Deuce Lee Poker Ledger Blog

2011-07-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

Hello friends.

Holy crap! It's been more than a year ....

2009-01-11T19:20:00.000-08:00

Wow. Last post, Dec. 31, 2007. A full year, plus 11 days since my last post. One hundred and five poker games since my last post.
I've often thought about my blog, but have simply never taken time to get it going again. It combines two things I enjoy a lot ... poker and writing.
A lot has happened since Dec. 31, 2007. In a pinch for money, I sold the Deuce Lee Poker Ledger business to a nice fella from Kansas City, who has since moved to Dallas ... just up the road from me. It's a decision I was never proud of. I miss the ledger, miss its potential. If I only had deep pockets to further develop the concept.
I still keep the records, though. I get behind more now. Used to, I'd update before cranking my car if I wasn't at home. But it's not too bad. I caught up my last three games after playing this afternoon and tripling my $25 buy-in at a 12-man tournament.
In my real job, I often comment on how one thing you can't replace is experience. I'm gaining it more and more at the tables.
At 39 years old, I'm looking at my poker career (yes, I said career!), like golf. I may have to be old enough for the Seniors Tour before I play in a WSOP event, but I plan to one day. It's on the bucket list, right up there with loading up one day and visiting minor league ball parks, catching the Foo Fighters live and driving to California to catch up with Scotty.
For now, I'll bide my time at the Palace, my house and the Coffman Casino. And I'll try to blog more.
It's therapeutic, kind of like cashing in a big tournament.

Gotta keep records, man

2007-12-31T05:22:00.000-08:00

Here’s the deal, I’m no pro. Would love to be, but I know I’m a long way away, just like the majority of this new generation of TV-generated No Limit Hold ‘Em junkies.

Nevertheless, the game means something to me. I love the recreational value of small home games, but just like my few encounters in the casino, I want to win them all. Well, most of them. For some, the small stakes, cold beer and good friends are worth it just to hang out for the night.

Certain business affairs have sidetracked my blogging frequency, if you can even call it that. This has been more like a hiatus.

I’ve complained about bad beats, mused about some pros, and praised the one and only Deuce Lee Poker Ledger, my creation, and the reason for today’s blog.

With the exception of a small cash game tonight, my 2007 is in the books. Whether you are like me, a dreaming amateur, or one of the bushel full of legitimate pros, it’s a good idea to keep up with your results.

I’d say 90 percent of the people I play with don’t, even though they have Deuce Lee’s. The percentage may even be higher.

Like anything else in life, experience is the key to poker. The more you play, the more you learn, and the better you get, or should get! Because I track my game religiously, I know the exact number of times I played in ’07. I know how many tournaments I was in, how many times I cashed, how many firsts, how I fared in cash games, etc. The ledger’s not perfect (it could use a time played category), but it is so beneficial.

My ability to look at back at the numbers and revisit notes I took only helps my future outings.

Call me obsessive. I am. The comparing numbers, crunching them, seeing where I succeeded and failed jazzes me.

So does poker. Someday, somewhere down the road, I plan on playing in a World Series of Poker event, maybe the main event.

When I do, I’ll know every penny I ever spent playing.

I hope I designed enough room for a five-figured buy-in.

Don't be a donk

2007-05-26T18:39:00.000-07:00

After thinking 15 days was a long time in between games, I recently went 21 ... and hardly noticed. The spring gets busy when you have two sons that play summer league baseball, and you coach one of them.
Needless to say, I still believe I'm playing some decent poker this year. I did, however, donk off all my chips last game out, and man was it stupid.
With about eight people left in a game that featured 240,000 chips in play, I was second with a little more than 40k. I got in a pissing match with chip leader holding A-Q off in the small blind. He made a moderate raise of 2.25 the big blind (1,600, raise to 3,600) so I called, as did two others. With a flop of 9-3-7 rainbow, I raised 6,000 post-flop. The other two guys folded, and after some consideration, he called. The turn was another 9, and I fired out 10,000, leaving me with little more than the starting chip count of 20,000. Again, he thought a long time, and called.
The river was a Q. I checked, not really thinking I would trap, but hoping he would too so I did not have to commit any more chips to the pot. He went all in.
Here's a dilemma I seem to often have: I quick call, or at least call without proper evaluation. I could have cut my losses, fought back with what I had left, and would have if anything else had hit on the river. I should have know he was super strong.
He was; pocket kings. I could have at least asked for a chip count. He had me covered by a couple of thousand, and I was toast, left to deal at my own house for more than an hour.
The good news is, we're playing again tomorrow, and I just learned a valuable lesson. The quick call has often been something I've known I need work on (even though usually it works). I also realize I should have sniffed out the monster hand.
I really wasn't upset, because I knew how bad of a play it was. Sometimes lessons are expensive, but can pay off mucho-grande down the road. I can only hope.

