Funny how I was just talking about people playing me multiple times, and one guy decided to play me 4 times within 30 minutes. Here are his statistics:

He then proceeded to win all four matches. 3 out of the 4 losses were pretty bad beats and I NEVER complain about bad beats because I think people in general complain about bad beats too much, but I have to share the 3 heartbreaking hands with you here.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

6:27pm: I’ve been telling people for a long time that heads up sit n gos were the way to go for low low risk, probable return for skill players, and it seems that it has finally caught on. All you have to do to understand what I’m saying is take one look at the PokerStars heads up sit n go lobby. 6 months ago, you could expect the following amount of games to be running during heavy traffic times at each limit:

1. $20: 5-6 at a time
2. $30: 2-3 at a time
3. $50: 3-4 at a time
4. $100: 1-2 at a time

As it stands now, there are 19 $20 heads up sit n gos running, 11 $30 ones, 12 $50 ones, and 4 $100 ones. The best part is that’s not even including turbo heads up sit n gos, which are way more popular than the normal ones. There are currently 30 $22 turbo heads up sit n gos running. Amazing.

Seems like everyone has finally caught on to what I’ve been saying all along:

Heads up sit n gos have the least form of variance of any form of poker.

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Update: Today has been a slightly better day than yesterday, even though I’m still taking TERRIBLE beats. Today I’ve lost with the third nuts, the second nuts, and the third nuts again. However, despite that I have won 6 out of my last 8 games, and am currently 6-4 at the moment.

Start a Clean Slate at a New Room, a New Sharkscope, and Keep HFL Free in the Process

10:29am: I’m not sure what it is about this that kind of annoys me, but it does. I should actually be rejoicing that this happens, but I don’t. It really confuses me when people play me multiple times. This isn’t to be cocky, conceited, or anything egotistical but I truly feel from a very strictly objective standpoint that it’s not a smart business decision for the other player. Not so much like right after we play the first time - I can totally understand that. Sometimes ego gets in the way, and/or tilt and people feel they have to right the ship. I’m talking about like if I play someone today, and tomorrow they decide to play me again (I register first), and then maybe 2-3 days later they decide to play me AGAIN. I think I’m probably assuming that more people sharkscope their opponents than actually is the case, however I still don’t understand why someone would find my playing style profitable for them AT ALL. As of this exact moment, I win 60.824% of my $50 heads up matches with a sample size of 1,700+ games. Would you sit down at a table game in a casino where the house had a 61/39 edge over you in the long run? Then again, sometimes people don’t think about mathematics as relates to gambling and/or poker at all. Some people have lost their homes and destroyed families because they couldn’t stay away from a blackjack table, and blackjack’s house edge is relatively small, using basic strategy (50.6% to 49.4%, house to player). I just don’t get it. By the way, all of the house edges for casino related games can be found here.

The only theory of mine that makes any remote sense is that people really don’t sharkscope their opponents. Think about it objectively (provided you only play a heads up sit n go when someone registers first): if you sharkscoped people most of the time before you played them, then theoretically it would only be profitable to play people who had lower ROI’s than yourself. It would be MOST profitable to play people with only negative ROI’s. If everyone (or even most of everyone) thought like this, I would never be able to get a game. By this way of thinking, having impressive sharkscope stats is, in a way, one of your most valuable assets.

If someone sharkscopes their opponents, it implies that they are at least practicing smart game selection, which implies that they aren’t just “gambling” when they play poker. Anyone in their right mind would not play anyone who won, say, >55% of their heads up matches. Therefore, the only people who would decide to play someone such as myself are those who dont (a) sharkscope their opponents or (b) sharkscope their opponents, but are dumb enough to play someone better than them. In either case, that’s the kind of person I’d like to be playing. However, it only bothers me when people do the latter. Why? I don’t know. I guess I shouldn’t take it so personally, it’s just confusing as hell.

On the flip side, there are some occasions where someone plays me with better statistics than myself. During these times, I have to smile because I know I am the “fish” in this particular case. Events such as this can be humbling experiences, but it’s all part of the cruel food chain in poker. The difference between me and everybody else though is that I recognize that there is even a food chain to begin with, and I objectively know where I stand in it.

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I never quite got off the ground yesterday, finishing 7-9 overall. I did manage to gain some ground after starting 2-6, however 7-9 is definitely less than desirable results. However, today is a new day, as should be the mentality any professional should take into any occupation they choose. More later…