The Technology Battle Continues

I recently installed Komodo security software on my computer, (the paid version, what I had was a free trial) which is why I no longer have virus issues.  But it took 6 hours to do it.  That includes several tries by myself, talking to their online help while I tried to do it, and finally, one of their techs taking over my computer for another hour.

It turns out that the main problem was Internet Explorer 10, which has a lot of bugs.  The tech took IE 10 off the computer, reinstalled IE9, and that finally solved the problem.

I have also been working on getting Holdem Manager to work, so far without success.  I have certainly spent at least 10 hours on that problem.  First I couldn't make a connection between Holdem Manager 2 and the database, then when I tried to reinstall it, my license wasn't recognized.

I solved the license problem a few days ago, and sometime this week I'll try one more time to do a clean install of both HM2 and the database., and make it work.  I'm going to document everything that I do, step-by-step, and if it doesn't work, I'll send the documentation to the HM2 techs, and maybe they can figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Quick Update

Wow, it's been two weeks since I last posted.  There has been a lot going on, much of it having nothing to do with poker.  Some of it is relevant however, and I have enough material that there is no reason I shouldn't be able to post just about every day.

I won a major battle in the virus wars.  I have new antivirus software that has given my computer back to me.  Since installing Comodo, I have lost contol of the computer for a total of two minutes in the last two weeks or so.

My bankroll is now over $165, giving me the 50 buy-in bankroll to play $3.30 SNGs.  If all goes as planned, I should be making almost twice as much playing SNGs as when I was playing at $1.65.

Updates on these topics, and others, will be coming soon, and a lot more regularly.

Virus Wars

A few days ago, I got my computer back from the shop.  It was the third time in a month.  Talking to the techs, I learned a lot of things that I didn't know about computers. The second time I got it back, I thought that I could fight the virus wars by myself, but I eventually had to once again leave it to the professionals.

Armed with what I already knew, and supplemented by what I learned from talking to the techs, I fought a three-day antivirus battle.  I alternated between scans using Microsoft Security Essentials and McAfee Scan, doing both quick scans and full scans.  A full scan took about six hours.

After I thought I had zapped all the viruses, I tried a theory that with less open on the computer, there would be less for viruses to attack.  But 10 minutes into a SNG, I started getting more virus warnings, with nothing open but Americas Cardroom, Holdem Manager and Windows Calculator--none of which required me to open a browser.  My side of the computer locked up a few minutes later.

I spent most of one day running scans, getting a report of three or five or eight new viruses, cleaning them out, getting control of my side of the computer for a while, then losing it again.

I think it's going to be OK now.  I learn a few new tricks every time this happens, about how to in general maintain my computer, and in particular how to deal with viruses.  Also, this time Crashmasters set me up, at no charge, with Comodo, which they consider the top-of-the line computer protection and antivirus suite.

They said that they wouldn't recommend Comodo for most people, because it's a very complicated suite of options that most people wouldn't want to deal with.  Also, it's very intrusive, constantly asking for permissions and stopping anything that it hasn't seen before. But they thought I knew enough to handle it, and that given my situation, it was my best option.  I completely agreed.

So far it's working very well.  I played two SNGs each of the last three days without incident. It's a big relief.  I'm not on mother-in-law duty the next three days, so I should be able to put in some serious time, including a lot more than two SNGs per day.

An Example of When Studying Matters

My bankroll has been inching up toward the $165 (50 buy-ins) that I feel I need to move up to $3.30 SNGs.  But while that's been going on, I've been increasingly uneasy about not playing any MTTs, even though I'm not quite bankrolled to do it.

I'm still studying almost every day, even if my hours are necessarily more limited than was the case a few months ago.  Nearly all of that study is geared toward MTTs, but I have been getting no chance to practice what I learn.

I finally decided to play one or two MTTs a week, just to keep in practice, and to better understand how the things that I'm learning apply in actual tournaments.  I was going to wait to play against a large field of 1,000 or so entries tonight, but I got antsy and played a small one (51 players) yesterday morning.  Entry was $5.50 and I finished 4th of 51 for a cash of $24.22 (net $18.72) which puts my bankroll at $153.31, very close to the $165 bankroll I've been aiming for.

