Bug's Been Busy

As feared, posts to this blog have been sporadic (read: non-existent) in recent weeks. I'm currently in the middle of a brutal 3-week long business trip, that includes seven day a week meetings and loooong work days. In fact, I made it a point to wake up early this Sunday morning (pre-5am) just to write this quick update before I get in the rental car to drive up the mountain to the construction site for another loooong work day. Quack quack quack.

While the blog has suffered, I have actually been working on poker in my limited spare time. Quite a bit, in fact. Le Monsieur and I are making relatively good progress on our ABC lessons. We're still in the midst of level-1 preflop instructions, but I have say I'm really pleased where the whole thing is heading. We have not only a good overall plan in place and are developing good, solid lessons, but I honestly can say my own poker is improving as a result of this effort. At the heart of our all our lessons is the question "why". There are many, many poker books and videos that tell you what you should do in different situations, but there are surprisingly few that actually tackle the question of why you should do the what.

Take starting hands for example. It's easy to say that you should open-raise KQs from the button if the action folds to you at a standard full-ring table. But do you know why? Do you want the two blinds to fold? Well, sure, taking down the blinds is always good, but KQs is a relatively strong hand, and if you get called by either blind there is a reasonable chance that you're ahead of their ranges. That means value, right? In other words, do you really want them to fold? Well, no, not really. We want more streets of value, above and beyond the blinds. But won't a solid playing villain in the big blind, who understand trap hands, tighten his range and therefore reduce your value? Well, sure. Glub glub. And so on.

I know poker theory pretty well. Better than most. But I also have to admit that Le Monsieur and the process of developing our lessons has really made me question everything. And I mean everything. And more to the point, these mental exercises have resulted in a deeper understanding of things I thought I had down pat.

And it's fun to talk and discuss and ponder poker like this. I'm getting better at the game, and I"m getting reinvigorated with poker in general, too. This is definitely a win-win situation.

Even if it is at 5am in the morning. Quack.

Ooops. Sorry, gotta run. A loooong work day awaits.

All-in for now...
-Bug