Daniel Negreanu - what a guy

Daniel really risks it for a biscuit

I have been playing Poker now for quite awhile - well only five years but during those five years I have played maybe a million games or more and have played for 12 to 16 hours a day 7 days a week, either single table up to a max of playing four tables at once.

When not playing, I was studying - I was a full time student of Poker and I loved it and still do, however when I started blogging and returned to the BNP, I realised that I could not devote my time to both and so Poker took a back seat. If I do something I like to try and do it to the best of my ability.

But if I could not play, I could at least read and continued my studies by reading poker books and I have a fine Poker library, most that I actually got as a result of playing almost non stop poker.

I promised myself that after the European Elections, I would cut back on blogging and play Poker - I want a WSOP bracelet before I die. But it does not look like that is going to happen.

Well back last week, I decided that the continuous reading about how bad things were getting in Our Country was seriously depressing me, so I decided that I would make time to play some poker each day and record my results on this blog. For those of you who are not interested in Poker, I am sorry.... Just skip this article.

First the top video. The guy is Danel Negreanu and is one of the few players in the world, I would not like to sit down with and play against. Having studied his play in books and his videos, the guy is a machine who knows exactly what he is doing whilst acting like a Poker Maniac. I really recommend to really bold wannabee players with balls that they watch his free tutorials on Youtube. I have tried his style with some success but despite my natural boldness it is not a style I could play for more than a few hours tops. Too much of a roller coaster ride.

Nice lay down Daniel

Well if Daniel appears to be a maniac in the top video, here in the clip above you see why the guys is a star with a style of play that is as sharp as his legendary wit. The guy knows when to fold them. Like the man says you gotta know when to hold them and when to fold them.

OK. I enjoyed those videos. Now let us get to see how the Green Arrow performs over the coming months. The site I have chosen to play on his Poker Stars, there are some really good players there and although there are sites with weaker players(fish), I like to play good player and for someone who wishes to make money, that is a major mistake but the better the people you play against the more you learn.

I have decided to play single table, 9 player, No Limit Sit and Goes (SNGs) and I have started with a bankroll of enough for 30 buy ins at the lowest level $1.20. 1st position takes $4.50, 2nd $2.70 and 3rd postion, $1.80.

If you think that because of the low stakes that the majority of the players are beginners and fish you would be making a big mistake. It is here that the future masters of the game are cutting their teeth and some of them are more than good and fish do not survive long unless luck is really with them.

So what do the experts put the poker skill to luck ratio at? Well some say 70% - 30% whilst others say 100% skill. I reckon it is more like 90% - 10% and will show you why I think that at the end of this long article.

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I will be using, to me, one of the finest poker tracking tools for professional poker players ever. Poker Tracker 3. By using it, I can replay every hand I have ever recorded over and over and over to see if I played it correctly.

All of the 14 Tournaments shown are 1 table with the exception of the one showing I got paid out in fourth. I tried my hand at playing in a two table tournament of 18 players where they pay to the 4th position.

Now, I appear to be doing rather well but my ROI (for another time) is exceptionally high, which to me, means I have either had a run of luck or am better than I thought. Actually, such is my arrogance, I actually believe it is because I think I can play the game. Well this diary will soon prove the truth one way or another.

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When (notice I use when and not if) I earn a few more dollars I will move up to the next level and play in $3 tournaments and so on until I either get to the top or knocked down a level in order to preserve my bankroll - a huge article in its own right.

Green Arrow about to get burnt

Now the last image, is taken from my last game of the day, in which you see I came 2nd in what was a hard fought game. It really was a bad beat that done for me but if you are going to make it in poker you need to just say to yourself and others "Thats Poker" and move on.

In the image I am the player on the left and if you look next to where I have removed my playing name you will see that after the Turn I am 95% favourite to win. My opponent is toast, he knows it and I know it. But Poker has a strange sense of humour and sometimes seems not to care about odds or probability. I think you can guess what card turned over on the River to knock me out of the tournament.

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