12:00am: For those who don’t know what metagame is, it’s basically referred to as “the game within the game” in regards to a particular hand of poker. Sometimes it involves doing something in a poker hand that is long term -EV, but possibly short term +EV, and always with extreme rationale. It also assumes the fact that you and your opponent know each other’s tendencies relatively well — so much so that you can anticipate them anticipating your next play.

A classic example I like to use to get the point across about metagame occurs during an episode of friends when Phoebe and Rachel are trying to mess around with Monica and Chandler. Monica realized that Phoebe and Rachel know about his secret relationship with Monica when Phoebe bluffs and flirts with Chandler in an attempt to get a rise out of Monica. Monica didn’t say anything at the time, but about 10 seconds after this happens, she realizes that Phoebe and Rachel are now aware of their relationship because that’s the only possible explanation for her hitting on Chandler. Knowing that, they devise a plan to call Phoebe’s bluff and have Chandler act interested. When Chandler shows interest in Phoebe, she is shocked at first, but then realizes that Monica and Chandler now “know that they know”. With this knowledge, they call their bluff and in return she keeps up the act of being sexually attracted to chandler. When Phoebe doesn’t budge, Monica eventually realizes that “they know that we know they know”, and it goes back and forth until Joey gets a brain cramp.

Same idea here, in poker. When you know that someone knows that you know something, you try be one step ahead and go the opposite direction that they would anticipate you going. See the hand below:

PokerStars Game #16602491814: Tournament #84085572, $50.00+$2.50 Hold’em No Limit - Match Round I, Level II (15/30) - 2008/04/09 - 12:37:14 (ET)

Table ‘84085572 1′ 2-max Seat #1 is the button
Seat 1: J$lacker (1580 in chips)
Seat 2: trujm (1420 in chips)
J$lacker: posts small blind 15
trujm: posts big blind 30
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to trujm [5h 9h]
J$lacker: raises 60 to 90
trujm: calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Qc 4s Jc]
trujm: checks
J$lacker: bets 90
trujm: raises 90 to 180
J$lacker: raises 90 to 270
trujm: raises 90 to 360
J$lacker: folds
trujm collected 720 from pot
trujm: shows [5h 9h] (high card Queen)
J$lacker said, ” i never ***in hit anything”
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 720 | Rake 0
Board [Qc 4s Jc]
Seat 1: J$lacker (button) (small blind) folded on the Flop
Seat 2: trujm (big blind) collected (720)

It might look simple, but there was about 4-5 hands that led up to that. I need to get some rest, but tomorrow I will go over the details of what I was thinking at the time, and how it was set up in part 2.

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

2:09pm: Well, as promised, I am now on a better sleep schedule. I woke up today around 8:00am, and decided to put in a morning/afternoon session. The results were mixed, but for the most part good. I played, in my opinion, completely lights out. However, the three times that I lost I got turned or rivered when the money was all in and I was ahead. However, I did get lucky once, when I flopped top two and the guy flopped a flush, and we get it all in on the flop and I turned a full house. So “decision wise”, I’m probably more like 8-1 rather than 9-0 when you include who was ahead when the money went in.

There’s a very interesting hand with a good bit of metagame involved that I want to share with you, but it’s going to take a while to analyze it and type out my thoughts, so I will post that later on.

In the meantime, my GF has to work night for the first time ever tonight, so I have to run by the local cable company and pick up a HD DVR box. I have TIVO, but I never hooked it up to my new TV because it’s not a HD DVR, and I didn’t want to go through the trouble of setting everything up when I knew eventually I’d get around to doing what I’m about to do today

More later… good luck to everyone playing today.

*EDIT*, 6:58pm: Was able to get in one more game before I watch the Hornets game on TV, and I won it, so now I’m 6-3.

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