The Game [Theory] of Life
When I'm into something I'm really into it. And that for me, is how you realize that your passionate about something. Its when you go out of your way, of your own free will to do it, or learn more about it, and get better at it. There are a few things that I can say that I'm passionate about, but recently it is Poker, and from Poker, comes Game Theory.
Sometimes whilst grindin' I'll put on some documentary, music, or more recently the snooker in the background. Recently I've been checking out some game theory stuff and its really interesting. Its interesting how it can apply to anything, not just poker or games, but even political or business. I'm really into the Super Freakonomics and Malcolm Gladwell ideologies about how we behave and react in mass to the slightest of suggestions or nudges.
Today I had my driving theory exam and passed it first time. Whilst, this might not be much of an achievement, I didn't have much confidence of passing going into the exam room. This is because, like so many lazy students, I hadn't done any studying until the night before the exam. I had the books, and the websites, but just never done it. Poker players are notorious for only doing stuff that they wanna do. If we don't feel like doing something, we wont do it. But experience has taught me that just like everything else, exams are like a game, and there is a strategy to play the game optimally.
The strategy? Practice doing online theory mocks all day. Did I learn anything? Yes of course... the answers!! They're all the same, same questions, same choices, same answers... Pass! If you become an expert and read the book cover to cover, then take the exam doing no practice mocks, would you pass? I think it'd be a struggle. Some questions are retarded and vague, some answers are similar, other stuff is just plain random.
I've had so many exams I could have done better if I wanted to play the game optimally. Dissertations where you should write a study thoroughly, but instead being stubborn I choose something I'm really interested in, something really specific and lacking in sources. Just like in Poker we play the game the most efficiently, to get the best results in life, sometimes we have to bite the bullet and just treat it as a game too. Now, whether its passing a theory exam after one nights study, playing scrabble, or talking to a friend about how she can move up the corporate ladder, I think Game Theory!
So I've achieved Goldstar, but fell short of Saturday's weekly tournament but I managed to cash in the Silverstar tournament, only to bust out making a donkey shove for no real reason. Most of the time I don't mind as much when I get coolered or sucked out (as long its not too many at one time!), but if its my fault I'm blaming myself and learning from it. I guess I have high expectations for myself.
I'm currently multi-tabling 12 tables, and any higher and my laptop lags. Hopefully I can optimize it so that I can play more. I'm an action junkie, so once I pop it up to like 20 I'll be in trance poker mode...
SNGwize I'm on a bit of a roll, and if it continues I might naturally be able to move up instead of depositing. Lets see what happens. I've made some adjustments to these lower levels and I think its working. For one thing, you wanna get the max value out of the usual fish in these games. For one thing, if you open with aces and they 3 bet you then just shoving it is the best play. They will call you with JKs. Its-a-happened a-many-at-time! Another main switch is to playing a small ball style heads up when blinds are lower. I believe thatSAGE shoving isn't always as optimal since most players are so terrible you can outplay them for the win.
Another great "one outer" is that Full Tilt has finally given my money back. Its so stupid, I couldn't find the "withdrawal with different card" button and had to deposit the min amount, to give them details for my new card. What the hell? Its unbelievable how long it took. They originally disputed my account in Dec 28th, almost 3 weeks before support finally did what I wanted them to do. Christ almighty (I'm an athiest), I think writing a letter would have been quicker!
Talking about Full Tilt, I'll give it to them that I like their interface much better, and one thing that I'm impressed with is their ability to bring new ideas to the game. Rush poker, wow! So weird and quirky, and almost wants me to redeposit again (but I don't).
