I know I haven't updated in a while, sorry for the interruption. I have been very busy at work, as those that know me, or those that haven't been living under a rock for the past 6 months can imagine. Interesting times to say the least.

I plan on updating this blog more frequently, and doing a longer "what I've been up to" post soon, but I just wanted to talk about a recent home game I played in last Saturday night. The game was hosted by S., a friend of mine who went to Harvard. I did not know him in college, but I met him through a mutual friend a while back. He's a nice guy with kind of my reverse background: he worked at a hedge fund after college and later became a pro poker player. Unlike me, he is very very good at math. He co-authored a few articles in Bluff Magazine with Brandon Adams and also helped Bill Chen out with some research for The Mathematics of Poker book. Even though everyone at the game was a Harvard graduate, we all deferred to him on math matters, whether it be size of the pot, hands to go until someone had to leave, or keeping the book. It was pretty funny.

S.hosted the game in his apartment in nyc. The game was five handed, 2/4 no limit. Initially people bought in for 200 bucks, but the game got deeper after a few people stacked off/reloaded. The game transported me back in time to when I was in high school, and we played poker with old-school Hoyle red, white and blue chips on my bedroom floor or on a friends rickety table. There was a mix of competition, camaraderie, joking, ragging on one another, interrupted by moments of concentration where everyone grew quiet when two people were involved in a big pot. There was no fancy green-felt table, no catered meal, no masseuse, in fact there wasn't even any beer in the fridge, only root beer and water, and when someone suggested we flip to see who would have to go out and get beer no one agreed because it was too cold outside.

The game was 5-6 handed, and the lineup consisted of the some of founding members of the Poker Club at Harvard College, which is where Brandon Adams honed his craft. One of the guys had just graduated Columbia law school and was clerking for a year before starting at a very prestigious firm, another was a Portfolio Manager at a hedge fund, another was a risk manager at a bank. I also brought my friend from work to the game who is trying to learn (unfortunately for him he stepped into a very tough 1-2 game!).

I had never heard of the Harvard Poker club when I was in school even though they apparently had been hosting games when I was a junior and senior in 01 and 02. The games were held at the opposite end of campus from where I lived, and poker was not that popular back then, but I'm still kind of surprised I hadn't heard of the games being played since I had always looked for games during college but hadn't been able to find any. Oh well, probably better that I didn't find any games back then.

We played from around 9am-230am and the game was very competitive. Each of the guys had played poker seriously at one point or another to varying degrees. In fact, I had recognized one of the players from this old underground club in NY, which is where I first learned to play no-limit (I had only ever played limit before). Obviously we were playing relatively low stakes so the money didn't mean all that much to us, but the game was a lot more intense than I expected it to be. People were agonizing over calls, and the play was overall very solid. I caught some flack for being a horrible dealer (the game moved a lot quicker because everyone had a deck to shuffle so we didn't have to wait very long in between hands), and of course in high school I got ribbed for this, as well (being one of the only non-asians among my friends this was an obvious stereotype).

I got sucked out on in two major pots (once getting it all in with 33 on AA34 board v. A2-two on river no problem, and once with KK v. AQ on 43510 board all in on turn A on river on problem), yet still managed to book a nice win.

But more than that it reminded me why I initially grew to love the game in the first place, and what I hope poker will be for me in the future. I started playing poker for money when I was in high school, and now, 10 years later, I can still enjoy it, whether it be playing online and really dissecting my opponents' games and statistics, etc. playing in high stakes private live games or in a casino, or playing with buddies on a weekend night, chatting while the hours disappear so quickly because you're simply having fun. It's a beautiful game and one I hope to enjoy recreationally for years to come.

Also, the 60 minutes piece will air this Sunday, November 30th, at 7pm on CBS: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/11/25/60minutes/main4633254.shtml

There should also be a Washington Post piece this Sunday, as well.


--David