This was an historic speech. Even if Obama ultimately loses, he's changed this country for the better just from his oration, IMO...
And hey, omg, amazing -- an american politician who isn't talking to the public like we're children, but like we're adults... brav-fucking-o
Two points I thought were especially important:
Obama said that anger in the black community was real and had to be dealt with.
Obama also said that corporate greed is the biggest problem in this country and that racial issues were often used as a smokescreen for that fact/
No major political candidate in this country has ever said these things. It's significant.
Say what you want about his politics, the man could have easily threw his friend under the bus for the sake of his campaign. Instead he had the courage of his convictions to take his critics on head-on, defend himself and still renounce views he disagrees with. That's refreshing.
Finally, his statements about white anger and about problematic things the left say were very revealing. Obama says he wants unity and people say "its just words" but this speech was more than words - he acknowledged the suffering of people on the other side of the aisle as real, and that is a huge first step toward unity.
I think this whole thing shows more about Obama the man than any speech. He's handled it all with class and integrity and stayed positive while still acknowledging the viewpoints of others. There hasn't been a politician like him in America in a long time, if ever.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Set over Set over Set - Finding Sense in the Nonsense (AKA The Lagtard)
1. SoSoS:
Full Tilt Poker Game #5596575343: Tier Two $24+$2 Sit & Go (42591921), Table 2 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:23:07 ET - 2008/03/11
Seat 2: Cixelsyd23f (2,015)
Seat 3: ALC69ALC (1,455)
Seat 4: The Poker Golem (3,880)
Seat 6: cubby1974 (905)
Seat 7: KingMelis (1,130)
Seat 8: gutshot12345678 (2,980)
The Poker Golem posts the small blind of 40
cubby1974 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cixelsyd23f [6s 7c]
KingMelis folds
gutshot12345678 raises to 200
Cixelsyd23f folds
ALC69ALC folds
The Poker Golem calls 160
cubby1974 raises to 905, and is all in
gutshot12345678 calls 705
The Poker Golem calls 705
*** FLOP *** [Kh 7s 6c]
The Poker Golem checks
gutshot12345678 checks
*** TURN *** [Kh 7s 6c] [Jd]
The Poker Golem bets 1,300
gutshot12345678 raises to 2,075, and is all in
The Poker Golem calls 775
gutshot12345678 shows [6h 6d]
The Poker Golem shows [7d 7h]
cubby1974 shows [9d 9h]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 7s 6c Jd] [9s]
gutshot12345678 shows three of a kind, Sixes
The Poker Golem shows three of a kind, Sevens
The Poker Golem wins the side pot (4,150) with three of a kind, Sevens
cubby1974 shows three of a kind, Nines
cubby1974 wins the main pot (2,715) with three of a kind, Nines
gutshot12345678 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,865 Main pot 2,715. Side pot 4,150. | Rake 0
Board: [Kh 7s 6c Jd 9s]
Seat 2: Cixelsyd23f didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: ALC69ALC (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: The Poker Golem (small blind) showed [7d 7h] and won (4,150) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 6: cubby1974 (big blind) showed [9d 9h] and won (2,715) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 7: KingMelis didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: gutshot12345678 showed [6h 6d] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes
Nothing really to say other than wow. Just a crazy hand, glad I folded pre :)
2. The LAGtard
There is a certain type of player in low-stakes online sit n go play that I call the "LAGtard." To make this term a little clearer, I'll break it down. The LAG in "LAGtard" stands for "Loose-Aggressive." It is a common term used in Poker conversation to denote a player that plays a lot of hands and plays them aggressively. Many of the world's best players play this style. I myself am more of a natural "TAG" (or tight-aggressive) player.
So being a LAG is not in itself good or bad. There are many nuanced ways to be a LAG. For example, many great players give the appearance of being a LAG maniac by raising small very often, but by getting out if they encounter strong resistance or if the bets get big (and, assuming, they haven't hit their hand). The LAGtard, however, is anything but nuanced, hence the -tard ending.
