In response to...

...a bunch of different things.

Kind of a different angle here, but one that I think is worth mentioning in regards to 'reckless play' or 'bad play', and bloggers not playing to their full potential in blogger events:

First off, I think there is a bit of confusion as to what bad play really is. As an example - if you open the pot in late position with a 3xBB bet while holding 75o and I smooth-call with my Big Slick sooted, the flop comes A55, are you a donkey because you have a crap hand? No. You made a positional play, I called you rather than raised you out of the pot, you happened to catch and trapped me.

Now on the other hand, if you call my 4xBB raise with 75o then a.) yes, you may be a donkey and b.) please show up at my house with lots of money every week for a home game BUT c.) you will never see me chastise you for that play because I want you and your chips there everytime I sit down. Every. Single. Time.

Quite honestly, I am just tired of people mistaking bad cards for bad play. Even in Super/System, is Doyle teaching you how to win with AA? No, any idiot can figure that out, but do you know how to win with suited connectors and the like, when to lay them down, when to call or raise with them? Those are the decisions that make poker a great game, and fortunately for a lot of us, people usually make the wrong decisions. If you happen to luck out every once in a while by making poor decisions, all that much better for me, because you will have renewed faith in that choice. By all means, keep doing it.

Bad beats happen, suck it up or get out of the game. And anyone who says that they have never delivered a bad beat is either lying or isn't playing to their full potential. It happens.

You are not obligated to play good cards against me. In fact, I prefer you don't. In turn, I am not obligated to play good cards against you. You should hope I don't.

Now, as far as any of us not playing to our full potential in blogger events: in theory that is crap, but there is truth to it as well. Fact is - we are all there to not only win, but to wipe your ass all over the sidewalk in the process. Make no mistake, there is only one purpose. However sometimes life happens. I have had to leave many a tournament early because I have to go pick up my daugther, in which case I completely donk off my chips. Lucky you. But otherwise yeah, I'm not going to make it easy for you to take my chips. Usually, but shit happens sometimes.

That said, do I play blogger tournaments as hard / take them as seriously as I do my 'real' tournaments? Absolutely not. But here is the reason/difference and this is important so pay attention dammit!

I am not sitting here making notes on all of you like I would in a real tournament. I am not watching for betting patterns, doing the math, and taking note of how you play middle pairs, connectors, etc. I am not looking for your pauses prior to a bet, or watching for how fast you call me. I take 'real' tournaments extremely seriously, and quite honestly I couldn't do that in a blogger event (let alone 5 of them every week), especially while chat is going constantly, etc. Besides, it is exhausting - who the hell would want to?

In blogger tourneys I am playing purely by instinct, and am not using the 'tools' that we acquire to win other events. Does that mean I am not bringing my A-game to the table? You bet your ass it does - the only people that would assume I do are the ones that don't know about what really goes into proper tournament play - the study, the calculations, note taking, concentration, patience, and persistence. It would be ridiculous to assume that I am going to use every possible trick and technique I am aware of in every blogger tournament. You think I'd rather take notes and calculate pot odds than chat with all of you in the girlie chats? Not bloody likely.

BUT - I would never use that as an excuse as to why I lost. You beat me in a blogger event, you beat the best game that I brought to the table that day. I lose, it is my own fault. I don't care what cards you played or how you played them. I have no excuses, you beat what I brought to the table. That is no one's fault but my own.

So people please, can we not just all have fun kicking each other's asses?