Recent Posts by Tommy Angelo | DeucesCracked

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03/09/11--07:16: The Blueprint : Episode Thirteen posted by Tommy Angelo @ Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:16:45 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Tommy,

have you been to Munich Germany on your trip or is this just a random picture of an airport ?



That was a picture Rusty found. One thing kind of cool about it is that in the upper right is a sign that says "San Francisco Coffee Company." I asked Rusty if he chose that picture because of the subtle SF connection. He said he hadn't even noticed that. He was just happy to have found any picture of an airport flight schedule.




03/09/11--07:23: The Blueprint : Episode Thirteen posted by Tommy Angelo @ Wed, 09 Mar 2011 15:23:16 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Tommy, did you use a tab for the guitar you played in the video? If so, can you send it to me. If not, can you make one for me? If you were using someone else's guitar riffs, can you tell me the name? That would be awesome, thanks.



Sorry, I have nothing for you. No tabs, no names. Except for a few phrases from "If I Were a Rich Man," and one phrase from "Norwegian Wood," all of the guitar was "made up" by me. I have to put "made up" in quotes because I think of myself as a musical sausage grinder. A whole bunch of crap goes in one end, and little musical turds come out the other. Each turd is "unique," but I have a hard time thinking of them as "original."




03/10/11--07:00: The Blueprint : Episode Thirteen posted by Tommy Angelo @ Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:00:28 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Hi Rob,



So I have a bit of a side question about this: if you had the power (friends with the city council or whatnot) to prevent the fence from being built, would you have stopped it?



No. Which is kind of the point. My happiness could not be changed by the arrival of the fence, so if I had had the power over the fence’s existence, I would have turned that decision over to the professionals (the government) who make those kinds of decisions every day. This is a decent example of one of the benefits of being non-attached to a thing or idea. You can make decisions entirely with the good of others (individuals and groups) in mind. Let’s say the choice is between chicken or beef, and you truly don’t care. You can let your friends have whichever he wants. He is happy, at no cost to you. Let’s go the next step. Your friend/spouse doesn’t want to decide which movie to see. You don’t care either. But you step up and make a decision right away because that’s what’s best for the team right then. Non-attachment doesn’t mean wishy-washy. Not at all. It means knowing exactly what your preferences are, and when you don’t have any. And it allows for excellent yielding, and taking charge.

What was the question again? lol



I'm curious how much of this is based on not allowing things to impact our mindset when we are powerless vs. how much it is simply learning to accept everything as it is and will be.



I think there’s too much absolutism in your question. We can’t learn to “accept everything as it is and will be” in some sort of once-and-for-all way. We can learn to do it more often than we do now, and that’s it.



Is resisting change to something that you love something that you should avoid because it shows that you have a degree of attachment?



The idea is to love what you love when you love it and know what you are loving and that you are loving it and that you are loving it now. You’re not loving the idea of having it for a long time. You’re not loving what it took for you to accomplish having the thing you love. You’re just loving this right now. And later you’ll be loving that. That applies to loving things, ideas, people, sucking out on your arch enemy, etc.

Meanwhile keeping it in sharp focus that nothing lasts, trying really hard to not wince at the thought of losing what you love. It will be lost.

Repeat.

I have known everyday for years that my beloved Kepler walk would end, and in the meantime, it would be modified. For example, someday I might walk my walk with a cane. Or maybe someday they might build a big fence and alter the look and feel and things. I already knew the walk as it was would not last and I think about that shit all the time. So when it happens, it’s no big deal. There was no doubt that it was coming. The benefit of that mental effort is that I can love my walk everyday just as it is, and that I love. :-)




03/11/11--06:34: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Six posted by Tommy Angelo @ Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:34:06 +0000 (chan 1716540)

What your standpoint about turning the chat off completly?



If you think that's a good idea for you, then it almost certainly is.




03/13/11--18:54: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode One posted by Tommy Angelo @ Mon, 14 Mar 2011 01:54:04 +0000 (chan 1716540)



What do you think about it? Does this practical idea sounds OK?

Thanks.



