Paul Wasicka Blog

Hey what’s up?

I haven’t written anything in a while because there hasn’t been much to say.  I had a small cash at the Bay 101 but other than that, things have been pretty lukewarm for me at the poker table.

I celebrated the Bay 101 score with a trip to Colorado, where I took one run at my favorite ski resort (Arapahoe Basin) and promptly destroyed my knee. When I got the knee checked out, the initial diagnoses was a torn ACL but now it’s looking more like I have a strained ACL and a partially torn MCL. Much better because (I’m told) an MCL receives blood so it can heal on its own, whereas an ACL doesn’t. I’m slowly getting mobility back.

Before the WPT Championships, I taught at another WSOP Academy. I really love teaching at events like these because people are so friendly and the whole event is really fun. Each instructor brings a different viewpoint and a different set of experiences and it’s really interesting to hear how each person approaches the same situation.

The Academy ended and then it was time for my favorite event of the year: The WPT Championships. I’ve blogged about this before but I LOVE THIS TOURNAMENT.  This is the one that started it all for me, the one that built my bankroll.

Even though I had a tough table draw for day 01 of the Championship, I got off to a great start. My first table was pretty loaded so everyone played very carefully. Among others, my table included Chris Ferguson, Kathy Liebert, Erica Schoenberg, Nenad Medic, and David Chiu, who ended up winning the whole thing. We passed small amounts of chips around for hours until one guy finally busted. Shortly thereafter, I got moved to a new table and doubled up when my turned straight held up against a slow-played flopped set. I ended the day with a comfortable 92k.

After the first level on Day 02 though, everything went to garbage. After busting a guy to get my stack up to 120k, I took a few hits and dropped down to 60k. That’s when this happened:

With the blinds at 500/1000 I raised the cutoff to 3,500 with Q, 10 spades. Even with my music blasting, I clearly heard the button say, 10k as he tossed in a chip of the same amount. Easy fold, I’m thinking. Then disaster strikes. The obviously stone-deaf small blind throws in 3500. The floor rules that he has to leave the 3500 in but he can call or fold. He decides to call and even though I think the cutoff is strong and I really don’t want to call here, now I’m getting around 4 to 1 on my money. I make the call and pick up a flush draw. I don’t want to make a large bet out of position and then have to fold so I check raise all in and get snap called by the button’s KK. No spades for me and I’m out. So frustrating. What should have been an easy fold ended up costing me my shot at $3.4 mill.  Two hours later I was on a plane out of Vegas.

So that’s what’s going on with me. No tournaments planned until the WSOP. For now I’ll be playing online, fixing my knee, and enjoying spring. Talk to you soon, Paul

