Third Man Walking

Your correspondent tries to fight off bad thoughts while playing $5/$10 and $5/$5 at two casinos. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 1:05 On the "dead zone" in late afternoon public poker games 2:32 $5/$10 NLHE session 2:39 AKcc all-in preflop 3:17 KK all-in preflop 4:14 KK all-in preflop (again) 5:46 JJ on QT2hxh4cc 8:15 QTss on QJ6rAxA 10:22 $5/$5 session later that day at a different casino 13:27 AKo...

Your correspondent talks to screenwriter and poker player Josh Wilcox, who wrote the upcoming poker movie "Dead Money." Your correspondent then reviews a recent $5/$10 session. FORUM DISCUSSION : CLICK HERE 1:35 Josh Wilcox on "Dead Money" 15:55 Playing a freeroll tournament 20:09 $5/$10 NLHE session 20:15 AKss on K72ccxAxQx 22:04 A7dd on Q96ddxJxAx 24:57 AKss (again) on KQ7xhhTdd 27:50 A9o on 963...

Your correspondent offers a prescription for the recent controversy surrounding Jonathan Tamayo's victory in the Main Event of the World Series of Poker. He then discusses potential cheating in online poker and -- ugh -- public live poker games, and finds parallels between what's happening now and descriptions of the early days of poker in James McManus' "Cowboys Full." Then, he reviews a profitab...

Your correspondent reflects on the slowness of live poker and how it can make life feel very, very long. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:15 Variance & time in live poker 10:37 $5/$10 NLHE session 10:43 TT on Q75rQ9 12:29 A8hh on AJ4rTdd5ddd 14:47 AJss on A43ddx2x2x 17:57 99 on J96hhxJcc 19:44 KdJx on T96ddd 20:53 77 on 976r3ssTx 23:27 98o on 772xss6hh5x 25:08 KTss on 944ssx7sssJx http://twitter...

Your correspondent thinks back to how he thought about poker six years ago. Then, he plays a $5/$10 game where he tries to fend off some splashy, aggressive villains. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:15 Las Vegas trip recap 1:03 Your correspondent reflects on how his approach to poker has changed since 2018 8:50 $5/$10 session and a rant about table changes 12:52 76o on 853hhx9cc 14:22 KK (no diamon...

Your correspondent prepares for a brief trip to Las Vegas. He then thinks about what it means that the real action in cash games always seems to be happening somewhere else, hidden from view. He also deals with an annoying opponent in a $5/$10 session. FORUM DISCUSSION: CLICK HERE 0:18 Las Vegas weekend plans 5:15 Why the real action in cash game poker always seems to be out of view Here is Pokeri...

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...