Live the dream

2007-05-05T17:20:00.000-07:00

When you play poker and dream of playing on TV and winning a title and bucket-load of money, you ultimately dream of the World Series of Poker. Don't look now, but the summer's version is right around the corner.
To get there, you basically have to do one of two things: Take your own bucket-load of money to Vegas, or win a satellite seat, whether brick and mortar or online.
Everyone want's to sit down next to Doyle Brunson or Johnny Chan at the Main Event, but I'd settle for almost any no limit hold 'em tournament at the WSOP. (I would not waste my money on any other game, where I would be such an underdog, the chances would be better for the Golden State Warriors to beat the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Wait ... scratch that.)
But, I do dream of playing in the Main Event. And, for me, the only way to get there would be through a satellite, more than likely an online satellite. They're everywhere ... Full Tilt, Poker Stars, Bodog, Absolute Poker, etc. Personally, I will try this spring through Full Tilt, only because of the free rolls.
Those free rolls usually include 315 players. Only one moves on, and that's to another satellite. It would be nothing short of miraculous to win a seat to the Main Event through this route, but right now, it's the best option I have.
So, I'll keep toiling, playing the free rolls at Full Tilt and hoping for a miracle. I'd love nothing more than have July come and find myself saying, "Hello Gus Hansen. I'm one of your biggest fans."

Away too long

2007-04-06T18:14:00.000-07:00

This is strange. Very strange. I am on Day 13 without poker. Somewhere a commercial looms … “side effects include irritability, mood swings and possibly death.”
It’s not that I do not want to play. I do. Things just are not working out. The thing I am most interested in is … what has this break done to my game?
As I have stated before, I am far from a professional, far from the best player in my home game. I play as much as possible, and over the previous 13-day period before my current hiatus, I played six times. I was down for that time period, both in terms of cash and spirit.
I had talked about, wrote about, taking some time off. Never did I think it would be for this long. Further complications have come from work assignments and coaching little league baseball. This weekend, Easter has wiped out any chance of playing.
So, I think I could be looking at more than 20 days off before I play again. Holy moly!
I can’t imagine Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey or even Joseph Hachem taking so much time off. (Of course, if they do, they can afford to!) Then again, I can’t imagine playing for 35 days at the World Series of Poker with little or no break.
But, I am no Negreanu, Ivey or Hachem. I do want to improve my game, and I really believe the time away will help. I can’t play much worse than I was before.
Looking back through my ledger, I can see the last few weeks of action were … well, pitiful. There’s only one way to go … yeah, I know the cliché is up, but I meant to the card room! Where ever it may be.

Why do we play?

2007-03-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

The same thing that makes me want to rip out my heart and give up cards apparently makes me want to write. Bad beats frustrate poker players to no end.
But, "bad beat" is a term overused in card rooms and at dining tables, up there on the poker cliche board with "that's poker."
Tuesday night I truly suffered at the hands of a "bad beat."
Playing in a recreational, super-fun .25-.50 cash game, I raised to $2.50 with Ks-Kh. World Series of Poker main event veteran Tony Marquis (he played once!) made a big deal of my preflop raise! "Whoooaaaa!," he quipped.
The loosest player at the game raised all in. With $15.50 left, it was an instant call. He had 4c-4h. I was a 4-to-1 favorite preflop.
The flop was A-J-2, all spades. I just improved to 95 percent. Then it came ... the 4 of diamonds, the only ... I stress ONLY ... card he could catch to beat me.
With a 1-in-5 chance to hit a spade or king, the river was a blank, I was busted, and with that kind of luck, I passed my chips over and left.
Perhaps I was fortunate I did not have more money on me. Probably not, though.
A guy that plays that fast and loose is begging for someone to take his chips. I didn't quite have the necessary $20 to rebuy, but someone would have given it to me. The emotional side of me said, "Leave, it's going to be that type of night."
The balanced poker player in me said, "Stay, and you'll get your chips back, plus some."
Emotions won out.
I joked with friends this week I would retire after some rough outings (see previous blogs!) and one night of just foolish play. I can tell you I never got lucky with a one outer! Two tournament wins over the weekend, one when I suffered another river suckout to cripple me early -- only to come back with 1/4 a starting stack -- renewed my spirit.
Truth is, I want to play again. Now. With the lucky f-er that risked $18 on 4s. With Doyle Brunson, Joe Sebok, Ben Affleck ... anyone.
My day will come. That much I know.
What I don't know is if I'll ever make a stupid decision, catch a one-outer and bust someone out of a game.
At least I'd apologize.

