Latest updates, Self Ban, Online Scores, etc.

It has been a while since my last post. One of my resolutions was to keep this blog live and active. Sorry I have been really busy with life, work, poker and play. So let's get into it.

Live games: Still doing well on 5/10 but as soon as I venture to the other side and also bigger games, I got crushed. So I gave myself a ban from playing anything bigger than 5/10 until the 27th of August 2017. Haha. I have stopped for almost a month now, but let's see if I have the discipline to stay away.

Recently I played on Natural8 again. First week I did really well, I booked a USD 3k profit week and after rakeback the grand total was around USD 3600. 3rd day into the second week and I'm up USD 700 with another USD 500 or so in rakeback. This week has been grindy and rollercoaster like. This morning I was up USD 300, then down to negative 800 for the week, but I grinded it back in 4 hours and booked a 700 profit.

The games are really soft, but you gotta find your groove in it. First of all I think you need a decent bankroll. There are some pros playing as well so you gotta recognize who they are and stay away. There are so many betting patterns to pick up, after a while, it is almost playing face up against some players. There are fishes and boy they are bad! Let me share with you one of them. I am sorry to name names but the pictures show the nick clearly. I guess I can edit it out but I suck at photo editing and I really don't have the time. So please forgive me Zizon007.

Soon after playing with Zizon007, I quickly realized that he was playing really badly and I think he was tilted too. Just from playing 1/2, he lost 2-3k in one hour or so. So I targeted him. Isolated him whenever I can.

First one was this hand. He raise pre UTG and I called with 99 on the small blind. I flopped top set with 3 clubs. I check raised him, he calls. Turns I boat up. So I checked to him. He shoves on me! Jack high flush draw, I showed super strength check raising the flop. Anyways I obliged and boom. $414 pot.

 Soon after he was pretty tilted I suppose. Preflop he raised on the sb, I reraised with my queens. He shoves, I snap. Pretty standard steam play I guess! Thanks Zizon007

Today I played this hand and I think I played it reasonably well. Villain is an aggressive player, likes to make moves so I elected to just flat his 3b in position. Flop I hit top pair. He bets pretty small, I just call. turn I boat up so I check behind. River he checks. I thought the best way to extract maximum value is to shove and hope for a call. And he did! Quads baby!

Anyway, pretty good 2 weeks so far. I hope it goes on. I am playing fearless poker and I think I might have found my online style. Let's not get too excited just yet, but I will keep you guys updated!

Sign up at Natural8.com using the code FREEBONUS for great rakebacks and bonuses! Or add me on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook by searching "Happyriverpoker"

Poker in Seoul - REVIEW

A while back I wrote something about this already but I just came back from Seoul so I thought I give another update.

Seoul is freaking cold in winter, but it is a nice city overall. Very modern, although I still feel a bit behind compared to Tokyo, but has a nice mix of culture, history and modern metropolitan. The people rarely speak English, and when they do, usually at native level because many Koreans grew up in America or Canada are now back in Seoul. 

 Nice to hold a 1 million chip!

The first poker room is at Paradise Casino (Walkerhill). Every taxi driver knows Walkerhill. Can't miss it. They even have free shuttle buses from Gangbyeon Subway station and Gwangnaru Subway station) Games are 1000/2000 and 2000/5000 (about USD 1/2, 2/5) and there's a bad beat jackpot that gets up to USD 20k at times. Games are quite soft, action is decent, not a lot of pros on 1/2.

 I've got the NUTS!

One thing I like about this room is free drinks (even alcohol) and free frozen yogurt, and I like mine with nuts! Usually people would tip the waitress $1 but that's still not bad. Great service, dealers are pretty fast, games are 24/7, highly recommend.

There's another casino called Seven Luck, they have a poker room too, but games are sporadic, and I have not played there myself. But it is centrally located in Gangnam.

Happy New Year and New Year Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone wherever you are! Thanks for your continued support of me and my blog. I will continue to update it with interesting sharings and poker stories.

2016 was an up-and-down year for me.

2016 Snapshot

- I kept my blog active
- Made new poker friends (Alec Torelli, Lo Shing Fung, Robbie Strazynski, etc)
- Kept my instagram active
- I have a new "mascot"

 My new "mascot" in action

- I have improved my game - I got myself a coach! 

- 70% winning rate at my home game

- 1 Final Table out of 11 tourneys (not great)

- Mixed results in Macau

Goals for 2017

- Continue to improve my game
- Travel for poker but stay away from Macau
- Improve my discipline
- Improve my memory and mental stamina
- Save up for a month-long trip to Vegas

HappyRiverPoker is on Twitter!

I have never used Twitter, but here you go, my first tweet.

Follow me on @HappyRiverPoker

Can A Shark Talk to A Fish?

I wonder how do they communicate....

First of all today is a cold cold day, not weather wise, emotional wise. Love brings you high, and sometimes low too, and sometimes you get misunderstood but you mean well and want the best for your relationship and the person you love but they think you don't love them.... sorry, I got carried away.