Comment

A little over two years ago I decided to buy a new desktop. When I buy something I have a tendency to go all out and buy the best thing on the market. After some research I decided that an Alienware computer would be best, so I went online and custom ordered the best computer available. I wanted a sick gaming computer and all the reviews had Alienware as the nuts. I ended up spending $5,200.
I was told the computer would be at my house by mid November (two weeks) and I couldn’t wait. Well, three weeks later I was getting a little impatient and called them up to inquire about the status of the computer. They informed me that the video card was back-ordered and that they would deliver the computer by the end of the week. The following week I called to ensure the delivery was made. I was then told that there was a backup in assembly because of all the orders coming in during the holiday season and that it would definitely be at my house by Christmas.
Christmas came and went and finally my computer arrived a few days later. When the computer was delivered, a huge dent was in a corner of the box, but I didn’t give up hope. I hooked all the peripherals up and booted up. Immediately I noticed that something was wrong because I was running Windows XP and the colors were way off. Instead of the blue screen that I was used to, there was a very dull sickly sea green color.
I then called customer service and explained the situation. They transferred me over to tech support to figure out the problem. Apparently there is a required number of hours that has to be spent with tech support before the computer can be sent back in to the warehouse to be looked at. After having to call back in a few times to go through this whole process all over again (my cell phone would continually disconnect after about an hour because I lived in the basement) I was allowed to send the computer back in for service.
I shipped the computer back and four weeks later it was at my door, this time sopping wet and in the same dented box. Regardless, I hooked everything up and the same problem persisted. I called customer service and requested a full refund. They informed me that there would be a 15% restocking fee if I decided to send the computer back. This meant that they wanted me to pay $780 for a computer that was seven weeks late, cost me around eight hours of time, and never even worked out of the box.
The customer service rep. assured me that they could fix the computer if I would just give them one more opportunity to fix it by sending it back. Reluctantly, I agreed and shipped the computer back to them. Two weeks later the computer arrived back on my doorstep and in a new box!
Again, I hooked up all the peripherals and booted the computer up. This time the colors were fixed and everything seemed to be working just fine. After loading a few programs onto my computer I decided to play one of my computer games. I loaded the game and within five minutes the game completely froze the computer. I had to do a hard re-boot and tried it again. This time it only took a few seconds after running the game before the computer froze.
I called customer service yet again and went through the 10 minute process of being connected to tech support. After being disconnected numerous times I unhooked everything, brought the computer upstairs and called them back. Keep in mind that on every call, it took over 20 minutes before I could speak with a real human. I memorized my stupid nine digit alienware customer number because I had to type it in so many damn times. I even tried to ask for a direct line to call back when the inevitable happened and we’d get disconnected, but they refused. I asked if I could give them my number and if they could give me a call back when we got disconnected, but again they refused (even the managers). After many hours on the phone they ultimately decided that I would have to send the computer back in for a third time to the warehouse.
I called customer service back and demanded a full refund again. They informed me that since three months had passed since I bought the computer (the three months had passed four days prior) there was no way they could allow a refund. I was outraged. I explained the situation to a few different managers and eventually I expected to talk with someone who would see the situation for what it was instead of just reading out of a book of company policy, but that wasn’t the case. I thought about suing them, but I would have spent more than the computer was worth in time and money. As it was I had already spent at least fifty hours on the phone with customer service and tech support.
They agreed to let me send the computer back to them for a fourth time to see if they could fix the problem and four weeks later the computer was back on my doorstep still unable to run the computer game. Eventually I gave up and decided the aggravation wasn’t worth it and only used the $5,200 computer for basic tasks like checking e-mails, playing poker, etc.
Last week (now coming up on two years), even basic computer functions became impossible. The computer would no longer boot up and began making horrible noises. I decided that I needed to put this ridiculous situation behind me, so I called Tru up and we headed up to the mountains with my computer and a twelve gauge shotgun. Ten minutes later, the computer looked better than it ever had.
I think that computer was a lemon from the first day I bought it, but rather than resolve the situation, the company gave me the run around, squandered my time, and treated me like complete dirt. I would like to encourage any readers of my blog to get their skulls examined if they ever even consider buying an Alienware comp. They are way overpriced, their customer service is the worst I’ve ever had to deal with, and it still tilts me to even think about that company. I will say that they make good targets. :
So here’s to you, Alienware. Five shots of triple ought buck!

Comment

The Fish and the Bay
*written from the plane*

Well, I’m out of the Bay 101 Shooting Star. On day one, I played the best tournament poker of my career. Unfortunately, on day two, I played like absolute garbage for the first half of the day but was then able to come back strong. Today I’ve had a lot of mixed emotions, which normally I’d say is a bad thing, but I learned a lot and I’m going to use this knowledge to tear it up next time. It never feels good to write these posts, but I think it’s essential in order to further my quest to continually improve my game.

It felt so good to make the money. Counting the bounty I got for busting “The Magician,” I took home a little over $8k in profit. It’s not a huge score but anytime you’re bringing money in it’s a good day. The biggest benefit to me was the confidence boost. After going through a nine month slump, it felt good to finally get that monkey off my back.

Day 03 was short and painful. I started by waking up earlier than I did yesterday, so I got up at 8:30am. I got ready for the day, talked with Thomas about some playing strategy, listened to some music, stretched, and ran circles around my hotel. I then had another strategy talk with Nappy and grabbed a quick breakfast. When I arrived at the casino I was ready to play some awesome poker.

One of the first hands of the day John Phan raised first position (playing six handed) and got called two seats behind by the table chip leader. In the big blind I picked up a 9d,Td and flat called the additional 5,000. Blinds were 1,500/3,000/500 ante at this point and I started with a 137,000 stack. The flop came Kh, 9h, 5. I thought for a while about what to do and ultimately decided to check. The other two checked as well. The turn brought an off suit 3 and I decided to bet 10,000 which was a fairly small bet. I like betting out here, but I think in retrospect I should have made a large bet to force someone to pick up a hand if they want to re-raise me. Even a king would likely flat call and then I could possibly suck out with a 9 or a T on the river and win a big pot. Anyway, John re-raised my bet to 45,000 and although I wasn’t convinced he was that strong here I decided the reward wasn’t worth the risk and I folded.