LA Poker Classic

2007-03-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

I assume the next step in my unlimited-step poker addiction program is watching the World Series of Poker main event final table live on pay-per-view. Of course, it would be great to have a seat at the table to watch the action, and make a nice bank, but let's be realistic.
Over the last few years, I have monitored the WSOP through Paul "Pauly" McGuire's Tao of Poker Web site (http://taopoker.blogspot.com/). He does live updates, offers interesting commentary (not always just about poker!) and keeps you well informed about the action.
I'll stick with Pauly again, probably even if I watch the final live.
In the interim, I've been keeping up with some big events through cardplayer.com. For instance, the LA Poker Classic wrapped up Thursday (Pauly covered it, too). I will not need to wait until the World Poker Tour broadcast to catch the winner.
Here's the good news for me and you: Eric Hershler took the $2.4 million top prize, outlasting top pros like J.C. Tran, Chau Giang and Paul Wasicka, the 2006 WSOP runner-up. Why is that good for guys like us? It was Hershler's first live tournament, according to Card Player, and it just goes to show you this is a game where anyone can win.
A few years ago, when I wrote a poker story and interviewed ESPN poker color analyst Norman Chad, he had a great comment along those lines. He said we could play Tiger Woods or Roger Federer, and we'd get beat 100 times out of 100 games. In poker, on any night, he said, you or I could beat Johnny Chan or Phil Ivey.
There's hope!
On to my own game, my bad run of luck in tournaments continued at a $50, 36-person freeze out at my favorite spot to play. That's a big tournament for me!
Short-stacked with one limper, I pushed all in, only to get two calls. With Q-J of clubs, I was looking to pick up the blinds and the chips of a limper. I knew I was behind, and pocket Aces and K-Q suited confirmed that. (Surprisingly, according to cardplayer.com's odds calculator, I was actually a very slight favorite over the K-Q of spades, while the aces were almost 70 percent to win.)
After a rainbow flop of 8-9-10, I took the lead! The aces, at this point, were 3 percent to win.
The turn was a 10, and so was the river, and the guy with aces got a runner-runner boat to kick me to the curb. Ouch.
Keep hitting the felts, and don't forget: If you want to improve, know the score. Log your results, take notes, and get serious about the game. You might be the next Eric Hershler.

Found: '04 WSOP final table member

2007-02-22T18:56:00.000-08:00

Sometimes what you think of people, especially celebs and such, are shaped by meetings with them.
I'll give you an example: When I worked for the Arlington Morning News, I was the backup Texas Rangers writer. Will Clark was an ... well, he was cocky, arrogant, not a big fan of the media, and since I was young, he tried to walk all over me. To this day, I'm not a Will Clark fan. The first year of interleague play, the Padres came to Arlington. I scheduled an interview with now-Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn, that media relations failed to tell him about. He was hitting .400 at the time, and he was getting hounded about his average and interleague play, and he reluctantly told me to follow him to his locker. When I told him I wanted to do a story about what he would tell a little leaguer about hitting, his face lit up and he talked for an hour and a half. He was funny, informative and one hell of an interview. To this day, he remains one of my favorite three players, along with Greg Maddux and Nomar Garciapara.
That leads me to Matt Dean.
In 2004, the math teacher from The Woodlands, Texas finished seventh in World Series of Poker Main Event. He won a cool $675,000.
The next fall, my good friends Scott Honea, Joel Weckerly and I went to Club One in Dallas to play in a preliminary WSOP give-away qualifier hosted by 102.1 The Edge, when the great Jagger, Dean, Mondo and Jasmine were still manning the morning show. Matt Dean was playing in that event. (You had to win a seat online, but I doubt Matt had to!)
Having just penned a lengthy story on the poker explosion in Explore ..., a local magazine, I struck up a conversation with Matt Dean and told him I wish I had met him a month earlier. (I did interview Norman Chad for that story, and he was great. A lot like Gwynn, Chad started slow, but ended up being a great conversation with someone who acted more like a neighbor than a celebrity.)
Dean was accommodating, friendly and down to earth. He signed my hat and my seat number.
Then, Poof! Matt Dean disappeared.
I've tried to track him down, hoping to send him a Deuce Lee Poker Ledger. Finally, I've found him.
First, I found him recently in the results part on cardplayer.com. There is also a player list, and their results are tracked. Dean has actually been rather busy.
I also found his blog, http://blogs.chron.com/pokertable/. Very good stuff.
Because of that chance meeting at Club One, Matt Dean will always be one of my favorite pros. That night, I told him I hoped to see him in Vegas for the WSOP. I haven't given up hope.

