Curtis Mayfeild III's Poker Blog

Playing poker requires keeping accurate records of your sessions

A lot of people ask me why I keep track of so many hands on my iPhone when I am playing live. The reason for this is because I like to take notes and know my opponents tendencies. Also, I keep track of my wins and losses so that I can continue to execute tight bankroll management. Most importantly you want to keep accurate records of your poker expenses for tax purposes. At the end of the year you will need to prepare your taxes and any winning you have can be considered a capital gain and therefore is taxable.
 
Many players seem to think that they can play poker tournaments and cash games with immunity from paying taxes. The minute you win more than $1199 those dollars become taxable and the casino must account for the payout. This is why they ask you to sign a form whenever you win $1200 and more so that it can be reported. True, you will not have to pay taxes on the money right away but the government does have a document confirming that you won the money and you will be called on it if you do not report the income. It's always a good idea to keep accurate records of your gambling wins and losses just in case you are ever audited too. You will need those records should you find yourself in that situation.
 
So take a moment to write down your winnings from each session along with your losses and keep them in a safe place. You can transfer them to the spreadsheet of your choice later.

Do you suffer from Poker Burnout?

Maybe the reason your bankroll is dwindling so quickly is because you don't have a life. A life outside of poker that is. I know we all love the game of poker and the rush that you get from winning a tournament or a big hand in a cash game. However, poker does require us to take breaks from time to time and that is where many of us, myself included, sometimes get caught up in the day to day of the game.

The fact of the matter is that no matter how well you are running or how poorly you are running you need to take a break from the game. You need to have other interests outside of poker. Even the professional poker players will tell you that they enjoy doing other things outside of poker. They almost have to considering the thousands of miles of travel and the overall hours it takes to play in both poker tournaments or cash games. You get worn out fairly quickly if your not careful.

Play more hands early in Poker Tournaments

I know a lot of poker players that constantly talk about surviving the early rounds of a poker tournament. True, you do need to survive but you do not need to play like a rock either. Many players conform to the notion that you must play extremely tight early in poker tournaments. Most times this makes you extremely predictable and cuts down your action because player know you are playing premium cards.

I don't know about you but when I have big premium hands I want big premium action to go along with them. By playing too tight you decrease your opportunities to move forward in the poker tournament. There are only so many hands that any of us is going to be dealt but you have to mix it up if you are going to accumulate chips.

Poker Tournament Selection is key

Far too often I see poker players that do not take a whole lot of time to determine their odds of doing well in a particular poker tournament. This may sound a bit over analytical but we should all pay attention to a few things before we enter a poker tournament. First, Tournament Structure should be high on your list of things to examine before plunking down your hard earned dollars. Obviously, if you are not a regular you will not know much about the players at a particular venue. However, the buy-in amount and tournament structure can give you a fairly good idea of what kind of competition you will face along with the venue itself.

Being Bluffed is OK

Are you still resolved to never being bluffed out of a pot? If you are, then you are not playing the game of poker very well. I know that may sound like it's bass ackwards but it's the truth. I don't care how well you play the game you are going to be bluffed off the best hand from time to time. It is inherently going to happen as it is part of the game.

So many poker players say, "You aren't going to bluff me off of...!" The fact of the matter is that only good players can be bluffed. Why is that? It is because good players use sound logical thinking in their approach to each and every hand and every card that hits the felt. Conversely, the bad player doesn't spend the time studying the game and ultimately gets knocked out easily sans the occassional run of extraordinary luck.

Will a female ever win the WSOP Main Event?

Every year I ask myself the same question, "Will a female ever win the Main Event?" Unfortunately, the game is still waiting for an answer and so am I. The past seven years have been an absolute whirlwind with players like Chris Moneymaker, Jaime Gold, Greg Raymer and Joe Hachem taking down millions of dollars and bringing the popularity of poker to record proportions. So many people have flocked to the game because of all of the new faces and the fact that everything is televised on ESPN.

The World Series of Poker has become it's own marketing machine along with those that play in it. However, wouldn't the best marketing tool be for a female to win the WSOP? Just think about the untapped female market that would instantly become vibrant should a woman win the Main Event. I understand that this is not likely simply because of the numbers or lack thereof of women that play the game and enter tournaments.

WSOP keeps evolving

I don't know about you but this years World Series of Poker has been extremely quiet and calm. There has been a little news here and there but nothing major. Yeah, Phil Ivey won another bracelet in the Deuce to Seven Lowball event but that hardly surprises anyone. Are the days of the top pros winning the Main Event over? Will each winner from here on out be another no name internet whiz? Are we doomed to continue to have a sea of satellite entries from now on?

Over the past few years the World Series of Poker has evolved since Harrah's bought it out. Some of the changes I actually like. Others I have not been as happy with. The changes that I do like are the ones they made to make poker players accountable for their language and actions. After the Hevad Khan debacle something needed to be done. We also don't want to see any more alcohol induced ramblings from Scottie Nguyen either. Last years tournament pretty much addressed those two issues and this year things are even more closely watched.

Do not over play Small Pairs

Far too often I see players, mostly beginners, over play their middle pairs. These are the pairs from [5][5] to [T][T]. Don't  get me wrong. I love these kinds of hands and there are times when you should be raising with them for sure. However, when you are in early position and make a large raise you put yourself into a very precarious position. You are vulnerable to a re-raise yet many players continue to call big re-raises or even push with these kinds of hands in tournament play.

Basically, small pairs play themselves and here are a few general parameters you can use to determine how to play them.

Let the poker table determine your strategy

Too many times I hear players talk about how they would do this or do that at the poker table before the tournaments begins. These things are spoken within the context of moves that they want to make regardless of the situation or player(s) they are up against. The fact of the matter is that we cannot go into a tournament with a set strategy because the variables, players, change from table to table and we must make adustments to adapt to the environment we are in at the time.

Not long ago I had a conversation with another poker player that happens to do quite well online and live. He indicated that he had his particular strategy that he liked to employ each time he played. When I asked him how he was able to do that he simply said that it is the way he always plays. After listening to his reasoning for a few moments I quickly realized that his strategy only worked against opponents that played straight forward poker with very little variance from the fundamentals.

How did they get those Chips?

How did they get those chips? One of the most common questions I get asked repeatedly is how do the big stacks become big stacks so early? Many people seem to get frustrated and even angry when after five minutes of play someone already has 10k in chips and everyone else still has their $1500 to start with. The fact of the matter is - it happens! In particular things like this happen in low stakes tournaments. These tournaments have buy-ins that are so low it doesn't bother anyone if they bust out early in search of the monster stack. That means you are libel to see things like three to four players all-in pre-flop. You will also see multiple players chasing flushes trying to hit big against top pair or a set.