Phil Ivey for sure. Hellmuth would probably be more fun to play with, as well as more entertaining. Ivey is just simply the man! (I would probably bet he is an INTP based on his personal life maybe a J)
Yes, I would agree.
I've been playing online since 2007 and live in casinos for the past 2.5 years or so, over the years I've found keeping a ledger recording your sessions (brief description of mindset before and after session, possible critique of certain key play/move/bet, and overall profitability of session) is a really effective tool that eventually shows patterns of results correlated to circumstances and behavior.
I just keep track on a daily basis.
I am definitely from the Mike McDermott (Rounders) school of thought in power poker. Premium hands in premium position as a starting point to get probability in your favor from there its mostly about feel. Once you have a read on how a certain player is betting/raising/folding in certain situations it doesn't even matter what cards you have.
I don't know who that is but that is my style of playing. Except when there is a reason to do otherwise.
I will play small-ball as well if the hand holds up on the flop. Flushes are surprisingly common especially if you hang onto small suited connectors. Gotta play it right though or you will become a loser quick.
Not tells as in facial ticks or gum chewing, per se, but more how they are presenting themselves (competent, sucker, shark posing as sucker, or wildcard). After the blinds pass once or twice I generally know what kind of player each seat at the table is. IMO its not even worth playing unless you know who that sucker is and they have too many chips.
I mostly look for the lean. If they look at their cards, see if they lean in and start to focus on the game. If they lean back or become uninterested, they are probably going to fold on a raise, or just limp in. You can steal of isolate because you are technically in a later position if you know they are likely to fold.
Grinding it out with competent players or sharks and especially wild cards (loose aggressive) is a roller coaster ride in no limit. Definite hot and cold streaks that make you question the whole thing because all of a sudden two negative sessions erase 9 previous positive sessions in a hand or two. Beware of the swings!
Just have to not be committed to hands. It's easy to get people committed when you have the nuts and sink them like a ship with a false bluff or value bet.
The atmosphere is awesome for me though. Its kind of like a large group of friends that I can come and go from as I please. Someone is always there that I can talk with if I want or I can just throw in my headphones and be in my own world if I want instead and nobody gets their feelings hurt. I can keep my Ti-Ne going while keeping my Fe satisfied.
Oh man, I would kill at home games! It would be like free money!
If you have that residual income going that is truly a difference maker in riding out the swings. Peace of mind and freedom to play your style without external financial pressures is key. Kudos on that! Have fun and don't bring your Oreo's to the table...
My longest streak of playing was a summer when I was unemployed. My friends called me an attic and were only available on weekends so I stopped. It was the most money that I have ever made in 3 months.
After that, I got to where I make a lot more online per hour so it was a toss up. I don't like playing high stakes and if I'm in a bad mood I lose.
Tourneys are kind of a crap shoot but the big money ones (starting at $225 entry) with a decent turnout can be a lot of fun and pay WAY more than a cash game ever would.
I played a tournament recently. Totally forgot how fast it goes! I could change my play and win 25% of tournaments no problem. Whenever I get past 2 hours, I start to dominate the other players. Early in the game is a crap-shoot, I will agree with that. If it's slow and with deep stacks, just sit out the first hour. Professionals won't even play for the first day sometimes at $10,000 buy-ins.
Tournaments with 35-45 people are pretty much a given for me. They are perfect for my style of play.
Cash games are the way to go as far as efficiency is concerned in regards to ROI. I think you can make any strategy work if you stick to it with confidence and conviction but not being afraid to adapt if need be.
Playing a safe game in $1/2 NL is easily $35-45/hr. This would be a very simple strategy that you could teach someone in an afternoon.
I am thinking that I may be going the opposite direction you are, at this point in my life. Im entertaining the idea of designing web applications for an industry I currently have a great deal of interest in. I have some experience using Processing and basic HTML stuff. Where should I start in my journey to build/design such things?
I wrote some rants in this thread:
http://intpforum.com/showthread.php?t=20561