Two hands later the chip leader is now under the gun (UTG) and he raises to 9,500. It folds to me and I look down and see A,K. After that first pot, I now have around 115,000. My game plan coming in was to try and trap with A,K to possibly get a squeeze play from John, so I decided to call. I looked over at the raise and decided to match what he put out. I grabbed two pink (5,000 chip), four blue (1,000), and one yellow (500). For those of you who are good at math, you’ve probably realized that I put out too much and therein lies a problem. The floor was called over and ruled that since the 9,500 raise was a raise of 6,500 on the big blind that in order for my motion to be a re-raise it had to be at least half the initial raise. This meant that my raise had to be at least 3,250 to make it legit. Well, for those of you who are bad at math, my 14,500 was at least 3,250 more than the initial 9,500, so it was ruled a re-raise and I had to make the minimum allowable re-raise which was 6,500 on top of the initial 9,500.

The result is that I had to make it 16,000. UTG now makes the obligatory re-raise because he knows that I most likely made an honest mistake (which I did). He re-re-raises 15,000 more, so now he has 41,000 out there, which is perfect because now I can go all-in and get great fold equity and even if he does call I should be way ahead of his range because he has no clue that I’m flatting with A,K preflop. He called, which obviously made me happy that I might be getting it all-in with a dominant hand. However, excitement soon turned to dread as A,A was then flipped over in front of me.

When the flop came a bland Q high there was no excitement of a suckout to be had and I shook everyone’s hand and made my exit. I will admit that I was extremely upset with myself for making this “misclick” because it resulted in me exiting the tournament. Had I just called, as intended, I could have gotten away from the hand postflop. I hugged my family and had nothing to say, other than “What can you do?” I felt really bad because my dad had just flown in to see me play and really didn’t get to see much action, but se la vi.

On my walk home I started to analyze the situation a little more and became increasingly excited. I try to learn at least one thing from every tournament I play in so that I can be that much better the next time. I was thinking about what I can learn from this tournament and two things came to mind. The first being preparation. On the second day of play I slept terribly. I woke up at 5:30am because the air conditioning unit in the room decided to randomly start blasting freezing air on me. I finally figured out how to turn the thing off and went back to bed. Then I woke up at 9:30 and there wasn’t enough time to eat breakfast. I was in a rush to get to the casino, and my iPhone was out of batteries, so I had no phone or music. I started out the day very badly and the way the day went followed suit. The following night I turned off the A/C unit and got up two hours before the tournament instead of just one. I was super excited and ready to play and that’s the mindset I need to be in.

The other thing I learned was adding the “accidental misclick” to my repertoire. Although it was a genuine misclick during the hand, I believe that if you were to run that scenario out a hundred times that I would be in great shape in terms of EV. The fact that I don’t want to just make a big re-raise and only get into an all-in as a likely coin flip and my stack size made it quite possibly the optimal way to play the hand. The facts were that I got the guy to put in 41k preflop, which would normally leave me with plenty of fold equity if he has nothing (which is ideal because A,K isn’t a huge favorite over a random hand) and he will gladly get it in with hands that I have dominated, such as an A,Q or K,Q because it looks like I either might have a low to mid pair or a suited connector. Most players will re-raise in a spot where it looks like your opponent accidentally re-raised with the intention of calling and that is what you can take advantage of at the table.

A lot of people might consider this a dirty angle shoot, but my take on any situation like this is that if it’s within the rules, then it’s fine. If you know how someone will react to a certain situation and you use that against them, then I think that is just owning them, rather than playing dirty. Anyway, after thinking about the situation and talking it over with Thomas, I felt much better and decided to get it out on paper so that I didn’t have it looming inside.

Right now I just can’t wait to get back on the felt, and although I was planning on not playing another tournament for a while I might have to change my plans because I feel unstoppable right now and another big score is just around the corner. Wish me luck! :

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check Kwickfish.com

Comment

Well here it is, time for some NBC heads up action. The draw party was actually really fun. Red carpet, interviews, and most importantly, free drinks. The MC was Ali Nejad and he killed it. He’s got the gift.