One of the things that I learned from all that studying was largely responsible for my success in that tournament.  A few months ago, I asked Johnathan Little about something in his book, Secrets of Professional Tournament Poker, Volume 1.  Here is the question that I posted on the 2+2 forums on December 31:

In SOPTP1, Kindle location 2718 of 3469, first page of:

"Chapter 11: When you have between 60 and 40 BB",

you talk about the need to be willing to go all in with 60BB or less. Here is one sentence from that page:

"If you raise before the flop with hands like A-Q+ or 10-10+ and are reraised, go all in unless your opponent is extraordinarily passive."

My questions is about online tournaments where your starting stack is that small.

Here are the early levels of the standard MTT structure on the Winning Poker Network:

LEVEL BLINDS ANTES
--1-------15/30
--2------20/40
--3------30/60
--4------50/100----10
--5------75/150----15
--6 ----100/200---20

Starting stacks in these tournaments are as low as 1,500 chips, with either 10 or 15 minute blinds. Some deeper stacked tournaments start with 2,500-5,000 chips, but with a blind structure that fast (blinds starting at level 4) the number of big blinds blinds that you have in these tournaments isn't an accurate measure of how soon you are playing shortstacked.

So, from the first hand of some of these tournaments, and soon afterward with deeper stacks, you can be playing with less than 60 BB. How does playing with online stuctures like the one above change how soon you should be ready to get it all in as your describe in the first page of this chapter of your book?

 

And here is his answer:

 

The structure of the tournament should not define what "short stacked" is. For example, if you start with 10,000 chips at 600/1,200 blinds, you are going to push or fold basically every hand you play. Just because a tournament starts you with some amount of chips does not mean you must have some amount of "play" in it. Obviously if your opponents are playing tight because they think they are supposed to have some "play", you should adjust your game, but hands like QQ+ and AK should basically always be played for stacks, especially online against overly aggressive opponents.

 

I remembered that answer when I was playing yesterday.  It never occured to me that some tournament structures almost force playing all-in-or-fold very early in a tournament, but as I thought about it, it made perfect sense.

 

When I played that tournament yesterday, about 30 minutes in I was one of the top ten stacks, but by any poker definition, I was still short-stacked.  I started looking for spots to be more agressive, including going all-in.  While a lot of other players were protecting their top 10 stack, I was agressive, taking chances to build my stack.  I was probably all-in at least 5 times the first hour, and I was the chip leader at the end of the hour.

 

Without reading Little's book, and getting that answer, I would not have played that aggressively.  I knew something that most of the field clearly did not know--a great example of how studying gives one an edge over other players.

Poker And Technology

I'm still fighting with Holdem Manager.  After once again going through a list of disagnostic steps from one of their techs, I found a problem in one the Windows Services settings, but I don't know what to do to fix it.  Once again, I'm waiting for a response to another of my "what do I do now?" twoplustwo.com forum posts.  I'm spending so much time messing with Holdem Manager that I'm barely playing.

I was studying yesterday, doing my first readthrough of a new poker book, and it mentioned some of the tools that poker players use to study.  It really hit me how dependent poker players are on technology:

1. Being a successful poker player is, at least in part, a technology arms race.  If you can't compete, you're at a serious disadvantage.

2. If you're don't use technology, even if you're a strictly live player, you have almost no chance to be successful.

A lot of studying is done on online poker forums, or using digital tools. Those tools include:  poker equity calculators, databases, player blogs, player ranking sites, and online videos (or live streaming) of poker tournaments. A year ago I purchased my poker books at Barnes and Noble.  Now I get them at amazon.com, sent to my Kindle via wireless connection, often after reading online reviews of the book.

As far as actual play online, of course a computer is necessary.  But some players go way beyond that.  There are online players that play 30 or more simultaneous games or tournaments, on multiple monitors, with a mouse specially designed for poker players.  A few have massively redundant systems in place in case something goes down: multiple ISPs, cable and satellite connections, backup power supplies, and a generator.