LAGtard play tends to break down along these lines:
Always make a pot sized raise. Either before or after the flop. It doesn't matter what cards you have, or what cards the other person has, or, for that matter, what the board reads. PSB (post-sized bet) pre-flop, if checked to or first to act on flop, PSB.
Heads-up, LAGtards use a very unsophisticated gameplan.
They will raise very often. Some LAGtards will simply double the big blind. Others will make a standard raise. But regardless, they will raise with a lot of hands. This in itself is not a bad strategy.
It's after the flop where this strategy is the most exploitable. Assuming I flat call the LAGtard's preflop raise, I expect they will shove any flop at least 75% of the time, irrespective of their holding or the board. This is the LAGtard way.
As you can imagine, this tendency is especially exploitable:
Full Tilt Poker Game #5597188639: $22 + $2 Sit & Go (Turbo) (42598525), Table 1 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:10:32 ET - 2008/03/11
Seat 1: Cixelsyd23f (3,400)
Seat 2: BRIANSPATIO (5,600)
BRIANSPATIO posts the small blind of 150
Cixelsyd23f posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cixelsyd23f [As Ac]
BRIANSPATIO raises to 600
Cixelsyd23f calls 300
*** FLOP *** [9s Qs 3d]
Cixelsyd23f checks
BRIANSPATIO bets 5,000, and is all in
Cixelsyd23f calls 2,800, and is all in
BRIANSPATIO shows [Ks Th]
Cixelsyd23f shows [As Ac]
Uncalled bet of 2,200 returned to LAGTARD
*** TURN *** [9s Qs 3d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [9s Qs 3d 6d] [8h]
LAGTARD shows King Queen high
Cixelsyd23f shows a pair of Aces
Cixelsyd23f wins the pot (6,800) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,800 | Rake 0
Board: [9s Qs 3d 6d 8h]
Seat 1: Cixelsyd23f (big blind) showed [As Ac] and won (6,800) with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: LAGTARD (small blind) showed [Ks Th] and lost with King Queen high
Its always possible that the LAGtard would call an all-in reraise, but I do not want to give him the chance to get away when I have a big hand. Since I can count on him to shove a lot of flops, and since I am going to be ahead of his range on almost any flop, I can take the chance that he'll actually hit the flop hard enough to beat me. While I'm sure it will happen eventually, it hasn't happened to me yet. Instead, I've won many tournaments against these players by simply being patient and tight, folding a LOT (encouraging them to continue overbetting the pot), and waiting for the right sort of spot.
Incidentally, I don't need AA to make this play. I will make it with KK or QQ most of the time. I will almost always flatcall with any pair and evaluate the flop. The other day I did so with 66. The flop came Q 4 3 rainbow. He shoved and I called, figuring the best he had was middle pair. Sure enough he did. He hit trips on the turn and won the tournament, but still, I had him drawing to five outs, so I felt fine with it.
Identifying the LAGtard:
This is easy. The LAGtard routinely bets pot, presumably because its easier to push that scary POT button than to actually type a reasonable bet. Watch the table, if a player is routinely betting pot, even sometimes in Way Ahead/Way Behind type situations, they're probably a LAGtard.
Keep in mind, I think you have to notice this behavior a LOT for it, on its own, to establish LAGtardation (TM)(R). Some good players play a laggy style which will include a fair number of PSBs. Watch what hands they are turning over and gauge how credible their bets seem.
An even easier way to know if you've got a LAGtard on your hands is by checking their stats on Sharkscope.
I've found that 90% of LAGtard's I encounter have an ROI worse than -7% and usually worse than -20%. Obviously if the player has a positive ROI they are usually at least reasonably good, and thus, generally not a LAGtard. What about 0% through -6%? Well, I'll admit that -7% is pretty arbitrary, there are borderline cases, but what I've noticed with some consistency is that most people in the 2% through -2% range are Tight Passive players. They don't play too wildly, so their win-loss rates don't fluctuate a bunch. They are break-even players. (I love it when they're in my big blind!).