I didn’t get to attend the draw party last year and although I would have preferred to repeat at the LAPC, the draw party was a nice consolation prize. People were in good spirits and even people who drew each other acted cool. When asked who he’d most like to play, Jamie Gold said he’d prefer to draw me but I guess the fates had other plans. Jamie drew a qualifier. I guess the epic rematch will have to wait. Don’t think I haven’t dreamed about once or twice. :

The highlight for me was meeting Jerome Bettis. I don’t usually swoon for celebrities but I have to admit, I’m a big Bus fan. He embodies so much of what I believe in: hard work, a good attitude, discipline, having fun, and putting your head down when it’s time to get the job done. I only spoke to him for a couple of minutes but he really seemed like a stand up guy.

So I’m in the hearts bracket, which means I get to show up at the lovely hour of 10:15am tomorrow. It’s all good. I’m ready. I’ll be facing Freddy Deeb. It should be a good match. Freddy isn’t a nut job. He plays good poker and I respect him. Wish me luck,
Paul

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check Kwickfish.com

Comment

I just read a news piece about how the World Poker Tour (WPT) is trimming the number of televised events they’ll be offering this season. Citing player feedback and industry trends, Steve Lipscomb (founder, president, etc.) said the WPT’s focus is on creating large fields and correspondingly juicy prize pools and increased media for players. Apparently the WPT will also provide live coverage, first ever sports-style analysis, and a running strategic breakdown of what’s going on.

I’m so happy to see this! This is the poker industry getting into fighting shape: getting lean and badass. I can’t stress this enough: We don’t need more televised events, we need better ones. Think about it from a football perspective. Ever watched the NFL Europe (which folded this year because it sucked) or Arena Football? Compared to the NFL, these programs are complete duds. The players are terrible and so is every other aspect of the program including commentary, footage, coaching, etc.

In order for televised poker to succeed, the shows have to be popular. It’s not enough anymore to just see a group of guys sitting around a table playing cards for money. The stale old poker shows are basically just a Sportscenter-like compilation of all-ins. Just a bunch of coolers. Even with large amounts of money at stake, believe me, the viewing novelty wears off.

The public is ready for the real game and they want intelligent analysis, not just old jokes about a commentator’s ex-wife. This game has been televised now for a while and the viewing public wants to see actual poker being played, not just a bunch of all-ins. Now people want drama, back-stories, strategic analysis, good commentary, and good poker.

What we have now is a population explosion of poker shows. Too many deer in the forest means that none of them get enough to eat. That’s how it is in the poker world. We have too many shows. I’m all for new ideas but if televised poker is going to continue to capture America’s attention it’s time to take some of the better poker shows and make em great.

That’s what the WPT is doing. They already have Mike Sexton, definitely one of the best poker commentators (and players) out there. They always have a hot hostess, which is good I guess, but there are enough attractive women who also are knowledgeable about poker. What about getting one of them? Think the Rachel Nichols of poker.

But this blog isn’t one of my rants, it’s a celebration. Seriously, nice job WPT. You guys trimmed a little fat off the TV circuit while at the same time upgrading the meat of the show. This is a big step in the right direction. Coming on the heels of the WPT’s recent structure improvements, in my opinion this program is clearly leading the way in the quality revolution. First there was poker. Then there was too much poker. Now we’re heading where we need to go: Great Poker.

Well played, guys. Paul

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check Kwickfish.com

Comment

There are four types of people out there. Those who possess natural talent and pick things up very quickly, but lack motivation. Those who have a tough time grasping things, but work their ass off and try their best. Those who have both; and those who have neither.

I fit into the first description. After much self reflection, I’ve never really worked all that hard at anything in my life. Whether it came to school, athletics, friends, or just everyday life; things just made sense to me. I never had to over think things or put in hard time to accomplish my goals. One of my sisters is the complete opposite. She fits into the second category. She works really hard and gets what she wants. Nothing comes easy, which probably makes attaining her goals that much more gratifying.

I view my situation as both a gift and a curse at the same time. A gift because I can take on any new pursuit and do fairly well at it. I learn very quickly. If I like it, I’ll often become obsessed, and won’t stop until either I get sick of it or until I move on to my next obsession.

However, because I usually do pretty well at things from the get go, I rarely fail and this is my curse. Sometimes failing is good because it makes you want to succeed that much more. Maybe failing is what lights the fire under those people who fall into the second category. I feel as though I’m stuck in a place where I have had some success, but in order to truly excel I need that fire, that motivation, that drive. Natural talent alone isn’t enough to make the cut.

