Third Man Walking

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) $5/$10/$20 session

(2:51) QJo on 943hxxAhh

(5:17) 9s9x on 885xssQsss9x

(8:09) KK on 999

(11:45) QTo on 883r6r7

(13:49) AJo on J95hhxJddAhhh

(16:13) 66 on J73r6ccTccc

(18:22) 85o on A86ddx7x6x

(21:00) KJo on 653hxhJxAx

(23:35) A7ss on Q75dxd3xTx

(26:27) AcJx on AJ8xccTccc5x

(29:20) AJdd on AA8r7dd9ddd

Your correspondent plays a big game and gets opportunities to play much more exciting poker than he's otherwise played recently.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) Living through variance

(16:35) $5/$10/$20 session

(17:08) KhKx on Q76hhxQss9hhh

(18:51) TT on J98rTrQ

(20:25) AQss on K83sxs9xJx

(22:08) QJcc on Q74xxc8cc8x

(24:21) KhJo on AK6r7hhAx

(25:25) AKo on Q43ddx

(28:38) AA on K72r9hh8x

Your correspondent discusses living through variance as a major challenge to playing poker professionally. Along the way, he talks about getting insurance as a poker player, and why so many pros seek out side hustles. Then, he wonders about how he’s playing after a $5/$10/$20 session.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) Two possible paths

(4:39) Garrett Adelstein's "Beneath the Cards"

(14:49) $5/$5/$10 hand: TsTx on K97sss5ssss6sssss

(18:07) Jesse May's "Shut Up and Deal"

Your correspondent thinks about two possible paths to success in poker, represented, in different ways, in two poker books: Garrett Adelstein’s recent “Beneath the Cards,” and Jesse May’s “Shut Up and Deal.”

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) "Bet Raise Fold"

(12:36) $5/$5/$10 session

(12:49) K9cc on 974r7dd5x

(14:37) KJo on K88rQhh7x

(15:49) AA preflop spot

(17:26) AKo preflop spot

(19:21) J7cc on AJJrA. (The river was a brick.)

(22:37) From a later session: AKhh on AKJxdd5x

Your correspondent reviews the 2013 poker documentary "Bet Raise Fold," wondering what it means that poker today exists in the shadow of the poker boom two decades ago.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) Preserving public games

(22:39) $5/$5/$10 session

(22:51) A4cc on T43cxcQx2x

(24:56) KK all-in preflop

(25:35) 55 on A75r

(26:56) 77 on J98r9r7

(28:29) AKhh on Q94cch

(30:19) JJ on J92ddx

Your correspondent discusses how best to balance private games in card rooms with existing public games. He argues that public games (which can often run with less overhead and less friction than private ones) should be protected — both for the players, so that they can come and go as they please, and, perhaps, for the card rooms themselves.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) Biggest losing session of the year! ($5/$5, $5/$5/$10 and $10/$20)

(2:30) KsKx on Q88ssxThh2x

(8:32) AQo on A85ddxJx4x

(15:21) Sandor Illes on bad beat culture and what makes a great poker game

Your correspondent talks to livestream player and ball knower Sandor Illes about why you should be willing to listen to your buddy's bad beats. Your correspondent also reviews his worst session of poker so far this year, which included some hands played against Sandor himself.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) The problem of time

(11:59) ($5/$5 and) $5/$10 session

(12:55) AA on 755r6hhKx

(15:16) JJ on 964ccx

(16:37) K7o on QJ4rKr7

(21:35) JJ on 732cxcTx6x

(23:50) AJcc on AQ5xcc6x7x

(26:24) AhAx on Q94hxh

(29:44) Double-board hold-em bomb pot: 53ss on K764J and K65r8ssAx

(32:58) AA preflop spot

Your correspondent returns from vacation and thinks about what he'd like to do next, pondering what to do when time seems to be at a premium. He then plays a $5/$10 session that ends with a day-defining cooler.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) On aggression

(8:25) $5/$5/$10 session

(8:36) AhQx on 654hhhAx

(10:28) KK (no heart) on 832hhx9xAx

(14:47) AhKx on AJTxhh6x5x

(16:38) 16:38 A9o (no spade) on QJ7sxs9x9sss

(19:12) KK on K43xssAx

(21:05) AA on 982cxc8x

(24:12) QTss on A87sxx3dd

Your correspondent considers the meaning of the term "aggression" in poker, and how odd it is that a word with a negative connotation (a word one might use about someone who starts a bar fight) is how we describe winning poker play.

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) Cash Players Vs. Tournament Players

(15:23) $5/$5 and $5/$5/$10 session

(15:55) QQ preflop spot

(17:18) AKo preflop spot

(19:02) 88 on 876r5ccKccc

(20:28) AQhh on AT8r5hh

(21:30) 87cc on A96ddx5x

(23:16) 55 on 873r8ss7x

Your correspondent addresses two amusing but similarly unanswerable questions about cash game pros as compared to tournament pros. Who does better in the other's format? And who's better at poker?

(0:00) Introduction

(0:15) "The Adults"

(12:22) $5/$5/$10 NLHE session

(14:04) AJo preflop spot

(16:05) T9ss on K82sss7x

(21:05) JJ preflop spot

(23:47) QQ preflop spot

Your correspondent discusses the 2023 film "The Adults," which prominently features poker being played in bumbling fashion. He then plays some bumbling poker himself, struggling through a $5/$5/$10 session.