In conclusion, LAGtards can be frustrating. They make infuriating plays, destroy your drawing odds, and suck out on you like the horrid donkeys that they are. Whatever you do, do not play into their game, this only helps them. Tighten up and wait for them to make a mistake - or induce one. Its only a matter of time before the TARD shines through.
Rob
Full Tilt Poker Game #5596575343: Tier Two $24+$2 Sit & Go (42591921), Table 2 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 19:23:07 ET - 2008/03/11
Seat 2: Cixelsyd23f (2,015)
Seat 3: ALC69ALC (1,455)
Seat 4: The Poker Golem (3,880)
Seat 6: cubby1974 (905)
Seat 7: KingMelis (1,130)
Seat 8: gutshot12345678 (2,980)
The Poker Golem posts the small blind of 40
cubby1974 posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #3
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cixelsyd23f [6s 7c]
KingMelis folds
gutshot12345678 raises to 200
Cixelsyd23f folds
ALC69ALC folds
The Poker Golem calls 160
cubby1974 raises to 905, and is all in
gutshot12345678 calls 705
The Poker Golem calls 705
*** FLOP *** [Kh 7s 6c]
The Poker Golem checks
gutshot12345678 checks
*** TURN *** [Kh 7s 6c] [Jd]
The Poker Golem bets 1,300
gutshot12345678 raises to 2,075, and is all in
The Poker Golem calls 775
gutshot12345678 shows [6h 6d]
The Poker Golem shows [7d 7h]
cubby1974 shows [9d 9h]
*** RIVER *** [Kh 7s 6c Jd] [9s]
gutshot12345678 shows three of a kind, Sixes
The Poker Golem shows three of a kind, Sevens
The Poker Golem wins the side pot (4,150) with three of a kind, Sevens
cubby1974 shows three of a kind, Nines
cubby1974 wins the main pot (2,715) with three of a kind, Nines
gutshot12345678 stands up
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,865 Main pot 2,715. Side pot 4,150. | Rake 0
Board: [Kh 7s 6c Jd 9s]
Seat 2: Cixelsyd23f didn't bet (folded)
Seat 3: ALC69ALC (button) didn't bet (folded)
Seat 4: The Poker Golem (small blind) showed [7d 7h] and won (4,150) with three of a kind, Sevens
Seat 6: cubby1974 (big blind) showed [9d 9h] and won (2,715) with three of a kind, Nines
Seat 7: KingMelis didn't bet (folded)
Seat 8: gutshot12345678 showed [6h 6d] and lost with three of a kind, Sixes
Nothing really to say other than wow. Just a crazy hand, glad I folded pre :)
2. The LAGtard
There is a certain type of player in low-stakes online sit n go play that I call the "LAGtard." To make this term a little clearer, I'll break it down. The LAG in "LAGtard" stands for "Loose-Aggressive." It is a common term used in Poker conversation to denote a player that plays a lot of hands and plays them aggressively. Many of the world's best players play this style. I myself am more of a natural "TAG" (or tight-aggressive) player.
So being a LAG is not in itself good or bad. There are many nuanced ways to be a LAG. For example, many great players give the appearance of being a LAG maniac by raising small very often, but by getting out if they encounter strong resistance or if the bets get big (and, assuming, they haven't hit their hand). The LAGtard, however, is anything but nuanced, hence the -tard ending.
LAGtard play tends to break down along these lines:
Always make a pot sized raise. Either before or after the flop. It doesn't matter what cards you have, or what cards the other person has, or, for that matter, what the board reads. PSB (post-sized bet) pre-flop, if checked to or first to act on flop, PSB.
Heads-up, LAGtards use a very unsophisticated gameplan.
They will raise very often. Some LAGtards will simply double the big blind. Others will make a standard raise. But regardless, they will raise with a lot of hands. This in itself is not a bad strategy.