There are a few things that I’ve decided I need to improve in order to attain that third status – someone who has both the talent and out-works their competition. Motivation, self image, discipline, willpower, and balance.

The biggest obstacle I’m always trying to overcome is motivation. There are a few reasons why it is really hard to get motivated to not only play, but to be the best. First off, I live a comfortable life right now. I have the means right now to go out and buy whatever I feel will make me happier. At first this sounds really cool, and believe me I’m not taking this situation for granted. But after a while material possessions become boring and most of my stuff just sits around and gets dusty, not to mention being a complete waste of money.

Part of me feels as though I’d truly be happier if I had nothing and had to work my ass off to get something I wanted. As I said before, the hard work one puts in to reach goals is a huge part of what makes attaining those goals satisfying. When things come and go as you please, there’s no real enthusiasm or excitement. Not only that, but I think that having nothing would make me want to improve my situation and that in and of itself would give me all the motivation I needed. However, I’m at a point where success won’t change my lifestyle all that much, and that is hindering my mentality.

Also, knowing that I’ll probably never again accomplish what I’ve accomplished in the past is depressing. The logical part of me knows that mathematically the chances of me seeing another final table of an event as large as the 06 WSOP Main Event are probably worse than the Rockies ever winning the World Series – pretty bleak to say the least. That is not how a champion should feel, which brings me to my next point.

Before the 2006 Main Event, my goal was to make the final table. Now, if you were to ask someone what the odds of me actually doing that, maybe I would have been 2,000 to 1. However, in my mind I was already there. Throughout the tournament, when I took a bad beat or cooler, etc. I wouldn’t be upset at all because I knew that I was destined to make the final table. It felt as though I already knew that I was going to be there and nothing else mattered. Other people believed in me and, more importantly, I believed in myself. I truly believed that I was the best player in the world. Whether I was or wasn’t didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I believed with absolute conviction that no one stood a chance against me.

I used to play mainly online, and that might be where my confidence stemmed from. Instead of worrying about what other people thought about me, I would talk trash to the little icons on the computer monitor. After I felt I had outplayed someone, I would very arrogantly proclaim, “owned.” Owned!! That would basically sum up how the hand played out. There was no need for poker tracker or shark scope or any other fancy software to tell me how good my opponents were. All that mattered was that I knew that I was the best player at the tables (as did my opponents). Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to turn into some Humberto Brenes and constantly remind people of how good I am… maybe in my head I will The fiiiiiiiishhhyyyy!!! The fiiiiiiishhhhhhyyyyyyy is huuuuuunnnnnnnggrryyy!!!!

I’ll be the first to admit that I lack discipline. I never stick with anything for very long. I’m always inclined to take the easy road. Maybe it’s all that math and science that’s been implanted into me that makes me want to take the path of least resistance. Honestly, I don’t really know why I feel the way I do, but that’s not what’s important. Knowing that it can pose a problem and wanting to change is what is crucial.

I can’t really explain my reasons for doing some of the things I do; I know that it doesn’t make sense to any ‘normal’ person, but sometimes I have a tough time with priorities. When I see a $25 late fee on a cable bill I freak out and throw a temper tantrum. But then I’ll go lose $5,000 in a tournament and feel fine. Before my score at the World Series, I entered a $14,000 tournament and slept through the second day of play. Eventually I was blinded out of the tournament because I stayed up all night playing a $1/$2 no limit cash game the night before.

I know that this makes absolutely no sense, but I can’t control doing irrational things sometimes. In college I studied for many hours in preparation for a final exam in which I needed at least a 70% to maintain my “B” in the class, but then never took the exam. I even wrote a nine page essay for another final and didn’t turn in the paper because it wasn’t exactly how I wanted it – even though I only needed a 60% on the paper to maintain my “A”.

I’ve also been lacking balance in my life. Running bad, playing bad, and depression seem to go hand in hand. I find that when I start running bad, inevitably I start playing less and less optimally. Playing bad, in turn, leads to me feeling guilty and depressed that I didn’t have the discipline to stop. That negative energy then attracts ugly situations such as coolers, bad beats, etc. that are uncontrollable and even more infuriating because they are now continually happening. And so goes the cycle – a nasty downward spiral that can devastate a bankroll.

When this situation starts to show it’s ugly face it’s important to maintain discipline and walk away. Degeneracy has a natural affinity towards this downward spiral, and I’ve noticed that the more I focus on more important areas of my life, the easier it is to break the cycle.

