Curtis Mayfield III's Poker Blog

Tom Dwan loses to "LuckExpress"

If you haven't heard already Tom Dwan took a bit of a hit losing his first televised Million Dollar Challenge to Marigliano AKA "LuckExpress." Both players put $250k on the line and battled it out for hours until Marigliano finally took it down with an edge of $22k. Dwan was his usual aggressive self and kept the pressure on his opponent hand after hand. He especially applied lots of pressure from the  button as he should.

The ironic thing about this heads-up match is that Dwan won most of the hands. In the large scope of things this is not nearly as big of a deal as it is being made out to be. Because Tom Dwan, as fantastic and dynamic of a poker player that he is, still is human and can be beat. The same goes for Ivey, Antonius and the other top echelon cash game poker players. The difference is that they get beat less often than most and that along with a great feel for the game and reading ability keep them ahead of the pack. Trust me on this one. Just because Dwan lost one match does not mean he has lost his edge.

Stop beating yourself up

Stop beating yourself up after the hand is over. We have all experienced times when we have not made the best move at the best time. The form of poker can definitely magnify that kind of mistake. No Limit Texas Hold'em is the most lethal form of poker because there is instant elimination or loss of bankroll should you make a major mistake. Limit games the worst you can do is lose a pot although Pot Limit you can lose a significant amount of bankroll on one hand.

More to the point is that we all make mistakes. The difference between really good players and amateurs is that the really good poker player make fewer mistakes in the same span of time. The fact of the matter is that no matter what your poker "status" you cannot change the outcome of the hand. It's no fun realizing that you made a mistake after the fact but it also doesn't make a whole lot of sense beating yourself up about it either. Learn from it and try not to make that mistake again.

Posted by Curtis Mayfield III on Thursday, November 19, 2009 - 06:54 | login or register to post comments

Cheating in Poker

Poker and cheating have been tied together since the beginning of time. Smoke filled rooms and stories of cards up a players sleeve or in a shoe or wherever players though they could hide them. Fortunately, times have changed and things have calmed down considerably. This at least applies to the live poker games. Yes, I am sure that there are still players out there that conspire against others at various poker rooms to make a profit. It is unfortunate but it does happen.

One of the best things that any poker player can do is pick up on what kind of methodology cheaters use. As a kid I used to perform magic tricks with a deck of cards. I enjoyed it quite a bit and had a blast entertaining people. Now, as an adult I can clearly see where some of those "tricks" could be used in a live poker game without being noticed by a great majority of the players at the table. Obviously, anyone that chooses to engage in this kind of activity risks great bodily harm at the hand of his or her opponent(s). Pick up a copy of "The Expert at the Card Table" by S.W. Erdnase. You will be glad you did.

Home Games and Good Times

Playing in a home game can be a whole lot of fun. The players are generally very familiar with each other and in many cases known each other for years. The conversations range from politics to sports and back again but the action is always fun. There is something very satisfying about sitting around with a bunch of friends playing poker. Of all the competitive environments I have had the pleasure to participate in this by far ranks the highest. Not because you are playing against pros or it's the NFL. It ranks the highest because these are the same guys you have competed against all of your life and loved every minute of it. For most of us it is from grade school to college. For some it went all the way into major league baseball and the NFL.

Posted by Curtis Mayfield III on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 06:02 | login or register to post comments

Poker Trends and Strategy

I ran very well over this past weekend and made two final tables. Both poker tournaments were multi-table tournaments with more than 180 players in each. There was no magic in how I was able to grind out the victory but I definitely noticed a trend that seems like it will not be going away any time soon. I noticed that every time I would bet out post flop when I had a big hand I was getting minimum raised. From my experience this usually means two things.

