PLAYED A TOURNAMENT WITH RUSS AND HE DELIVERED IN SPADES!!

Last week Russ posted an offer that he would play a tournament to
whomever was the first to respond to him by email. I actually missed
being the first but after swapping a few emails we made arrangements
to play.

The poker lesson I got was way more than I could have hoped for. The
tournament went on for hours and we didn't just plat the hands, but
Russ explained everything I wanted to know about why he valued certain
hands and made certain bets.

I have played in many tournaments before and won or placed in a few,
but have washed out along the way in most of them. The hands we got
were no better or no worse than the usual array that a player sees in
a tournament. The difference I think I see now after playing with
Russ is that many hands I would have discarded or played more timidly
look different to me now, especially after the flop. Many times when
he advised playing a hand or making a large bet, I commented that I
never would have done that left to my own devices, but time and again
we raked in the chips. We had several double-ups, but in the few
hands we lost, we lost the fewest chips possible.

It was all there to be seen, especially hand selection and the way it
changes as the tournament progresses, proper betting, and isolation
with position.

I thought I knew what playing tight/aggressive meant, but that was
another wake up call. "Tight" means "tight as a clam's ass," and
"aggressive" means going in like a Samurai - - a couple of power
strokes and it's all over but the shouting.

There were a few hands we entered a little more gingerly, and sure
enough some of them shaped up such that making an exit was the best
move, but we didn't leave many chips behind.

There was only one hand where we pushed hard and had to fold to a
killer reraise on the river, but our stacks were strong enough to take
the hit.

I won't say exactly where we played, or where we placed and in which
tournament, but we made the final table and only busted out when
someone else had their prayers answered on the river.

This was a real education and worth every minute. Besides that, Russ
is great guy to talk to. He has a good sense of humor, is easy to
talk to, and has a lot of good stories, and he's willing to answer all
questions.

I'm sure that there will be the usual kinds of responses from the
naysayers here in rgp who like to come out barking whenever it comes
to giving any kind of recognition to Russ. My advice to everyone else
is to just ignore that stuff and watch for the next time that Russ
makes his offer, and then jump in on it.

This was a golden opportunity. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I'm the daddy boss.

On Jul 7 2008 9:29 AM, Lazlo wrote:

> Last week Russ posted an offer that he would play a tournament to
> whomever was the first to respond to him by email. I actually missed
> being the first but after swapping a few emails we made arrangements
> to play.
>
> The poker lesson I got was way more than I could have hoped for. The
> tournament went on for hours and we didn't just plat the hands, but
> Russ explained everything I wanted to know about why he valued certain
> hands and made certain bets.
>
> I have played in many tournaments before and won or placed in a few,
> but have washed out along the way in most of them. The hands we got
> were no better or no worse than the usual array that a player sees in
> a tournament. The difference I think I see now after playing with
> Russ is that many hands I would have discarded or played more timidly
> look different to me now, especially after the flop. Many times when
> he advised playing a hand or making a large bet, I commented that I
> never would have done that left to my own devices, but time and again
> we raked in the chips. We had several double-ups, but in the few
> hands we lost, we lost the fewest chips possible.
>
> It was all there to be seen, especially hand selection and the way it
> changes as the tournament progresses, proper betting, and isolation
> with position.
>
> I thought I knew what playing tight/aggressive meant, but that was
> another wake up call. "Tight" means "tight as a clam's ass," and
> "aggressive" means going in like a Samurai - - a couple of power
> strokes and it's all over but the shouting.
>
> There were a few hands we entered a little more gingerly, and sure
> enough some of them shaped up such that making an exit was the best
> move, but we didn't leave many chips behind.
>
> There was only one hand where we pushed hard and had to fold to a
> killer reraise on the river, but our stacks were strong enough to take
> the hit.
>
> I won't say exactly where we played, or where we placed and in which
> tournament, but we made the final table and only busted out when
> someone else had their prayers answered on the river.
>
> This was a real education and worth every minute. Besides that, Russ
> is great guy to talk to. He has a good sense of humor, is easy to
> talk to, and has a lot of good stories, and he's willing to answer all
> questions.
>
> I'm sure that there will be the usual kinds of responses from the
> naysayers here in rgp who like to come out barking whenever it comes
> to giving any kind of recognition to Russ. My advice to everyone else
> is to just ignore that stuff and watch for the next time that Russ
> makes his offer, and then jump in on it.
>
> This was a golden opportunity. I would do it again in a heartbeat.


“People who matter are most aware that everyone else does too.” Malcolm
Forbes

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