New blood

I helped a friend of mine sign up at Full Tilt today. Who says there are no new fish anymore? I know plenty of newish players.

I hope my friend does OK. He seems much more interested in gambling than learning the game, which isn't a very good sign to start with. But he really likes the idea of winning money, so maybe that will compel him to tighten up and pay closer attention. I'm going to try to give him as much help as I can, but it's up to him in the end to make the right decisions.

I suggested he start at .1/.25 or a $6 tourney, but he wanted to jump into a .25/.50 6-max no limit game. He won the very first hand he ever played on the Internet, and his first buy-in lasted 45 minutes. That's a hell of a lot longer than my first five buy-ins lasted.

It's so fascinating to see poker from a new perspective again. Any two cards can win, position doesn't mean anything, and any pair or better is worth a call on the river because the other guy might be bluffing. It's not a good way to play, but it's amazing how many people never adjust and remain loose-passive. Of course I advised him about what I thought he should do, but he wanted to make a few of his own mistakes.

My friend's biggest problems were that he started to play junk hands when he got bored, and he paid off his opponents much too frequently. I think it will take him a little while to develop some hand reading skills, but at least he has a general knowledge of when to bet or raise. Calling and (not) folding are where he had problems.

After losing that buy-in, he played a $6.60 Turbo tourney and came in 6th, and then he joined a .1/.25 NL game. He treaded water for a little while, and then I took over for a few minutes and won him back all but about $15.

I hadn't played a session of my own yet, so I logged in for an hour of play late at night.

I sat to the left of David Chiu at one of my 2/4 NL tables. I won $100 in the time it took him to triple up.

He made a lot of minraises preflop and small probe bets on later streets. I don't think I could play that style and have it be profitable. I like to build pots with bigger bets and try to trap people for a lot of money.

I'm curious though about how he makes it work for him. I'll need to examine his hand histories, and I may report back if I find something educational.