1. My opponent has a big draw and is trying to get more money in the pot
2. My opponent has the best hand
   
   Posted by Curtis Mayfield III on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 15:03 | login or register to post comments

Don't develop Bad Habits

One of the things I preach to people all the time is that you must play good fundamental poker. Please do not confuse that with ABC poker because that is not what I am saying at all. Fundamental poker simply means that you do not put yourself at a disadvantage any more than the scenario dictates. Protect your made hands and good draws and fold when you are beat. Those are very simple fundamental concepts but you would be surprised how many of us forget when we are running bad.

Having a bad run can ruin your fundamentals if you are not careful. We all want to win and make a profit. But when we begin to alter what we know to be true we also begin to lose our advantage. When things are not falling your way we need to cling to our fundamentals even more. So be in tune with the game and focused on the task at hand. If you do that you will recognize a bad run earlier which will save you chips and profit. Most importantly it will keep you from developing bad habits.

Play more Hands!

Yesterday a friend of mine asked me how I manage to cash 20% in large multi-table tournaments. I told him there were no secrets or anything that he hadn't heard before. I also told him that I have refined my game enough to know the right time to get my chips in the middle too. I also have a much better feel for the game every year. You can almost smell weakness now. Ultimately you still need some cards to fall your way but those come too.

The one change I have made to my game from this year to last is that I play more hands. I am constantly involved in pots trying to give myself a chance to get lucky and hit a big hand. I have found that it works for me. I don't get reckless but I do play as many pots as I possibly can early on in the poker tournament. If you can double up or triple up early everything has to run through you. When you are playing poker from behind a big stack you have a huge advantage over your opponents.

Posted by Curtis Mayfield III on Friday, November 13, 2009 - 08:21 | login or register to post comments

Fearlessness and Poker

A couple of days ago I happened to be sitting down in my local casino in a tournament. This one was not particularly large and had only 70 players or so. Nothing out of the ordinary took place the first hour or two but I did notice a player sitting to my right that seemed to be playing not to lose. He actually made himself into quite a target but he had doubled up early on and still had a few chips. Basically this player was playing his cards and absolutely nothing else.

During the break for some reason he decided to confide in me of all people. He told me he was new to the game and he really wasn't sure of what his opponents had or were trying to do to him. My first thought was "I actually feel sorry for this guy because he is being honest" Immediately I could tell this guy was not lying because of the way he had been playing and giving up on so many pots. Of course I could not offer him any counsel while we were in the heat of battle and told him if he busted out I would sit down with him and discuss some of his play.

Posted by Curtis Mayfield III on Thursday, November 12, 2009 - 16:39 | login or register to post comments

Venetian Deep Stacks Extravaganza

The Venetian Deep Stacks Extravaganza is taking place as we speak. This tournament has been on my radar for quite some time and I gotta tell you that I am excited just to talk about it. Basically it is a series of $300 and $500 no limit poker tournaments culminating with the $2500 championship at the end. This is one of the most reasonably priced poker series around and it includes many professional poker players. The structure is outstanding and the smallest stack you will be playing is $10k all the way up to $20k for the championship event.

The series is run for the common man. It gives you a chance to mix it up with some very good players as well as a few pros. I have played poker many times in the Venetian poker room and it is the best run poker room on the strip in my opinion. They treat everyone like a king no matter what stakes you are playing. I plan on playing in the Deep Stacks series next year as it is run each quarter. So if you get an opportunity to play in one of these tournaments you should take it. It is well worth your time.

WSOP is Completed

Now that the WSOP main event is over I am completely burned out. As much as I enjoy watching the events the main event just wears me out due to the length of time it takes to get it over with. I don't think we need to re-hash my thoughts on that topic but I do believe they can make even more improvements to make the WSOP main event run smoother next year. As it stands Joe Cada is now the youngest winner of the main event now.

In my previous post I said he would be the likely winner. Now that he has delivered on my prediction I wish Joe Cada well and hope that he carries the responsibilities bestowed upon him as the quasi-ambassador of the game well. He seems like a nice enough guy and his conduct never got out of line from what I could see. Only time will tell how seriously or not he takes his role of promoting the game.