Yes. Those are good ideas and they are coming from good awareness. That you thought them up means they are likely do-able, meaning, practical.




04/12/11--13:46: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Eight (Full Version) posted by Tommy Angelo @ Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:46:54 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Thanks for the headsup on the links. My site just got a total makeover. I'll get those links fixed soon.




06/11/11--09:34: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Five posted by Tommy Angelo @ Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:34:26 +0000 (chan 1716540)

LOL ...
I'm a professional orchestra musician... The one where you did pieces backwards etc was so funny it hurt....guy next to me on the plane must have thought I was stone or something.....



Mission accomplished!




07/26/11--21:25: % of winning and losing players posted by Tommy Angelo @ Wed, 27 Jul 2011 04:25:04 +0000 (chan 1716540)

FWIW, before the no-limit explosion, when almost all pros grinded at mid-limit hold'em, it used to be that 5% of the live $20-40 limit players won enough to make a living.

Which brings us to what I think is the problem issue whenever this topic comes up. What is a "winning player?" What's the time frame? How much does he have to win to be a winner? What I'm getting at is that there would have to be a ton of players hovering around even, right? In actual results, and also in theoretical expectation. Picture three players: One who is barely a loser, one who is barely a winner, and one who is a huge winner. With the "Percentage of winners and losers" question, the two players whose results are furthest apart are in the same group, and the two players whose results are closest are in different groups.

The question I always wondered about was, "What percentage of players make enough to support themselves from playing poker."




08/05/11--10:24: Ethical Dilemma at Venetian last night posted by Tommy Angelo @ Fri, 05 Aug 2011 17:24:01 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Poker is a team sport. The players and the dealer and the floorstaff all want the same thing: A smooth-running game that is fair. One thing that happens in a fair game is that when the cards are shown at the showdown, the pot goes to player with the best hand. It doesn't matter at all how that happens. It doesn't matter who made which mistakes. It doesn't matter who speaks up to correct an error or if they do it politely or rudely. The team succeeds when the winner gets the pot.

It so happens that when we are directly involved in the pot when a mistake is made, it's possible to forget that we are part of a team dedicated to running a good game together. It's possible to forget that we actually love, support, and rely on the self-policing nature of all poker games. It's possible to forget that we are all deputized when we sit down. We are not obligated to actively police the game. IOW, we are not all always obligated to speak up every time we see a mistake. But we are definitely obligated to speak up instantly when somebody else's money ends up in our stack.




08/08/11--16:46: Cheating at live cash game posted by Tommy Angelo @ Mon, 08 Aug 2011 23:46:55 +0000 (chan 1716540)

One time I was swapping my action 50-50 with another pro for a few months to diversify risk at a time when we were both running low. We played nothing but live. During that time, we played in the same casino day in and day out, and he was playing exclusively no-limit, and I was playing almost exclusively limit. One day he got in my $20-40 limit game for about an hour, waiting for the NL game to start. We didn't talk about it. He just sat down and took a seat. We were playing out of the same bankroll, which somehow has to be an ethical breech. I knew I wouldn't do anything different as a result so in my own little mind, it was cool. What I want to share are some things we learned after some analysis. We made up common betting situations where we would deploy collusion tactics and thought them through. We discussed the risk of confusion and error and frustration. Would it really be worth it if we were already beating the game for the standard amount?

Even if we were really good at signalling and such, and using the additional info well, we concluded that the extra money we would make from our cheating would actually be less than we would make as a team if we just played at different tables. I'll leave out all the details. Our conclusions here were sound and took in many factors, some of then subtle, such as this: The effort it takes to cheat well could detract from the ability to simply play well.

This doesn't mean that colluders aren't bad for the game. These are just a few thoughts on the side.

(I don't think the word "colluder" should get a squiggly line under it at this forum! :-) )

Tommy




08/14/11--08:55: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Six posted by Tommy Angelo @ Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:55:54 +0000 (chan 1716540)

there are benefits to keeping the chat visible, even though you fully intend not to contribute to it. Seeing the comments of other players gives you a read on what their state of mind is



Agreed.



