth some notice? Forward it along.

So drop me a line if you feel you have something interesting to say. I’m looking for anything poker related. Play analysis, trip reports, commentary, etc. Anything just short of telling the world about your forays into the adult entertainment field and your poker themed stage name will do.

First up is Julius_Goat. He is one the most talented bloggers to come on the scene in the last two years. Sharp wit and entertaining style, he never fails to deliver. In addition to his recent set of posts "highlighting" the WSOP November 9, he started a humorous series of posts based on the classic poker Bible, Super/System. Today he brings us Chapter 9: Advanced Concepts (Intro). Below this chapter you can find links to the other 8 entries.

I hope you enjoy, stop by his site and let him know what you think.

Stupid/System Chapter 9: Advanced Concepts (Intro)

stupidsystem Bloggers On The Rail - Guest Post: Julius_Goat

OK, no time for dilly nor dally; let’s get down to the brass tacks. The nitty gritty. The hardwood floor. The pork tenders. We’ve covered a lot of ground over the past eight chapters, but up until now, we’ve been sticking with the fundamentals of MTT poker play. By now, you should feel pretty good about your ability to count your outs, create the proper odds to call, and think with positive expectation. You should understand (in a general way) the advantages of Aggression Through Calling (ATC), flop avoidance, and the proper table image.

Now we’re going to explore some of the more advanced poker concepts, the ones that will take you from being a losing player with thinning hair who is begging for five bucks at 2:00 AM, into a bronzed-skinned Adonis who regularly rakes in “Big Dollars” (commonly referred to these days as “Canadian Dollars” or “Medium Euros”) while cruising in your private jet on the way to meet Jessica Alba for a few relaxing weeks in Aspen. So really, you’d better pay attention, you bologna, you.

That’s right, you heard right. As of right now, we’ll start delving into the sorts of insights and secrets that Doyle Brunson keeps locked deep in his freezer behind the gold bullion and the venison jerky. These are lessons that can only be learned one of two ways; either (1) over millions of real life hands and situations, coupled by rigorous note-taking, review, and mathematical analysis, or (2) buying this book for about as much as you’d spend on a pizza at Papa John’s.

We’ll be covering these and more concepts in great detail in upcoming chapters, but first it is probably a fine idea to define some specific terms and concepts.

Bubble, The - This is the point in every tournament when the remaining players are near the money. (This is often called “The Cheddar” – try using this lingo at the table to really impress everybody with your patter. “We’re near the cheddar now!” If they don’t compliment you right away, just say it again, but louder. If this doesn’t result in instant admiration, you probably have halitosis and should pop a mint or some gum right away.) The main thing about the bubble is that everybody plays very tight so as to make it into the cash. “Tight play” is when you fold even though it’s SO boring to fold. You should be aware of this, and play even tighter than everybody else. This will give you a great chance to “shift gears” and get aggressive for some steals immediately after the bubble bursts.

Dry Side Pot - I have no idea what this is, but people are always yelling at me about it in chat. I think they just don’t appreciate my game, you know? Whatever. Donks.

Folding - This is what happens when you throw your hand away instead of calling or raising. This is an advanced play and only used in certain situations that come up at specific points in a multi-table tournament. Warning: Always remember that if you fold, you will not win the hand. Use this play with discretion.

Hand Ranges - This refers to the hands that your opponent might have in a given situation, based on information you have picked up along the way in the hand and in previous hands. This is actually really freaking hard to do, because most players keep their cards face down and covered with something, and there’s like 170 different hand combinations, I think. I’ll count them again if I ever get sober.

Inflection Points - These are pressure points at nerve clusters around the major joints of the arms and of the neck, which, when applied, can cause extreme pain in your opponents. This is good to get a call or a fold when you want one, though you should be aware that it will result in a substantial penalty.* Inflection points are pretty useless in online play.

Praying - This has been shown to have a salutary effect on the cards that come out on the flop. It is well known that all the best pros have mastered praying, though obviously Jesus Ferguson has an advantage. We’ll cover praying methods in detail, as well as whom to pray to if you want a good flop versus good starting cards or a good turn (Note: As Satan is known to control the river, praying is usually ineffective on this street).

Semi-Bluff - This is when you bluff by betting or raising the minimum to scare people out, usually when you’re holding nothing. It’s a good way to feel out your opponent, and try to “see where you are.” For example, say you are in a five-way pot and the flop comes AJQ, all spades. You are holding 74 of diamonds. You should consider betting the minimum of 200 into the 1,000 pot, to see if you can win it right there without risking too many chips.

Squeeze Play - This is what happens if you find yourself sitting in between a couple fat guys, which might cause you to squeeze forward, spilling your chips onto the table and past the betting line. If this happens to you, I recommend that you counter by being very skinny, a style that Daniel Negreanu and Allan Cunningham have all but mastered. If you haven’t mastered being skinny, try eating a lot of Subway sandwiches like that Jared guy. If that doesn’t work, kick that Jared guy in the shins for me. I’ll pay you five bucks (Note: No I won’t).

Nose plugs are also recommended when countering the squeeze, because those guys smell like your hockey bag. For reals, y’all.

Suckouts - This is what happens when you somehow lose when you have a great to slight statistical advantage. For example, you raise all in with JJ and get called by AK and lose. As my consigliore and noted poker authority Rakewell points out, “this is utter and complete garbage. I swear, it seems like I’m losing nearly half of those hands.”

Races - This is how you win chips. You get all in. You should try to “get the best of it” which means that you have the coolest sunglasses, and also the statistical advantage in the hand. (See also Suckouts). However, you shouldn’t worry about it too much, because even if you are “getting the worst of it” (which means you are behind statistically and also do not have a branded hoodie), you can still pull out a win (See also Variance).

Either way, you need to practice winning races. Winning races is what you do if you want to win those precious Loonies.

Variance - This is what happens when you win a pot when you have a great to slight statistical disadvantage. As my consigliore and noted poker authority Rakewell points out, “that’s poker.”

* Penalty not applicable for “Not Really A” General Phil Hellmuth Jr., though he will be warned very very very very very sternly, you can be quite sure of that.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Addendum
Chapter 7
Chapter 8