Furthermore, recently I’ve been playing under the wrong conditions and for the wrong reasons. One thing I’ve learned from watching my favorite athletes is their brutal honesty. They call it like they see it and I respect them for it. Often times I try not to hurt people’s feelings. I tell them that they played great, even though I thought they played terribly. For a while I thought this was the right approach because I didn’t want them to feel any worse than they already were. However, I’ve come to realize that one can be honest without rubbing it in.

I think caring about what other people think has long been a weakness of mine. When I look back at some of my previous blog posts from a couple years back, I couldn’t care less what other people thought, and that was one of my strong suits. Being a nice guy doesn’t win tournaments. Feeling bad for someone doesn’t win tournaments. Killer instinct is what brings about success.

There are two kinds of pissed off. There’s the killer instinct pissed off and there’s the tilt driven pissed off. One of these moods is what I feel when I’m playing my best – I’ll let you decide which. When I get into a pot with someone, I want to hurt them. Bad. I want them to know that if they are in a pot with me, they are putting themselves in a very dangerous position where they will likely go broke. Lately, however, I’ve been playing too much under the latter guise.

Playing for the wrong reasons can also be a huge detriment. Right now it feels as if I’m in a spot where I need to post some results or fade into the realm of mediocrity. I believe that pressure can either force people to rise to the occasion or choke. I also believe that there are two types of pressure – public and personal. Public pressure is when there is a momentous occasion to be decided by who wants it more. Personal pressure, on the other hand, is living up to your own expectations and blocking out the fear that inevitably looms in the background. I usually thrive under public pressure. When I’m an underdog I tend to over perform and rise to my potential. Mainly because I love to prove others wrong. However, when I’m expected to win, at least by my own standards, I often choke. I guess this goes back to not caring what other people think.

Lately I’ve been playing to make money. Obviously I wouldn’t play if I didn’t still enjoy the game, but the primary focus of each tournament and each cash game has been to make as much money as possible. This mentality is not healthy for a few reasons. First, when things aren’t going well, it’s easy to fall into the destructive cycle as described above. Conversely, when everything seems to be going your way, it’s easy to overlook spots where you could have extracted more value.

Some of the sessions that I’m most proud of have been losing sessions. Obviously you can’t control how the cards fall. All you can do is put yourself into situations that are positive expected value and know that over time it will pay off. I find that when I try to climb out of a hole and back to even for a session are the times when I end up losing even more money and becoming even more frustrated with the game.

Instead of trying to win money, it’s time to focus on trying to own fools. This will make the game more about fun and entertainment and less about success and tying that success to self worth. It’s easier to recover from a broken ego than it is to recover from a loss when all you’re thinking about is how much you could have bought with the money you lost.

This whole article has been about what I’ve been doing wrong or have neglected to do right. I guess I’d like to wrap it up by mentioning the steps that I’m going to take to turn things around. Meditation, preparation, and visualization are the three main things that I’m going to focus on for the next chapter in my poker career (and in life for that matter).

I realize that I’m up against people who are just as talented as myself. Therefore, what will distinguish the winners from the losers at this point is who wants it more. It’s one thing to know what it takes to succeed, but it’s completely different to actually do it. To be world class in any endeavor, you must be talented and hardworking. I know that I have the talent; I guess at this point, the only question left is, “How bad do I want it?”

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check www.kwickfish.com

Comment

Hey what’s up? The last time I blogged, I was in Australia. Vacation-wise, Australia kicked ass. Poker-wise it kicked my ass. I felt I played well though so no regrets.

I just made my arrangements for the LAPC, so that’s definitely going to happen. I get in on the 19th and I’ll probably play the $1,500 NL tourney and possibly some cash games to warm up before the main event.

The LAPC is a crazy tournament. There is a gigantic contingent of sharks but there are also tons of regular joes. You usually don’t see such high numbers of both at the same place except perhaps at the World Series.

Commerce isn’t exactly Westwood but there’s plenty to do if you get knocked out or if you have extra time. Last year I went to a Go-Kart place that had drag cars. Very fun. Obviously poker is the focus but I really believe it’s important to have as much fun as possible when one plays. I don’t know. It helps me relax and get in a good mindset. This year I’m not sure what I’ll do for entertainment. Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier are possibilities. I’m not much of a basketball fan but you know me, I’m down for any competitive event.