I guess that leads very well into my topic today. Imagine talking about relationship problems with a little boy and he will say "girls are ewwww", talk to a teenager and he will start to salivate, (sorry to my homo-sexual readers but this is a general statement), those in puppy love will tell you how great love is, those in long term or had long term relationships will say it is a roller coaster of commitment, sacrifice, compromise and acceptance....etc 

In my regular game there are a few guys, their poker logic is so funny. I tried to talk to a fish about strategy and it was like talking to a toddler! I am not a shark by any means, but I am not a fish either. It is really frustrating, ironic, funny and conflicted when you are talking to them. It's almost like having a twitter war with Donald Trump. The arguments they throw at you is so laughable but you don't want to laugh, so illogical but you don't want to point out their flaws (as we all love fishes just the way they are) but at the same time you're like WTF!!?!?! 

The irony is you love them as they think they are good players, or try to speech play or hollywood the table, but you're also tempted to put them in their spot and send them to the kiddies table. So another key to being a great poker pro is you have to patronize your fishes, feed their ego, bottle up your emotions. 

Sorry just a random rant. Good luck!

Maybe my luck is changing?

Up 660bb early in the session

Last Friday I played a session of poker and I haven't run this good in years. Maybe variance is evening-up itself after my series of run-bads in the past few months.

I hit 6 sets in one session. The only time I didn't see my set hit was when I hit it on the river, where I would have lost to a very hidden straight. So not seeing the set actually saved me money.

TT, pre-flop limp squeeze, 4 callers, flop T66.
QQ, raise pre, one caller, AQx on flop, cbet take down.
66, limp pre, flop T96. Check call flop, reraised by T9, jam, snap call. Ran twice, held twice.
QQ, limp pre, no one reraised, 6 way pot. Flop AQ5, check called flop. Turn 5. Villain had A5, GG for him.
KK, flop J33, turn K, GG

I was running so good even my two big bluffs went through. Preflop I raised with A4hh, flop was KQ5 rainbow. I cbet, two tough players called. Turn was another 5. I bet again, first guy said he folded ace-king (which I doubt it) and the other guy showed a queen and folded.

The second bluff I was on the big blind. Middle position made it 5bb, 4 callers, I made it 30bb, he reraised to 80bb, I 4bet to 210bb and he folded a big pair. I showed my J4 off.

No I didn't play 38o. Just a photo. 

Ended up winning 825 bb in 6 hours or so.

Are you a poker fish? Take the test!

There was one time, I sat down with a fish next to me. I was telling him about this poker site, that it was fishy. So he responded, "oh you mean the site is weird?" (fishy = weird) I paused for a second, then I said YES. I proceeded to take him for about $1500 that night.

So are you a fish? These are some questions for you. If you don't understand any of them then you might be one.

1. What is a fish? 
a. an animal that breathes underwater with gills
b. a bad player also known as a donkey

*Okay freebie question. If you were a fish, I doubt you would read this article.

2. What is the best position? 
a. 69
b. doggie
c. missionary
d. button

*this is debatable but generally speaking, there is one position that is best for most players. If you chose a, b or c, you might be an expert in something else, but maybe not poker. 

3. What is a calling station?
a. a telephone company
b. a telephone booth
c. a telephone
d. none of the above

*A calling station is someone who calls too much without betting or raising for value or bluffs and calls with weak hands

4. Where is the best position to sit?
a. middle of the table so I can see everyone
b. across from the hot girl so I can look at her all night
c. next to the hot girl so I can talk to her all night
d. to the left of the aggressive player and to the right of the tight player

*All 4 answers are good but D makes you a non-fish

5. What is a LAG?
a. the thing that happens when your internet is slow
b. Ladies And Gentlemen
c. A player that plays a wide range of hands aggressively regardless of position

*There are typically 4 playing styles, and LAG is one of them. If you don't know all 4 and which one you are, you are most likely a fish. Do note that for the best players, they are not any of the 4, they may play one style more than the others but great players switch from style to style even on the same session. If you play TP or LP, you are also likely a fish.

6. How is your poker memory?
a. I keep having to look at my cards again because I can't remember what I have
b. I keep asking what's the action because I don't know or don't remember who bet or raised before
c. After I play a hand I forget about it
d. One time, at band camp, September 2009, I had 2c4s on the button and made it 3x, 2 callers, flop was......

*If you have the memory of a fish, then you must be a fish

7. What is Jacking Off?
a. Favourite pastime of young boys
b. A very nice hand
c. An overrated hand that is only good if flop is JJK, KKJ, or AQT

*Fishes often overrate hands, especially if they are suited. QT, KT, KJ, AT may look great but are not great starting hands

The following are also some things fishes typically do, if you do some of these beware, you might be one too!

1. Stack your chips 5 or 10 chips high instead of the standard 20.
2. Pick up their cards off the table to look at them
3. Look at the first card then peek at the second one slowly like playing baccarat
4. Keep asking how much
5. Asking questions before it's your turn
6. Analysing the hand out loud before the river
7. Keep on looking at your hand

Anyway a fish just means the worst player on the table. If you are the 10th best player in the world but you are sitting down with 1st to 9th, then you are the fish. However if you failed the test above, you are most likely the fish in ANY game.