1.) Beyond the 120 Year Diet : How to Double Your Vital Years by Roy Walford M.D.: This is a fascinating book on increasing your lifespan by going on a Calorie Reduced Optimal Nutrition diet (CRON diet). Dr. Walford was able to greatly increase the average lifespan of mammals by reducing the calorie consumption. The CRON diet had the benefits of reduction of heart disease, cancer, and many other fatal diseases. I have been considering doing this diet, but dropping to 1500-2000 calories a day would not be easy.

2.) Super System: A course in Power Poker by Doyle Brunson: I should say that I’m re-reading this book. In my first reading, I just skimmed over the non-hold’em sections of the book. I’m going back through and reading the other sections. I wish I had paid closer attention to Mike Caro’s section on draw poker. I think his advice on reading people is invaluable. I think it’s even better then his book on Poker Tells.

3.) Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton: This book is about human’s after-life journey. I can’t say that I have bought into this whole concept of an afterlife, but it is interesting what Dr. Newton’s patients describe the afterlife under hypnosis. While I still struggle with believing that there is anything after we die, I do think that if there is something, it will be more like Dr. Newton’s description as opposed to what the church tells us (which I won’t get into so not to offend anyone).

What is next on my booklist:

1.) Monogamy by Adam Phillips: This is a contrarian view on why society subscribes to monogamy. I’m not sure how my wife will take me reading the book, but I am looking forward to reading some of Adam Phillips’ work. I have heard that he is extremely witty in his aphorisms and decadence.

2.) The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham: Now that I am going to Business School, I’m trying to get to all the business classics. I am also trying to develop my own investing strategy. Right now, I lean towards growth stocks, so I am hoping this book will give me some value stock perspective.

I just got back from a bachelor party at Lake Charles, in which I spent some time in the poker rooms. I am reflecting on how many tells I was able to pick up just by paying attention. For instance, in a 3-6-12 game, one of the guy across the table “accidentally” tries betting $12 on the turn. Just as Mike Caro teaches, I saw right through this attempt at feigning strength and re-raised him when I had nothing. The other 2 players in the hand fold as soon as they see the re-raise. Our “strong” guy across the table promptly folds as well. While this seems about as elementary as it gets, I was surprised how much I was seeing it at the table.

IMHO, seeing weakness at a table is the most important read you can have on a person. It will let you know when your 2nd button pairs are good, or let you know when you can buy a pot.

Doing it the entire night, I only got burned on it once and it was myself showing weakness which was my downfall. I had pocket 9’s and the board showed 2, 4, 8, J, J. The only other player still in (probably the best player at the table) raised $6 on the river. I was a little puzzled that he wouldn’t have raised the full $12 if he had tripped Jacks. So I put him on two pair, Jacks over 8’s. His showing weakness by not betting $12 caused me to reraise him, but I only raised $6. He hesitently called. He flipped up a Jack-5 and won the pot. He was thinking he was weak because of a weak kicker. Which I totally missed. Had I bet the full $12, he would had most likely folded it.

While there are a lot of other tells I saw, I concentrated on weaknes. By focusing on this, I ended up w/ a pretty nice $400 return for 5 hours work.

At some point late in every in a poker tournament there is a hand that will push you over the top to put you in position to win the tournament, or else folding it to hang in there for a higher finishing place. Last night in a small tournament I got this hand. While I was 2nd in chips, the chip leader had a commanding lead. The two other players were on their way out.

I was big blind and managed to get an 8-8 in my pocket. The chip leader was to my right in the small blind. The two other players, who were just holding on, folded there hands. The chip leader bet half of my stack. While he liked being a bully, I knew that he wouldn’t bet that much unless he had something decent. If he had paired something in his pocket he would not have hesitated to go all in right there. I put him on 2 over cards against my 8-8. I realized that this was the decision hand for me in this tournament. If I had read him right, I would have a 50/50 shot of winning the hand. So I pushed my stack in and got called. He flipped over his cards and I saw that I had the correct read. He had an A-10 suited. The flop came a rainbow 4-7-9. Then the turn came a 3. I was feeling pretty good since I had an >88% chance of winning (he had 6 outs w/ just the river to go). Then on the river came a 10, and I realized my day was over. Five quick hands later, the other two players fell.

While I could have hung in there for a better finish (and more money), I don’t like playing for 2nd place. My general tournament strategy is mitigating risk early on and play high probability hands to stay somewhere in the middle chip count. Then when there starts getting fewer players start playing w/ a higher risk margin. Eventually I’ll get to the decision hand where I will either take the chip lead and be a heavy favorite to win the tournament, or else I’ll go down trying. If I have a 50/50 chance to win the tournament, I’ll take it every time. I’ve played some tournaments where I had to outdraw a flush when I was only holding trips w/ just the river to go. That time, the 20% chance worked out for me as I went on to win the tournament.

Update

Just after I finished this blog, I happened to go over to Daniel Negreanu website Full Contact Poker and read his article 2004 Borgata Poker Open - Part III where he describes a similar situation:

As for me, I don’t think I would have won this event when I was younger. When David was pounding me like an anvil, it would have been easy for me to give up and take a shot at playing a marginal hand in a big pot.

I guess I am still considered raw since I take shots at marginal hands for a big pot. There’s something to be said for the experience of the 2004 player of the year.