That may seem ridiculous, but for some players, it's really not.  An online pro who plays in several big events (such as the World Championship of Online Poker) every year is literally playing for millions of dollars.

By now, some of you might be thinking that, especially for a live player who plays only at his local casino, most of this isn't necessary.  That's not really true.  Sure, if Joe wants to study before his next trip to the casino, he can still get a poker book at Barnes and Noble.  But those books rapidly become outdated.

My latest book states that at the highest levels, poker lines and strategies change every three months or so, and that if you don't keep up, you're at a disadvantage.  The only way to keep up with that rate of change is by keeping up with the poker forums and other online information.

Finally, I haven't mentioned one the most important poker tools--Google.  It's increasingly common for players to scout each other online.

I hate all the time that I spend trying to manage Holdem Manager and other poker technology.  But I have no choice.

Time to tackle the BIG problem.

I made some headway with Holdem Manager.  I can download and install it,  but I have a few more things to work on.

I played several SNGs yesterday, and did reasonably well.

I'm chipping away at reducing the clutter in my office.  I'm naturally disorganized as it is and I don't need a mess in my office making it worse.  I need more empty space, especially when my loyal poker cat Vanessa decides to stretch out and take a nap on the desk

There is one problem that keeps getting bigger--me.  On my 30th birthday I weighed about 140.  A few days ago I weighed an all-time high of 194 pounds.  I don't look right, I don't feel right, my clothes don't fit, and my energy level is way below where it should be.  If I don't have the energy to play poker (or do anything else), the other things don't matter very much.

I've cut back a little on what I'm eating, but I've been here before (at least within a few pounds) and I know my body well enough to know that dieting doesn't do much for me.  If I run every day, the pounds fall off.  If I stick with the running, and increase the mileage as it becomes comfortable again, I'll be losing ten pounds a month by fall, while eating whatever I want.

I once ran a marathon.  80-year-olds run marathons.  I'm 57, and today it was hard work to run one mile.  I will never let myself go like this again.

More Problems With Holdem Manager

I spent time with my mother-in-law today.  That went well, but it was all downhill after that.

I came home, played one SNG, then started working on the Holdem Manager issue.

I finally decided that it was best to delete everything that I had done before, and do a clean install of Holdem Manager 2 with a new, empty database.  I managed to get all of the old stuff deleted, but I had problems after that.

I went to the Holdem Manager web site, and I couldn't figure out how to do the download.  None of the options seem to fit.  I didn't need to pay for the upgrade from HM1 to HM2, I already did that.  I didn't need a free trial.  I finally posted my question on the Holdem Manager thread in the 2+2 poker forums.

After I played that SNG (2nd place) I checked back, and there was a link for the download and installation.  That went OK, but now I can't figure out how to do anything--even though I used an earlier version of the same program a couple years ago.

The program has a lot of bells and whistles and functionality, or so it seems, including free poker coaching videos.  But like Facebook and a lot of other recent technology, it is neither logical nor intuitive.  I was expecting a way to designate the site on which I play, such as a dropdown list, but there was nothing.  Nowhere in the program can I find a list of the supported poker sites, even though there is such a list on their web site.

Also, there was something in the program that I was trying to figure out, and I was directed to set up an account.  Why?  I already paid for the program.  It is registered, and I have a license number. Why should I have to do something else to get the full functionality of the program?  That makes no sense, and anyway, I couldn't figure out what I would gain by setting up that account.

I put my newest question (how to designate a poker site) up a couple of hours ago.  There is no answer yet, so I guess I'll get back at it tomorrow.  I have to get this thing solved somehow.  I just checked my records, and I have played exactly two SNGs this month.  One on the 14th, when I got my computer back, and one today.

Now it's 11 P.M. and I'm tired (I've been sticking with getting up fairly early every morning.)  I didn't get very far with Holdem Manager, and I played one SNG for a profit of $2.40.  Not exactly a productive day.