Third Man Walking

Your correspondent reviews some of his recent activities, then journeys to the $5/$5 tables and tries to control for luck in evaluating his recent play. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:21 Thoughts on Hustler Casino Live's Million Dollar Game 3:33 Appearing on the Thinking Poker Podcast: https://www.thinkingpoker.net/2024/05/episode-439-charlie-wilmoth/ 3:57 WSOP plans 5:27 Thoughts on downswinging...

Your correspondent meditates on banging his head against the wall. Featured topics include being surrounded at the table by people getting massages, trying and failing to assemble a cardboard box, moving to a new apartment, the documentary "The Contestant" (streaming on Hulu), the Pittsburgh Pirates, growing up in West Virginia, getting into stranger and stranger music, and taking a call about a j...

Your correspondent reflects on getting slowrolled -- or something? -- in an annoying all-in pot, then reviews a $5/$10 session. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:21 A $5/$10 hand: 99 on J94xhh7x 12:30 $5/$10 NLHE session (and some thoughts on a recent casino promotion) 14:56 AA (no heart) on Q96hhx3xQx 17:43 66 on T76rKss 19:57 QQ on A98r58 23:15 J9cc on T84ccx 25:39 64dd on Q43hhx7x3hhh http://twitt...

Your correspondent returns to the subject of his downswing, which continues despite his best efforts to jinx it into going away by talking about it. 0:21 Downswing Part 2 1:31 Taking variance is part of the job 4:25 The downswing leads to bad habits 8:53 Why I'll keep grinding instead of focusing on teaching 15:04 5/10 NLHE hand: TT on T85rJxQx FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE http://twitter.com/third...

Your correspondent discusses his thought process as he endures the worst downswing of his poker career. He also reviews a recent $5/$10 session. 0:17 Maintaining a healthy relationship to the game in the midst of a big downswing 8:29 Dealing with a long stretch of boredom, in which moneymaking opportunities are few and far between FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 20:22 $5/$10 NLHE session 21:13 AKo al...

Your correspondent visits poker rooms in the Bay Area and Sacramento, folding flopped straights and finding ways to lose ridiculous amounts of money with ace-king. Along the way, he compares live poker in Los Angeles to poker elsewhere, and reflects on a recent bad run. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:20 Traveling to Northern California 0:42 Poker in American cities that are not Los Angeles or Las...

Your correspondent discusses Michael Craig's poker-boom-era classic "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King." He follows up on how he finished in the tournament discussed in the last episode, then reviews a double-board PLO bomb pot he played that left him feeling frustrated with himself. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:20 "The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King" 12:32 A correctio...

Your correspondent gets through Day 1 of a tournament for the first time in over five years. He reviews the tournament hands that brought him to Day 2 glory, then recaps a cash session of $5/$5/$10 (with straddles of up to $160) and $5/$5. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:16 Your correspondent bags a tournament! ($1200 LAPC Million at Commerce) 3:42 AJhh on J95r (big blind = 800) 6:04 AA on A98r2r (...

Your correspondent discusses why two thousand dollars is an important sum at $5/$10 and $10/$20. He also discusses his recent experiences playing $10/$20, then reviews a recent $5/$10 session. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:21 Why $2,000 is such an important threshold in mid-stakes cash games 4:40 Comparing $10/$20 to $5/$10 7:17 KsJx on JT8xssTx7x 9:54 $5/$10 NLHE session 10:23 AKo on Q83rThh 12:...

Your correspondent discusses how to filter poker strategy advice -- which advice should be ignored and which is worth taking? How can you tell them apart, and when should you feel satisfied with uncertainty? FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:16 How do you find good advice in poker? 12:47 5/10 NLHE session 12:56 AKss all-in preflop 14:04 QJss 4bet preflop 15:29 AQss on AT5r3dd4x 17:42 JTcc on 942xxc9x...

Your correspondent explains why he chose not to go to Las Vegas to play tournaments last month, and relays how his experience playing the WSOP Main Event in 2019 shaped his skepticism about playing tournaments at all. He then reviews a recent 5/10 session. 0:21 Tournament skepticism and the 2019 Main Event 13:49 5/10 NLHE session (and staying off my phone) 15:09 KK all-in preflop 17:41 98hh QT7dxd...

Your correspondent reviews a recent 5/10/20 session, then discusses "Game of Gold" and Alex O'Brien's new book "The Truth Detective." 0:21 5/10/20 NLHE session 1:22 AKcc on KT7r3x 2:36 KQo on KK2rTdd6x 4:00 AKss all-in preflop 5:09 KTdd on QT8xxd6hhQx 6:32 AKo on AJ4r2ss7x 9:19 AQcc on AQ4ddx4xAx 13:07 AA on 632rKhh 15:52 QTss on JTThhx9hhh4x 17:53 AdAx 995xdd3xAx 19:38 T9dd on Q85hhdThhhQx 21:29...

Your correspondent reviews a recent break-even stretch. He then considers recent rumors of cheating in high-stakes private games and offers a simple solution: Stop playing private games, and come play poker at casinos instead. Finally, he reviews a recent 5/10 session. 0:58 Why we shouldn't assume downswings have obvious causes 1:34 Whiny bad-beat story: 5/5/10/20/40 KK on TT3rAx 3:26 Nearly a cat...