Football is done for the season and while I’m bummed because I just built a pretty sweet “media room,” I’m also looking forward to getting outside a little more. I’ve started working out again and while the first two weeks back are always brutal, I think it’s really important to have physical activity in my life. I feel more balanced, more relaxed, and more confident.

As for poker, I’ve been playing a lot online recently. No details but I’m trying out a few new wrinkles. The game is constantly changing and if you play the same people enough they’ll pick up on any style. The more I play, the more I’m realizing that it’s super important to mix it up. Anyway, I’ll be posting pretty often so I’ll let you know how everything goes. Till next time,
Pablo

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check www.kwickfish.com

Comment

On day 02, our luggage still hadn’t arrived. I played golf with a bunch of poker players and then finished off the day with a sunset cruise up the Yarra River. While I was hitting the golf ball around, Amber and Truman went on a much-needed shopping spree and picked up some clothes and toiletries so we could actually be presentable on the cruise. It was insanely hot but I enjoyed the cruise. Then all the traveling caught up with me and I collapsed into bed around 10:00.

Day 03 was Friday. I cabbed over to the Queen Victoria Market and picked up some fabrics from Thailand and a few other random touristy trinkets. One thing I didn’t buy was a neon green “Mankini” (think banana hammock from the movie Borat). They had several for sale at the market and I was tempted to buy one and place a little bet with Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith at the Crown bowling alley. Loser would wear the Mankini for the main event. Of course even degenerate gamblers like Joe, Gavin, and myself don’t have the stones for a prop bet like this so it never happened. And honestly, no one wants to see any of us in a Mankini.

I followed up the market experience by heading to the suburb of Brunswick, to a Lebanese restaurant for some shwarma. If you’ve never had shwarma, you’re missing out. Along with avocados, shwarma should pretty much be considered one of the major food groups. This place had the goods. Horrific service but great tatziki. Melbourne really is a wonderful city for restaurants. They are all over the place. I’m not sure anyone actually cooks in town because it seems like there are more restaurants than locals. It seems like all I ever do is talk about restaurants but when you have just flown all the way around the world, all you can do is really lay low, hydrate, and eat. Anyway, a few hours later I had a great steak dinner at one of the Crown’s nicer restaurants. I ordered a dry aged Wagyu beef tenderloin and I have to say, it was extremely tender. Definitely one of the top five steaks I’ve ever had and that’s saying a lot. Our luggage finally arrived and that made the trip go even better.

On Saturday I got up early, rented a car, and drove down to Port Phillip Bay for some scuba diving. The drive was supposed to take 2 and 1/2 hours but even though we got lost for 30 minutes, it still only took me only an hour and forty-five to get there. Australians don’t speed at all and the highest speed limit I saw all day was 100 k/h, which is probably about 60 mph. Needless to say, I might have exceeded that number a little.

The dives were great. On the first dive, with no warning whatsoever, our guide headed back to the surface, leaving just Amber, myself, and Truman on the bottom. It was Truman’s first dive and none of us wanted to call it quits so we just followed a few other divers from a different group and then did our own thing. The boat crew wasn’t thrilled but Truman was. His first dive ever, and that successfully done without a guide. The water was significantly colder than in Belize but we had thick wetsuits and the fish were plentiful. I kind of freaked out when I saw a jellyfish but by the end of the dive, I’d seen quite a few and since no one else seemed particularly concerned, I didn’t worry about it. The highlight of the first dive was seeing a 2 foot long “banjo” shark sleeping on the bottom. I hoped he’d wake up so I could see more of him but I was content to let sleeping sharks lie.

The second dive was even better than the first. We dove on an old man-made rock wall, which has become a perfect spot for aquatic life. Basically the rock wall was C-shaped so we’d swim against the current, around the outside of the wall and once we’d reached the end, we’d let the current carry us back down. Then we’d do it again. There were tons of fish swimming around the rocks and to be honest, the coral and plant life were more exciting here than in Belize. After the second dive, the boat took us out to a seal colony and we snorkeled with a bunch of seals. Pretty incredible. I could barely stay awake on the drive home but with a lot of speeding I made it back to the hotel before my eyelids fell shut. I was so exhausted that I crawled in bed at 7pm and slept like a babe.

The next day and a half was pretty much entirely consumed by football playoffs interspersed with room service visits. Yes, I got up at 8 am to watch football. The following day I got up at 5.