A related point regarding "right speech" in general. It's well known that Daniel Negreanu chats a lot during table poker to provoke information from his opponents. I would strongly advise other players from assuming they can easily adopt this practice, since it takes a real master to be able to make it work, but in principle it demonstrates that "right speech" isn't necessarily no speech. Provided that you have awareness of your speech, its impact on others and on yourself, you can use it to your advantage.

I'm on the right track here right?



I think so.

A couple related add-ons are 1) independent of whether we decide to use speaking as an information gathering tool, we still need to be rehearsed at how to be on the receiving end of an interrogation and come out ahead. 2) Even an expert at the vocal game needs to also be an expert at the quiet game for those times when it occurs naturally or on purpose.




08/14/11--10:00: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Eight (Full Version) posted by Tommy Angelo @ Sun, 14 Aug 2011 17:00:24 +0000 (chan 1716540)

What is the piece of music that starts at 32:51? It's really great!



That's a song by The Who from their Quadrophenia album called "Love, Reign O'er Me."

If you want to download the 32:51 piano rendition of that song without all that talking going on, go here:

http://tommyangelo.com/the-eightfold-path-to-poker-enlightenment/#music

It's the fourth link under the "ROCK" heading.




09/07/11--15:40: Today I folded AA preflop... posted by Tommy Angelo @ Wed, 07 Sep 2011 22:40:58 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Tommy definitely has folded aces preflop: http://tommyangelo.com/articles/the-worst-play-ever/



Hello judges. For you today I have made (<-- I've been watching too much CHOPPED!) some excerpts and clarifications...

Here are two pertinent paragraphs from the link above. First, the third paragraph:

But the story I will tell you now is true. It must be, or there would be no point in the telling. I am like an astronaut who walked on the moon and returned to write of feelings unimagined on earth. I am like a man who for years lived alone in a forgotten forest and returned to write of his trials and triumphs. For I am the poker player who longed to fold pocket aces before the flop at $20-40 limit hold’em, and finally did it. Here is my story.

And here is the final paragraph:

Now, one month and a dozen pocket aces later, I can report that I am unchanged by what happened at noon on May 19, table 41, seat nine. I don’t play or think any differently. I am like the moonwalker who returns to say that the earth is indeed round. I am like the wilderness dweller who returns to say that the forest is in fact full of trees. Nothing remains, in mind or matter, from my journey, except that now, when I lift the corners and see ace-ace, it’s like I’m getting winked at.

To clarify, I have never suggested to a client that they fold pocket aces before the flop, and there is nothing in EPTPE about folding aces before the flop.

I see the whole folding-aces-before-the-flop thing as identical to any other private test of will (spontaneous or planned) we might give ourselves. For example, I have a scab on my foot that I haven't touched all day even though I could definitely get some of it to flake away without causing bleeding. Several times it has itched a little, and several times my hand move toward it, and several times I just left it be. Why?

I don't ask that. I mean I don't ask it anymore. I just know, from doing it, that if I mix little moments of discipline in with my default hedonism, I feel better.




09/07/11--17:38: Today I folded AA preflop... posted by Tommy Angelo @ Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:38:44 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Kind of reminds me of Thoureau. A lot of people think that Thoureau was encouraging people to live in the woods. Actually he didn't think that it was a good thing for people to live in the woods because he felt it caused them to become less civilized. He was only sharing his own transcendental experiences from his time at Walden.



I think I get what you're saying here. You shouldn't fold pocket aces before the flop because it will make you less civilized. I agree! :-)




09/07/11--18:28: Today I folded AA preflop... posted by Tommy Angelo @ Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:28:14 +0000 (chan 1716540)

I thought he was saying that if you get dealt aces, you shouldn't just Thoreau them away.



I fold.




09/08/11--14:49: Today I folded AA preflop... posted by Tommy Angelo @ Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:49:29 +0000 (chan 1716540)

I want to apologize to Tommy Angelo



No problem!