Your correspondent asks whether, in the next ten years, poker will get tougher at the same rate it has in the last ten. Then, he reviews a recent $10/$20/$40 session. 2:37 Vanessa Selbst (44) vs. Kevin MacPhee (A9o) in the 2012 EPT Main Event (Watch here: ) 6:10 How and why players will get better in the future 7:35 Why non-NLHE poker variants will continue to grow in importance 13:25 $10/$20/$40...

Your correspondent rereads Blockhead's gritty gambling memoir "Seat Open," then reviews a 5/5/10 session that blossomed into a bigger game. 11:36 5/5/10 session 11:47 A7cc on 553xccAxKccc 14:41 KQo on A53rJcc 16:52 KTss on AKTccx7ccc6cccc 19:17 We switch the game to 5/10/20 19:41 55 on QT9r8dd4x 21:17 J9hh on QT8ddhAx 22:18 AdAx on 875xdd8xKx 25:17 AcTx on 542ccxQssTx FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE...

Your correspondent recovers from a minor illness, then plays a pair of cash sessions, one at 5/10 and another at 5/5. 0:22 Going to Las Vegas and getting COVID 2:45 5/10 NLHE session 2:51 AsAc on J53hxh2x5hhh 4:12 AQo (no spade) 762sxsAsss8x 7:01 77 on T82dxdKx8x 10:27 AQdd on AQ2rAss7sss 15:03 99 on Q97dddTx4x 19:46 5/5 NLHE session 20:29 TT on 993xss2x 21:32 K6hh on 642cxcJccc4x 23:28 KTcc on Q7...

Your correspondent ties off some loose ends from the last episode about private games, sharing his own limited experience playing in them. He also reviews a session where he made a disastrous call. 0:55 Private games compared to home games 2:27 What are private games actually like? 6:35 My experience with a private game in a casino 9:18 What can be done about more and more games going private? 11:...

Your correspondent contemplates cash-game poker's identity crisis as more and more games go private. What do the increasing number of private games tell us about what players want poker to be? And how have pros and other serious players contributed to the downfall of public games? 0:48 Is poker fundamentally a competitive activity or a friendly gambling pastime? 5:05 How pros are dependent upon re...

Your correspondent struggles with bad luck and bad vibes in a recent cash session and in a big tournament. 0:20 Why this episode is what it is 1:15 5/10 NLHE cash session 3:33 AQo (no spade) on AJ7sxsAxTx 7:22 JJ on AA4r3ddKddd 9:12 KK (no heart) on 543r2hh5hhh 11:30 TT on K83r 13:40 KJhh on K54xxh6hhAhhh 15:55 Q8hh on 964xhh3x2x 18:38 KQo on KQJssx 21:08 $3600 tournament review 29:21 AQo all-in p...

Your correspondent looks back at the late Doyle Brunson's 1984 book "Poker Wisdom of a Champion" to see what it has to teach us about poker in 2023. He then reviews hands from a recent $1400 buyin tournament in Los Angeles, asking himself in the process if the tournament life makes sense for him. 0:19 "Poker Wisdom of a Champion" 9:26 Tournament hand review - $1400 million-dollar guarantee 20:11 9...

Your correspondent discusses a recent score of $16,000 in a bad-beat jackpot, then reviews an annoying day of 5/5 and 5/5/10/20. 0:15 Jackpot hand! JJ on A65AA 4:53 Session review (starting at 5/5) 8:38 QQ on J83ssxQcc 10:01 QQ all-in preflop 11:14 Double-board PLO bomb pot: A997 with A9dd on A95ccx and 842xdd 14:18 (at 5/5/10/20) 85ss on 976xsx4cc6x 16:28 K6dd on T74hdh3ddTddd 18:03 KQdd on 982r5...

Your correspondent reports back from a recent week-long trip to play tournaments in Las Vegas. Along the way, he compares tournaments to the cash games he usually plays and wonders if it's time to try playing tournaments more seriously. Also, he battles intense hunger while playing, then faces an ethical dilemma in a hand against an opponent who keeps exposing her cards. 3:10 88 on 753ccx5x5x 5:54...

Your correspondent reviews Aaron Sorkin's movie "Molly's Game" and the Molly Bloom memoir upon which it's based, finding one of the two narratives to be much, much more compelling than the other. 0:55 "Molly's Game" the movie 10:46 "Molly's Game" the book The Indiewire interview with Sorkin: https://www.indiewire.com/awards/industry/mollys-game-aaron-sorkin-jessica-chastain-idris-elba-oscars-12019...

Your correspondent argues that the poker dream is still alive, and that poker should still market itself to players who want to win. 0:22 The Jonathan Little / Matt Berkey Twitter thread 13:38 Phil Galfond's argument for aspiring winning players as engines of poker's future The Galfond video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVw2k4D0fsc 18:32 5/5/10 NLHE session 18:50 TT all-in preflop 21:16 AdAx o...

A no-hand-history episode! Your correspondent shares some speculative thoughts about the future of RTA in live poker. He argues that casinos and floor staff need to be proactive about learning what solvers and RTA are and taking steps to prevent players from using them at the table. He then reviews Mike Matusow's 2009 autobiography "Check-Raising the Devil," contrasting poker of the boom era with...