Level footing

2007-02-18T08:14:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I know I'll never be a pro (among the thousands), is an oft-quoted statement about poker players having to have no regard for money. As mature as I believe I have gotten at the table, I don't think I'll ever be one to say a title is far more important to me than the cash prize.
That said, two of my last three outings have resulted in some pretty harsh exits. Holding A-K suited against a terrible, sizeable all-in call from J-10 off, we both flopped a pair ... my A, his J. The river was a J, and I was gone. The worst thing I did at this table was tell the guy I'd like to play him again, only after he celebrated like he had made some incredible move.
Last night, it was pocket Ks, short stacked (because of my own stupidity), versus 8-7 off. A 7 fell on the flop, and the third on the river. While inside I was steaming, outside I was a gentleman. (I was mad that my Ks were cracked, not at the guy ... though I was a little miffed he called, and did not raise, on the button with some rather stiff blinds. I was in the small.)
The combination of those beats played a big part in my internal fury. I couldn't believe my bad luck.
But, I have learned to accept it outwardly. I don't play a lot, maybe six or seven times a month, and I know bad luck can be overcome with steady play. I reminded myself that third game in the span was a tournament win.
I also reminded myself of the times I've watched pros like Josh Arieh, Phil Hellmuth and that guy at the 2006 U.S. Poker Championship who got his aces cracked cry and moan and act really childish. I can't imagine they are proud of that. I know it's not the way I want to be remembered.
Besides, I've got a bigger tournament to worry about this weekend. No sense steaming for too long.
Like I've always told my kids in baseball, there's always another pitch, always another at bat, always another game.

Coming soon!

2007-02-16T06:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome all poker fans! Before you know it, the World Series will be back.
There should be some changes coming to www.deucelee.com soon. I hope it makes the site a little easier to navigate, and for you to find out just what the Deuce Lee Poker Ledger is all about.
Don't be fooled by some impostors that have cropped up out there! The Deuce Lee is still your best option ... small enough to fit in your pocket, plenty of space to track all of your buy-ins and cashes, and take good, detailed notes.
If you are like me, you'll need the notes pages. I wear them out! I am a page ahead on notes, simply because I don't have Allen Cunningham's brain. I need to log tells, player tendencies, etc. and look back at them on occasion.
Anyway, hope your 2007 has been prosperous and profitable so far. Thanks to a nice tourney finish at the Winstar Casino in Oklahoma, I am likely to finish up for 2007 no matter what happens! Don't be fooled though ... I don't play a lot of high-stakes games.
Send me some feedback, and good luck on the felts!
Know the score

Know the score

2007-01-06T13:54:00.000-08:00

So, it's another year, and you want to improve your poker game. Then know the score.

The Deuce Lee Poker Ledger let's you log your results and take notes, too. I have been playing for more than three years, and I know every penny I have spent, not to mention have notes on players I play with.

Well, at least I used to!

I still have the oringinal Deuce Lee Poker Ledger, a small notebook I bought at Wal-Mart for less than 50 cents. Last March, the actual Deuce Lee Poker Ledger you can get at www.deucelee.com became a reality. I had the first one!

On Dec. 29, I played a small game at home, and left my ledger in my shorts pocket. The wife washed it, and everything after March vanished. (Needless to say, I am keeping a backup, now.)

Moral to this story? Keep up with your results from no limit Texas Hold 'em if you want to be the next Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan or Greg Raymer, but keep your ledger -- a Deuce Lee Poker Ledger ;) -- away from the washing machine!