It's after the flop where this strategy is the most exploitable. Assuming I flat call the LAGtard's preflop raise, I expect they will shove any flop at least 75% of the time, irrespective of their holding or the board. This is the LAGtard way.
As you can imagine, this tendency is especially exploitable:
Full Tilt Poker Game #5597188639: $22 + $2 Sit & Go (Turbo) (42598525), Table 1 - 150/300 - No Limit Hold'em - 20:10:32 ET - 2008/03/11
Seat 1: Cixelsyd23f (3,400)
Seat 2: BRIANSPATIO (5,600)
BRIANSPATIO posts the small blind of 150
Cixelsyd23f posts the big blind of 300
The button is in seat #2
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Cixelsyd23f [As Ac]
BRIANSPATIO raises to 600
Cixelsyd23f calls 300
*** FLOP *** [9s Qs 3d]
Cixelsyd23f checks
BRIANSPATIO bets 5,000, and is all in
Cixelsyd23f calls 2,800, and is all in
BRIANSPATIO shows [Ks Th]
Cixelsyd23f shows [As Ac]
Uncalled bet of 2,200 returned to LAGTARD
*** TURN *** [9s Qs 3d] [6d]
*** RIVER *** [9s Qs 3d 6d] [8h]
LAGTARD shows King Queen high
Cixelsyd23f shows a pair of Aces
Cixelsyd23f wins the pot (6,800) with a pair of Aces
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 6,800 | Rake 0
Board: [9s Qs 3d 6d 8h]
Seat 1: Cixelsyd23f (big blind) showed [As Ac] and won (6,800) with a pair of Aces
Seat 2: LAGTARD (small blind) showed [Ks Th] and lost with King Queen high
Its always possible that the LAGtard would call an all-in reraise, but I do not want to give him the chance to get away when I have a big hand. Since I can count on him to shove a lot of flops, and since I am going to be ahead of his range on almost any flop, I can take the chance that he'll actually hit the flop hard enough to beat me. While I'm sure it will happen eventually, it hasn't happened to me yet. Instead, I've won many tournaments against these players by simply being patient and tight, folding a LOT (encouraging them to continue overbetting the pot), and waiting for the right sort of spot.
Incidentally, I don't need AA to make this play. I will make it with KK or QQ most of the time. I will almost always flatcall with any pair and evaluate the flop. The other day I did so with 66. The flop came Q 4 3 rainbow. He shoved and I called, figuring the best he had was middle pair. Sure enough he did. He hit trips on the turn and won the tournament, but still, I had him drawing to five outs, so I felt fine with it.
Identifying the LAGtard:
This is easy. The LAGtard routinely bets pot, presumably because its easier to push that scary POT button than to actually type a reasonable bet. Watch the table, if a player is routinely betting pot, even sometimes in Way Ahead/Way Behind type situations, they're probably a LAGtard.
Keep in mind, I think you have to notice this behavior a LOT for it, on its own, to establish LAGtardation (TM)(R). Some good players play a laggy style which will include a fair number of PSBs. Watch what hands they are turning over and gauge how credible their bets seem.
An even easier way to know if you've got a LAGtard on your hands is by checking their stats on Sharkscope.
I've found that 90% of LAGtard's I encounter have an ROI worse than -7% and usually worse than -20%. Obviously if the player has a positive ROI they are usually at least reasonably good, and thus, generally not a LAGtard. What about 0% through -6%? Well, I'll admit that -7% is pretty arbitrary, there are borderline cases, but what I've noticed with some consistency is that most people in the 2% through -2% range are Tight Passive players. They don't play too wildly, so their win-loss rates don't fluctuate a bunch. They are break-even players. (I love it when they're in my big blind!).
In conclusion, LAGtards can be frustrating. They make infuriating plays, destroy your drawing odds, and suck out on you like the horrid donkeys that they are. Whatever you do, do not play into their game, this only helps them. Tighten up and wait for them to make a mistake - or induce one. Its only a matter of time before the TARD shines through.
Rob
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