I truly believed that Tommy advised one of his students to fold AA preflop,



Well, there was one instance where I played an encouraging role. I wrote it up as a sequel to the original article:

http://tommyangelo.com/articles/the-second-worst-play-ever/

Shameless plug alert! Those two stories and 53 more, with lots of new material laced throughout, can be yours:

http://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Story-Other-Poker-Angelo/dp/1456364375/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306333422&sr=1-1

(approved by DC)




09/12/11--17:40: Today I folded AA preflop... posted by Tommy Angelo @ Tue, 13 Sep 2011 00:40:17 +0000 (chan 1716540)

[quote]By not playing a hand dealt to you you have passed up on an equity edge,"

I made approximate $1 profit per hand for about 10 years straight (at live poker). During that time I probably mucked at least 100 hands without looking at them. There were plenty of times that it was worth more than $1 to me at that split second to hop up and go do something else, even after one or both of my cards were dealt. And in the free-and-easy attitude of the super loose games, mucking slightly out of turn before the flop from early position and leaving the table, especially by a rock, is not a foul. While I don't disagree with anything you said, it doesn't seem to me like the profit-per-hand expectation of the typical player would be much of an incentive. If the adage no-pain-no-gain applies here, mucking without looking doesn't represent very much pain.

Unless of course it's on the button! That would hurt!




11/17/11--05:32: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Six posted by Tommy Angelo @ Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:32:47 +0000 (chan 1716540)

im not much of a talked myself, but couldnt keeping all of this emotion inside lead to negative consiquences too? is this more of an add on to right thinking and almost a reminder of it?
i guess i just feel that if you suppress those emotions they could cause more damage.



Hi Matt,

The idea of "keeping emotions inside" and "suppressing those emotions" is precisely the opposite of what is taught by Buddhist teachers. It's unfortunate that the passage at 00:06:53 made you think otherwise!

With anger, for example, the suggested approach is to hold it close, to study it, to review it, after the fact, and if possible, while it is going on. To embrace it. To see it an a part of yourself, just like a finger. It's not good or bad. And it's definitely not something to hide or run away from. If the objective is to have your anger cause less damage than it does now, then the best approach is to treat anger as almost like a hobby, something you tinker with and improve on every day.

All of that, as you can see, is nothing at all like "suppression."

Tommy




11/20/11--07:26: What Would Tommy Do? (ask your questions here) posted by Tommy Angelo @ Sun, 20 Nov 2011 15:26:29 +0000 (chan 1716540)

How's the new book coming along Tommy?



I work on it for an hour or two every day. It's growing slowly and steadily and I'm very happy with the progress and the direction. Completion is still a long way off, partly because I enjoy slow and steady. :-) Thanks for asking!




11/21/11--12:01: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Three posted by Tommy Angelo @ Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:01:03 +0000 (chan 1716540)

No less than five minutes, and 20 minutes is plenty.




12/07/11--05:40: What Would Tommy Do? : Episode One posted by Tommy Angelo @ Wed, 07 Dec 2011 13:40:13 +0000 (chan 1716540)

"Since the cards read themselves, when is it ever wrong to mention an error?"

I don't think it's ever wrong to mention an error.




12/31/11--10:51: What Would Tommy Do? : Episode Four posted by Tommy Angelo @ Sat, 31 Dec 2011 18:51:24 +0000 (chan 1716540)

This is a good opportunity to practice my breathing.



:-)




01/12/12--16:49: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Six posted by Tommy Angelo @ Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:49:20 +0000 (chan 1716540)



Just ordered a piano *insert biggest smiley on the internet*





*insert yer basic smiley*




01/16/12--06:27: The Eightfold Path to Poker Enlightenment : Episode Eight (Full Version) posted by Tommy Angelo @ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:27:42 +0000 (chan 1716540)

Could someone please tell me what the music is at 22:20 is? Or just impro?



Just improv. Here's the full 4-minute take that that part was sliced from:

http://tommyangelo.com/site_media/music/the-blues.mp3




02/10/12--13:07: What Would Tommy Do? : Episode Two posted by Tommy Angelo @ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:07:18 +0000 (chan 1716540)


So i just wanted to ask if there are also episodes which are not about livepoker specifically, but maybe goes into the direction of mindset or so...?



Try episodes 3 and 8.