On Tuesday I played the main event.

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check www.kwickfish.com

Comment

So much to talk about. I’m down under for the second year in a row but that’s where the similarities end. Man, how different things are this time around. Last year, I was coming off the worst losing streak of my career. I had just busted out of the PCA Bahamas and I really felt like I couldn’t win a pot. Then I went deep in a little $50 Multi-table tourney online, and believe it or not, that turned the whole thing around. I got to Australia and before I knew it, I’d outlasted over 700 people to get 12th. The whole trip was over in one blink.

This year has been completely different. Shortly after the dinner break on day 01, I’m done. My Aussie Millions main event ended almost before it began. I’ll post the hands in a subsequent blog.

I’m glad I went deep last year but the consequence was that I really didn’t get to see much of Melbourne at all. This time I resolved to see and do a lot more and I’ve definitely done that. Amber, Truman, and I got to Australia on the 9th and our trip got off to a rocky start. I was a little jet lagged and our luggage didn’t make it but after a sizeable nap, I went to a Full Tilt meet-n-greet that proved to be a lot of fun. It sounds kind of hokey but they had a little Australian petting zoo at the party and I got to hold a crocodile, see a dragon, and have a python wrap itself around my neck. Some guy taught me how to crack a bull-whip. Like I said, hokey but fun.

I was pretty tipsy after the party so I did the responsible thing and went to play poker. : I wasn’t too bad though. I played the lowest stakes possible and it was really fun. Gavin Smith was playing with his girlfriend and although she wasn’t playing super-well, she still managed to felt me a few times. The well-known blogger Dr. Pauly played a few hands but called it quits long before I went to bed, which wasn’t until about 4:00 a.m.

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check www.kwickfish.com

Comment

I’ve thought about my play a lot recently and one interesting trend has developed. I seem to be playing the opposite of what I suggest people do. This isn’t intentional by any means, but I thought it was kind of funny and further goes to show that poker isn’t nearly as black and white as people make it out to be.

I typically advise players to play position and keep their patience in cash games and play very aggressively and pick their spots in tournament play. However, lately I’ve noticed that I don’t really mind playing out of position and fast in cash games and I usually play a very passive tournament style, waiting for people to make mistakes rather than putting them to tough decisions.

Maybe I’m not playing optimally right now, or maybe I’m just becoming more comfortable with new situations that I wouldn’t otherwise have put myself in earlier in my career. Possibly it’s a desire to beat the game from all different angles. Whatever it is, I can’t help but wonder if I should return to the basics, or if I’ve stumbled on a new style that will later become the norm, just as the hyper-aggressive re-raising and squeeze plays eventually caught on.

It almost seems circular in how the game seems to evolve. Assume for the moment that players have evolved what they feel is a winning strategy, playing solid, tight, ABC poker. Then a few “pioneers” come along and start running over the tables and creating havoc, getting people to start making marginal calls against them (after all, they usually have nothing, right?). A few of the grinders see how effective this style is and give it a try and eventually come up with some creative plays, maybe a squeeze play or two, and before you know it, the norm is now everyone bullying, fast playing, and pushing their draws heavily. It gets to the point where now a few players feel like if they slow down just a bit, they might be able to trap the maniacs for a few buy-ins. Now the so called pioneers are the ones who have now adapted their style back to the basics and are just playing their cards. hence the cycle repeating itself.

Personally, I’m always looking for new and creative ways to play hands – mostly to educate myself so that I’ll have the proper tools to counter whatever style I see someone falling into.

One thing that I have noticed recently is that I don’t switch my style up nearly as much as I used to and I think my play has become a little predictable at the live scene. In Australia, expect to see more angles and a completely different player, not the same tight, boring player that I feel I’ve evolved into. Most people need to go back to the basics and quit bluffing; I think that I need to go back to the maniac I once was – not afraid to get it all-in drawing dead or looking like an idiot.

I almost equate it to an undefeated fighter who only cares about the record rather than what made him love the sport to begin with. The competition. Maybe he ekes out the win, but the love for the game is no longer there.

No matter what happens when the scorecards are in, for 2008, I’d like to wish you guys health, happiness, and a little luck, both on the table and away. Merry Christmas and happy New Year!
Paul

Paul Wasicka is a professional poker player based in Las Vegas, NV. For more about Paul, check www.kwickfish.com

Comment